#should i add links n stuff at the end of posts? been thinking about that for a while

[077891st]

upside down🌀 downside up

[tittyblade]

tumblr etiquette 101

a list that is nowhere near exhaustive, from yours truly.

First off, welcome! Whether you’re a twitter veteran looking for anything but whatever twitter is, or a new user just done signing up, glad to see you in our ranks beloveds! Welcome home. Refer to this quick tour to make sure your fandom experience (or tumblr experience in general) is a positive one!

Disclaimer: I know it’s long, but please try to read or skim through til the end if you’re new here! This is by no means meant to be a rule book (for the most part lol), only a guide to help you get settled easier!

1) Your blog

This is where people will see and interact with you, so put some effort into it!

Try to choose a name (url) that’s simple. You can see it as your brand, it’s how people will perceive you and remember you. If you’d like to interact with other users here (and not use the site just for the content) it’s better to have something short and sweet, preferably without spaces. (Of course, these are only suggestions.) Rest assured, you can change it literally any time you want.

Have a theme. Utilize the tool that lets you edit your blog’s color or the font of your bio! You can make it match your profile picture, or your blog if it has a theme of its own. Make it feel homey :]

Fill in your bio. People will be checking out your profile probably more often than you think. Don’t leave it empty! Put in any information you’re comfortable with sharing and isn’t too personal (like your age if you’re a minor, or other TMI that can be found on other people’s carrds). It’s always better to add a name/nickname people can use to refer to you by, but feel free to use your blog description to shitpost still.

You can have an intro post. More often than not, you’ll see a blog have a pinned post, a post permanently appearing at the top of a blog until you pin another post or unpin it. You can make one of those, if you’d like to introduce yourself in more length, link any other socials or a carrd, and show others visiting your blog how you tag things so it’ll be easy for them to navigate. Not an obligation.

Keep your anonymity and your safety. It should go without saying, but there’s no harm in repeating it just in case. Your comfort, privacy and safety has the utmost importance. Don’t share any information you don’t want to. Don’t share your age if you’re a minor, or any other incredibly personal info. I’d encourage you to go by a nickname that’s not your real name, (blog name, your brand, remember?) since there’s safety in anonymity, and that’s lowkey one of the big deals of tumblr, but that’s up to you still.

Choose what you want to be visible. Your liked posts and who you follow are all things you can set to keep to yourself and hide from the publics eye, how handy! You should go through all the setting while you’re at it, set it to your comfort.

Side blogs are a thing. You can have multiple blogs that you can use for different things (see: different fandoms, art blog, etc) to keep them organized or away from your followers. Just remember that the replies and off-anon asks you send will be from your main blog, as well as where you follow other blogs from.

2) Interacting with others

You’ve set up your account, now comes the fun part!

Follow to your heart’s desire. If you care about others seeing who you follow, fear not! In tumblr, usually only two types of blogs keep their following visible to others: newbies, and big blogs using it to point people on other good blogs’ direction. Just turn it off, and go ham following people.

Customize your dashboard. Gonna mention just two things here: this is another reason why it’s really important that you follow blogs without sparing, your dash will collect dust otherwise; and you should turn off “best stuff first” in your dashboard settings, to have a better community here and all.

Follow tags. You can set it in your settings that posts with your followed tags appear on your dashboard.

You can check the og post for edits and context. When you see a reblogged post you don’t understand the context of (or don’t recognize the character in case of fanarts), click on the profile so it will take you to the original post. From there you can check the original poster’s tags to get the context, or see if there have been any edits made to the post, since when you edit a post it doesn’t update any past reblogs.

Send people asks... This is how you make mutuals, people! Do it off-anon if you’d like them to know your blog, or anon if you’d rather not! (You can still end your messages with a signature to show you’re the same person, -[name] is one example.) Send them nice messages, ask their opinion on something, discuss things, or just straight up shitpost lol. Go wild. The sky’s your limit and it’s definitely more than 280 characters.

...and let them ask you! You can set your preference in the settings, do it on desktop tumblr to access more settings tho! What you can customize on mobile is limited (like letting people ask you things anonymously, that’s only on desktop settings). In my personal opinion, it’s always better to tag their username (or a nickname you give them, if they’re a friend) on that post, since you wouldn’t want your interactions with your friends to get buried in your blog forever.

Comment on posts. If you have something to say but don’t want the post to appear on your blog you can add a comment. The owner of the post will get a notif for it, but for anyone else you need to tag them.

For the love of god, reblog. People will only see your liked posts if you have it visible to public and they specifically go on your blog to look at them. You like something? You reblog. It’s already hard for posts to circulate properly, if you don’t reblog them literally no one will see them. If not for anything do it for the artists. Just hold and drag on mobile to fast rb.

3) Your Posts

Finally here! Don’t be a lurker, post and engage!

Make use of “read more”. If your post is long, add it. That’s what you clicked on earlier to expand this post. On desktop leave an empty line and you’ll see three dots appear, and on mobile type :readmore: on that empty line.

Draft a post to come back to it later. Pretty self explanatory.

Queue your post. Whether it’s your own post or you’re reblogging, make use of the queue feature to a) not spam reblog and fill up the dashboard of people following you and b) keep your blog active while you’re gone. Mess around in the settings, it’s fairly easy to set up.

Schedule your post. Same as queueing, the only difference is you get to choose the exact time your post will go up. Handy if you want to schedule a post for certain dates like april fools, or 5 years in the future for some reason. 

Format your texts. You can do all kinds of fancy stuff here (that’s a link, try pressing on it). Twitter doesn’t have this, make use of it. Changes depending on whether you’re on mobile or desktop. (Desktop has less features.)

Check your stats. If you’re trying to understand the algorithm better or want to look at some pretty graphs you can get your data on that on desktop tumblr.

@ people in comments. You’ll get all the notifs when people comment on your posts but they won’t see your reply unless you tag them in your message.

4) Tags, and tagging a post

This is where my earlier statement “this isn’t a rule book” stops being applicable. It’s not a war crime to go against these, I won’t come chasing you (don’t take my word for this) but you’ll work up a bad rep. Just saying lol.

Do NOT crosstag posts. It’s really tempting to add unrelated tags to increase your posts’ interaction, I know, but that’s not what tumblr is about. Don’t be a dick and make other communities’ experience worse for them.

Always tag your posts with “crit/critical/discourse/etc” if it calls for it. There’s no exceptions to it. This is the reason you see people migrating to tumblr. Let people enjoy things.

Don’t main tag a critical/negative post. If your crit post is about “Thing”, you add the “Thing critical” tag, but not the “Thing” tag. People block crit tags if they don’t want to see it, don’t shove it in their faces by main tagging it. 

If you don’t want to see something, just block it. Another reason why people are able to survive on tumblr. You don’t start discourse, you don’t make call-outs, you block. You can find something for every community you can think of if you go looking for it. The worst of the worst probably won’t ever appear on your dash, but if you’re worried or feel the need for it, you know where the block button is.

Feel free to shitpost or ramble. More often than not you’ll see people rb a post with a comment, and their elaboration will be in the tags. The tags are only visible on your profile and the notifications of the owner of the og blog. Just a thing people do.

Reblog artists’ posts with nice comments in the tags! Commenting on a drawing is usually done through the tags (Not an obligation, again, just a thing people do. Feel free to add your comment on the rb itself if you’d want other people to see it tho!) and leave nice messages for the artists! It’s a win-win for everyone involved. 

If you have more than a single follower, always use the common tw warning tags. You don’t need to tw everything, but tw’ing some common things is the bare minimum human decency. Keep it safe for others. 

Tag a post “long post” if it’s really long. Pretty self explanatory. Don’t make people scroll through all that please lol. 

You can use them to organize your blog. This is more of a pro tip, if you’d like to not miss a post in your blog, cause they will start pilin’ up soon enough.

#Liveblogging is pretty fun. If you’d like to talk to people during streams, don’t forget to add the relevant tags still! Again, you won’t show up on people’s dash otherwise.

Whew! That got out of hand. Hopefully I didn’t bore you too much. Check out blogs like @heritageposts and @hellsite-hall-of-fame to honor our past o7. @mcytblr-hall-of-fame too maybe :eyes:. Anyways, don’t forget the most important rule of them all:

Enjoy your stay! You’re meant to have fun on here while also making friends (if that’s your thing). Just be kind and respectful of others, you’ll get the hang of the rest! <3

[bakugohoex]

“know your place...foolish girl”

pairing: ryomen sukuna x female reader

cw: tattoo artist sukuna, fluff, mentions of death, enemies to lovers, long fic, fluff, angst, language, slut shaming, nsfw (praise, jaw grabbing, nipple sucking, female receiving oral, unprotected sex, breeding, pet names, sir kink, finger sucking) 

word count: 14,400+

a/n: please don’t ask how i wrote this, it took like four days and I just had this urge to keep adding the points I wanted to add. posting this on ao3 later on tonight as well, so here’s the link to that. 

summary: in which one terrible meeting with sukuna leads you to be pushed into an unusual relationship with one another, with you both starting out hating one another, could you both really be friends?

↞ back to jujutsu kaisen masterlist

Birds circled around the area; the gloomy storms ready to cascade down onto the pavement. The need for a coffee fix was evident as you walked towards your favourite café, shouting through the phone at your friend, Yui who needed you once again. You didn’t care for her next want, instead barging through the doors of the place, a warm breath of air hitting you as you smelt the crushed coffee and appetising deserts lined up in front of you. Waiting in line as you continued to hear her ramble, “I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll take that as a yes, I’ll send you the address.” You rolled your eyes as you hanged up to order your coffee, she was never close to you. But when she needed something she’d always end up calling you. This time for company to get her first tattoo, she was a sweet girl, but could be a pain when in need.

Quickly ordering you waited to get your coffee, scrolling through the text message as she sent the time for later on tonight and the address in the inner parts of the city. It was an area you hadn’t been too, google maps wasn’t helping to get a true sense of the place. You tried zooming in as you shuffled backwards for others to wait for their coffee, instead meeting someone’s back. Apologising you stood still trying to zoom in as you moved away from the guy, he glared at you, watching how you squinted into your phone.

“Watch where you’re going?” He scowls as he barges past you, hitting your elbow as you finally lock eyes with the man.

His blushed pink hair would almost make him seem sweet, but the tattoos that adorned his arms and went right up to his neck gave an intimidating essence. His eyes flashed with a sadistic glee as he raised an eyebrow at you. “Sorry.” You mutter as you grab your coffee, seeing the fury of wind bashing against the trees as it looked like a scene out there.

He didn’t say anymore leaving to go into the weather, you didn’t question the mysterious man as you went back to your own coffee and phone. The outside of the tattoo place looked decent, somewhere where the ditsy girl you called your friend would definitely never go. But what could you do, you texted saying you’d meet her as you went out into the wind, a cold breath almost pushing you back inside as you took steady steps. Walking past the coffee shop, you saw the same guy from prior, tugging at his pink hair as drank his coffee. He looked pissed at whoever he was talking too, you didn’t pay any attention to him as you walked past him.

The wind had other plans, as he felt himself being dragged by the wind pushing right into you, coffee spilling on your clothes as this time you were the one to scowl at him. “What the fuck?”

“You talking to me.” His eyes flicked to your now brown stained shirt as the wind had seemed to calm down at the second you both touched.

You gave a glare as you didn’t know how to react to something like that, “you could apologise.” It was a mutter, but he heard you well enough to give you a look of disgust.

“Know your place.” He moved closer, almost towering on top of you as he came right up into your face in an unamused manner, “foolish girl.”

Your eyes widened as you had been keeping in a harsh breath, he left you standing there in silence, coffee staining into your skin and clothes as you finally let out a deep breath. You watched the pink haired boy leave without an apology as a fear ran down your spine at this man.

Shaking your head as you made the strenuous walk towards your apartment to find clothes that you could quickly wear before you met Yui. The multiple texts you’d gotten as you put your clothes to wash, different tattoo ideas she wanted, you ignored it as you put on semi decent clothes. The flash of the time being shown on your bedside table as you ran out of your apartment right to where you both had decided to meet.

The wind had calmed down a lot more as the brisk hues of yellows and reds began setting downwards, seeing her waiting on the road where the tattoo place was. She gave you a gleam as she grabbed your hand, almost dragging you into the place. Open brick cascaded down the walls as designs scattered against it, every design was intricate, beautiful even. You both began looking at the designs as you saw someone come down from the upstairs area, the stairs open as a man with black hair arrived.

“Hello ladies, how can I help you?” His hair reached to right down his back, partially up as stray strands adorned his face. Tattoos scoured his exposed arms as you saw a significant one run down his neck to meet another one of his tattoos.

He was attractive, a sense of mystery behind those black eyes of his. Yui spoke of her appointment as you continued looking around, scrolling through a collection of tattoos on the desk. You found some designs that you liked; you had never thought of getting a tattoo but seeing all the intricate designs that brought so much passion made your heart almost burst. “Those are Sukuna’s designs.”

A white-haired man came strolling past the desk, crystal blue eyes that brought so much depth as you traced the designs with your fingers. “They’re nice.”

“You getting any?” The man asked as Yui had started filling out some forms by your side.

You shake your head going back to look at the details of each one, “Sukuna should be down any minute.” The black-haired man spoke as both him and the white-haired man left to see some other clients that had come through the doors.

Yui looked more giddy than usual, those wide eyes as she eagerly paced beside you. “Ryo.” She whines as she sees someone she recognised; you didn’t turn to meet the man as you continued staring at Sukuna’s work.

“I told you not to call me that.” The man scowls behind you, the voice felt so familiar as if you had heard it before. You start to turn around to meet the man  when you feel him almost shout to you, “this the friend then?”

“Yeah, she loves your work.” You meet the man’s gaze as both of you stare at one another, with wide eyes and unsettling confusion.

You hadn’t realised but the white-haired man had come back and had been witnessing the two of you stare at one another. “Sukuna, that isn’t your ex-fuck is it….awkward.”

“Fuck off Satoru.” His eyes scanned back at you as Yui looked between the two of you in confusion, “what? Come here to make me pay for your washing.”

“What is wrong with you? I didn’t even say anything.” You retort back eyes lazily gazing his own, you could see his tattoos more clearly, the two lines on both his wrists and upper arms, the circles on his shoulders as you could just see the start of it.

“You’re here for some reason, I should be the one making you pay for my spilt coffee.” He grumbles back moving away from your friend and closer to your own body.

You watched him move his fingers to your jaw, hatred boiling up in your skin at his touch, “you’re blaming me for the winds action, what are you 5?”

“God…both of you are giving me a migraine.” A blonde arrived carrying what looked like sliced bread  as he looked at Sukuna and you. He had been watching the performance, seeing how both of you had become frustrated in a matter of seconds.

“Whatever, come on, let’s get your tattoo over and done with.” He muttered to Yui who was still confused.

You grabbed her arm making her stop as she stared right back at you, being an airhead really must be tough for her. “Who is that guy?”

“My boyfriend, I told you about him, remember?” You blinked a couple times in confusion as you repeated the word in your head. She had spoken about a boyfriend, but you assumed she meant someone cute like her and not a man covered in tattoos with a sadistic stupid grin.

You nodded letting her go as you leaned against the counter looking at Satoru and the blond, “is he always an ass or is it a special occasion.”

“He’s an ass to us, don't worry about him.” Satoru’s words were reassuring as the blond started wanting to know your relationship with his co-worker.

You nod as you wait in the reception, there had really been no reason for you to even go with your friend. She had left to get her stupid tattoo with her stupid boyfriend and now here you were on your own trying to act like you had stuff going in your life. The two having begun to talk between one another before you saw the black-haired man come back with his client. “Is Sukuna still in there?”

“Yeah knowing him he’s getting something other than money in return.” Satoru scoffed as he went to grab some of the sliced bread that the blond had been holding. The black-haired man stared at you in confusion before asking what occurred as he had heard shouting before. “Sukuna got all bitchy again, they know each other.”

“Oh you two fucked?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but no we didn’t fuck, he spilt coffee on me this morning.” You retorted as you crossed your arms not meeting the gazes of the three men. 

Satoru looked at his two friends as he gave a smirk to them both, “I’m surprised he didn’t make you pay for the coffee.”

“Just the coffee, if she wasn’t attractive he’d make her pay for being in the same proximity as her.” The black-haired man spoke as you watched the three men chuckle, disregarding their comment on your attractiveness. You rolled your eyes as you heard him speak again, “I’m Geto, that’s Satoru and Nanami, what’s yours then?”

“Y/n.” You had sat down on one of the couches in the waiting area, after the introductions an influx of customers who came in for their own bookings. Satoru waved goodbye as Nanami and Geto seemed to be pushed with clients into the respective areas. 

All three had their own intricate tattoos and designs, Nanami with a whole sleeve across his arm that went write up to his neck. You had seen how the couple open buttons in his shirt allowed wisps of black to be shown. Geto and the scattered tattoos across his arms and Satoru with his own mix and matches tattoos of different colours and shapes. You flicked through the booklet again, eyes scoring against Sukuna’s work. For such an arrogant piece of shit his work really was divine.

You heard Yui come out with Sukuna, dishevelled hair as Sukuna wiped her lipstick from his mouth. He glared at you as you refused to meet his eyes, the urge to punch him in his stupid face being prevalent. “Y/n, look isn’t it so cute.”

She showed you her thigh where the rose was, Sukuna looking at it with a roll of his eyes. It was nothing like the intricate designs you had seen in the booklet. You may not have known the man, but it just didn’t look like something he’d enjoy doing. She pulled her skirt back down; you could almost smell sex on her as she went up to Sukuna. He had told her what to use before she gave him a long kiss. You tried to not watch them kiss but it was a whole show to watch, his hand gripping her ass as he kissed back, saliva dripping from their mouths. 

Looking anywhere but at them, you put the booklet back onto the main desk before hearing her say a goodbye to her Ryo. “I told you not to call me that,” there was no teasing manner in his words, he was dead serious, hating how his name sounded on the whores mouth.

“Ryo told me he spilled coffee on you this morning, I’ll make him apologise to you tomorrow.” You gave her a blank look as you both walked through the night sky.

“Tomorrow?” You questioned not knowing what was even occurring the next day.

She raised an eyebrow as she spoke, “Nobara, she invited all of us to her apartment, remember?” The memory of the dyed haired girl came alight, the three of you had been talking in a lecture when she told you both to come to her housewarming. She had been so excited to show you how she decorated the place and to show you everything she bought but you hadn’t been paying attention. Instead nodding at her words instead, “I invited Ryo to come with me.”

“Oh great, an afternoon seeing that dickhead's face.” You scowled, kicking the pebble into the pavement as you tried to not whine but you hated the man and you most certainly knew he hated you.

She brought her hands to her chest trying to gain warmth through the cold weather, “don’t be like that, he means a lot to me.”

“Yeah being told off for saying his name sure shows how much he cares for.” Maybe you were still pissed about what occurred this morning, he hadn’t even apologised for something so small. But your friend was too unaware to realise what you saw, a demon reincarnated.

You both parted ways as you walked the stretch to your apartment, you knew Yui was sweet, but her lack of awareness was sometimes frustrating. You had heard the moans come from the small area, heard how everybody seemed to find it normal and what could you do. Nothing, you stared blankly at the wall in your apartment, the bland cream walls encasing nothing but the sadness of uni life. Nobara was sweet enough to invite you and you knew you’d just have to ignore that bastard instead.

The next day passed without much interruption, sorting out uni work before getting ready for her little get together. You didn’t know who else was going, having spent most of your time with your other friends but the idea of having to see Sukuna made you cringe. Looking at your outfit, a casual look, not expecting anything big to occur. You made the walk towards her apartment bringing some wine with you as a gift as you finally found the tower of apartments.

Walking into the elevator you were about to press the button when you heard a giddy laugh telling you to keep the door open. “Omg Y/n, you look super cute.” The whine of her voice made you stare right back at her, so innocent but the man she had been pulling on making her look nothing more than his toy.

“Thanks.” You mutter refusing to meet Sukuna’s eyes, his arms tattoos on show as he wore a black shirt, most of the buttons undone to show his distinctive marked chest. He rolled his sleeves as you pressed the button to the floor as she rambled on about her day.

You watched her grab his hand, moving closer to his side as he looked lazily down at her. He really was a fucking cunt, with that sadistic smirk and taunting eyes. “…Ryo was telling me Satoru was interested in you.”

“That’s nice.” You muttered not wanting to have a conversation about the men you had met last night.

Sukuna finally looked at you, eyebrows raised as he looked up from the ground. His light brown eyes gazing up and down your body as he stared almost indecisively at you. She stood firm against him whining for him to apologise about yesterday, but he didn’t seem to care as he stared at you with those dull eyes of his.

“I don’t care if he apologises or not.” You finally mutter as you felt suffocated by the sheer pressure of his gaze. It was a longing and you felt uncomfortable under his eyes, she had barely noticed the significant glare he was giving to you as she flaunted herself to him. At least she had something going for her with those looks of her, her unawareness and ditsiness catched men’s eyes but the way Sukuna dismissed her flaunts made you wonder why he even bothered with her.

The door opened as you quickly stepped out, not wanting to be near either of them as you walked towards Nobara’s apartment. Knocking as her bright face emerged engulphing you in a hug, “come in, come in.”

“I got you this.” You pass her the wine as she takes it, seeing Sukuna and Yui come in, her mouth in a gawk as she eyes the pink haired man up and down.

She puts the wine down as she gives a hug to your friend, “and who is this?”

Sukuna looked to the side not wanting to speak as he scoured around the room for someone he would recognise, his eyes meeting your mutual friend Megumi’s. He gave a nod at the black-haired boy who began walking towards the four of you, “this is my boy…”

Before she could finish Megumi interrupted, arm across your shoulder with a grin, “y/n with other friends.” You rolled your eyes as he went over to Sukuna, giving him a pat on the shoulder, “and Sukuna, what you doing here? Work run out of ink, you gonna start sucking our bloods.”

“Real funny.” Sukuna’s voice was unamused as Megumi almost dragged him away from you all.

Nobara had left as you saw Yui look isolated and alone, it was weird, a new emotion you hadn’t seen as you patted her back lightly. “Let’s get a drink.”

She nodded as you took her hand moving her past others that you knew and towards where a pile of beverages were. You had to hand it to Nobara the apartment did look good, it fit her aesthetic perfectly and you could only wish for your apartment to feel homely. Looking back on your own, it wasn’t a home, it was just a convenient place to live for your university studies.

Yui began rambling about something, almost glad she wasn’t paying attention to her boyfriend who had been talking with Megumi on the balcony. You could see eyes fawn over him, not understanding how people could find him attractive. Your skin crawled as you looked at him one last time before listening to her as she spoke for the next half an hour. Sukuna came towards you both after a while and that’s when disaster struck…once again.

“I’m leaving.” He was blunt with his words as you stared at the pair's interaction.

She looked at him with soft eyes, “but you promised you’d stay longer than an hour.” You looked over to Sukuna waiting to hear what he’d say as he needed a good excuse to be a shit date for this gathering.

“Okay, and? I’m a working adult. I have shit going on.” He seemed almost tense, hand gripping his phone as his eyes flashed with a worry before a glare back at you.

She disregarded his words as she continued to whine, “we can sneak off if you want…”

“Fucking hell I don’t want to sleep with you.” He tried to speak calmly but others had heard what was occurring in the kitchen. Jaw clenched as if something really bad was happening and he needed to be there.

You rolled your eyes at the unnecessarily loud comment touching your friends shoulder to reassure her, “come on let’s go back to mine.”

Sukuna glared, not bothering to give her a goodbye as you explained to Nobara the issue before giving her a farewell. You took her back to yours as soon as she hit the couch she was out like a light. You didn’t understand how someone as pretty as her could get with someone as disgusting as Sukuna. Those stupid eyes, so intimidating and closed off to the rest of the world. You shook your head trying to not think of the devilish man as you went into your room, falling into your own slumber.

It had been a few days since the incident occurred, going to a lecture with her as she still spoke highly of Sukuna. Explaining how he had had other plans and how he apologised, it was a lie of course and you knew it. You had caught a glimpse of the multiple read messages that she had sent to him, no reply back as either he was being a cunt or something else had been occurring in his private life that he didn’t want to tell her.

She had been trying to persuade you to come back to the tattoo store, bribing you with Satoru’s number even though you had no need for the white haired man's number. She signed in defeat as you left your separate ways from the lecture.

The week continued on like this, her talking highly of Sukuna but the now unopened messages being a sign that he truly did not care. You tried to not look too long on the messages but the way you’d see her sometimes stare at her phone almost manifesting his response. It went on like this, her ignorance as it seemed she sent more than 10 messages a day in the past week. You didn’t question it, not wanting to be involved in a relationship you didn’t care for.

Having Saturday to yourself, the coffee-stained shirt is still soaking after a week due to not having bothered to actually clean it properly. Stupid Sukuna! You rubbed at your eyes wanting a relaxing evening after the studying you had done in the library most of the day. Finally getting into the blankets you sat cozied up in the covers as you put an anime on to watch.

You had only gained peace for less than 10 minutes before your phone was blaring, startling you in an instant. Your hand reached for your phone as you saw Yui’s name flash up, answering it tiredly, “hey what’s up?”

“Y/n.” Sukuna’s voice soothed out on the line, hearing your name from his mouth sending a shiver, “your stupid friend is drunk and at my place, fucking get her or I’m leaving her outside.”

“Wait? Sukuna yo…you can’t just leave her outside, and I don’t even have a car…”

He quickly interrupts, “I don’t care, we…I don’t need her right now.”

“You’re a real class a cunt.” You shout through the phone, he was cheating clearly, his misspoken words making you realise he was an even bigger jerk than you realised. Seeing the address in the chat as he had hanged up on you after you called him a cunt. It was more than a 20-minute walk and you refused to walk there, getting an uber seemed like your best bet, you didn’t understand why he didn’t let her scream or shout at him. He had been caught out and now she could see the real Sukuna that you saw.

The drive taking less than 5 minutes you told the driver to wait as you went up to his apartment, the area was nice. Almost too nice for a man with an attitude and mouth like his own, finally finding the door, you saw how it was slightly open as you heard shouting coming from within. Opening the door, you were met with Sukuna and Yui but another figure with a glum look and the exact same face as Sukuna.

“Took you long enough.” Sukuna scowled as you saw your friend in tears, instantly rushing inside to comfort her.

You glared at the boy before what seemed to be his twin or younger brother spoke up, “just make them leave Sukuna.” He didn’t seem as fuelled with anger when his brother spoke of it, but a fury flashed through your insides, tissues seemed to scatter his apartment as you finally got a look of it all.

It was a shock, pretty even something that you craved to live in, the aesthetic, the way the whole room was filled with so much comfort and warmth. Too bad a psychotic loser like Sukuna lived there. “Yo…you can’t just call my friends us..and make…make them come and get me. I…I’m not a child.” Tears flooded her face as you looked up at Sukuna ready to give him a piece of your mind.

“You really are an ass, how fucking dare you treat her like that, when all she ever fucking does is talk about how you’re such a sweet guy. I’m fucking glad she’s realised just how much of a twat you are.” His brother almost felt startled at what he was hearing looking at Sukuna for any indication of what you were talking about.

Sukuna instead grabbed your wrist pulling you towards what looked to be his kitchen, a pizza box on the side as the place was moderately tidy. “You don’t fucking get it do you?”

“What are…” He interrupted his finger on your mouth forcing you to shut up and listen to him.

You wafted his finger away waiting to hear his next words, “that guy over there is my twin, our grandfather died last Sunday.” Realisation hit you as you realised that was why he had been so tense, so on edge at Nobara’s get together. You put your hand to his shoulder to comfort him but stopped yourself waiting for him to continue, “your pathetic friend barged in here drunk and started calling us the pathetic ones.”

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” You whispered out almost feeling bad for the man.

He continued not meeting your gaze as he leant against the cabinet, eyes down, for a man with limited emotions he found it hard to express his next words without feeling somewhat sad. “I explained what happened to her and she told both of us to grow a pair and told my brother to stop crying like a twat, she can talk all the shit she likes about me. But about the people I fucking care about, I need the bitch gone now.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll take her now.” She wasn’t even that drunk, you could see it in her eyes, the glint of sympathy she wanted as she barged past you and clinged her arms on Sukuna’s neck. He pushed her away as she tried to go back onto him, embarrassment setting in for yourself.

“Come on daddy, let me take your mind off of your stupid gran…” His blood boiled as he pushed her away once more, you took the step between them, gripping her arm as you dragged her out.

You pulled her towards the door, looking at Sukuna’s twin who looked sad, they looked similar, but the distinct lack of piercings made him look even more vulnerable. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” You bowed your head before leaving with your idiotic friend.

“God Y/n, always ruining the fun.” She belted out as you both walked into the elevator.

“How disrespectful can you get; I know he’s an ass but to be so disrespectful to the dead.” You crossed your arms pissed at having been dragged into this fiasco as you looked at her almost gleeful expression.

She looked at herself in the mirror across from you both as you signed, “I don’t care, I was horny, and who cares, you said it yourself my boyfriends a cunt.”

