#thank you everyone for being so super kind and considerate always!

[mimikusu]

Hi! Thank you for your message, and welcome back ^^ 😊. I'm sorry if a post I made made you uncomfortable. I did not post much about that discourse drama, but felt like I had to at least clarify my opinion as I post about contagion scenarios pretty often. I will tag posts concerning this topic as "snzblr discourse" in the future should I post more about it (which I don'tplan at this point), in case that would help to make my blog a safer space for you.

Also, feel free to reach out via DM as well if you like. To just chat or for example if you wish to block a certain topic, I'm open to adding tags so it's easier for people to just block those.

Plus: I have kind of a fangirl moment right now, because I adore your work 💕

Have a nice day and thanks for reaching out 😊

Even though we already exchanged dms, I'll answer this publicly. Maybe it also concerns others, if not, well... it's still a super sweet and considerate message and I'm very happy you've been so kind about it. First of all, I very much respect when ppl state their boundaries and I think this is a very important thing in any community. However, I very much struggle with anxiety when ppl voice conflicting opinions on ethic matters. This is a me problem, which is why I usually don't engage and maybe whenever something like this comes up, it would be wise for me to just shut off tumblr for a few days or weeks until it's over. Somehow, I just can't... maybe it's the adhd... so I end up causing myself a panic attack and because unfortunately I can not remove certain posts without unfollowing ppl, this time I snapped and I unfollowed a few accounts to minimize the damage. I now started refollowing ppl that I removed due to this, so just don't mind me. 😅

It's super super sweet of you that you first of all didn't mind, but also offered tagging discourses in a way that I could block them! Thank you so much for this!!! I already blacklisted a few word associated with these kind of discussions and I managed to clean my dash enough to feel comfortable again. So maybe next time I don't have to rely on impulsive panic reactions! 💕

And thank you SO much for your super nice tags on the piece I posted yesterday. They made me feel especially guilty about snapping and unfollowing you. 👉👈

Also, I can hardly describe what I felt when I first read your message in my inbox! I'm so so flattered that you'd not even be mad with me (which thanks to paranoia I was certain you would be) but also feeling flattered somehow that I reached out to you about this, even though I've been the one who wronged you in a way by removing you from my dash just because you stated your opinion on something you thought important to say!

[drdemonprince]

ENM/Poly circles explicitly discourage real talk around jealousy, and practical considerations around nonmonog in ways that routinely exclude and excise POC and disabled people.

ENM/Poly expects everyone involved to act as though “love” is the reason for every relationship choice. Cliche #1: love isn’t finite. Which… sure. Maybe love isn’t finite, but attention and time sure are— and those are at a premium.

Cliche #2: Love is all you need/love is what makes a family. I am familiar with criticism of this from a family abolition, anticapitalist standpoint, but I have seen this be uncritically repeated by ENM/Poly people. It’s not true that love is what makes a relationship work or not work. It’s also about dumb shit, like geographical proximity and practicality. Good luck being ENM if you can’t regularly host because you have roommates or live at home. Good luck being the gold standard of ENM (out to everyone, including family and maybe even the workplace!) if you are any kind of marginalized. Love is simply not enough. There’s real world shit to consider.

Most ENM/Poly people are white gen x’ers and older millenials for a reason. It’s a framework that works awesome if you have abundant spare space, disposable income to blow, and free time. Plus most ENM/Poly people are heavily in therapy, and just have a fuckton of time to deal with their various baggages… or at least like to posture as though they are doing those things.

Non monog can be liberatory— disabled polycules caring for one another. QPRs! Multiparent households! But ENM/Poly is very lodged in a liberal, hyper-independent Super Good Boundaries Thank You Very Much world of its own, and so most of the “resources” like More Than 2 or Polysecure have hella flaws in that respect.

COME OFF ANON SO I CAN FOLLOW YOU! Because you just said a whole word.

I find "ethical nonmonogamy" and polyamory circles to be viscerally unpleasant and alienating to be in as a crazy, chaotic antipsych person who does not always make choices for carefully therapized, restrained reasons -- and who doesn't believe that most other people do either, no matter how much they claim to.

I don't fuck multiple people to serve some higher purpose; I do it because I'm horny, impulsive, and have a variety of niche fetishes that are really difficult to satisfy.

I didn't choose to be openly nonmonogamous because I nurtured my soul and found that it was abundant with love that I just had to give -- all my relationships already were nonmonogamous at one point or another, either because I cheated or the other person did or both, and I eventually decided to move with my feelings rather than against them, and to stop denying all that is inside me -- all of the hunger and darkness as well as the light.

And I can't say that my nonmonogamy is inherently "ethical" either -- just like my monogamy sure wasn't! I'm a human being, and a crazy one at that, I get jealous, I have emotional blowups, I lash out and fuck other people to make myself feel better or to affirm that I am desired, I make big demands of the people I date, I fail to show up for people consistently, I get hurt, and I hurt others, and I will continually have more to learn. I will also continually have wild animal emotions and triggers, and I won't always deal with them in the way my partner(s) might want me to. I try to avoid hurting other people needlessly, of course, but sometimes your own needs are incompatible with another person's, and hurt is inevitable.

When there is only so much time and attention available in our lives, it's true that somebody's often going to come up short. And ultimately the person that I choose above all others is me. And so, no, I can't say I'm always doing nonmonogamy in some caring yet dispassionate way, or that love is the solution to all problems -- I am driven by passion and need, and sometimes being alive in those ways means getting hurt, or hurting in turn.

I would echo essentially all that you've said. We need time and resources and spaces to enjoy privacy with other people, and if you're not some rich work-from-homer, that shit's all in short supply. I hate the sheen of calm positivity that "ENM" and polyamory folks tend to place on everything -- as if no choices they make are fueled ever by bitterness, dislike, resentment, or hell, fucking white hot irrational DESIRE. With how fair and measured so many of them make their polyamory sound, I don't even see what's fun about any of it.

