#she was looking for recs i guess? she was like actively looking up the ones i named on her spotify

[werewolfbneimitzvah]

Today a coworker asked me "so have you listened to any good podcasts lately?" & I was like "oh boy!"

[guess-my-next-obsession]

Elementary, Chapter Four

pairing: pre-outbreak!joel miller x teacher!reader

chapter rating: E (18+ ONLY, oral (fem rec), unprotected piv, dirty talk??, unedited/unbeta’d)

word count: 4.3k

series masterlist | joel masterlist

“Alright, everybody. Please remember to fill out your reading log during the break,” you talked over a room full of distracted tweens excited for the upcoming Spring Break. “Am I talking to air?”

“I hear you,” Sarah answered your question as she approached your desk, her backpack slung over her shoulder. “And I wanted to apologize for last Friday. I was having a bad day and Jessie was making a big deal about me leaving the sleepover—“

“Sarah, sweetheart, you don’t need to apologize,” you assured with a kind smile. “Have you talked to Jessie?”

“Yeah, dad took me over to her house on Sunday night and we talked it out. I guess she was offended by me leaving, but I explained to her that I just get anxious sometimes and can’t—“ She sighed. “It just feels better being at home with my dad. I don’t have to try to be funny or cool or whatever.”

You smiled at the tenderness of Joel and Sarah’s bond.

“But anyways,” she continued. “My dad wanted me to ask if you were busy tonight—he still hasn’t gotten a new cellphone which, if you’re wondering, is why he’s having me act as the messenger.”

“Isn’t he coming to pick you up today?”

“No, him and Uncle Tommy are in San Antonio meeting with a developer or something like that,” she informed. “My grandma is picking me up.”

“Oh, well, you can tell your dad I’m free like always,” you chuckled and tried not to think about the fact that as today’s parking lot attendee, you’d have to come face to face with the mother of the man you’d been casually seeing for three weeks now. “Oh, and tell him he needs to get a new phone so you don’t have to play messenger anymore.”

“Trust me, we’ll probably be waiting years until he finally breaks down and gets himself one.” The two of you shared a laugh.

“In that case—“ You jotted your landline and cellphone number on a post-it note. “Here.”

“Miss? My mom wanted me to let you know that I won’t be doing any of my reading logs this week,” another student approached your desk and very sassily delivered his news. You chuckled out a scoff and fixed your attention on him while Sarah went back to her desk.

“Okay, Michael, why won’t you be doing your reading logs?” You crossed your arms over your chest and waited for his response.

“Because it’s Spring Break,” he defended.

“Yes, I’m aware. That’s why I didn’t assign any homework. All you need to do is keep reading at least a chapter a day of your book—“

“I don’t want to read my book. That’s basically homework.”

You gave him an incredulous look as you tried to gather what little patience remained in you after a long year of teaching fifth graders.

“No, Michael. Homework is what Mrs. Hill gave her students—a packet a day. What I’m asking if you is to do what you’re already supposed to be doing—reading a chapter a day of whatever book you want. That’s not homework, that’s just an activity.”

“Well, I’m not doing it.” He remained firm, mimicking your stance by crossing his arms over his chest.

The bell ringing interrupted whatever onslaught of frustration you were just about to bestow upon him, his smug smirk boiling your blood as he turned and shuffled out of class.

“Have a good break,” you called out to the rest of your students as they shuffled out of the classroom in a single file line.

“Hey,” Joel sighed out his greeting as he entered his mother and father’s ranch home on the outskirts of Austin. Sarah was sat in the living room on the floral loveseat covered in plastic while her grandfather, Paul, sat in his rocking chair fast asleep.

“How did it go?” Sarah offered him a smile as he rounded the corner of the loveseat to plop down beside her.

“Went alright,” he replied. “Got a good chunk of jobs lined up for me and the guys, so we’ll be good on work ‘til the end of the year.”

“That’s good!” She beamed, bringing a hesitant smile to her father’s face. Joel never liked to celebrate his successes—something he likely learned from his father. “Oh,” she tapped his arm as she remembered your conversation from earlier, quickly informing him about your lack of plans for tonight. “She also gave me her number to give to you.”

Joel watched as Sarah fished the note out of her pocket before handing over the crumpled up piece of paper.

“You think she’s home yet?” Joel checked his watch.

“Dunno,” she shrugged. “But grandma was talking about all of us going out for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, was she?” Joel looked disappointed by the sudden emergence of plans when he spent all day hoping that tonight would be spent just with you.

“Joel?” Mary, Joel’s mother, came walking down the stairs with a smile. “Bout time you came to see us.”

“I’m busy with the new company, ma, you know that,” he argued as he stood up to greet her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Busy with the company or with your new lady friend?” she teased with a grin. Joel whipped his eyes over to his daughter who already held her hands up in defense.

“My bad.”

Joel chuckled out a scoff before turning back to his mother. “It’s new.”

“And? That’s all you gotta say about her?”

“To you. For now.” Joel followed her into the kitchen, Sarah trailing shortly behind.

“What do you think I’m gonna do? Hunt her down and force her to look at your baby book?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he retorted with a mischievous smile.

“Joel Miller, I swear if you do not give me at least a summary of this woman—“

“Alright, alright,” Joel sighed and looked to Sarah who was beaming with amusement. “She’s Sarah’s teacher. We met at a parent/teacher conference. She’s…nice.”

“Nice?” Both women repeated the descriptor as if it was an insult.

“Dad, you’re basically in love. I’m sure you can find a better word than nice,” Sarah reasoned.

“She is nice. Everything else is private,” he argued.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out at dinner tonight,” his mother shrugged with a smirk. Joel turned wild in the eyes and shook his head.

“No, no, no. She ain’t—y’all aren’t—no.”

Sarah laughed at her dad’s fluster and looped her arm around his waist hug him. “It’ll be okay, pops. Just breathe.”

“Oh, to hell with that,” Joel shook his head again, turning to his mother. “I haven’t even taken her out for a real dinner yet, ma. I’m not invitin’ her out to deal with y’all.”

“Deal with? Son, we are as civilized as anybody else—“

“Ma, you got a plunger? I clogged the damn toilet!” Tommy shouted from upstairs and Joel gestured in his direction as though to prove his point.

“Well not here. We’re in the comfort of our own home,” she defended as she made her way out of the kitchen to help her son. “She’s comin’ tonight! Better go on and call her up.”

“Christ,” he sighed and stomped over to the landline, his scowl fixed on Sarah as he dialed the number. “If she never speaks to us again, it’s on you.”

“She’ll love us.”

Although it wasn’t what you were expecting for the night, Joel’s call to invite you out to dinner with his family was impossible to decline just due to how much you missed him. Even if you turned into a ball of nerves every time you had to meet “the parents”, it was worth it just to be in the same room with him, especially after the day you had.

At seven, Joel, Sarah, and Tommy came to pick you up, but for once it was you running late. You invited them inside to wait while you finished getting ready, handing Sarah the TV remote and watching as her and Tommy instantly started bickering over what to watch while Joel followed you into your bedroom.

“How is this the first time I’ve ever been in your room?” He found a seat on the foot of your bed while you sat at your vanity, finishing up on taming your hair.

“Because I’m old fashioned,” you turned back to give him a wink. “But also because I can’t seem to get you alone long enough to give you a proper tour.”

“I know,” he sighed and walked over to you, standing behind you. He leaned down to kiss your cheek, the warmth and softness of his lips curing something that had been aching inside of you since the last time he kissed you. “I made a deal with my mom. She watches Sarah this weekend, and I suck it up and allow you to meet my chaotic family.”

“Mm, so I get you all weekend is what you’re saying?” You smirked at him through the mirror.

“All. Damn. Weekend.” He kissed your neck as a promise, your eyes fluttering closed as you relished in his proximity. “No interruptions. Just me and you.”

“S-sounds good,” you stuttered through your haze of lust and Joel smiled against your skin, seemingly amused by his effect on you.

“You got chills,” he rasped, his fingertips trailing up and down your arm. “That all me?”

“Just wait until you see what else you do to me,” you purred back, earning a groan of desperation.

“You two done yet?” Tommy called out from the living room. “We got places to be.”

“Save that thought for after dinner,” Joel mumbled against your cheek as he gave you one more kiss.

Five or so minutes later and you were on your way to the restaurant, nerves now replacing the butterflies you felt in your stomach as you thought about what his parents would be like. If they were anything like Tommy, Sarah, and Joel, you had nothing to worry about, but it was the uncertainty that drove you mad.

“You alright?” Joel stayed back with you as you pretended to have forgotten something in the truck, Tommy and Sarah heading into the restaurant to meet up with Joel’s parents.

“Just nervous,” you shrugged with a soft smile. “Anything I should avoid bringing up?”

“Politics. My dad’s a big Republican, so,” he winced. “But my mom is about as liberal as they come, so at least there’s that.”

“So I should stick to talking to your mom, then,” you joked.

“Come on,” he nudged his head towards the restaurant and laced his fingers with yours. “I’ll be right there next to ya, and as soon as we’re done with dinner it’ll be just us all weekend.”

You took a deep breath of courage and gave him a cheeky but bashful smile, bringing a similar one to his own face.

“God, I just can’t help myself—“ Joel cupped your cheek and tilted your head up to meet him as he leaned in for a surprising kiss, your hand finding purchase on his wrist to ground yourself.

“Mm,” you hummed as you pulled away from him earlier than he would’ve liked. “Let’s not stall anymore. Don’t want your mom to think I’m a bad influence.”

“She knows me well enough to know I’m the bad influence, but alright,” he tugged you off towards the restaurant with your hand in his.

As the hostess guided you through the busy dining room, you leaned further into Joel. He didn’t seem to mind the clinginess, his hand letting go of yours so that he could slide an arm around your waist.

“There y’all are!” A stout woman you presumed to be Joel’s mother stood up from the table where the rest of the Millers were seated, a big, dimpled grin on her face that resembled Joel’s.

“Ma,” Joel introduced the two of you by name, his eyes fixed on you as you shook her hand and allowed her to seat you beside her rather than next to Joel like you’d hoped. You gave Joel a nervous look from across the table as he sat himself directly across from you beside his father.

“It is so nice to meet you, sweetheart,” Mary fixed her attention on you. “Joel’s been pretty tight lipped about ya, so why don’t you tell me a little about yourself.”

“Well,” you chuckled nervously, but Joel’s reassuring eyes from across the table helped calm the frenzy of anxiety coursing through your veins. “I’m a teacher, have been for a few years now but this is my second year in Austin.”

You found it surprisingly easy to talk to Mary, her warm smile and sense of humor similar to that of her children and granddaughter. You told her where you grew up, where you’d been before coming to Austin, about what you liked to do in your free time, but mostly you told her the story of how you and Joel came to be.

Across the table, his father continued to remain stern and silent, only mumbling to his boys or to Sarah every now and again to remind them to use their manners. He seemed like a tough egg to crack, and while you were up for the challenge eventually, earning his respect today seemed unlikely.

“Joel, you ever tell her about your singin’?” Tommy spoke up from down the table, his question bringing a blush to Joel’s face.

“Yeah, I mentioned it.” He looked over to you and cracked the most subtle of smirks, no doubt remembering what occurred shortly after.

“Well, you gonna sing for her?” Mary asked with mischief in her tone, bringing an amused smile to your face.

“Not here,” he sassed, tilting his head at her mockingly.

“Why not here?” You prodded with a smirk, your foot finding his calf beneath the table. Joel gave you a chuckle and shook his head. “Oh, come on. Please?”

“Ya know, I pride myself on my ability to not cave into peer pressure,” he retorted with a quirked eyebrow, daring you to challenge him. You bit your lip and looked down at your plate, too flustered by everything him to look him in the eyes—especially given the current company.

“So, Sarah, how are you likin’ the whole dad datin’ your teacher thing?” Tommy asked, and the question earned the attention of the entire table.

“I don’t mind it,” she shrugged. “Maybe I would if it was Mrs. Clarkson from last year.”

“God,” Joel shook his head at the mere idea. “That woman terrified me and I’m a grown man.”

“Oh,” Sarah called your name. “Did you tell dad about Michael?”

“Michael? Who’s…uh, who’s Michael?” Joel’s jealousy was as clear as day, bringing amused grins to almost everyone’s faces aside from the ever stoic Mr. Miller.

“Michael is my student,” you clarified and eased his concern. “A shitty student at that.”

“Oh yeah?” Tommy asked with a chuckle.

“Yeah, he’s—well, I guess I probably shouldn’t be saying this around you, Sarah.”

“I promise I won’t talk about it,” she replied earnestly and you easily caved.

“He is just the absolute worst. And his parents are even shittier,” you lamented with a laugh. “Today he came up to me while Sarah and I were talking at the end of class, and flat out told me that he wasn’t going to be doing the reading log during the break because his mom said so.”

“Why doesn’t he just fake it like everybody else?” Tommy chimed in but quickly received an elbow from his niece.

“I don’t fake my reading logs,” she corrected.

“Yeah…right.” He gave her a sarcastic nod and turned back to you. “I’m just speaking from experience. I never did any of that shit and I turned out…well, I turned out decent.”

“Yeah. Maybe I am being too demanding,” you shrugged, turning back to your plate.

“No,” Joel was quick to interject. “Don’t listen to Tommy—he couldn’t even get into community college. You’re the one who went to school for six years to do this. You know what you’re doin’, that kid’s just a prick.”

You couldn’t help but fall in love with him a little bit as he stood up for you, his foot pressed to yours beneath the table acting as a sort of promise that he’d always be here to do this—to remind you of your worth.

“Thank you,” you mouthed just to him. “Anyways, it’s his loss—and yours too, Tommy. Reading is fun.”

Tommy mimicked your smile and chuckled. “I guess I’ll take your word for it.”

“Alright, don’t give your grandma a hard time,” Joel ordered Sarah as he hugged her goodbye in the driveway outside your house.

You watched the scene from the doorway, smiling at the way he swayed her and kissed the top of her head. If only all little girls could grow up with a father like Joel—not flawless, but as close to it as a man could get. There was no denying his love for her and vice versa, and the fact that you were being let into this beautiful family felt like nothing less than an honor.

“Alright, go on,” he ruffled the top of her hair with a playful grin. “I love ya, and I’ll see you Sunday night, alright?”

“Love you too,” she gave him one more hug before turning to you standing up the walkway. With a wave, she wished you goodbye as well, your smile widening at the gesture. “See you!”