“Ex-boyfriend.” You muttered under your breath.

“He can’t resist getting his dick wet, he’ll come back.” She spoke with a confidence you hadn’t seen before, as if her whole ditsy façade was to just gain popularity and attention. You didn’t look at her as you both walked toward the uber, making her split the cost of it all as you dropped her off, you hated it.

Hated how she sent an air kiss as she left, almost happy at the chaos she created. You knew what you had to do and that was to ignore her in lectures and hopefully never had to meet Sukuna ever again.

It seemed to be working, you’d sit beside Megumi in lectures now, a sadness in her eyes as you’d be the one ignoring her. Maybe it was because her comments didn’t sit right with you or maybe it was a way to leave a friend you didn’t care for. You hadn’t met Sukuna at all the week that followed the occurrence, you were glad to never have to see him again.

Walking into the coffee shop for your latest fix of caffeine, a storm has come across the horizon. An eeriness to the grey skies. You had gotten a bus further into town wanting to go to your fav route coffee store one far away from the likes of Sukuna. Eyes flicking at your drink you sat at a table pulling out your laptop to do some work as the grey skies slowly became a mist of darkness.

Time had caught onto you as you found yourself ushered outside at closing time rain pouring as you realised just how late it was and how the last bus had already left Bringing your phone as you stood under the shelter of the café, you went to get an uber when you felt a gust of wind and as a figure barged into you. “Fucking shitty ass rain.” It was a recognisable voice as you turned and met Sukuna, pink hair draped down across his face, as his coat barely covered him as he draped it across his shoulders. “For fucks sake it had to be you I met.”

“Fuck off, I was here first you came to me.” You scowled watching the rain pour as you went on the app to get you an Uber as quick as you could.

Sukuna’s eyes flashed to your phone, trickles of water on it as he stared at your screen, “I’ll give you a lift home, I don’t like being in debt to people.”

“You’re not though.” You mutter still looking down at your phone as you stared at the prices.

“You got rid of Yui,  I owe you.”

You didn’t understand his logic as it made no sense at all, “whatever you don’t owe me, and she isn’t my friend.”

He didn’t question it as he brought his car keys out, gesturing for you to follow as you did. It wasn’t like he was going to kill you and if Megumi was friends with him what was the harm in getting a free lift.. Even with his loud obnoxious almost suffocating presence in the rain it almost felt like the two of you could be civil.

He opened your door as you slipped inside the car, feeling the warm black leather seats as he chucked his coat to the back. The shirt he wore right across his skin as you stared at his tattoos, “it’s rude to stare.”

“Shut up.” You muttered looking out at the weather. It was gruesome and wild, and you could already see the evident traffic up ahead.

One hand stayed lazily on the steering wheel as he tapped on it as the other rested on the gear stick, he cleared his throat before finally speaking, “why did you stop being friends with her then?”

“Realised she was a bitch; I don’t want those types of people around me.” You continued to stare out of the window, looking up at the black sky, stars trickling through the rain.

He didn’t say anymore a tense atmosphere as you finally met his gaze again, his fingers tapping lightly to a song you didn’t know that was playing on the radio. “Why did you date her?” He moved forward as his jaw clenched checking his mirrors to see if he could go through a side street bypassing the traffic.

“I never did.” He muttered, still looking for a way out.

You rolled your eyes as you continued, “I might dislike her, but she spoke about you as if you were the best boyfriend in the world and now here you are acting like you never dated her.”

“God Y/n can you shut the fuck up?” You were startled by his words as he quickly went past the traffic indicator right as he turned into a side street making sure to not get caught in an uncomfortable situation again. “I never asked her out, it was a one-night stand, but she fucking kept coming to the tattoo place, and Nanami and Geto were getting pissed she said she’d leave only if I dated her and fucked her regularly.”

You were almost disgusting by the proposition, his agreement on it to make her go away and her own for making such a revolting idea. “You…you…” Unaware of what to say you trailed off as you refused to look back at him.

“Put your address in here.” He tossed his phone into your lap, easily unfolded as you put your address in without even questioning it. Putting his phone back up on the stand in his car, he continued, “why would a prissy girl like you ever become friends with someone like her?”

“She needed my help  studying.” You muttered not knowing how else to respond, it was true that you both had met out of convenience to one another. His finger motion on the wheel matched the rhythm of the song that currently played as you didn’t elaborate.

He turned to see what you were doing, how you stared out into the darkness all alone with nothing but an empty lonely apartment. “God you must be fun at parties.”

“Cut the crap Sukuna, what the fuck are you doing this for?”

“What’s this?” He gestured as he had seen you meet his gaze.

You rolled your eyes hating how he made you elaborate, “asking questions, offering me a lift home. What do you want? Sex? A good little cunt for you to fill, I knew I was right abou…”

“Y/n.” Your name felt piercingly loud against the inside of the car, “why do you always think the worst of me?”

“Because you’ve been an ass since day fucking one, gosh get off your high horse Sukuna nobody gives a fuck about this persona you have if you’re just going to act like a dick half the time.” Your words stung him as his jaw clenched pissed at how freely you spoke about his life.

“You’re giving me advice on persona’s; I knew from the first time you walked into the tattoo place that you hated Yui. Don’t talk to me about personas when you acted like you wanted to choke her to death.”

His words were filled with truth and malice as you looked down, “I…I did hate her…I do hate her.”

He didn’t expect your response, but your next words filled him with another emotion, “I was jealous, okay? She was so pretty to me, she could’ve had anyone, and she picked you, the guy who didn’t give a fuck about her. I hated her for it, hated how she got men left right and centre when all I got were guys interested in sex rather than a relationship.” You took a heavy breath as you couldn’t stop your rambling, couldn’t stop the freshly watered eyes from cascading down your face, “so yes Sukuna I fucking hate her, she is everything I’m not, everything a man wants.”

Sukuna didn’t know what to say as he put his car in park, grabbing your face in his hands as he forced you to look at him. “I know you don’t like me; I hate you as much as you fucking hate me. But you’re more than just a fuck to someone out there. Maybe it’s the guilt and grief I'm going through for not being around for my granddad as much but she is the opposite of you and was a cunt. You’re worth a whole lot more than her.”

You tried to turn away to stop staring into his eyes, his calloused hands gripped onto your face as you could feel just how intricate his fingers were. His grip tight as you felt his heavy breath against your own, “take me home.”

He let go in an instant not meeting your gaze as he drove in silence, it was too quiet for your liking. He stopped tapping the wheel as you just stared outside, watching how the rain pattered away against the roof. The arrival to your apartment complex seemed much faster as you looked at the gloomy elevator that would take you to your gloomy apartment. “What? Not going to invite me inside?”

“What do you think?” You muttered opening the door as you stepped into the rain.

You heard his own side open as he slipped out of the car, “well if you really want me too.” Rolling your eyes and not wanting to be around him you found yourself being followed by the boy, his eyes looking around the place. It was pretty, too pretty for someone like you, he watched you fumble to open your apartment. He expected to see your personality residue onto the walls but instead was met with nothing but a cream-coloured walls and the basic necessities. “What, you still moving in or something?”

You drop your stuff and take your shoes off ignoring his comment as you went straight to the kitchen. He quickly followed eyes widening to be met with another plainness, affectionless room. “Seriously why are you here?” You say getting some leftover food out of the fridge to warm up.

“I owe you.” He scratches the back of his head as he looks at the food.

You point at your food before speaking  again, “get two  plates.” He nodded eagerly as you pointed to where the plates were as you warmed it up on the stove. “You don’t owe me anything, you have me a lift home remember.”

“I owe you for my comment.” He doesn’t meet your gaze grabbing the two plates and putting them on the counter. “Your place, it's not very you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You question crossing your arms as you stared at the man.

He looked around seeing nothing of any value to you, “it’s not you, it’s just very plain and dull.”

“I’m plain and dull.” You bring the food over portioning it into the plates as you watch Sukuna look for forks to eat it with. If he had walked into this place without knowing it was yours he’d have thought it was a showroom.

You move and take your plate as you both go into the lounge right in front of the TV. “Yeah not with that mouth of yours.”

“Shut up.” You scowled sitting on the side of the couch as he sat on the other, you moved to put something on the TV as he watched you happily put on an anime that he recognised. He was surprised you had even let him step foot in your home but there really wasn’t anything to see of importance that he could mock.

He watched you eat and watch anime, so this is how you spent your days, uni, hanging out with friends, revising, eating and watching anime. “Y/n.”

“Yeah.” You muttered just as you put more food in your mouth.

“Why did you let me inside?”

You finally looked at him, plate empty as he put it on the table, you met his gaze, “we both hate each other, it’s not like i’ll ever have to see you again after this, and you said it yourself you owed me.”

“No, there’s something else, is it about what I said earlier.” He asked as you finally looked at him directly in the eyes.

You didn’t know how to reply as you stared at him softly, “I…I think you should leave.”

“For fucks sake, just tell me, like you said you won’t have to see me ever again after this.” His eyes looked up and down across your body. How you seemed so small when isolated, how that big mouth of yours that he wanted to shut up so badly. Had finally fallen silent.

You tried to think of an answer, but came to nothing, “I thought…that I was doing this to make me feel better, like I was getting back at her but instead I’m just being something I hate. I’m sorry, okay?”

“It’s fine, I’d have done the same, guess we’re both dicks then.” You stifle a laugh as you look at him with wide eyes.

“Maybe you’re not that bad.”

“I’m surprised I did call you a fool.”

“Foolish puppet actually.”

He chuckles as he looks at you his lip turning upwards as he looked at the anime, “you know I thought the beast titan was Erwins dad for a solid three months.”

“What? Erwin and Zeke are like 10 years apart.” You chuckle as you pause the episode on one of the many gory scenes, “let me guess you didn’t know who the female titan was either.”

“Of course I didn’t, do I look like I read manga?” He mused out putting his arm around the couch as he watched you on your knees face him. You seemed joyful talking about anime with him, as for what seemed like hours the two of you spoke about different anime’s and stuff you both enjoyed.

“…you can’t be serious you got an anime tattoo.” You had moved closer to him; his arm touched your side as you begged for him to show you.

He turned around lifting his shirt up as it remained up to his neck. That’s when you saw the cascades of different colours and pictures around his back, the hunter x hunter phantom troupe spider being under his shoulder as you moved your finger to trace it. “Number four really.”

“Don’t lie and say you aren’t another whore for Hisoka.” His skin shivers as you trace each leg, the intricacy of all his tattoos making your mind go wild. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as you had initially thought, maybe there was something more to him.

He put his shirt down as he turned to meet your eyes again you had moved closer and without realising his face was only a mere centimetres away from your own. “Sorry.” You whisper moving backwards a big in a shuffle.

“Don’t worry about it, ever thought about it then?”

“Thought about what?”

He gestured to his arm and chest tattoos as you shrugged, “maybe, but I’m indecisive it’d have to be something I really liked.”

“Well Satoru was telling me you liked my designs.” Your eyes widened at how you have been practically exposed by Satoru.

He chuckles tilting his head back as you could see his neck tattoos more, “I could always give you one.”

“You sure you wouldn’t want to give me a flower one instead.” You teased as he rolled his eyes coming closer to your body.

“I know exactly where I’d put it.” His finger grazed to your exposed arm, skimming up and down before moving up to your shoulder and down to just where your neck was.

Your breath hitched as his finger skimmed past the material nearly divulging into where your two breasts met. He watched how you gave a flushed look before smirking, removing his hand, “it’s late, pass me your phone.”

“W…why?” You spoke already, grabbing it to give to him.

“So you can have my number, we should hang out again.” His fingers typed into the new contact, easily writing his name and number as he passed back the phone.

You nodded as you walked with him towards the door, he grabbed his stuff before you saw him wave goodbye before leaving. You leant against the door as you grabbed your phone seeing his stupid name with the skull emoji, quickly typing about how you enjoyed tonight you threw your phone to the side as you felt a feeling you hated entirely.

It had been a week since both you and Sukuna had met again, but the multiple texts you both sent one another had been divulging into some sort of feeling of friendship. You had invited him to your best friends birthday celebration after feeling that both of you had somewhat become friends. He seemed happy to come along a clear contrast to when he had been made to go to the housewarming a couple weeks back.

He met you outside your apartment, seeing how you came out in a thin red dress, it was short, but you looked amazing. He had worn a similar outfit that he wore weeks prior the difference being the shirt looked a lot tighter and there had been a couple more unbuttons undone. A metal necklace cascaded down his neck brushing back and forth against the air and his skin and rings embodied his veined fingers. He watched you happily skip into the car; he couldn’t help but smile but as soon as you stepped inside the dickhead in him came out. “Sure this is a birthday party and not a strip club.”

“Aww you think I could become a stripper.” You pout as you look at the mirror putting more lipgloss on too sooth your lips. He rolled his eyes reversing out as he looked behind you both, arm on your seat as you couldn’t help but stare at his chest with the black lines and his arms that had their own.

He hadn’t noticed your staring instead moving right out and making you put the destination into his phone, “how long are you staying till?”

“However long you want.” You say typing the destination before going into his camera, “your cameras better.”

You took a couple pictures as you sent them to yourself choosing which one was the best one before putting his phone back on the grip. “She’s your friend.”

“I thought you didn’t like stuff like this.”

“What makes you say that?” His arm was lazily against the wheel as he moved it at every turn.

You shrugged before answering, “it’s a uni party, you don’t seem like the type to go to ones.”

“Just because I didn’t go to shitty uni doesn’t mean I won’t fit in, idiot.”

You rolled your eyes as you looked back on the road, his other hand scratching  his jaw. “Megumi should be there if you don’t want to be aroun…”

“I'm going with you, why would I leave you?” He didn’t meet your gaze; he already knew that if did see those wide eyes and that tiny dress one more time he wouldn’t be able to help himself take you in the car.

You nodded not saying anymore as he began rambling about some client that wanted the ugliest tattoo possible, “why did you just tell him to fuck off?”

“What makes you think I didn’t, I don’t do shitty tattoos.” His grip tightened against the wheel as he turned to see what you were doing. Your dress having ridden up as your thighs were on show, he stared at them before meeting the road gaze again.

You nodded as you increased the volume on the song that was playing, “what’s a shitty tattoo to you?”

“Flowers, girly shit.”

“You literally named one thing.” You roll your eyes as he watches you change the song from his phone, your chest on top of his arm on the gear stick as he was able to see how pretty your tits sat in the dress.

He looked down before shaking his head to look outside the windows, “flowers are shitty, any shitty type of animal.”

“What so if I asked for a dolphin you wouldn’t give me one?” He raised an eyebrow as you continued, “oh come on dolphins could be a look.”

“No they wouldn’t, they look shitty and you don’t even like dolphins.”

You shrugged leaning back in your seat, “and how would you know?”

“Because I know you, come on.” He had parked without you realising as you both got out of the car. He saw the tall high rise of buildings; it was similar to your own complex but with a lot more emotion that he’d never seen from yours.

He watched you grab his sleeve to tug him along as he stood behind you, watching how your thighs moved through the thin fabric. It was almost a blessing to have to look down at you as the ability to see how your tits perked up made his head run wild. “So what’s her name again?”

“Maki, and no she already has a boyfriend.” You stepped into the elevator, as he rolled his eyes at your comment.

“I didn’t want to fuck your best friend anyway.” He muttered as he leant against the railing, eyes flashing to how perfect you looked all dolled up in that outfit. He licked his lips as he continued, “not every girl I see I want to fuck.”

“That is true, you haven’t tried to fuck me.” He didn’t know why he almost felt sad by your comment, there of course had been a reason for not having tried to fuck you but it was stupid and pushed aside.

You both walked out as his hand moved to your back guiding you in a direction even he didn’t know about. “I swear it’s on this floor.”

“You got us lost basically,” you signed as you grabbed your phone pushing Maki’s number as you heard her scream through the phone. Sukuna gave a side eye as you elbowed his side to not be a cunt for once.

“Yeah 5th floor, number 511.” Sukuna grabbed your hand as he had seen that door, forcing you to follow as even with his tight grip. You had expected his hands to feel calloused against your own, but a burst of warmth filled you as you followed him. He knocked on the door as Maki instantly opened grabbing you into a hug, “and who is this?”

“This is Sukuna, I invited him.” You say as she lets go of you, her hair up and a giddy smile at the drink she was holding.

You handed her her present before she came up to Sukuna, “I heard you were a dick by Megumi.”

“Maki you can…”

“No it's true, where is the twat anyway?” Sukuna muttered as Maki hadn’t bothered to apologise instead unwrapping her present happily.

“By the balcony, probably.” He nodded but didn’t leave to go find him, instead sticking your side.

You met his gaze as you didn’t understand why he hadn’t left to mingle or find someone to hook up with, “not going to find Megumi.”

“I said I wouldn’t leave your side.” You nod as he continued, “come on let’s get a drink.”

He dragged you to where the drinks were, passing you a cup as he filled it with some alcohol, he saw Megumi come up towards you both, already partially drunk. “Y/n, Sukuna…together in the same room, I must be dying.”

“Real funny, I don’t see you with anybody.” Sukuna mused as he took a large sip of his drink.

Megumi rolled his eyes planting his arm across your shoulder seeing how tense Sukuna became in a matter of seconds, “go on how did you end up here then?”

“We’re friends.”

“You called him a dickhead two weeks ago.”

You chuckled at your past, his eyebrow raised wanting to hear an explanation of the comment, “that’s because he is one.” You moved to his face, your hand out as you squished his cheeks with one hand, “aren’t you?”

“You better answer her.” Megumi spoke, trying to suppress a laugh at how the big old mighty Sukuna was getting his face squished by you.

Sukuna rolled his eyes as you continued squishing his face, your warmth in your fingers making his ears prick a red colour, “yeah…I am.”

“Good boy.” You giggled letting go of him as Megumi began pouring more alcohol in both your drinks. It seemed like the party would have nothing except drinking and couples making out, you didn’t care seeing how much fun Maki was having with her boyfriend.

You and Sukuna had moved to the couch after Megumi had gotten distracted by Maki’s god, he was probably on the ground letting her dog sleep on him. Sukuna’s voice ringed in your ear as the loud music had made it hard for you both to speak normally, “you were right?”

“Is the Sukuna admitting I was right?” You teased taking a large slip as the strap of your dress had fallen off your shoulder due to having been bumped into by a lot of people.

“Oh shut it.” He didn’t continue with his words, instead moving closer to you, maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just how beautiful you looked. His eyes gazed across your body, as he moved his hand to re-adjust your strap. His fingers gazing right where your arm was, “a tattoo right there.”

“I’ll have to get one there then.” You replied instantly back to him hoping he’d get the hint.

He nodded his hand tracing your skin, “I’ll give you a good tattoo, make it ruin you.” He didn’t know what he was saying, feeling you move closer to him as if you were just about to meet his lips.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” It was a shout from the doorway as you saw Yui almost jump right on you with her devilish claws. Both you and Sukuna became startled by the action as you both jumped abruptly away from one another.

Maki had come as she stood between the three of you, confusion setting in as she realised just how bad the situation was. “Yui what the fuck?”

“Why are you shouting at me, she’s the one trying to make out with my boyfriend?” The music seemed to settle into quietness as everybody began staring at the scene, you didn’t know what to say. They weren’t dating you knew that but were you really just about to kiss him, the man you had hated those weeks ago, would you have let him do more to you.

You shook your head as you were about to speak but got interrupted, “we aren’t fucking dating, god there really is nothing up there, we were never dating and you’re just a fucking bitch who sleeps around.”

“So you admit that you just wanted to fuck me.” You and Maki stared at one another as you watched what Sukuna would say next.

“Yeah, worst sex I’ve had in a while though.” Your eyes widened at the comment as you tried to suppress a laugh before she stared at you.

Her eyes flicked with rage at how you laughed at his comment, “you hated him, how could you be such a shit friend?”

“We were never friends, you tried to use me to come with you to errands and help you with shit, that’s not being friends.” You mutter crossing your arms as Maki almost looked like she was ready to fight Yui for her fake comments.

Yui looked between the three of you ready to punch you right in your face, “I fucking hate you, he’s going to realise just how boring and selfish you are, and he’ll drop you just like he did too me. You wanna know why you haven’t had a boyfriend in a whilst…it’s because every single one of them found out how dull and boring you are. He’ll see it, he’ll see how you’re a fucking cunt that just gets used for guy’s dicks.”

She stormed out of the apartment, as you let out a heavy breath. You needed fresh air as you left the silence of the room going past everybody and into Maki’s room. Knowing she had a balcony that attached to her window. Crawling out of it as you leant against the railing you saw the bright lights of the city cascade out into the sky. Cold air hitting your body as you thought about her comments, every insecurity you had had was true, you heard the window open as Sukuna stepped outside.

“You’re going to get cold, dumbass.” You don’t laugh at his comment, instead leaning  further into the balcony. “You don’t believe what she said right, she’s a fucking cunt and her words were lies Y/n.”

“You don’t understand.” You continued staring at the colourful patterns of the stars, all so pretty. He moved closer resting his shoulders against your own as he could almost see you shiver.

He met your eyeline, watching how you stared up into the dark sky, he knew you saw more than the dark. He could see it in your eyes the way you stared at the sky with such lust to explore its secrets, “explain to me then.”

“You’re you…and I’m me, I’m used to guys getting their dicks wet to me, and you use others to get your own…”

You trailed off not wanting to hear his next words, “you really are still a cunt, listen to me, Yui lied, you and I both know she’s a fucking cunt so why the fuck do you believe it.”

“Because you fucking slept with her.” You didn’t know why you shouted the comment out, it was unnecessary and made no actual sense at all.

Sukuna stayed silent, pink hair almost dropping down to his face in a type of misery, “so what you want me to fuck tou and then leave you, you want to be another one-night stand, is that all you see me as.”

“No…” you had no other words as you both stared at one another in silence, his eyes flicking across to your lips. As he moved closer, face almost touching one another’s as you heard his heavy breath against your own, mouths almost touching.

He looked down as his hands had gripped your sides ready to bring your mouth to his own, “I don’t want you to be another one-night stand.”

“Why?”

“Because you mean a lo…”  He got interrupted by the sound of a loud crash occurring inside, “fuck that’s Megumi.”

“We need to check on him.” Your minty breath hit his face as you spoke worried for your friend, you were the first to apart away; he had wished to feel your tender lips on his own but instead was now left out in the dark.

He watched you leave as you went to go check on Megumi, taking a sharp breath as he followed you. You both ended up finding Megumi with the dog wrapped around him, “he’s cuddling the fucking dog.”

“Sorry I need a picture of this.” You spoke fiddly as you brought your phone out taking different angled photos of Megumi being cuddled by Maki’s dog.

Sukuna rolled his eyes before he nudged Megumi with his food, “we’re gonna have to take him home.”

You nodded as you and Sukuna brought him up, his arms on both your shoulders as he stirred, “you two are such nice people:”

“Yeah yeah.” You muttered as you helped him towards Sukuna’s, both putting him in the back as Megumi looked like he was about to fall asleep again.

“I’ll take him to mine, after I drop you back home.” You nod as you both spent the rest of the car journey in silence, not talking about the earlier occurrence of you both nearly kissing twice.

The ride had been quick as you were met with the dull buildings once more, Sukuna watched how you said a simple goodbye, his hand grabbing your wrist to stop you. “Come round the tattoo shop at 8pm.”

“Why?” you questioned as his touch sent a shiver down your spine.

“Just come shitty woman.” You nodded as he let go of your hand watching you walk into your apartment.

“You really…why did you scream?” Megumi voice startled him as she shouted a fuck at hearing Megumi talk, “anyway, you really like her don’t you.”

“Is it that obvious.”

Megumi nodded leaning back in his seat, “you’re a dick to everybody it’s weird seeing you be nice to someone.”

“I’m not a dick to everybody.” Sukuna spoke as he started driving towards his apartments

Megumi rolled his eyes as he looked out of the window, “don’t hurt her.”

“I wouldn’t.” Sukuna mutters as he looks down knowing tomorrow would be the day he told you the absolute truth.

The next day came quicker than expected as you had a couple lectures occurring and some other crap to get onto. Before you even knew it 8pm had arrived as you found yourself walking the same street you had walked a couple weeks back. The same bricks and neon sign outside the place that made the place give off the vibe of a tattoo shop.

Walking inside as the bell indicated a customer had come, it seemed that they had had their influx in customers as Satoru seemed to be annoying Nanami who had ice on his head and Geto tapped away at the counter. “Y/n.” Satoru shouted as he bolted up and met you, “you never came back.”

“Yeah some stuff happened, you know where Sukuna is?” You question as all three of them became silent, probably not understanding why you would need the man you had been cussing out a few weeks ago.

“Sukuna.” Geto hesitantly shouted out as he looked at you, “you’re not going to kick him are you,”

“What? No!” You mutter as you see the pink haired man come down shirtless, his tattoos all on show as you got a glimpse of every single one perfectly resting across his body. “Y/n, you’re early.”

He checked his watch seeing the time being 7:50, as you gave him a small smile, “so what did you need me for?”

“To give you a tattoo idiot.” He spoke it as of you were the one who had been the dumb one in the situation.

The three men stared at you both as you stepped towards him, bodies too close for what they’d class as enemies. “Is anybody going to explain this?” Satoru muttered.

Sukuna rolled his eyes as he waited for your response, you didn’t think he’d actually be the one to give you your first tattoo, but you nodded never less. “Okay, but if you mess up I will stab you’ll

“If you’re into that, I don’t judge.” He chuckles as you jab your elbow into his chest, “give her the forms.”

Geto nodded as he passed you the forms you needed to fill out all three wanting to hear how the two of you had somehow become close, “don’t you three have plans?”

That’s when they realised why he had booked you in so late, all three had prior engagements and it’d leave you and him alone to your own devices. Satoru signed as he wanted to hear more but ended being dragged out by Nanami before Geto followed just as you handed the forms back to Sukuna

He remained shirtless as he took you to the back, locking the door of the reception to make sure nobody came in. He patted the seat gesturing for you to sit down as you looked hesitantly between the needles and the seat, “what you want to sit on my lap, will that make you feel better?”

“Shut up.” You muttered as you went to the black chair, instead feeling his grip on your wrist.

“What? Scared I’ll bite,” you hated how he teased you and instead of dismissing it and getting flushed you found yourself sitting right on his thigh, you could almost feel like much muscle he had under his joggers as your hand stayed on your own thighs.

He smirked seeing you shift your weight easily, “look at you, finally listening for once.”

“I listen.”

“No you don’t, now what are you thinking?” He passes the book with many designs from his coworkers scattering each page. You instantly went to his page, looking at all the intricate details of different types before you saw the designs of dragons as it breathed out fire. He watched you stare at it, finger gliding across it as he moved your hair to the side, head on your shoulder as he spoke, “you want a dragon.”

You nodded eagerly at the small design, as he put the book down and looked at you with soft eyes, “where do you want it?” You point to the top of your arm, the arm he had touched last night, the arm that still had his finger ingrained into your skin. His eyes flicked to your arm; you wore a long sleeve shirt as he knew you’d have to take it off to get right up to the top of your arm.

“This is a ploy to get me naked isn’t it.” You teased as you lifted your shirt above your head, Sukuna trying to say a word as now the two of you were shirtless in front of one another.

He tried to hide his smirk as he got the stencil ready for your arm, he knew it’d hurt, knew you’d want to grab onto something so why not grab onto him. “If I wanted to see you naked I wouldn’t do it here.”

Your eyes widened feeling the rubbing alcohol on your arm drip down to your wrist, “which one was your first?”

You changed the subject as he rubbed the area before grabbing the stencil that was to the side of you both, “the one on my finger.”

His other hand had moved the stencil up to your arm whilst your fingers grabbed his hand seeing the skull right on the edge of his right hand. “It’s pretty.”

“Yeah my parents hit me so hard after I got it done.” You chuckled lightly feeling his move his hand away from you, sad at his quick movement as you played with your own fingers. You felt the stencil being pulled away from your arm as you could see the small outline of a dragon and its fire across your arm. “Like it?”

You nodded eagerly as you watched him prepare the equipment you didn’t know what he was doing but admired each concentrated move that he had. Eyes widening when he looked up at you with a smirk having noticed your continuous looks at him, “don’t worry, it won’t hurt and if it does, tough.”

“And I thought you were going to be encouraging.” You mumble as you stare at your arm, the blue marks making your insides almost cave in at how scared you actually were.

He chuckled lightly just as he finished ready to start on the outline, he was almost glad it was just an outline with no shading knowing in an instant you’d be in much more pain. “You’ll be fine, I would tell you to hold my shirt but…you could always hold onto my thigh?”

“Just start.” You fidgeted on his thigh, legs swinging as you began hearing a low hum of a needle, feeling some other liquid go across the lines. He looked directly at you nodding to make sure you knew it was about to occur.

Your hands stayed on your lap as you felt the first mark take place, pain instantly rushing to that one spot as you grabbed his thigh, just close to where his crotch was. He dismissed how your hand was so close yet so far away from his cock instead asking if you were okay, after seeing you nod, he continued as the pain began to subdue. You couldn’t lie and say your eyes hadn’t begun watering because they had. You wiped it away with your other hand as you felt Sukuna move onto the fire part. You could never understand how he’d gone through the pain of all of his tattoos, the ones across his arm and chest, his fingers and back and most likely having some on his legs as well.