Sometimes you want to upend your whole life because you're so down bad for a person. Sometimes you hate the shit out of your partner's partners and you say and do little manipulative shitty things to convey those feelings, or to try and blow the relationship up. Sometimes the hours just don't add up and somebody gets shafted. Sometimes you make a promise and then you can't follow through, or just don't WANT to anymore because you have changed.

These are real human realities whether we like it or not, and I find it terribly unrealistic AND unsexy to refuse to acknowledge all the darkness and frustration that comes out in any relationship. I think a lot of the ENM/poly crowd that is white and middle class and heavily therapized is so averse to naming anything edgy or prickly in themselves that they make their spaces actively hostile to anybody who openly expresses negative feelings. That means Black & brown people get tone-policed a ton, "mad" people like me get no-true-scotsmanned out of "ethical" nonmonogamy for ever doing anything messily, and all the romance and sexiness of relationships gets sanded down into a Canva-graphic beige blandness of weekly polycule meetings and processing sessions.

In this world of self-optimization, even fucking and loving other people has to be cast as therapuetic -- our desires must justify themselves by somehow making us better, more capable, more controlled people, But fuck that. Sometimes sex or love is worth exploding your whole life over. The ENM/poly crowd says their way of loving makes them more even-keeled but it seems like a kind of death to me.

[pretty-little-mind33]

NON-MAGIC AU JAMES POTTER AND A FEM!READER WHO IS NERVOUS ABOUT THE GYM

Ask: hi hon! i saw your request were open and i was wondering if you could write about james with a reader who has a hard time with going to the gym and he's super patient with her and kinda helps her develop a healthy relationship with the gym? i totally understand if you don’t want to!! have a wonderful day hon and stay safe and hydrated 💐

~ this was such an adorable idea that i wanted to write something even if only in headcanon form! i hope you don't mind, lovie! thank you sm for requesting 🫶 ~

• James is so very strong! He's an athletic, muscular guy. ARMS FOR DAYS! He doesn't have any problems going to the gym. On the contrary, he loves the gym. It's his happy place and he's also made loads of friends there!

• (he makes friends wherever he goes.)

• It isn't until you're maybe 3-4 months into dating that James brings up the dreaded question; "You wanna to go to the gym with me?"

• The first three times he asks, your excuses work on him. "I'm not feeling super well!" - "I have plans with some friends, I'm sorry!" and even, "I'm on my period!" your understanding boyfriend doesn't bat an eye!

• However, James quickly picks up on some very obvious signs that the gym makes you uncomfortable because you'll avoid the topic entirely and become all shifty.

• Naturally, this prompts your mature (usually 😙) boyfriend to plop you down on his bed and have a conversation. When you open up about your insecurities, James listens patiently.

• "Love, why didn't you tell me you were feeling nervous and unsure? I'd never look down on you because you don't feel comfortable with something as trivial as the gym," James says and leans in to kiss your nose, his hand rubbing soothing circles over your thigh.

• "Really?" you ask, your tone small and he nods.

• "Really," he assures you.

• A few weeks later James had forgotten his water bottle at home, so being the good girlfriend you are, you bring it to him. When you see the gym James uses and realize it's very calm and everyone seems friendly, you gather the courage to ask James if you can accompany him next time.

• He's overjoyed! "Of course we can go, darling, I'll be with you the entire time! Okay?"

• When you go, you're still nervous and James can tell. He can always tell. He holds your hand, tightens your ponytail/pushes hair behind your ear (depending on hair length), and then kisses you.

• "I'm right here with you, darling. I'll show you how all the machine's work and be with you the entire time, okay? You don't need to be shy or nervous around me, I promise!" his words are calming and you feel better.

• You go try the machines that interest you and James helps you understand them by showing you. He's sooo patient with you, watching you with kind eyes as you try them out.

• "Don't forget to drink, lovely," he says, handing you your water bottle.

• If you run into any of his gym friends, you realize he's been gushing on and on about you. His friends all LOVE you instantly. Now you have even more people to help/watch over you which makes you feel safe!

• When you finish up, you're shy. "James?"

• "Yes, baby?" he says, walking back to the car with your gym bag (which he'd carefully prepared for you) and his slung over his arm. He wanted you to have your own so you could feel independent. He's considerate like that 😏

• "I might wanna go again. Make this a weekly thing? Once a week I could come with you?"

• James takes your hand and stop you from walking. He kisses both of your hands and looks into your hands. "I'd love to make this a weekly thing. Well take it slow, no need to rush, and soon I promise you'll feel better about the gym. I'm so proud of you!"

• HE ENDLESSLY PRAISES YOU AND REMINDS YOU HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU AND HOW WELL YOU DID!

• James just loves sharing the things he loves with the people he loves, so your newfound interest in the gym makes him so happy!

• It doesn't take long for you to also like the gym, especially because James is there.

• He's not always hovering over you once you're used to the machines and the atmosphere. But he's always close! All you need is to look around and you see him somewhere!

• He also packs an extra shirt in his gym bag for you in case you become insecure (he doesn't tell you because he doesn't want to promote the feeling, just ease it if it happens 😊)

[aewon]

homecoming

jungwon x f!reader genre: fluff warnings: suggestive towards the end wc: 800

“Hello, everyone, it’s Jungwon. Today, I have a surprise for someone. Y/N and I haven’t seen each other in approximately one month! It’s a long time, I know.

Enhypen has been touring and she’s been busy with her activities. Of course, we texted and called as much as possible, but not physically being together has been challenging. I’ve missed her more than anything, and today, I will surprise her!”

