#she sounds like someone who deserves a unique name

[ratstuckinamarble]

Wuppi? @a-dauntless-daffodil sorry to break it to you... Your mom was actually a baked treat 😔

💀 MANKIND IS DEAD 💀

🩸 BLOOD IS FUEL 🩸

🔥 HELL IS FULL 🔥

🦐 SHRIMP IS BUGS 🐛

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls in your area ch 3 progress

(500wordish)

Un-fucking-believable that some guy named Danny was the ghost king of this iconic goth horror castle, and yet he had to believe it was the truth. Jason freely gawked at the architecture as they made their way into the main hall. They entered at an upper level and immediately began to work their way down.

Jason privately related the space to where musicians would have been playing in an actual historical castle. Were there ghost musicians? Could he hear the greatest pop hits of 1482? Did anyone have a hurdy-gurdy?

Jason cleared his throat. Danny glanced back at the slight sound.

…Now that the guy was looking at him, it seemed like a bit of an insensitive question. He managed to pull back to less assholish phrasing at least. “Do you know any ghost musicians?”

His original question was gonna be “do ghosts have music?” Wow. Jason chided himself. Might as well ask ‘hey do your people have culture?’

Of course the answer was a nod. “Yeah, I know one.” Danny snorted and floated a little higher. “She's terrible, man, nightmare of a person.”

“...But the music is good?” Jason ventured.

Danny scoffed. “It's derivative,” he said fearlessly.

Jason looked up and around for any roaming creatives who might get offended. None of them descended. “... Castle is empty, then?” He asked. Casually. Like a guy who wasn't marking every potential exit away from the guy he'd been…

‘Was I human trafficked?’ Jason blinked. Holy shit. ‘Sure, Danny doesn't seem to want me, but that's literally what those cultists were doing… They gifted me to him last minute. Like a mall candle.’

Wild. He made a mental mark for his Bat trauma bingo sheet. He wasn't sure if they had a square for that, but exchanges for comparable trauma were sometimes negotiable.

It belatedly occurred to him that he was offended. “This is a dumb situation to be in by accident,” Jason said aloud. He huffed and folded his arms. “Those nerds didn't even pick me, you know? It's not that I was the super special perfect victim, I was just the guy who knocked on the door.”

He felt more aggrieved by the end. Where was the drama? The respect? The class, even. Hadn't he razzle dazzled enough to be specifically targeted by the criminal underbelly?

Danny put a cold hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry, you deserve someone to recognize your unique potential as a victim,” he empathized. “You're not just some interchangeable sacrifice.”

Jason shook him off. “No touchy,” he warned. He lifted a finger in threat. Belatedly he remembered how unbothered Danny had been by his guns. Shit. He put the finger down. “I’ve got a big personal space bubble,” he said lamely. No threats. He couldn't back ‘em up here.

[soldiersslut]

GHOST OF YOU — SOLDIER BOY "CHAPTER THREE"

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Female!Reader

Warnings: Language, sexual advances, implied smut in the end, and Soldier Boy being Soldier Boy

Word Count: 3,452

Author's Note: Thank you so much again for all the love and support! Keep in mind this chapter is a flashback! Thank you, thank you again :')

IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED PLEASE LET ME KNOW. DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW, HEART, AND REPOST. THANK YOU AGAIN!

Early 1980s – The Beginning

“Soldier Boy! There is someone I would like for you to meet!”

It is not the first, nor will it be the last time Soldier Boy ever hears those words. He was attending one of Vought American’s extravaganza. The whole point? Show him off and tease the upcoming group of Supes that’ll band together to wipe out the last bit of communism left. Soldier Boy wanted the best and the only thing he requested of Vought American is that he’ll be the captain. He wanted to be captain because he got so used to being the only one in the spotlight, and all of a sudden he needed to share it with others? Hell no. He is Soldier Boy. That alone is enough.

During this time it was the rise of materialism and consumerism. Blockbuster movies were being made and the emergence of cable networks was increasing. Vought jumped on it and created VNN, and their movie studio gained more popularity overtime. A group of Supes coming together should be groundbreaking entertainment!

The best thing to come out of from all of Vought American’s success? Soldier Boy can get all the drugs, liquor, and whores he wanted. Who can say no to him? He is the poster boy for Vought American. It is because of him the company has grown.

So, when Vought American announced Soldier Boy was attending; many, if not all, important political figures confirmed that they’ll be attending this evening. Other Supes will be in attendance to prove their unique abilities and convince Vought American and Soldier Boy that they deserve a spot in what the group will be called, Payback.

Though Soldier Boy’s priorities were elsewhere. At some point the entertainment came out and by the end of it Soldier Boy was surrounded by these pretty entertainers. He made his way around with one on each arm.

He recognized Legend’s voice and the way he kept calling after him was annoying. Legend always had him meet new people who were just old fucks believing that because they endorse and buy stocks from Vought American they have some ownership over him. Fuck these people.

“What?! I am fucking busy!” Soldier Boy snapped and motioned to the two girls in his arms.

“I am aware you are busy, but there is someone I would like for you to meet.”

Soldier Boy expressed no interest until Legend moved to the side, and a woman stepped forward. The woman was dressed modestly. A celeste ruched and drop waist dress that reached below her knees. Soldier Boy has seen these dresses in women and the waist part of the dress tended to be loose. Though her waist had a nice and tight fit. For boys they might not find the appeal of a woman shaped this way, but he is a man and he fucks anything and everything that calls to him.

She was not like the two dancers next to him whose hair is so frizzy to the point it was inching closer to the ceiling as time passes. The tight red fit easily leaves to the imagination, and the makeup was bold and mismatched.

“Go away, I will find you both later,” he whispered to the girls. They giggled and walked away, though before they were out of hands reach he slapped their bottoms. He winked which made them laugh like schoolgirls.

“It would be rude of me to not give you my full attention. What’s your name, beautiful?” he asked and so, the flirting began.

The woman smirked. She was already given the heads up the kind of person Soldier Boy is. The man is as transparent as glass.

“She is Mimicry, both of you will be working together to create Payback!” Legend sounded way too excited. Mimicry’s smirk hasn’t left yet, especially seeing the way Soldier Boy’s smile faltered.

“I’m sorry, I must have heard wrong. I was under the impression I was going to be creating the team?” Nobody consulted him about this stupid idea. He did not need anyone’s help, and much less from a woman who thinks they’ll be equal. “And who the fuck vouched for her?”

“The one vouching for me is Mr. Frederick Vought and Stan Edgar. If there is any issues with their executive decision I am sure they would love to hear you out.” Mimicry suggested. Vought may be old, but he was still running the show. When he came to a decision there was no changing his mind.

Soldier Boy wants to wipe that smirk off of her face.

“And why the fuck would they vouch for you?” he demanded to know, crossing his arms.

Legend was going to answer the question, but Mimicry lifted her hand to him to stop him from further saying anything.

“You will have to wait and see, but in the mean time wouldn’t it be wise for us to take a look at our prospects?” she questioned. Soldier Boy took a look around. There was other Supes around, but none of them were like him. He was one of a kind, but out of this selection he and Vought will pick out who is fit for Payback. Any of these Supes can show off to him, but the true test is when they are in a fight. All of this fancy, show and tell bullshit means nothing. That’s why he did not bother in interacting with any of these people.

“We could also take this chance and get to know each other,” and right away Mimicry’s hand trailed up his arm. Hook, line, and sinker. Soldier Boy stared at her hand feeling his muscles. He smirked and agreed. “Who am I to deny a beautiful lady that courtesy?”

Mimicry flashed him a smile this time. Her hand snaked down and she linked it with his bicep.

They walked towards the bar. She took a seat down on one of the empty bar stools while Soldier Boy remained standing, but he leaned against the counter. He ordered a drink for himself and Mimicry. “Wow, Soldier Boy is a gentleman? I am honored to see it firsthand,” she teased. Soldier Boy snickered. His choice at the moment was whiskey on the rocks.

“I do have to ask though. Why am I getting champagne?” she asked, tilting her head. She pouted her lips in a teasing way.

“Whiskey is a little strong for you. You won’t be able to hold your liquor,” he answered. He took another sip but before he could finish it Mimicry’s hand wrapped around his hand that held the cup. She finished the whiskey for him. His lips parted ways slightly. Mimicry used her finger to wipe away the excess that fell on her lips. After doing that she sucked on her fingers, and Soldier Boy felt himself stare at her finger and then the lips.

“Don’t underestimate a woman, Mr. Soldier Boy.” He knew damn well to not underestimate her. Mimicry turned away from Soldier Boy and watched the crowd. There was a lot of chatter going around, soft piano melodies being played in the background, and Supes showing off their power.

“So, who has grabbed your attention?” Mimicry asked.

You, he answered in his mind.

Picking out team members was the last thing on his mind at this very moment, but if it will please this woman then so be it. He looked around and pointed out a few. Every time he pointed someone out there was a look of disapproval in her eyes. Soldier Boy was unsure if it was exciting to see her react this way or concerned at the fact that she was not pleased with none of his answers.

“Are you thinking with your brain or your cock?”

Soldier Boy let out a laugh, “don’t sound too jealous now.” Mimicry rolled her eyes. Oh, what he would do to get this woman to roll her eyes back for him. She is intriguing, confident, bold, and a tease. As much as he did not appreciate women talking back her attitude was heartwarming to him.

Mimicry pointed out a few and Soldier called her out on them. He claims most, if not all, are idiots. He still thinks he should be the sole captain and pick his own damn team.

“Oh no, I am not a captain and we are not going to be co-captains either. You don’t need to worry about that. Just think of me as your first member of Payback and the most loyal one,” she assured. Her hand went up his arm. Her finger trailing up and down. Soldier Boy stared, “there is one way you can show me you’re really loyal” he whispered. Mimicry smirked again and leaned close to his lips.

“As long as I have your sole attention for the rest of this party I am more than happy to demonstrate” she whispered back and looked into his eyes. Soldier Boy was centimeters away from closing the gap to her lips, but someone interrupted. His irritation was shown.

“The hell you want?” he asked. The woman smiled and extended her hand to him. She’s Crimson Countess. Soldier Boy hated her already for her timing. He was already planning in shrugging her off, but Mimicry entertained her. They spoke and got along well.

“You are a pretty thing. Don’t you think so, Soldier Boy?” Mimicry asked. She touched Crimson Countess’ hair. Soldier Boy diverted his attention to the redhead. Countess was not ugly, but she was nowhere near close to Mimicry. Though for the sake of it he played along and agreed. Crimson Countess’ introduction had opened the door for other Supes to jump in the conversation. Soldier Boy tried to keep the conversations short and dry, though Mimicry entertained each and every one of them.

Mimicry knew what she was doing. She no longer looked his way, and let alone give him attention. It had felt like hours, and Soldier Boy reached his breaking point. He moved away from the bar and went to find the two girls from earlier. Mimicry was mid conversation with Supes, but her eyes followed Soldier Boy. For the rest of the night they no longer spoke to each other. Though their eyes would meet. They were on opposite ends, but they knew when the other was staring.

The party was over, and Mimicry had a head start in unpacking her belongings in Vought American’s housing facility. Each year the company would grow and expand. They hope that one day the company would become big enough they are the tallest building in New York surpassing the Empire State Building.

Mimicry unpacked the rest of her belongings and anticipated someone’s arrival soon. On cue, there was a knock at the door.

“If it isn’t the man of the hour,” she teased. Soldier Boy did not wait for her to invite him in. He moved past her and began to remove his clothes.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard, you little tease.” He was going to keep this promise. Mimicry wanted to interrupt him but he was quick to slam his lips against her’s. She kissed him back for a second, but attempted to stop. Soldier Boy was so deep into the kiss he was not lighting up. She attempted to pull away but his strength kept her in place.

Mimicry closed her eyes and let her hands rest on his shoulder. When it was time she used Soldier Boy’s own strength to push him off. He hit against the wall and fell to the floor.

“What the fuck?!” he yelled. He was not sure what pissed him off more, her pushing him away or the fact she was able to throw him back as hard as she did.

“Don’t be angry with me, you did not keep your end of the bargain.”

Soldier Boy wanted to argue that she did it on purpose. He was so frustrated that she was not giving him attention so he went somewhere else to get it. That was the entire point of the agreement. He failed, so he won’t be able to sleep with her tonight.

“And what kind of strength do you have?!”

Mimicry scoffed and put her hands on her hips. “Does the name not ring a bell? Mimicry? Mimic?” His handsome features makes up for partial intelligence. It clicked to Soldier Boy when she put it that way. That explains why Vought American wanted her to help him with the team. She can potentially be his equal.

“I am too tired for this, could we discuss this tomorrow? I am sure there is plenty of other women that can get your dick wet.” There was no time for argument as she opened the door and motioned for him to get out. Soldier Boy clenched his jaw. He grabbed his clothes and walked out with all the dignity he had. He did not give a fuck who would stare at his sculpted figure.

This is not over, Soldier Boy vowed.

When next day came around Stan Edgar requested a meeting with Soldier Boy and Mimicry. Apparently, he went ahead and chose the members of Payback.

Swatto.

Gunpowder.

Crimson Countess.

TNT twins.

Mindstorm.

Black Noir.

“I like the selection,” Mimicry stated, there was an optimism in her tone that irritated Soldier Boy. This might be the worst selection ever, but apparently he had no say in this matter anymore. This was angering him, last night made him angry, and seeing how she was so unfazed made it worse.

“Whatever, as long as they have enough fucking brain cells to know what they’re doing.” He really didn’t want to be here, and seeing Mimicry practically gloat in his face made it worse. Of course he found other females that he fucked, but he didn’t want to fuck them. He wanted to fuck Mimicry and now that he had a taste of her lips he wanted more.

Stan Edgar, Soldier Boy, and Mimicry discussed the portfolios of each member and how they will contribute to the team. Edgar asked Soldier Boy and Mimicry to get to know the team, and learn to work together. Mimicry agreed, and it took awhile to persuade Soldier Boy but she managed.

The rest of the team was invited into the briefing room, Soldier Boy stood front and center, and Mimicry stood behind him on his right hand side. Soldier Boy believed the best way to get to know the rest of the team is the training grounds. Instead of going against him they’ll be going toe to toe with Mimicry. Not only was he going to test them, but he will be testing her.

Training began, and Mimicry moved around quickly like a snake. She ducked and dodged, and did everything to avoid getting hit. Just how it happened with him a single touch to a Supe and she observes their power. It was hilarious to see each member lose to Mimicry using their own power. The only one to give her struggle was Black Noir, but eventually she got the upper hand. The one who did not last long at all against her was Crimson Countess who had horrible aim.

By the time training ended the members of Payback were beaten and out of breath. Even Mimicry needed to sit down and control her breathing.

“Alright, guys! That was great, except their was one tiny problem,” Soldier Boy pointed out, the fake optimism in his voice bleeding through. His smile left very quickly, “all of you are fucking horrible.”

Whatever illusions and dreams the rest of the team had of Soldier Boy had crumbled. The way most, if not all Supes, held this man on a high pedestal only to come and find out the kind of man he truly is. Instead of giving the team some encouraging words or even wisdom they were humiliated, disrespected, and bad mouthed. Mimicry was not phased nor did she feel this was targeted to her.