You watched how he’d occasionally look back at your gaze, see if you were doing fine with pain. Always giving him a reassuring look back to make sure he knew that you could handle it, you felt him finally relax as he the low hum stopped, your hand still on his thigh as he smiled at the design. He grabbed his phone from the side taking a picture of it before passing it for you to see yourself.

The small intricate details had done on the dragon was perfect, the way he had started to put stuff away whilst you still sat on him and the way you could still see your photos from last night in the corner. He hadn’t deleted them , kept them for some unknown reason and you definitely were not going to ask him why he still had the images.

“Let me dress it and bandage it for you.” You nodded but he remained still as you stared at the image, “I need you to get up, dumbass.”

“Sorry.” You mutter standing up and sitting on the actual chair, eyes staring at the details of it all. You had a tattoo and not just that it was a tattoo that Sukuna had designed and placed on you. It was something he was proud of, he watched you stare at his phone, probably unaware that it was on you and not just a picture.

Signing he grabbed the dressing and bandages, standing up to start wrapping it around your arm, you felt startled when his cold fingertips touched your arm. Putting his phone down as you saw the cling film around you, a redness coming from the tattoo, as he began telling you what to do every night and giving you some leaflet on it. “…don’t worry though I’ll text you to make sure you remember.”

“I’ll remember.” You put your shirt back on as you whined the comment out.

“I’ll text you to make sure you remember.” He repeats already knowing that you’d become too lazy to even bother to change the dressing every night.

“So mean.” You pout as he takes you back to the front, leaning against the counter as the dark sky stood out for the both of you to see, “so how much is it?”

You had already gotten your credit card out ready to pay for it, but his hand stopped you, “It’s free.”

“What? No, take the card.” You almost push your money onto him not wanting to take something for free. He takes the card before putting it right back into your arm, almost chucking it at you as he did, “Sukuna please just take it.”

“No.”

“I will never talk to you again if you don’t take it.”

“Okay.” You both glared at one another in silence waiting for one of you to crack, it just had to be you, however.

“I hate you.”

He crossed his arms smirking as he came round to the front leaning against the counter, “no you don’t.”

“Yes I do.” He cocks his head to the side, you watch as each of his muscles tense up as he looks down to you, his face coming closer and closer each time. Hand moving to hold the side of your face, as you looked up at him.

“You can pay me back another way.” He whispers softly as his lips brushed against your own, feeling a hungry need to kiss him, his other hand had moved to your waist ready to bring you closer to him.

You felt his hot breath hit your lips, the way he licked his lips with a hunger, your face moving closer as he moved his hands moved to his shoulders to meet his eyeline. He felt pushed against the counter as he leant against it watching how you moved one of your fingers to his jaw caressing his face as you looked down between his eyes and mouth. Before finally moving your finger, mouth ready to kiss his own before both being startled by the buzz of the door opening.

“Sukuna.” It was a voice you had recognised prior, as you turned to be met with Sukuna’s twin brother.

Sukuna looked between you and his brother, signing at how this had been the third time he had been cockblocked. All he wanted to do was kiss you, was to take you out, call you his but it felt like the universe had had other plans.

“What?”

You stood between the two of them as his twin stared at you, “Mum said to come and drop this off.” He showed a bag with what looked like some old clothes, you didn’t question it instead smiling at the boy. “You’re the girl from a couple weeks back.”

“Hi, yeah I’m Y/n.” You put your hand out as his twin takes it, Sukuna rolling his eyes as he grabbed the old clothes, he looked between the clothes before finding what he was looking for. It was something you recognised, as you let go of the boy's hand.

“Itadori.” You nodded as the boy looked confused as the two of you stared at the old shirt, he eyes you up and down almost admiring how you looked so sweet and sexy at the same time.

“I told you I had it,” Sukuna chuckled as he showed you the old retro Pokémon shirt he owned, it was old, something a 13-year-old wore and not a grown ass man. You had remembered a conversation the two of you had had earlier on last week where he had rambled on about how he loved Pokémon and had the biggest crush on Jessie which you never understood.

“It’s still a lame character to simp over.” He had been pointing to the destroyed Jessie as Itadori felt uncomfortable invading on a private moment between the two of you.

“Anyway, nice to meet you, Sukuna suck a dick, later.” He walked back out of the store as Sukuna gave him the finger before turning back to you, he knew the moment had been ruined but a hungry need had erupted at how he needed to have you. He had seen how Itadori had stared and watched the closeness of you both, had looked you up and down, looked at what was his with a look of hunger.

Sukuna, grabbed his shirt quickly putting it on before grabbing the bag and your hand in his other, “where are we going?”

You questioned as he locked the place up before grabbing your wrist once more and dragging you to his car. “Back to mine.”

“Wh…” He had thrown the bag in the car and pushed your back against the door, hands trapping you as he moved closer and closer to you, making you seem ever so small to him. He smirked as he interrupted, hand grabbing your jaw as he gave you a sadistic grin.

“Nobody looks at what’s mine and sweetheart…you’re now mine.” Your breath hitched as his other hand grabbed your waist arching you into the car as his lips found its way onto your own.

The kiss he had craved for so long occurred in a matter of seconds, your hands moving to his hair as you tugged at the pink locks. Your moans making his head spin as his tongue divulged into your own, gliding back and forth with your own, he brought your body even closer to his own. Mouths craving one another as you had gotten the kiss you had only dreamt about. Saliva dripped down your jaw as he let go off, thumb wiping it away as he looked at you with almost hungry eyes.

“I’m taking you back to mine and making every single fucking person know that you’re mine, okay baby.” He hand moved to your jaw grabbing a hold of it as he was waiting for an answer, waiting to hear the yes he craved.

“Okay Sakun…”

“Try again.” He moved your mouth to skim past his lips again, already seeing how much you craved to feel his lips once more as you tried to reach his own.

You took a sharp breath as you spoke to give him the power he wanted, “yes sir.”

“Good girl, get in the car.” His words were quick as you found yourself quickly entering not knowing what had gotten between the two of you as soon as he stepped inside the car, his hand rested on your thigh as he quickly drove out to get to his apartment.

A quick - most likely over the speed limit - journey later, his hand on your back made your insiders quiver at the sensation of what was to occur. Once you both began walking past the elevator, the tense atmosphere you both had gone through in the elevator having not helped, you found yourself finally getting the confidence to speak.

“Are we…”

He interrupted you as he finally unlocked the door, pushing you through as you felt yourself pressed against the inside of his apartment. His lips moving across your neck as he spoke the words you had needed to hear from the beginning, “you aren’t some fuck, you’re mine.”

“I…I don’t want to disappoint you.” You breathed out after thinking hard, his lips left your neck as he looked into those deep eyes of yours. Pools of lust and love cascading down as he couldn’t help but bring his two hands to cup your face.

“You would never disappoint me baby, after I’m done stuffing you full of me, I’ll prove to you just how much you mean to me.” His voice was a quiet whisper as he kissed you once again, your hands quickly kissing him back as he continued to press you against the door. Hands roaming your body as he brought comfort and love to every part of you.

His lips left your own as he kissed down your neck, hands moving to your thighs to bring you up as you wrapped your legs around his waist. Watching how you arched your neck for him, as he bit and sucked at your neck wary to not harm your arm as he walked towards his room.

Pushing you in as he threw you onto the bed, taking his shirt off as his arms moved to the side of your body. A predator ready to hunt down his prey, his hand went under your chin making you look up at him as he spoke, “I’m going to make you call me yours by the end of the night, sweetheart, make that pretty cunt drip with me in you.”

He smoothed your hair before moving his hands to your side, watching you nod at his actions. His fingers moving your shirt above your head. Even if you had been exposed to him previously, it felt a lot more intimate now, his hungry eyes wanting to encase every essence of you. “So pretty.” He mumbled as he unhooked your bra letting your tits perk up to the exposed air.

He watched how your face became flushed, as his hands roamed across his chest and stomach, leaving soft kisses down your body as your fingers outlined his tattoos. “Sir…I want you,” your whine made Sukuna look up, his mouth had salivated your nipples as a trail of spit led from his bottom lip to your hard nipple.

“Keep begging,” his words were harsh as he went back to sucking on your nipples, a need for his hardened cock to divulge right into your wet slick filled cunt made you frustrated.

“Pleas…sir,” you moaned as he bit at your nipple, watching how you arch your back into his skin, “I need you.”

“Stupid slut, can’t live without my cock, right?” He swirled his tongue against your nipple as his hands had moved your jeans down, eyes fixated on the way your pretty cunt had been covered.

“I can…’t.” Your whines filled his apartment as he moved his mouth across your stomach, feeling how your hands had moved into his hair, tugging at the strands to go lower. His teeth gripped the fabric as he pulled it down instantly seeing the slick having dampened your underwear. He pulled it away, chucking it onto his desk as his mouth instantly met your clit, spreading your legs to beside his body.

Licking and sucking at the folds that divulged into your cunt, your moans filled the room as one of his hands began kneading at your breasts, mouth covered in slick. “Mo…more.”

He listened to your babbling whines, moving his tongue right into your cunt, his other hands moving to your clit as he rubbed circles with his thumb. You arched your back as soon as you felt his tongue glide through your warm cunt, he could taste the coating of slick run down his tongue mixing with his saliva. It wasn’t common for Sukuna to go down on girls, he knew most of his one-night stands had been ones of getting sucked off and then fucking them. He couldn’t tell you the last time he had gone down on a girl, but the way you gripped at his hair, pushed him further. He knew you would be the only girl he’d ever go down on, with your swollen clit and folds that were encased in slick.

How could he not resist?

His tongue continued to lap inside your cunt, your moans for his tongue to go deeper as the bridge of his nose touched his fingers, he moved his slick covered fingers across your nipples before sticking his fingers right into your warm mouth. You easily took the two fingers sucking and wrapping your tongue around them. Sukuna knew why he was eating you out, he wanted you to feel pleasure, he wanted you to know you had his undivided attention, that he was the only man to make you feel good.

You felt a knot in your stomach already feeling cum start to gush down right into his mouth, he could sense it as his tongue movement became faster, rougher even, your moaning making his ever-growing cock become painfully hard. “Cum in my mouth.” He mumbled through his licks, on command white gushed from your cunt as he mouth was coated in a wet white liquid.

He looked up at you as his mouth remained near your cunt, his fingers moved from mouth as he licked his lips wiping the rest of the cum on his arm as he watched your dazed expression. He moved up, kneeling between your spread legs as he moved down to capture your lips, you could taste yourself on his mouth, his mouth sucking at your tongue as he moved his mouth down your neck. Giving a long lick across your jaw and down to your collarbone, “want me to stuff you now baby, make you full.”

“Ye…yes sir.” He couldn’t help but admire your expression, the way your eyes were eager as your hands moved to his joggers, already seeing his hard cunt ready for you. Mouth watering as he pulled his joggers away, his muscled thighs that could crush you in an instant between your dripping cunt as his bulge was more evident.

He couldn’t help but stop and stare as he took his boxers off, seeing how pretty you looked with the dishevelled her and look of admiration. The girl he had spilt coffee on was underneath him, begging to be filled with his cock. He couldn’t help but feel cock as his cock was in his hands, pumping his hand lazily around it before moving it across your clit and slick. “Please…put it in me.”

He smirked at your whines before aligning his cock right into your core, he brought both your legs up between his arms and chest as he stayed between your spread legs. “You want to be my good girl.”

“Ye…yes I’ll be your good girl,” at the sound of this his cock instantly pushed into your cunt, “Agh S…ir.”

Your breathing had become heavy as he groaned at the feeling of your cunt, “so tight, pretty girl.”

His hands had moved onto the bed as he encased your face, each thrust making you moan, your hands on his back, scratching against his many tattoos as he brought his face closer to your own. “You’re so fucking perfect.”

His words hit you as you looked into his eyes, love pooling from them as you kissed him slowly, each thrust becoming softer and slower as he kept a steady rhythm as you finally spoke the words he had needed to hear. “I…like you Sukuna.”

“Ryo, call me Ryo.” He whispered as he kissed your jaw, each thrust making you whine into his ear as something in your heart felt full at his allowance to let you call him a name he had been adamant against, he continued with more comforting words of, “you’re everything to me.”

His words were comforting, he would never understand why he had been such a cunt to you at the beginning. But being deep inside of you, the trust you had for him as both your foreheads touched, his eyes flashing with love against your own. It must have been fate that brought you both together on that windy night, he didn’t know what else it could be.

The full moon shone through the window, each thrust sending you a shock of love and comfort as he could feel how your legs twitched beside his own. He kissed you one last time feeling your second orgasm come through as he sloppily continued to fuck you, he saw how tears welled up in your eyes. He wiped them with his hand kissing your cheek as your hands remained around his body as he rode his own orgasm out. Your cunt stuffed and filled with his cum as he kept his cock inside of you, looking into your eyes, head resting against your chest. As he heard your heavy breathing one of your hands moving to caress his pink hair as you both stayed like this.

He would never know how this moment occurred, but he did know that the prettiest most annoying girl he had ever met was underneath him and he finally understood what paradise really was like.

i’d really appreciate if you guys could leave a like, reblog or comment, thanks x

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[english8muffin]

Vogue morning routine

Y/N Y/N/L’s guide to effortless natural makeup

Summary: you are asked to do the Vogue Beauty Secrets video and your two boys decide to join the party

Word count: around 2000

Warning: none, just pure floof!

I apologize in advance if there are any spelling and/or grammar mistakes, English is not my first language (+ this is my very first fic)

HEADLINE Henry Cavill’s new girlfriend, designer Y/N Y/L/N reveals her everyday morning routine in recent Vogue video: Y/N Y/L/N shows off her secrets to the perfect fusion of European and Asian beauty.

You stood in the spacious bathroom of the hotel room, only wearing a big, fluffy, white robe, that was actually Henry’s. But since the man was in the gym, you took the opportunity to lend it and bathe yourself in his musky smell, that calmed your nerves. Last night you started panicking, thinking you would probably look stupid for the entire world to see, luckily Henry and Kal tried to calm you down with cuddles and kisses.

This was the first ‘interview’ you would do, being such a young, successful entrepreneur really caught the attention of the media. When you first started your small online shop, you never would have thought you would end up here. Five years later, with a steady income, the job you always wished for and the man you had a crush on since the first time you laid eyes on him. Being a creative, it really made your heart soar with happiness, seeing all your products, your babies, in new homes where they would make others happy.

You were really proud of yourself. Henry was as well, and he made sure you and everybody around you knew. You were apprehensive at first, being with such a well known actor, who was also much older than you, it made you nervous of what people would say, what the media would say. You didn’t want to tarnish Henry’s image. You knew there were people with a much bigger age gap, but still, people were ruthless. So you both decided to take it slow, being careful with going out in public and social media posts.

You stand in front of the large mirror, which had a camera attached to it and open up your makeup bag. Right before you went into the bathroom, you made yourself a nice cup of tea, trying to stay calm. “Hi! I’m Y/N and today I am going to show you my everyday makeup routine,” you say with a smile, “I am not a dermatologist so please don’t take what I say too seriously.”

You grab a small white washcloth and hold it up, so it was in the frame, “First, I am going to wash my face and put on a few drops of serum,” You dampen the cloth and wipe it over your face and neck. You put a few drops in the palm of your hand and pat them into your skin. “Now I going to use my jade roller to massage the serum into my skin. It’s quite funny seeing so many people use these nowadays. In ancient China they were mostly used by the elite to keep there skin ageless. They would call jade the Stone of Heaven. It’s really helpful for the people who wake up with a puffy face like me,” you chuckle.

Somethimes you’d wake up with puffy cheeks, which led to Henry calling you his chubby bunny in the morning.

“Just a quick tip, and this is for everybody, make sure you always use SPF. I personally use SPF 30 and this one is shine control, since I tend to get an oily skin, but you can also use a regular one or a foundation with SPF in it. Believe me when I say your skin will be thankful.”

You grab the small tube of sun cream and show the amount you’ll use. You even convinced Henry to wear SPF everyday. At first he said he didn’t think it would make such a big difference, but when he realised you were going to be the one to put it on him, he was convinced about its benefits and adamant to wear it everyday. After working the thick cream into your skin, you put on some lipbalm and rummage through the pouch in front of you. When you find the product you’re looking for, you hold it up. “Now, I am going to put on a bit of concealer, this one is from Maybelline. After this, I will use a lighter shade under my eyes and on my acne scars that I have here,” you point and circle around the small cluster of scars on the sides of your cheeks.

Before blending out the concealer, you smile at the lens and put in two bright yellow hairclips, to keep your dark locks from falling into your face. “I probably should have done this at the start,” you laugh. The nerves creeping up a little. It wasn’t that you where a shy person, but knowing thousands of people will watch this, did something to you. You were always a very easygoing person, who could talk with pretty much everybody. But knowing people were going to watch you do something so intimate in a way, and would probably comment on it, scared you a little. While you would be 100% yourself, doing something as mundane as getting ready. If they didn’t like you now, then they probably won’t like you later. And that was what made you so afraid.

The bathrobe falls a bit down your shoulder, but you ignore it, since your hair fell down your shoulders in big waves. “Okay, brows. I used to block them in really dark when I was younger, but now I try to keep a light hand. I’ll use this Got 2B Glued as a brow gel afterwards. The tails of my eyebrows tend to move if I don’t use a strong enough gel. If you’re Asian you will understand the struggle.”

You quickly finish your brows, put some bronzer on your face and eyelids and take out your liquid eyeliner. “Am I the only one that acts like I’m a beauty guru whenever I do my makeup? Like, I’m just acting as if I’m used to this, right now, but to be honest, I was really nervous to do this video for Vogue,” you admit, “they will probably regret asking me,” you chuckle. You finish your eyemakeup with curling your long lashes, thanks to your mother’s genes, and add a coat of mascara.

You take in a deep breath, excited to show everyone the product you had been waiting for. “The next thing I am really proud to show you guys, because I designed the packaging. This is the new limited edition blush and highlighter palette from Dior, which they created for Lunar New Year!” You beam with pride, holding up the elegant looking palette. It had a darker toned glossy finish and the borders were the traditional Chinese looking frames, which were 3D and were surrounded by a wild variety of peonies. In the middle of the lid was your Chinese calligraphy in big golden brush stokes that said ‘year of the Ox’, the clasp was designed so it resembled an antique Chinese coin and on the side hung a jade charm.

“You can pre-order this palette now, I think they will put a link-thingy in de description. I wish you all a happy and blessed Lunar New Year, 祝农历年新年快乐牛年大吉!”

Just as you’re about to add some blush to your cheeks, the bathroom door creaks open and a curly-headed, sweaty Henry pops his head in. Fresh from the gym, and were you thankful for his new intense workout, because he was truely a sight to behold. A cheeky smile graces his handsome face when he spots you in front of the mirror, only wearing his robe, which made his grin widen.

“what are you doing in here? Are you hiding from me? Playing hide and seek is it?” he teases and rakes his large hand through the tousled curls, but just as he’s done speaking, he sees the camera behind you, and blushes. “Oh, I didn’t know you were filming, I’m sorry darling,” he smiles and gives a small wave in the direction of the camera. You led out a giggle, cheeks turning red already, if he’d keep this up, you wouldn’t need to add blush. You couldn’t focus anymore, he looked so attractive, only wearing his black gym shorts and a tight dark blue tank top. Damn that camera, otherwise you would have jumped him. Henry, thought the exact same thing. Seeing you, only wearing his robe and your hair still a bit wild from this morning’s cardio, made him hold back a moan. Those two cute, yellow clips in your hair could have fooled him, because you were anything but innocent.

Before he’s about to close the door again, he blows you a kiss. But his actions are stopped when a big bear makes his appearance. Bolting past his dad’s legs, Kal comes into the bathroom. Henry tries to catch him but misses. The black and white akita excitedly sniffs his head around the sink, trying to see what you were up to with all the stuff lying on the marble counter.

“Kal!” Henry whisper-yelled, trying to stay hidden behind the door. But you could still see his massive body crouched down behind the wood. It was rather funny, seeing the large man so panicked about getting his dog to listen. It kind of reminded you of that one video from BBC were a professor was being interviewed and his baby and nanny showed up in the background. While Henry tried to get Kal’s attention, the dog just sat next to your legs, and smiled when you pet him behind his ear. He was your good boy.

You both knew there was no other option but to keep Kal here, once he saw you do your makeup, he wanted to watch and get his ‘makeup’ done as well.

Henry also saw the look in Kal’s eyes and let out a sigh. Might as well stay with his two loves. He stood up from his position and walked to you, wrapping his sweaty but oh so save body around your figure, and placed a prolonged kiss on the exposed skin just by your shoulder. So far for taking it slow… He pressed himself thighter against your back, hiding his face in the crook of your neck and intertwined your hands, slowly rocking you two back en forth. “You look beautiful, my love,” he whispered, so only you could hear it, at least you hoped the camera wouldn’t pick that up. You let out a little giggle, like the inner schoolgirl you were whenever he was around you.

“Kal loves when Y/N does his makeup as well, don’t you boy,” Henry explains with a smile and looks down at the bear by your bare feet. Kal gives a small ruff and sweeps his tail eagerly. “Did you show them what you made,” he asked you with a wide smile, and looked straight in to the camera, “she worked really hard on that design, so I hope you all like it,” he declared proudly.

You ended up doing your makeup routine with your two boys in the background. Henry left for a few minutes to shower in the second bathroom your hotelroom had, and came back clad in a pair of light jogging trousers and a sweater. Even though you were inside, it was still a bit too chilly to walk around in short sleeves, being mid-winter and all. He just sat on the small wooden bench by the door, still in frame for everybody to enjoy and behold. His hair now damp. He was reading in a book and patiently waiting for you to get ready, occasionally looking up and laughing when you would wet your hands or Kal’s special makeup brush in the sink and pretend to do his makeup. The dog would bark excitedly and give you kisses. “Wow Kal, you look so pretty,” Henry told the big floof with the chuckle.

“Okay, this was my -somewhat- everyday makeup routine! Thank you guys for watching this chaotic mess, hope you laughed a bit, bye-bye, 再见!” How do those vlogger end their videos? Smash like and subscribe?

Behind you Henry looked up from the pages of his fantasy book and arched his brow, “Hey! No shout-out for your special guests? See you all next time!”

WOOHOO!! This is my very first fanfic, I really hope you enjoyed it. Liking, reposting and commenting would mean a lot to me! If you do repost this, please do not edit or copy my work. I worked really hard on this.

Much love, Nahmi xxx

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[matbarzyy]

17 with Tito please!!

A/N: Trying to clean out my inbox from all the requests I got last time I posted a prompt list, hope you like it <3 The prompt was “I’ll feel better if you let me walk you home.”

Word count: 1702

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“Is that your daughter?” Anthony noticed your lockscreen when you checked your one last time before putting it away in your purse.

“Um, yeah,” you nodded, feeling your chest tighten a little.

Jumping into the subject right at the start of the date wasn’t what you had expected. You hadn’t made it a secret that you were a single mom to a beautiful and smart two years old little girl, so Anthony knew what he was getting into when he asked you out, but you were still nervous about it. He was a year younger than you, and while that wasn’t much you also knew he probably had other things on his mind than taking care of a child. It was understandable, of course, but you were tired of having expectations when it came to men you were dating. If they weren’t ready to deal with the fact you had made a priority of your daughter, then you weren’t interested.

“Millie, right?” Anthony smiled, seemingly more curious about her than other men you’d met so far.

“Yes, she’s two,” you returned the expression but tried not to jump into too many details. “Still small but an absolute ray of sunshine.”

“She looks cute,” he complimented although he had only caught a glimpse of her.

You tried not to let yourself get too excited when he kept on talking and asked you more about her, but he seemed genuine and you both laughed together so much that you couldn’t help but let yourself get your hopes up. It was your first date in months that wasn’t an absolute disaster. Granted, you already had a few friends in common so you knew he had to be a decent person, but he was already more than you had hoped for.

It helped that you lived close to each other too, as you soon found out because he had walked to the restaurant too. It was still warm enough to stroll around the city without losing the tips of your fingers, so you were both making the most of it.

Two glasses of wine later, you were just about to order dessert and the date was going so well all of your stress had worn off. You were talking comfortably, most of the awkwardness made you laugh as you got over it, and Anthony was genuinely funny without ever making a misplaced comment. It was all too good to be true, but after the last three years of your life and the struggles you went through, you felt like you deserved this.

Everything wasn’t perfect, but it was nowhere near as disastrous as your previous dates and you felt like you could breathe again. Maybe your love life wasn’t completely hopeless, and maybe not all men were a nightmare to deal with.

“I can’t believe you think an apple pie is better than a brownie,” Anthony shook his head with a teasing smile, starting up a new debate on desserts now that you were both trying to pick.

“The brownie doesn’t even come close to the second place,” you had already worked out the hierarchy of the desserts on the menu in your head and the brownie was all the way down with the carrot cake.

“But it comes with ice cream!” He argued like that point would fix everything, so you laughed wholeheartedly and kept on going.

“Ice cream is for warm sunny days,” you stated, sure that it would get a reaction out of him, and his huff was just what you had expected.

“This statement is wrong in so many ways.” He rolled his eyes, tone still playful.

“Enlighten me,” you chuckled, leaning the side of your head against your hand. Your smile fell a second later when your phone rang, stopping him from replying. “I’m sorry, I have to take that,”

“It’s okay,” he nodded, leaning back in his chair and pretending to look at the menu again to give you a moment.

“Please don’t be an emergency,” you muttered to yourself but Anthony still caught it before you picked up. “Hello?”

You didn’t move from your seat as you listened to what your niece had to say. You let out some okays here and there as she talked, and Anthony watched the way your face fell a little bit more with every second that passed.

“I’m so sorry,” you bit your bottom lip. “I really have to go,”

“Hey, it’s fine,” he frowned at the look on your face. “Is she okay, what happened?”

“She’s sick, apparently got a fever and all that fun stuff,” you put your jacket on and grabbed your purse. “My sixteen years old niece is watching her and she doesn’t know what to do,”

“Let’s go then,” he nodded, abandoning the idea of eating dessert and standing up too.

You walked back to the front of the restaurant together, a waiter had already spotted you and was coming forward so that you could pay. You expected to take care of the bill, being the reason the date was ending early, but Anthony stopped you from reaching into your bag and handed his card to the waiter.

“I got it,”

“Thank you,” You replied quietly, not wanting to argue because it was bad enough already that you had to leave. “I’m really sorry I had to cut this short.”

“The night isn’t over, come on, I’ll walk you back.” Anthony didn’t let his mood go down and your eyes almost bulged out of your head.

“You don’t have to do that, it’s getting cold,” you felt awful for ruining the night, the last thing you needed was to make him walk further to get home.

“It’s late and it’s dark, I’ll feel better if you let me walk you home.” He held the door of the restaurant open for you and you ducked your head as you walked past, heat rushing to your cheeks.

“Thank you,”

You were quiet as you walked, a little hurried to get to your daughter fast although you weren’t in a rush to leave Anthony. Having him close was nice despite how uncomfortable you now were due to your family emergency.

His hand bumped against yours, once, twice. The third time, you knew it wasn’t an accident, so you looked up at him to find him stealing a glance at you too. A smile etched on his face and he linked your fingers while you went giddy all over.

“So,” he broke the silence. “How many dumb guys have ruined dates for you just because you have a daughter?”

“That obvious, uh?” You stared at your feet again, but the way his thumb rubbed over the back of your hand comforted you.

You wished you still had the confidence you used to have before you got pregnant. As much as it had taught you, there were still times when you regretted how easy it used to be for you to believe you were worth something on the dating scene. You had learned a lot with Millie, but you also stopped progressing in other aspects of your life.

“A little,” Anthony admitted and kept on walking at your pace. He could tell you were in a rush to check everything was okay at home, so he didn’t want to slow you down despite wishing the date could have lasted longer. “I knew about her when we met, I wouldn’t have asked you out if it bothered me,”

“Well, I used to assume that when I got asked on dates, but turns out it was too big of an assumption.” You chuckled dryly, making his heart squeeze.

Anthony felt for you in that moment. It was unfair that they had treated you that way for something you weren’t hiding. He could tell you were happy to have you daughter and you clearly loved her more than anything, but he could also see the shame you carried being a young single mother.

It wasn’t right that you were constantly receiving negative reactions for being the parent that stayed. You were the one trying your best to give your daughter the best life you possibly could, and Anthony couldn’t do anything but admire that.

The idea of being with you in the long run and possibly becoming important in Millie’s life had been on his mind for a long time before the date. It was a lot of responsibilities to take, but at the end of the day he had refused to pressure himself because of it. You were great and he wanted to get to know you, it was that simple. Only time could tell where the two would end up, and going out with you on a few dates didn’t mean he had to commit to anything immediately. He also knew that if you were the right person for him then he was ready to commit to it all.