Jungwon unbuckles his seatbelt, exits the parked car, and takes the camera.

As he looks into the camera, he begins to speak again.

“She’s doing a solo shoot today, and I’ve decided to ambush her completely. She thinks I’m coming home tomorrow, but I’ve arrived early! I imagine she’ll be super surprised and hopefully give me lots of hugs and kisses. I also brought her favorite flowers.” He shows them to the camera, zooming in on them slightly.

As he and the crew behind him head inside, he can hear music pouring out of speakers, the familiar voice of your favorite artist filling his ears.

He greets staff as they pass by, having already informed them of his arrival.

Jungwon knows what kind of shoot you’re doing, as you told him the week before, but he still wasn’t expecting his jaw to drop.

He hides behind some crew members and cameras, ensuring you don’t spot him.

You’re dressed in the most beautiful white ensemble. Your hair is done elegantly, and your makeup is stunning. You look like a princess.

Jungwon’s heart begins to pump faster, wanting nothing more than to run up to you and engulf you in a hug.

As planned, the photographer calls for a break once you've taken several photos.

You smile, thanking everyone around you, as always being kind and considerate, something Jungwon loves about you.

He makes his way from behind the crew, holding the camera, hiding his face behind the flowers.

“Delivery for Y/N?” He says, doing his best to disguise his voice.

You look up from your phone, eyes widening.

A colossal bouquet presents itself in front of you.

You walk up, not noticing all the staff's smiles and giggles.

There’s a card, and you pull it off.

“Read it aloud!” Someone shouts.

“To my love, I want nothing more than to be in your arms again. See you soon, love Jungwon.”

Everyone around you awes as you pout cutely.

You take the flowers from the man, stepping back in surprise as you see Jungwon’s smiling face.

“Oh my god!”

With that, you throw yourself into his arms as he laughs at your reaction.

He wraps his arms around you, inhaling your scent.

You smell like fresh laundry and strawberries, his favorite.

You pull back, grabbing his face and kissing him eagerly.

Jungwon can feel himself blush as everyone around you cheers and claps.

He’s never been one for PDA, but he doesn’t mind.

He kisses you back passionately, cupping your cheek.

When you separate, you begin peppering kisses all over his face, making him laugh.

“I thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow!” You say, laying your head against his chest.

“I came early and just couldn’t wait another day.”

You blush this time, hugging him tighter.

“I missed you so much. Every day without you felt like torture,” you say, dragging out the e.

“Me too; I was starting to go crazy.”

He pulls you in for another kiss, softer this time.

Your lips feel like heaven against his.

“Are you staying for the rest of my shoot? You ask as you pull away again.

He hums, “And to thank everyone for pursuing my devious plan, I’d like to buy everybody lunch!”

The staff and crew start cheering again at the offer of food.

Half an hour later, you and Jungwon sit in your private dressing room. Your hand rubs your belly, having devoured your food.

“That was delicious, thank you,” you say to Jungwon beside you.

“It was my pleasure. Come here.” He pats his lap, beckoning you to sit.

You do, wrapping your arms around his neck and leaning into him.

“I really missed you,” you coo in a cute voice.

“I missed you more,” Jungwon replies, rubbing your back slowly, “I won’t be leaving the country again for a while, so we have plenty of time to make up for the month we missed.”

“Good! Can you sleep over tonight? My bed’s been lonely without you,” you whine.

“Of course I can. Are you sure you’ve missed me, though? It seems like you missed something else?”

He smirks at you and you smile back.

“I did miss you…all of you.”

Your hand begins to trail down his chest, but he grabs your wrist before it can travel any further.

“You’re such a minx, yeah?

“Only for you.”

t/n: another quick something that came from the delusions of my brain, enjoy!

[mirai-e-jump]

TV Guide Dan Vol.48, July 2023 Issue ft. Aoto Watanabe x Yuhei Chiwata, Masashi Ikeda (full translation below)

Publication: July 31, 2023 (between episodes 22-23)

Aoto Watanabe x Yuhei Chiwata

"You two are currently appearing in "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger." Would you please describe each other's role to us?"

Watanabe: Chiwata-san plays Shiokara, someone who is straightforward with his feelings. He's not an overly proud person, but when he like something, he expresses it with his whole body, as if saying "I love it!" But, he also has the strength to speak up when he thinks something is wrong, and is able to show his weaknesses. Compared to the character I play, Yanma (Gast), he has a different sense of direction. He's someone that everyone wants to follow.

Chiwata: You've really been paying attention. That makes me happy. Yanma, played by Aoto, is just super cool! However, he's not very strong. Well, he does have the kind of qualities most women would be attracted to. Of course, as president, he has the leadership skills to keep N'Kosopa in order, but he's also intelligent and technologically capable. Actually, when I first meet Aoto, I though he was real manly.

Watanabe: You serious?!

Chiwata: I thought he was an honest person who disliked corruption. I feel like I'm very close to Yanma in those aspects, so I can't imagine anyone other than Aoto playing him.

Watanabe: Thank you so much! But, in some ways, there are also similarities between Chiwata-san and Shiokara.

Chiwata: Eh?! There is?!

Watanabe: Chiwata-san has excellent communication skills. He has more of an ability to connect with people. Even when we're on set, Chiwata-san's surroundings are always lively.

"What's the relationship between Watanabe-kun and Chiwata-kun?"

Watanabe: Out of all the members in King-Ohger, Chiwata-san is the one I've meet the most in my private time.

Chiwata: Yeah. We go out together to the saunas, to have dinner, and even to have a few drinks after work. We'll also visit each others houses.

Watanabe: It makes me happy~.

Chiwata: I said to him, "We're going to be filming together for a year, so you don't have to worry about acting formal or being so self conscious."