When Soldier Boy was done the team was kicked out except for Mimicry. “You shouldn’t take out your anger on the team if it’s about last night.” Mimicry pointed out. Soldier Boy scoffed,

“This has nothing to do with last night. I don’t even know what you are talking about. After I left your place I found myself in a threesome. Phew, best thing to come out of yesterday”

Mimicry looked amused. Her eyebrows went up and she nodded her head. “You were in a threesome and yet your panties are in a twist?” Mimicry knew she was pushing his buttons. “Shut up,” he told her. Mimicry smirked. “Make me.”

His annoyance was showing and yet Mimicry just kept pushing. Soldier Boy stared at her, he noticed the way her smirk turned into a mischievous smile.

“You want to laugh about something? Come on then,” he moved towards the center where the members of Payback were training. “Let’s see if you can hit me.”

Mimicry let out a laugh and nodded, “fine, but don’t get pissed when you lose.” Soldier Boy chose to ignore her comment. She got into a fighting stance and right away he launched himself at her.

Mimicry had done her best to get a hold of him, but he knew better than to let her touch him. Without her powers she was completely useless. The only way Soldier Boy got a hold of Mimicry is by grabbing her wrists. Soldier Boy threw Mimicry across the room and she let out a yelp.

He was about to celebrate his victory until he heard Mimicry crying and whimpering. Shit, Vought and Edgar are not going to like that he broke her.

“Let me take you to the doctor. Where does it hurt?” he asked. He knelled to carry her, but his guard came crashing down. Seeing an opportunity Mimicry put her hands on his face and in an instant observed his power. She wasted no time in pushing Soldier Boy off with his own strength and got back up.

He was livid and was throwing punches at her all because he can. He was no longer thinking logical, and yet, she was. Mimicry slid in between his legs and got a hold of his shield. It was lightweight for her, and without a thought she swung it at him and he fell.

Soldier Boy let out profanities. He held onto his side for a moment, trying to ease the pain, and when it lowered he propped his elbows to look at her. Mimicry got close and smiled.

“Don’t get mad now, Mr. Soldier Boy” she teased. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Now her guard was down. He grabbed her ankles and dropped her. She gasped at his sudden movement. So she does not get the upper hand at the moment he laid on top of her, and held her wrists together. Mimicry tried to fight against him, but he tightened his grip.

“Okay, fine fine. You won this round. All better now?” Mimicry asked, giving up in fighting him. Even with the beating she still remained a pain in the ass. If this is the beginning he wonders what else is in store for them.

“Call me Ben.”

Mimicry was taken back, and decided against teasing him. “You can just call me Mimi.”

They looked into each other’s eyes and stayed there. They weren’t sure how much time passed, and no one went looking for them either.

“Maybe it’s time we get up from the floor,” she whispered. Ben agreed, but neither Mimicry or himself attempted to get up. If anything their faces got closer.

“We need to keep this professional. Whatever happens there will be no attachment” she warned him, “I can’t have you falling for me now. What would people think of the Soldier Boy?”

Christ on a cross, he really wanted her to shut up. He kept telling himself that his goal was to get in her pants and move on to the next. Ben leaned down and kissed her. Her hands cupped his face and then she removed the back. His hair was soft against her fingers and she tugged on it. They did not care who was going to see, or who would walk in on them. Ben was not going to develop feelings. He did not do feelings, nor relationships. Women only served one purpose, and he has always taught himself that he is better off on his own. The only way to survive is to only trust himself.

If only he knew that the moment they sealed the kiss, Mimicry was going to become the bane of his existence.

Next Chapter: Chapter Four

Author's Note: Okay! So we got Ben and Mimicry's meeting for the first time. Some chapters will revolve around the past, but the main focus is the present time. I just want you all to keep in mind how Ben is with Mimicry, and how it is reflected with the reader. Thank you guys again <3

I am tagging everyone, but I am not sure if all of you are getting notified! Please let me know if you are not. I am more than happy to send each and every one of you a personal message when I update! :)

Tagged List: @seven709 @sadpods @mayafatimakhan @justiceforquentin @ultracarpediemfan @bitchykittenconnoisseur @spacecowgirl126 @ultraviolencexs @deans-spinster-witch @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @manicjk @demodemo909 @robertthehoover @riah1606 @onlyangel-444 @cunningboyouare @posiemax

[yagirlraee]

PRADA BABY

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: satoru is a model famous for his gorgeously unique beauty. while you are an infamously well-known fashion designer known for your award-winning designs and style. but what will happen when his manager contacts you?

𝐰𝐜: 625

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏

"miss, there is someone at the door for you." your assistant, shoko, says, rushing into your office.

you look up from whatever sketch you were working on, placing your pencil down.

"let them in," you shrug. 

your assistant nods, turns on her heel, and struts out your office.

a few minutes later, a tall man with glasses and a tracksuit walks in. you stand up and walk around your desk, leaning on it.

"i'm yaga, masamichi yaga," he says reaching a hand out.

you firmly grasp onto his hand and shake it. he already knows who you are, so you don't have to introduce yourself.

"i have a model who i think would do amazing in one of your shows, his name is satoru gojo."

you nod while thinking about your schedule.

"well, i'd have to meet him first, how does thursday sound?" you say.

yaga nods immediately, "thursday is perfect, thank you so much miss."

he politely bows before turning around and exiting your office.

shoko scurries in after he leaves.

"so? what did you say?"

you look at her, furrowing your eyebrows.

"what do you mean..?"

"well, obviously the only reason mr. yaga would stop by is to offer one of his models. and being you're the best fashion designer out, it only makes sense that he gives you his best model." she rambles on.

you laugh and look down, "yeah, i said yes. i mean how could i not? it's a huge business opportunity."

shoko squeals in excitement before jumping onto you, enforcing a hug.

"i'm so excited!! we get to meet the satoru gojo!!

you scoff, "he's not that great."

she stops her celebration and looks at you.

you clear your throat, "i mean, is he?"

"yes!! HE IS!!" she shakes you back and forth, squeezing your shoulders. "and WE get to meet him!"

you laugh, "well, i have a meeting with him on thursday if you'd like to come with."

this offer causes her to jump even more, you're surprised she hasn't fainted yet.

"yes!! oh my goodness! i have to get ready!" she yells.

"it isn't till thursday?" you laugh.

"yeah but still. i have to look perfect if i want him to at least glance at me."

that much was true, satoru gojo was one conceited model of a man. he rarely ever looked at anyone unless it was himself. he always said nobody "deserved" his beautiful blue orbs. what a man he was indeed. you nod and send her off so she can get ready, and you let out this breath you didn't even know you were holding.

were you nervous? nah. you might be deep down inside, but for goodness sake you were the hottest fashion designer out right now. there is no way you should be nervous around him, having him in your show could earn you millions, and maybe something else.

you sigh as you start to pack up your sketches and art supplies. you decided to go home early to cool off all your nerves, which were on fire.

when you arrive home, and settle into your pajamas. you start texting a number which is yaga, according to your assistant, while sitting down on your sofa.

YOU: hey where would you like to meet on thursday?

YAGA: hello miss, how does the diner on 5th avenue sound?

YOU: that sounds great, i hope u don't mind but i invited my assistant.

YAGA: i don't mind at all, see you two there.

you put a heart on his message and click your phone off. thursday wasn't far away at all, it was only tuesday. you get up from your couch and head to your room, laying down and tucking yourself in for the night.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐

loading..

[deluluwrites]

Florist!Barbie x Ken

✨Part 2

🌸💖🌷🌺💐🌸💖🌷🌺💐🌸💖🌷🌺💐

Once upon a time in the colorful world of BarbieLand, there was a lovely Barbie named Florist Barbie. She had her own little flower shop, “Blooms and Petals," filled with beautiful blossoms of all colors and varieties.

Every day, the doll inhabitants of BarbieLand would come to her shop to buy flowers for their loved ones, and Florist Barbie would take pride in arranging the most enchanting bouquets for them.

Unlike the other Barbie dolls, Florist Barbie had a unique passion for flowers, and her shop was known for its enchanting arrangements and delightful fragrances.

However, there was something that set her apart from the rest of the Barbies in town - there was a hint of sadness in her eyes because, unlike many other Barbies, she didn't have a Ken of her own.

Every day, like clockwork, Stereo Ken strolled into "Blooms and Petals" to buy a bouquet for Stereo Barbie, the girl of his dreams.

Florist Barbie couldn't help but feel a pang of longing whenever she saw them together, as she secretly harbored feelings for Stereo Ken.

Stereo Ken was dashing, with his perfectly coiffed hair and chiseled features. He came to “Blooms and Petals” every morning to buy flowers for Stereo Barbie.

Every morning as Stereo Ken walked into her shop. She'd watch him carefully as he perused the blooms, helping him choose the most meaningful flowers that he believed would win Stereo Barbie's heart.

Florist Barbie's stomach would flutter uncontrollably as she admired Ken from afar, secretly pining for his affection. She knew she could never reveal her feelings, for she feared it would ruin their friendship and Ken's admiration for her floral expertise.

Despite her own longing for him, Florist Barbie couldn't resist helping him. She knew she was trapped in a bittersweet situation where she had to be the silent supporter of his romantic pursuit.

One day, Stereo Ken entered the shop, looking a bit troubled. "Hey, Barbie," he greeted her with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Hey, Ken, What brings you in today?" she replied with a warm smile. “I need your help," Ken admitted, glancing around the shop nervously. "I want to get the perfect flowers for Barbie today. I've been trying so hard to win her heart, but I just feel like I'm not good enough for her."

Florist Barbie's heart sank, "Ken, you are an amazing person," she said sincerely, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are kind, thoughtful, and caring. Anyone would be lucky to have you."

Ken sighed, "I don't know. Barbie is so perfect, and I feel like I can never measure up to her expectations." Florist Barbie felt a mix of sympathy and frustration.

She wanted to tell him that he deserved someone who appreciated him for who he was, but she couldn't reveal her true feelings. Instead, she focused on helping him find the perfect flowers for Barbie.

"Let's pick out some flowers with special meanings," she suggested, leading him through the shop. "How about these roses? They represent love and admiration, which perfectly captures your feelings for Barbie."

Ken nodded, his face brightening a little. "That sounds good. What else?" Florist Barbie went to another display, “Oooh! Lilies, represent purity and devotion, which can be perfect if you want to show your sincerity.”

She went to another display and picked some more flowers, “Or these Orchids could signify beauty and admiration, which is an ideal choice to convey your admiration for her grace. And then, there are the sunflowers, symbolizing warmth and happiness, a great way to express the joy she brings into your life."

Ken listened intently to her words, nodding slowly. "Those are all wonderful choices, Barbie. But you know what I just realized? Aren't all these your favorite too?"

Florist Barbie blushed, unable to hide her secret any longer. "Well, yes, they are," she admitted, her voice a soft whisper. "I find beauty and meaning in all of them. But enough about me, let's focus on helping you choose the perfect bouquet for Barbie."

They continued their search, and Florist Barbie carefully selected a bouquet that conveyed love, admiration, sincerity, warmth, and happiness, hoping that Stereo Barbie would see the depth of Ken's affection.

As Ken hurriedly gathered the bouquet, he turned to Florist Barbie with a grateful smile. "Thanks for all your help, Barbie. I don't know what I would have done without you. You're such a good friend."

Florist Barbie's heart sank as she forced a weak smile in return. "You're welcome, Ken. I'm glad I could assist you. I hope Barbie loves the flowers."

Ken nodded enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious to the turmoil within Florist Barbie's heart. "I'm sure she will. They're perfect, just like you always say."

With that, he dashed out of the flower shop, leaving Florist Barbie standing there, feeling the weight of heartbreak and unrequited love.

She watched him go, struggling to keep her composure, "That's what I do, Barbie," she sighs whispering to herself, forcing a smile. "I help others find happiness even if it's not with me."

🌸💖🌷🌺💐🌸💖🌷🌺💐🌸💖🌷🌺💐

The next day, BarbieLand was buzzing with excitement as Stereo Barbie announced she was hosting a Big Blowout Party.

Florist Barbie was attending the event, feeling a mix of excitement and sadness. She chatted with her friend Allan, who could see the longing in her eyes whenever Ken was mentioned.

Ken approached them, looking anxious. "Hey, Barbie. Allan. Can I talk to you for a moment?" Allan looked at Florist Barbie curiously. "Sure, Ken. What's on your mind?" Florist Barbie tried to appear composed, even though her heart was racing as she replied almost instantly.

"I'm thinking of asking Barbie(Stereo) to dance tonight. Do you think she'd say yes?" he asked, nervously running his hand through his perfectly coiffed hair and scratching his neck nervously.

“Well I think-“ Allan begins wanting to give his buddy advice but Florist Barbie musters smile and interrupts. "Absolutely, Ken. You should go for it! I'm sure she'd love to dance with you."

Ken thanks them giving Florist Barbie his wine goblet joining the dance floor leaving Florist Barbie feeling a mixture of happiness for him and deep sorrow within herself.

Allan, seeing her distress, took her aside. "Barbie, you can't keep this to yourself any longer. You need to tell Ken how you feel."

She sighs throwing the goblet behind her, "I can't, Allan. It's too painful. I'll only end up losing his friendship too."

Allan placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You deserve to be happy too, Barbie. You never know how Ken might feel about you if you don't confess. Take a chance, or you'll always wonder what could have been."

Despite Allan's words, Florist Barbie left the party heartbroken. She found solace near a shimmering pink water fountain. Sitting alone, she felt a deep pain in her heart as she stared at her reflection in the plastic water.

Suddenly, to her shock, a human-like tear trickled down her porcelain cheek. "What is happening to me?" she wondered in astonishment. Shocked, she touched her face, wondering how such a thing was possible. Little did she know that her genuine emotions and the depth of her feelings had brought her to life in a way she had never experienced before.

Part 2….?

[gimmeurmoneyagh]

hehe my twst panic oc 😼😼😼

*i was too lazy to draw the other eye😭😭😭 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚

𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄: ❝Puh-leaze! As if I’d like losers like them!❞

𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌: Pain (disney hercules)

𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎:

Class: 3-C

Dorm: Ignihyde

Birthday: June 18!!!

Age: 18

Height: 6,2

Dominant Hand: Right

Sexuality: Polyamorous and Queer

Favorite Subject: Ancient Curses

Hobby: attending comic convections, playing guitar or piano

Likes: Money, her friends, Idia!!! Melaina!!!

Dislikes: Judgemental people, ppl being rude to her

Favorite Food: Baklava

Least Favorite Food: Meat Pie

Club: Pop Music Club!!!

Homeland: Fleur City

Special Skill: sniffing out rich ppl

𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂:

𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓*

*broski so the name might sound a lil’ crazy its not!!

it just means if she touches someone she can just place her unique magic on them and they’ll be scared or worried or well panicked for no reason

That means theyll be skittish, won’t think clearly, and in a state of some kind of mental fog

Which Thana usually takes advantage of

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘:

A loud brash girl who will fight you if you try to disagree with her

Will fight you if you say anything about her friends

Smug, and will always hide her true emotions 

𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄:

A tanned girl with some scars, and a snaggletooth smile

Sharp teeth

Very, very bright yellow eyes

Horns!!! Has a tail and wingswhich she hides,

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃:

When Thana was young there was one thing she knew for sure. Never bond with others.