“That’s me,” you eventually slowed in front of a building and came to a stop, unsure of what else to say. You hated how uncomfortable you were, the two of you had just clicked when you met up at the restaurant and yet you were stuck in an awkward silence now.

Anthony welcomed the interruption; he didn’t want to keep on overthinking things. “I know tonight didn’t end the way you hoped it would,” he said because that much was obvious, getting you to look up at him rather than anywhere else on the street for the first time since you had begun walking. “But I had a great time, and it’d be nice if we could go out again soon,”

“I-” you had prepared yourself to utter another apology, but his words took you by surprise and your chest went tight with nervousness. “Yes, I’d like that,” you breathed out faster than you should have and Anthony’s smile spread across his face, making his blue eyes brighten even in the darkness of the night. “I’m not sure when I’m free yet but, um-”

“Don’t worry about it,” he chuckled softly. The way you were fumbling for words and tried to hide your grin was endearing. “Just text me when you know, yeah?”

“I will.”

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[duskholland]

9.45pm - Peter Parker

summary ↠ you work the closing shift at a bakery and Spider-Man makes a habit of appearing at 9.45pm to walk you home. 

word count ↠ 3.7k

warnings ↠ a lil bit of angst/hurt and comfort. minor descriptions of injury. a bit of swearing, but this is mostly fluff.

a/n ↠ I really loved writing this one. I felt so happy the whole time and ! I am very excited for people to read it, so I hope you enjoy it :)) I’ve also recently redone my taglist, so if you’re interested in that, it should be linked at the bottom of the post. feedback always appreciated!

THE BAKERY YOU WORK AT is one of New York’s hidden gems. Tucked away beneath a level of luxurious townhouses, the small space is covered in vintage artwork, bright leafy plants, and warm exposed lightbulbs that cast a web of kaleidoscopic light across the space. Your regulars love the way it’s their secret, love the way it’s as if they’re walking into their own secret hiding space every time they creep down the green metal staircase and walk in through the jangling door, and you love the way it’s like a little community revolves around the place. The air is always alight with the scent of fresh pastries and sound of relaxed laughs, and there really isn’t anywhere else you’d rather escape to after school.

You always work the closing shift on weekdays, slipping down into the shop at 5pm and locking up at 10pm. It’s always the quietest hours for the bakery - the best loaves of bread and the most perfectly iced cupcakes are always snatched up by commuters in the morning, so the only groups of people who wander into the bakery when you’re there are those on the lookout for discounted baked goods. It’s always relaxed, and as the hours creep by, more than often you find yourself being paid to sit behind the counter and read a book than actually deal with any customers, so it’s a winning combination all around.

Your job at the bakery is normal and unassuming. That is, until the night Spider-Man stumbles into your shop.

It’s around 9.45pm, and you’ve just finished pulling down the shutters. Your shop may be set on the basement level of the building, but you have two large windows at the front that catch the light from the sun and drowse the bakery in a warm golden glow during the day. At night, however, it’s a little creepy, and you’re happy it’s almost closing time so you can quickly walk home and clamber into bed. It’s been a long day.

The bell perched on the door rings loudly and you jump, clutching at your heart as you spin around to greet the latecomer, hoping that they aren’t expecting too much. At this stage in the night, the only goods leftover are the ones you haven’t snacked on: a round cherry pie, a few broken biscuits, and a box of crumbling scones. As you open your mouth to greet the customer, your eyes fall on the figure and you find yourself stumbling over your words.

It’s… Spider-Man?

“Uh- uh, hi, M-Mr Spider-Man,” you squeak, feeling the hot heat of your blood pulse across your cheeks. Faced with the iconic red and blue colours of the spidersuit, you find your mind blanking, “Wh-what are you doing here?”

Though you can’t see the face beneath the mask, you get the overwhelming suspicion that you’re being chuckled at.

“I’m hungry,” he replies. Your eyebrows raise as you take in the soft, high voice that escapes him. “My, uh, my aunt always talks about this place, and I saw it was open, so…”

You clear your throat. Right. That’s fine. Spider-Man knows your bakery. Spider-Man is here in front of you. Spider-Man wants some cakes. This is fine.

Swallowing down your nerves, you nod and attempt a wide smile. You gesture to the cabinet and walk back towards the counter. “We’ve not got much left, I’m afraid. We close in ten minutes, so most of the good stuff’s been taken.” You peer back at the cabinet. “There’s a cherry pie, some biscuits, a few pastries, or some scones.” You look up at him, and as unnerving as it is to look at a masked figure, you smile again. “Anything grab you?”

He pads across the floor and scratches at his chin. “Could I have the pie?” He asks, after a moment. “Oh, and, uh, the biscuits.” He looks up at you. “What happens to this all if it isn’t sold?”

You rub your hands together, a little surprised by his question. “Well, it’ll go off by tomorrow, so if I don’t eat it, it gets thrown out.”

The eyes of the Spider-Man suit are incredibly emotive, you realise, as you understand the way they’ve moved is to imitate shock. Spider-Man himself sighs quietly. “Do you want any of this stuff? Like- will you eat it?” He asks.

You shake your head, biting your lower lip guiltily. You’ve already cleared out the treats you like. All that’s left now are your rejects. “Nah, I don’t like this stuff,” you admit.

His posture shifts and Spider-Man stands taller. “I’ll take it all, then. Please.”

You hide your surprise and instead grab a box and begin to wrap up the goods. He’s watching you carefully, and you can’t help but smile shyly up at him. “Busy night?” You ask, as if this is the most normal thing in the world.

He shrugs. “Not really. Crime’s pretty low at the moment. Just small things - yanno, petty crime, small break-ins, stuff like that.” He glances around at your shop. “Are you the only one working just now?”

You nod as you wrap up the box in the special bakery paper. “Yeah, I close by myself on weekdays. Gets kinda lonely, but it’s nice, in a way.”

“You guys have good security here?” And he’s off, walking around the shop, glancing at the doors and the windows. 

“Eh.” You shrug. “The boss had cameras put in, but that’s about it. I like to think that this place is off the beaten track enough to not be the source of any robberies.” You prefer not to think of it, really.

“Right.” Spider-Man wanders back to the counter and you place the finished box on the top for him. “Well, how much do I owe you?”

“Nothing.” When you know he’s about to protest, you interrupt. “Really, it’s on the house. This would all go to waste anyway, so… You’re really doing me a favour. Please take it.” You glance across the bakery and see the clock says 10pm. “Anyway, it’s 10pm now, so, technically I’m not allowed to make any further sales.” And you smile, knowing you’ve won.

He’s silent for a moment. “Thanks, uh…”

“Y/N.”

“Thanks, Y/N,” he says, voice softer. “Do you leave now? Can I wait with you?” When you raise an eyebrow, he adds, “It’s not always safe out there, especially when you’re alone.”

“Alright,” you agree, trying to hide the fact that you’re ecstatic. Spider-Man wants to look after you?  The Spider-Man.

He waits for you as you complete your normal checks: cash box, windows, door. After a quick tidy up of the place, you wrap yourself in your large jacket and follow Spider-Man from the shop. Once the front door’s securely locked, you tuck the key in your pocket and shrug at him. “Okay, well, that’s me done now,” you say. It’s chilly, and despite the street illuminated by street-lamps, it’s also eerily dark. In the distance, you hear the chilling sounds of groups of people, their yells and shrieks cutting through the air.

“Can I walk you home?”

You look down at your feet. “Don’t you have other people to look after?” You ask. “Cities to save, and all that?”

You can almost sense the smile from beneath his mask. “Nope,” he says, voice light. “Just you.”

And you sigh, because really, how could you say no? “Okay,” you agree. “That would be nice.”

There’s a soft pause, and you have to fight the toothy grin off your face. It’s just the promise of a walk home, but you can’t help but feel that it’s somehow far more significant than that. With the way he gently nudges your shoulder with his, you have the feeling he knows the same.

“Show me the way, Y/N!”

----------

Over the following few weeks, Spider-Man drops in almost every day. Always at 9.45pm, always in search of sweet treats, and always ending in him escorting you home,  your hands occasionally bumping together. And after a few encounters, you feel as if you’re starting to know him.

You chat to him, and ask about him, and feel like you get to know him. He’s still a mystery to you, of course, but you work out he’s seventeen too, and he’s incredibly smart. He’s got a large heart, and so much kindness and consideration tucked away beneath that suit that you know there’s no one better to take the mantle of Spider-Man and be the superhero the city’s so proud of. And he seems to care about you, too. On several occasions, you’ve been wiping down the tables when he’s grabbed a spare rag and started working alongside you, asking about your family, your pets, your friends… Everything that makes you you, really. And it’s very nice. Very, truly, sweetly nice.

So nice in fact that you find yourself daydreaming in chemistry class, your hands moving with your thoughts as you doodle absentmindedly over a spare page in your notebook. You’ve finished your lab and the teacher’s run out to grab something, so as you wait for the bell to ring, you let yourself unwind. Your eyes are focused lazily on the paper, you don’t even comprehend what you’re drawing until someone taps you on the back and you startle to attention.

“Hu- what?” You mutter, looking up suddenly. The tap came from a figure standing bashfully behind you. Peter Parker. “Uh, Peter, hi.” You don’t know him well, but you’ve been in the same classes since you transferred to Midtown for sophomore year. He’s always kept to himself, but you think he’s a nice guy.

“Hi.” His nervous brown eyes flit around your face, and you find your cheeks warming. “Whatcha drawing?”

Before you can cover your embarrassing scribble, the drawing’s in his hands and he’s staring at the image intently.

“Oh, uh, just, uh, Spider-Man?” Now your face is hot for an entirely different reason. “I’m not, like, obsessed with him or anything creepy like that. I just… He’s cool, I guess?”

Peter glances up at you, brown eyes soft and round. “This is very good,” he compliments. He passes you back the paper and you quickly stuff it into your bag, your heart beating quickly. “I didn’t know you liked art.”

Your eyebrows furrow together as you tilt your head, looking at him, bewildered. “We aren’t really friends, Peter,” you say, your voice not unkind but still confused. “I don’t know much about you either.”

An expression like a dawn of realisation passes over Peter’s face, and he takes a small step back. “Yeah- yeah, of course.” He scratches at the back of his neck, his long, surprisingly muscled arm flexing in the air. “If you’d ever want to hang out, uhhh, let me know?” And he sounds so uncertain that you can’t tell what he’s really asking, and nod along.

“Yeah, of course.” You scribble down your number on a piece of your notebook and pass it to him. “I work in a bakery, if you ever want to drop by,” you offer. Working five hours a night, five days a week, means friendships are hard. You know from experience that the best way for people to see you is for them to drop by.

“Which one?” Peter’s staring at the paper you’ve given him, eyes burning over the number you’d printed for him.

“The Muffin Man. It’s on 53rd and-”

“22nd,” he finishes. “My aunt loves it there,” he adds, blushing a little. “I’ll drop by one day.”

You swallow your surprise and nod your head. “I’m there every evening,” you say. The bell goes, signalling the end of class, and you gather together your things.

“Well.” Peter rocks back on his feet, his forehead creased. You have the feeling he wants to say more, but the moment passes. “I’ll see you around then, Y/N.”

You smile slowly. “Yeah, that’d be nice. Have a good day, Peter.”

And you walk out of the lab, a slightly light spring to your step. In an odd way that you can’t quite explain, it felt as though you’re old friends with Peter. 

----------

It’s 9.45pm the following Monday when Spider-Man next bursts through the shop door. So used to this, you don’t look up from rows of numbers that fill the account books, and instead call out a distracted, “Hey!”

But when you hear the crashing of a chair falling over, your head bolts up, and you gasp as you see Spider-Man standing there, wobbling significantly, deep stains of blood clinging to the lighter patches of his suit.

“Holy shit,” you exclaim. Quickly grabbing the first aid kit from beneath the counter, you run out onto the shop floor and offer him an arm. “What happened? What can I do? Are you okay?” He sags into your side and you carefully lower him into a soft armchair, your frantic eyes fixed on his arm and the sight of his oozing blood.

“Got hit,” he manages, voice hoarse. You blink slightly, noticing for the first time that his voice sounds a little familiar. “Fuck, I’m- it hurts.” And he sounds so weak that you suddenly feel like crying.

“Okay,” you mutter. “Can I look at it?”

He reaches up and presses a concealed button on the suit, and you watch as the sleeve of his arm loosens and fall to the ground, exposing one of his pale, fleshy arms. The fact that he’s shown you a part of him is quickly overcome by worry as you see the bullet wound.

“It’ll heal by itself,” he says, voice hoarse. “Can you see if the bullet has passed through?” He’s pulled taut with pain, and you feel your heartbeat quicken as you kneel beside him and peer at the wound.

“I think it’s exited,” you say. You gentle move his arm around, examining it carefully. “Yeah,” you add. You see the exit wound. “Can I clean it up and bandage it?”

He jerks his head in a nod, and you get to work. You feel terrible as you wipe at the source of his agony but work as quickly and gently as you can to remove all the dirt and then wrap up the damaged area. Once you’re done, you get to your feet and wring out your hands. “That’s you,” you say. You rub at your eyebrows and feel lines of tension weaving across your forehead. “I’d say go to the hospital, but if you heal by yourself…”

“I’ll be fine.” Spider-Man surprises you by tentatively getting to his feet. “I feel better already.” His voice softens out, and you feel your heart race in your chest as he takes you in his arms. Suddenly you’re hugging him, your cheek pressed against his warm chest with his hands pressing into your back, and an untameable giddiness bubbles up in your chest. “Thank you so much,” he speaks. The outline of his nose nudges gently against your head, and one of his hands slips up your back, fiddling with the tips of your hair.

“It’s, um, it’s okay,” you manage, system running in overdrive. For weeks your crush has been building, but you’ve managed to keep it dormant, telling yourself there’s no way he’d ever like you back. But with the tender way he’s curling the ends of your hair around his fingers, maybe - just maybe - you were being too harsh. Maybe there’s a possibility that something could happen.

“I appreciate you,” he speaks, voice quiet. “There aren’t many places I can go and just...be myself, I guess. I’m glad you let me do that here.”

You peel your head away from him and look up to Spider-Man’s concealed face, his hands pressing into your back as you wrap your hands around his waist.

“Always,” you promise. You wish so desperately that you could see his face.

After a moment, he steps back, the warmth of his touch vanishing. You sag a little.

“What are your favourite kind of flowers?”

You think for a moment. “Forget-me-nots,” you answer. “Why?”

“No reason.” He shifts on his feet. “Now, tell me what cakes you’ve saved for me tonight, yeah?”

----------

Something is up. You haven’t seen Spider-Man for a week, and he’s never disappeared for that long before. You find yourself going a little crazy, thoughts and doubts racing through your head every time it reaches 10pm and you’re left alone to lock up and walk home. Did you scare him off? Was that hug a test, and did you somehow fail it? Did he decide you were no longer interesting enough for him? Is he hurt?

It’s 9.45pm, and you’ve grown so used to silence that when the door swings open with a loud ring of the bell, you jump, clutching at your chest. You look up immediately, expecting to see Spider-Man, but instead seeing… Peter Parker?

You’ve not spoken to him since he saw your drawing in chemistry class, but you have texted a few times. He’s nice, but you had no idea he’d intended on dropping by the bakery, and you can’t help but feel disappointment hollow out your chest as you see him, replacing your normal visitor. But you smile at him none the less, especially when he procures a bunch of blue and white flowers.

“Peter?” You ask, eyebrows pulling together in confusion. He looks nervous yet confident, his soft brown hair arranged neatly on his head, his eyes open and inquisitive. He comes towards you and offers you the bouquet.

“For you, Y/N,” he stammers. His freckled cheeks stand out as his skin fills with a rosy blush. “I, um, hope you like them.”

You take the bunch and marvel at the beauty of the flowers. “No one’s ever given me flowers before,” you breathe out. You stare at him, heart squeezing in your chest. “How did you know I like these? They’re my favourite.”

“Uh…” He seems trapped, and suddenly you’re struck with a thought. The way he’s standing - bashfully, but still strongly - and the slight lilt in his voice when he said your name… It’s awfully familiar.

“What’s going on?” You mutter to yourself. You put the flowers down on the counter and step back, hands going to your temple as your mind spins at a hundred miles an hour.

Both Spider-Man and Peter had told you that their aunt liked your bakery. They both appeared at 9.45pm, just before closing. They both know your favourite flowers. Is it possible..?

“Hey, hey.” Without realising it, you’d walked from behind the counter and are now stood, wobbling, in front of Peter. You feel a little dizzy, your heart beating rapidly as Peter reaches out to you, his hands settling on your shoulders as he peers at you nervously. “Calm down. Your heartbeat is crazy.” And he pulls you to him, but all you can focus on is that fact that he knows your heart is pounding against your rib cage.

“You’re…” You break off as his hands press into your back, the hug feeling familiar. For a moment, you settle, breathing in the clean scents of Peter’s nutty aftershave, but then you pull back, questions replacing your peace. “You’re Spider-Man!”

You stare at him intently, watching as his face cycles through an array of emotions: surprise, reluctance, fear, excitement, relief. He jerks his head in a nod.

“Yeah. I am.”

Your jaw drops. “Peter Parker is Spider-Man,” you whisper to yourself. You look at him, shocked. “Why- how- why would you tell me?” Is what you settle on eventually, completely flabbergasted. “I’m… I’m just a normal person, why would you tell me?” You can’t understand how this secret - so personal, and important, and powerful - has fallen into your lap.

Peter’s lips tweak into a smile. “You’re not just a normal person, Y/N.” You realise your hands are clasped in his and feel your heart bloom with adoration as he squeezes your fingers. “You’re clever, and funny, and kind. You like chemistry, and baking, and speaking to me when I’m Peter or Spider-Man, and you even helped me when I was hurt.” His eyes are wide and pleading. “You are many things, but you are not only normal.”

The way he’s looking at you makes you feel like you’re the only person in New York. Peter - shy, smart, witty Peter - is Spider-Man - someone who you’ve admired for years, and grown close to over the past weeks. Spider-Man is here, in front of you, mask off, showing you the most intimate details of his person, bunch of flowers and all.

And it makes you feel truly seen, for possibly the first time in your life.

“Why would you tell me?” You whisper, tilting your head to the side. The air is tender between you, and you become aware of how near you both are.

Instead of speaking the words you feel vibrating between you, Peter slides a hand up onto your cheek, his thin fingers spreading over your skin, tendrils of warmth flowing to your face. His other hand moves to your hair, lacing strands around his fingers as he steps closer, his eyes wide, questioning. You give him a little nod and feel your eyes drift close blissfully as he kisses you, his mouth soft, tender, warm. Happiness spreads through your chest as you push back against him, wrapping your hands around his waist as you kiss, and kiss, and kiss.

Moments later, when you’re both breathless and flushed with satisfaction, he pulls back. His forehead stays pressed against yours, and you gaze into his eyes, feeling a soft warmth flood the depth of your heart.

“I like you so much, Y/N,” he whispers. You can hear the nerves wobble in his voice. “I know I can trust you with this. I wanted you to know.” 

Your lips pull into a wider smile. “I like you too, Peter,” you say. His fingers stroke your hair as his face creases with happiness. “Kiss me again,” you add, feeling a deep burning desire to be near him, hold him, love him.

His smile grows bolder as he nods gently. “Whatever you want, Y/N.”

And in the middle of your tiny bakery, tucked away from the rest of the city, Peter takes you in his arms. Your bodies connect tenderly, gently, completely, as your hearts intertwine. Love blooms in your chest as you feel him all around you, and as the clock strikes 10pm, you know that this is the start of something wonderful.

----------

any feedback? I would love to hear any thoughts you have on this!

masterlist

taglist ↠ see this post to be added :D

@behind-my-hazeleyes27​ @stiles-o-dylan24​ @stilinskiswritings @stealth-spiderr​ @youngblood199456​ @stixnstripesworld​ @mischiefandi​ @penguinchick100 @hcomet28​ @aftrrglo​ @scottish-sim​ @cosmicholland​ @pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles​ @sweet-baby-cakes​ @apatheticanvas67482​ @oh-whatabeautiful-parker​

[thotful-writing]

Invasion Ch. 14

Description:  A planet conquering race of Saiyans invaded Earth and deemed it worthy of habitation. After bringing the humans to their heels, they set up a new society where humans had one role, to serve. You found yourself in the unlucky faction of being bought and sold as a human pet. With absolutely no interest in owning a human but no way out of having one, Kakarot made a bid on you at the urging of his brother. It was only a matter of time before you were either killed or forced into obedience.

You can find previous chapters in this link: Ch. 12 and Ch. 13 or you can read it here on my AO3

Note: Sorry about the delay in updates on stuff. Sweat is in it’s final chapter now and will be posted soon. Thank you to everyone who is still reading our fics, we really appreciate it!

___________________________________

Vegeta’s grip around your throat was harsh, “you made a deal with me, woman.”

“Forget the deal. Send me to the Arena.” You weren’t scared of the prospect anymore.

He smirked, “you act as though you have a choice here. I paid for you. I put myself on the line more than once and I fully expect to be repaid.”

“What do you want?” You stared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing how scared you were.

“I can still smell him on you. Kakarot. His scent seeps from your pores.” He inhaled close to your ear.

You couldn’t hide the pounding of your heart against your chest at his closeness and how unnerving he was being. You knew you could take down another human, but fighting off a saiyan was something completely different.

Suddenly he released you and stepped back, “I’ll make this short, I know about your little trips to the Arena with Gine.”

“H-How-“

“Doesn’t matter how. I’m taking over your training and your placement at the Arena. You’ll fight and win until I’m satisfied you’ve paid off your debt.”

You weren’t sure you were actually hearing him correctly, “you want me to fight? And what happens once I’m free of my debt to you?”

“You’ll never truly be free, of course, but you can come and go as you please. No expectations or questions from me.”

The offer sounded too good to be true. You wanted to continue fighting anyways, but having him take over was a little worrisome.

“I do this and I’m free from any obligation? That includes being mated with?” You didn’t care about being blunt at this point.

“If that’s what you want.” He said.

“Fine. I’ll do it. Train me and I’ll fight in the Arena for you.” You had no hesitation after hearing that you’d have free reign over your own interest in being mated with.

“We’ll start tomorrow. Dawn.” He pushed past you and left your room without so much as a glance at you.

You closed your door and collapsed on the bed, the ache in your chest returned when thoughts of Kakarot flooded your mind again. You wondered where he was and if he was even still alive at this point. You knew you’d have no access to anymore information about him. You hated that you loved him, that you convinced yourself you could have a decent life with him. Never again would you trick yourself or let yourself fall prey to such childish notions.

The next day came and you dragged yourself out of bed after spending most of the night obsessing over Kakarot and switching between crying and being angry with yourself. When you finally found Vegeta he was in one of the many training rooms in the palace that he had built, of course, Bulma had the walls reinforced to withstand his anger and power.

“Late.” He snapped.

“Would’ve helped if you’d told me where the fuck you were going to be.” You said without thinking about who you were talking to, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Kakarot’s mother has trained you, right? Show me.” He stood firmly in the center of the room as you walked towards him.

It was odd seeing him without his normal saiyan armor, he seemed almost approachable for a split second.

“You- You want me to hit you?” You were a little hesitant as you’d been informed previously that any slight against the Prince would end with your head being removed from your body.

“Yes. Now get on with it.” He said impatiently.

You took a deep breath and let it out slowly as you prepared for what would be a rigorous training session or the last few seconds of your life. You attacked him quickly, aiming to almost land a hit somewhere, but of course you missed. He was quicker, nimble, barely moving himself out of the way. He moved with ease as if you were moving at a slowed down speed, which compared to him you probably were.

“Again.” He said, hands behind his back as he waited.

You attacked again, launching yourself at him, trying your hardest to hit him at least once. You aimed for his chest, missing. Again, aiming for his abdomen, missing. You fought harder, fist coming close to his cheek, but again falling short. By the time you were done, sweat was dripping from your brow and he had barely moved an inch.

“Pathetic. How are you winning fights like this? Are the other saiyans really not training their humans?”

“Turles is. His human fights like him.” You panted, trying to catch your breath.

“Then you should have beat her in your first fight.” He said.

You furrowed your brow, “how much do you actually know about all that?”

“Enough to know you fight like you’re not trying to win, just get the life beaten out of you.” He explained.

It wasn’t that he was wrong, but you didn’t realize it was that obvious to other people.

“Bruises feel better than the other shit.” You shrugged.

“Winning will feel even better. You lose a fight and I add more to your debt.”

“That seems unfair. There are some really good fighters at the Arena.”

Vegeta scoffed, “then it would be wise to be better.”

It seemed like a simple thing to him, to just be a better fighter, but it wasn’t that easy for you. He knew why you started fighting, what was driving you, but he expected you to just flip a switch and fight to win instead of trying to numb the other pain you felt.

Over the next few months Vegeta trained you. Each day you left feeling like your body was just going to dissolve into a puddle. Your muscles ached, bruises covered you from head to toe and he refused to let you use one of the med pods. He wanted you to remember where the bruises and cuts came from. He pushed you, pushed your limits, pushed your body until you begged for him to stop, but even then he pushed more.

“Pathetic. Kakarot actually saw you as a viable mate?” He paced around you as you lay motionless on the floor.

“Don’t.” You sneered breathlessly.

“I’m just trying to understand what he saw in you. It couldn’t have been your fighting skills because those are non-existent. Bulma could kick your ass at this point.”

You felt your anger raging inside, unfurling in your stomach as you pushed yourself up off the floor on shaking limbs. You wiped the blood from your lip, sweat stinging the wounds that covered you.

“I’m done. Fuck this.” You pushed past him.

“Quitting already? Not surprising for someone so spineless. Don’t know what I expected when you didn’t even try to save him.”

You stopped in your tracks, “what?”

“You made no attempts to stand up for him, to break him free. You had all of the resources at your fingertips, Bulma, Gine, but you just let him die.”

You turned around quickly, “are you fucking serious? I had no way of saving him. The second I would have tried he would’ve stopped me or some other giant saiyan fuck would’ve intervened.”

“At least you would have tried instead of cowering like the weak human you are.” Vegeta snapped.

With clenched fists and rage burning in your throat, you launched yourself at Vegeta. He narrowly blocked your attack, but that didn’t stop you. You were determined to make him eat the words he shoved in your face. All of the pain and aches that had forced you to your knees previously, were now driving you forward. The pain pushed you, the rage fueled you. Vegeta smirked in your face at the failed attacks he continued to avoid, until you landed one hit across his jaw. The second your fist made contact with his face you felt it, that jolt of accomplishment, pride that you’d actually done it.

An expression of pure astonishment was etched across his face and your own, “you little-“

With a hand around your throat instantly he shoved you back against the wall, fingers digging into your skin. Your chests heaved, fighting to regain control over the rage you both felt in the moment. His gaze burned into yours, heat radiating off of both of your bodies.

“Am I still pathetic?” You asked breathlessly.

“Yes, but a little less now,” he said with a rare smirk, “use that anger first next time.”

There was something in that moment, something that had changed the dynamic between you. You couldn’t place it, or maybe you didn’t want to admit it, admit the building bond between you. Despite his callousness, roughness with you, it was there, drawing you in to something different.

“You should be ready for your first fight soon.” He released your throat, ignoring whatever look you were giving him.

“I’m not ready, I got my ass handed to me last time. Gine had to put me in one of those pods for like hours afterwards.” You shook your head.

“Don’t get injured as badly and you should be fine. I’ll arrange it for next week.” He walked by you without giving you a moment to argue your point.

You didn’t feel ready, hitting Vegeta once didn’t exactly seem like a great qualifier to fight in the Arena, although it did feel amazing. Training with Vegeta had given you something to focus on for the last few months, almost daily, for hours, you spent time fighting him. His snide remarks pushing you further, using your anger and hatred to boost your strength. Never in a million years did you think you’d look forward to spending time with him, but it was the perfect distraction and a pure carnal release to fight with him.

The next week came and your anxiety was unfurling in your gut as you stood at the sidelines in the Arena. Vegeta was next to you, but made no move to give you any support or last words of encouragement.

“Remember, you lose, I add to your debt.” He said just before you entered the cage.

“Thanks. That helps.” You said sarcastically.

You came face to face with your opponent, clearly an unfair match, which made you wonder if Vegeta had hand picked her. She was at least a good two feet taller than you, built like a fucking truck. Her biceps alone were bigger than your head.

“You both know the rules. Tap out, knock out, or death. Those are your only ways out of here.” The referee saiyan said.

You nodded and looked up at your opponent, her gaze set directly on you as if she was thinking about all the ways she was going to eat you after she dismembered you.

“Fight.” He said and stepped out of the cage.

You readied yourself, getting into a fighting stance and preparing for a direct attack, but she didn’t move, not even a little. She stood still, almost like a statue.

“Um, are you okay?” You asked when she just stood there.

She stared at you but didn’t answer. It felt weird attacking someone who showed very little brain activity.

“What are you waiting for? Attack her!” Vegeta yelled from the side.