“See ya, Sarah!”

Joel met you by the front door and watched Tommy and Sarah pull out of your driveway before he turned to you with an anticipatory grin.

“Well, just us now,” he husked, playfulness thick in his southern drawl.

“Whatever will we do?” you teased, hooking your fingers in his belt loops and tugging him closer.

Joel cradled your cheek and jaw with both hands as he leaned down to kiss you, both of you still wearing your grins through it. Walking you backwards into the house, you giggled into his mouth as you nearly stumbled over before he caught you.

“Clumsy,” he accused in a rasp.

“Your fault,” you countered and he laughed against you.

Joel’s hands traveled to your hips to keep you flush against him as he kicked the front door shut, your smiles fading as the kiss deepened into something so filthy even the humor of the almost-fall couldn’t penetrate it.

“God,” he groaned against your lips as he continued walking you through the living room to your bedroom. “I want you so bad, baby girl. Fuck.”

“Remember what we were talking about earlier?” you purred against his jaw as your kisses trailed down to his neck, Joel’s body pinning you against your open bedroom door. He hummed against you in confirmation and you smiled, taking one of his hands off your waist to guide it beneath the linen of your dress, his breath ragged as his fingertip grazed over your thighs until they reached the soaked lace of your panties. “This is what you do to me, Joel.”

“Jesus fuckin—baby, I need you,” he whimpered and sunk to the floor in front of you, his dark and dreamy eyes peering up at you for permission as he lifted the hem of your dress up. “Can I taste you?”

“God, you never have to ask,” you moaned back, taking the fabric bunched in his hands and holding it for him. Joel’s eyes dropped from yours down to the image right in front of him, his tongue swiping along his bottom lip at the sight of your white lace thong.

“You’re gonna make me lose my mind, baby,” he groaned again, his hands now running up and down the outside of your thighs.

The anticipation could have killed you, your chest heaving and skin prickling with chills from the simple sensation of his breath fanning over the wet spot on your panties, the lust in his eyes. Combing your fingers through his hair, you attempted to silently urge him on and he seemed to pick up on it, his hands sliding back up to your hips to hook into the tiny band of your underwear and slip them down your legs until they were kicked off.

“Baby,” he cooed as you draped one of your knees over his broad shoulders to open yourself up to him, his mouth watering at the sight. “I’m never gonna wanna do anythin’ else but stay right—“ He placed a kiss to your mound and your entire body jerked. “Here.”

His tongue swiped through your folds and you melted against the door behind you, your fingers gripping his hair now as you struggled to stay upright. Joel practically growled at your taste, his hands gripping your thighs as if he was holding on for dear life.

“Fuck,” you moaned as he tensed his tongue to circle your swollen bud until your arousal started to drip down your thighs. “That’s so good.”

Your praise earned you another growl, his tongue now flicking and circling, lapping and sucking against you until your thighs were shaking from the pressure building in your lower stomach.

“Tastes so fuckin’ sweet, baby girl.” He sucked your clit and made you cry out his name. “Yeah, just like that. Keep sayin’ my name, baby. Let everyone know.”

“Joel, fuck!” Your orgasm was imminent, the tingling in your thighs that traveled down to your toes and back up your spine fogging any sense of coherency you may have once had in his presence. “I—fuck, I—“

“I know, baby. Can taste it.” He shook his head and flattened his tongue against your clit, his eyes meeting with yours. You wanted to cry, but the pleasure you were feeling was too consuming. The only thing you could do as Joel sucked your now throbbing bud into his mouth was to cry out his name like a prayer—some sort of wicked salvation that beat out any other holier counterpart. “Come on, baby. Cum on my tongue. Wanna taste it…every fuckin’ drop—“

“Fuck!” You crumpled to the ground, your back sliding against the door until you were kneeling with him on the floor, your body shuddering as you rode out the waves of your euphoria.

Joel was quick to act, guiding you down onto your back while you were still lost in bliss. He kissed your face as if you were his most prized possession, his hands worshipping the curves of your still-clothed body.

“Need you, baby,” he whispered against your jaw as he placed a love bite there, your head nodding to give him consent to do whatever the fuck he wanted to do to you after that mind blowing climax he just gave you.

You only heard the clinking of his belt buckle before feeling his cock stretch you open, a choked cry slipping from your lips in time with Joel’s wanton groan. You peeled your eyes open and looked down at the place you were joined, delighting in the fact that neither of you were undressed, the neediness of the moment turning you both feral.

“God damn,” he groaned and let his head hang as he stilled himself deep inside of you after only a few thrusts. “About to embarrass myself. You feel too fuckin’ good, baby.”

“Don’t worry about lasting long,” you stroked his beard. “I just wanna feel you.”

“God, I—” He choked on his words and leaned over your body, propping himself up by his elbows on either side of your head. You wrapped your legs around his waist and dug your heels into his jean-clad ass to urge him on, desperate to feel him spill inside of you.

“Want you to cum for me,” you moaned, pressing kisses into the side of his face as he buried his head in the crook of your neck. “Cum inside me—“

“Fuck,” he shouted as his cock thrust into you faster and deeper, your wetness squelching around him and filling the room along with both of your ragged moans. “I’m gonna—fuck, baby. You sure?”

“I’m on birth control, it’s okay,” you promised. Joel lifted his head to look into your eyes, his face scrunched up in something akin to agony but you were sure it couldn’t have been further from it.

“Gonna fill you up, beautiful,” he leaned down and pressed his lips against yours. “Gonna have you dripping for me.”

“Yes!” His cock was hitting something inside of you that was making you see stars, your mind going back to that pleasure-dumb state you’d just been lost in, and before you had time to warn him, your walls fluttered in time with his cock spilling inside of you. “I’m coming, Joel, fuck!”

“Me too, baby,” he choked out through a string of profanity and moans. “Fuck, so fuckin’—you’re perfect.”

The two of you stayed there for a while, both of you turned into puddles of post-climactic bliss as you laid in each other’s arms. Joel hissed as he pulled out and rolled over onto the carpet beside you, both of you turning your heads to look at each other with wide, almost childlike grins.

“Be my girlfriend?” Joel choked out, nerves thick in his shaky voice. You laid there speechless for a moment, unsure of how to tell him that ever since you met him you’d been dreaming of the day those words would leave his lips. So, you kept it simple, a smile gracing your face as you reached over to hold his face.

“I would love to.”

[piperlivingdeliberately]

hazel fic rec where reader fucks hazel with a strap for the first time <333

Warnings: smut MDNI, strap-on sex (h!receiving), top!reader, bottom!hazel, (mentions of both being switches but in this the reader is dom top), sub!hazel, swearing, use of pet names (baby, good girl, etc.), fem!reader, just pure smut.

Sub!Hazel was not something I knew I needed more of until now...

"How come you've never fucked me?" Hazel's question caught you off guard. The two of you had been laying in bed, silently snuggled against one another. Your previous late-night activities had caused you to fall asleep with your legs intertwined.

"It certainly sounded like I was fucking you last night when you were screaming with my head between your legs." Your girlfriend buried her face in your neck as her cheeks heated.

"Yes, I know," she groaned. "I just mean that you've never, like--" Hazel paused, searching for the right words. She only grew more nervous under your stare.

"You mean with the strap?" She nodded slowly at your question, growing even more red. "Oh, baby. You just got so excited when I first brought up you fucking me with it."

"How could I not be excited?" she flirted, wiggling her eyebrows in a joking manner. You laughed and lightly shoved her off of you so that you could properly look into her eyes.

"I guess I had no idea that you would even want that," you explained. Your hand slid up and down her side, thumb drawing circles on her exposed hip. "Do you want that, Hazel?"

"Yes," she whispered. Her unusual shyness made your heart melt. This was clearly a vulnerable moment for her, so you wanted to be absolutely sure about what she was asking for.

"Speak up, baby." You palmed her cheek and willed her to look at you. "Tell me what you want."

"I want you to fuck me." Her meek facade had faded. Her words shot straight to your heat while she so confidently spoke. You kissed her quickly, trying to hide the new blush that had crept onto your cheeks at her tone. You couldn't refuse when she pulled you in by your shirt for a longer kiss. It quickly progressed when her tongue pushed into your mouth and you began rolling your hips to meet her thigh. Distracted by her hot mouth, you hadn't noticed her grinding against the bed until she whined your name.

"Alright, alright," you giggled and gently laid her down. You hopped off the bed, rummaging through various drawers to find the bright blue fake dick. You set it down on the bed next to you. Hazel's eyes were so fixed on it that she didn't even realize you had already stripped down to your bra and panties. You began removing her clothing, pressing light kisses against every inch of newly exposed flesh. Your thumb circled her clothed clit as your other hand's fingers tweaked her right nipple.

"Please, baby." Oh, she was just begging now. Hazel's growth in confidence lit a fire in your core. You smiled like a little kid on Christmas as you tightened the strap to your body, slathering some lube on the end for Hazel's comfort. You looked into her eyes with your thumbs hooked under her waistband. She nodded eagerly to prompt your removal of her panties. You marveled at the string of wetness that connected her naked slick to her underwear as you dragged them down her thighs.

"Fuck, Hazel," you breathed. "I don't even know if we need this lube."

You had always loved Hazel's ability to laugh in any situation, especially when she was naked underneath you and still managed to giggle at everything you said. "You get me so wet," she confessed, still laughing but completely serious.

Her praise only added to the arousal already soaking your own panties, so you slotted yourself between her legs. You were quick to align yourself with her entrance. "Tell me if it hurts at all," you said.

"I will," she replied as she not-so-subtly squirmed to get closer to the dildo. "I'm ready, baby."

With that, you slowly pushed the head into her. You stopped moving when the tip was fully in, watching Hazel's gorgeous lips part in a soft gasp. "Is that okay?" you asked.

"Yes, it's good." She was already panting. "Please, more."

You fought a laugh at the desperation in her voice. "Okay, pretty girl." You slid the dick in a few more inches, continuing to the hilt when Hazel's moans urged you to keep moving.

"Fuck, baby," Hazel whined with heaving breaths.

"I know, it feels a little tight doesn't it?" you asked.

"Yes, so full. It feels so good." You believed her, of course, but you didn't want to overwhelm her.

"Good, Hazel. I'm going to take it slow, okay?"

"Mhm," she moaned, the sound increasing in volume when you began to steadily thrust into her.

Your pace was agonizingly slow. You could tell from Hazel's grip on your hips that she wanted more. You would give it to her, just not yet. You scooped your hands under the back of her knees to change the angle. Picking up your speed just a bit, you allowed yourself to go deeper into her.

"Oh, my god." Hazel's words came out shaky, so you halted at the deepest point inside of her.

"Is it too much?" Worry coated your tone.

"No! No! Don't stop, please." She whined your name until you resumed your motions. With every sweet sound she made, you grew more confident, thrusting faster and deeper until she was whimpering with every move.

You heard the familiar sounds she was making. They urged you to place your thumb on her clit, circling gently to get her closer to the edge.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Hazel shouted. "I'm so close-- so, so close." Her breathing was so ragged you worried that she might have a heart attack.

"Good girl," you cooed. You rubbed her bud faster and angled the strap to hit her sweet spot. "You're doing so good for me, baby."

With a final cry of your name, Hazel's whole body shook under your touch. You continued your ministrations as she came down from her high until she was crawling up the bed. You pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead as she regained her breath.

"That was," she started between pants, "so fucking good."

You laughed aloud at her shocked, wide eyes. "Only the best for you, Haze."

[neiptune]

just her color

cw: 2.7 wc, female reader, violence, gore, it gets pretty descriptive, slightly nsfw (y'all have sex lol), dark academia(ish) setting

“A girl has been found dead on campus” Jean’s brows are furrowed as he skims through his twitter timeline “shit, I think I know who she is?”

“What?” Sasha straightens up in her seat, iced latte promptly put down. The table grows silent, you’ve grabbed Jean’s wrist to peek at his screen in disbelief. Someone dying at your college, the most boring place on earth, is difficult to believe.

“Holy shit” you let go of your friend’s wrist and meet Sasha’s gaze “it’s Yuki. Remember? She used to be in our history class”

She opens her mouth in a small “o”, realization freezing her surprised features.

“Nakamura Yuki?” Eren’s breath catches in his throat “that’s impossible, I literally saw her last week. Didn’t she tutor students with you, ‘Min?”

“Yeah but that was last year” Armin shakes his head “what the hell happened? From what I remember she didn’t care for parties or weird companies”

“Not sure, they’re jut saying she’s been found outside her dorm” Jean puts away his phone with a grim look on his face, cappuccino long forgotten. Connie used to have a crush on that girl, he hopes to find him before he has the chance to get the news from social media.

“Do you guys think it was an accident?” all pigment seems to have been sucked out of Eren’s face and you instinctively push back some of the hair from his forehead.

“An accident? What d’you mean?” you tilt your head to the side, pose the question carefully weighing each word.

“I don’t know. Alcohol poisoning? Maybe someone spiked her drink?”

A shudder teases your spine, almost makes you retract your hand. “So you’re saying… someone did it?”

“Not on purpose. I’m just speculating”

“Why?” Sasha chimes in “stop it, it’s weird. If something’s off, the school is gonna tell us”

“Yeah, right, they definitely will” you scoff.

“Maybe it was like a heart attack” Armin seems unconvinced himself as he finishes his tea, surely gone cold by now.

“Sure, that sounds likely” you push back the mug containing your black coffee, suddenly nauseous “next time my parents ask how things are going up here, I’ll finally have the perfect answer. Oh, you’ll never guess the novelty: girls are being murdered on campus now!”

“No one’s been murdered” Eren is annoyed and eager to change the subject. Everyone else is too. You kinda get it: it’s weird that a girl you all somehow knew is suddenly dead, it’s even weirder that something so dreadful had to happen on your campus of all places.

On the slopes of mount Rokko, in Kobe, nothing really ever happens. You attend a private university that counts a few thousand students and an international exchange program that no one really ever applies to. Your professors like to call the insistution “Kobe’s best kept secret” but to you that’s just a pretentious way to present an old school with an even older set of rules that simply make your lives excruciatingly harder. No visits allowed except for graduations or special ceremonies, everyone is supposed to be in their rooms by 9:30 pm (as security keeps a record of students who are caught roaming in the corridors at night), no one is allowed to leave the building except for Sundays and even then if you don’t have your identity card with you, the chances that you’ll spend the night in the woods are pretty high because security doesn’t really give a shit.