Bonding meant telling others her thoughts and secrets. It would do her no good to befriend others.

It was shoved down her throat by relatives and family friends, and over time she started to believe it.

Until Idia and Melaina(twst pain oc!!!😜😜😝😝) came into her life.

She loved them and thought they loved her too!

Until the day he died. Thana disn’t think he actually belive her! It wasn’t her fault! It wasn’t her fault.

At least that’s what she told herself.

Idia was in shambles, he wouldn’t talk to them anymore and they weren’t allowed inside.

She knew he hated her, and she didn’t blame him either! She hated her for this too... Melaina tried to talk to her but Thana blocked her calls. Melaina didn’t deserve her.

Until eventually... they stopped coming.

Thana couldn’t believe it. Her friends left her! They left her. They left her! They were horrible she couldn’t believe them!

They all lost contact for years. And Thana was happy! For sure! Who needs those losers anyway!

Until that carriage came. A carriage to Night Raven College.

Fuck.

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒:

Loves researching mer-folk!!!

Will bite you!!

Scene girlie!!

Eats anything edible!! Big-back alert!!

May or may not blame herself for Ortho’s death!!

Taglist!! @babyghoul138 @cheerleaderman @jewelulu @beneathsakurashade

@bunniehunn @the-rini-rush @skibidibabygirl @screamintoad

@teighveepao @skrimpyskimpy @cloudiepuffs @kuragebride

@4necdote @twtysevapr @blood-red-bumblebee

lemme know if u wanna be tagged or not!!!

[daughterofcain-67]

𝒞𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃: 𝓅𝓉 1

(Dean Winchester x Artist/Bartender!Female Reader)

(𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 2) (𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 3)

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: You’re an artist that fell in love with a mysterious boy right before college. Then he left without any way to contact him. Decades later you’re an artist/bartender and you’re surprised to see who comes walking through the door.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: none that I can think of.

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: I have no idea who actually did the cover art for The Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, the comic illustrations of the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson, or Cinder by Marissa Meyer. But I loved the artwork for the cover art and illustrations, so they deserve all the credit for their creativity. ((The artwork and references to the books is just to use to build Y/N’s portfolio, I do not own any of the artworks.))

It wasn’t easy being an artist. And it didn’t help that you seemed to be a starving artist at that. Everything seemed to have been done already. You supposed that your creative mind wasn’t as unique as you originally thought it would be.

You had countless sketchbooks in your home, just on one of your many bookshelves, purely dedicated to the sketchbooks you’ve had over the years. You’ve been sketching and drawing for as long as you can remember. You picked up on using water color and oil pastels sometime in high school when you were being experimental with your styles. But over the years you found that your luck expanding on your career was sort of a fifty fifty shot.

When someone hadn’t commissioned you to paint a wall of theirs, or if you weren’t working on a cover for some author - which was also another rare opportunity - You spent your time working at a bar in Wisconsin. It was some way to make some money after all, plus you did get to meet some pretty interesting people.

As for tonight, it was just another Thursday night for you and you were on your break. With that being said, you had your sketchbook out and you were sketching yet again.

Lately, in your personal sketchbook, you would draw the familiar face of a man you used to know. One that probably didn’t even remember your name, but you’d always remember his. You’d always remember his beautiful eyes that reminded you of the green forest, or the way his smile would light up any room he’d step into. You could remember the smell of his leather jacket, or the way that unusual pendant looked a little too good around his neck. You could still remember the sound of his laugh, or the flirtatious little tone and his mischievous smirk. He was a man you knew you could never forget, even after all these years.

“Drawing that mystery man of yours again, Y/N?” A work friend of yours named Danielle asked.

You glanced up at her while she adjusted her glasses and sat in front of you, “He’s no mystery.. just a memory.”

“You know, if you really can’t forget about him then maybe you should look for him.” She suggested and you shook your head.

“That’s not possible. Even when we first met during the summer before my freshman year of college, he was always traveling around with his father. It was a part of his career. And if anything, the guy’s still going it. They always traveled around the country.” You explained and Danielle pouted a little.

“You mean you can’t even track down what business it was? Not even by phone number or anything? Some company they ran.” She said and you rubbed the back of your neck.

“Did he even tell you what kind of business he was a part of?” You shook your head.

“No… he was really secretive and he always told me he didn’t want to freak me out. A part of me wonders if he didn’t trust me. Then after like two weeks together he ghosted me.” You admitted.

“And you’re still obsessing over him? Come on, you’ve really got to let it go. If he was that much of a douche to ghost you and if he didn’t even leave you a way to contact him, then you have got to move on.” Danielle told you and you knew deep down she was right.

You looked down at the picture again of your ‘mystery man’ as Danielle liked to call him. Just as you were about to put the pencil to your paper once more, Danielle’s hand got in the way and she dragged the book across the table and rotated it so she could take a look at your work.

“Okay, this guy can’t actually be real. No one is that attractive.” She said with a chuckle before she looked up at you once more.

“So what did you say his name was again?” She asked as she handed you the sketchbook again.

“Dean… Dean Winchester.”

“Dean… Not a bad name I guess. Better than like Brad or something.” She laughed.

“Any chance that he’s a reader? Maybe he’s seen your cover art on some books.” You shook your head.

“No, he’s not much of a reader. His brother is a reader though so.. maybe? Although who knows if Sam would read any of the books I’ve done the artwork for.” You shrugged, unsure if Sam read any fantasy novels or science fiction.

“His brother’s name is Sam? That’s a little anticlimactic isn’t it? Is it short for something?”

“I don’t think it’s anticlimactic. Simplistic. And no, I don’t think it’s short for anything, but I never really asked Dean about it. Never met Sam.”

“Hey! Y/N! Danielle! Y’all can’t leave me by myself, I just got here!” A second voice said and that was your other friend, Callie. She had a bit of a southern twang in her voice that was definitely different compared to your other coworkers.

You and Danielle both laughed and you got up from your seat. You closed your sketchbook and went back to the back of the bar to put your sketchbook in your backpack. Then you began to resume your shift. The sooner the night was over with, the sooner you could go home and maybe check your emails and see if anyone has reached out to you for any projects.

The next several hours went by and it was closing time at the bar. You walked out of the bar with the two coworkers.

“Have you two heard the news yet about the Nelson’s wife?” Callie asked and you glanced over at her, brow arched upward.

“No. I didn’t even know something happened.” You said.

“Well apparently when Mr. Nelson came home last night, his door was opened up and there were some kind of freaky claw marks on the door. When the boss went inside he saw that his wife’s guts were literally outside of her body. But you wanna know the weird thing of it all?”

“There’s a weird part? Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better!” You asked.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Callie replied, not finding your sarcasm amusing at the moment.

“The weirdest part was that her heart was missing. No weapon was found, no evidence of some kind of fur if it really was an animal attack. The police have searched the place top to bottom to find any clues or evidence of an animal attack. But honestly I’m surprised the bar was even opened tonight.” Callie continued.

“That explains why I hadn’t seen the boss tonight. He must be going through a lot. I couldn’t imagine losing my boyfriend in such a horrific way… and to actually see his wife like that? I can’t imagine.” Danielle said and you frowned a little.

As difficult as it was to learn about the loss of your boss’ wife, you didn’t think that your boss would be missing that much. The Mrs. didn’t exactly have a great reputation after all. She was a bit of the town harlot to put it lightly. It was common knowledge that she had been cheating on her husband for the past three years with several men.

“How is Mr. Nelson taking it?” You asked.

“Well as far as I know he’s been at the sheriff’s office all day for an interrogation. You know how it is, always suspecting the spouse first. I don’t know if he’s actually had the time to really mourn.” Callie replied.

“Well… surely it’s just some freakish accident. It couldn’t possibly happen again. The same animal wouldn’t strike the same town twice, right?” You said.

“I wouldn’t think so.” Callie said.

“Well just incase that animal is still around… make sure you get home safe! Why don’t we create a group text now just to make sure we all get home okay.” Danielle suggested.

“Honestly… that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” You said and pulled out your phone.

Once the three of you were on the group chat, you split off into your different vehicles to go home. You made it to your apartment and shut the door behind you. You tossed your bag on the couch before you plopped on the furniture, then you reached for the remote and turned on the television.

There wasn’t anything good on TV so you changed the channel to Boomerang and watched some cartoons. They were playing the old episodes of Scooby-Doo and you smiled to yourself. You hadn’t watched this show in years and you felt nostalgic watching it. Then your mind wandered off to the old days. You started to think about the summer with Dean.

You shook your head, deciding that Danielle was right and you really should forget about Dean. It’s been years and you never saw Dean again after the best two weeks of your life. It wasn’t worth thinking about. So you grabbed your computer and checked some emails to see if anyone’s reached out.

Evidently there was an email for some author named Marissa Meyer. She was emailing you to compliment your illustrations for James Patterson’s Maximum Ride comics and for the cover art of some other books. Honestly you were surprised. She was writing to see if you’d be willing to do some cover art for one of her books. She emailed you the plot of whatever story this would be and she said the title she planned was Cinder. It seemed to be an interesting plot so you started typing out the response, letting the author know you’d be willing to make the cover art and that you just needed a deadline for it.

Shortly after you sent the email, you started looking at some inspiration photos on Google and Pinterest and that was when your phone started ringing. When you glanced down, you saw that it was a group call with Danielle and Callie. You smiled and you answered the phone before you lifted the phone to your ear.

“Hello?” You answered.

“Oh good, you answered!” Danielle exclaimed on the other line and you chuckled.

“Don’t worry, no animals have broken in to attack me yet.” You clarified and Callie laughed.

“See, I told you there was nothing for you to worry about. She’s probably getting ready to draw something and you broke her concentration.” Callie said and you hummed a little.

“Haven’t started just yet. Though about water coloring though.” You admitted since it had been a while since you’d used that medium.

“Well next time send a text! That was the whole reason why we made the group chat, remember?” Danielle continued and you grinned.

“Sorry for worrying you. I’m alright, and I’m glad both of you are alright too.” You insisted.

“Are both of you working tomorrow night?” You asked.

“I know I am.” Danielle replied with a little bit of an exasperated sigh.

“I’m not. I’ve got the rest of the week off.” Callie spoke up.

“The whole week? So we’ll see you when, Monday?” You asked.

“Yep. Needed a little me time and what perfect time would that be than having the weekend all to yourself?” She said.

“What about Dylan?” Danielle asked, referring to Callie’s boyfriend.

“He said he was… busy with something.” Callie said.

“You know, Danielle, you and Chris may like this one restaurant on South drive.” Callie said, talking about Danielle’s boyfriend and you felt like the odd one out, not having gone on a date in about three years.

“I’ll let the two of you talk about your boyfriends and your little date ideas.” You said and you were about to hang up before the both of them started talking to you to not hang up.

“Woah woah woah! Why don’t we get you hooked up with someone?” Callie asked.

“Yeah, that would be fun! I mean it’s been a while so what’s the harm in it? We can take you to the bar after work this Saturday night.”

You arched a brow before you looked at your bag that still had the sketchbook with the pictures of Dean in it. You supposed maybe going out this weekend maybe help you get over the memory. Dean was more of a phantom of that summer anyway.

“I suppose that could work. I get off at six. I can get home and get ready by seven or something.” You replied.

“Oh good! Maybe on break tomorrow you and I can go looking for some cute dresses for you to wear!” You cringed at Danielle’s words and you used your free hand to rub the back of your neck.

“Great.” You muttered with nervous laughter.

“Hang on, guys. I have to go. Dylan is calling me.” Callie groaned with some sort of annoyance in her tone and you wondered if everything was alright. However before you asked, she hung up.

“Wonder if she’s alright.” You said since Danielle was on the other line.

“Honestly I think she and Dylan have been in a bit of a rough patch recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if they break up by the end of the month.” She sighed.

“Rough patch? What’s been going on?”

“Well from what Callie’s ranted about, Dylan is developing some trust issues ever since she told him she didn’t want to live together.”

“What? They’ve only been dating for like a month and he wanted to move in?”

“Something like that…”

“Well you’re being awfully gracious for giving them the end of the month to end things. I’ll give them a week and a half if that.” You chuckled.

“You never know. Anyway, it’s getting late. See you tomorrow?” Danielle said.

“I’ll be there.”

Dean rubbed the back of his head as he walked down the stairs. Then he tied the strap of his robe around his waist as he made his way into the library just to see Sam reading a book. Not much of a surprise there. But this time it didn’t seem like it was a research book in his hands.

“Whatcha got there?” Dean asked, hearing his brother hum in response.

“It’s a fantasy series by Mark Lawrence. I’m reading the second one called King of Thorns.” Sam spoke.

“I didn’t exactly take you to be a fantasy ready. Always thought of you as more of a realist.” Dean admitted as he sat down across from his brother before he moved the laptop across the table. Then Dean opened it up so he could see if there was any new cases that sounded like his and Sam’s thing.

“Charlie recommended the book to me. Said that it was pretty good. Like it’s not Lord of the Rings good or Harry Potter good, but she thought it was worth the read nonetheless.” Sam said.

Dean hummed as he looked over at the book again and he caught a glimpse of the front cover, “Cover art’s pretty good.”

“Yeah… Charlie said the artist has done quite a little bit. She’d done the cover art of this trilogy and the illustrations for some sort of comic series based off some YA science fiction books. I think her name is.. oh hang on I think her name might be in the book.” Sam said as he flipped to the back.

“Oh here it is. Cover artist, Y/N L/N.”

Dean’s gaze shot from the book in Sam’s hand to Sam right after he read the name. That was a name he hadn’t heard in years. Felt like centuries really.

“Let me see that. I want to get a better look at the cover.” Dean said and Sam put his bookmark between the pages and handed the book to him.

As Dean looked at the cover, he admired the work. He suddenly began to recall that summer when he was a couple decades younger. Still fresh and when John was still around. He remembered meeting this beautiful girl in Wisconsin. You, in fact.

That was the best two weeks of his entire life. He remembered how great of an artist you were, how much he loved looking through the sketchbooks you showed him. He remembered you telling him way back when that you wanted to be an artist. Seems like you’ve come quite a ways if you’ve done some illustrations and some book covers.

“Has this artist done anything else?” Dean asked curiously.

“Since when were you interested in art?” Sam asked with a smirk as he leaned in, his arms folded in front of him on the table. Then the look of realization went across his face.

“Wait… Y/N. Isn’t that the girl from-“

“Wisconsin? Yeah.” Dean said and he chuckled.

“Honestly the best summer I’ve ever had.” Dean admitted.

“Why didn’t you ever go back to visit her? Is she a hunter? Maybe she could help us on some hunt sometime.” Sam said, trying to be encouraging but Dean shook his head a little.

“No, she wasn’t a hunter. In fact she was far from it. When I met her, she hadn’t even started college yet. Just graduated high school. She had no idea of the darkness in the world that we deal with and well… I wanted to spare her from it.” He said.