You turned to look at him, “I can’t, look at her, she’s-“

Suddenly you were being lifted off the ground by a harsh grip around your throat. You gasped and grabbed at her arm, but it did nothing to keep her from basically tossing you across the cage. You landed with a thud on the ground, the air knocked from your lungs. She was trudging towards you, looking even angrier. You pushed yourself up off the ground and brushed yourself off before running headfirst at her.

Attacking her abdomen did nothing, landing punch after punch was basically useless as she showed no signs of even feeling it. With one swift slap, she knocked you down again, almost burying you into the ground.

“Fuck. What are you?” You struggled to stand back up.

She came right for you again, not slowing down or showing any signs of stopping until you were either unconscious or dead. You wiped the blood from your lip, trying to refocus on how you were going to defeat this mountain. You looked around your surroundings, trying to find something to take her out with, but the cage was devoid of anything. You had nothing on you either, but she still had her collar, which looked to be digging into her skin. That was your out. Your key to winning.

You stood still, waiting for the right moment to attack. She lunged at you, giving you an opening. You moved swiftly around her and grabbed the collar from behind, jerking it back as you used all of your weight to hang onto her by it. She tried to grab the collar but it was too tight around her neck for her to get any leverage. She turned around, trying to sling you off, but you wrapped yourself around her like a vine, determined not to die. She fell to her knees, gasping for air as her face turned red, hands still trying to grab onto something to get you off of her.

“I’m so sorry.” You said as she fell face first on the ground, consciousness fading from her.

A significant amount of complaints and boos were thrown out by the saiyans, most of whom had probably bet against you. You climbed off of her and headed for the cage door.

“See that? I took that monster down by myself.” You panted as you approached Vegeta.

“Nothing more than luck for you. There’s no way you would’ve been able to defeat her without it.” He rolled his eyes.

“Still counts though, right? My debt?”

“Sure. Let’s go.” He sighed.

He was silent for the time it took to get back to the palace, clearly annoyed with the way you’d won. It was annoying how nothing was impressive or good enough for him, he was a stark contrast to Kakarot, which was irritating.

“You know a little positive reinforcement goes a long way.” You said as you followed him back to the training room.

“Oh, you want praise for using a trick to win a fight? How noble of you to avoid using any actual strength.” He snapped.

“You said win, you never said I had to explicitly fight with my fists.” You argued.

“What honor is there in what you just did? How do you have any pride after that?” He turned to face you.

“The fuck do I care about honor and pride? I just want to live my life.”

Vegeta was on you in an instant, hand around your throat once again as he shoved you back against the wall, “what kind of life is it if you take the coward’s way out every time?”

“I’m not a coward.” Words you didn’t fully believe yourself, but you said them anyways.

“Prove it. All I see is a weak, little human whining about how unfair her life is, refusing to take it back for herself.” He sneered, eyes burning into yours.

With adrenaline still coursing through your veins, you made a stupid decision. You grabbed a handful of his hair, jerking his head back as much as he allowed.

“Let me go.” You said through gritted teeth as his hand tightened around your throat.

“Maybe you would be useful for something, a feisty little mate. Sell you off to the highest bidder?” He grinned, sharp fangs on full display.

You pulled harder on his hair, trying to keep him from moving closer, but it did nothing. He leaned in, lips ghosting against yours. You snapped at him, biting his lip and drawing blood.

“Insolent little-“ Vegeta squeezed your throat.

Everything in your mind was telling you it was wrong, the sudden feeling of attraction was nothing more than the adrenaline left over from your fight, but you ignored it. You needed another release, something else entirely taking over you. You leaned forward as much as he would let you and flicked your tongue over the blood on his bottom lip. His eyes were wild, matching your own with the need you both felt in that moment.

As if you both knew what the other was thinking, you released the hold you had on one another and attacked. He pressed his lips to yours, biting you harshly just as you’d done to him. You repeated in your mind that it was nothing more than a release, something you needed.

You grabbed the waistband of his pants and shoved them down, “this doesn’t mean anything. I’m not your fucking mate.”

He turned you around and slammed you against the wall as he jerked your pants down, “I’d never take someone as feeble and useless as you for a mate.”

Before you could make another comment, he shoved his cock into you, forcing a loud yelp from your lips. You pushed back against him, refusing to give him any satisfaction or notion that he was the one fucking you. His fingers dug into your hips, pinching the skin harder by the second. He took out his full frustration on your body, grabbing, biting, fucking, all of it as hard as he could without breaking you completely.

Every doubt, feeling of guilt, you pushed from your mind while he drove into you over and over, each thrust harder than the last. It wasn’t like you had anyone to worry about, Kakarot was long gone by now and it was just you at this point.

A silent, mind numbing haze fell over you as you walked back to your room, a ghost of his harsh grip lingered on your skin, sweat sticking to your clothes. The vast differences between him and Kakarot weighed heavily on you. Over the last few months you’d worked so hard to push every memory of Kakarot out of your mind, forget the feeling of his tail wrapped around your thigh, the heat that radiated off of him in the night. One desperate release with Vegeta brought all of it flooding back to your mind at once, the good and the bad.

Kakarot was rough with you, but caring at the same time. His touch was firm, but gentle, filled with all the emotion he held back. Vegeta was all surface, harshness with nothing beneath it for you. You’d noticed the way he was with Bulma, how he took such care with her, but for you it was different, lacking. It was evident you were nothing more than a release for him as well. You weren’t complaining, you didn’t want anything more with him, but it made your chest ache at the thought that you wouldn’t have that with anyone again.

[dramarising-replacement]

G1 Hoarder Revamp and the Mountain of Salt

Can we all just acknowledge how much of a total fuck up the new G1 ping system is? I feel bad because they obviously went through so much work and beta testing for this system but it’s absolutely garbage in practice. This isn’t meant as a huge roast (even though I do think the creators could do with getting knocked down a few pegs given how poorly they’ve treated people through this entire process, oops) but I hope they at least see this and see things that they can work on. Obviously, going to them and sharing this stuff in person isn’t possible since L from arcane is notorious for gossiping and overall not super trustworthy, so anon route we go. I’ll give credit where credit is due: they definitely tried to go on the right path and the coding is good in theory. The big issue here is that they tried to fix something that was not great but worked with something that is not great and barely works. Sure there are some good things about the new ping system: if it’s not busy it’s not longer than six or seven minutes to do all of it for a few dragons, which, compared to the previous method? Pretty good timing. Helps automatically tag some colorgroups without having people confused about if their dragon counts or not, and uh... probably something else. The cons far outweigh the pros though: -sheet can only be used one at a time: terrible in theory, terrible in practice, there’s no queue system either so you’re not even guaranteed to go next even if you’ve been waiting ages. This becomes a nightmare around any holiday, as we’ve seen around notn, since everyone flocks to the ping generator and then quickly abandons after seeing the mess there. This should have been something that they found a way to work with from the start, especially since the previous spreadsheet, despite how long it took to sift through if you were actually assed to do all the specifics, could still be used by multiple people. -userface issues: going into the spreadsheet and it may all just be blank, does this mean someone’s using it? Someone isn’t? If you go ahead and assume not you’re going to get warned that you overrode someone since they get the ID to your dragon, if you don’t assume then you end up waiting for ages like an idiot and someone else swoops up the opportunity. The loading bar on the side doesn’t help give that info either since it constantly reloads due to the poorly planned code. Where users have their cells selected also doesn’t help since that isn’t always accurate. There are many times where the loading bar isn’t seen going, there isn’t any visible text on the screen, no comment in the box, but it’s still in use. This isn’t viable for anyone, especially not people who don’t fully understand how the system works. If you’re going to make it for only one person’s use at a time, you need to ensure it’s easier to see what’s going on for everyone. -laggy as all get out: sure, I don’t have to go through 15 pages of different types of pings on the old G1 pinglist and shovel through all the duplicates and specifics list people, but having more than 13 dragons or even doing a bigger lair sale (or even just anything during notn) means you get to wait for the program to chug away for ages (as well as the easy chance for someone to just cut in halfway through a load and have you start all over again or wait) and hope that the three people behind you don’t get impatient or angry as you have to do three separate input sessions rather than massing them all together as you could with the previous spreadsheet. -poorly designed aesthetically: maybe this may sound petty to some, but the design of the system is pretty terrible in terms of layout and color choice. This isn’t to say it’s just ugly though; after speaking about it with people who aren’t neurotypical, have disordered thinking processes, and/or have generalized issues reading things (autism spectrum, dyslexia, semi-visually impaired, etc.) it’s pretty clear that the entire thing is not accessible whatsoever for anyone who can’t immediately decipher what anything is. Black text on bright red is not a good thing for most people beyond old MySpace edgies. If you, as someone without reading or comprehension difficulties, are having a difficult time focusing on it: maybe consider how difficult it’d be for anyone else. The way the rules or tutorial section is laid out also does not help in terms of accessibility! It’s clunky and hard to read, does not flow well, and doesn’t explain as thoroughly as you may think. If you’re someone who uses coded spreadsheets often? Yeah sure, it might be understood. If you’re not? Welp. Good luck kiddo. -very poor user help: this is on the mods or creators more than the spreadsheet itself. If someone has a problem, the first thing you should do is talk with them to find the difficulty and tackle it from there. I’ve seen, multiple times now, where either N (plague) or L (arcane) straight up tell people that they can’t help them and that they should just read the guide on the front page. Like sure, they read them, but something is tricky for them and they’re asking for help. They can read the rules and guide again but without outside help, guess what? Not gonna help them. If you just keep linking them the forum or telling them to read the first page it won’t actually help anyone! One of your jobs as the creators here is to help the community that you made it for, not just parrot that they need to read. Be better. Add that to a system which is not forgiving of any mistakes whatsoever and it becomes a terrible little cocktail. Also does not help that, despite their sugar attitude about having people test it in discord servers, the creators l and r/p (both arcane) don’t actually help people who need help using it. -wait times/queue: this ties in to an earlier point, but there’s no way to organize who goes next. Sure, it might sound strange, but when you have to wait ages to get access despite you being there ahead of anon llama/drama/dingdong/animal because they can all hop in ahead of you, it becomes frustrating. People don’t always type in that itty bitty box to say what they’re doing, and people easily erase it or write over it, or they just outright ignore it. Obviously not everyone is going to do that, but it’s way too easy for people who are greedy/entitled to step over those who are being polite and patient. -no quick ping options this is also kind of minor, but at least with the old spreadsheet you could just click in and say “okay, I just want to ping XXY general for this because I have a quick sale.” Guess what: nah. You have to go through the entire chugging process and queue and everything else just to get that snippet of information on who to ping. What once took maybe five clicks is now five minutes to thirty depending on how many people are using it. Wanna quick check if a dragon with XYZ colours you hatched is one that someone wants specifically? Nah, fuck you. You have to input all the data and wait instead of just doing what was once a super easy quick search. There is so much other shit wrong with this system and I’m honestly surprised N (plague) allowed them to do this. Sure, the old pinglist could have done with some updating, but that should have been done in the form of clearing redundant double pings, maybe a way to sort through specifics like ‘male only’ and mass copy names there. Quality of life things, not this just... total mess. I understand that L and R/P got it into their heads that they needed to fix it and that they wanted to take over the entire system themselves, but they should have kept their pride out of it for once. The sheet to input what dragons you want is also another entire nightmare. It’s frustrating to go through the google poll a dozen times to say exactly what colors/eyes/gender/pasta-shape/siesta-fiesta under the sun you want rather than have a quick way to input it by drop-downs or even just a text based option like the old one had. It’s so easy to forget what you put in or which one you want to put in this time, so easy to end up making mistakes that you don’t see, etc. It’s just not an effective system. It’s great in theory, and sure, it’s all sparkly and new, but it’s like admiring an aluminum trash can. Shiny and sparkly under the sun, still holding a whole lot of hot garbage though. I understand that some people may find it easier, and that’s great! I’ve used it for a few things and yeah, it’s okay, but I wish the old one was back given all the grief and frustration this one has caused. Obviously I’m not in the place to be like DO THIS OR DO THAT since I’m not the one making the sheet here, but I do feel like the people who use it have every right to give commentary and feedback where possible. Even moreso when the creators and team aren’t actually as welcoming as they try to appear to be. As much as it sucks, a lot of L and R/P’s (primarily L) false niceties have kind of come to the surface lately which makes this whole situation just that much more awkward. If people don’t feel like they can approach you because they know you’ll rip into them here or on the anon site immediately, maybe you shouldn’t be a main creator of something for the user base or a mod for a bigger group. Just some side-thought to all this other stuff. Big post, big rambles, I can’t bring myself to organise it though because I’m pretty fed up and tired. Take from this what you may, but basically fix your shit new G1 Hoarder peeps.

[wasabiholland]

if you dont mind me asking, and you really dont have to explain anything to me if u dont feel like it but i just dont see everything that goes on with the girls, but what were u referring to when you said recent stuff has left a bad taste in your mouth? i only saw criticism of jesy's fake tan which i totally get

no you’re all good! i’m on mobile rn so i don’t think i can do the read more break but I'll try (update now im on my laptop so I can do the read more break + add more than 10 photos)

the first thing is the fact that 3/4 of the girls went travelling during a worldwide pandemic which is just...................... stupidity, not just for the fact that they themselves could get sick but they could get others sick too and it’s likeeeeeee so irresponsible

perrie went to Ibiza with Alex, Friends, + their partners

leigh-anne got paid to go to Greece with Andre by a magazine at the start of August

then went to Ibiza for her friends hen do in the middle of August

and then came back to england for work (eyes on the sunrise where she had to call in from home with perrie because they had been travelling) aaaaand then went back to greece for a trip with her sisters at the end of august

& jade went to Venice with Jordan at the end of august

like just because you CAN travel during a pandemic where there have been 1.23M deaths worldwide, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. it was just all really irresponsible & tonedeaf & stupid of them, you know?

2. Recently jade did an interview with Rupaul where she said that her boyfriend “loves being q**** and feminine” and.... its inappropriate of her to use that word because it is a slur that's being slowly reclaimed but its still used as such an insult against the LGBT+ community. when mixers who are actually members of the community called her out for it and asked for an apology or a sense of remorse & newfound knowledge... in true Little Mix fashion... she just deleted the comments. when mixers reached out to their ex head dance captain & really tight friend of the girls he basically “she knows what she said and she meant it” which... does not make it any better at all.. in fact that makes it worse 

reminder that she said that about her cishet boyfriend because he was in drag for a movie role...... I don't think theres ever going to be an address for this one despite how many fans express their disappointment & hurt. 

3. i feel like just while we’re here we should talk about jesy’s tan.

it’s been an issue for a while and its been called out so many damn times yet nothing has changed over the years but when people would call it out the cupcakes would come in their forces and talk all that shit about how she can do what she wants with her body which is just.................. objectively no. heres the link to a really good twitter thread to read up on & it makes an excellent point that when Jesy was promoting her prestigious, professional documentary she wasn't nearly as dark as she usually is in public appearances

compared to the extreme tan she's been called out for time & time again, even in Little Mix’s latest music video (debuting on 23rd Oct 2020) 

and that's not even compared to leigh

just look at these photos of jesy next to leigh in glam & not in glam

when the lady who does her tan was messaged about it- this was her response

reminder, Jesy is a WHITE woman and as of 6 Nov 2020 she still has her tags on instagram turned off so no one can tag her in anything (in the past she's just had her tags hidden so no one could see her recent tags but now they're turned off completely) 

and I don't think the below needs an explanation from me on why is unacceptable but here's an article on it written by a woman of colour

there's just no.... words. 

theres also the video that jesy posted to her own instagram story of her friend singing the N word & on the same night singing R- Kelly. When called out repeatedly because of it all she did was ignore it & delete her instagram comments that mentioned it. (I can't find the video of it rn but I'll reblog with it when I find it)

I genuinely like... don't support her after all this shit and all people wanted was an apology and changed behaviour but time has shown that that is just too hard for jesy to do and no matter how many times she fucks up & get called out, she doesn't learn. which is sad because as talented as she is, I personally don't feel like I want to contribute to her having a platform if all she's gonna do is be ignorant, stupid and embarrassing. 

There are so many other think pieces/ threads on twitter of other problematic things they've done in their past.. ie having a whole tour aesthetic revolving around Native American culture, culture appropriation, etc. 

So yeah that's what I meant by ‘bad taste in my mouth’. maybe I just am bad at separating the art from the artist but their purposeful ignorance (and you know its on purpose that they're staying silent because they still actively delete comments and their associates speak on their behalf & make it worse) is embarrassing and just reflects badly on them & really makes me not want to support the music or them. 

[wayward-mikaelson]

Winter's Doll--Chapter Twelve

Word Count: 3483

About: Nadia returns to the compound and her and Bucky have a moment.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x F! OC

Characters: Nadia, Bucky, Steve, Tony, Clint, and Laura

Warnings/Trigger Warnings: Drinking, Sexual Content (Fingering, Oral-M Receiving, and Unprotected Sex-This a work of fiction so wrap it before you tap it).

A/N: Sorry this fic is taking forever to finish. I have one more chapter and I can focus on all my other single fics.

*This work contains stuff written for the 18 and up crowd. Please read at your discretion. Minors DNI. This work is cross posted to other sites under the same name. If you want to follow my other accounts, the linktree link is in my bio. I am NOT TAKING requests at this time. Feedback is welcomed!

Forever Tags: @hobby27 @donnaintx @myinconnelly1 @elansaidaris @magssteenkamp @440mxs-wife

Marvel Tags: @soccer-100000

Bucky/Sebastian Tags:

Winter's Doll Tags: @supernatural-love14 @loudlylovingalpaca @kingkhibas

Masterlist

Marvel Masterlist

Winter's Doll Masterlist

Chapter Eleven

Favorite Fics Masterlist

Nadia laid on the Barton's couch and stared at the ceiling. She had just woken up to the sound of the Barton children running around upstairs. She could hear them shushing each other every now and then when one would make a loud noise. Nadia thought it was cute and knew that Clint and Laura were raising those kids right.

Nadia had to have two surgeries after being shot. One to remove the bullet, which was a success, but Nadia developed an infection. So the doctors had to open her back up and clean it out. The healing process was painful and Nadia yelled at every nurse that came in to see her and ask how she was doing. Pretty much scaring them away. Now, Nadia didn’t mean to act the way she did towards the nurses, they were only doing their jobs, but she was in so much pain. The drugs they gave her did nothing.

Bucky had been her visitor every day. He was there to make sure she was fed properly and that she went on walks to lessen the pain in her abdomen. Bucky apologised for being a dick and getting her into this mess. But Nadia told him that it’s not his fault. The two of them patched things up and got close again. They talked and laughed until the visiting hours were over.

A week after being discharged from the hospital, Steve had pulled her into the conference room and told her that it would be best to go to Clint’s for the time being. Nadia didn’t even protest, she knew she needed the time away to rest more and see her parents.

So that night she was flown out. With only a quick goodbye to Bucky.

While Nadia was away, Bucky couldn't stop thinking about her. Bucky always thought about Nadia, but while she was away, Bucky’s mind was just filled twenty-four seven with her. He’d drift off during meetings or screw something up while doing inventory somewhere. Even before he fell asleep at night, he’d call Nadia and talk to her for a few hours. Just hearing the sound of her voice, it made Bucky feel better.

Nadia enjoyed the phone calls from Bucky. It distracted her mind from the going ons around Clint’s ranch. Especially her mother. Don’t get it wrong, Nadia loved her mother, but her mother was always up in her business. Always asking about whatever came to mind. One day, Laura found Nadia looking in the liquor cabinet.

“Sorry, I can’t stand my mother right now,” Nadia began to say.

“The hard stuff is in the back,” Laura pulled out two glasses and helped Nadia pull the bottle out. “It's just a few more days until you go back.”

Nadia took the shot Laura handed her. “How hasn’t she driven you crazy yet?”

“Who says that she hasn’t?” Laura smiled and took her shot. “Plus the kids are in love with her. But when she isn’t with the kids she’s criticizing my cooking. I’ve had to kick her out of the kitchen several times.” The two of them laughed and took a few more shots before going back out.

Nadia slowly rolled off the couch and winced at the slight pain in both her stomach and shoulder. A soft groan slips out of her lips and soon there are firm hands helping Nadia up.

“I told you that couch was killer,” Clint made sure she was steady. “Even when you have a wound like that. Should have taken one of the kids' beds.”

Nadia stared at the blonde archer. “That wouldn’t be fair,” Nadia patted Clint's shoulder. “Your kids need their beds.”

Clint tried to hold back a laugh and failed. The look in his face pretty much judged Nadia in that moment, “You, Nadie, were injured, Lyla would have understood if you took her bed for the week. So, for this last night, you will be taking Lyla’s bed.” Naida opened her mouth to protest. “Nope, don’t even. Otherwise, I’ll have to call Cap and see if another week here with your parents would be good.”

Nadia glared at the man before her. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You wouldn’t even dare,” Nadia raised her eyebrows. Clint knew that her parents were driving her crazy.

“I’ll start the coffee,” Clint patted her shoulder and walked into the kitchen.

“I think I hate you now,” Nadia called after him.

“You’ll thank me,” Clint called back.

***

Nadia had only been back at the compound for two hours before getting approached by Fury. He obviously didn’t look happy but then again, Fury never looked happy. Especially when it came to Nadia.

“Can you explain this?” Fury tossed a file to Nadia and it landed on her lap. Nadia opened the file and saw that it was transcripts from the mission she got shot on. “Can you explain why two of my best Avengers were bickering about a one night stand?”

“What is it to you?” Nadia closed the file and handed it back to Fury. “I had a one night stand with Thor and Bucky was obviously jealous. We fought and lost focus of the mission and I ended up getting shot.”

“That’s the point,” Fury dropped the file back on Nadia. “Avengers shouldn’t be sleeping together because of this.”

Nadia stood up and had the file in her hands again. “Does Thor know about this too?” Nadia took two steps towards Fury. “I guess not because no one has heard from him in about a month. So,” Nadia took another step towards Fury and held the file up to his face. “Until he’s been briefed on it and that it’s on paper and ready to sign, I will continue to sleep with teammates.” Nadia flicked her wrist and all the papers from the file scattered everywhere.

Nadia made her way towards the training facility to just sit and relax. When she got in there, Bucky was there sitting down, unwrapping his only flesh hand. “Right where I left you a week ago,” Nadia smiled when Bucky looked up and smiled at her. “Did you not move the entire time?”

“Where else would you find me?” he gave that smile Nadia loved and now it made her blush a bit. “What brings you down here? You look a bit cheerful.”

Nadia made her way towards where Bucky sat and sat next to him. “Well for one, I’m down here because of Fury,” Nadia noticed Bucky’s face when she said Fury. Guess Fury got to him too but she decided she didn’t want to pry into that. “And yes, Bruce finally got my painkillers in so I took what I could for the pain and I'm feeling greater than I have in a week.”

Bucky smiled and placed a hand on your leg. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling great and that you’re back.” Bucky let his hand linger and then pulled back. “I do want to say something to you.”

Nadia twisted her body to face Bucky and this time, it was her who placed a hand on his leg. She felt every muscle in his left tense up at her touch but she didn’t move her hand. “If you’re going to say sorry for the umptenth time, James Barnes, I will slap you with one of those training mats.”

Bucky laughed a little and covered Nadia’s hand with his metal one. Nadia had felt the metal many times before but for some reason, this time the feeling sent small little shocks of pleasure through her arm. Nadia had to tell herself that she needed to keep her calm. This was just Bucky after all.

“That and, um,” Bucky slowly let his voice trail off but his metal hand also slowly tightened around hers. “You know, you’re the only woman I call Doll.” Nadia’s breath caught in her throat. She wanted to say something but nothing that came to mind would have sounded right coming out of her mouth. “When I saw you that first day, I wanted to say hi but didn’t. Then the days leading up to Starks party, I still wanted to say hi. Steve called me crazy for not doing so, cause you’re so beautiful.”

The words that were coming out of Bucky’s mouth, they were reaching Nadia’s heart. She was frozen in place, in a good way. Letting her heart melt as she let her best friend tell her how he felt. Bucky must have practiced this moment a million times this last week. Nadia felt like she was dreaming and literally took her free hand and dug her thumb nail into her index finger.

Nope, not a dream, she thought

“Over time,” Bucky was still talking. “I started to feel things for you and I memorized whatever I could about you. Like for instance, how you drink your coffee. You only add about an inch of heavy cream to your coffee. Also, you really like musicals. Sometimes, when you’re in your room, I can hear the faint sound of you singing along. And, Nadie, you have the most beautiful voice I ever--”

Nadia pushed her hand free from Bucky’s and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards her. Bucky wasn’t taken by surprise one bit, but he didn’t think that this would be Nadia’s response. He placed both hands on the side of Nadia’s face and pressed his lips firmly to hers.

Their lips molded together like they were meant to be. Like it was a missing puzzle piece in both of their lives. Nadia’s hands loosened on Bucky’s collar and slid up and around his neck. Bucky dropped his hands to her hips and pulled Nadia up onto his lap and wrapped his arm around her. Naida gave a mixture of a sigh and moan. The sound was enough to send Bucky into a feral state.

“You have no idea how long I wanted to kiss you,” Bucky whispered as he pulled away. The shine his eyes and smile on his face, it mirrored Nadia’s. “I just pictured myself asking you first.”

Nadia rested her head on Bucky’s and ran her hands through his hair. It was soft and it smelled of cedarwood. She could feel the pounding of her heart and if she could feel it, then Bucky could most definitely hear it. Nadia took a deep breath to help steady it and pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth. Bucky’s breathing just as deep as Nadia’s. The way that her fingers just rested in his hair was soothing and relaxing. He could sit like this forever and never tire of it.

“Sorry I took that moment from you,” Nadia broke the silence and pulled away. Bucky’s hands remained on her hips and Nadia sighed as he started to run his thumbs in circles. Nadia looked to the side.

“Well,” Bucky licked his lips and used a hand to turn Nadia’s face back towards him. “It’s not the end of the world.” Bucky ran his thumb over Nadia’s lips and she instantly felt the faint throb between her legs. She wanted nothing more but to have this man tear her clothes off. “Besides, I wasn’t finished.” Bucky pulled Nadia’s face towards his, catching her lips in between his teeth. Nadia sucked in a soft but soft breath.

“Show me what you got, Sergeant Barnes,” Nadia pulled away and lightly gripped his hair. A low groan came from Bucky's lips. The wetness between her legs was getting thicker and hotter. Nadia needed Bucky to do something or she would do something about it. She needed to scream this man's name, even if the whole compound could hear her. She didn’t care. She’s wanted this man for months.

Bucky quickly stood up and had Nadia in his arms. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist where she could feel his rock hard erection pressing through his workout pants and straight into her clothed, wet core. Bucky walked them to the only bathroom in the area, kicking the door shut and blindly locking it.

Bucky set Nadia down on the counter. “I may not be a god,” Bucky pressed his lips to Nadia’s ear. “But I will make you feel so good, you’ll be left wanting more.” Shivers ran down Nadia’s back and she smirked.

“Like I said, Sergeant,” Nadia pulled away and gripped Bucky’s workout shirt tightly in her hands. “Show me what you got.” Each word slowly rolled off her tongue. Nadia let go of Bucky’s shirt and grabbed the hem of hers. Crossing her arms, Nadia ripped the cotton over her head, leaving her blue bra untouched and Bucky staring at her breasts.

After a few minutes, Bucky stepped back and ripped his shirt off. Nadia’s eyes wandered down his muscular and chiseled chest but they didn’t get too far. Nadia slid off the bathroom counter and stopped closer to Bucky. She reached out and touched the scars on his skin that met the metal of his arm. She knew his story, she knew what happened to him but seeing the scars made her heart sink. She leaned forward and kissed the scarred skin.

Nadia then began to pepper sweet, small kisses down around his chest. Bucky’s eyes just watched her. He was in awe that this beautiful woman, one he’s wanted for months, was kissing his bare skin. He wanted to engrain this whole thing in his brain. When she began to kiss down to his stomach, Bucky couldn’t help but let out a small little groan, letting his head drop back.

Bucky felt Nadia’s fingers slip between the elastic of his pants and tug down a bit. Bucky looked down to see her beautiful bright eyes looking back up at him. They were glassed over with lust with a hint of permission to go on. “Go on doll,” Bucky’s voice was husky now. “I’m all yours.”

Within seconds, Nadia had Bucky’s pants and underwear pushed down. Her hand was slowly stroking Bucky’s already hard cock. With each gentle stroke, a small moan and groan would slip through his lips.

Then, without a word or a warning, Nadia took him into her mouth. He was thick and long, the tip of his cock poked the back of Nadia’s throat. Nadia groaned at the feeling of finally feeling him in her mouth. She had dreamt and imagined what it would feel like to bob her head over his cock. She bobbed her head up and down as a slow and agonizing pace and moaned every few minutes.

“Fuck,” Bucky groaned as he felt the vibrations of Nadia’s voice. Bucky’s hand gripped around Nadia’s hair and slowly began to thrust down the back of Nadia’s throat. Nadia groaned and felt the wetness between her legs seep out and onto her underwear. She needed him now.

Nadia pulled back with a pop and stood up. Nadia undid her jeans and shimmied out of them and kicked them to the side. She walked backwards until she hit the cool counter and jumped up there and motioned Bucky to come forward with one finger.