But if they don’t mind leaving students locked outside for the night (it has happed), the appreciation for bribes runs equally high: it’s not uncommon among students to offer as much as ¥308,230 to buy their silence for a plethora of activities. Money is power even on top of mount Rokko and it can be used to secure sex, parties, drugs, alcohol, just like it does anywhere else.

Which is why everyone seems to be asking themselves the same question: who the hell used money to secure an assassination?

Soon after the finding and despite the rector’s efforts, Yuki’s picture was passed around in group chats and social media posts like a collectible card. Most senders had the decency to forward the blurred version of the photo but pretty much everyone saw the first, original variant, and the school couldn’t keep it a secret for a minute longer: a murder it was.

You spent the following days unable to get proper sleep, eyes wide open scanning the ceiling for the majority of the night, the image of that girl’s empty, horrified stare chasing you until dawn, pulse rapidly tapping against your skin at the thought. Sasha doesn’t speak of her nightmares but you’re sure they resemble your own dreams: one hand pointlessly closed around a pale throat slashed open, the dark halo of thin hair framing a face gone cold, liquid red lipstick smeared across lips like a macabre tribute to joker.

If few can get out of the school, basically no stranger can step foot inside. Which means, and every single female student is painfully aware of it, that they are sharing their campus with a killer.

You’ve all been moving in packs lately, no girl has been seen wandering around the school without her friends or boyfriend and you’re no exception: if Sasha is almost always escorted by Jean and Connie, Eren basically refuses to leave your side and has been staying the night more and more often.

“I know cops freak you out” he tries to keep the spirits high, indulges in some humor to ease part of the tension in your shoulders as the investigation unfolds and strangers search your dorm a million times.

“Pigs” you utter under your breath shortly before flashing a smile to one of the officers you pass by on your way to class “how dumb d’you have to be to be still groping in the dark? They’re clueless”

He shrugs, trying hard to suppress a smirk because what the hell, they’re only there because a girl has been murdered and it wouldn’t be appropriate to smile “they’ll never figure it out anyway”

You look up at him, confusion evident by the crease between your brows. Eren clears his throat.

“Everyone knows the school wants to handle this shit internally” he lowers his voice in a murmur “I wouldn’t be surprised if the rector was actually trying to get rid of them”

“What the fuck? Why would he do that? Parents are already freaking out, threatening to pick up their kids and cancel their enrollments, does the rector want to reign over an abandoned bulk of shitty old bricks?”

“How much did you look into those articles about our school that Armin sent us last year?” Eren tilts his head a little, an amused twitch of the lips indicating that he’s about to do the thing you hate the most: be a smartass.

“Not much” you stand defeated and your boyfriend grins.

“It’s not the first time someone’s died here, Gako has a pretty long history of secret societies that are believed to have performed some fucked up initiations. It’s mainly why we don’t have them anymore, at least officially. The degree of independence from the rectorate was pretty high, they essentially had an agreement: vivit et vivet”.

“What?” your brows furrow, skeptical. Eren basks in your confusion.

“Live and let live. Keep your nose out of our business and we’ll do our best to stay discreet”

You refrain from asking where the fuck he even learned latin as a more urgent question arises. “But why would the rectorate even agree?”

“Those students came from some of the richest, most influential families of the Taisho era. Gako cares a lot about history and tradition and…”

“Prestige”

Eren nods.

“They kept the money flowing and the name shining. Those societies were Gako, I bet our current rector himself is an ex member of the Cauda Venenum or whatever the fuck it was”

There’s a pause as the story sinks in, all the implications that single revelation could hold. “Wow. You seem to have really enjoyed those articles, Armin must’ve been thrilled”

He laughs a bit at that and shrugs, pulls you closer to his body, pretends not to notice the inkling shadow of suspicion quivering beneath the surface of your words.

You don’t point out that what happened to Yuki is far from resembling an initiation, nor you dwell on the main undertone of the entire conversation: if what Eren said is true, the case could very well remain unsolved and the murderer would be allowed to roam free through the halls, perhaps for evermore. The mere thought sends a chill down your spine. Vivit et vivet.

The Yuki topic is banned from being discussed with Sasha, she gets nervous really easily and is already painfully on edge every single day. Despite Jean and Connie basically never leaving her side, you know part of her wishes she had a boyfriend to rely on or keep close at night, one that would pull her into him as she wakes up from those hellish nightmares, chest heaving painfully. That’s precisely why you don’t bring up Eren to her: not his weirdly cemented assumptions, not the fact that you want to keep your distance for at least a day or two. And so, as it often happens, Armin becomes the designated listener to all your bitching and moaning.

“He’s just being weird, I guess” you grumble over breakfast, a portion of blueberry pancakes covered in dense syrup “and I don’t know how to make it clear to him”

“How to make what clear to him?”

“That he’s giving me the creeps”

Your friend chuckles at that.

“I’m sure Eren’s simply as freaked out as everyone else, he’s just trying to make sense out of the whole thing. I do appreciate that at least someone went through the material I shared, though”

“I was plannin’ to” you protest “eventually”

“Sure you were” Armin rolls his eyes but there’s fondness in his resigned gaze.

A comfortable silence drapes over the two of you as you keep eating, the chatter floating around the mess hall reaches you like the rolling of heavy, long sea waves. There’s a storm raging outside, although not much can be seen from the stained glass windows that are closer to the vaulted ceilings than the long, wooden tables filled with students. The only real indicators are the distant rumbling of the thunder and a group of pupils who barged through the doors soaked from head to toe.

“I know you’re just as scared, y’know” Armin calmly cuts through the silence, eyes on his now empty plate “even if you always wanna act all tough”

“Yes, I’ll admit I’m slightly nervous at the idea that a murderer is currently wandering around our school and that our rector may very well be doing nothing to actually find said homicidal maniac” the words come out harsher than intended so you try to soften them around the edges “sorry, I just… it’s shitty. And I feel like I don’t get to complain because I have a boyfriend who is always making sure I’m not lonely or scared while…”

“Sasha doesn’t?”

Ugh, Armin. Ever the receptive empath.

You hang your head lower, shoulders hunched. He offers another one of his gentle smiles.

“A student has been found with her throat split open, on campus. I think you get a pass for being nervous about it, even if you have a boyfriend”

“Thank you, ‘Min” the smile you offer in exchange is probably not as sweet nor fully persuaded but you do truly appreciate his courtesy.

When you get back to your room at the end of a very long, tiring and unfortunately wet day (you 100% forgot to bring your just-in-case umbrella and thought running would be a safe, dry enough strategy to bolt from one class to the other), all you want is to kick off your muddy shoes, add some logs to the fireplace, take a piping hot shower and melt into the comfort of your bed. However, it’s not often you have the room all to yourself: Sasha is going to spend the night in Connie’s room, the only place in the entire school where she feels safe enough to get a good night sleep.

You decide to text Eren and ask him to come over. Although you never directly addressed your concerns or discomfort, he must’ve sensed the desire to keep to yourself for a few days and he’s been gracious enough to step back and grant some space. You don’t necessarily feel guilty about it but you’d lie if you said you didn’t miss him and his stupid, sometimes awfully inappropriate jokes. You’re in love with him after all, insufferably in love one could say (and Jean has before).

Eren is the one person you’d do everything for, the only man you could dedicate your entire life to. And it’s not just because he’s attractive, emotionally intelligent, a good friend and just generally a kind, good-hearted person. It’s because he loves you just as much, knows that you were made for each other, like a perfect match determined by a superior force, some higher power, a deity that held a flame to both your hearts and sealed your fate for all eternity. That’s how being in love with Eren feels.

That’s what you always think about when he fucks you into the mattress, as you moan as loud as he likes it, as you beg for him to go faster, harder, whenever he teases you with a painfully slow roll of the hips. He knows you belong to him just as much as he belongs to you and, god, what never fails to send you over the edge each time is the thought that he adores belonging to you more than he enjoys owning you. You have him, all of him, and by god you’ll make sure that never changes.

Tonight, the thought of Yuki infiltrates your brain once more, no matter how much you work to keep it at bay. What did she feel while being slashed open? Did she die from damage to the trachea or the carotid arteries? The latter seems to be more likely, the blood vessels the run up each side of the neck will bleed profusely if severed and she did bleed a lot, probably ended up chocking on her own blood, right as the blood flow to the brain was compromised. Still, you hope her heart didn’t stop too quickly.

Most people believe that cutting a human’s throat is the same as slahing open an animal’s. But you’re not supposed to place the knife at right angle only to press and draw it across the skin: the best way is actually to find the soft spot below the junction of the jaw and the neck, position the point of the knife right there and thrust it in, gently guiding the blade along the bundle of neck cords until you reach the same soft spot on the opposite side. The correct location is not hard to find: tracing a finger back from the lower jawbone to the place where the bone turns upwards and then lowering it slightly is just enough.

You wonder if forensic pathologists have been allowed to take a look at the body, if the autopsy reported that a right handed person has firmly restrained the victim from behind despite no weapon having been recovered from the crime scene.

What a loss, ever the tragedy, a young and pretty life being severed so early on. She was lovely, especially with that little cherry lipstick she’d always carry around, the one that complimented her fair skin perfectly. You didn’t want her to bid farewell to this world with an ugly face, not when red looked so good on her. Burgundy was just her color.

Eren is showering when his phone, left on your nightstand, lights up.

(Aiko, 10:07 pm) hey!

(Aiko, 10:07 pm) working on that paper today was really fun :) wanna meet up again tomorrow?

(Aiko, 10:08 pm) this time I promise coffee is on me

Good grief.

There’s never really an end to the ladies you have to deal with, is there?

[frostgears]

the chosen one

there are handlers that went to officer school and supposedly know what the fuck they're doing, all swagger with the authority of the Service behind them, uniforms like slices of space, voices like knives, their lethal charges trailing docile behind them.

they're the ones that show up in the porn sketches and the short clips of grainy video that circulate in the Fleet network. they're the ones that have pages and pages of fan fiction written about them.

then there's you. you didn't go to officer school. your entire signup process was this:

"hey, Cooper, you were in its old unit, weren't you? before it went to the lab? remember anything that'd distract it from biting at its own link sockets and screaming at techs?"

"uh, shit, sir, i can try…"

"great, it wandered into the rec room. go nuts."

you called your last conversation to mind. there'd been two major rec time activities in your last squad, and the alert that kicked off Paloma 17 had interrupted something.

you sat down next to the thing that had once been your squadmate, not meeting its weird red eyes. you already knew it didn't like that; looking it in the face was how Muñoz got their arm broken yesterday.

the augment whiffed of human sweat, the fake citrus of type-2 interface gel, something musty and unpleasant. its fatigues probably hadn't been washed ever.

"hey, asshole," you said, "you still owe me a Kinetic Princess match. best of five, remember? we were two and one when the hammer came down for P-17."

you put a gamepad on the floor next to it.

"ch. ch. ch."

was it laughing?

it swatted the gamepad away.

and then player 2's character select screen came up. without moving a muscle, it picked Valkyrie, switched her outfit to red, and handed you your ass, twice in a row, with no apparent exertion.

"ch. ch. ch."

yeah, it was laughing.

it kept laughing as it used its onboard hardware to disconnect your gamepad, choose the princess you'd just been playing, and win three matches against itself, beating Valkyrie with Marjoram.

again.

three-one.

three-zero.

three-one.

"well," someone said behind you, "that's kinda freaky. but better than tearing up the couch. guess you're on augment duty."

it was going all out. maybe trying to prove some sort of point. to itself? to you?

you got up.

it immediately paused the game.

"hey," you told it, "i gotta piss."

it followed you down the hall into the restroom. it tried to follow you into the stall.

"hah, you find a friend, Acey?" someone laughed.

"shut the fuck up, Lima." you tried to finish your business as best you could. it wasn't easy. the thing really did reek and it was not giving you a lot of space.

fuck it. you rose, didn't bother to wipe. you grabbed the augment and hauled it into the shower, spun the dial to hot, drenched the both of you, fatigues and all.

"wooooo! take it off!"

always a fucking audience in this place.

you found the zippers to strip the thing, flung wet clothing out of the shower at a spectator, pumped all-purpose soap into your hands.

"if you're gonna follow me around," you told the augment, "you gotta smell better."

this had to get done. you soaped it. all over. the generic floral smell of all-purpose soap was definitely an improvement already. felt human enough under your hands, except where it wasn't, the occasional beveled edge of a link socket. between its legs… human standard.

more hooting and hollering from the onlookers.

you remembered too late not to meet its eyes, but it just stared back at you, tilting its head a bit. no sign of aggression. was it smiling?

you never got around to the second major rec time activity with your old squadmate. you had no idea if she was ever interested. you also had no idea if sexual preferences survived augmentation.

fuck it. audentes fortuna iuvat, right? said so on your shoulder patch.

you slid a finger in.

shut the audience right up.

the thing kept staring at you.

you slipped a second finger in and stared back right up until you finished it off. it shivered visibly, made a sort of low whine.

nobody said shit after that. when you finally shut off the water, silence like a library.

you walked out. it trailed behind you. you grabbed a towel off the stack by the shower exit, wrapped the thing in it. it didn't protest. wearing nothing but your own towel, you stalked back to your bunk, hoping you still had a few clean uniforms, your expression daring anyone to mention that a single thing was out of the ordinary.

"heyyyyyy Acey, you get lu—"

someone always dared. this fucking unit.

the augment hissed. an unmodified human throat wouldn't have been able to make that noise; it sounded like a fire extinguisher. there was reverb in that hiss. there were teeth.

"oh, gods, just don't," you said wearily, looking back over your shoulder. it let Chroma, who had a tiny bit of sense in her head, back away slowly, in one piece.

anyway, that's how you became a handler. the pay bump is nice, your CO says you've been fast-tracked for officer school someday, and more to the point, the augment has already saved your whole squad at least three times.

but you have not once showered alone since that day, and you know it'd be a really, really bad idea to ever refuse a game of Kinetic Princess. that's just how it is when your real MOS is "weapon's favorite person". □

[scoonsaliciousupdates]

5.3 Lily

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Summary: Lily McIntyre, trainer for new SHIELD recruits at the Avengers Tower, has been in love with her best friend, Bucky Barnes, from the moment she met him. She's been content with her role of the #1 girl in Bucky's life, even if it means she has to sabotage a romantic relationship or two. It'll be worth it when he realizes that they're meant for each other, right? There's just one small problem: Lily McIntire never expected Bucky Barnes to fall for You.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language,

Word Count: 500

Previously On...: Bucky got a call from Lily, wanting to know where he was. He lied to her, of course. That definitely won't come back to bite him in the ass.