“Sounds like you had it bad. Dad wondered why it took you two weeks to end the case. He said it was awful long for you.” Sam smirked.

“Honestly, yeah. I did. if I wasn’t a hunter, I might have stayed. Maybe even go to summer school or work as a mechanic there to make a living just to stick around while she was on her campus. She was a sweet girl but I knew if I stayed, monsters would come and I didn’t want her exposed to that kind of shit just because I stayed around. I finished the case in a week but I stayed the extra week before I had to decide to move on.” Dean continued.

“Do you ever regret it?” Sam asked.

“Honestly, I don’t think she would even remember me.” Dean replied and handed the book to Sam yet again. Sam took it and set it down on the table beside him.

“I think she’d remember… anyway, as far as I know she’s just illustrated for that series and the covers for this series.” Sam said but he pulled out his phone to search your name.

“Here’s something… She’s painted some walls in the local elementary school building as well as a pediatrician’s office. But honestly I think that’s the only commissions she’s had. Other than that, based off her social media she’s just working in a bar.”

“A bartender? A girl of her talent should be working for some comic company. Maybe even character designing for some animation studio.” Dean said with a bit of surprise.

“Well, sometimes people aren’t always that lucky in life. But I agree with you, she is good.” Sam sighed as he closed out his phone before putting it back in his pocket. Then he turned his attention back to Dean who was looking back at the computer screen in front of him.

“Find anything worth while?” He asked his older brother.

“Well speaking of Wisconsin…. Turns out some bar owner’s wife was found dead. Police are calling it an animal attack but there wasn’t any evidence of an animal left behind. Then again there wasn’t exactly any evidence of humans either because apparently, intestines were outside the poor woman’s body and her heart was missing.” He said.

“So… werewolf maybe?” Sam suggested.

“That’s my first thought. We might as well head that way and check it out for ourselves.” Dean said and Sam nodded before Dean decided to get up so he could take a shower and get dressed before going on the hunt.

When Dean made it into his room, he decided that’s before he’d get dressed he’d look for something.

Honestly he wasn’t even sure if he still had this amongst his memorabilia. He didn’t exactly carry ugh outside of his pictures of his parents, Bobby and Sam and himself when they were younger. But when Dean opened up the auto man at the end of his bed and started looking through old pictures and papers, he moved his father’s journal to the side and then he found a black folder.

Dean let out a breath of relief as he pulled the black folder out and he sat down on the bed. The field was made of paper and it was a bit worn with the years of being moved around since they went from motel to motel a lot. Then Dean opened up the folder and he was pleasantly surprised to find that what he was looking for was still inside.

Inside of the folder there was a sheet of sketch paper with a drawing of both you and him on it. It was an old picture, Dean’s hair was longer and he didn’t quite have bags under his yees from the years of losing sleep because of a hunt. Then there was you, and you were even more gorgeous in person. Your talented hand didn’t give you justice on paper.

In the picture, you were wrapped up in his arms while the two of you sat down on a blanket in the grass. Both of you had a peaceful expression as you looked out at the lake. Dean could still remember the way you felt in his arms, remembering the moment you had drawn in the picture. It was the second to the last night that he spent in Wisconsin.

Dean smiled at the memory, knowing that even after so many years you still had a piece of his heart. But then reality started to get to him and he wondered if you had been married after college graduation. Did you have a family of your own? Dean calculated and by this time you had to be in your mid thirties like he was, right? Most people were arrived by then if they were lucky, and any man would be lucky to have someone so special like you.

Honestly Dean couldn’t help but wonder if maybe you still thought about him once in a while. Maybe late at night when you were watching a movie drinking some wine and drawing one of those covers Sam showed him, he wondered if you thought about him.

Dean put the picture back into the folder and placed it on the night table beside his bed before he grabbed his bag and some clothes to pack up. Then he got his other pair of jeans and a shirt to wear before he headed off to the shower.

Two days had gone by and that was the night you were supposed to go out with Danielle and Callie to some sort of club or whatever. Honestly you weren’t sure if dancing was your thing. You weren’t in your twenties anymore after all but when you were texting Danielle about it all she told you was that it was something to put you out there, give you something fun to look forward to this weekend.

At the moment you weren’t really focused on your little outing that night. You were a little more concerned about the fact that you hadn’t heard from Callie in the last couple of days.

It wasn’t like Callie. She typically texted you and Danielle at least once daily whether she texted some sort of joke or sent a picture of some silly picture first thing in the morning before going about her day and living her life on her days off. But it had been two days and you found it odd that she hadn’t sent any memes, jokes, or even talked about going out that night.

When the door opened you happened to glance up and you saw Danielle running in with a frantic expression across her features. When Danielle made eye contact with you, you realized she was rushing over to the bar to meet you.

“Y/N, have you heard from Callie lately? I saw her boyfriend this morning and he was out at some diner and he acted like he was just fine while he was sitting beside some girl.” She rambled, catching you off guard with how fast she was talking.

“What? No I haven’t, wait he was with another girl?” You asked.

“Yeah and you wanna know what else? I heard Nelson was visited by two guys in suits. I think the FBI is looking into it. Maybe they caught a glimpse of something with Nelson’s wife and they’re looking into it.”

“But the cops already talked to Nelson. That was the whole point of him not stopping by the bar at all like two days ago. Why would the FBI need to talk to him again? Poor guy’s already been through enough.” You said.

“Well, honestly I don’t think Nelson minds. I bet he’s a little glad he doesn’t have to deal with the constant heartbreak of his wife bumping ugliest with different men every other night.”

“Oh come on, that’s a little bit of an exaggeration.” You tried to give the former Mrs. Nelson the benefit of the doubt.

“Would you really be surprised if it was that often though?” Danielle smirked, you rolled your eyes a little before you started putting some of the clean glasses away to prepare for customers.

“Do you think the FBI will come here to see if we know anything? You know the manager’s out of town this week. What do we tell them if they happen to come in?” Danielle asked, starting to get a little worried, not much to your surprise.

“Danielle, breathe. If they come in and you spot them, just send them to me. I’ve got it covered. Not that they’ll ask anything we have any knowledge about anyway.” You said and Danielle took a deep breath before exhaling and nodding.

“I’m still worried about Callie.” She said.

“Well think about it… if you and your boyfriend broke up, are you going to want to spend a lot of time on your phone for the first couple of days? Or are you going to want to sleep and isolate for a while before you start making public appearances again.” You reasoned.

“I don’t know…”

“I’ll tell you what. After we clock out tonight, we can go over to Callie’s house and check up on her and make sure she’s alright.” You insisted.

“Okay… yeah that sounds like a plan.”

“Now… why don’t you go ahead and clock in and we can get the show on the road. They may not even come at all, and Callie will more than definitely be alright.” You insisted and Danielle nodded.

With that being said the two of you got to work. You were busily serving different customers at the bar with different drinks. Some you were used to making but apparently there were some visitors and they wanted something fancy. Two preppy looking guys had just walked through the door and made themselves comfortable at the bar. They looked like they were the country club type of guys.

“Hey, Miss! Can I get a Boulevardier cocktail over here?” One of them said. He had waved ginger hair and he was wearing a blue golf shirt.

“Yeah and I’ll have Vieux Carre cocktail, Darlin.” The other said. He was blond, hair parted to the side and he wore an orange golf shirt with white stripes.

These people must’ve had the worst taste in clothing, and an even worse taste in drinks. You couldn’t even try and pronounce these things and you weren’t even sure if you had the right ingredients for these stupid sounding drinks.

“Sure. I’ll get right on that for you fellas.” You replied and went to the back to get the glasses. Then you pulled out the phone to see what the heck those drinks were. Luckily for you, you had some similar ingredients, but you weren’t working in a fancy bar so you had some pretty basic drinks, they’ll just have to deal with generic.

You grabbed what you needed and started to make the drinks and you thought you heard Danielle’s voice followed by two gruff sounding voices. Yay, more customers.

You were too focused on making the drinks but that was when Danielle started walking towards the bar with the two men she was talking to.

“Y/N? I’ve got a couple of agents that would like to speak with you.” Danielle called.

When you glanced over you saw a familiar green pair of eyes, the ones that you’ve drawn numerous times. They’ve changed though, like they’ve seen so much more. But seeing Dean there… it was like everything in your world stopped and you accidentally dropped the glasses you needed.

The sound of the glass shattering on the floor snapped you out of it.

You immediately started looking for a broom but Danielle started rushing over to help you, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it for you. What did these guys order?”

“Thank you… Some cocktails with fancy names. I’ll send you the recipes.” You said as you wiped your hands on the apron.

“You okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” She said and you nodded a little.

“Yeah, I’m okay… I’ll tell you later.” You told her, not wanting to be wrong if your suspicions are correct.

You nibbled on your bottom lip softly before letting it go and you walked over to the two federal agents.

Dean was straightening up his tie uncomfortably. All these years later and he still hated these damned monkey suits but then he felt Sam nudge his arm and when Dean looked up, he could feel his breath taken away.

No, it couldn’t be you could it?

You looked so beautiful, time seemed to have done wonders for you and Dean almost found it hard to breathe at the sight of you.

Of all the towns this case had to take place in, it just had to be the one you lived in. Have you heard anything about the case? You didn’t know about all the ugliness out there yet, did you?

“My friend said you wanted to speak with me? How can I help you?”

God your voice brought back so many memories, but Dean couldn’t dwell on them. Besides, you probably forgot about him so what was the point? Still… it was eating at his mind.

“Um… yeah… Agent Peart, could you get us a couple of drinks and maybe talk to one of the other bartenders?” Dean said.

Sam looked over and raised a brow skeptically. Dean was lucky Sam didn’t really question it and the younger Winchester walked off, giving Dean the time to be alone with you.

“So Ms… L/N, right?” Dean asked, almost hesitant.

But he watched the corner of your lips turn upward into a smile, “Yes, Agent Winchester.”

Dean couldn’t help but smile at the fact that you did remember him after all.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d recall…”

“Dean, it may have been a few years since that summer but I’m not old enough for dementia.” You joked.

Dean couldn’t help but laugh a little and the two of you found a place to sit at the bar table. It’s been so long since he’s been this close to you and it felt just like it did before.

“So how’ve you been? How’s your father and the business?” You asked, Dean remembered that he never told you the exact truth. You had a lot to catch up on he supposed.

“Dad um… well he passed several years ago. About five years after that summer, actually.” Dean said and he watched the way you began to frown.

“I’m sorry to hear that… I remember how you used to talk about him and how close you were.” You told him and he gave a bittersweet smile.

“Things well.. they changed in the five years after. A lot did actually. But my brother and I actually take care of the family business.” He told you and you lifted a brow.

“If you’re an agent now, how do you have the time for a traveling business?” You asked and he felt his palms get clammy, knowing that might be a difficult thing to answer.

“Um… well… Agents like me and Peart aren’t always in one place, so I still travel a lot anyway and when I’m off duty I handle the business as much as I can.” He tried to explain in the most believable way possible.

“You never did tell me what kind of business your dad started. I was always so curious.” You said and Dean wished he could tell you the truth.

“Actually… I need to ask you a few questions. I’m sort of on a case and I don’t really have a whole lot of time to catch up this time around.” He admitted softly.

Dean felt his heart sank at the way your shoulders seemed to slump a little before you looked down at your glass of brandy. He wished he could spend as much time with you as possible, but he couldn’t afford to lose anymore people. People have already lost their lives because of him and he couldn’t afford to do that to you too. He couldn’t handle it.

“What is it you want to know, Agent?”

The switch to the professionalism in your tone pierced Dean through the heart. Maybe he should have asked Sam to keep him some company after all, but from the looks of it he was busy interviewing someone else and writing notes down like the nerd he was.

“The owner… did you have many interactions with his wife?” He asked and he watched you shake your head.

“No. Too busy working. Plus she seldom came here anyway. She was more of a promiscuous woman than anything else. Nelson knew that better than anyone else.” You sighed.

“Nelson.. do you think he’d ever want to take revenge on his wife or pay someone to do it?” Dean asked, making this seem like routine questions - in a way they were still important for a hunter’s case. Who knows, maybe Nelson could he the werewolf he was looking for.

“And risk losing the bar because he’s in jail? No. He was hurt by his wife’s actions, yeah. But for a while they tried to work on it, but then they separated for a month. After that they started living together again before the affairs started up again. And from the looks of it he didn’t have the time to deal with his adulterous wife if she wasn’t willing to change. But there were rumors of a divorce.”

“Do you think Nelson had any enemies? Someone that wanted to get to him through the Mrs?” Dean asked.

“Look, Dean. I don’t keep tabs on my boss and his wife. I don’t care about that kind of thing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have customers to serve and you have a murder to solve. Don’t let me keep you.” You said and abruptly stood up and walked away to get back to work.

Dean rubbed his face before pinching the bridge of his nose, “Well that looks like it was a disaster.”

Dean heard the sound of his brother’s voice and he rolled his eyes a little before he got up.

“Let’s get out of here and compare notes…”

“You okay, Man?”

“I’m fine, Sam. Let’s just go.” Dean stated and he pushed his chair in before they walked out of the door after putting some cash on the table top for the drinks.

Once the two of them got into the car, Dean started the Impala and when he was pulling out he started to drive to the hotel, then Sam started to talk again.

“So why were you so in a rush to leave? What the hell happened back there?” Sam asked, causing Dean to grimace a little but he knew his brother wouldn’t let it go until he knew what was going on.

“You remember the girl we were talking about? The cover artist?” He said and Sam nodded.

“Wait, that was Y/N? Why don’t we go back? You two can catch up! It’s just a werewolf case, a milk run. I can handle this and give you time with her.” Sam said; and as much as Dean appreciated the willingness, he knew his chances were probably gone.

“Oh no… what did you do?” Sam asked when Dean went quiet.

“Why is it always something that I did?” Dean asked and Sam scoffed.

“Because, Dean. As smooth as you are with women you’ll never see again, you always screw up with the ones that matter and you let them go. Why are you trying to let this one go?”

“Because I can’t have what happened to Jo and Lisa happen to her. Even though Jo was a hunter, she still got killed! Lisa didn’t have experience with hunting, never wanted anything to do with it, and she just got in trouble just by knowing me.” Dean said sternly, beginning to speed because he wasn’t exactly focused on the road.

“Dean! Slow down! We aren’t on a roller coaster!”

Dean heard his brother’s panicky voice and he eased on the gas and tried to focus on what he was doing and eventually they made it to the hotel. Luckily there weren’t any cops on the road so he didn’t get pulled over or anything on the way. But he turned off the car and Sam cleared his throat a little.

“Sam, I don’t want advice on this one. It’s better to just let this one go.”

“Dean, come on. I know for a fact you still have that picture she drew for you. And you said it yourself, that was the best summer of your life! You deserve to experience that kind of happiness again. Especially since things seem to be so calm right now. No angelic wars, no apocalypses, things are quiet and you deserve a break.”

Dean was still quiet.

“And you still aren’t going to tell me what down at the bar, are you?”

With a grunt, Dean stepped out of the car and started making his way up the stairs to get to their designated room.