Watanabe: In the beginning, I challenged myself to speak casually to him. But as expected, it just didn't feel right to me…

Chiwata: For awhile, you definitely talked to me as if we were already close friends. However, I got the feeling it was only because you were trying to be considerate, as I told you to not worry about formalities (laughs).

Watanabe: (laughs). I really tried my best, but not only is Chiwata-san older than me, he's had more stage experience than me, so I ended up going back to using honorifics. But, it's not a formal honorific. What's more, when I'm on set getting my pompadour (Yanma's hairstyle) ready, I become so absorbed in my role that I may start talking to him in a casual manner.

"By the way, what do you usually call each other?"

Watanabe: For me, I take the "Wa" from Chiwata and call him "Wassan." But, I can't remember, how did I come to call you that?

Chiwata: When I asked Aoto, "What do other people call you?," He said, "Aoto." I said, "Well then, I'll call you Aoto too." I then told him, "For me, I'm rarely called by my first name." Aoto said, "Okay then, I'll call you by a nickname that no one else calls you, so let me think about it."

Watanabe: Did I really say that?!

Chiwata: Yeah, but it makes me happy when you call me by such an original name.

Watanabe: That's good then~ (laughs)

"Do you usually communicate through LINE?"

Watanabe: One time, I was so moved after reading the script, I sent a LINE, right? I wrote, "Did you read the script for episode 10 yet? I cried so much!"

Chiwata: In episode 10, there's a scene where Shiokara encourages Yanma. After that LlNE message, when we met on set, he said, "That scene, let's go shoot it for real."

Watanabe: That's right!

Chiwata: It's definitely a touching scene, so I thought it would be great if we could also make it a good scene together. However, on the day of shooting that scene, when I arrived on the set, Aoto gave off an aura that said, "Nobody come near me!," as he was concentrating on the scene by himself. I went to the set with my own plan in mind, but I thought it would be better not to tell Aoto, so I only told Director Kato (Hiroyuki) about my plan and continued on.

Watanabe: I'm so sorry (bitter smile). That scene, I was more invested in it than anyone else.

Chiwata: As a result, the scene turned out to be very good due to Aoto's strong feelings. I'm happy that the viewers responded so well to it.

"Based on the conversations so far, I can tell that the two of you are very close, so do you ever talk about love?"

Chiwata: Hmmm, We've never had such deep conversations before have we?

Watanabe: We haven't. But in my opinion, I think a younger woman would be a good match for Wassan. I think a relationship in which Wassan goes out with someone alittle out of his element would help balance it out.

Chiwata: Really? For me, I think that a man like Aoto, with his strong beliefs, could handle both older and younger people, Aoto will make older people want to, "Go for it!" and younger people want to say, "I'll follow him."

Watanabe: Is that right? (shining). Well then, let's "check our answers!"

Chiwata: Regardless of their gender, my motto is, "spoil the older ones as much as you want, and spoiler the younger ones as much as you can." I can get along with older people, even if we're 20-30 year apart, but when it comes to people around my own age, I don't know how to relate to them. I have very few friends my own age, with the exception of my hometown and high school friends.

Watanabe: I see. I think I prefer those older then me. Or rather, I'd like someone with a higher intelligence compaired to me. If anything, I think I'm the type of person who likes to spoil myself. Even if I'm spoiled by someone, I usually have a pretty firm grasp on things, so it's only then that I'm emotionally moved.

Chiwata: So, are you saying you're not good with women who purposely act all cute and clumsy?

Watanabe: I think they're fun as a friend, but when it comes to dating, it's abit…

Chiwata: I see. For example, what would you do if a girl you thought as just a friend confessed her feelings for you?

Watanabe: I can only imagine, but I would never go from friend to a girlfriend.

Chiwata: Eh! I can totally see it though (laughs). I don't have a strong obsession with ones appearance, so if I think someone's attractive, then that's OK too.

Watanabe: Huh! As expected, Wassan is dedicated and doesn't sweat the small things.

"As we move forward, King-Ohger continues to become more and more exciting. Are there any situations you'd like to play as the duo of Yanma and Shiokara?"

Chiwata: How about the two of us switching roles? I have the appearance of Yanma, but on the inside, I'm still Shiokara (laughs).

Watanabe: Oh, sounds interesting! Actually, aren't there always scenes where the Yanma is pulling Shiokara along? How about on other hand, there are scenes where Shiokara does things that Yanma isn't good at. For example, instead of Yanma, who's weak at fighting, Shiokara is an insanely strong fighter. I wish there were times where we could show those things in a cool way.

Chiwata: That sounds good too. Until now, there are times where I've though, like right now, "It would be interesting if there was a scene like this." I never mentioned it, but the screenwriter, Takamina-san (Takano Mizuto), he always writes the perfect scenes! So, I think there's a chance it might come true.

Watanabe: That's right! So, from now on, don't take your eyes off King-Ohger!!

＿

Masashi Ikeda

"Ikeda-kun is currently playing the role of Jeramie Brasieri in King-Ohger. What kind of character do you see in him?"

Ikeda: He's 2,000 years old and is the story teller of the story on the planet Chikyu, where the show takes place. Also, he's a man born between a human and a Bagnarak (unusual shaped creatures who live underground and are hostile to the King-Ohgers). When the role was first explained to me, my first question was, "What does it mean to be 2,000 years old?" (laugh). I carefully play the part of how he thinks and looks at the world, as he's lived a long time. Because it's an unusual situation, I had a hard time in the beginning, but he's a character that makes you think about a variety of things, so it's a role that's both challenging and exciting to play.

"The unusual nature of his role as the additional warrior, while also participating as a narrator since the first episode, has became a topic of discussion."