A/N: Sorry this is so late going up! Had a last-minute Mother's Day dinner with the family, and then some quality time with @cazellen, and when you add on an hour+ drive each way, it ended up eating my entire evening. But! I wouldn't leave you hanging, so here is today's update, just... six hours late :(

Also, PLEASE NOTE: There is one more section of Chapter 5 to go up tomorrow, and then I will be taking a one-week break from posting so I can focus on writing. So, Chapter 6 will start on Sunday, May 19th. I probably will not be as active on here as I normally am, so if you send me a message and I don't respond right away, it's because I'm busy making more content for you!

NOTE! The tag list is a fickle bitch, so I'm not really going to be dealing with it anymore. If you want to be notified when new story parts drop, please follow @scoonsaliciousupdates

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

Lily clutched her phone to her chest, shocked. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. He had lied to her. She couldn’t believe it. Her best friend had lied to her about what he was doing and who he was with. 

She hadn’t planned on coming to the Compound that night– she’d realized she’d forgotten some files in her office that she needed to look over before she went back to work on Monday, and had just stopped in to pick them up. She figured, since she was there, she might as well go see what Bucky and Sam were up to. She didn’t want to crash their boys’ night, per se, but if they happened to invite her to join them? Well, how could she refuse such an invitation?

That’s why it came as such a shock when she rounded the corner to the rec room and saw Sam and Steve, in front of the large television, watching football together, and Bucky nowhere in sight. She hung back for a few moments, giving him the benefit of the doubt, that maybe he’d been in the bathroom, or in the kitchen grabbing snacks. But when fifteen minutes went by, then thirty, and Bucky still hadn’t shown himself, she began to worry.

She was about to barge into the room and demand answers from Sam and Steve, when she heard them talking during a commercial break.

“So, how do you think the date’s going?” Steve asked Sam.

“Knowing Tin Man, I’d usually say ‘terribly,’” Sam said with a laugh, “but this girl seems to actually like him, so who the hell knows? I guess it depends on what time he comes home tonight… or tomorrow morning, doesn’t it?” 

Lily brought a hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp as she backed away from the entrance to the rec room. 

No. No, no, no, no, no, she thought. He wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t just start seeing someone without telling her, warning her, would he? 

So, she’d called him. 

“I promised Sam we’d do guys’ night,” he’d told her at brunch, the lie coming so smoothly off his lips. But she’d heard a woman’s voice on the line with him.

Lies.

And then, he’d snapped “I already told you what I was doing… You don’t have to keep checking up on me.” He’d never used that exasperated tone with her before. Never. And to just hang up on her, without even a proper goodbye?

She felt hurt. She felt betrayed. In their years of friendship, Bucky had never lied to her before, had he? And why? Why now? Who was this girl, and what was so fucking special about her that Bucky felt the need to lie to his best friend about her? 

Lily felt like she was going to be sick.

She needed to find out who this mystery woman was, immediately. And she needed to do everything in her power to make sure Bucky never saw her again.

<- Previous Part / Next Part ->

[diacripticcomplex]

DL Characters as College Majors/Life after highschool/Adulting experiences: 

Shu: Did not attend college, and will not. Somehow he was able to find a super boss lady girlfriend who literally takes care of him and doesnt want him working or going anywhere. Shu thinks that he's the one running things in the relationship and she will make him think that but she's pulling all the strings in the background. The only thing she wants Shu to do is take care of their dog and cat, which Shu gladly does, he is much better at taking care of animals than he ever was at taking care of other people. Smokes a lot of weed when his girlfriend isn't home, she keeps him at peace and without her he starts panicking. 

Reiji: He graduated highschool a year earlier than most, and is in his third year of pre-medical school, he successfully got his associates degree in Biology. He's also engaged to someone he doesnt even know but he has no choice but to obey his father's wishes. Doesnt go to any college parties and is not friends with anyone, however he does ass kiss the professors so that he would be able to score a good internship and letters of rec for Medical school. A few ladies in his classes think he is very attractive but he is uninterested in them and is loyal to his betrothed, having no idea what she even looks like is crazy but good for him I guess. 

Ayato: The life of the party, Literally he only went to college for the parties, his GPA was really low but he got money so he's able to pay of course. Joined a whole frat, is a huge frat bro and his major is finance. Which is crazy cause he sucks at math and anything pertaining to numbers.  He always makes class groupchats in order to get the answers for assignments and exams, thats how he's managing to get by all his classes. He's gotten roofied at a party before and is super careful with his drinks now as well as keeping a lookout for other people. He always tries to get his brothers to attend his frat parties, Laito does and once Subaru went, instantly regretted it cause Ayato made him jug like 20 beer cans back to back. He also has a huge crush on Yui but never invites her to the parties because he's scared something bad can happen to her there since there were many cases. 

Kanato: A well known art and design major, as well as minoring in historical fashions. Kanato has a huge passion for designing clothes and he was so happy he got accepted into a university that allowed him to use his creativity. He takes a lot of art related classes, his favorite is sculpting because it allows him to create sculptures out of wax, and he even got an award and his own exhibit on campus, yes he's that good. He's a part of a very quiet friend group of artists who silently create their mark on the school, the whole group is 5 girls and Kanato, crazy thing is Kanato managed to have sex with each one of them and theyre all aware as well but the convinced them in was to further their artistic view on bodies. He has a side hustle where he sells handmade bags and clothing, he's been doing very good to the point he can own his own boutique. 

Laito: He loves a good party and tries his best to attend all of Ayato's frat parties, but he does not go to college, instead he takes online courses on how to be a "health" guru, (sex guru). He's been doing good though, he's also a part-time massager for women only, he literally harassing them but they do not mind. He's also in a throuple relationship and a step father currently, but he has 3 kids from his previous relationships, yes Laito has 3 baby mamas and he's also  very active on social media trying to be a trendy influencer. He's also been in therapy for his mental health issues and past traumas, its been helping him. he tries to convince his brothers to come with him but they refuse, he never gives up. He really wants that family group therapy. 

Subaru: College did not spark his interest at all, despite the fact that he pretty much would be able to get a scholarship or be a pro-athlete. Subaru started to do boxing as a career choice, going into professional fights and winning every fight he has ever been in. His fighting name is the White Tiger. He loves to workout, and keeps a very healthy lifestyle so that one time he did go to that annoying frat party it completely messed up his flow it took him a few weeks to recover. Before he was fighting he tried using steroids to get ripped but stopped after he started feeling like shit. He has a girlfriend, and they have been together for YEARS! She's pregnant too and they have a cat together as well, they live in a nice condo and iconically he drives a subaru. 

Ruki: He's in culinary school. Honestly, he can cook very well. even Gordon Ramsey was impressed. He goes abroad quite often for competitions and for learning more about cultural dishes. He's managing an online business where he sells these goodie snacks and its international as well, Kou being famous helps promote his snack brand even more. Ruki also got married around his 3rd year in culinary school to the head chef, she literally fell in love with his cooking, however they keep their relationship a secret for obvious reasons, she's his teacher technically. He always brings his brothers back souvenirs from everywhere he goes, his favorite places so far were New York and Las Vegas, the food impressed him very much. 

Kou: He's been famous, and now he's evenm more famous thanks to Tiktok and instagram. He has a whole PR team as well and is often also traveling between Japan, California, New York, and Paris. He has a lot of modelling and brand deals as well, he's currently working on a cologne line and perfume line for women as well as male skin care. Kou has a lot of groupies and he almost married one but she was crazy and still stalks him. He has a lot of scandals as well. His nudes were leaked and a tape as well going viral on twitter and discord. He has collabed with a lot of famous singers and tiktokers. He is thinking of getting into acting if the scandals die down. 

 

Yuma: Works in the agriculture industry, but he’s not a farmer or gardener, he inspects gardens for a living and if they’re bad he will tell them how to improve it, he also works closely with importation of certain fruits and veggies. Nothing gets past Yuma, he has a big house with an even bigger garden and green house as well, he’s also gay and still big in love with Shu but respects his relationship they hang out sometimes. He’s currently working on a product to remove pesticides without harming the human body or altering the fruit/veggie. He’s been to a few gay clubs, and had some fun but likes to keep his life private and isn’t interested in a relationship right now.

Azusa: He met a very good person who was working as a therapist and she ended up becoming his girlfriend, he was never her patient but she was def helping him without even him realizing it, he's focusing on his mental health mainly and he's gotten a bunch of tattoos to cover up all his scars. He also works from home and is currently writing a book about his life, specifically the peak of his low, which was when he met his brothers in the orphanage. He has a pet kitten and he actually has 3 kids with his soon to be wife, he's also been getting into drawing and wants to illustrate children's books, and do a side hustle of tattooing. 

Carla: Works in the police force, he spends most of his time with the international forces and monitors media, he’s also working for disease control he used to be a detective however he shot someone innocent and couldn’t work the ranks anymore so he just works in internal affairs, he had a whole political campaign at one point but some women came forward with allegations against him some were true, some just hate him so they lied, safe to say he’s not getting into power any time soon, his daughter is his rock but he’s on the verge of a divorce. (I don’t like Carla)

Shin: He went to college to become a zoologist, but decided to get into the fur pelts industry instead, he works closely with fashion designers and certain colder countries , he’s been getting great trade, he also almost had a near death experience with a wolf so he no longer wants to be around animals. He practices not showering for months. (Yea I don’t like Shin)

Kino: (I def don’t like Kino) He works at a game stop.

Yui: this precious Angel Yui, goes to college for religious studies, she makes cute rosaries for all her fellow church group members/friends and they pray together, she wants to become an abbess very badly and is trying her very best in all of her classes, she does a lot of charity and fun raisers too, putting her cooking and baking skills to use, she had a crush on Ayato they shared the same pre req class but once he started partying and stuff she grew super distant from him, but still says hi to him when they see each other on campus.

[graciegoeskrazy]

Last Resort

Sebastian Stan x Teen!reader

Warnings

HEAVY talks of Self-harm, mentions of mental hospitals/psych wards, reader has 2 moms (if that bothers you then just unfollow me), New York City lol, some language, not entirely proofread

Word Count

~2k

A/N

Can you tell I got really lazy at the end? Lol. Sorry for being mia again. Also send me all your fic recs. I’m a update the list soon. Semi proud of this one. Xoxo.

To put it lightly, it had been a rough couple of months, but the long awaited spring break had finally arrived. Your parents didn't tell you where you were going. You only assumed it was some nice dinner or lunch or a fun activity they had planned to kick off your week off. Going on weekend trips to the city wasn’t unusual. You lived not even an hour away, and your online schooling routine gave you and your family the flexibility needed to do fun things like this. This weekend, however, felt…different.

Before you and your parents left, you caught them putting one of your small duffel bags into the back of the car. You didn't think much about it. It wasn't until they pulled into an unfamiliar parking garage once you got into the city, that you started to ask questions.

“So, where exactly are we going?”

“It's a surprise.” Your mom said. A hint of mischief in her voice.

“I thought we were just gonna get something to eat?” You continued.

“We are technically. Well…you are.” Your other mom gave her a light smack on the arm as she drove through the building trying to find a parking spot.

“Don’t spoil it too much!”

They both stopped talking and sat in silence, placing mental bets on how much longer it would be until you started talking again. You shot another glance to the back of the car, then continued. “What’s with the duffel bag?”

Your moms exchanged gitty glances, having a silent conversation with their eyes, debating whether or not to explain more, or just let you see for yourself. They landed on the latter. You sat back abruptly in your seat, arms crossed, pondering what your mothers could possibly have in store.

The car finally pulled into a spot, and the car unclicked. As you got out and stretched your legs you caught a peak of your mom getting out the driver seat and heading to the back out the car. She pulled out the duffel bag and kept walking past you to the elevator. Your mothers paused, exchanged glances at each other's phones which seemed like some sort of text, then continued walking, signaling for you to follow them.

What in the world was happening?

…

The cool New York City air greeted you as you stepped foot on the pavement. Although it was spring and people were dressed like it was the hottest day of summer, there was still a chill in the air.

Your parents turned various corners and ended with you right behind. Ou asked a couple questions here and there, along with some not-so-educated guess…

“Is it…the zoo?”

“Is it a Broadway show?

“Are we seeing the Jonas Brothers in concert?!?!”

“Is it the Disney store? I think I deserve a shopping spree after all I've been through.”

You gave up eventually. With the unhidable smirks your parents kept giving as they walked in front of you, you could tell you were getting nowhere. One of your moms kept checking her phone every 2 seconds, so you felt as if you all were about to reach your destination. She grabbed your arms gently and led you forward so you were now walking in toe with them.

“You know we both love you more than anything in this world right?”

What the fuck is about to happen?!

You kept you cool and just nodded.

“And you know all we want to do is help. Right?”

Your first instinct was that they were about to send you to another mental hospital. You silently hoped and prayed that was not it. You already spent some time there and it was (simply yet accurately put) the deepest darkest hell you have ever experienced. It made some sense with the duffel bag, but still did not entirely add up. You just sent another nod her way.

She smiled and looked forward again. “We hope you have the best time. You will call us if you need anything at all. Understood?”

You quirked your head in confusion as all your steps slowed. “Okay. I need some serious context right now. What the hell do you mean?”

A new voice spoke up. “She means, you're coming with me.”

You whipped your head around and were relieved and equally confused to see a familiar face you adored so much.

“Sebastian!”

You and Sebastian had met when you were 7. You were working on a film together and since then have become inseparable, working on 2 other projects, seeing each other frequently, and practically trusting each other with your lives.

You both smiled as you hugged and greeted each other. “What the hell are you doing here?! What do you mean I'm coming with you?”

“One sec my love.” He said. He turned past you and greeted your parents. Your mom gave him the duffel bag while talking in hushed whispers. You couldn’t make out anything they were saying, but it didn't matter, you were too busy standing in shock from what was happening to try and figure out what was happening.

Your moms voice brought you back to the present. “We love you sweetie! We’ll see you later.”

Sebastian walked back towards you. “You ready?”

“Okay are you gonna be the one to tell me what’s happening?”

He sighed, “You need a break. So, I’m giving you one.”

Still vague.

“Okay? So where are we going?’

“First, grab a quick snack. Then, the park, and then after, my place.”