Tag List:

@deans-spinster-witch @roseblue373 @nancymcl @jackles010378 @hobby27 @chriszgirl92 @lyarr24 @wirdbeimaufhebengebunden @blackcherrywhiskey @prettyinplaid94 @globetrotter28 @suckitands33

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

And I Know It's Sad, But This Is What I Think About

I'll Write Your Name Chapter 4

Roy Kent x Latina!Popstar!Reader

6.2k words

Warnings: Language, brief mentions of alcohol, spoilers for The Great Gatsby

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Thank you as always to @agentstarkid for being the best and reading all my silly love stories💕

After my third Richmond game, April and I found ourselves once again having dinner with the Greyhounds at Ola’s. This time, Roy Kent and I sat with some of the players, who I was pleased to watch flirt with April; my beautiful assistant and best friend deserved the attention of hot, rich athletes, I decided.

While flirting with professional soccer players seemed to come easy to April, it felt like Roy and I were still figuring out how to flirt with each other. We sat close enough that our shoulders were touching, I flashed him plenty of coy smiles, and he made a point to whisper in my ear every now and then- although it was usually something like “Can I fucking leave now?” But still, if we were going to convince people that this was real, we’d probably have to step things up soon.

I remembered something Keeley had texted me the day before- we needed another date, and soon.

“What’re you doing tomorrow?” I murmured, loud enough for only Kent to hear.

He grunted and shifted in his seat. “Why?” After I simply narrowed my eyes at him, he sighed. “Keeley texted you too, hmm?” He sighed, shoveling another bite into his mouth. “What were you thinking?”

I thought for a moment, trying to avoid something simple like dinner, where we’d have to talk to each other and act like two people who were interested in each other. “Want to go on a picnic? We could bring a couple of books. Wouldn’t have to say a word to each other.”

Roy blinked, clearly processing what I’d just said; I could practically hear gears whirring before he finally spoke. “Sounds fucking perfect.”

Satisfied that I’d done my part, I turned my attention back to my delicious meal; if I got nothing else out of this fake relationship, at least I’d be well-fed for the next few months.

“Hey there!” Keeley Jones plopped down on my other side, smiling broadly at me.

Suddenly very aware of the eyes of the team on me, the way they’d been the night I “met” Keeley the first time I visited Ola’s, I returned her smile with one of my own, going so far as to playfully bump her shoulder with mine.

“Thank you again for inviting us to sit with you and Rebecca,” I gushed, and I really meant it; if I was going to be hanging out at Nelson Road, it was nice to do so in a comfortable suite with champagne in my hand. “It was actually really fun.”

Keeley’s smile widened; it was warm and friendly and genuine, making it obvious why everyone seemed to adore her. “I’m so glad you enjoyed yourself! We’ll have to get you a Kent kit now, eh? I’ve got an old one you could have if you like.”

I swore Roy stiffened next to me. “That’s alright,” I assured her. “I think April was going to order one for me to wear to their next game.” I turned to Roy with a shrug. “Gotta look the part, right?”

Roy mumbled something about getting another beer and stood, pausing only to briefly touch my shoulder; I ignored how warm his touch was. Once he was gone, I turned my attention back to Keeley, whose eyes were following Roy with something that looked a lot like pity.

“How’re you two getting on?” she asked in a low voice, scooching closer.

The only response that felt right was a shrug. “It’s fine,” I murmured. “Definitely working on getting used to each other. Going from complete strangers to dating is… a unique way of getting to know someone.” She seemed to be waiting for me to continue, so I added, “We’re going on a picnic tomorrow. I told him we could bring a couple books, that way we don’t have to just stare at each other the whole time.”

The corner of Keeley’s mouth tugged upwards knowingly. “Now that is a perfect idea,” she said, eyes shifting back to Roy as he approached, beer in hand. “Absolutely perfect.”

~

“How’s here?”

Roy grunted in response and dropped the picnic basket to the ground. Ten minutes felt like far too long to look for the “perfect” picnic spot, but Keeley had been kind of specific; it needed to be a public enough spot that they would be seen, but secluded enough that it didn’t look like they were trying to be seen.

He was beginning to wish they’d just gone to the pub again; at least then he could have a pint.

Instead, he helped spread out the blanket they’d brought with them and opened up the picnic basket, the one Keeley had dropped off at his house early that morning and that his date- when the fuck would he have to start saying girlfriend?- had loaded with lunch and snacks. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of food she’d packed. Probably something trendy and vegan-y. Was she a vegan? Roy didn’t fucking know. But she was young and trendy and pretty and-

“Here.” She shoved something wrapped in white paper into his hands. “Should we eat first?”

Roy gingerly unwrapped the bundle, immediately recognizing its contents. “Is this a fucking kebab?”

She shrugged, already chomping on a bite of her own kebab. “Yeah. That a problem?”

Ignoring the annoyance in her voice, Roy took a bite; fuck, he’d know that flavor anywhere. “Where’d you get this?”

“That kebab place you like.” Her tone was casual, as if it didn’t matter. “I asked Keeley what you like, she sent me the address.” After eating another bite, she shrugged. “The owner asked me to bring in a headshot next time, said he’d give me free kebabs for life.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Roy’s grip tightened on his kebab; he ate there at least once a week and still was never given so much as a discount. But she goes in once and gets kebabs for life? Fucking hell. Well, at least he’d get to take advantage for the next few months. Maybe he would benefit from this charade after all.

Still munching on her kebab, she reached into the bag she’d brought and pulled out a book, settling herself into a comfortable position before opening it. Roy took the hint and grabbed his own book out of the picnic basket, a murder mystery his sister had given him for his birthday. He glanced up over the top of his book to get a glimpse of what she was reading.

“The Great Gatsby?” he asked, raising his thick eyebrows.

She nodded, her gaze still on her book. “It’s my favorite,” she said simply. After a moment, her eyes flickered up to meet Roy’s. “I try to read it every year.”

Not sure why he was still talking, Roy sat up a little straighter. “Every year? I mean, yeah, it’s a fucking good book, but why would you read it every fucking year?”

“It’s… familiar.” She set the book down, now fully looking at Roy. “Everyone is desperate to be at Gatsby’s parties, to be surrounded by his wealth and glamor, to drink his booze and enjoy his hospitality.” She frowned, eyes flittering back to the book. “But then only a handful of people attend his funeral. Once the party is over, no one cares about him anymore.” She looked back at Roy. “That’s going to be me, isn’t it?”

Roy was speechless. Something about the softness in her eyes was so familiar, almost like looking in a mirror. That’s going to be me, isn’t it? How many times had Roy mumbled something just as cynical and broken? How many people- reporters, women, friends, even family- had stopped calling once he slowed down? How many more once he stepped off the field for the last time? In her eyes Roy could see the same dejection and fear of loneliness that had nestled itself inside Roy’s chest these last few years. It was something hard to explain, something one could only understand if they’d felt it deep in their souls. And it seemed to be something they both shared.

But instead of admitting to understanding how she felt and allowing her to glimpse behind his scowls and hard expressions, Roy simply shifted on the blanket and bit off his lunch. “Fucking hell. Are you always some fucking tortured poet, sunshine?”

Her face faltered for only a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for Roy to want to kick himself for ruining the moment. She quickly recovered, picking her book back up and burying herself back into Jay Gatsby’s empty affluence. “Read your fucking book, Kent,” she mumbled, flipping a page absently. “There’s a photographer in those bushes.”

Sure enough, when Roy glanced around out of the corner of his eye, he could just make out the familiar sight of a camera lens.

~

“So, how’s it going with Roy Kent?”

Lanie looked perky as we sat in her office. My guard was immediately up; a perky publicist was never a good sign, I’d learned. It usually meant they had something rotten to tell you.

Anticipating whatever it was, I slouched into my seat, ready to narrow my eyes or scowl at a moment’s notice. “It’s fine,” I mumbled. “Keeley Jones said our picnic date got a lot of positive attention, and she said the Greyhounds’ viewership has skyrocketed since I started attending matches. So, it looks like we’re doing our jobs pretty well. Is my press looking good?”

Lanie nodded, eyes on her phone. “Good, good,” she said absently, as if she wasn’t really listening.

“Lanie?” I called.

She looked back up at me. “Well, with the Roy Kent stuff, you’ve got plenty of attention, and it looks like people are excited to see you in a new relationship, especially with someone who looks like him.” She ignored the way I wrinkled my nose. “But, uh, this morning I got wind of something that might take a little attention away from you and Roy.” She handed me her phone with a grimace.

The photo was kind of blurry, but I knew the two figures immediately. Everett- my most recent ex- nuzzling close to Cameron, the woman who had once called herself my best friend until she found out that a boyfriend of hers hit on me. Even though I had clearly rebuffed him and told Cam right away, she very publicly ended our friendship and even more publicly accused me of trying to steal her man. And now, irony of ironies, there she was, attached to my ex-boyfriend like the leech Lanie had always warned me she was.

“Lovely,” I finally snorted, gingerly handing the phone back to Lanie. “Do we think it’s real or just for attention? I know Cam’s new show starts filming soon.”

Lanie rolled her eyes. “Please, they’re not clever enough to pull off something calculated. If anything, he’s trying to make you jealous and she’s trying to get revenge on you. Idiots.” She sighed and dropped her phone onto the coffee table. “But, of course, your name’s being dragged into it. The phrase ‘love triangle’ has been trending on Twitter all morning.”

“Gross.”

“Agreed.” Lanie rolled her neck, something she often did when she was stressed. “I’ve been on the phone with Keeley this morning, and we both agree it’s time to step things up with you and Roy. Go public, make things official. Attend an event together that’s not a Richmond dinner.”

How much further could I slouch before I ended up lying down on the couch? “What event did you guys have in mind?”

“Your annual fabulous karaoke party!”

Keeley Jones strutted into the office with Roy right behind her. She greeted Lanie and I each with friendly hugs and kisses on cheeks; Roy, on the other hand, opted for short nods to each of us. Lanie stood and motioned for Roy to take her seat beside me; we shuffled awkwardly to ensure our knees wouldn’t bump.

Once we were all settled, I turned to Keeley, who now stood next to Lanie. “My karaoke party?” I echoed, feeling my stomach churn.

The “party” was the main fundraiser I threw every year for my nonprofit back home; it was near and dear to my heart, incredibly personal, and my favorite night of the year.

And now I’d have to share it with Roy Kent.

Sensing my unease, Lanie smiled at me, one of her reassuring smiles, the kind she always had for me after a bad bit of press. “It’ll be great publicity,” she pointed out. “You’ll probably raise even more than you did last year. Can you imagine how many people will register for the livestream? Especially if he sings,” she added, pointing at Roy.

“Sing?” the manager practically spat. “I have to sing at this party?”

With a sigh that even I knew was overdramatic, I turned to look at him, taking in his scowl and furrowed brow. “It’s a karaoke party,” I explained slowly, remembering how condescending he’d been the very first time we’d spoken in front of the elevator at Keeley’s office. “People pay a pretty penny for a ticket, there’s a paid livestream of all the singing, and I always release a new song, with all the proceeds going to my nonprofit. It’s… kind of a big deal.”

When Roy frowned, I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he processed this new information. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth. “You should invite some of the guys. They’d definitely fucking sing.”

Keeley bounced happily at Roy’s suggestion. “That would be perfect! And it would really show the two of you becoming part of each other’s worlds too.” She quickly tapped at her phone, somehow lighting up even brighter. “And it’s a bye week for them!” She shot me a wink. “Looks like the universe is really lining things up for us, hmm?”

All I could do was smile weakly, my mind spinning from learning about my ex-boyfriend and ex-friend becoming an item and finding out that I’d have to spend my favorite night of the year with a man who had barely glanced at me since that night we played darts together. I made up my mind to ask Lanie if my reputation really needed this much help or if she, as usual, was overreacting. Just as soon as Roy and Keeley left, I decided. Surely, with the numbers my upcoming tour sales was doing, along with the amount of people already signed up for the fundraiser’s livestream, and with all this social media attention, could dating a former soccer star turned grumpy coach really help that much?

“Oi, sunshine, your place or mine?”

Sunshine. Roy’s gruff use of the name he’d mumbled during our picnic had me snapping back to attention, out of my planned objections to my publicist. I stared at Roy blankly, trying to imagine what in the hell I’d missed that had him prompting what I thought he might be prompting- especially in front of his ex-girlfriend.

“She was zoning out,” Lanie quickly explained as she threw an M&M at me, her usual way of bringing me back to attention. “We want you two to have a sleepover,” she said loudly, as if she was repeating herself- which she probably was. “Something simple and domestic. Something you can post on your socials so continue this little soft launch. Something to help make things believable.”  

Roy nodded. “Keeley says just being seen in public isn’t enough to make it seem real. We’ve got to really sell this shit.” He scowled at me. “So, your place or mine?”

Okay, so that made a lot more sense than what I’d feared he was asking me. “My place,” I said, clearing my throat. “You can come over to my place.”

~

Roy let out a low growl as he pulled up to the front gate of the address on his phone. He quickly punched in the gate code she’d sent him, relieved he didn’t have to call her to let him in, and drove up the short driveway.

Her house wasn’t what he’d imagined; with the money he- and the rest of the world- knew she was worth, Roy’d figured she lived in a fucking castle or some modern monstrosity. Instead, he walked in the moonlight to the door of a sweet two-story house, blinking as he read the doormat that declared “There’s no place like home”. He heaved his duffel bag over his shoulder and sharply knocked on the door, sucking his breath between his teeth. Another step in this weird, weird fucking situation he found himself in.

When the door opened, Roy instinctively took a step back, forcing himself to look her in the eye. She nodded curtly to him, gesturing for him to enter the house. “Kent,” was her simple greeting.

He returned the curt reception with a grunt of his own and followed her inside and into her sitting room, marveling at how the house did not match his expectations. He’d figured it would be something like Keeley’s place, all bright and pink and stylish with fluffy pillows everywhere. But everything was simple and cozy, and there were a lot more photos than he expected. Her family, he assumed, as his eyes lingered on a photo of her with a couple of pre-teen kids. In one corner was a piano, one he figured she used a lot, and one wall was completely covered with a bookshelf, which housed a large and clearly well-used library. It reminded Roy a bit of his own place if he was being honest. Simple, homey, and probably a refuge from a life lived in the public eye.

Before he could ask about the framed drawing that was clearly done by a child around Pheobe’s age, something brushed against Roy’s leg. “What the fuck?” he bellowed, looking down to see a cat staring back up at him.

“That’s Sydney,” his host explained, picking up the animal. “Syd, say hi to Roy.” She kissed the top of the cat’s head. “Apparently we need to get used to him,” she stage-whispered into the cat’s fur.

Roy snorted as he focused his gaze on the cat. He could almost appreciate the sarcasm in her voice- almost. Instead, he gestured to his duffel bag. “Where can I set this down? Are you sticking me in the backyard, or do I have to sleep in my car?”

With something resembling a smirk on her lips, she set the cat down and once again beckoned for Roy to follow her. “I’ve got a guest room,” she assured him as she led him down the hall. She let Roy enter the room alone, choosing to linger in the hallway and watch him drop his bag to the floor. She cleared her throat as the cat- Sydney- caught up with them. “I ordered a pizza,” she mumbled, shifting her weight. “We could, I don’t fucking know, watch a movie or something until, well...”