Ikeda: Actually, I still feel uncomfortable when I hear my own voice narrating on air, so I'm very happy to hear people say, 'Your voice is nice." As for my voice, I try to focus on making it resonate and be easy to listen to. At first, I couldn't do it well, but with practice, I gradually became able to do deep breathing as well. The voice of Jeramie as the storyteller, and the voice of Jeramie when he speaks his mind, are done in different ways.

"What was the response from the people around you?"

Ikeda: When my family members watched Episode 11 for the first time, they all commented, "You're so cool!" At the end of Episode 12, it becomes clear that his character is to make others read between the lines. On the show's cast blog I wrote, "I love Jeramie!" It was funny when my older brother read it and said, "Jeramie is a person who makes you read between the lines, but here, you're saying "I love you" so bluntly!" (laughs).

"Your family seems to be very supportive of you. What's the atmosphere on set like?"

Ikeda: The 6 main cast members as well as the staff are always in a good mood, and we have great communication, so we're always having fun. We go on and off, talking about the show itself and various others things. We have a competition to see who can get the new script first, and the first person to do so would upload a selfie with a funny face along with the script to our 6 member group LlNE (laughs). I think it was (Watanabe) Aoto-kun who started it. Aoto-kun, I always call him "Nabe-chan," we get along well, often telling jokes, and I always think they're so funny. When shooting ends for the day, we sometimes go out to eat together.

"You seem to get along well with everyone."

Ikeda: The staff are all very nice, they'll often make sure to ask me, "Are you ready?," or even talk to me in a way that mimics Jeramie's way of speaking! I guess Jeramie's lines are easy to say (laughs). It makes me happy knowing that Jeramie's character is loved so much.

"Are there any surprising aspects of your co-stars that you have discovered during your time together, such as during filming?"

Ikeda: As mentioned earlier, Nabe-chan (Aoto) is completely different on and off the job. I also feel that there's a gap between (Yuzuki) Hirakawa-san, and her role of Rita Kaniska. Rita's character is cool, but Hirakawa-san talks so much that you could say she is the complete opposite of them.

"What's the most difficult part about filming?"

Ikeda: Throughout the year, I've been struggling every day to pursue the value of being able to play one role, and the depth of the story that accompanies it. I'm always thinking of ways in which to make Jeramie look more appealing. But, there is no right answer, so it continues to be a daily battle. One more thing…I'm also fighting with my back! In Jeramie's transformation scene, there's an action where I bend backwards, but I have a very stiff back. I'm really bending over as far as I can, but the director says, "Yes, keep bending!" (laughs). In the movie "Adventure Heaven," which is currently in theaters, there's a transformation scene, so I massaged my lower back in the bath and did some muscle training before the shoot, and I got the "OK" with just one take.

"Ikeda-kun, Please tell us about yourself. How did you decide to enter the entertainment industry?"

Ikeda: I moved to Tokyo when I entered university, and I originally had a strong interest in the entertainment industry. In my third year, when I was struggling with all the influences of Tokyo, I was approached by my current agency and decided to become an actor. I'm a country boy from Tokushima, and I always felt like the movies and TV shows I had watched since I was a child were "sparkling." When I came to Tokyo, I thought, "This is the place where I can challenge myself."

"Objectively speaking, what kind of personality do you think you have?"

Ikeda: I think I have an optimistic personality. Sometimes I can be negative, but I try my best not to be. Also, when I was a student, I was often told that I, "Don't seem to talk much" or "Seemed cool" when first meeting people, but in reality, I'm the type of person you can't get to stop talking once I've started!

"So you're an extrovert. What was your life like when you were a student?"

Ikeda: I played soccer from elementary school all the way through my 3rd year of high school, and was performing in a band at the same time. I started playing the drums when I was in my 6th year of elementary school. In addition, I also worked hard in my studies, aiming to excel in everything. I don't currently play soccer, but I'd prefer to play it myself rather than watch the games on TV. I do continue to play the drums though. I try to play an instrument when I need to refresh myself, as it helps me to vent my stress.

"What kind of life do you live when you have days off from filming?"

Ikeda: I like watching movies and dramas and playing games. As a result, I'm basically an indoor person on my days off. As long as I can enjoy eating it, I'll also cook for myself. I've been practicing making pasta since I was a student, and even now still make it occasionally. I also like to make grilled onigiri!

"If Ikeda-san has a type of woman he likes, what type would that be?"

Ikeda: I want someone who is a kind person, and who will also listen to me. It would be ideal if we could go out together to various places. I'm not good at returning messages through LINE. That's why I'm much better at talking over the phone or in person. If it's someone I like, I might try to get the conversation going, and then make a detour into asking them out (laughs).

"Please tell us about your future plans as an actor. Is there a genre of work that you'd like to appear in?"

Ikeda: I want to be an actor with an appealing worldview and personality. My goal is to be the kind of person who makes people wonder in excitement, "What would happen if Masashi Ikeda played this role?" In terms of genre, I'd like to work in a dialog heavy drama…like "Quartet," which is a mix of suspense and everyday life. I'm still fighting every day, due to many challenges I want to take on. I want to thank everyone for their support, and to please continue to look out for me!

[twilightmalachite]

Sora Harukawa Mini Talk - Audition VS GLADIATOR -Fourth piece-

Translator: Mika Enstars

"It's the first Sora's seen it, but it's such a cute character! ♪ Sora feels that Mido-chan would like this sort of thing too~! ♪"

Do You Want That Plushie?

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Spring

Location: Arcade

Sora: HaHa~, HiHi~, HuHu~♪

Get into the rhythm and tap at the right times! And sometimes, hold!

If Sora moves his body like this, he'll clear it in no time!