…

Your day was filled with scenic walks around NYC, delicious sweets provided by Sebastian, and it all led you to now. This duffel bag your parents brought was filled with some clothes and bathroom stuff for an overnight stay or 2. After getting showered in changed back at Sebastian’s apartment, you walked out of the bathroom to find Sebastian pumping up and air mattress for you to sleep on.

“You know I’ll just end up sleeping on the couch right?”

“Nope, I get the couch and you get the air mattress.”

“Hmm. In that case I’ll just take your bed.”

“Very funny. What happened to our movie night? I though you were gonna force me to watch the latest Spider-Man movie?”

“Yeah okay fine.”

You sat on the couch as Sebastian continued to set up the mattress, finishing it with pillows and blankets.

“Okay, I’m still confused. Why did my parents bribe you to hang out with me?”

He chuckled, “They didn’t bribe me, y/n. No one needs to bribe me to hang out with my favorite person.”

You smiled. “Okay, but why now? I still feel like I'm missing something.”

He put the air mattress pump down and sat across from you on the sofa.”

“Your parents and I are just worried, that’s all.”

You pondered his response for a moment. “Worried about what?”

He sighed, “About you.”

He knows

You let out a small fake chuckle. “Why on Earth would you need to-”

“Your parents told me what happened.”

All the color drained from your face. Sebastian must have noticed. He placed a comforting hand on your knee. He knew you kept a lot of things private. Although he knew of some things you were going though, now and in the past, he still knew you were a secretive person, you liked to handle things on your own. He knew it was hard for you to talk about things like this and also knew you definitely didn't want him to know about your most recent struggles, but your parents were desperate in getting you to open up, and Sebastian seemed like the safest bet.

“I- W-what are you-”

“Don't play dumb, y/n.”

The pain and worry seemed to turn to anger. You stood up and went to the kitchen to refill your drink. “I’m fine, Sebastian.”

“Trying to kill yourself doesn’t sound fine to me.”

“Shut up will you!”

“Tell me what happened.”

“I-“

“Go slow. Take your time. I’m here, and I’ve got all night.” He said that last part in an attempt to make you laugh, but it didn’t seem to work.

“A couple months ago…I don’t know, I was really tired. I was still in real school, the bullying was nonstop, everyone made fun of me for the stupidest things. I know I I better than what they said, or the stupid things they called me, but it still ge5s to you, you know? My grades were dropping as a result, I was being treated like shit at work with these terrible directors, and I just reached my breaking point.”

You looked at Sebastian, eyes asking for permission to go on. He nodded, pulling you in closer to him.

“I rarely told my parents about anything. They knew something was wrong, but they never would have suspected it got this bad. One night..I found a bottle of some old prescription pills that used to belong to my mom. I locked my self in the bathroom and just…”

The tears fell faster. You didn’t move. Sebastian just held you as you cried into him. His chin resting on your head. After a moment of catching your breath, you tried to continue.

“I spent a little more than a week in a mental hospital. It was like…pure hell. I never want to go back. And I know it all sounds dumb. I’m lucky, I went to a good school, I was working on a movie for christ's sake, I probably should’ve just sucked it up. I know it probably It sound like I’m a stupid spoiled brat-“

Sebastian grabbed your face genially in his hands “Hey! None of that. You do not need to apologize for what you did. You were struggling and weren’t in a good place. You do not have to apologize for that, you understand me?” You nodded. “All that matters now is that your here now, you're safe, you’re better, and you will get even better, okay? You’ve reached the bottom my love, but you made it out, and now there is nowhere to go but up.” You fell into him again. “And you’re not alone. You have your amazing moms, some of your friends, I beg there is people at work who care about you, and you have me, and you can’t get rid of me that easily, ok?”

“I just wish all of this was over. I wish I was fine, I wish I was normal. I hate feeling this way. This all just happened so fast. I miss myself, I miss being normal.”

“You will feel better again. And what even is normal? Normal is so boring. My love, you were never normal. You were this beautiful, intelligent, superstar young woman, leading a nowhere near normal life. The last thing I would want for you is for you to be normal.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“All you need to do now is focus on getting better, and know I will be there every single step of the way.”

[summercourtship]

checkmate. (edward's pov)

Edward and the Reader's rec room encounters, including the chess scene. From Ch. 7 -8 of Stay to Burn (Only to Drown Instead)- this will not make sense if you haven't read that!! I'm really happy with how this one turned out, I hope you all like it as welllllll. thank you all for the continued support on this and STBOTDI, ily. disclaimer that while I do know how to play chess, I'm not an expert and therefore do as little explaining of the game as possible. word count: 4121 | warnings: references to sexual activity, very vague reference to sexual assault (not from Edward)

read on ao3 | stay to burn masterpost

Edward hadn’t expected to see her again. He’d had his hopes, of course, small daydreams and larger fantasies and plans that had started to occupy his thoughts more often than not, but he was realistic enough to know that there was no reason his path in the asylum should ever intersect with hers. 

She wasn’t an orderly, she wasn’t a nurse. She was just a personal assistant for a psychiatrist, she shouldn’t have ever been stationed in the asylum’s recreation room. 

Yet there she was, standing against the wall and looking like a deer caught in the headlights, though she tried poorly to hide her fear with a scowl. He waited, watching her, his sudoku book laying open but abandoned on the table in front of him. She definitely noticed him, though she was pointedly not looking his way. 

But, as he stared at her, he noticed that her lips were slightly swollen, her hair messier than she usually kept it. Interesting. He had suspected that she and Dr. Crane were sleeping together, the doctor’s possessive hand on her back and the side-long glances sent Edward’s way were enough evidence to support this theory. This could be the confirmation he needed- but he’d need to actually approach her.

As he got up from his table to start towards her, he told himself he cared about who she was sleeping with purely because it indicated further corruption within Arkham. It was another example of unethical behavior from one of their doctors which was obvious and yet no one did anything about it. But he was not concerned about her partner because of any other reason. Certainly not because the mental image of her on her knees for Dr. Crane left him with a sour taste in his mouth. 

Edward stood against the wall next to her, waiting for her to turn her attention to him. He knew that she noticed him (how could she not, he was right beside her). Finally, she sighed. 

“Yes, Edward?”

Her voice was toneless, carefully devoid of any emotion. She still wasn’t looking at him, but at least she’d addressed him (he ignored the feeling that her saying his name caused, a warmth that curled low in his stomach). He waited another second before delivering his riddle. It wasn’t something he had come up with himself, instead it was the kind of thing teenage boys threw around to make each other laugh.  

“What’s white, sticky, and better to spit than swallow?”

She muttered something under her breath, too quiet for him to hear though he could certainly guess what it was, before turning to him, obviously annoyed if the set of her jaw was anything to go by. “Go awa-” And then, beautifully, he could see the exact moment she figured it out, like a lightbulb had turned on behind her eyes as they brightened with the realization before they quickly dulled in exasperation. “It’s toothpaste.”

But the riddle wasn’t the test. He was pleased, of course, that she had figured it out so quickly. Most people, he found, tended to go with their gut instinct when answering riddles. If he had asked anyone else in the room the same riddle, they would have certainly answered semen first. That is, if they were mentally capable of even coming to that conclusion in the first place. 

But the girl had corrected herself quickly, coming to the correct conclusion faster than he had anticipated. He smiled, humming as he let his vision fall to the side, at one of the strands of her hair. There was nothing there, of course, but she didn’t know that. A little trick, simple misdirection.  

“Well, whatever it is, you have some in your hair.”

She stared at him for a moment, processing his words, before panic set in, her hands flying up to her hair to frantically check. Her reaction was what he wanted- if she hadn’t been engaged in illicit behavior, she wouldn’t have panicked. She would have been confused or offended, but as she hurriedly ran her hands through her hair there was none of that. Only pure fear that she had been found out, and then confusion when she found nothing. 

“So, you are sleeping with Crane.” He was smiling wider now, unable to hide his glee at figuring her out so quickly. She sputtered, watching her slightly swollen lips try to form words. What he wouldn’t give to be the reason her lips looked like that- not right now.

“I’m not- how did you- go away!” She stammered. His only response was to continue standing by her, watching as she attempted to figure out what to do to get him to leave. She paused briefly before clearing her throat, as if she had realized how flustered she sounded. Straightening her back, she turned away from him, pointedly not looking his way. “I told you to go away. I’m only here until the next shift of aides comes in.”

How naive of her to believe that someone would be coming soon to save her from her predicament. It wasn’t impossible, but Edward doubted it would be as quickly as she was expecting. They really ought to have given her a more realistic expectation on how long she would be standing in the rec room, because she seemed to think it would only be for five minutes and not a minimum of thirty.  

“If they come in.” Slowly, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He continued like what he was saying was obvious. Because it was. “Arkham is understaffed. I’m no expert on hospital policies-” He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his throat, though it tasted bitter on his tongue. “I don’t think personal assistants are interchangeable with orderlies. It’s reckless.”

She slowly turned to look at him, and he had to keep from smiling with satisfaction that her attention was finally on him completely, not hindered by her own hesitation anymore. But she doesn’t say anything, simply looking at him, her eyes briefly flicking around his face. Her gaze lingered for a moment on his hair and Edward was suddenly hyper aware of the fact that it was due for a wash, hanging limp and greasy on his forehead. Which was odd because since he came into the asylum he hadn’t cared about the state of his hair (not that he cared much about it when he was free).  

“So why were you put in here?” He spoke to distract himself from the sudden awareness that he was under scrutiny, that the silences were only giving the girl in front of him ample time to rake her eyes over him and see every flaw of his hair, his skin, his body-

“Do you know how to speak plainly?” She interrupted his thoughts, bringing him out of a self-conscious downward spiral. 

“Do you know the answer?” He countered quickly. 

“...No.” She sounded uncertain, her face scrunching slightly. She was pensive for a few more moments before she continued quietly. “Go away. Please.” Her words were a soft plea and he complied with her request, if just because of the vulnerability in her voice combined with his own sudden insecurity about how she perceived him. (That was something he hadn’t worried about in a long time, how others saw him.)

He returned to his seat, not looking back at her aside from one last lingering look to remember how she looked, just in case this was the last time he ever saw her. He liked to think it wouldn’t be, not with how fate seemed to be favoring him lately, but he had to be realistic sometimes. She could easily go home and quit, though at least her relationship with Dr. Crane was enough to believe she’d continue coming to work. 

When the next shift came in- good, she was clearly ready to go- he expected her to leave without a final glance his way. But he watched her leave anyway, only to be slightly stunned when she did look back at him, an unreadable expression on her face. As soon as her eyes met his, he had to look back at his book, unable to handle the eye contact. 

That night, Edward waited by his cell door. There was one guard he knew that was willing to engage in less than morally sound acts- for the right price, of course. As was true with the rest of the world, nothing in Arkham was free. Edward didn’t have anything to give, but he was hoping the guard would still humor him.  

“That assistant who was in the rec room earlier- why was she in there?”

The guard stopped, glancing at Edward out of the corner of his eye. 

“Why are you asking?”

“Does it matter?”

The guard sighed, loud and exasperated. Edward was used to that treatment, having attracted annoyed glances and sighs since day one of his life. He simply raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.  

“Low staff, Nashton.” 

Obviously. It wasn’t quite the answer he was hoping for, but it seemed to be the only one he would get. 

“How long will you be low on staff?” Another question he already knew the answer to and was hardly surprised when the guard answered with a flat voice and dead eyes. 

“No one wants to work here.” 

I wonder why. But it was another reason why the girl working as Dr. Crane’s assistant was so… interesting. How on earth had Dr. Crane managed to convince the administrators to allow him that when there were barely enough nurses to cover shifts was beyond Edward. (He didn’t like not being able to find these things out himself.) 

“So she’ll be in the rec room again?” 

The guard smiled, sly and sleazy. 

“You interested in her?”

Edward didn’t respond. He didn’t have to, knowing that if he was quiet for long enough the man would continue talking. The pregnant pause, working its wonders on the weak minded. 

“I can set something up between the two of you-” 

“Can you ensure that she’s in the rec room when I am?” Edward was quick to cut the man’s suggestion off. He didn’t want to hear about how the guard was willing to essentially kidnap someone so an inmate could have their way with them. 

The guard stepped back, examining Edward. 

“What’ll you give me for it?”

Edward didn’t respond again, this time because he couldn’t admit that he had nothing to give. The guard seemed to realize this as he rolled his eyes and turned away. 

“Bring me something good and I’ll… advocate for her presence in the rec room during your hours.” 

The guard gave him one last smug smile before he left, whistling as he continued his rounds. Edward watched, resisting the urge to scream. The interaction had gained him nothing except his interest in the girl being exposed. 

From one cell over, his neighbor laughed. High and reedy, grating on Edward’s already sensitive nerves. 

“Eddie has a cruuuuush.” He chimed in with a sing-song voice and even though Edward couldn’t see him, he could hear the smile in his words. It reminded him of the teasing voices of his childhood, the vicious words of the bullies at school and the older kids at the orphanage, finding any reason to poke fun at Edward’s existence. Calling him every name under the sun, even if it didn’t make sense for whatever they were making fun of him for. It didn’t have to make sense if it still stung. “You think she could like someone like you?” 

Edward didn’t answer. He liked the Joker, sure. He was a good conversation partner when Edward was lonely and the Joker wasn’t in one of his cruel moods. Which wasn’t right now. Even though he couldn’t see the man, he knew that he had that dull look in his eyes, craving nothing more than to cause a little chaos. And Edward wasn’t really in the mood to be the victim of the Joker’s cruelty at the moment.

“You know you can’t trust a girl like that.” The Joker tsk-ed, and even though Edward also called her a girl in his head- woman seemed too sterile, too removed from her reality for Edward even if it was the truth- something about the way the Joker said it left him feeling uneasy. Like he was just reducing her down to nothing more than a potential outlet for Edward’s sexual frustration, not recognizing how special she actually was. 

“How’s your doctor?” Edward asked. 

“She brought me a pack of cigarettes last session.” The Joker giggled again, but was clearly unaffected by Edward’s attempt to change the subject. “I can lend ya the money if you want some alone time with the chick.” 

“That’s not what I wa-” He sighed, closing his eyes and deciding it was best not to fight about it. He was trying desperately to recall if they said anything on the podcasts he had listened to about dealing with difficult co-workers. That was the closest the advice they gave was going to get to his current situation. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass.”

It turned out that Edward wouldn’t even need to bribe a guard to put the girl in the rec room, because they seemed content to place her in there whenever they needed an extra body. He’d heard from others that she’d been in there, still standing against the wall and not looking at any of the inmates. 