Right. Fucking sleepover. “Yeah, sounds fine,” Roy muttered, staring at the cat. He’d probably spend most of his night looking at the animal, he realized. “I’m just gonna… throw on some fucking sweats. If that’s alright.”

She nodded, her cool demeanor reappearing. “Do your thing,” she said airily. “Let me know if you need anything.” After giving Roy a firm, businesslike nod, she was gone.

With a shake of his head, Roy quickly threw on some sweats and a t-shirt, trying not to put too much thought into what the evening ahead held. Was this really necessary? Did the other fake couples Keeley knew- which she assured him was quite a few- have to go to such lengths? Knowing Keeley, she was probably just trying to push Roy’s buttons, see how far she could take this shit before Roy snapped.

But again, he was trying to prove to her that he was willing to go above and beyond for her. Anything for Keeley, he reminded himself as he trudged back into the sitting room.

He plopped himself down on the couch, where Sydney the Cat was already perched and watching Roy with narrowed cat eyes. Jamie had once compared Roy to a cat during a team dinner, he remembered. Not very social, easy to annoy, but incredibly loyal and affectionate once they decided to let someone in. Keeley had found the comparison hilarious and proceeded to call Roy “Fluffy” for the rest of the night. He chuckled to himself at the memory; he should send Keeley a picture of Sydney and let her know he remembered the joke. He always remembered Keeley’s jokes.

As he reached for his mobile, a voice came from the direction of what he assumed was the kitchen. “You eat pepperoni, right? I forgot to ask.”

The most glamorous popstar in the world strolled back into the sitting room holding a cardboard box in her hands with two bottles of beer balanced on top. Instead of her usual dresses or fashionable outfits Roy and the rest of the world was used to seeing her in, she wore a particularly tiny pair of sleep shorts and a Greyhounds sweatshirt- the one Roy had seen her wear to their matches lately.

Roy wasn’t blind. He knew she was a stunning woman, whether she was on an album cover or, apparently, in her pyjamas. And if he’d bothered to give the matter even two seconds of thought, he would’ve noted that he rather liked her figure, especially when she looked so comfortable and domestic. But Roy couldn’t think about that. Not when he heard Keeley’s name come out of her mouth.

“Keeley said to make sure we both post on our socials,” she was saying, either missing or ignoring the way Roy’s eyes lingered for a moment too long on her bare legs. “Why I couldn’t just send you something to post is beyond me.” She set the pizza down on the coffee table and plopped onto the couch, a respectable distance from Roy’s spot. “Like, is you coming over really, truly necessary?”

Roy snorted and made himself busy with a beer. “I was thinking the same thing,” he admitted. “But Keeley’s always got a method to her fucking madness. You learn to just fucking go with it.” Deciding he needed to look at something that wasn’t the way she was stretching out comfortably on her couch, Roy stood abruptly and meandered over to her bookshelf. “You read a lot?” he said, scanning her collection more closely now.

“When I can,” came her breezy answer. “I’d love to say I’ve read everything on that shelf, but that’s mostly a collection of books I want to read.”

“Maybe we can do more reading dates.” Roy didn’t know what the fuck made him say that; it just slipped out as he stared at a particularly worn copy of The Bell Jar. When he glanced over his shoulder, he was surprised to see a smile on her face.

She shrugged and sipped her own beer. “Sure, Kent. Sounds good.”

Ignoring whatever feeling was forming in his chest, Roy returned to the shelf, recognizing some names and finding himself curious about others. Finally, he spotted a stack of games on the bottom shelf. He noted that there were about four versions of the same game. “You like Scrabble?” he blurted out, desperate to put distance between himself and his picnic suggestion.

“Love it,” she laughed. “When my parents came to the States from Mexico, they were each pretty young and worked really hard to learn English. They wanted to make sure all of their kids were fluent in English, so in our house we were always reading and playing games like Scrabble.” Her smile became a smirk. “My youngest brother refuses to play with me anymore because I kind of win a lot.”

The competitive streak that made Roy a football legend started to bubble up in his chest. “That so?” He picked up one of the boxes and brought it over to the coffee table. “Let’s see, then.”

~

“You can’t put that word!” I cackled, throwing my head back when I saw the word Roy was putting on the board.

Roy smirked and put the ‘C’ down with finality. “I absolutely fucking can. And I did so…” He shrugged. “Gimme my points, sunshine.”

After updating Roy’s score, I snapped a photo of the board. “That’s going on Instagram,” I warned him with a smirk. I quickly shared the picture and put my phone down, trusting that Lanie would text me later about the post blowing up.

We finished one game, then another, and started a third. We didn’t talk much, but it didn’t feel as awkward as those first few dinners with the Greyhounds. Sydney laid close to Roy, clearly already used to him, and I couldn’t deny the warm feeling in my chest when I saw him absently stroke her fur between turns. Maybe we’ll be friends, I thought fondly as I put down the tiles for my latest turn. Real, actual friends.

“Calamitous?” Roy read, wrinkling his nose. “What the fuck is calamitous? Is that even a word?”

I smirked and sipped my beer. “It absolutely is!” I stood and strolled over to my bookshelf, returning with the Scrabble dictionary my sister had given me a couple years ago. “Look it up.”

After shooting me a suspicious look, Roy flipped through the book; his scowl told me he had indeed found calamitous.

“It’s a good word,” I said as I sat back down. “One of my favorites. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to put it in a song.”

His gaze turned thoughtful as he stared at his letter tiles. “You written anything lately?” Before I could answer, he opened his mouth again. “You said something about a song for your fundraiser thing. It’s a new one, right?”

I nodded, squirming a bit as I thought about the song, one I’d been pouring a lot of myself into. “Yeah. I always release a new song after the party.” My eyes fell so Sydney, curled up close to Roy. “Want to hear a bit?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

His almost silly answer was enough to get me to my feet and retrieving my guitar from the extra room I often worked in. When I came back, Roy sat up straight, his gaze trained on my guitar as I settled on the couch.

“It’s called ‘Nothing New’,” I explained as I began to strum my guitar. “Here’s the chorus.”

Lord, what will become of me

Once I've lost my novelty?

I've had too much to drink tonight

And I know it's sad, but this is what I think about

And I wake up in the middle of the night

It's like I can feel time moving

How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?

And will you still want me when I'm nothing new?

When I finally looked at Roy, his mouth was agape, and he was blinking rapidly.

“Fucking hell,” he whispered. “That’s good. That’s really fucking good.” He shook his head. “Reminds me of that shit you said the other day, about Gatsby and funerals and all that.” He sighed, a heavy, sad sound, and his voice was almost impossible to hear. “Fucking reminds me of me.”

I didn’t know what to say to that; I vaguely knew the story of Roy’s injury, the one that ended his career, and Dani had said something about it taking a while for Roy to find his way back to Richmond after his retirement. But I didn’t think Roy was the kind of person who liked to talk about anything, let alone what was probably the worst time in his life. So instead, I watched him stare stonily at my silent guitar, not saying a word when he stood abruptly, something I was quickly getting used to seeing.

“I should fucking sleep,” he mumbled, taking care to grab a couple of empty bottles. “Gotta be out of here early for training. Thanks for the pizza. And the beer.” He nodded to my guitar. “And the song.” After nudging Sydney gently with his foot, Roy turned on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen; I didn’t move from my spot until I heard the guest room door shut with finality.

~

~

Roy sighed as he sat down in front of the assembled reporters, all waiting to pounce on him after a hard-earned Greyhound victory. As always, Keeley stood in the back of the room, an encouraging smile on her face, the kind of smile that always gave Roy the strength to tackle what was probably his least favorite part of the job.

He answered several questions about the match- probably one of their best of the season, if he was being honest with himself- before the topic he was dreading finally reared its head.

“Coach Kent,” some wanker from a publication Roy couldn’t be bothered to remember called out, “care to say anything about the rumors concerning your latest fling?”

Instinctively, Roy bared his teeth and squared his shoulders before leaning forward, ready to growl out, “No.” However, a raised eyebrow from Keeley had him taking a deep breath; she’d trained him for this, he reminded himself. He knew what he was supposed to say. “We’re just… spending time together,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. “It’s been… nice, getting to know each other.” When he looked at Keeley, she was giving him a big thumbs up; it was enough to have him continue. “She’s different than I expected,” he added, nodding more to himself than anyone else.

“How’d you two meet?”

He coughed into his hand; he knew how to answer this, too. “She’s good friends with Dani Rojas,” he explained, wondering if it sounded as rehearsed as it felt. “So, she came to a match and then came out with the team afterwards. We danced a little, and then she gave me her phone number.” Again, Keeley smiled encouragingly. “It’s been kind of fucking cool, having her at our matches. She’s really embraced the Richmond way.” That last bit was something Keeley had come up with; normally, Roy would think it sounded incredibly lame and positively cheesy. But, since Keeley was the mastermind, he didn’t complain one bit.

Another reporter spoke up. “Will you be at her upcoming fundraiser? The karaoke party is legendary.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Roy answered with what he hoped was a good-natured smirk. “Get enough drinks in me, I might even fucking sing.” For a brief moment, the chuckles that filled the room reminded Roy of how this room sounded when Ted was there; he hadn’t realized he actually missed that sound.

“Have you heard her new song?” The voice was hopeful, as if Roy was about to give everyone a big scoop, let the sports reporters have something the gossip columnists would kill for.

For the first time since the press conference began, Roy’s smile was real. “I’ve heard a little,” he admitted. “And I won’t tell you a fucking thing, except that it’s fucking brilliant.”

Roy maneuvered around a few more questions- Would she be attending more Richmond matches?  (“Hopefully.”) Would Roy be going to any of the shows during her upcoming tour. (“We’ll see.”) Who won their Scrabble tournament? (“No fucking comment.”)- before he was finally set free. He and Keeley reconvened in his office, making sure no one else was around before assessing how Roy’s first official acknowledgement of the “relationship” had gone.

“You did a great job,” Keeley assured him from her perch on the edge of his desk, a spot she’d taken countless times. “Might be the most charming I’ve ever seen you at a presser, Roy. Looks like she’s really rubbing off on you.” Her wink had Roy’s insides squirming. “Did you really hear the song already?”

“Yeah,” Roy mumbled, slouching in his seat. “She played some for me the other night, during our sleepover.” He surprised even himself by not rolling his eyes at the word sleepover. “It’s fucking sad,” he continued, completely unprompted. “But really beautiful. Nothing like the fluffy stuff you hear on the radio.”

Keeley gently tossed a stray paperclip at Roy. “Oi, I like her fluffy stuff! And so does Phoebe, I might add.” Her smile widened. “Your niece wants to know when you’re introducing her to your girlfriend, by the way. It’s all she talked about at our last Pheebs and Keels Day.”

Roy shook his head. “Oh no,” he scoffed, folding his arms. “Not fucking happening. Last thing I need is for her to get attached. Look what happened with-”

Fuck.

The smile disappeared from Keeley’s face. “Right,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands. “Yeah, might not be the best idea, eh?” After a moment, she perked up again, reigniting the energy in the room. “Have you two kissed yet?”

“What the fuck Keeley?” Roy hissed, looking around the obviously empty office; she’d sure recovered quickly from the awkward moment he’d caused.

She shrugged, clearly unfazed. “You’re officially together and are starting to go out in public as a couple. It’ll look funny if you don’t start being affectionate soon. I figured maybe you two’d gotten it out of the way already, so your first kiss isn’t in front of the cameras."

Shit. Roy hadn’t even started to think about how they’d act now that things were “official”. Had she?

“Don’t fucking worry about it,” Roy mumbled, wondering why he was blushing so furiously. “I’m a forty-year-old man, Keeley. I know how to kiss a woman.”

“Yeah, but she’s not just any woman,” Keeley pointed out as she stood. “Just something to think about.” She paused, studying Roy’s face carefully. “You really did do a good job in there, Roy. I almost believed you for a second, smiling and blushing as you gushed about that gorgeous girl.” Her smile returned, completely full of mischief. “Anything you want to share?”

Roy narrowed his eyes at his ex and threw the paper clip she’d tossed at him earlier. “Fuck off, Keeley,” was all he managed before the giggling blonde strutted out of the office. He looked down at his phone to check where the guys would be going after the match; after all, he was expected to be there with-

“Hey there!”

Roy looked up at the sound of Keeley’s cheery voice. His “girlfriend” came into view, smiling tightly at Keeley as they squeezed by each other through the doorway. The popstar saluted as she entered the office.

“Hey, Kent,” she hummed, pausing by the door and leaning against the frame. “I was thinking, want to ride to the restaurant together?”

He heard what she said. He knew he had. But the only thing he could focus on was her mouth, the same mouth that had left lipstick marks on his cheek and had formed a smile when she won two Scrabble games in a row. The same mouth he’d have to kiss soon. He’d kissed plenty of women; hell, he’d more than kissed plenty of women. And those were kisses he’d actually meant.

So why the fuck did his palms feel sweaty at the thought of fake-kissing this woman?

“Kent? Kent?”

Oh fucking hell, she’d caught him staring.

Roy cleared his throat and stood up, pocketing his mobile. “Alright, yeah. Let’s go.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as they walked out of the office. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fucking fine.” Roy’s hand balled into a fist at his side as he fought the urge to clear his throat again.

“Okay then.” They walked silently down the hall, looking nothing at all like a couple in love. Finally, she bumped him with her shoulder. “Saw your press conference,” she said, her voice light and teasing.

Roy nodded, wondering if his face looked as warm as it felt. “What’d you think?”

When he glanced at her, she was staring straight ahead- and smiling. “You told them you liked the song.” Her voice could only be described as pleased.

“Well, yeah,” Roy mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s the truth. It’s… it’s really fucking good. I can’t wait to hear the rest.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. Finally, she looked at him, her face serious now. “Hey, there’s some reporters hanging around outside. D’you think we should hold hands or something?”

Roy’s eyes flickered down to her outstretched hand before returning to her face; she gazed at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for his answer.

“Probably a good idea,” he murmured. With that, he took her hand in his, giving it a small squeeze as they walked out of the Dog Track.

He kept her hand in his as they walked through the parking lot; while his eyes stayed trained on his giant black car, she smiled sweetly at the couple of reporters who called their names and even offered a small wave in their direction. Roy held her door open and helped her climb inside, closing the door once she was settled. Once he was in the driver’s seat, he resisted the urge to grab her hand; old habit from dating Keeley, he told himself.

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder why his hand felt so cold without her fingers intertwined with his.

Taglist: @infinetlyforgotten@ladygrey03@book-of-roses@thatonedogwithablog@misshall14@wibblywobblyvampywolfystuff@akornsworld@itswhateveripromise@purecinnamonextract@oceanncurrent@dearvoidgoodnight@hopefulromances@respondingtoshowerthoughts-blog@hotleaf-juice@emmy2811@captainorbust-blog@preciousbabypeter@shion-ah@royalestrellas@eugene-emt-roe@littleesilvia@teenwolf01@sisinever@yagotgames@queen-of-the-downtown-scene @emmaallisonann @mrdsturd @confessionsofatotaldramaslut

[lesbianjobutupaki]

Art practice by trying some other artist's styles that I'm a huge fan of!