Bucky closed the distance between them in just a few steps. He took his flesh hand and placed it behind her head and pulled her face to his. His kiss was firm and wet. He nipped the bottom of her lip, causing the wetness and ache in her core to become unbearable.

Bucky’s metal hand rubbed up Nadia’s thigh where he squeezed it tightly. Then he took his thumb and rubbed her clit through her underwear making Nadia whine into his mouth. Bucky smiled and pushed the fabric away and inserted not one, but two metal fingers into her.

“Ah, fuck,” Nadia hissed against Bucky’s lips.

“Shh,” Bucky hissed as he slowly pumped and scissored his way around inside you.

It didn’t take long for Nadia to feel her stomach tighten. She began to moan but Bucky kissed her harder to muffle her moans and pushed his fingers deep inside her. Nadia couldn’t contain herself, Bucky was twisting and curling his fingers in all the right spots. Her moans, as much as they were muffled by Bucky's lips, they were getting louder by the second. Nadia's hands flew to Bucky's hair and she gripped it tight as she felt herself tighten around Bucky's fingers.

"Damn, Doll," Bucky growled and used his thumb to rub small circles around her clit. Nadia threw her head until it hit the mirror behind her. “Let’s get you to do that again.” He dove in for her neck and sucked a hard spot on the base of her neck. And just like that, Nadia was squeezing herself around Bucky’s fingers.

“Oh, god,” Nadia breathed out as she felt herself getting closer and closer. Before Nadia could warn Bucky that she was getting close, her body was hit hard with her orgasm. It shook her entire body. Her back arched up and she screamed out as she gripped Bucky’s hair tighter. Bucky continued to finger fuck her through her high until she came down.

Bucky withdrew his fingers and brought them up to his mouth and licked them. Not breaking eye contact with her. Through her post orgasmic haze, Nadia reached for Bucky’s metal wrist and pulled his fingers from his mouth and took them in hers. The taste of her release mixed with metallic had Nadia rolling her eyes to the back of her head.

“I don’t think I've seen anything as hot as this,” Bucky’s low raspy voice sent a shiver down Naida’s back. And with that, Bucky ripped the underwear off Nadia’s lower body and discarded the rest of his pants and underwear. “Tell me you still want this,” Bucky took Nadia’s face and she opened her eyes as he lined his cock up with her entrance.

“I do,” Nadia trailed her hands up Bucky’s chest. “I want you to fuck me and if anyone hears, they will know that it’s James Barnes’s cock making me feel this good.”

Bucky’s lips twitched into a crooked smile as he pushed himself slowly into Nadia. Now, Bucky didn't stretch her as far as Thor had, but Nadia felt every vein rubbing against her and her walls fluttered around him. The two of them groaned at the feeling.

It was beautiful and it felt perfect.

As soon as Nadia was adjusted, Bucky began to slowly thrust in and out as he pulled her lips to his. This kiss wasn’t heated as before, it was deep, passionate and full of emotions. Nadia wrapped her arms around Bucky and drank in this moment. Bucky kissed down to Nadia’s shoulder and started to pick up the pace of his thrusting.

“You...feel...so...perfect,” Bucky grunted softly in between each thrust.

Nadia moaned in response as she felt the tip of Bucky’s cock push at her cervix. Within minutes, Nadia was feeling the familiar tighten in her stomach and she gently dug her nails into Bucky’s back. The action alone pulled a growl from Bucky and he began to thrust harder and deep into Nadia.

“Oh, God.”

Bucky and Nadia froze in place. The coil in Nadia’s stomach loosened and disappeared. She didn’t want to lift her eyes up at the person who entered the bathroom. She knew Bucky locked the door, she watched him lock it herself.

“What? Did someone throw their shit around?”

This voice made Nadia and Bucky look. There stood Steve looking awkwardly down at the ground. Tony peeped his head and his eyes widened at the picture before him. Bucky shifted his body to make sure Nadia was covered more and not too exposed to the men standing in the doorway.

“Huh,” Tony nodded his head and nogged Steve. “Now we know why the door was locked. By the way,” Tony gestured towards the naked forms. “So glad that this happened. Now that sexual tension during every meeting and mission is gone. Just don’t let us find you fucking during missions.” With that Tony left.

Steve, with his head still down said, “Fury is looking for you Nadia. Something about meeting with the President.” Then he was leaving, closing the door behind him.

“Well, that happened,” Nadia leaned back and looked at Bucky. “I guess I shouldn’t keep Fury waiting.”

“Oh no,” Bucky nodded and slowly pulled his cock out of Nadia. Nadia closed her eyes at the emptiness. When she opened them, Nadia saw Bucky picking her clothes up and handing them to her. “Sorry about the underwear.”

Nadia slid off the counter and smiled. “Don’t worry,” she took the clothes from his hands. “I have plenty more you can ruin.”

“I look forward to that,” Bucky pulled Nadia into his arms and kissed her. “Hopefully you’ll let me ruin another pair tonight.”

[zuzu-hotman]

Ready To Love Pt.2 [[Zuko]]

Pairing: Zuko x Female!Reader

Warnings: More angst??? Dark-ish imagery?

A/N: Uh so I got asks for more??? I want you all to know most of my works are angst- but I live for good ends so dw (; I’ll link the first part after posting bc tungle is dumb. Anyways, probably gonna do a third cause there’s a bit more I want to do with this and I don’t want too much at once <3

Pt.1

“ Hᴇʏ, ᴡɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴏʟᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴄʟᴏsᴇ?”

Seeing him again was like adding salt to deep wounds- rubbing the coarse grains deep into gashes, open and bleeding. You kind of hated that it hurt so bad- you were supposed to be over it. You were supposed to be completely done with him. With all remnants of him. His choice was clear- the truth was laid out bare for your eyes to see.

He was not who you thought he was. He was not the Zuko you knew in your mind- and maybe he never was.

No one who had once worn a kind smile could look like he did that day, right? There was no way someone like that could just... lose all sense of themselves? That look he held- the crazed fire in his eyes.. how those flames should have touched you- burned you. Perhaps Zuko was not as skilled as Azula. He didn’t bend the way she did, but that didn’t make him any less powerful. He had good aim- he knew you’d find it hard to even try to make an attack on him. He could’ve used that against you- it’s what Azula would have done.

You assumed that if he could so easily turn into Azula’s direction.. he’d be able to be as cruel as her. That he’d use your weakness to him against you. You felt the heat of his flames, you knew they could have scorched you. You weren’t that accustomed to fighting yet. For a long time you had suppressed your bending- scared of what it might bring you and what it meant for your future.

You came to regret that eventually. You could have told your parents- your Father could have shown you so much..

Fate was absolutely cruel- you firmly believed this now. She had no right to harm you like this- to drag you through the mud, already beaten down and tired.

She allowed him the chance to be in this group. You wanted to object, violently so. It wasn’t your place to though. Your personal ties to him had no place stopping him from teaching Aang about fire bending. The Avatar needed to know all four elements to bring balance. It was important to Aang’s journey and to putting an end to this long war.

That didn’t make you despise it any less. Hatred or anger- which was it you felt?

“Please talk to me..”

His quiet plea fell upon your ears in the dead of night, long after everyone else had retired to their own spaces. You had suspected he’d find his way to you soon- someway or somehow. With no one else around to bear witness. You hated how you froze in place- how all that anger just fizzled into nothing at the sound of him. So sad- so lonely. You were his only link to his former self, to who he should have become. A tiny string stuck on it’s last thin thread. You didn’t know that however. t’s not as if that was his only reason for reaching for you like this, and that you didn’t know of as well. You were in the dark on his feelings.

As you assumed you always had been.

“___, please..”, he whispers once more when he gets no response.

You make sure to keep your breathing even, to not move at all. Give him an inch and he’d probably take miles. Miles upon miles- stretch you until you break into tiny pieces. Yet some small pieces would still yearn- crave for what your brain told you not to. 

You hear his breath hitch a bit, as if he’s fighting back overpowering emotions- him? The glorious crown prince who had slain the Avatar? The prince who turned a blind eye to you, to his good Uncle? The audacity- and yet you felt no actual anger. Not when he spoke.

“I- I’m so-- ___ I’m so sorry. I know that’s not enough. I know it will never be enough- I was wrong. I did everything so wrong and Uncle- I’m sure he hates me. I’m sure you do too. I never meant- I thought it was my destiny to.. to.. capture him. For my honor and my nation. I thought I was right and..”, he takes in a shaky breath. You’re glad you can’t see him. His face just might break you. “I hurt you. I hurt Uncle. I-I made you not trust me- I disappeared and I never responded to any of your letters- I still have them I- I don’t know.. I don’t have a reason or any excuse I just.. please. Please at least talk to me- say something! Anything! I’ve missed you- I was miserable- it’s not home.. not without you. I made mistakes even there I.. even she told me that I was wrong.. even..” and he trails off, gaining no response.

Little did he know he was close to getting one. She? He didn’t mean Azula.. he would have said her name. You hated how your chest burned- what mistakes could he make there? At home? No- not home. Not your home.

“...You’re sleeping.. I hope. I almost got loud. I’m..”, he sucks in a breath, “Okay. Another time.”

You choose to ignore the way he sniffs- knowing all too well it meant he’d shed tears. If you acknowledge it, you know what may happen. You know how it’d go- how weak you’d be. This isn’t how it should be, you should be able to ignore him without batting an eye. He should be able to just let you go. He’d already done so. What was the use in this? Hadn’t he decided already, who he was or at the least who you were to him?

Clearly nothing-

You let out a heavy breath, almost shudderingly so when you hear his footsteps fade away. You clench your eyes shut, banishing any trace of wetness from your eyes. No no no- you would not cry. Not again, and not anymore. Remember how he looked- remember those crazed eyes and harsh blasts of fire. Remember and hold it- no apology could fix it. Not so simply. It would take much more than words because.. you weren’t sure your aching heart could take much more of it..

Morning came quickly, with no remorse to any who had not slept in her absence. Specifically to you or Zuko. Luckily enough, you hid it well enough. Zuko? Not so much. Clearly he looked like he’d had a fitful sleep.

Hmph-

“Wow. I didn’t know it was possible for you to look even angrier than usual.”, Sokka pipes up, already at his usual antics of antagonizing the newest group member.

“Shut. Up.”, Zuko hisses in response, causing Aang and Toph to laugh a bit at his expense.

“You really should sleep. Set a good example for your new student.”

“I said shut up.”

“He is kinda right, you know.”, Toph adds in, “It’s not good to be up so late.”

Zuko freezes for a moment, but says nothing else. You’d almost forgotten- Toph was very attuned to the earth. Of course she’d know if anyone was up and moving. The only thing to question was if she’d heard him. At the time though, there would be no answer to it. He wouldn’t ask and she didn’t seem keen on pressing the issue. No one else was aware either. So it just faded into silence, not spoken of. It was replaced by Zuko barking at Aang that it was time to start his training.

“I lost my stuff.”, he says it so plainly. Uninvited and without any context.

“Wasn’t me.”

Zuko makes a face, “No I mean my bending- I don’t know I..”

You decide to tune him out, spacing away from his frustration and Katara’s laughter. Was he really that out of it? He suddenly couldn’t bend? What a load of garbage. If he expected you to feel bad, you didn’t. Not even the slightest. Serves him right for the look he gave you when he learned of your bending. When he saw the element of fire was not in you to control, but-

“___” , He speaks your name softly.

You look up to where he stands, a few feet away. You hadn’t noticed everyone else had already gone to bed. It was just you and him and the dwindling fire between you.

“I-”

“Goodnight.”, you say, starting to stand up, brushing your legs off.

“Wait-”, he gently grabs the sleeve of your shirt but you push his hand away.

“Don’t touch me.” You don’t look at him- you can’t. You must remain strong- don’t do what you did in Ba Sing Se. Don’t fall into that hole a second time..

“At least hear me out- get mad all you want. Scream at me- hit me I don’t care just-”

“I’m not going to do that. You made your bed. Lie in it.”

“I did, you’re right. I did and I’m so-”

“Don’t apologize. Teach Aang bending. I’m not a part of this- none of them know I knew you, which clearly I didn’t. I never did. I know you as this guy I bumped into in Ba Sing Se. This guy that I thought I was nice and had a good heart but I guess I misjudged. Maybe he just feels guilty or that apologizing to me might right his wrongs or whatever. If this is your way of getting them to trust you more, I’ll allow it. Anything to help Aang.”, you speak as calmly as you can. Not sparing a glance, “You already made your choices- you already let me go so just-”

“I don’t want to let you go though- I never wanted to. I just- I thought I was right. I thought that.. you’d come home. I thought that that was still home. I was wrong. I was so wrong-”

“Yet you still stayed, huh?”, you say, bitterly now, “You had a little life out there- you had your glory. Had the nation at your feet. The crown prince who slayed the-”

“I’m not that person! I never was!”

“You seemed to think you were! You acted the part! You were there for well over a month!”, you looked at him now, eyes burning, “You weren’t sorry enough to come back earlier! You didn’t think enough- you didn’t care enough! You were gone for three years! You never replied- I lost my Father! I lost what I thought was home and you weren’t there! I find you in Ba Sing Se- acting like no time had passed! Like we never grew apart! You talk to me like you still knew me, like you still cared! Yet you still chose to do what you did!”

He’d shrunk back a bit, shocked at the bass in your voice- how heavily it weighed on him. He didn’t know you felt all that. He had no idea..

“Your Father-?”

“Don’t.”, you hiss, quieting down, now aware you might have stirred the others from their sleep, “Don’t even. Don’t come to me with any apologies unless you really mean it- unless you’re ready to tell all you have to tell. I’m done with secrets and lies. Good night.”

You walk off now, leaving him to stand by the dying fire. His hand feels cold- his chest aches- your Father? That man he’d seen love you so happily- the home that was worn down but well loved? Gone? How had you suffered so without him even knowing- what had happened to you in his absence?

Why hadn’t he even thought of it?

How did he manage to screw up a screw up?

Zuko groaned to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose, “...what would Uncle have me do- what’s right..”

How to salvage this mess?

“Mʏ ᴍɪɴᴅ ɪs ᴀ sʜɪᴘᴡʀᴇᴄᴋs ғʟᴏᴏʀ..”

Pt.3

[pumpkinpaix]

anonymous:

I just discovered your mdzs pronunciation stuff and it's super helpful!!! Especially to an english speaker, it's so helpful to hear everything pronounced slowly! Would you ever consider doing more but on Chinese basics? Like tones, or differences between similar sounds? (But please don't feel obligated! Just a suggestion bc I find your pronunciation super helpful :) 

hhhhh the file was too big for tumblr :’) even after I exported it at medium instead of standard quality, so i made a soundcloud after all aha.... it’s downloadable, even!

anyways! chinese school with cyan? :D transcript with helpful links under the cut.

previous chinese pronunciation posts with pinyin if you want to go back review them armed with new knowledge to practice: mdzs names 1, mdzs names 2

rough transcript (brackets indicate things i didn’t say but wanted to add as a note, or laughs lol):

hello everyone! okay, so I’m going to make an attempt to do some basic pinyin, I guess, a basic pinyin post? so the goal is by the end you should be able to hopefully! look at basic pinyin or any pinyin word and get a general sense of how it might sound. this is not comprehensive, and you shouldn’t take it as such,  but i hope you might be able to get a good foundation out of it? I don’t know, just for sort of, a basic general overview.

I’ll use some MDZS words or names or whatever to I guess keep it fun as examples? But the rules should be generally applicable across the board. This is geared towards native English speakers because that’s what I am. I am not a linguist, just a layperson, so I’m going to be explaining like a layperson.

So, this is pinyin with cyan! chinese school with cyan. horrible, I thought i escaped this [laugh] oh, all those horrible saturdays. [all sounds will be read with first tone unless otherwise indicated]

okay, so, I’m going to do the basic vowels first. there are five so it’s: a o e i u ü

so I’ll do that a — oh wait, no there’s six, oh gosh! okay. bad start! so there are SIX basic vowels: a o e i u ü

so i’ll do that one more time: a o e i u ü

so there’s actually a seventh vowel sound, but we can get to that in a minute. it’s not included in the orthography.

so ü is usually the hardest for native english speakers since it doesn’t exist in english, but a friend of mine recently explained it really well. so if you say “ee” just like, “ee” like in creek or something like that, then shape your lips as if you’re saying “oo”.  so if you speak french or german, it might be easier for you, those are just the two languages I’m familiar with. the ü is the same as the ü in german, like in die Tür, in french it’s just like you know, la lune, mur, etc.

basically say “ee” then move your lips until it looks like you’re saying “oo” — eeeeeüüüü or you can do the opposite, you can say “oo” then move your tongue as if it’s saying “ee” so: ooooüüüüüü. ü. and that’s basically it.

so now i’m going to do the initial consonants. that’s all the vowels. but the initial consonants, the consonants, or the consonant sounds that can start words, there are… well there’s not that many, but I’ll go through them really quick. there is an order, and every consonant is associated, every initial consonant is associated with a natural vowel sound and they come in groups. the order that i learned them in is this:

b p m f • d t n l g k h • j q x • z c s zh ch sh r

[repeated slower]

b(o) p(o) m(o) f(o) • d(e) t(e) n(e) l(e) g(e) k(e) h(e) • j(i) q(i) x(i) • z(i) c(i) s(i) zh(i) ch(i) sh(i) r(i)

I think the official one [the official order, i mean] might have the z c s and the zh ch sh r switched, but it doesn’t really matter they’re both in the same group. so you’ll notice that there are only four naturally associated vowels: o e i and ï [not sure if this is technically the right way to write it, but it’s convenient for illustrative purposes here].

so ï is the one that’s with the z c s, zh ch sh r group. I also think this is a pretty hard vowel to pronounce for english speakers, but i don’t really have a handy way of explaining it. i’ll try though!

so for things like the z c s sounds: say “sss” like you would in english. “ssss” then change your lips to the way you say “ee” and then vocalize without moving your tongue. so you can also produce this sound without changing your lip shape, but doing so will kind of force it, or make it easier to find I think. so ssssssi. sssssi. so that was me doing the whole process with saying ssss and then moving my lips and then vocalizing. but i can also do it with my lips rounded. “si”. that’s me with lips rounded, but having the lips wide like that helps i think

[or you can just vocalize “zzzzz” like in “buzz” or “jazz”. that zzzzzz sound gives you the vowel you want. that probably would’ve been an easier way to explain it haha.]

for the zh ch sh r sounds, to get that, you can say “juh” like how you would say j, a j sound in english, so it’s “juh” but dont’ say the “uh” just stick to the “j”. so that’s the zh sound. “zhii” just like hold it. then ch sh r. I don’t know, I think that’s pretty intuitive once you get those.

in terms of the consonants that i think that are difficult, they are d, j q x and z maybe? so i’ll go over them.

so d taps the palate in english, “duh”, “duh”. the d sound, it taps further back on the little bump [on the roof of your mouth] there, but it taps on the teeth in chinese. I think it’s a non-aspirated t sound? so say “tuh” but then instead of having that breath, just take that out. “de”. it’s a non-aspirated t, it taps in the same spot. so that’s the d, the “de” sound.

j q x, it’s the same sort of things, if you stretch your lips, I think i helps to move it into the right space. so instead of “juh” it’s “ji”. “ji”. “ji ji ji ji”. “qi”, “xi”. the q has the “ch” sound, but instead of sitting so far in the front, it sits a little further back [in the mouth]. instead of “ch” which is the ch, it’s “qi”, which is moving further back. and same with “xi”. instead of “sh” it’s “x”. i don’t know if that helps [laugh]. but instead of “sh” it’s “x”. so “xi”.

again, instead of “ch” it’s “q” and instead of “sh” it’s “x” [laugh]

[I forgot to talk about z oops. it’s basically a combination of d and z in english: “dz”. like the end of “hands”. that “dz” sound.]

okay, so, you can start a word with any of the vowels, any of them can be initials, but some of them will change orthography when they’re at the start of a word. so i think it’s pretty intuitive, but a o e all stay the same. but the “i” sound, the i, turns into a y, the “u”, the u, turns into a w, and the “ü”, the ü turns into yu. so “yu”.

okay, so that’s all the initials! that’s it! that’s not too bad.

okay, so now I’m going to start doing the finals, like the ends of words. you can end any word with any of the vowels, but I’m going to include them anyways because it’s in the table. i just copied this table from wikipedia because it’s i think pretty intuitive and clearly stated. they show both how the sound would be written as a full word and how it would be spelled when it was attached to an initial. so basically what i just talked about regarding changing orthography when you start a word with vowels, things like that.

[link to table in wikipedia]

okay starting with the first row, I’m pretty sure this is ï. the i sound that i said was difficult:

[row 1]

so I’m going to do that again. I’m going to do each one twice and then we’re going to move onto the second row.

[row 1 repeated, each sound twice]

okay, now the second row:

[row 2]

so we’re going to do the same thing again, twice each:

[row 2 repeated, each sound twice]

okay, and the third row:

[row 3]

and again, twice each:

[row 3 repeated, each sound twice]

and then the final row:

[row 4]

and then one more time, twice each:

[row 4 repeated, each sound twice]

okay so that’s it, that’s all the finals I think.

so I think -(i)un/yun is probably one of the harder sounds, the -un with the y at the beginning, the -iun? “yun”, with the umlaut. I don’t really know how to explain how to pronounce that one, but you know it’s the… yun [laugh]

okay so a note on u vs ü. when a word begins with j q x or y, and it’s followed by a u, it’s automatically be pronounced as ü even though it will not be marked. so here are some examples.

names like Ā’Yuàn: yuàn. it’s a ü sound automatically, and it’s not marked in the orthography. or Yú Zǐyuān. yú zǐ yuān. same thing. and then with something like in hánguāng-jūn, jūn, the j the “ji” combined with the -un becomes “jun” like the “yun” sound. or Jīn Zixuān. Xuān. Xuān. it’s the ü sound.

so an example of the same final spellings but with different initials. like the yuàn in ā’yuàn — you can see it automatically changes to an ü pronunciation, but spelled the same way the -uan ending, but you have a different starting consonant that’s not one of the exceptions, so “le” — so in luànzàng gǎng. luàn. it’s “u”. luàn. and then for like yú, yú zǐyuān, yú, instead of the ü, in jīn rúlán, rú, rú, it’s the “u” sound, and they’re marked the same way.

okay! yeah that’s pretty much it. that’s like all the basic sounds in chinese, I’m pretty sure. [laugh] it’s not actually that hard. i mean, it’s obviously hard, but there’s not as many sounds as you expect, or it’s less complex than you might think.

so obviously now we have to deal with tones. i know this is the one that everybody finds really scary, but i actually i know it’s easy for me to say because i’m a native speaker, but i actually think they’re very intuitive and easy to hear, as tones go. it’s gonna be fine. anyways, we’re gonna get through it.

here is how i remember tones: I do it with a cadence. and i literally sometimes have to go through this cadence on words when i’m not sure how to identify what tone they are. this is how i learned it, my grandmother taught me this, you know, i mean, it’s very standard, but:

ā á ǎ à

or hummed it’s: ¯ ´ ˇ `

and then I’ll do it again:

ā á ǎ à

¯ ´ ˇ `

so yeah, i really do sing it sometimes when i’m trying to figure out or remember what tone mark goes on something, I go dūh dúh dǔh dùh [laugh] over and over again until i figure it out.

and yeah, that’s it! they’re pretty intuitive, they follow the path of the tone, or the shape of the tone markers. so you can see the ā is flat, the á goes up, the ǎ goes down and then up, ǎ, and then à, the fourth one, just goes down.

so whenever you’re writing a tone mark on a word, they always go on the last vowel UNLESS there’s an a or e present. those always take precedence. I’ll spell out a couple of examples in the text.

[EXAMPLES: hào not haò and méi not meí, but jiù]

[laugh]

so i will go over, um… okay, i think my dad’s having a meeting downstairs, so maybe you’ll hear him in the background, but okay, the last thing i will go over a couple of sandhi rules, just a few! this isn’t all of them, i think there might be five? but i’m just going to do the three that are most relevant or the most commonly seen I think, or the ones that I think about that will trip you up most likely, i think, when you’re pronouncing things.

so the one that everybody knows, or the one that everybody teaches first, i think is the two third tones in a row will cause the first third tone to turn into a second tone. so for example, in Yílíng Lǎozǔ. “Láozǔ”. the two characters by themselves are lǎo and zǔ, but because they’re right next to each other, it becomes láo, second tone, “láozǔ”. [NOTE: the pinyin will still be spelled as lǎozǔ. you will just automatically read it aloud as láozǔ] so instead of “lǎo zǔ”, it’s “láozǔ”.

and then, the second thing that a third tone does is that a third tone that is followed by anything that is not a third tone drops to a thing that is called a low tone, I know i said there are only four, but this is… here’s an example. [there is also the soft tone, which is kind of the absence of tone, but I’m not going to talk about it here haha] in liǎnfāng-zūn, jin guangyao’s title.

liǎnfāng-zūn, you can kinda hear it doesn’t really rise again at the liǎn, liǎn, liǎn, by itself it goes down up, like a valley, but when it’s followed by the rest of the title, liǎnfāng-zūn, it just kinda sits at the bottom and then jumps back up. liǎnfāng-zūn, liǎnfāng-zūn, it just kind of sits at the bottom as opposed to coming back up, so it’s still. it still follows the same curve, it just doesn’t quite come back up i think

i actually had to look that one up, because I was like. oh is that real? i hadn’t noticed it.

but the third tone on its own is just the third tone, so for example, in xuē yáng’s courtesy name, xuē chéngměi, měi, you can hear it there, it comes back up—oh birds!

so xuē chéngměi, měi. dǔh. [laugh]

[LOL I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE THIRD SANDHI RULE I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT. you can read about it in the link to sandhi rules i’m going to post at the end of the post.]

so yeah, that’s pretty much it actually! hooray! I’m sure, I mean, chinese is a whole language, so it’s complicated, this won’t really get you to a point where you can read pinyin entirely, but i think those are like the basic rules that i use when i’m reading pinyin, but of course, i’ve been reading pinyin for a really long time, that was the primary way i engaged with chinese text for many many years because i was illiterate! i’m still pretty illiterate, but that’s okay. i’m getting better! but yeah, so like i said, this isn’t comprehensive. if it was horribly confusing, if there was stuff in it that just didn’t make any sense, you can ask me questions! I will try to answer them. my brother’s coming home today, and i’ve been using his desk to record because his room has been empty, so i’ll have to figure out something else. but for now, um, yeah!

okay, bye. :)

/end transcript

okay!! so here are the promised links:

tone sandhi rules

very useful interactive table where you can click on sounds to hear them read aloud! (linked to me by @nerd-bastard​ thank you so much!)

obviously the wikipedia page is very good, though it’s a little dense

@tonyglowheart​ sent me a thread of someone reading out mxtx names on twitter here! the reader has a different accent than i do (they say they sound like they’re from the northern mainland. i would guess my accent is probably closer to something near shanghai? since I learned pronunciation from my grandmother, and then of course tempered by my american upbringing)

I would probably recommend going back to the other pronunciation posts I made to see a variation of sounds written out with different tones? i feel like that would be helpful!

anyways WOO thanks for your patience, it’s been a minute. brain’s doing kinda oomf these days, but we’re gonna make it :’) state of the world is. something.

normally i would just link my ko-fi here, but this time, i’m going to say check out my donations tag or do your own research into someplace more in need to put your money instead. :)

[re-scanningblue]

DRAMAtical Murder Masterpost type thing (Links to buy things and a general introduction to what DMMd is)

So... since information on DRAMAtical Murder tends to be scattered and/or outdated, I'm making this. It's not necessarily needed, but hopefully it'll help someone, and it'll also satisfy my weird need to archive and compile things(?) lol. This will cover what DRAMAtical Murder even is, to how to play/purchase the game, to other links + resources for existing fans. This is mainly just… links to purchase things. So many links. If you have any suggestions, additions, or if something is incorrect, please let me know! If you have any questions at all, feel free to send me an ask or message- I will answer as best I can. A note about the links- links to sites where the item is unavailable are not included here. So there were other sites where things could be purchased, but are now not available, so I excluded them. I tried my best to check that all items were still available to purchase and that they were also official links (Although some of them I kind of couldn’t tell). If something becomes unavailable or a link doesn't work or etc, please let me know. Also, please be aware that as DMMd is an 18+ game, some links may contain adult content. Otherwise, is this post late by like 7 years? Yes. Moving on. 

Firstly...

What is DRAMAtical Murder?