Edward kept his distance from her the next time she showed up in the rec room. He knew he was wasting an opportunity to speak with her, he knew that he should take advantage of any time he had to spend with her. For a while, he just sat and stared at her, hoping that maybe she’d get the hint and talk to him instead. But even when her eyes briefly ventured his way, she only looked away. No change in her expression or stance. She did nothing to even indicate that she noticed him looking at her.

And that only further amplified the thoughts that she had judged him last time, that she had seen something horrendous in him that she hadn’t already been aware of before coming into the asylum. Those thoughts kept him glued to his chair, bouncing his leg nervously.  

Once she left, he felt the imaginary weight that her presence had put on him lift, only to be replaced by regret that he hadn’t overcome his nerves and talked to her. 

___

Once, when he was in middle school, he tried to ask a girl to the eighth grade dance. She had said no, of course, and even though she was fairly kind about it it still was a memory he didn’t like to dwell on. But he was reminded of it when he’d approached her to ask her to play chess. The nerves in his stomach, the sweat on his hands. It was like being thirteen again, how embarrassing. He wasn’t even able to speak, only vaguely gesturing towards the chess table in the corner of the room, feeling like he was asking her on a date.

Needless to say, he was surprised she agreed to play with him. She had initially mumbled something he hadn’t been able to hear over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears but then, as he was walking back to the chess table and mentally cursing himself for being so embarrassing, he noticed that she was following him. 

He was playing white, of course. She didn’t fight him on it, so she either didn’t know about the benefits of playing white or she simply didn’t care. He figured the latter was more likely. 

It took him almost the entire game to regain his voice, finally speaking after capturing a penny meant to be a pawn from her. 

“You know, two years ago I would have been terrified of a girl like you.” He was lying. She still terrified him, but the familiar comfort of chess had soothed his own nerves. He moved his bishop, capturing one of her pawns. She barely reacted to his move, a twitch of her lip being the only sign that she had even noticed.  Or maybe that was a reaction to what he was saying if her response was anything to go by. 

“A girl like me?” 

“But now-” He ignored her incredulous tone, speaking slightly louder to regain her attention, “-you’re terrified of me.”

He knew that she was, at one point, afraid of him. When he’d seen her on her first day in the asylum, she’d obviously been unnerved, frightened. But with the way she acted around him now, he doubted that it had stuck for much longer. Which was good- he didn’t want to scare her. It meant that whatever he was doing, she was gradually becoming more used to him. 

“I’m not terrified of you.” She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed slightly.  Then she sucked her teeth, looking back down at the board. “Right now, I’m annoyed.” She was obviously lost. She seemed to have enough knowledge about chess to know where to move the pieces, but not enough to know how to move them. Her strategy was non-existent, reacting to his movements rather than taking control. 

He was starting to worry that perhaps he misjudged her intelligence. 

“You’re not very good at this, are you?”

“I don’t play often.”

“I can tell.” 

“I don’t have to play with you, you know.”

“But you are.” He cocked his head sideways even though he was pleased at their banter. The rapid fire back-and-forth served to negate any of his worries regarding the state of her intelligence. If she practiced chess, she’d surely pick it up quickly. Maybe I could teach her- no, that was too wishful. Bordering on delusional.  

It was her turn, and she wasn’t moving. She was leaning back in her chair, her glare alternating from the board to his face. She was thinking hard, and he doubted it was entirely about the game. What he wouldn’t give to take a peek into her brain, to see what she saw and how she felt at that moment. Frustrated, definitely. But what else? 

Edward looked at the board, even though he already knew exactly how he could win. She didn’t have many pieces left, and she’d moved them in such a way that put all of them in vulnerable positions. He had one single thought then: to put her out of her misery and end her embarrassment as quickly as possible. 

“Move your rook.”

She didn’t move immediately, instead moving her glare back to Edward. 

“Why are you helping me?” 

Was she always this suspicious, or had he done something in the last three minutes to warrant her sudden scrutiny?

“It’s preferable to watching you struggle for the next two minutes.” He pointed to a square on the board. “Move the rook.”

To his surprise, she did, without even examining the board to see if it was a smart move. Even though the stakes weren’t high here at all, he was a bit thrown back by how easily she followed his instructions. What else would she do if he asked her to? Of course, she’d have to be in the right mood- once again, he stopped his thoughts. He was done trying to tell himself that he wasn’t attracted to her (that had been a losing battle from the moment he met her at the mayor’s funeral, even with everything else going on in his life at that time) but he wanted to at least be alone when he thought about her sexually. Right now, he wanted to focus on the game, which was about to conclude itself. 

He picked up his bishop- only a few squares away, she really should have noticed the weak position she put her rook in by moving it- and swiftly captured her piece, putting it in the pile with the others. She only had her knight, two pawns, and king left. And none of the other pieces were in position to save her king. 

Her mouth dropped open as she watched this unfold, staring at the board in confusion before up at him. And oh, he liked that expression on her face, shocked and indignant.  

“Hey! What-”

“I didn’t say I was helping you win.” With that move, he had essentially cornered her king. He couldn’t help the smug smile that spread over his face. “Checkmate.”

“Fuck.” She was clearly disappointed that she lost (as if she could win against him) and he took that as his signal to leave, sighing as he began to stand. He was thinking that maybe he should have let her win (girls must like that, right?) when she spoke up, her voice level but with a slight sense of determination hidden beneath it. 

“Reset the board.” 

Wordlessly, he sat back down, trying not to show his surprise that she wanted to continue playing. He began putting the pieces back where they belonged, the mismatched assortment of real pieces and makeshift replacements slowly finding their way back to their respective squares. 

When he hazarded a look up at her, he was startled to find her already watching him. His hand stumbled, knocking over the piece. So much for not being afraid of her. Her gaze flitted down to watch his hands for a moment, before she picked up the piece he had knocked over. The black knight, and something in his brain lit up for a moment, correcting it to the Dark Knight. He watched as she took it and placed it on the correct spot, before looking back up at him. 

“I’ll be white this time.” 

Slowly, he turned the board around, wondering if she knew that the advantage of playing as white only mattered if you knew what you were doing. He quickly figured out that she didn’t when she moved a pawn one single space. 

He responded with his own move, unable to resist poking fun at her lack of strategy when, on her next move, she once again moved a pawn. 

“You need to make better moves than that if you want to win.” He moved his knight. 

“Don’t tell me what to do.” She scoffed, moving another piece. He resisted the urge to groan at the move she made, already seeing a way that he could win. “You’ll just make me lose if I listen to you.”

“You’re going to lose either way, I’d just make it happen faster.” 

“Shut up.” She falls quiet after that, though he notices how carefully she watches as he picks up his pieces and moves them. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was watching his movements, trying to figure out what he was doing and why. But she becomes so focused on what he was doing that she stopped paying attention to what she should be doing, and he easily moves her into checkmate within seven moves. 

“Checkmate.”

“I figured.” She said dryly, looking down at the board as if trying to see where she went wrong. For a moment he thought about telling her but then she sighed and stretched absentmindedly, her arms raised over her head. Her torso extended, her shirt now tight on her body. Immediately, he looked at the board, trying to ignore the way her stretching had accentuated her breasts, the fabric of her shirt pulled tight over them. If the table hadn’t been in the way, he wonders if he would have been able to see a sliver of skin with the movement, if her shirt had untucked itself from her work pants with the movement of her arms. As it was, the table was in the way and he was able to see nothing. She spoke through a yawn, seemingly oblivious to how she looked when she was stretching. “Good game, I guess.” 

He mumbled something in response. It didn’t matter what, she didn’t acknowledge it.

She doesn’t ask him to reset the board again, sliding out of the chipped plastic seat easily and returning to her spot against the wall. He watches as she leaves, risking a single glance at her ass as repayment for averting his gaze from her tits. Her pants fit her very well, he noted before looking away. He could’ve stared at her for hours, but his fear of being caught and seeing a look of disgust or worse, pity, on her face kept him from leering at her. 

Needless to say, he was thankful he had a great memory. 

[bigskydreaming]

Last reblog - I’ll never forget one of my first interactions when getting into Batfandom again online around 2018 or 2019 or whenever I started being active in Batfandom on this blog.....I was reading a very popular prompt-response fic on Ao3, where one chapter was the author responding to a prompt to do a more cathartic take on Dick reuniting with his brothers post-Spyral.

For whatever reason, this author’s idea of a better version of this still had Dick getting punched by Jason, just then immediately make up with him afterwards, so I guess a speedrun from punch to ‘glad you’re alive’ is better, as long as the important part is Dick still gets punched? LMAO. Yeah, no. I don’t know about the person who gave the initial prompt, but I sure as hell didn’t find anything cathartic about a writer doubling down on the idea that Dick still ‘deserved’ to be greeted with violence because he’d emotionally hurt his brothers and so physical and emotional payback is necessary to balance the scales.

And I didn’t even leave a comment on the fic where it might start something publicly, I VERY politely just private messaged asking them if they’d CONSIDER posting some kind of headsup on that chapter, that it still contained Dick getting punched out on his return from Spyral by one of his siblings....because that’s not something people interested in the specific prompt of ‘cathartic take on Dick reuniting more happily with his brothers post-Spyral’ are likely expecting y’know? 

And look, for as much as Batfandom - ESPECIALLY Jason stans, which I’m pretty sure this particular writer was, primarily a Jason and Tim fan even if they did write fic for the whole Batfam - likes to go on about the tragedy and trauma of physical abuse, there is VERY little consideration in this fandom for the fact that abuse....and in specific, mentalities ABOUT abuse - can be triggering as well! Its not just stuff like sexual assault that can trigger people who are abuse AND/OR rape survivors. So I very politely and civilly, without making insinuations, accusations, attacks, etc, tried to point out that for some fans who’re abuse survivors who are disturbed by how casual and even outright permissive DC canon tends to be about physical abuse between family members, reinforcing the idea that Dick was OWED physical harm by his family to make up for his perceived crimes against them in the Forever Evil/Spyral stuff could legitimately be triggering.....

b/c it feeds into and even validates a lot of the exact same bullshit we were fed by family members justifying their own acts of harm or violence against us ‘because we deserved it.’

And I fucking AGONIZED over this message before sending it, FYI. It was before any of my overly aggressive or antagonistic tumblr posts on these topics, with a lot of my ire in those posts born FROM how all this (and other similar events) played out, but I pored over it before sending it, making sure I was being as diplomatic as possible, because I don’t know this author other than her work, I don’t know her experiences, who she is as a person, nor did I particularly CARE....I wasn’t trying to say or presume ANYTHING about that person, I was strictly interested in just getting some kind of optimal outcome from messaging them, ie getting them to reconsider their viewpoint there or at least include some kind of tag or message clarifying what the author meant by cathartic with that chapter & that it might not be as different from canon as readers might assume or hope.

Because literally my only endgoal in sending that message was so hopefully other abuse survivors didnt stumble into the exact sort of fic they - like I - might be coming to because they were seeking catharsis to MAKE UP FOR the fucked up view canon expressed about how Dick’s first encounter with his brothers post-Forever Evil should play out. 

Instead of just getting more of the same, with FURTHER validation of how he deserved that.

Of course, no matter how much I tried to ensure my message was received in the spirit it was intended....that’s not the outcome I got.

No, instead this author UNLOADED on me in her response, putting me on blast for daring to call her an abuse apologist and being a toxic stan who would make insinuations and attacks and basically call her a bad person just because I didn’t like how she treated my fave. And she definitely shared this and vented about me to all her friends, despite me making a point to message her in private rather than leave this in the comments for everyone to see, because for WEEKS afterwards I was seeing vagueblogs that were very clearly about my message, even including references to specific phrases I’d included in my message, and I heard from others that there were similar jokes and shit made about me in discord servers, etc.

All because I’d dared ask a writer to give people a headsup that they were doubling down on what some fans felt there was reason to view as validating a potentially abusive instance - ie a character accepting physical violence as penance for how he made his brothers feel.

And this, like that last reblog also said in its own examples - is EXACTLY why don’t like don’t read and curating your own content is BULLSHIT. Because it presumes that people KNOW when they’re endorsing or validating or justifying stuff that other people have ABSOLUTELY JUSTIFIED REASONS for viewing as harmful or toxic....and that they tag or warn appropriately.

And it further presumes that when informed that they might even UNINTENTIONALLY be perpetuating harm with a specific viewpoint or depiction of something.....that there is ever any kind of guarantee that they will accept this information or perspective gracefully, instead of perceiving it as an attack on their PERSON and innate goodness or whatever.

No matter HOW someone goes about trying to convey this perspective, either aggressively or with the utmost attempt at civility and diplomacy.

And nine out of ten times this escalates. Again, no matter HOW a person went about asking for a specific tag or to consider a specific viewpoint - which, y’know, when politeness only earns you escalation from people who won’t let shit go because they feel PERSONALLY ATTACKED by you saying hey maybe you’re not actually unproblematic in every view you’ve ever had....MAYBE there’s a reason why after YEARS of trying politeness or civility, people stop bothering with it and just say hey fuck you for this shitty viewpoint or depiction.....

But from my experience, nine out of ten times even a completely conciliatory approach only earns you vitriol and escalation from people who will absolutely go on the attack, grab all their friends, and freaking dogpile even on self-acknowledged survivors just asking you to consider adding some freaking TAGS....

Because some of you would rather throw survivors under the bus WHILE exploiting the hell out of knowing one who agrees with you (despite our experiences not being monolithic, sure is funny how the ones you agree with have in YOUR eyes the universally acceptable stance on stuff)....

Rather than just....

Sit with the idea that maybe you at some point in your life have unintentionally perpetuated a toxic or harmful mindset that you inherited or learned from previous generations, the media, or other people in your life, and didn’t think to question it because you personally had never experienced a reason TO question it before now.

LOL its funny, and I say its funny when its really not but lol you laugh so you dont scream am I right? Iykyk. But its funny how years later even just THINKING about this one fucking message I sent and what it got me in return has my hands shaking so bad its taking me three times longer than it should to write this post. I’ve had to get up and walk around at least twice to get my thoughts in order so I could finish it.

And here’s the part so many smug assholes over the years just willfully refuse to understand. I’m not TRIGGERED thinking about this cuz I’m oh so fragile. And frankly, it’d be fine if I WAS, whatever that happens to mean in your eyes, I’m just clarifying, its not the case here. LMAO. I didn’t survive a childhood of physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse, I didn’t survive being gaybashed and assaulted in college, I didn’t survive years of shitty experiences as a sex worker, my fucking jaw collapsing because of longterm physical consequences of being attacked.....