From Top Left to Bottom Right:

@ghostishere0 - the original reason I started this doodle, as I wanted to draw a "shepherd lovers squad" and their OC (who I don't know the name of F) was the perfect fit for it.

@luminesparkz - the best interpretation of Pom pikmin. If I were Mr. Nitendo, I would make them the official comic creator along with the manga comics.

@marblyso - If I was a little more unhinged and made a shrine to Erma Shepherd, it would be mostly marblyso's art of her, it's my absolute favorite Erma depiction <3

@rexscanonwife - another OC that I don't know the name of, but she makes such a cute pair with Shepherd and has such cute art that why not, let Shepherd have multiple canon wives at this point.

@citruscrisp - I think this is secretly Alph in an alternate universe where he makes comics about himself, because citrus has Alph's character SPOT ON, and also loves to put that boy in a situation (which I am happy for, I enjoy seeing that boy in a situation)

@daisythecomic - oooaaaaaaaaaa they look like little mice people they look so soft and sweet I love them so muuuuuuuuuccchhhhhhhhh

@louie-posting - I can't not include actual Louie Pikmin on this list.

@kiwilittle - the soft, the sweet, the one who makes the best family style art, really making me wish I was an inch tall so I could go to holidays with the olimar family, also their wife design is so cute that if Olimar didn't already get it I would shoot my shot for her m a a m

@pikbugz - really nails the soft aesthetic that makes pikmin such a calming series, and their coloring style is so soft and good that it gives me the ratatouille nostalgia flashback moment.

@splitster - more than just the wraith au guy, they are the one who makes incredible and funny comics; I've seen so many fics with the rescue corps where I can pick up that yes, this trait came from a splitster comic, and that's a GOOD thing. Made me actually LIKE Dingo, the nerve.

@diesaur - I can't do diesaur's incredible, unique art justice, they are amazing at using geometrics and have the best charlie (his little teefs...)

@solluxander - Cars, one of my favorite pikmin Ocs I've ever seen! Collin deserves a slightly unhinged sentient fluffball boyfriend, and I always love seeing the new ways Cars will interact with him.

@sillypikmin - all hail the best pikposter, who I'm still convinced is an actual leafling living on actual pnf-404, literally every time I have a bad day I look at drawings of Moss and feel better.

@eggpathy - thank goodness they came back to give us old man yaoi. I keep their drawing of olimar kissing the pikmin good night on my phone and look at it before I go to sleep and so far I have yet to have a single nightmare.

@the-knife-consumer - the only person I trust with Louittany, toxic yuri my beloved, I just adore their beasty brittany design so so much, I wish I could have a small brittany to live in my house...

anyway they have the best headcanons for our beloved blorbo hamster people

@natibranch - there's a voice line of Louie going "wa-ha!" in this really cute sing-song voice and every time I see any art by natibranch I hear that sound in my head as a little burst of serotonin, they just nail that exact feeling so so well.

@pikked-min - Another of my favorite Pikmin OCs, Yuva! A really interesting and unique character concept with a lot of thought put into the worldbuilding, followed by a strong unusual personality that had me looking at the pikmin world through a new perspective entirely. Please, someone, give them some sunglasses. Read the fic it's so good

@ssserf - artistic and deep while still somehow looking like official nintendo tm art, genuinely the best at the pikmin proportions, how could I resist trying my hand at the classic amazing beautiful Brittany Fruit Sweater moment, literally SO iconic

@kashi-pon - while I was working on the part of this that was just kashi's various highlife dresses there was a part of me that wanted to dedicate the rest of the space to paying homage to the joke comic of Louie lifting his skirt to show Olimar that he's wearing shorts, except this dress....well......

@diamondwerewolf - the reason we got louie in a little bunny outfit anyway, and thus why we got kashi's dress version. you single-handedly turned Louie into a tumblr sexyman, how could you

[myreia]

wip whenever

tagged by @galadae and @coldshrugs, thank you! 💖

tagging @bearlytolerant, @thevikingwoman, @impossible-rat-babies, @hylfystt, @allaganexarch, @birues & @roguelioness.

I'm lost in an Echo scene from Chapter 5, Aureia's family sucks. ✌️Stormblood spoilers-ish.

Laughter hums on Elgara’s lips and she returns to her paperwork with smooth, controlled movements. Kallias has always been easy to rile up. It is his greatest weakness—and it is easy to exploit.

“That possessive streak will be the end of you,” she says, tutting lightly. “Go about it then, if you’re so inclined. You don’t need my permission. I’m sure the legatuses would be overjoyed to hear of the death of the Warrior of Light. Perhaps if you offer them proof, they would even reward you.”

He snarls under his breath and bites his tongue, his riposte contained.

“Or does the thought give you pause? Do you fear, perhaps, that you aren’t strong enough? Is that why you’ve come here, crawling back to your mother, riddled with doubt and uncertainty?”

“I don’t doubt, I—”

Elgara sets her pen aside and rises from her chair, unfurling to her full height. She towers above her son, casting a long shadow across the observation deck’s floor. “Kira has something you don’t,” she says. “She has had it her whole life, it is what made her unique. Special. An asset. Your father and I sought to tap it, but we did not have the knowledge or the foresight to understand what we were dealing with. But Aulus mal Asina did. He was a visionary. And someone must continue his work.”

Red. Blue. Red. Blue.

The lights cycle, flashing over Elgara and Kallias, casting them into darkness. The solider inhales once more, her breath as sharp as ice. She presses herself against the door, gazing inwards, her form unnoticed in the shadows. A shiver ran down her spine at the mention of Aulus’ name. She recalls him, of course she does. She remembers his youth when she met him near two decades ago, bright-eyed and intense, speaking theories dismissed by his superiors as fanciful dreams at best and psychosis at worst. It was he who first spoke of Echoes and Resonants, of gifting the Garlean people the ability to control aether.

She recalls what he did to Krile. What he did to Fordola… and Zenos, too.  

How his life ended, screeching about data and souls with his dying breath on the floor of the Ala Mhigan palace. Forgotten and abandoned by the prince he had devoted himself to.

His research, as he called it, should have ended there.

Inside the observation room, Elgara approaches her son step by dreaded step. She may be no soldier, and yet she engulfs him. Outmatches him. Outwits him. Kallias is no small man, and yet compared to her imposing height he is so small. So insignificant.

“Don’t you see, Kal?” she says, her voice low and strangely soothing in its intensity. The voice of someone who can lull others into implicit trust by the sheer power of command and self-assurance. “Kira is a liability, but liabilities can be exploited. Her usefulness to Garlemald has not ended. You wish to kill her; I will not doubt your thirst for vengeance, it is more than understandable. But think on it. Kill her and we lose her forever.”

He grunts, the panicked sound strangled in his throat. “Have you forgotten what she’s done, mother? What she—”

“Shh.” She arrives before him and places a hand to his chin. It’s a gentle gesture; on anyone else it would be caring. But on her it is empty, a gesture of inspection and observation. “Capture her and our opportunities are thrown wide. We can reclaim what we have lost, you and I. Theorzen will be a name to be respected; no longer will it be spat upon like the rest.”

He closes his eyes, his expression still.

“You deserve more than the lot you have been given, Kallias. And she can gift you the strength you deserve to carry. The skills and talents that should have gone to you. A transference. A replication. A Resonant of your very own, one derived from the Warrior of Light. With it, you can have your vengeance. With it, you can outmatch even Zenos himself.”

His eyelids flutter and he grimaces, lip curling back. Then he crumples into her and clings, shoulders shuddering with the aftershock of silent tears. In this moment, there is no sign of the operative and the spy. In this moment, he is a child coming home.

It makes the soldier’s blood boil. Lost in her anger, she slips and cracks her forehead against the door, helmet banging against the glass. Her vision blurs red and her knees give out from under her. When she finally clears her vision, she finds herself huddles on the stairwell floor, looking in as Elgara enfolds her son into her embrace.

A spike of jealousy flares in the pit of her stomach. Unwanted. Unneeded. Unexplained.  

She curses her inability to do anything but observe.

Elgara cradles him, a hand resting against the back of his head, stroking his matted hair. “Bring your sister to me, Kal,” she croons. “Bring her to me and I can make it happen. I wish for it to happen. It should have been you all along.”

Kallias stills. His expression hardens, his lips pressed firm together. Slowly, one by one his fingers lift as he loosens his grip. The danger and the malice return, blazing bright in his red eyes. “No,” he breathes.

[xxsycamore]

Since I'm all for IkeRev and I'm all for the sapphics... Hope I still can request this! WLW Bodyguard AU featuring Genderbent!Oliver who has to constantly save baka MC because she's so naive she gives her a constant headache.

Whoops, I had a field day with this one. I couldn't help it, the prompt was too good 😭❤ Thank you anon, hope you like it!!

[ 🌈 part of the character x character or genderbent!character x mc requests🌈 ]

For Different Universe, Same Love creative challenge, hosted by @queengiuliettafirstlady and me.

𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐀𝐔 ┅┅┅genderbent!Oliver x Alice

𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬

"A-LI-CE!"

Olivia calls out with hands cupped around her mouth, hoping the airhead would finally, finally hear her.

Accepting her offer to go to the beach was the absolute worst idea, yet she still fell for those pleading large blue eyes. "I'll be safe because you, my bodyguard, will be there with me, Olivia!" "Magical Disciples don't go to the beach, Olivia!"

Olivia gives up on shouting, resorting to rubbing the bridge of her nose in vain attempts to soothe her headache instead. At least the sun just has set which means that 1) being in her adult form means she can finally reach Alice's head to give it a deserving bonk 2) the beach is getting emptier! somewhat. Screw those late-beach enjoyers still making the Alice search harder.

Olivia recalls all the trouble she had to go through to keep Alice safe today.

***

"Okay, I found the sunscreen. Alice, turn your back to me so I can- Alice? Alice?!"

Olivia turns to see Alice three beach towels away from their spot, talking with a very suspicious person.

"Eh? Mister, why are you dressed in black from head to toe at the beach? Did you forget your sunscreen? My friend Olivia has some, I'll go get it-"

Olivia strides fast on the scorching hot sand to snatch Alice back to safety. "We don't have any. We used it all up. Goodbye."

***

"Here is your ball. Be careful next time, kiddos."

After retrieving some kids' beachball, Olivia turns to where Alice was relaxing on a floatie just a second ago - only to find out she's nowhere in sight.

"Alice? Alice?!"

Sheltering her sight from the sun, Olivia spots Alice drifting away in the water far from everyone else.

"AAAGHH!"

***

Breathing heavily from carrying the weight of the sand bucket, Olivia finally returns from the shore where she collected wet sand for Alice's project of building a sand version of their little house where they live together with Blanca.

"Haaah... Alice... here you go-WHAT THE-"

"Oliviaaa! Look at me! The Mister in black and his friend offered to bury me in the sand!"

"AAAAAAA"

***

Many such cases. Olivia wishes to forget all about them by the time their beach episode day is over. She tries calling out once more, eyes scanning in every direction in front of her.

"A-LI-CEEE!!"

"Olivia, there you are! I was looking for someone shorter, oops! I guess the sun has set, huh..."

Startled, Olivia turns around to see that Alice has approached from behind. She's never going to get used to Alice's unique ability to pop out of thin air and disappear in the same fashion. But, after all, she did fall quite literally from the sky one day.

"There you are, baka Alice! Where were you?"

"I bought ice cream! I'm sorry, did you want some?"

"No thank you. Where did you even buy this?"

"Over there! From a stand named Magic Ice Tower...eh? It's gone..."

Olivia slaps the ice cream cone out of Alice's hand and into the ground before she can take a lick from it.

"Seriously, baka Alice! I can't believe what a disaster you are at taking care of yourself. Next time instead of a straw hat, I'll make you a helmet."

Getting her hat pushed down until it covers her eyes, Alice makes a troubled, pouty sound as a reaction to being bullied like that.

"As long as you make it, I'm sure it will be cute, so I'll wear it anyway! I had such a fun day today. Let's go home, Olivia!"

Taglist:

@arsnovacadenza @ale-teodora @kimi00twin @otomelady @privilegedpancake @g-kleran   @pumpumnnnp @thesirenwashere @ravenarld @kimmy-banana @devonares @galaxyprison @sadshaxk @starshards26 @thewitchofbooks @acethephoenix256 @ikevamp-shrine-2 @nad-zeta @crystal13unny @lordsister @ikemen-banshou  @themysticalbeing @otome-scribbles @rhodolitesrose @coornn @kpop-and-otome @queen-dahlia @kisara-16 @chaosangel767 @ikemenlibrary @queengiuliettafirstlady @aurora-morning @aquagirl1978 ​ @ikemenlover24 @mcofthemansion @joy-the-reader @katriniac @ikemen-writer @tele86 @lovely-bubb1es @aria-chikage @babyblue0t7 @rhodoliteschaos @shrimpy-kitsune @nightghoul381 @xbalayage @lucyw260 @kittygrimm88 @lokis-laugh @judejazza Let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged!

[princesscolumbia]

Question for Authors

So this might sound weird, but I've gotten (I believe) pretty good at figuring out if an original fic started life as a fanfic.

Okay, so, like, you know how in fandoms there's that one fic that you love that is very clearly a fanfic because all the names are there and the characters' behavior matches their canon counterparts but the setting is different and the clothing is different and even if the story has familiar beats it's not even remotely canon?

My favorite example of this is "The Lighthouse." It's a She-ra (2018) fanfic with Catra and Adora and Shadow Weaver and Scorpia and Entrapta and etc., and there's even familiar story beats like Adora 'saving the cat' and Prime being a manipulative tool and Hordak turning on Prime because he fell in love with Entrapta...but it's a different story. There's no magic, 'Catra' is short for 'Katrina' and she's not a magicat, just a regular girl. Scorpia may be tall and built like a brick house, but she doesn't have pincers or a scorpion tail. There's no war, Angela doesn't end up trapped in a portal, there's no sword.

In short, it's pretty much nothing like She-ra 2018...but because all the characters are named the same as and behave in familiar ways as their canon counterparts, we know it's She-ra 2018.

I even left a comment to the author saying they should rename the characters so they could publish it as an original work because goddamn is it a good book and they deserve praise and money for it.

So when you get deep enough into a given fandom, you can start to recognize the 'fingerprints,' for lack of a better term, of canon even when the author has had enough drift from canon to make it fairly unique.

And then...and then you can start to recognize when there's a derivative work out in the wild.

So, like, I love the author's work, so I won't be too specific about it, but I read this original work on Scribblehub that I absolutely enjoyed...and by the end of it I could swear it was a She-ra (2018) Power Ranger's AU. I mean I could recognize characters and unconsciously started mentally assigning voices from She-ra to the characters even before the stuff that made specific things stand out to me to positively identify it as a She-ra (2018) fanfic where the setting is Late 20th Century Earth where an alien invasion is occurring (where the aliens happen to have a general who is a cat-girl) and they really need a group of teenagers trained fighters with attitude...

And then...AND THEN!