DRAMAtical Murder (DMMd) is an r18 Boys Love Visual novel created by Nitro+CHiRAL back in 2012. It has 4 character routes, with a 5th unlockable one. All the routes have 2 endings each, a good and bad ending- with the exception of 1 who has multiple bad endings (Noiz). There was a sequel/fandisc released in 2013 with DRAMAtical Murder re:connect, a SFW PS Vita port in 2014 with DRAMAtical Murder re:code (with the explicit content cut out and an extra route added), and an Anime adaptation in the same year. There was also a stage play adaptation in late 2019. There was a fanmade translation patch released for DMMd and DMMd re:connect on AarinFantasy forums, which is how many fans experienced the game in English. It was only in recent years that DMMd, and other Nitro+CHiRAL games would get an offical English translation by JAST BLUE. Nitro+CHiRAL has released other BL games, with Togainu no Chi, Lamento, and Sweet Pool. Their most recent release is Slow Damage, which will be getting an offical English release as well. I encourage you to support and purchase the official release if you are able to. As the game is now out officially in English, there will be no links or etc to the patch in this post.

Here is one plot summary (Technically from the Anime but the other ones I found were google translate quality); The story takes place many years in the future where the game "Rhyme," a virtual fighting game, is incredibly popular and people possess "AllMates," convenient AI computers. Aoba leads an ordinary life, working at a junk shop and living with his grandmother on the island of Midorijima. Unlike his friends, he doesn't participate in Rhyme, nor does he belong in a gang. However, when rumors of people disappearing spread, Aoba finds himself needing to unravel the mysteries behind the island in order to protect his everyday life. So, basically, DMMd is a BL Visual novel. Like all Nitro+CHiRAL games, DMMd contains content some may find triggering- just as a small warning. Otherwise, and this is coming from a huge fan- I personally think DMMd is amazing. The characters are wonderful, their backstories are unique and makes them feel fleshed out and give the DMMd world more life, in a way- the music is incredible and really… there is nothing quite like DMMd, it's so wonderfully strange and great. I promise you it's so much more than just the explicit stuff. ...But again that's just me. Not everyone will like it and even some fans will not see it the same way I do, but anyway.

How can I play the game?

For the Japanese version; There are two versions of DMMd; the original, and the Windows 10 version. The original isn't sold anymore to my knowledge, however that version should still work on Windows 10. Please note you will need to set your system Locale to Japanese or use something like Locale Emulator/NTLEA to play the game, or it will not work. Setting your actual system Locale to Japanese may cause problems, so keep this in mind. For the English version; Simply use the links provided below to purchase the official English release of the game! Here are the links to purchase the games, including physical and digital copies. Some links may not work for English users, a VPN may be needed. It may also be possible to use a Proxy/Package forwarding service depending. DRAMAtical Murder; (ENGLISH) (JAST USA, uncensored) https://jastusa.com/dramatical-murder (Steam, censored) https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481080/DRAMAtical_Murder/ (Uncensor patch for the Steam version) https://jastusa.com/dramatical-murder-dlc-steam (Note that this patch is NOT needed if you bought the game from the JAST USA store) (J-List, uncensored physical copy) https://www.jlist.com/category/games-computers/visual-novels/blue003le

(JAPANESE) (Nitroplus Store, digital) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np02077.html (DMM, digital) https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/detail/hobe_0436/ (DMM, digital (English)) https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/en/detail/hobe_0436 (DMM, physical) https://www.dmm.co.jp/mono/pcgame/-/detail/=/cid=1064apc12971/ (Amazon, physical) https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07S8BQ7KB (Stellaworth, digital) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=GcCnYq1PYdc Here is the page for DMMd on JAST BLUE's website, which has the same links to purchase it in English; https://jast.blue/dramaticalmurder.html

What about DRAMAtical Murder re:connect?

re:connect is the fandisc/sequel to the original. It has mainly the short stories that add to the original endings, both good and bad. It also has more stories that can be unlocked like Aoba’s backstory, and what happened afterwards with Mizuki. It also includes minigames and the April Fools jokes N+C did before re:connect was released. JAST BLUE has not confirmed a translation will happen for re:connect, but there is still the fan translation released on Aarinfantasy forums. If there is any news on JAST BLUE and re:connect, I will update this post. As said before, there is no Windows 10 version of re:connect, although it should work fine on Windows 10 regardless. Below are the links to purchase it. DRAMAtical Murder re:connect; (Nitroplus store, digital) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np00947.html (DMM, digital) https://www.dmm.co.jp/mono/pcgame/-/detail/=/cid=1064apc10368/ (Amazon, physical) https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00BB6X522 (Stellaworth, digital) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=zsKBDBKLWK0 (Stellaworth, digital (Comes with CD bonus(?)) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=KDaAgAaaDxK As before, please note you will need to set your system Locale to Japanese or use something like Locale Emulator/NTLEA to play the game, or it will not work. Setting your actual system Locale to Japanese may cause problems, so keep this in mind.

Then what about DRAMAtical Murder re:code?

re:code is the PS Vita port of the original PC release. It cuts out the explicit content, censors some CGs for a 15+ rating, adds new CGs and even some new scenes, and adds an entirely new route; the Morphine route, aka the Mizuki route. re:code also addressed some plot-holes that were in the original. Here are the links to purchase re:code; DRAMAtical Murder re:code; (Playstation store, digital) https://store.playstation.com/ja-jp/product/JP0169-PCSG00420_00-DRAMATICALMURDER (Amazon, physical) https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00LIQQAI6/ You can purchase and play the physical copy with no issues. For digital copies it’s a little trickier. Here is a guide to downloading Japanese games on your PS Vita; https://kotaku.com/how-to-play-games-from-the-japanese-psn-on-your-non-jap-5983578 ^ Note that this is not a problem with physical copies. re:code is not in English and hasn't been confirmed for an official English localization, but there is a fan translation of the Morphine/Mizuki route that's exclusive to re:code, by shinocchidesu. You can read it here; https://shinocchidesu.net/post/162356717914/dramatical-murder-recode-morphine-route They have also shown the main differences between the original and re:code routes. You can also watch the gameplays uploaded by FancyPotatoCake on YouTube here whilst using the fan translation if you want; https://www.youtube.com/user/SuRi00ReUp/playlists +For the Morphine/Mizuki route, the actual route starts on part 7, at around 21:00 onwards. It’s unlikely that re:code will get an official English translation, but then again- DMMd is, and it’s been like 7 years since that came out, so maybe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The stage play

In late 2019, there was a stage play adaptation of DMMd, featuring all the routes as separate performances. You can purchase them on the following sites and stream it for up to 60 days before needing to purchase it again; https://www.dmm.com/digital/top/stage/dmmd/ https://mirail.video/title/3290017 The above sites won't let you purchase unless you use a VPN. If you cannot use the link, you can download recordings of the streams here; https://misaki01.tumblr.com/post/190765753950/dl-brain-crash-theater-dramatical-murder-all Please follow the rules listed on the post and read everything carefully. As for stage play translations, you can find more information on them here; https://hkdmmd.tumblr.com/post/622736646854574081/dmmd-stage-play-translations (Thank you again <3)

The drama CDs

There have been various drama CDs for DMMd. The drama CDs (or in this case, BLCD) is essentially the same as the Visual novel, except it’s purely audio. The same voice actors from the VN are in the drama CDs. The bonus CDs; Some of the CDs were included as a special pre-order bonus, with different CDs from different sites. I’m unsure if these are able to be purchased anymore, unless it’s second-hand. You can see various links for the CDs here; https://dmmdresources.tumblr.com/cds There were also a series of "after" drama CDs, which are set after re:connect. (And in my opinion, are extremely important for understanding the routes and their backstories better. I highly recommend listening to them!) The majority of the CDs can be found on YouTube, some also have English subtitles. Shibaface on Tumblr has translated all the main "after" CDs here; https://shibaface.tumblr.com/tagged/translation You can also view the same translations here as documents; https://1drv.ms/f/s!AqrTMWbLX7u5mANJd60_3W2WuK6g Below are links to purchase the "after" CDs. (Note there is no CD for Mizuki or Virus/Trip) Nitroplus store; Vol. 1 (Koujaku) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np01072.html Vol. 2 (Clear) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np01073.html Vol. 3 (Mink) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np01088.html Vol. 4 (Noiz) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np01092.html Vol. 5 (Ren) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np01117.html Stellaworth; Vol. 1 (Koujaku) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=9is2020Suus Vol. 2 (Clear) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=ymGUcUc6PPc Vol. 3 (Mink) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=kHl8O8OhTkh Vol. 4 (Noiz) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=NGI1C1CnCY1 Vol. 5 (Ren) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=pM94i4i9QZZ Animate shop; Vol. 1 (Koujaku) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1277805/ Vol. 2 (Clear) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1277806/ Vol. 3 (Mink) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1300886/ Vol. 4 (Noiz) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1302829/ Vol. 5 (Ren) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1316647/ CDJapan; Vol. 1 (Koujaku) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NCVC-3?s_ssid=e45cae5f00f7db5600 Vol. 2 (Clear) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NCVC-5?s_ssid=e45cae5f00f7db5600 Vol. 3 (Mink) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NCVC-7?s_ssid=e45cae5f00f7db5600 Vol. 4 (Noiz) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NCVC-9?s_ssid=e45cae5f00f7db5600 Vol. 5 (Ren) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NCVC-11?s_ssid=e45cae5f00f7db5600

The Side stories

There were various side stories as well, most of them being posted onto the Nitro+CHiRAL staff blog, but there was also a small book released. The main one released as a book, was the Summer Side Stories. It's set after the re:connect good ends. (As a side note, I believe the "after" drama CDs are set after these side stories, or all the side stories- sort of making those CDs the "final chapter" in the DMMd world but… I could be wrong lol) For buying the Summer Side Stories; https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/npo926.html https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00UPW8PXC Here is an English translation for the Summer Side Stories (In PDF format); https://dmmd-support.tumblr.com/post/106543447780/download-click-here-the-team-belatedly-wishes Birthday side stories; Noiz; (Original post) https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2012/1554.php (Translation by ancestralmask) https://ancestralmask.tumblr.com/post/27089560151/translation-noizs-birthday-2012 Mink; (Original post) https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2012/1582.php (Translation by memera) https://memera.tumblr.com/post/32354840550 Koujaku; (Original post) https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2012/1575.php (Translation by ancestralmask) https://ancestralmask.tumblr.com/post/29734654910/translation-koujakus-birthday-2012 Clear; (Original post) https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/1626.php (Translation by memera) https://memera.tumblr.com/post/45398166319 Ren (+ Aoba); (Original post) https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/1659.php (translation by ayuuria) https://ayuuria.tumblr.com/post/48594080767/422-short-story-aoba-and-rens-birthday Valentine Side stories; *The original posts were only up from the 14th to the 17th before being deleted. I was able to find them on the wayback machine however, so I linked those. Noiz; (Original post) https://web.archive.org/web/20130217035515/http://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/02/130214_1620.php (Translation by Goldpanner) https://khenglish.wordpress.com/non-kh-translations-naruto-dmmd/dmmd-index/a-chocolate-for-you-noiz/ Mink; (Original post) https://web.archive.org/web/20130217035525/http://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/02/130214_1622.php (Translation by memera) https://memera.tumblr.com/post/43304242958 (Translation by Goldpanner) https://khenglish.wordpress.com/non-kh-translations-naruto-dmmd/dmmd-index/a-chocolate-for-you-mink/ Koujaku; (Original post) https://web.archive.org/web/20130217035509/http://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/02/130214_1619.php (Translation by daikonjou/Radish) https://daikonjou.tumblr.com/post/43299281733/koujakus-valentines-day-short-story-translation (Translation by Goldpanner) https://khenglish.wordpress.com/non-kh-translations-naruto-dmmd/dmmd-index/a-chocolate-for-you-kojaku/ Clear; (Original post) https://web.archive.org/web/20130217035519/http://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/02/130214_1621.php (Translation by memera) https://memera.tumblr.com/post/43313231988 (Translation by Goldpanner) https://khenglish.wordpress.com/non-kh-translations-naruto-dmmd/dmmd-index/a-chocolate-for-you-clear/ Ren; (Original post) https://web.archive.org/web/20130217035534/https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/02/130214_1623.php (Translation by memera) https://memera.tumblr.com/post/43309191246 (Translation by Goldpanner) https://khenglish.wordpress.com/non-kh-translations-naruto-dmmd/dmmd-index/a-chocolate-for-you-ren/ Virus/Trip White Day story; (Original post) https://web.archive.org/web/20130315074127/https://www.nitrochiral.com/staffblog/2013/03/130314_1635.php (Translation by memera) https://memera.tumblr.com/post/45356275326

Soundtracks + music CDs

There were various soundtracks and music CDs released, I've linked the ones I could find still available down below. DMMd period. (re:connect soundtrack); https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np00978.html https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=6U1GnG117cG https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1205096/ https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/GRN-34?s_ssid=e4180f5f04cf223975 SLIP ON THE PUMPS (Anime opening song); https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1271072/ (Includes opening video) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1271073/ https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/AVCA-74528?s_ssid=e417ce5f04cf43f261 https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/AVCA-74529?s_ssid=e417ce5f04cf43f261 (Includes opening video) Rasterize Memory (Anime ending songs); https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1277006/ https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pd/1277005/ (Includes ending animation sequences) https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=LWoxrxrxDLK https://www.stellaworth.co.jp/shop/item.php?item_id=QjZ3S3S3FQj (Includes ending animation sequences) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/AVCA-74531?s_ssid=e417ce5f04cf43f261 https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/AVCA-74530?s_ssid=e417ce5f04cf43f261 (Includes ending animation sequences) engage+ment ("after" drama CDs ending songs); https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/np01118.html https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01ABAPBLG *The re:code soundtrack, append music re:cord, was only sold with the limited edition version of re:code. *I can't seem to find shape.memory.music (the original game's soundtrack) being sold anymore. *retro.game.music (original soundtrack in 8-bit) isn't sold anymore.

General merch + Proxy/Forwarding services

I didn't list all the merch available, because… there's a lot. You can buy general (official) DMMd merch from these sites; (Nitroplus store) https://nitroplus.ecq.sc/work/dramatical-murder.html (Nitroplus Store (English)) https://nitroplus-global.ecq.sc/work/dramatical-murder.html ^ Note that the English version doesn't have all the items found in the Japanese site. (Animate shop) https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/animetitle/?aid=2508 ^ This is where the stage play bromides are being sold, alongside some other DMMd things. (Bromides being pictures of the actors, basically) (CDJapan) https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ ^ You can search for DRAMAtical Murder here. I don't see a lot of extra items still available though. *Just to mention, the r18 Morphine Aoba figure is now sold on J-List. That's the only DMMd merch on there currently (until DMMd releases in English I assume, as the physical copy will likely be sold on J-List too). You can of course also use stuff like Amazon and Ebay, but I believe the sites listed above are the only official sites. Some sites don't deliver outside of Japan. For stuff like that, you can use a Proxy or a Forwarding service. I won't go into detail about them here, but be sure to research them carefully (Especially since some countries won't allow some items and may add extra fees as well). You can also get a lot of merch second-hand too, of course. But beware of bootleg merchandise. It can be pretty easy to see when an item is a bootleg, but often bootlegs can look almost as good and official as the real thing. Below are some guides on how to spot a bootleg; https://solarisjapan.com/blogs/news/ultimate-guide-bootlegs-fake-anime-figures https://animegami.co.uk/blog/how-to-spot-a-bootleg-counterfeit-figure-by-animegami/ These mainly apply to figures, but still.

Extra stuff

A couple of extra miscellaneous links because why not. 100% save data for DRAMAtical Murder (Not re:connect); https://cadavaberry.tumblr.com/post/20877649750 ^ Useful for if you want to replay Ren's route, but don't want to replay all the other routes to unlock it since you keep losing your saves (aka me). *If you haven't played before, please play the routes and don't use this to skip any! You'd really be missing out in that case I feel. A generally amazing resource for so many different DMMd things; https://dmmdresources.tumblr.com/ (That's all I have for right now but I may add stuff later, oops.) I would like to say a huge thank you to all the translators and everyone who has contributed in one way or another to help with letting people like myself enjoy DMMd. This isn't exactly the post for thanks, but anyway. Thank you all. (｡’▽’｡)♡ I hope this helped at all!! If anyone would like any more information on anything else DMMd-related, you're more than welcome to send an ask or message. I won't be able to answer everything but I will certainly try, haha.

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Raven—Quiet

[Link to Masterpost]

[Apparently I didn’t post the last few chapters on Tumblr? Use the masterpost to make sure you don’t miss anything]

[also hi, not dead]

The truck door opened with a solid click and let cold sea air wash through the cabin. Raven followed her brother out onto the gravel with an irritated shiver. She hissed quietly through her teeth. They're making us soft.

It had been almost as difficult to sleep on Summer's flat, even wooden floor as it had originally been to sleep on the spongelike mattress.

Summer yawned, stifling it behind her hand but drawing the attention of her mother. A familiar grin crept over Claret's face, identical to the one Summer wore when about to provoke someone. "Aww, I'm sorry, sweetie. Did you want to sleep in on the first morning of your first mission?"

"Mooooommm."

Professor Mesánychta's oft-repeated don't worry, that's how they show affection echoed in Raven's head. Seeing them with their parents actually made it make sense.

"You know that's contagious, Sum," Huang yawned as well, distorting his words. "Who's up for some fishing?"

Raven eyed the machines bolted down to the truck beds with a scowl. …They did look a bit like fishing rods.

"You're the worst," Tai grumbled, grabbing a bundle of straps and tossing half to Summer before shaking his out and shrugging it on.

Harnesses. Raven's gut clenched.

"In all seriousness, each person on a line needs a spotter," Huang said, looking at her and Qrow.

"Raven, will you spot me?" Qrow asked quickly.

She hesitated. Hang over a cliff or sit with Huntsmen? Which was worse? Then again—he was probably just trying to keep Misfortune away from the trucks, where more could go wrong. "Sure."

He nodded, accepting a harness from Mrs. Rose. She immediately turned her attention to Raven, however, explaining how the winch worked and how to keep the ropes from getting tangled.

"This is pretty straightforward work," Huang said, giving Tai enough slack to walk out toward the edge, and Raven copied his motions carefully. "Try not to fire on the cliff—we're trying to avoid eroding it here, and the damage adds up. Absolutely no ice Dust, it's hell on the rock, but stick to your blades in general."

Qrow nodded, riveted.

"Lastly—do not drop your weapon. Recovery is a big enough pain when the water's warm."

"Right." He glanced over the other tools in the truck bed and grabbed a short cord to tie the hilt to his hand.

Huang nodded approvingly. "Better safe than sorry."

"Hmm, you've got a point," Summer muttered, unclipping her gravity arrow and securing it to her belt before slotting in a spare. Fire Dust glistened through the clear window in the side.

"See ya!" Tai shouted with a manic grin, latching his shield-sled to his shoe and hopping backward off the cliff. A moment later the line tightened, metal clanged against stone, and a small skreeeee of rage cut off half-formed. Summer and Qrow yelped and followed.

Claret smirked at Huang with a quiet chuckle the three wouldn't be able to hear. "Oh, yes, they're so miserable."

He raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'll admit, they're taking it well."

In spite of her apprehensions around working with two professional Huntsmen—from Anima, no less—but mostly they and their children had distracted each other, content to let the twins quietly observe. With all of her teammates at the very edge of earshot, she braced for the inevitable shift in focus. Just stay calm and say as little as possible.

"So…what made you want to become a Huntress, Raven?"

Oh. Maybe she should have lied to Summer, before. "I wanted to stay with Qrow."

"His idea?" The Huntress asked, amused. "He was certainly quick to volunteer you to stay up here and do the boring work."

"He…" What would Qrow say? Her mind went blank.

…What would Summer say? "…I… dislike heights." There, put that way it wasn't even admitting weakness. "And Qrow doesn't mind them. He's just trying to be nice."

"Oh. That's sweet. …You two must be very close."

Raven nodded. She could do this. She could play along.

"I guess we won't have any of you trade off then." Oh, thank gods. "Well, what do you think of Huntressing so far, then?"

"Um…" she glanced at the edge of the cliff, where the three lines swayed gently and laughter echoed from below. "…Is this what you really do?"

"Oh—don't worry, there's not always so many cliffs involved."

"N-no—I meant—" Every Huntress she'd seen before coming to Beacon had been desperate, injured, dead. Expendable tools of people too weak to fight for themselves. "I thought it would be… harder?"

"You've been talking to Taiyang," Claret smiled, fiddling with the winch to give her daughter more line. "Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of Huntresses that go out looking for trouble. "Well—you went on some of Zelenia's expeditions, right? There's always something out there to hunt down or study—but yes, most of Huntress work is just… maintenance."

Huang nodded from his seat in the other truck bed. "These fledglings are no threat to us. But if someone untrained with their aura tried this, it could turn deadly fast. Add in the icy conditions and it's not really safe for Signal's students either. So we step in, because we can."

"What about bigger Grimm?" Raven countered.

"If you're doing your job right, you won't have any young and stupid Grimm that get big enough to be a threat. As for what wanders in from the wilds…"

"The old ones are smart enough to stay away from humans, at least when we don't weaken ourselves by attacking each other. And you should always have an idea of what's in the area."

"If you ever end up in a fight you're not prepared for, something went wrong a month or more ago."

"…What do you mean?"

Claret smiled again. "I'm sure by now you've heard Summer and Taiyang crack at least one joke about migration tracking."

Raven nodded.

"The Kingdoms spend a lot of resources keeping an eye on any large herds of Grimm that form." She turned out toward the ocean and pointed at the horizon. "You see those buoys out there? There's a listening station bolted to the seafloor under each one. Warns us if anything too big gets close to the island, gives us time to call Vale for backup if we need it. There's stations all over the mountains too, same thing, and the Kingdoms are putting them further and further out into the wilds every year."

"I suppose your farm would have been pretty far from any of the Kingdom's guard stations if you were growing something illegal, though," Huang added, too casually. "It makes sense you wouldn't know."

Adrenaline surged through Raven's veins, turning the world sharper and colder. "No—we grew—rice. It was just rice, and—" Of course she'd get them caught for the wrong thing—they'd be captured and discovered for sure—

"You're not in trouble!" Claret exclaimed. "They obviously threatened both of you—you didn't have a choice—" she froze for half a moment, repeating softly, "…you didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean?"

Huang cleared his throat with a different sort of hesitation. "…Apparently, Qrow let slip that the two of you had to keep watch for each other at night because the others would attack you. I hope I'm not the first person to say that's not normal."

That was pretty unlucky. At least if this is what killed them, it wouldn't be entirely her fault.

"You and your brother are safe with us. If you need help, or protection, we're here for you."

A trap. Like Professor Mesánychta's attempt to get her to confess everything to a doctor at Beacon. "We grew rice." She threw as much certainty into the words as she could.

The Huntress nodded, almost sadly. "It's all right. We just want to make sure you have somewhere else to go when the school year ends."

Raven didn't want to think about it. No, they didn't have a plan, and Qrow would have an unlimited number of threats and excuses to keep them in Vale and away from Vanta.

And he'd be right. His Semblance was no better now than when they left camp.

Maybe the Huntresses didn't have a reason to hurt them—yet—but they didn't have a reason to help, either.

"Why?"

Claret stared with a frown. "…Summer and Taiyang care about both of you. They appreciate what you've taught them, and they know you're struggling."

What we've taught them. Maybe she had underestimated how useful they were to their teammates.

Qrow laughed from below, and Raven held tight to the winch to lean out over the ledge to see, ingoring the way her stomach turned over.

"SIGnal POINT is FALLing DOWN," Tai sang, pushing away from the cliff on the half-beats and crashing back against the rocks in time to the song. Smoke and flames burst from under the shield clipped to his boots as it smashed through the fledglings' perches. One of the larger birds gave a high-pitched squawk as it flattened, and Qrow laughed again.

"…Seems to me like he's happy here," the Huntress murmured.

Refusal would be suspicious. They had let too much slip, and there really was nowhere else to go. "I'll talk to him about it."

***

"You kids are too good, that was supposed to take all day," Huang said.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Ms. Rose asked, taking Tai's hand and pulling him back onto solid ground.

Tai shrugged out of the harness and tossed it back into the box. "Ehh. This probably could have waited another month."

"There would be too much rain in another month," Claret pointed out, "and it shouldn't wait three or four more."

Tai shrugged sharply, unable to argue with that but still unhappy with it.

"Why did you want to become a Huntsman?"

"I want to do something that matters," he declared, accepting Summer and Qrow's harnesses and tossing them in with his own before popping the lid closed and latching it. "Not gonna stick with this kid stuff forever."

That didn't match what Claret said—and the Huntress took Raven's silent glance as a question. "There are, of course, some people who go out looking for trouble."

So that was the difference. All the Huntsmen that tracked down Vanta and Bones, that ambushed the tribe in the wilds or waited in villages that couldn't possibly afford them—

Something foul rose in the back of Raven's throat. "But—this does matter."

Qrow's mouth fell open.

"Well, yeah," Tai admitted, shrugging. "It's just boring. I want a challenge." With a teasing grin, he added, "Are you worried about me?"

She knew when she was being baited and so said nothing. Tai shrugged and turned away, giving her the chance to shoot Qrow a scathing glance behind his back.

"Let's get these back to the school," Huang said, gesturing for the twins to follow him back to the truck they arrived in.

"Everything go smoothly?" Qrow muttered, clambering in and offering a hand.

She nodded and took it. "You?"

"Fine."

Outside, Huang slammed the tailgate closed. Raven twisted at her vambrace. "…Mrs. Rose says this is what Huntresses do most of the time. Not the cliffs, the…cleanup."

"Really?"

Huang laughed, and the two nearly jumped. "You've been talking to Summer and Taiyang too much."

"But—" Raven frowned. Were they supposed to talk to them less? "They're our teammates." Or were they supposed to be talking to people outside of team STRQ more? Ugh—trying to learn the right things to say for just two people was hard enough.

He waved a hand, sliding into his seat. "Just an expression. I was the same at their age… desperate to get out there." The truck rumbled to life, crunching ice and rock as it started forward. "Too often people don't see the value in the little things until after we try to take on the world. They'll learn as they get more experience."

And what if they're killed before they learn?

Raven shook herself silently. It's not our problem. We're smart, we'll—damn it, we'll go HOME. They'd return, kill Vanta and Sanguin, take over the tribe, and teach the Huntsmen it wasn't worth coming after them. The children of Bones Branwen shouldn't have too much trouble with that—they'd only have to kill three or four to get the message across.

When both the tribe and the Huntsmen feared them, they'd finally be safe.

***

"I must have told him three times, 'Stay on the path.. Okay?' Then I turned around to get Summer out of her car seat, and when I looked back he was up to his knees in mud."

Tai froze, halfway out of the other cab, gaping at his father. "Are you telling them the—"

"Oh, I remember that," Claret said, thoughtful. "We never did find that shoe."

"He had them for two weeks! They were brand new!"

She giggled with a snort just like her daughter's, though Summer was currently trying to hide a smile from Tai.

"Are you two going to be this embarrassing all week?"

"I'm your dad, that's my job!"

Tai groaned in that exaggerated, joking way. "Let's just get out on patrol so you have to be quiet."

"Ah, you wound me!" he gasped, hanging the keys back on the wall.

"It's going to be dark soon," Summer said. "We really should get going if we're hiking to the cabin."

"You don't want to drive there on the second day of your first mission?"

"You're never going to let that go, are you."

"Hmm…" Claret smiled. "Ask me next year."

Raven followed them from the warehouse, out the eastern side of the fort. Half of one wall served as the local Huntsmen's base of operation, separate from the school—which apparently in a town this small just meant storage.

"Uncle Azraq?"

At the other large door—the main school entrance—a Huntsman froze on the threshold, head snapping toward Summer's voice, and his eyes widened.

"Uncle Az!" Tai shouted, and the two of them ran forward to hug him.

"Hey!" His eyes flicked past Raven, toward the other adults, only briefly. "How was your first day?"

"Ehh, nothing crazy. How was your mission?"

"…Just a false alarm," he lied, tension running under his voice.

"Aw, dang. Hope it didn't waste too much time."

"At least now you can meet the twins!"

"Of course," he replied, and they stepped aside to let him past. His gaze stayed trained on their teammates' parents, though, and he walked right past her—

Qrow stood with his head bowed, hands hanging limp at his sides. A knot of unease tightened in Raven's stomach as the Huntsman stopped right in front of her brother and spoke with a gentle voice.

"It's good to see you again."

Next Chapter: Qrow—Doesn’t Change Anything

[justreadingfics]

Looking For a Heartbeat (ch. 22/26)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Reader

Series Summary: You and Bucky used to be in a relationship. Feelings were hurt, you left.  It’s been two years and you’re back. You both will handle the reunion well, won’t you?

Word Count: 5,2K

Warnings for this chapter: fluff, cute kids, dad!bucky. 

A/N:  Thank you @suz-123 for being so amazing. I’m sorry for taking so  long to write this one.  For some reason it  was one of the hardest chapters for me. Ooo, I finally  have chapter count and I’ll most likely end it at the 26th.Links are messing up posts, you can find the masterlist link on my description.

 *I’m going to add all the amazing stuff some people has made for this story on  the  masterlist link.(I should add that my Reader character has no specific physical characteristics, this is just one of the possible representations) this beautiful moodboard  was  made by @buckybarnesbeans​   thank you babe, I loved it. 