💬 You're good at this

Sora: Yes! This song is one that Sora's best at in this rhythm game! ♪

Actually, how long has Anzu been here watching Sora? Sora was so focused on playing he didn't notice at all~!

Anzu didn't want to get in Sora's way, so shes been quietly watching all this time...? HeHe~, Thanks for being considerate!

💬 ... (applaud)

Sora: Hmm? There's someone watching... Wait, it's Anzu!

Could it be Anzu was watching Sora play?

Sora's happy he was able to manage a clear in front of Anzu with a good score~! ♪

Sora: It's rare to see Anzu at the arcade... Is there a reason Anzu came here?

Hmm... So it's to get a plushie she had wanted!

Which one is it? Maybe Sora will be able to help out!

💬 It's that plushie, but...

Sora: Whoa, it's something colorful... A cat? Could it be a cat?

It's the first Sora's seen it, but it's such a cute character! ♪ Sora feels that Mido-chan would like this sort of thing too~! ♪

Anzu thinks so too? Then, Sora will try to get one to bring back for Mido-chan!

💬 I wanna try hard to get it myself

Sora: Is that so? Sora was hoping that he could help out, though...

But, like Anzu says, maybe Anzu finds it more important if she gets it herself?

In that case, Sora will watch and cheer Anzu on! Go~, go~, go Anzu~!

Sora: Clapclapclapclap! Anzu was able to get the plushie she wanted! ♪

Sora is sure the plushie is happy to have been gotten by Anzu as well~!

Will it be put on display somewhere when Anzu gets home? Or since it comes with a keychain, will Anzu be carrying it around with her?

💬 I wonder what I should do

Sora: Anzu was planning on displaying it, but she can't decide where...?

If it were Sora... Hmm... He'd probably put it on his desk, or his bed?

Because if it's one of those, then it'd always be easy to see! It'd definitely feel a lot closer than if it was put somewhere out of sight~!

💬 Which one should I do?

Sora: Either displaying or carrying it with both feels like it's being "valued", huh~.

So Sora thinks he can understand why Anzu is having trouble deciding between one or another.

Sora carries things around him sometimes, but he usually will have them displayed in his room. Either one is probably fine to choose~?

[ ☆ ]

Time For Sweets

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Spring

Location: NewDi Office

Sora: Anzu, take a look inside this box!

Strawberry shortcake! Chocolate cake, cheesecake, mont blanc mille crepe!

They all look so yummy, Sora can't decide which to eat!

💬 Why is there so much cake?

Sora: Tsuka-chan brought some for the staff and everyone else in the office!

Although Tsuka-chan had to leave the office for a meeting or something already...

But he told Sora, "Go ahead, Harukawa-kun", so Sora's gonna pick one out too~! ♪

💬 There's pudding too

Sora: There is, huh! ♪ As expected from Tsuka-chan, he bought all kinds of stuff~!

Tsuka-chan had to go to a meeting though, so Sora would like to save some for him...

I wonder which one Tsuka-chan would like to eat? Sora wishes he's asked~.

Sora: HaHa~. Sora debated quite a bit, but he has decided on eating this tart~! ♪

It's topped with so many fruits and looks super yummy!

Has Anzu decided yet? Anzu can use this plate once she has! ♪

💬 Is it alright for me to have one?

Sora: Of course! Though, Sora might have decided this on his own...

But even if Tsuka-chan was here, Sora's sure he would have offered one to Anzu too! ♪

So, please feel free to pick one! Sora wants Anzu to have her favorite cake~! ♪

💬 What cute paper plates!

Sora: Sora thinks so too! They have cute flower patterns and come in a bunch of colors~! ♪

The staff... said they were office supplies, but... Sora doesn't think these plates were here until recently?

So maybe Senpai asked for some new ones~!

Sora: ...Ah, Anzu got the shortcake, huh! ♪

Hmm? Sora should've known that she was gonna pick out the shortcake?

...That's not true~! All the cakes look really yummy. Sora figured that she could've chosen any of them!

💬 That's true

Sora: Though, he did notice Anzu was eyeing the strawberries on the shortcake! ♪

Sora picked out the tart, but he also considered the shortcake too~!

Huh, Sora can gave a bite? Then, Sora will share some of his tart with Anzu too!

💬 Well, actually...

Sora: Anzu was debating between the shortcake and pudding, but went with the shortcake because she wanted strawberries...?

That makes sense! ♪ It's true, the strawberries on the shortcake are big and look so yummy!

Let's go ahead and eat, then! Put our hands together, and– thanks for the food!

[ ☆ ]

[my-castles-crumbling]

hey cas, it's smol anon again :)

thank you so much for your last reply. it was really helpful. i really struggle with demonstrating affection but i'll try my best x

writing back to say that recently the friend i mentioned, Si, and I seem to be in a kind of cycle. they start ignoring me for whatever reason, and that really hurts because i blame myself. either they're a bad person for treating me awfully or i'm a bad person for making them hate me. i'd rather the latter any day (i don't really have a very great self-esteem and i'm really struggling to do anything about that either). but they just give me furtive glances or pointed silences and sometimes we do talk but it feels so fake and put on. of my current friends, I've known Si the longest, and we know how to pretend we're fine cos we're both masters of masking. but that's not a good thing, i know.

the first time this happened was in september. we'd had an argument the week before and they'd brought up the "second best" thing (before your advice, obviously) and i'd been really emotionally overloaded at the time and told them how much that hurt me to hear. so then Si thought i hated them and i thought they hated me and that just all spiralled. eventually i got them to talk to me, and we talked it through and then we were great for a while, but then it happened again, we were fine, happened again, you get the idea.

most recently, i hadn't seen/heard from them all week cos they'd been ill, and they didn't message me at all, whereas they had a whole conversation with my other friend E. i'm gonna admit, i'm quite a jealous person so that upset me a lot. but i tried to talk about them and they first had a panic attack (which i felt awful about btw), then tried to explain how they didn't think they were ignoring me (which i hated cos it felt like they were saying i was making up - and if i am, i'm awful, and if i'm not, that's awful to hear), and then just moved on as though the conversation didn't happen at all.

and i don't want to keep doing this. falling out, making up, falling out, making up but the whole time pretending everything's fine because it's not. it's fucking not. their mental health is awful and mine is scarcely better and i need them like they're my lungs and i'm so sick and tired of pretending everything's fine. i'm falling apart but i can't go to them because they're part of the reason, and i want to be honest, to talk it through, but i can't be honest if they're going to have panic attacks when i do. i know it's really hard for them to reach out, or to be honest about their feelings, and they're afraid of confrontation. but i don't want to keep doing this.