By being nearly as fucking fragile as some people on this site like to convince themselves I am when I get worked up about stuff like this.

My hands aren’t shaking because I can’t handle reminders of what I’ve been through or whatever people convince themselves of while telling each other in their discord server that I really should just stay away from content I can’t deal with.

I’m fucking vibrating like I’m Wally West because years after this stupid, should have been nothing message I tried so hard to make informative and personal instead of aggressive and accusatory......

I’m still PISSED.

At how STUPID all of this is. At how HYPOCRITICAL some of you are. At how I’ve made a point practically my entire time in fandom, to be open and forthcoming about my past and traumas because if I’m going to be in fandoms obsessed with male rape survivor characters and abuse I’d rather at least let my perspective be available as a RESOURCE if anyone wants it than just stew in how I feel every time I come across a post or fic I don’t think has the slightest awareness of how its coming across.....

And the sheer volume of times I’ve had people coo at me and ooh and aww about how sorry they are for what I’ve been through like that’s REMOTELY why I talk about these topics or what I’m looking for.....

Only to see those exact same people turn around and mock me behind my back, spread lies about me, attempt to gaslight me at every possible turn into thinking I’M the problem, if I would just quietly and passively accept that people are going to reinforce and validate the very mindsets that led people to do certain shit to me in the past, that some people are interested in GETTING OFF to these mindsets, well then everyone would just be so much happier....

And meanwhile, I’ve made post after post after post about my experiences or perspectives as a male survivor that I can’t even hit double digits on, note wise, even as the stupidest of my shitposts hit triple digits and more....

When the ONLY reason I post about those topics is not because I’m interested in being any kind of authority on male rape, childhood abuse, incest, etc, or think I ever possibly COULD be just because I’m one person these things happened to, but merely because if the conversations about them are going to CONSTANTLY be happening around me whether I want them to or not, I’d at least rather have my voice be INCLUDED and CONSIDERED in those conversations instead of just having to sit there LISTENING to people offer up uninformed opinions with complete certainty they know everything that’s ever been worth THINKING about in terms of that topic and if there’s anything else, well its obviously not important or else their enlightened asses would have already instinctively known it, wouldn’t they.....

My god. Its infuriating.

And hell, I’m KEENLY aware that even with all that, I’d still loaded to the brim with cis white male privilege, so trust me when I say I TRULY do not understand how some of my friends who have to deal with shithead hypocrisy on axes I don’t have any experience on, on a DAILY basis on this site and others, put up with some of you. And its why I will ALWAYS side with them no matter how ‘aggressive’ they’re being in the face of some faux-civil asshat crying fake tears about how they’ve been accused of being a heinous person which of course justifies anything and everything they say and do in response now.

But yeah. The hypocrisy of people. The fake ‘I care so much about survivors that I’m going to make this one a running joke on my blog because he dared make me THINK about the content I churn out every week to entertain myself and my friends, the GALL.’

That’s the shit that gets me. That keeps me from joining servers myself, that has me wary of even DMing with people I only know from their notifications on my posts, because I’ve got zero interest in having a fun headcanon chat session with someone who will two days later be faux-sympathetically vagueblogging with a friend how its so sad how I can’t move past certain things or let them go even though they’re part of the reason I’m constantly re-exposed to stuff even just in the tags people add TO MY OWN POSTS.

All because some people on here are so fucking TERRIFIED of what they might find if they ever tried a little serious self-examination, they’d rather reduce self-professed survivors to tragic victims while being fully prepared to vilify them the SECOND they say something a little too real or paint a picture someone doesn’t want to see themselves in.

Because god forbid some of you figure out how to just say....

”I’m sorry. What you brought up made me insecure and nervous when I thought about how many people I might have unintentionally hurt over the years while thinking I was just having fun with my friends, so I lashed out.”

Or “I didn’t know how to handle not being as thoughtful or informed as I like to think I am, so I made you the enemy instead.”

Or “I didn’t want you to be right so I made sure I believed you were wrong.”

Or “I was immature and not ready to tackle the work this might mean I needed to do on myself, so I pretended I couldn’t see it.”

I mean, after all, the ONLY thing I ever expected or hoped for - or hell, NEEDED - from that one writer I raised as an example, from years ago - was just a simple:

“I’m sorry, I literally just never thought about it that way before but I’ll add a note so people know that’ll be in the fic.”

That’s it. That’s all that was ever needed. I didn’t need or want their life story, their penance, them to fall over themselves making it about me or my trauma just because I brought it up, I didn’t expect them to shift their whole worldview from a single message.

Just a simple acknowledgment that I and my viewpoint were not unreasonable, and hey, maybe they’re not perfect and there’s still more work to be done on some mindsets or viewpoints they’ve always taken for granted.

The end.

(Or at least, it could’ve been).

[antianakin]

hi! i’ve been really enjoying a lot of the fic you recommend, and also your opinions in general; do you know of any stories where padmé was brainwashed into loving anakin back in AOTC and that’s why she loses all her personality as soon as she and anakin wind up alone together, but someone figures it out and helps her? i’ve been looking but i don’t know how to find something like that, but i’d love it if it exists. thanks!!

Unfortunately, the "Padme was Force brainwashed" headcanon isn't one I tend to seek out and read SUPER often. It comes up every so often in fics that deal with Anakin/Consequences, but it's not often the focus of the fic, at least not the ones I've read.

As far as I know, there's no real tag to help find fics like this on AO3. My best guess is to sort-of look for fics with Padme in ships you DO like and do your best to filter and sort from there. Since Padme's only canonical love interest (aside from Rush Clovis, I guess) is Anakin, then most fics where she's in a different relationship usually have to explain why she ISN'T with Anakin.

The one fic that I have that definitely deals with this particular trope is:

say you know the difference (between blood and sweetness) by blackkat: This fic starts AFTER she's been released from the brainwashing accidentally rather than dealing with Padme actively getting help for it. It's Padme/Fox/Thorn and it also involves Padme killing Palpatine and sort-of "inheriting" his Sith powers as a result (all of this is in the tags or summary of the fic, so it's not really spoilery, it happens in the first chapter). It's a WIP for now and still at what seems like the beginning of the story, but it's worth checking out if all of those things seem appealing to you.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but maybe people who follow me will be able to supply some more recs!

[ameenvie]