This morning I'm on Tumblr and a post from a different favorite author of mine who I happen to know likes Ranma 1/2 and writes fanfic for it posts a teaser for a WIP that...um...that could be Ranma. I mean, yeah, girl-Ranma with no curse, but...yeah, it could. And it might not have tripped my mental radar, but it's a Sapphic story where the love interest...is a blue-haired girl with a temper that starts out antagonistic to the redheaded protagonist.

I'm not gonna give more details than that, because I don't know if it's a dick move to call someone out on that sort of thing. I have, after all, written entire books of fanfic and I have a WIP that's an original work, probably a half-dozen isekai and AUs like crazy, so for me the notion that someone could come along and say, "Hey, that's a rebranded Ranma 1/2 fanfic!" and I'd be all, "...yeah? What's your point?"

But I'm also aware I have the WORST background to know how other creatives might respond to things I think are obvious, which brings me to my question:

[oliversrarebooks]

Okay, I may have binged this all of last night and today and I think I may be ObsSEEESSSSeeeDDDD!!! 🤩🤩🤩 The differentiation of the different types of Thralls, the way you've written Lily (and still makes her likeable even though SHE'S SO QUESTIONABLE??! 😂), and then the fear and desire in being a Thrall. I don't understand how you seem to be able to convince the reader of the hypnotism - and I'm like - yep, I won't feel anything - AND YET the way you write these feelings, the Thrall you put me in as a reader?? Like, wow!! It makes me want to be a Thrall for a vampire like Lex and I'M - I -... My brain stops functioning because it sounds so kind, so nice, and I'm nodding along like "yes, please - I want that too"

I'm curious - if you want to share! How did you find the way you write the hypnotism? As in, was it a specific influence, personal experience? (I went to a hypnotist for my own anxiety and my friend did for their arachnophobia!)! But reading this still feels so real and sleepy-making. ALSO seeing how Lily approaches three different victims (Oliver, Emily and Fitz), and peirces through what they need to hear is unnervingly touching, like, in such a way that makes me swallow with fear. Genuine, how-the-f did she work that out, what they needed to hear to fall, what words that sparked their hopeless weakness? So another question... How long does Lily need to truly analyse someone? What input does she need?

Like, also I love how you introduce those different ways of hypnotism! Like Lex, Fitz and Lily all having their unique ways to them! I ADORED that Oneshot of Lex's ideal way of including Oliver - it tugged at my heartstrings a bit. I may have fluttered when I read that Lex had sought and intended to have Oliver all along... I - I... My brain lost it.

And having Emily (poor Emily -) I literally gasped when I saw horrible vampire girl (I have literally just forgotten her name) Jessica? // had Emily and I'm like "NOOOO MY BABYYY WAHHH SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS". also how you wrote their individual ways of responding to influence? Like!! I love the inclusive but realistic take on how some people are susceptible to it more than others in a very human/realistic way - like a indistinct trait or behaviour about someone that makes them unique. Like,, does Oliver's price *increase* because he's easily susceptible? (I think this was hinted at but I'm not 100% sure!! ^^ but if this is a mystery that you would like to be kept secret then don't worry! ^^)

I also love Oliver's tendancy to slip out of it. That was such a nuanced and masterful way of adding that 'layer behind the service/the reader is kept rooting for you' and it's so awesome.

Are there other vampires like Lex (apart from Fitz!) who have this same attitude and care for humans? Will we meet them? Will we have an occasion where this is shown... 👀 I'm soooo soooo curious for a Oneshot on this or SOMETHING but this is literally just a scenario so I can daydream about this... I may have already...

Anyway... While I did my best not to spam your inbox with excessive reblogs and me foaming at the mouth, I had to leave this to you as a token of my extended and desperate love for your writing and beautiful, exciting world.

Your humble reader,

Enigma 🙏💐🤗

Wow, thank you for such a super long comment! It's always great to get something like this in my inbox! I'm so glad you enjoyed my writing enough to write this all out!

How did I find the way I write hypnotism: Long-time special interest of mine, you could say. While I sometimes try to incorporate actual hypnotic trance techniques, it's mostly pulled from ASMR videos and fantasy.

I'm glad it's fun and even a little enthralling for readers!

How does Lily analyze people? Since she's a supernatural creature with a special enthralling power and I'm not writing from her POV, I get to handwave it a bit! I think her powers give her an assist on analyzing the best way to enthrall people. Other than that, foreknowledge of the victims plus cold reading.

Most of the people grabbed by the auction house are scoped out before their kidnapping, so that they don't risk grabbing someone risky (i.e. has friends and family who will come searching for them). So she has some up-front info, plus she's good at reading people. Oliver's induction was mostly drawn from the fact that he's known to be a meek and quiet bookseller, Emily's is drawn from having lived in poverty, and Fitz's of course is based on him being an attention-starved entertainer.

Generally, Oliver would be considered more desirable (and command a higher price) for being easily susceptible to hypnotism. Easier to control and for the vampire master to mold to their will.

As for other vampires who care for humans as far as Alexander does, there definitely are some in the setting. I'm not sure if we'll really see any, but if you have ideas of what you'd like to see in a one-shot, feel free to shoot it into my inbox! (Just be warned I have a six-car pileup in there. I'm planning to get to them... eventually.)

Thanks again for this lovely ask!

[thenightling]

The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country: Glass House issue 3 Review:

I just read The Nightmare Country: The Glass House issue 3. I still occasionally mess up the title because there is a Witcher comic called House of Glass. Anyway, it's just kind of... unpleasant. I try to force myself to read it but I'm not enjoying it. It's not as bad as the first Nightmare Country but it's not a nice story. It's decidedly unpleasant. It has that edgy 90s style that got boring by 1998. The Corinthian is the only semi-likable character and that's saying something. That was sort of my problem with The House of Whispers back in 2018. The House of Whispers wasn't terrible but that one was kind of boring where the only points of interest were Anansi (the Spider trickster God) and The Corinthian and how The Corinthian handled those abusive parents. The portrayal of Lucien is just awful. Not only is it flat but the character "Voices" don't feel right. Though The Corinthian is enjoyable his language, his use of words, it doesn't match any previous version of the character. It's very articulate but it doesn't feel like there's a personality in the dialogue. Everyone talks the same. That was a complaint I had back when Caitlin R. Kiernan was writing The Dreaming (1996-2002). Except with her everyone spoke like a cheap 80s action movie character, tossing around the the f word and trying to sound edgy. They don't do that here. In here The Corinthian is relatively well spoken but no one has a truly unique voice, a individual's way of talking. Every character should have their own "voice" a chosen vocabulary, or style of speaking and I'm not seeing that here. It's hard to get into the story when everyone talks exactly the same way except Lucien who... comes off like a self-righteous jerk. It's a bit like Simon Spurrier's version of Lucien in The Dreaming (2018) but not really Lucien of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Lucien pretty much shows up just to tell The Corinthian that he asked Daniel what he do if The Corinthian steps out of line and Daniel apparently said he'd unmake him. That's great, you conspire to unmake the only character actually doing anything in this story. Thank you for being completely useless, Lucien. The Corinthian and Lucien both bring up some very good points. The dead girl whose ghost is now residing in the form of a cat (I couldn't be bothered to remember her name) The Corinthian tells Lucien "Did you know she doesn't even like cats?" and Lucien says something to the effect of "The Dream Lord would not have turned her into a cat if she didn't like cats." This does make a valid point. I know Daniel is different than Morpheus but Daniel does share a lot of his traits and memories and Morpheus would never create a raven from someone unless he knew that person would prefer to be a raven than the mortal they had been.

It feels like DC shamelessly tried to make an expansive story out of something that didn't really need or deserve it, such as bringing Thessaly in after the events of Dead Boy Detectives as if to go "See, i is a shared universe!" Yeah, that only works if the stories being connected are... you know... good... This is better than The Corinthian: Nightmare Country in regard to the pacing but it still has that ugly, sadistic, and weirdly dull "gritty" 90s comic book style. I don't know if I can continue reading it just to review it. It's that unpleasant for me. It's not the worst thing I've ever read but I have little reason to want to continue reading it.

[mysticonsheadcanons]

Fifth Mysticon Episode (part 2)

Note: As I'm retconning how Sharise became a fifth Mysticon, I'm also retconning her Mysticon name. Seeker sounds very close to Striker, and I feel as though Sharise deserves a unique name.

The Mysticons take the Dragon Disk to Proxima, and explain everything that's going on, including the fifth Mysticon. Proxima promises to help figure it out. However, she admits that the Dragon Disk is a mysterious artifact, so figuring out how to fix it may be challenging. While the Astromancers are looking at the Astromancer library, the Mysticons decide to go to the Library of the Eternal Equinox.

As the Mysticons begin heading to the Library of the Eternal Equinox, they talk about what they imagine the fifth Mysticon will be like. Arkayna suggests it may be someone they know, like Proxima, where Zarya brings up the idea of someone who may misuse the powers, such as Tazma. Piper imagines an adventerous person, while Em worries that the fifth Mysticon will be someone who is reluctant to be a Mysticon. Zarya also asks why they're fixing the old Dragon Disk instead of the one they already have, and Em points out that they'd have to give the disk back after it's fixed, and by fixing the past one, the future one may be repaired.

They get to the Library of the Eternal Equinox, Piper gets distracted long enough to lose sight of the other Mysticons, and begins realizing that the library is more confusing than she first thought. She bumps into a teenage half-elf, who was reading while walking. The half-elf introduces herself as Sharise, and Piper comments that the book she's reading seems confusing. Sharise shrugs, saying that she can understand it well, but says she just wants to read as much as she can before her Uncle calls her to leave. Piper asks Sharise if she knows where books about the Dragon Disk would be, and Sharise sighs and shows her the way.

Sharise leads Piper to where the books on artifacts are, where the other Mysticons are waiting. Piper suggests that Sharise can help with the research, as Sharise seems pretty smart, which seems to surprise Sharise. When Arkayna asks if she wants to help, Sharise agrees. Snellson helps find magical books that don't change if history changes, and they learn that the Dragon Disk was tampered with 400 years ago, and as it doesn't describe the attack when history changed, and the person they saw try to destroy the Dragon Disk had clothes from their time, they realize that there were multiple attacks on the Disk. Sharise finds something that says the fifth Mysticon was a half-elf. Zarya jokingly wonders if Sharise could be the fifth Mysticon, but an elvish man comes up to them, saying that Sharise could never be a Mysticon. Sharise introduces the man as her Uncle, Zaros (I forget the name I gave him, so he gets a new one).

Zaros is about to lead Sharise out of the library when monsters lead by a human male come. The Mysticons fight, and Piper overhears Zaros telling Sharise that she'll never be a Mysticon, since she can't even talk normally. When the monsters are defeated, the Mysticons decide to go to the Astromancer Academy to see if they need help. Piper, feeling bad for Sharise, drags the half-elf with her, claiming she's needed to help. Arkayna is about to protest, but Em says it's a good idea.

As they head to the Astromancer Academy, Piper asks Sharise about what Zaros said about her not being able to talk normally. Sharise sarcastically mentions how the Mysticons must not have heard how she talked, and Arkayna says she thought it was an accent. Sharise says that she has an articulation disorder, meaning she can't pronounce certain words correctly. Em says that's not a big deal.

They get to the Astromancer Academy, and sees Ronal and other people fighting the Astromancers. The Mysticons help, and while Ronal and his group is chased off, the Dragon Disk from the past is destroyed. Proxima reveals she learned how to fix it, and repairs the Dragon Disk. It suddenly activates, turning Sharise into Mysticon Alchemist. Gandobi mentions how they can't give the Dragon Disk to the past selves as they need it, but Proxima mentions that the Dragon Disk they give the past selves will become the Dragon Disk that turns them into Mysticons in the current day.

They return to the past, and give the Dragon Disk to Alpha Galaga. No fifth Mysticon is chosen, and Alpha Galaga guesses that, since it activated in a timeline where the OG Mysticon Alchemist is dead, it doesn't recognize the fifth Mysticon, meaning that whoever the fifth Mysticon would have been, they are lost to history forever.

[eumenidaes]

10 for Chae-Yeong specifically

10) a description of your OC by someone who hates them

I don’t think I’ve mentioned Crystal before, but here she is in all her hater and classist ex energy

There are few people who know Chae-Yeong Vermeil as well as Crystal Gorman does. It’s true that they had only dated when they were teenagers, but Crystal still thinks that puts her in a unique position to say she knows her well. Granted, there are too many people who have also dated Chae-Yeong, but they never had a relationship with the same depth as Crystal and Chae-Yeong did. They don’t understand the problems with her the way that Crystal does.

The main problem with Chae-Yeong is that she’s too perfect. She’s effortlessly poised and liked by just about everyone. But that’s just lending to the idea of Crystal being the only person who really sees Chae-Yeong.

It’s been about thirty years since the two of them dated, but Chae-Yeong has had the luck or the money to age gracefully. The fringe that frames her face is gray now, left undyed like some kind of statement Chae-Yeong’s trying to make about how she still manages to be hot as she creeps closer to forty. There are crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes too, but she otherwise has seemed to escape most of the physical signs of age that come inevitably over the years.

Crystal is sure there has to be something wrong with her hands, though. She didn’t used to wear gloves, but now she does constantly.

There are still constants with Chae-Yeong, of course. Her canines are still sharper than they should be, and she still twists and weaves the loose hair by her face between her fingers. She still dresses up far more than she needs to for any event, she still wears clothes that show off more of her sizable bust than is respectable. She’s still too damn tall too, and she still somehow manages to have the same muscle to her arms she did as when she was a Huntress, something entirely unnecessary for a CEO to have for any reason but vanity.

And that’s just her appearance. Crystal could pick apart every annoyance she has with Chae-Yeong’s personality too.

She’s naive and too convinced that people care about each other. She sees everyone as someone that can grow to be something better, not realizing like Crystal does that there are some people who will never be more than tools to be utilized by their betters. She wastes her money and time on people who don’t deserve it, who are so beneath her she shouldn’t even acknowledge them. Between that and how airheaded she can be, Crystal doesn’t know how Vermeil Industries keeps its position as one of the most successful companies in Remnant.

But another constant is that Chae-Yeong has always been strange. Once it was endearing, but time has bittered Crystal’s perspective on those eccentricities.

Chae-Yeong still moves with the same dancer’s grace she always has too. At least she does when she isn’t drunk and galavanting around, flirting with someone she can’t even remember the name of, the alcohol making the obnoxious hiss-like quality of the way she pronounces S sounds even more prominent. And while she’s plastered at a high society event, Ironwood is always plastered to her side like an angry guard dog waiting to attack anyone who gets too close.

Crystal doesn’t get why Ironwood obsesses over her the way he does. He’s another of Chae-Yeong’s many former lovers. Maybe he still holds a candle for her, even though they broke up more than twenty years ago. Maybe he realizes that she’s the only person who could ever love a man as damaged as he is, though that ship has long since sailed.

But in some ways, Crystal understands Ironwood’s fascination with Chae-Yeong. Another flaw of hers is that she’s hard to move on from. She haunts Crystal even though she wishes that she didn’t, and every now and then she thinks about if things had been different.

But that’s just another thing to hate Chae-Yeong Vermeil for.