Si has this thing where they're super afraid of saying/doing the wrong thing and they always jump to conclusions and think everyone hates them. and i get why, because everyone always told them that when they were growing up and it became ingrained in their mind and i don't know what to do about that. but it's no longer just affecting them. they've dropped out of conversations. they've stopped messaging me. they keep doing this cycle where they ignore me. and they say it's so they don't say/do anything wrong, but i wouldn't judge them if they did. not doing anything makes me feel so much worse. i don't know how to make them see that.

sometimes i can be really understanding about this. i get how much they're struggling, and i try my best to be considerate and patient and always caring because i love them and i don't want to lose them. but i'm just been so tired and stressed recently cos i have a bunch of other things going on too and i'm just getting so frustrated. with the situation, with myself, with Si too and i hate that cos i hate getting mad at Si, especially when they can't really help it. i'm just so lost and i want my little sibling back (that's what they are to me, we're that close). sorry for such a long rant, and thank you cas for always being such a wonderful person, for being able to listen to people like me, and for letting your inbox be somewhere where i can be honest and get my thoughts down so much better than elsewhere 💕

yours truly, smol anon

Hi!

Your writing you sent me was lovely <3

I think you have the right idea by talking to your friend. Things can't go on the way they are, and you need to communicate. But maybe, to try and ease the pressure on them, could you try communicating through writing? That way they don't feel pressured to answer right away, and they can think through their responses. You seem to be good at getting your feelings out in writing, so it might be helpful. Just make sure whatever you write can't be taken the wrong way, as sometimes that happens with writing.

Sending you love!

[gojou-violin]

number one fan

| inspired by this post from @kingkatsuki

| pairing: masaki mizushima (manual) x fem!bodied!reader

| warnings: 18+ MDNI. unprotected sex. breeding kink. fingering. overstimulation. multiple orgasms. fem!oral. service!bf!manual.

| summary: manual's always wondered what it's like having super-fans, he just never thought he'd fall in love with one.

| wc: 3k

| a/n: i'm gonna be sick, he's so fucking cute and romantic it's not fair.

| taglist: @aylitgirl , @thisbicc , @ifeelsofilthy , @sailewhoremoon , @preciousamethyst , @justanotherpasserby-blog , @lyteatus , @its-makonom , @sunflowerswords , @derekthemoonneko , @hisbeautifulnightmare17 , @animexholic , @paranoid-borderline-insane (couldn't tag @thedeadliyrose253 or @honestlymellowcheesecake)

It was his fascination with making sure you and everyone else in the world know exactly who his biggest fan is. That was what prevented him from ever letting you go. That was why he was slowly sliding his fingers back into you, one at a time, sinking in knuckle by knuckle to make sure that none of his cum escaped your hole.

Everyone had always been so in love with the top Pro Heroes like All Might, Hawks, and Jeanist that no one ever stopped to consider the heroes that didn’t want the “Top Hero” spotlight. Heroes like Manual in Hosu City were the ones that caught your eye because they weren’t in it for the money or the fame; they patrolled the city because they genuinely wanted to keep people safe— They wanted to keep you safe, which was the admirable thing to do. But they still deserved recognition for their efforts, didn’t they? Manual deserved recognition. While most people didn’t mind or care, you went out of your way to post about him on the internet, to praise him for being a fantastic hero. If the news wasn’t going to write about him, then what was stopping you from reporting on everything that he was doing in the city, preventing robberies, intervening with public disputes, and in extreme cases, helping people in car accidents, saving people from rooftops, preventing murders. His life wasn’t too exciting, but it was important work.

It only took about two months to grow your considerable following before Manual himself reached out to your blog to thank you for all the kind words, and if you were ever interested in an exclusive interview, he was more than welcome to participate. Of course you said yes! You’d be crazy to ghost or turn down the hero you’d spent day after day obsessing over. It didn’t matter that Manual was only ranked as the 222 best hero— To you and your followers, he was the best of the best; and an interview with him could potentially change your life.

What you hadn’t anticipated at the time that meeting Manual at the coffee shop the Saturday following him reaching out to your blog would result in… personal life changes. You thought that an exclusive interview could mean a change in career. Maybe a local newspaper would want to hire you— Or maybe a new station! You could have never in a million years predicted that Manual would steal you away with his charm and kindness.

Three weeks. That was all it took. Three weeks of meeting up with him when he wasn’t working, all under the illusion that you were there for more interviews or more inside info on his recent adventures of being a hero, and suddenly he was smiling ear-to-ear at you while asking if you’d like to go back to his place. Manual wasn’t the “fuck boy” type. He was genuinely embarrassed when he realized you thought that meeting with him was for work and not for actual dates, like he thought. And you felt terrible because you did like him and yet you had been so caught up in trying to remain professional that you didn’t realize all of the signs were right there in front of you! The way he would invite you to dinner, how he would meet you in casual clothes, and how he’d always find the perfect moment in your line of questioning to ask about you and your life. He was truly enchanting. You were just an idiot when you were around him. Yet, you still said yes to going back to his place, because despite the fact that you thought you were seeing him on a professional level, you truly did like him and fell head over heels for the way he’d smile— The way his eyes would wrinkle up because he had the most adorable laugh… Fuck, you were so far gone it was a wonder how you didn’t realize you were going on dates in the first place!