Stress relief - Keeley Jones x gn!reader

masterlist | ao3 | ko-fi | fic recs

Word count: 1.2k Pairing: Keeley Jones x gn!reader Warnings: nsfw, smut, minors DNI! thigh riding, office sex, porn with a smidge of a plot?, I guess basically that's it? Just a good ole' smut! Tags: smut Prompt/Summary: Kinktober day 5 - thigh riding A/N: I know it might be a bit short, but I hope you like it nevertheless! ❤❤❤

~~~~~~~

You furrowed your brows as you were looking at your screen at work. You pinched the bridge of your nose and looked at the time – it was almost lunchtime. The back of your chair creaked as you leaned back, letting out a sigh. Your job was nothing extraordinary – basically just boring paperwork for AFC Richmond -, but it came with a separate cozy, albeit very small office.

The door of said office flung open and you flinched before your eyes laid on Keeley and her beaming smile.

“Hey babes” she chimed as she hurried around your desk to be on the same side as you and leaned against it with a lunch bag in her hand. You leaned forward and planted your hand on her cheek, pulling her into a chaste kiss.

“Hi” you replied, looking into her eyes, smiling. Her good mood was infectious, and she could light up a whole town with all her energy, which you loved her for.

She pulled a chair next to your own and plopped down onto it, reaching into her lunch bag, and getting a sandwich out for her, and one for you.

“You shouldn’t have” you smiled as you took it from her, taking a small bite. You usually had your lunch like this, just the two of you in your small office. Although Keeley had a much bigger one, you preferred this one, it was cozier, more intimate. You were chatting about your day, going back and forth with short stories and anecdotes about annoying colleagues, before you noticed something was off.

“Babe?” you asked, which she replied to with a small “hmm” before you continued. “Is there something wrong?” The question lingered unanswered for a minute before she let out a big sigh.

“It’s just that we have this huge fucking project” she started, while fiddling with her fingers in her lap. “And we have to present to our client, and I’m mad nervous about it!”

You pulled her out of her chair and back onto your lap. You tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before cupping her face, as you planted a soft kiss on her lips. They were soft and sweet, and they tasted like strawberry lipgloss. You knew a little distraction could do wonders against the stress and you were right.

She held onto the back of the chair with one hand, the other rested in your hair, scraping your scalp ever so lightly. She opened her mouth to let out a whimper and your tongue grazed hers. This definitely wasn’t the first time you were doing extracurricular activities in your office, but the excitement still lit your nerves up like a Christmas tree.

She repositioned herself to straddle you completely, and your hands wandered to her ass under her miniskirt, pushing it up a bit. You bit your lip as your gaze caught her lace underwear peeking out under it. You squeezed Keeley’s ass before pulling her into another kiss, this time more passionate than before. Your hand flew to the back of her neck, pulling her closer while the other moved slowly to the wet patch on her underwear, your touch leaving goosebumps in its wake. You didn’t even touch her yet and she was already a whimpering mess, grinding her hips back and forth.

You raised one of your thighs to align with her throbbing core and she moaned at the sensation.

“You like that, babe?” you purred into her ear as she starting to slowly roll her hips back and forth, her still clothed pussy rubbed against you. She threw her head back before answering.

“Yeah, love. Feels amazing.”

While she was slowly tasting the feeling, your hands moved to unbutton her blouse. She looked down at you as she bit her lip and smiled. Your hands were working slowly, undoing the buttons one by one before pushing the silky fabric down her arms as you freed one of her breasts from the bra she was wearing.

“You’re mad gorgeous you know that?” you asked before dipping your head to plant a soft kiss on her breast, slowly massaging the other one. You started at her soft and sweet skin, nipping and kissing on the tender flesh before you gingerly licked her hard nipple. She hissed at the sensation and rolled her hip a bit harder on your thigh. The sight and the feeling ignited sparks in your body, arousal building somewhere deep inside you, the need to have her burning your body until it ate you up. But you didn’t care because your mission was to make her feel good. So good.

Your free hand slowly moved its way to her throbbing core, still covered by the very wet lace fabric.

“Don’t you want these off?” you whispered in her ear, and the only answer you got was an eager nod and a few shallow breaths. You chuckled and helped her off of you before you knelt down in front of her, starting to slowly pull down the lacy fabric. Your eyes never left hers as you lifted her skirt up a little and gave a soft kiss to her cunt, swiping your vet tongue against her clit. You swore her knees almost gave out before you continued to pull down her panties, leaving soft kisses on her thigh as you went. When you finished you pulled her back onto your lap. You drew a few lazy circles with your thumb against her clit before you pushed your thigh back into position.

“I’m sorry babe, but the thought of you getting yourself off on me is too fucking hot” you smiled before you kissed her again. You didn’t have to say it twice, she was rolling her hips against you in a heartbeat.

“Maybe I’ll come back for more later. The teaser was bloody amazing” she said between kisses before you moved your lips back to her tits and sucked a purple mark onto one of them. Then you moved to her nipples once again, licking, sucking, biting on them. Keeley’s hips were moving faster and faster on you, and both the feeling and the sight of her cunt on you made you so aroused you thought you'd blow up.

“You’re so fucking good” you whispered against her skin, your mouth never leaving her chest. Your grip was tightening on her hip, and you supported her as her moves started to get a bit more erratic, stronger, and you knew she was getting close. “That’s it, babe, come and get what you want. I’m yours, that’s it” you murmured against the soft skin of her neck before she grabbed your jaw and pulled you into a sloppy kiss as she rode your thigh with more force and speed, her breathing shallow while he moaned and whined into the kiss before she snapped.

She threw her head back and stalled her movement for a second before continuing in slow motions to ride out her high, while you were planting soft kisses on her warm body and caressed her skin.

“That was fucking amazing” she breathed as she leaned against you, and you drew lazy patterns on her back.

“You are fucking amazing, Keeley Jones” you chuckled before you kissed her once more.

[aria-ashryver]

Welcome to the Jungle | Choices MC Colony | Episode #2

Its 0-100 immediately today folks: Ricky the Labrador is being hunted by panthers

Oh thank god they don't understand doors 😰 RIP to the cassowary who became panther food instead of our pet dog.

At least they weren't chasing any of the colonists, righ-- OH GOD RUN EVIE RUN

It's fine she's fine everything is totally fineeee 😬 HA, behold the power of doors and running away!!

🎶Welcome to the Jungle; we've got fun* and game**🎶

*eight smokeleaf joints ** one (1) billiards table (and the very real and constant fear of being eaten to death by panthers)

In significantly more delightful news, the local elephant herd has formed a nap pile 🥺

✨ Local Blades MC dabbles in the Beastmaster & Woodslore skills ✨

(Or; Dorian attempts to feed a wild guinea pig a berry to see if it will come live with us)

(It didn't.)

(We'll keep trying.)

I'm kind of letting the MCs have free reign and decide what they want to do themselves; for the most part, they are filling in their days like this:

Dorian and Luca are doing most of the building and carpentry; Evie has gone full lumberjack; Rin spends a lot of time researching; Mariana acts as our nurse, and does a lot of cooking, cleaning, and tailoring; Dorian and Evie train Ricky (and try to tame new animals); Rin and Mariana do the gardening; Luca, Dorian, and Evie do the heavy lifting and hauling; Evie, Dorian, and Rin go mining and hunting

Here's the gang restoring one of the little ruined buildings that spawned on this map

The brave young MCs are doing a fabulous job keeping our colony safe from raids by such colourful characters as, uhhhh, "Burnskrap Slagkill the Pyromanic"?

Lmaooo Marianna has absolutely zero fucks to give, I love herrr 😆

Evie: *rifle out, actively firing, trying to defend the colony from raiders* Marianna: *walking in front of her gun* sorry, pardon me, I just need to grab that rice -- lunch will be ready in ten! Evie: ???? Marianna: Love what you've done with your hair by the way

So. Rin ran afoul of a man-eating monkey, and then the next day, the second her injuries healed and she got out of bed, she was ambushed by, i shit you not, a second man-eating monkey.

Eeeeey time for a party in our newly built rec room!! Good idea Rin, we deserve a break 😊 Its still early days in the colony --which we have dubbed Cedar Station (the location), and The MC Coalition (the group).

oh i see you smoking a joint in the corner of the party honey 👀 and right next to Evie too!

(ngl im surprised Luca didn't join lmao)

Ah, they were busy chatting to Evie, making tier lists of animals they could beat in a fight. Yeah that makes sense. (Remember that bit in ID1 where MC fights a bear? lol)

(also!! smoking / drinking beer etc is an option I can toggle on and off on an individual basis-- lmk if you want me to switch these options off for your MC sprite!)

Woooo everyone had so much fun at Rin's party that Anitha decided to join us!! Welcome Anitha!!!! 🎉🎉✨✨

Her stats in the plant skill are bonkers good -- normally I've been jumping in and tweaking our MC's sprites a bit so they feel more like their OG counterparts, so I was going to bump her plant skill up... but it was almost at max already! Wood Atts gonna Wood Att, I guess 😆

Looking forward to seeing what she brings to the colony! 💛💛

Thanks again for letting me steal your darlings, I will continue to try very very hard to save them from being eaten by panthers ✌😎 @rosesnink @cadybear420 @choicesmc @lover-also-fighter-also

[callsign-bunnie]

Do you have everyone's majors decided in the college au?? And the classes the professors teach??

Yes! So this was further explained in An Academic Proposal chapter 14 and 15, but I've had their majors decided since about chapter 5 of An Academic Achievement! Feel free to ask any questions about Academic Achievement and Proposal since I know not everyone has read either

--

Rodolfo: Rodolfo's major is a little tricky. So, he's Pre-Law which isn't one specific major, but I've settled on Sociology being what he takes before he goes to Law School and switches to Criminal Law (Originally going to be for Custody Law which I think has a bit more specialized of a Law degree.)

Alejandro: Alejandro is actively a business major, he's also in Alpha Lambda which is a business frat. However, once he gets through this degree, he's going back into college to get a BSW (Bachelor's of Social Work)

Soap: Chemical Engineering. This was sparked because what he's supposed to be was split down the middle as half wanted Engineering, half wanted Chemistry, so I found a middle ground. He's not too passionate about his degree at the current time for reasons I can't say due to spoilers.

Ghost: Ghost is forensics with no specialty. He's kind of just going to college to have a degree, he has enough family money he doesn't really need to find a career. He plans on going as high as he can with Forensics and then teaching it.

Roach: Roach is Digital Forensics, which he picked because Farah is forensics and he has a mild interest in technology. However, he's reconsidering his major for Entomology, because he has more passion for insects than computers. I cannot explain why he didn't go with Entomology to begin with because of (you guessed it) spoilers.

Valeria: Sociology. She's also Pre-law and will be a prosecuting attorney when she graduates Law School. She's been on this track since she started.

Price: He's mostly just the coach of the football team as well as a few other very small sports teams. He also teaches a couple Sport related courses. He has a degree in Sports Management with a Sports and Society minor.

Laswell: She primarily teaches Criminology, but she's a Prosecuting Attorney for her main job. I should state this now I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LAW AND I DON'T FEEL INTERESTED IN LEARNING, SO ALL THREE LAWYERS ARE GOING TO BE FAIRLY INACCURATE

Laswell's Wife (Jen): She teaches Chemistry Courses, whatever ends up being most convenient for plot. Not super accurate for her character, I would probably choose Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree if I did another. However, she has a PhD in Chemistry.

Gaz: Business major. He's fairly undriven at college because he had other things going on when he joined. He's about to look over everything he's done and see if switching majors is something feasible for him.

Alex: He started out also as a business major, but switched to Criminology in his second year about a fourth of the way through. Laswell helped him do it and he'll likely join her firm when he's graduated. He used to also be in Alpha Lambda, but had to leave when he switched majors because it's a Business Frat

Farah: She's a basic Forensics Major with no specialty. I have no major reason, I don't really think it fits her character, but it did fit the story. If I was to do a new College AU, I think I would pick Social Justice or Social Work

Malika: She's a computer science major because she has a special interest in all things computer! She and Roach actually bond over a similar major quite a bit!

Graves: Business Major, current Chapter President of Alpha Lambda. Not much really needs to be known beyond that, tbh

Lucas: (He's important to the story.) He's also Pre-Law and his degree is in Criminology. He hasn't quite figured out the full scope of his career, yet.

--

Again, feel free to ask whatever for this AU. Here's the original headcanons post and here's An Academic Achievement and An Academic Proposal if you haven't read them, yet. I think I just recently reached a 225k total wordcount for the series!

[deandoesthingstome]

@mayloma - This may be the oddest birthday celebration ever.

A) It's me giving, not receiving and B) It's not about HC.

But you made a comment and I have free time, so I'm going to try to gather up a few TLK posts and recs for you.

I'm not sure if you are looking for canon, AU's, fix-it, etc, or who your main blorbos are. If it's not apparent from anything you've seen on my dash, Finan has my heart with Sihtric in close second place. I never read the books, so all my knowledge comes from the show.

Because I'm not very active in TLK anymore, I don't really know who is still here, writing, etc. You know how it goes when fandom flames dwindle on one or the other side...

Under the cut to save those who aren't here for it.

Finan

You've already seen me rec where our pieces fall in place, (not that I'll pass up an opportunity to rec it again), but I'll also draw your attention to this sweet little number by @anotherwinchesterfangirl showing Finan falling for Ingrith: watch her take me by surprise Liz isn't around Tumblr much anymore at all, and her tastes skew away from TLK more often than not, but it's a nice little treat.

Need more Finan, but maybe with Eadith this time? @superprincesspea has Winchester's Finest (that he is), @emilyhufflepufftlk has all you had to do was stay, and Jade_Masquerade on AO3 has the alter is my hips (anyone recognize that phrase? yeah, it's so good).

Finan and Reader? @lady-writes20 has We Are Bound, @i-jus-wanna-writehappy has Handful.

Finan and OC? @lauwrite1225 gave us stuck between our heartbeats (Tumblr link to AO3) and @magravenwrites has A Good Place To Start, while @persephones-journey jumped him forward in time with As The Gods Make It.

Sihtric

Sihtic more to your liking? @solinarimoon fed that need for me with Liquid Courage and her Wildflowers Series

Back to Both I Guess?

I can't leave out this LOVE I left for some of the TLK crew last year.

And, last, but certainly not least, is @itbmojojoejo. Mojo is a little bit of a double threat because she is a GIF creator (and re-capturing ALL of Finan's scenes one episode at a time and I drown in drool a little bit every time she posts over on @mojosdumpingground) AND she has created this amazing and wonderful Mafia!AU with an OC in a bit of a love triangle with Finan and Sihtric and I'm really really really hoping the muse is waking up to help her finish this series: Crimes of Passion. I need to know who she ends up with!!!

Okay, like I said: Happy Birthday to me.

[purplesurveys]

1896

20 random people... Don't look at the questions beforehand! :D

Nina

Celeste

Hans

Lui

Kaye

Angela

Mom

Reena

Gabie

Kuya

Pau

Jo

Lei

Andi

Leigh

Marie

Dad

Dev

Sam

Pia

Ok, here we go...

How did you meet #4?: College org. I was an applicant at the time, they were already a member, and they seemed very friendly to all the newbies so I stuck around them. In time we became close and even got in the same friend group, which we're both still part of today.

How much does #9 mean to you?: She's a co-worker so while I wouldn't, like, die for her per se or can say that she's 'everything' to me, I'd look out for her nonetheless.

Describe #14 in 2 words.: Extremely intelligent.

What is your best memory with #5?: I loved when she came over to watch YTC Busan live with us! That was also such a random mix of friends to end up happening, so I was anxious they'd all be opposites – but it got really fun.

Do you know all of #2's secrets?: I know none of them seeing as we're only workmates and I like my boundaries.

When is the next time you're going to see #7?: In an hour or two, I'm guessing. She went out for a bit for errands.

When's the last time you saw #17?: 2 AM, Friday – dropped him off at the airport. From there, I won't be seeing him again until November.

How do you think #13 feels about you?: After trying to teach me one of her party card games last Sunday, I bet she now thinks I can get ditzy as all hell hahaha. But apart from that I don't know what else she thinks of me! We rarely see each other and are always shy when we do, lol.

Are #11 and #12 anything like each other?: Quite the contrary; they're a good example of how two people cannot be any more different.

Describe the relationship between #14 and #19.: They have a nonexistent relationship, but if we're gonna be extremely loose about degrees of separation – Hans went to the same school as Andi (#14); they both also were schoolmates with Gab, who used to date Sam (#19).

Is #10 single?: No. Has been engaged for a while now, too.

If you could tell #8 one thing right now, what would it be?: Let's go out soon and maybe we can try a new hobby together, too.

What is the funniest thing you've ever seen #16 do?: I haven't had many funny encounters with her tbh as she's kind of shy and doesn't really want to put herself out there – that, and we've always worked from home.

Can I name coolest instead? There was a time when my teammates and I each needed to make 10-slider decks about any topic (meant to be an exercise on public speaking); and she had what I thought was the most unique and personally relatable presentation – she covered her favorite lesbian media. Music, movies...and there's a bunch in there that I was able to relate to...just cause of my past, I guess. Haha. It felt pretty bittersweet, and I gave her some of my recs too.

How did you meet #15?: School. I can't remember when we got close, though. Maybe in high school if I had to guess – we stay friends these days, too, as she's with Andi.

What would you do if #4 died?: I'd be shocked to say the least. I'm imagining that'd bring the college friend group back together again.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen #3 do?: He had a brief stint as a camp...something (guide? counselor? idk terms) in the US a few years ago, so when he came back the first thing he did to me was share a bunch of camp songs he picked up from his time there. After he taught me, he proceeded to sing them all to entire time hahaha.

Are you friends with any of #19's friends?: Not with most of them. We only have a few mutual friends, all linked to Angela/Hans.

Who is #7 to you?: My mom.

What is one thing #13 is really good at?: I'm gonna go with biology and chemistry as she's literally a licensed pharmacist.

What would happen if #1 and #3 hated each other?: That would crush me, tbh. Hans is family at this point, and it'd be sad if he and my sister actively disliked one another.

Is #11 anything like #18?: I guess. Very surface-level similarities, but yeah. They're both leaders, their personalities are both pretty nonchalant...that's what I can think of now.

How much trust do you have in #12?: Lots, in the grand scheme of things. Jo is reliable and trustworthy.

If you fell off a bridge, who would you trust to catch you, #4 or #6? Why?: Angela, 100%. We're exponentially so much closer.

Who do you like the most?: It's a tie between my dad and Angela.

Who do you hate the most?: I didn't put in anyone I dislike.

How did you meet #1?: I would guess she was introduced as my little sister when I was 2.

What would you do if you never met #14?: I probably never would've gotten back into wrestling.

Would you date #20?: Hypothetically, in another universe – sure, why not? She's pretty and so so so SO ridiculously kind and has just such a warm personality.

Have you ever seen #8 cry?: Just once. We cried together at the time, but they were happy tears.

Would #5 and #13 make a good couple?: I've never thought of that. But I don't think so.

Describe #9.: I don't know her much outside of work, but from what I've seen she's hardworking; has a sensitive side in that she doesn't really like getting scolded; and she's a million times friendlier than I am – she gets along with everyone which makes her such an important part of the team. You gotta have an extrovert in PR, and she's that.

Do you like #16?: Yes.

Do you think #4 is attractive?: Personally not my type.

When's the last time you talked to #19?: Around two weeks ago.

Would you date #10?: Hard pass, that's my cousin.

What's the best thing about #15?: She has this innocent and pure aura around her that I adore very much. Like she can never get mad at anything and anyone.

Best thing about #7?: She's very resilient.

Have you ever kissed #11?: Nope.

Have you ever slapped #18?: I've never slapped any one person on the list.

When's the next time you're going to see #12?: I have no idea, our group rarely makes plans to see each other anymore. The last time I saw her was mid-2023 and we didn't even get to meet up after to talk about our Yoongi concert experiences like we planned.

Is #16 pretty?: Yes!

What was your first impression of #4?: Kind, approachable, helpful, reliable, older than me.

Is #13 your BFF?: No.

Have you seen #15 in the last month?: I haven't seen her in years actually lol. Andi and I hang out all the time and I always check in if Leigh will be tagging along...and she just doesn't.

Have you been to #20's house?: I have not. We're not that close.

Last time you saw #14?: April! We watched a wrestling gig. I'll be seeing them again later this month for trivia night – they added me to their team because two of the topics will be Friends and BTS, haha.

Next time you'll see #10?: Tomorrow, I'm guessing! We'll be coming over tomorrow and I think he'll by home.

Are you really close to #1?: Not heart-to-heart talk levels because we're a dysfunctional family and can't bear baring our souls to one another LOL – but it's a close-friend type of close for sure.

Would you give #20 a hug?: Sure. I'm sure I hugged her a few times when we saw each other 2 weeks ago at our surprise engagement party for Angela and Hans.

Tell me a secret about #5.: I don't know her enough to know her secrets.

Describe the relationship between #14 and #3: They were schoolmates in grade school until Andi moved.

What's your relationship with #5?: She's one of the school friendships I've been able to retain all these years. We're not best friends but we check in on one another from time to time.

Have you ever danced with #18?: I have not.

How do you know #13?: She's my closest cousin on my dad's side.

Does #2 have a boyfriend/girlfriend?: I don't think so. She had a dating phase early in the year, but I haven't heard much updates from her since.

Have you ever wanted to punch #6 in the face?: Maybe just once, heh.

Has #11 ever met your mother?: Nope.

Have you traveled anywhere with #12?: Nah. We could've, for Yoongi's tour! But I ended up in Thailand, she in Singapore.

If you gave #7 $100, what would they spend it on?: Probably on groceries.

Best memory of #2?: One of our events where we both ended up fairly tipsy.

What is one thing you most want #14 to know?: That I always feel bad for being the occasional terrible replier, but I hope they know that I always love it when they message and send me the most random questions or rants.

What's the last thing you did with #15?: I honestly have no clue. She's the one I've seen the least often.

When did you meet #8?: We first met around six years ago, when Angela brought us together for some drinks. We never talked again until 2021 when it was Angela (again) who put the three of us in the same chat since we all liked BTS. We got super close from there.

What do you wish for #17?: Good health is #1. It's something I find myself thinking about more often now; and for him not to feel lonely and sad when he's away.