By the way, if you somehow feel inspired by my story and want to make a little something out of it, just know you’ll turn me into a very happy writer ;)

~~~

 “She’s all wrinkled.”

“Oh, man!”

“It’s ok,” You chuckle when Harry lets the frustrated whisper out at Luna’s comment, one of the two children in his arms, careful not to wake the peacefully sleeping baby in the crib, “She does look a little wrinkled now, Luna. She came out of my belly just a couple of days ago.” You continue and laugh at the grimace the little girl gives at the information.

“I think she’s cute,” Jon whispers just like his father, gaining a smile from him.

“Thank you, Jon,” You reach and fumble with his hair, “She’ll look cuter in time, I promise, Luna,” You add, amused by the kid’s blatant disappointment at the newborn looks.

Summer ended up not having to stay in intensive care, like most premature babies. The first tests had shown the serum has made her healthier than most babies, but so far that’s it. Doctor Nadine explained that, whether it would make her strong like her dad or bring her any other super characteristic or not, only time would tell.

The first couple of days after you brought Summer home have been extremely busy, with a bustle of people coming and going, everyone wanting to take a little peek at the youngest habitant of the tower, showering her with all kinds of presents from this world and others. You don’t mind it, in fact, you love it, this just means how cared for Summer is by so many of your friends… your family. Besides, it’s certainly fun to watch Steve, the massive and respectful Captain America, bursting into ugly crying every time he gets a chance to hold Summer.

Bucky likes the crowd, too. He’s always eager to show off his daughter, bragging about how healthy and big she was when she was born, how quiet she is, how well she sleeps, how cute her little cry is -which it’s not-, but you let him say whatever. Watching how big his love for your baby is will always be one of the most special things you’ve ever seen…

He’s been staying at the tower, in his old bedroom, and hardly ever leaves yours and Summer’s side. Just now, like an hour or so before Harry arrived with the kids, Bucky only left to go grab some clean clothes from his apartment. You suspect he’s staying a little longer…

“We brought presents,” Luna announces, lifting a little box to the air, after her dad puts her and her twin on the floor.

“Shhh, Luna, the baby is sleeping,” Jon places a finger over his mouth, holding another similar box in his other hand.

“It’s ok.  Summer sleeps like a rock, thank God,” You give Harry a sigh of relief, who chuckles, before you turn back to the little ones, “Ooo, presents, she loves presents, can I see them?” You crouch, reaching out for the boxes, which they both hand you, bouncing on their legs and giggling.

“They chose them themselves,” Harry says, proudly, sitting on the fluffy carpet, following you and the kids.

They both help you unwrap the boxes, and you find two little figures with big bouncy heads. You know what they are. Funko Pops. They’ve made a few of the Avengers before, including one from you.  

“This is Luna Lovegood.”  Luna announces as you stare questioningly at the little figures. She leans over and points to the female one. A blond little girl with big and weird colored glasses.

“This is Jon Snow.” Her brother, points to the male one, all in black and holding up a sword.

You shoot an entertained look at Harry, who only cringes and try to hide into himself.

“Oh, wow, Luna and Jon. It’s you guys?” You ask, already knowing the answer.

“Hum-hum,” They both nod, “And we’ll protect Summer when she cries.” Luna adds.

“Oh,” Your heart melts as you smile and your eyes can’t help but water at the sweetness of their intent, “That’s amazing. Thank you so much.” You bring the little Funkos to your chest, “Summer will love them and I’m so glad she has you guys to protect her. I’ll put them on the shelf right next to her crib, alright?”

They seem pleased with the information as they lift up their chin and smile widely. After giving each a kiss on the cheek and add Harry as a receiver of the thankful gesture, you get up to place the little images on the shelves with Summer’s many stuffies her dad bought her. Not to mention the human size one Tony gave her and now occupies a great deal of the room.

“Mr. Bucky!”

You hear them both shouting in unison and look over your shoulder just in time to watch the two little kids running and throwing themselves at Bucky, who promptly catches them by the  door.

“Ugh, hey, hey,” He adjusts them on each arm, grinning, “How are you guys doing?”

“We’re fine, your little baby is sleeping,” Luna informs quickly, swinging her legs and playing with a lock of his hair absentmindedly.

“She’s cute,” Jon adds from the other arm making Bucky’s smile grow even bigger.

“She is, isn’t she, pal?”

“She’s a little too wrinkled now, but Y/N says she’ll get cuter soon, we brought her presents, look, there’s a huge bear over there, bigger than you, Mr. Bucky,” Luna utters quickly and effusively, with her usual and childish honesty.

Bucky laughs a full belly laugh, before placing them back on the floor. He smiles at you before turning to Harry, who’s now standing up, trying to find some place on his clothes to shove his hands into.

“Hey, man,” Bucky clears his throat and his smile drops a bit when he reaches his hand for Harry to shake.

“Hey, ahm, Summer is beautiful, congratulations,” Harry says, accepting his handshake.

The smile tugs at Bucky’s lips again at the mention of Summer, and after thanking him and letting go of Harry’s hand, he walks towards the crib to watch her sleeping.

You sigh, grabbing a couple of stuffies to show the kids… You noticed how tense Bucky got at the sight of Harry …You hate that.

“Oh, well, well, if it ain’t the Super Spy twins I see? I should take cover.”

“Auntie Nat,” Another burst of happy squeals fills up the room and you’re thankful Summer really seems to be a pretty heavy sleeper so far.

The twins rush to go give Nat a hug. You can’t help but beam at the scene. Nat has told you she and Harry had took the kids on a couple of dates -  without actually telling them about the true nature of their relationship and by the “auntie” before “Nat” and the excitement on their little faces as she crouches to receive their hug, the dates were a success. You couldn’t be happier for your friend.

Glancing over Harry,  you spot the stupid and infatuated look you have ever seen someone put on as his gaze is stuck on the three of them. When his eyes flicker and meet yours, he instantly  straightens up, clearing his throat and blushing harder than when he met Steve.

You chuckle quietly, but doesn’t say or let out any sign of the fact you know exactly the cause of the dumb look on his face.  If they want it that way, you respect that. All this while Bucky remains oblivious to the scene, completely enamored of the little figure on the crib, just staring at her, like he’s done a lot the last few days.

“Hey, Nat,” you greet, with a smirk adorning your face as you saunter over  her, raising a suggestive eyebrow before you hand the little stuffies to Luna and Jon.

“Ahhh, so cute,” Luna yelps and she and Jon entertain themselves with the little bears.

“Hey, hot mama,” She greets back, kissing your cheek, “Hey, there,” She says in her huskiest voice and nods at Harry, taking a not so subtle bite on her lip as she shamelessly gives him a once over.

“H-hi, hey,” He stutters, adjusting his glasses. He doesn’t even dare to look at your direction. How haven’t you noticed those two before?     

“Where’s my girl?” Natasha turns back to you - as if she hasn’t just almost murdered Harry – and puts emphasis on girl. After Summer was born and the secrecy was over, Nat was the absolutely cheeriest in finding out Summer was a girl. I knew it, not a traitor. You believe these were the exact first words she said to the baby with happy tears in her eyes, “Is our little sun, asleep?” She asks, already moving over to the crib.  

In line with her question, the cry Bucky insists on calling “sweet” fills up the room.

“There she is,” you laugh and everyone’s attention turn to the little baby already in Bucky’s arms.

You walk over him as he rocks her and simultaneously checks her diaper, “Ooo, a pretty girl needs a change,” he announces, “Hey, Nat,” He smiles, “It’s ok, it’s my turn,” He addresses to you when you reach to take her, and, as he strikes a baby talk with Summer, he already places her on the changer. You notice he ends up touching her with his metal arm – the gentlest of touches- which makes you feel relieved and proud at the same time.    

“Oh, ok. I think it’s time to feed her again, too. I’ll do it after you’re done.” You say.   

As he starts the process of changing Summer, with the most tender moves you’ve ever seen, Nat stands beside him, caressing her face with the back of her finger and quietly singing a Russian lullaby to soothe her exasperated crying. Your heart turns into a puddle at the scene of two of the deadliest assassins in the world at the complete mercy of the little baby.

“Ahm, we should go, kids.” Harry calls from behind you, enticing effusive lament sounds from the little ones, who’ve been playing with the stuffies.

“Oh no, you don’t have to,” You try to argue as you turn back to them. 

Summer has now eased down her crying, allowing Auntie Nat to the rescue, “Why don’t we go grab some ice cream, huh guys?” She claps her hand, bending over.

Two little faces light up at the proposal, “I want three scoops.” Luna shouts, dropping the stuffie to the floor as her little feet bolts towards a grinning Nat. 

“I want four.” Jon quickly follows her sister and, just  like her, grabs Nat’s hand before they both start pulling her towards the door. 

“Five…” You hear the little girl’s voice, as they’re already out of the room.

When Harry turns to you he’s not even trying to hide the shit-eating smile on his lips anymore. He shrugs before you tell your goodbyes.

~~~

Becoming a mother is truly an interesting process, to say the least,  you understand it more and more, as the months go by with Summer by your side. While one moment it feels like you’ve been awakened for too long, the hours of feeding are endless and you miss missions and it’s like you’ll never adjust to your new routine; at others, you’re crying because your baby is growing too fast, you’re afraid to screw her up and you don’t want to do anything but hold her close to you and never let go.

You love your kid with all your heart and more than anything, but you’re still trying to figure out how to be a mother most of the time- earning you a  lot of long ass sessions with Heloise. While every so often you struggle with your new life, Bucky, as it turns out, is a natural. It’s like he was born to be a father. He does everything with you: he gives her baths, he rocks her to sleep, changes diapers, tells stories she, despite being too young to actually understand them, pays focused attention on... Little by little, his fear of touching her with his metal arm has vanished and it’s like he doesn’t even remember he has it. As a matter of fact, it turns out to be a very useful tool to cool down Summer when the heat is too strong.

One night, while you three struggle with infant cramps and he calms her down by waddling her snugly in a blanket, rubbing soft circles on her back, he tells you he’s been remembering of how he used to take care of his younger sisters and that’s why it seems so much easier with Summer now.

Around the second month after her birth he still hasn’t gone back to his apartment and that’s when the following scene takes place, while you’re feeding Summer on the couch in your living room and he’s right there by your side, dreamily caressing her chubby cheeks -  a habit that often distracts the baby and makes her stop sucking and prolonging the time you spend feeding her, but you would never tell him that. A particularly loud sigh from him catches your attention, making you shift your gaze from your daughter, peacefully dozing in your arms, to him.

“Are you ok?” You asked softly as your eyebrows draw together.

His gaze snaps to you for a second before it drops back to Summer, “Yeah, it’s just… I have to come back to my apartment and… it hurts…” He sighs, “Just the idea of staying away from her… it physically pains me.”

“Oh,” it slips from your mouth, before you look back to her. You imagine what it would feel if you had to stay apart from her… No. Not happening, “Why do you have to go?” You ask.

Hopeful eyes bore into yours, “You wouldn’t mind? I mean…”

His hesitation makes you scoff, “Why would I? This is your home.” You say, shrugging and nodding at Summer, making clear what you mean by “home.”

At the very next day, Bucky moves back to the Tower. But, instead of occupying his old room, he accepts your offer to stay  in a spare bedroom in the apartment Tony made for you. Three floors apart would be too far away from Summer, after all…

On the days after his moving, it doesn’t slip from your attention that, after you ask Friday to wake you up again if he had nightmares – like you did what if feels like ages ago- not even once she ends up having to do it, since, while he’s not taking care of Summer, he sleeps peacefully and deeply…

~~~

When Summer is six months old you decide to go back to missions. You start with small and quick ones that don’t require you to leave the city. Staying away from her those few moments is a sweet pain, but one you know it’ll be good for you. And for her, honestly.

Bucky decides to wait a little longer, which you’re glad for. You’re not sure how you feel about a nanny or daycare yet. Bucky’s safe and you’re very fond of safe when it comes to your baby daughter.

One of his favorite things in the world is to dress up Summer. While you usually go for the most practical pieces of clothing you find, he likes to adorn her hair with big bows, ribbons, tiaras, cute hats matching the most adorable dresses, buying her new ones almost on a daily basis. All of it very comfortable and harmless for her, of course.

She’s nine months old when Tony pulls up a small party to celebrate Pepper’s birthday. If it were up to him, he would definitely go big at the celebration, but Pepper said she preferred something small and he respected it. Well, at least as far as Tony Stark’s concept of “small” would go.  He uses the pool area for the party, inviting the Avengers, a few agents from fellow organizations and a small group of friends.  

This is Summer’s first real party and she looks absolutely endearing in Bucky’s arms when you three walk into the place. He’s chosen a red dress with white polka dots for her. There’s a white bowknot on the waist matching a big ribbon of the same color on her head and white little party shoes. She’s swaying her legs back and forth, as one arm rests lazily around her dad’s neck and she shifts her gaze from him to all the people who stop by to tell her what a beautiful baby she is.

Each day she looks more and more like you, but some traces are all her father’s, like her big blue eyes. But what really fills your heart with love and pride is that Summer is growing into a pretty sociable and charming kid. Everyone around her at the party gains a huge smile as a response and, if the praise really pleases her, she lets out a giggle and puts up a funny scrunched up face you’ve taught her to do. The cutest.

“Auntie Nat… Auntie Nat…” Natasha repeats in a baby voice, playing with Summer’s little hand.

“Cool down, Natasha, she’s nine months old.” Sam rolls his eyes beside her, before shaking his head at you.  

“This girl is a prodigy. And, you don’t get to say anything, it’s already enough her first smile was to you.” Nat grimaces at him.

“She loves Uncle Sam, don’t you, pretty girl? Don’t you?” Sam also uses his baby voice, brushing his finger on Summer’s nose, pulling out a giggle from the happy baby and a snarl from Nat.   

Her first smile was indeed aimed to Sam while he made a weird dance for her. Bucky was absolutely devastated. At least he turned out being the second person to make her smile, by imitating exactly what Sam was doing. However, for Steve’s dismay and many of the others, her undeniably favorite uncle is Thor with all the lightning magic he pulls for her, even if he doesn’t show up as much as the others. She loves all her uncles and aunties, though, dearly, which she should for being so spoiled by all of them.

“Come on, stop it. She loves all of you, guys…” You intercede. You can’t resist and pop a loud kiss on your daughter’s soft and chubby cheek. 

“But no more than she loves her daddy, of course.” Bucky pecks her other one and you two end up trapping the baby girl between a series of tiny kisses.      

“Oh, God, that’s too sweet, I’m gonna get sick…” Sam makes a face, but smiles anyway and you pull your tongue out, “Ok. I’m going to take a look around,” He says, after chuckling at the three of you.  

“Me too,” Nat says,  “Are you guys sitting down here?” She asks, pointing at the nearest table.

You’ve just arrived, but haven’t really still settled. When the favorite little person of the team gets in the place, there’s a lot of stops on your way so everyone can say hello and gush praises on her.  

“Uhm, yeah,” You answer, before addressing to Bucky, “What about we sit for a moment, then we can take Summer to play a bit and watch the kids.” You point to the playground where a number of recreation workers entertain the children.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Bucky agrees, already pushing stroller with his free hand towards the table.

After Nat and Sam leave and the three of you set yourselves on the round table, Wanda approaches and somehow manages to steal Summer from Bucky’s arms, sitting down next to you and snatching the kid’s attention with red drawings in the air.

“I’m gonna go say hello to Steve and grab some food, I’m starving. Do you want anything?” Bucky asks you, already getting up.

“Oh, sure, thank you.” You’re starving too, getting ready to go out with a baby, even in the same tower you live, isn’t a walk in the park and you’ve forgotten to eat at all that morning, “Can you bring, uhm,” You twist your mouth and frown, thinking about all the goodies that can be easily found at Tony’s parties every single  time, “Ooo, see if there’s lobster sliders, ugh, of course, those little fried shrimp balls, a bit of potato chips and-”

“Garlic bread.” He winks at you with a knowing smirk on his face.

A smile twists your lips widely, enticing one of his own, “Yeah, garlic bread,” You confirm, softly.  

Someone clearing their throat bursts the little bubble quickly growing around you and him. This… the bubble… has been happening a lot lately. You turn to the sound’s direction to see Wanda staring at both of you, eyebrows high on her forehead, while Summer is also watching quietly you and Bucky from her lap. 

“Oh, do you want anything, Wands?” Bucky asks, brushing the back of his neck.

“I’m good, thanks.”  She answers with a small smile.

“Alright, be right back.” He rushes away after kissing the top of Summer’s head.

You lean to grab a bottle of water from the bucket of ice a waiter has left there when you sat.

“What the hell are you doing?”  

“What do you mean?” You don’t look at Wanda, pouring some water on your glass before  taking a sip.

“You and Bucky.”

“Don’t even go there, Wands. There’s no me and Bucky.” You notice Summer starting to fuss with nothing to do and reach for the bag the grab and give her a pair of maracas, her current favorite toy.   She accepts it and promptly starts to swing them to the air, loving the noise it produces. You smile fondly at her.

“You’re honestly going to tell me you don’t see what’s going on?” Wanda tilts her head.

You shrug, still focusing on Summer, who keeps playing excitedly on her aunt’s lap.

“I think it’s been what?” Wanda insists with a bit of impatience seeping into her tone, “Nine months since I last saw you two separated from one another? You’re keep doing things together and for each other… I felt completely invisible here. Did he actually complete your sentence? For God’s sake, he lives in your apartment, Y.N.”

Your eyes snap up to her.

“You’re living a married life without actually being married.” Her gaze bore into yours and you can see the care in them.

You halt for a second. If you think about it, it’s true. You haven’t talked about your relationship again but you did fall into a routine of a couple. You do everything together, he’s living with you…  You haven’t even thought about seeing someone else and you’re pretty sure he hasn’t either. It feels so different from before… before you left, but at the same time, it feels like nothing has changed, like you’ve never left and you still belong to each other. Except you don’t… Not really. 

 It’s been good this way. So good… but you would die and kill to kiss him again. Not a kiss like the one you two gave at Summer’s birth, but a passionate, devastatingly breathtaking kiss, you dream about frequently…to feel his hot skin against yours… to hold him in your sleep...

But this is you… It doesn’t mean he feels the same way and if you try anything and this isn’t what he wants or maybe what he’s ready for…

“We’re being parents, Wands.” When you finally speak is but a whisper. “We haven’t had time to think of anything other than Summer all this time. You’re right, we’ve been really…huh… attached to each other ever since she was born and it’s so worthy to be like this. I’m so happy. He’s happy. I’m afraid that…” You take in a deep breath, looking down.

“That if you try to change it, you’ll lose it. You’ll lose him.” Wanda speak your mind and you know she is not even using her powers.

You nod quietly.

“Oh, honey…”

You tighten your lips in a sad smile and shrug.

“Hey, there,” Harry’s voice catches the attention from both of you as he walks towards the table. Well, the three of you, actually, since Summer swings her little maracas even harder and puts on a beautiful and almost toothless grin for him.

After you and Wanda answer his greeting, Harry goes straight to Summer and excuses himself to grab her from Wanda’s lap, lifting her into the air, ripping out happy squeaks from the baby and fond looks from the two adults, seizing the previous subject completely. Harry and the kids have been visiting a lot ever since she was born and Summer absolutely adores them, especially the kids.

“Where’s Luna and Jon?” You ask. 

“Oh, they went straight to the playground.”  He answers after blowing a few raspberries on Summer’s  stomach,  making her squirm and giggle.  “I was looking for…ahm,” He seems taken aback for a moment, shifting gazes from you to Wanda, “I haven’t seen anyone else, is, huh, everyone here, yet?”

Wanda smirks at you, before standing up, “Don’t worry, I’ll let Nat know you’re here. I’ll talk to you later, Y/N,” She taps Harry’s shoulder on her way out.

Harry’s jaw drops at her comment and he’s livid when he looks back at you, “I- why- I don’t know why she-”

“Hush, Harry,” you snicker, interrupting him while before he becomes a stuttering mess, “Come, sit here,” you tap Wanda’s vacant spot and he does as you say, a sheepish and confused look on his face, “I know.”  You smile at him.

He gapes at you while he adjusts Summer on his lap and she goes back to play with her pair of maracas, “You know?” His whole face turns into crimson red and his eyes grow impossibly round.

“I do, took me  a while to figure it out I admit it,” you shake your head, mocking a disappointment face at yourself, “I’m not sure how long Wanda knows but, powers or not, it’s almost impossible to hide anything from her,” you add a little bitterly given the bit of conversation you’ve just had with her.

“Oh…  I thought no one knew yet.” He seems lost in his own thoughts. 

“Listen, Harry,” You lean closer to him, “I understand why you two decided to keep it as a secret, but I just wanted you to know…I’ve never seen her so happy as these last few months.”

His whole face lights up and he can’t help the curl on his lips while he adjusts his glasses on his face, “R-really?”

“Really,” You nod, smiling “And I’m so damn happy for the two of you, as well. You both deserve what’s best.”

While his grin grows bigger, Summer eyes raise from her maracas to you and she drops the toy to the floor, reaching her little arms to you. 

“Oh, come here, my little sun,” You promptly take her from Harry’s lap to yours. Someone misses mommy and your heart never ceases to skip a beat every time she does that.

After you kiss your daughter’s forehead and tickle her sides, she lays back comfortably against you and you go back to Harry,  “You better take care of her, mister, or you’ll have to deal with one super person or two.”

 “Oh no, don’t worry, I’ve only felt this way once before, and…”He says quietly, “Goddammit, I love her… I love her.” He repeats as his chest heavies.

“Oh my God, Harry.” You gasp and immediately pulls him into a hug, which he quickly  responds. Two of your best friends in love- because you damn well know Nat’s in love with him too- is one hell of a huge thing and your heart fills up with pride and hope for them.

When you part from Harry, you spot a broad figure standing by the table. Summer lets out happy squeals at the sight of her father. He only takes his eyes away from Harry  to smile at the baby, while managing to carry four plates filled with food on his arms.

“Oh, hey.” Harry beams, the joy of the confession still lingering on his whole demeanour.

“Hey, uhm, Wanda told me to tell you to come back to the playground and you’ll find what you’re looking for.” Bucky narrows his eyes at him.

“Oh, ok”  Harry can’t hide his excitement when his gaze find yours, “Got to go, see you guys around?”

“Sure,” You nod at him, still smiling.

Once he’s gone, Bucky takes his seat beside you, disposing the plates on the table. You put Summer on the stroller, handing her a few more toys, so you two can take a little time to eat.

 A few minutes later you have already devoured the lobster slider and Bucky remains silent, apart from a brooding noise or two as answers to your attempts at making conversation. He hasn’t even touched his food and just plays with it in a very evident gloomy way.  

Considering Harry is a constant presence in your lives, one would think Bucky would have cooled down his initial wariness of him. And he did. He truly did. However, you notice sometimes he gets like this when you’re somehow a little too expressive with your friendly affection for Harry. You’re not sure if this is jealous and of what he could be jealous of, but you hate to see him like that.  

“Hey, Bucky,” you call, absentmindedly.

He just hums to acknowledge it.  

“Take a look over there.”

He gazes at you, before following the direction of your pointing finger: Nat and Harry, right across the pool, with their back to you as they watch Luna and Jon playing with the rest of the kids. Sam standing on Nat’s other side.  

“What?” He frowns at you.

“Just…keep looking.”

He turns back to them and, just a few seconds later, you both watch as Nat’s hand navigates smoothly to grab one of Harry’s butt cheeks.

You laugh quietly when Bucky’s jaw drops.  

“No way,” his eyes widen and he looks back at you.

“Way…Since that car accident, before Summer was born,” You inform, relishing in his astonished expression. A very similar one to the face you’ve might have had when you found out.

He lets out a loud and long laugh and his shoulder loses all the tenseness. Shaking his head in disbelief, he reaches out and grabs a piece of garlic bread from your plate to shove it in his mouth. 

A small smile remains on his lips for the rest of the day while Wanda’s words echo into your mind…

What the hell are you doing?

~ ~ ~

Ch.  23 coming soon. 

[jjaeong]

Color-Correction Post (50 Followers Edition).

(Posting this through my laptop because my phone kept crashing when I change the colors or even link the source?)

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional, this is post was created just to put into perspective how I always tweak the colors in each GIF I attach to my fics. I just wanted to share this because it’s honestly satisfying with the end result (and in celebration of 50 followers).

Before I got into this entire GIF in fics thing, I thought that it was cool how there’d always be a GIF attached into what I’d always read on this site—I’ve observed how it somehow made it easier to get into whatever it was you were reading when there was some visualization attached to it (no matter how lightly written the fic is). And I’ve done this “writing template” with the two borders and the gif in the middle—but I don’t consider the fic on my other account as influenced as this account because it was just literally one drabble (if you find it—hmu lmao).

Also, I think I mislead you guys about my last writing account being back in 2014 (but honestly, I don’t remember any other time than my last drabble in the Summer of 2020—I had a lot of things going on since I started attending University).

But that’s a story for another time.

I just like the idea of incorporating the right visuals in my fics because—other than I don’t seem to have anything else to do (lmao)—I just found it easier to write with what I can see with the imagery, and so I thought that it would be cool if my readers would get to experience the same thing and not just in my head, you know? 

Honestly this sounds so taxing and it looks like I’m putting too much effort into it but.. It’s art? This blog is a passion project that had just been brought to life— something we can always come back to when we feel like doing so.

Anyways, here’s the step by step process of making the GIFS.

One. Finding The Right Visualization.

I’m not strict in finding a source, usually I’d be watching loonatv and I’d suddenly be hit by the scene like—oh, that looks like it’ll fit in this idea that I thought about earlier. But what I am strict about is if I can find a better angle (this goes with the fan site sources and etcetera), because it usually starts from “this looks nice” and should end with “okay, it’s time to write about it” but sometimes, sadly it would end with “I don’t feel that great about the plot idea though”.

But for the series stuff (such as The Heiress which is currently ongoing) it’s harder to find more cinematic shots that fit the mood. I try my best on finding a video that would set the foundation of the fic before going ahead and downloading the videos from a separate online video converter.

I also make sure to take note of the dates, the links and specially the channel name or basically the source because if I found the shot pretty and just took it without giving credit—I admire these non-profit(?) fan sites (I love vantablack’s fan cams of Hyunjin the most) so that’s why I started to include sources. Simply appreciating the craft.

Two. Color Correcting By The Fic’s Tone.

The thing that I honestly do not like the most is the fade(?) effect that loonatv adds to their videos, I’ve noticed how they always applied this because it makes the girls somewhat “brighter” but it takes away their more.. Natural colors. The lighting in this shot was bright enough to somewhat strengthen the fading effect that they put—but the thing I keep feeling upset for is that you lose a bit of the natural setting that the girls themselves make brighter.

So if it’s a light fic, a happy one shot like Rest Easy Love, I’ll Always Be Your Favorite Girl, I added a warmer tone to the GIF.

(I think I corrected it some more after recording this on my screen, but you guys get the point lmao sorry).

And when it’s a more darker type of fic, this is an example of how I envision the lighting would be like The Heiress effect (which I applied to this exact GIF just for comparison). That’s all to it when I CC—just keep in mind the vibe of the fic, adjust the lighting and etcetera, and finally add the effects if you have them.

Three. The Cinematic Border And Final Export.

I found it easier to just adjust the video itself under the border to fit it instead of cropping because it really takes so much space when you crop it. You’d barely get a full decent view so I just drag and adjust it. 

After I’ve finished the video, I then export the file and send it to my online archives or via cable to my phone (when I’m in a hurry). The reason why I upload it on a cloud is that sometimes after I edit the video, I tend to burn myself out so I can’t be bothered to turn it instantly into a GIF.

I use my phone to convert the video into a GIF because whenever I use my video editing software it tends to not upload in this site, and after looking for the reason why—turns out you can only upload up to 15MB of your GIF here—I just convert it on my phone because it’s the quickest when it comes to compressing the file.

Then I open my drafts and attach it there along with my borders, and that’s about it.

At this point I think now you guys know why I take my time to post and follow through my chapters (because I like to wait for the inspiration to hit before I start writing, and that I look for clips that will help me visualize better)—but I just want to say that one day we’ll reach a bigger audience, there will be more people expecting quality from this blog and as much as I’d hate to admit it, I am aware that it will take a toll on me.

But that will never stop me from loving these girls because they’ve been nothing but a positive source of happiness from me—I’ve been through so much last year and they somehow made me feel like myself again, and that’s such a big impact in my current situation right now and this is how I want to express myself in loving them.

I want nothing other than to give these girls a positive light in this blog, and though times may be rough we’d still have these Y/N fics to come back to when we feel like we’re not living the Y/N life in reality.

And I know this is a lot of talk for a small following—but someone out there will always read your notes, no matter how silly it will be there will always be a reader that will like your work even if you don’t feel confident in your writing.

Because if your following is the reason you’re writing, then write for them.

If you’re writing for yourself just as I am—do it.

As long as there is passion inside of you, pursue it. Even if it’s just writing Y/N fics while you’re balancing too many things at once.

Stay passionate, that’s all I truly had to say.

You guys are cool.

Laters,

JJ

>ovc: loonatheworld (171212)

https://youtu.be/eUeFUBy40ow