Manual didn’t want to do anything that night because of the miscommunication. He was truly a gentleman that wanted to know you and take care of you because he didn’t want to be like every other hero that just fucked their fans and then ghosted them. Manual cared about you.

“My name’s Masaki,” he told you that night.

After that, hanging out with him was positively a date, and you were now both on the same page. Only a week later, though, did he have you back in his apartment, this time in his bed, both of you giggling at how clumsy you were being. When he wanted to kiss you, he asked first. When he wanted to undress you, he anxiously made sure that you thought it was alright. When he was undressed and between your knees, hovering over you completely, his hair falling in his face, he asked if you were sure. He would ask you every time he moved if you were okay.

“Masaki—” you gasped as he sent you over the edge for the third time in a row.

How he managed it, you weren’t sure. It must have been magic.

Masaki was a simple guy with simple needs: Taking care of you… And hearing you moan his name… Listen! It just did something for him that he never realized was possible because no one else had even scratched the surface of making him as happy as you made him. So he invited you over a lot. Like, a lot. He liked to cook for you and watch a movie while you would cuddle on the couch because it made him feel like he finally had a normal life with someone who genuinely cared about him and wasn’t scared off by the thought of being with a Pro Hero. And you loved being around him because he made you feel safe and appreciated. No one else went out of their way to spoil you the way Masaki constantly did, and you felt like the least you could do was hold him tight when he got scared during horror movie marathons or clean the dishes the next morning after sleeping over at his place.

For both of you, the sex was just an added bonus.

So that was how you ended up in his bed again after you went to the botanical gardens nearby for a limited time night event and you told him you loved him for the first time. It had been quite romantic since you did it while walking through the sakura tree path as they were beginning to shed their leaves for the season, leaving the walkway coated in the gorgeous petals… and then it just slipped from you. Your arm was linked with his, you were tucked into his side because you were cold, and you thought to yourself how wonderful being with him was, and how happy you were that you just so happened to give the 222nd best Pro Hero a chance.

When you said it, Masaki was caught off guard, but the second it sank in, he laughed, his eyes scrunching up in the way you adored, and he sighed with relief as he told you, “I’ve been dying to tell you I love you for weeks!”

Back at the apartment, the two of you barely made it through the front door with your dignity intact because Masaki had his hands all over you the entire time you were walking through the lobby, waiting in the elevator, and rushing down the hallway to find his apartment number. He could hardly put the code for his apartment in! And the second you were inside, Masaki had you up against the wall, muttering “i love you” against your skin a thousand times over while you struggled to get his pants off. The little shuffle you had to do to get the bedroom was a bit embarrassing, honestly. Holding onto each other while making out even though your pants were at your ankles and he was dying to get you out of your shirt and bra so that he could play with your tits. He loved your tits. It was another obsession of his.

“I love you so fucking much,” he moaned.

You fell back onto the bed with him.

Masaki reached down to feel how wet you were. “Fuck- Fuck, fuck, I love you, fuck.”

It was like he was a broken record that you couldn’t knock straight— Not that you wanted to anyhow. Hearing him praise you while falling so in love with you that he couldn’t think made you beyond joyful.

“I love—” Your breath got caught in your throat as he pushed two fingers into your dripping hole. “I love you—” You tangled your hands in his hair and tugged until he was kissing you again.

“Want you to cum for me,” he muttered into your kiss. “As many times as you can.”

The thing about Masaki was that he was somewhat of a “one time wonder”— In a good way, though! Masaki’s refractory period was too long to ever keep the mood going for multiple rounds, so he made up for it by making sure he got everything out of you that he could in other ways. His fingers, his tongue, toys he bought, they were all magnificent tools that he could use to ensure you were screaming his name, and this time he wanted to make sure he heard you tell him that you loved him every time. During the time you had officially been dating Masaki you had learned well that most of what he did was dedicated to you now, a dynamic you hadn’t completely experienced before but were very much on board for.

His fingers took their time stretching you to make sure you could accommodate his size whenever he was ready; meanwhile his thumb was rubbing circles on your clit to urge you towards an orgasm. You could always tell that he enjoyed feeling you tighten around him whenever he made you feel good. Whether it was his fingers or his dick, that little squeeze you gave to show that you were about to tip over the edge was how he knew he was doing it right and should keep hitting the same spot over and over again until you saw white. It worked. Every damn time. This was no different than before aside from how desperate he seemed to force out of you as many orgasms as you could handle.

“Masaki,” you whined, holding his wrist.

He grinned and curled his fingers since you wouldn’t let him draw back anymore. Your back arched with the movement, a delicious moan echoing throughout the apartment.

“Go on, baby. Tell me you love me when you cum.”

“Shit, Mas…” Your grip on his muscular forearm made sure he continued to play with your clit so that your orgasm could hit you like a train. Which it did. “I love you, Mas— Fuck, I love you so much—”

He had to hold your hips down because you were squirming too much through your orgasm that he decided was the perfect time to tease your g-spot a bit more. You cried at the feeling of slight overstimulation until he showed you some mercy, slowing his movements before coming to a gentle halt, then he carefully pulled his fingers out of you.

Once you caught your breath, he went for it again.

And again.

And again.

Having you breathless and unable to think even for a single moment to be able to say “I love you” again, that made him indescribably happy. However, he needed you. He wanted to finally have you when he could take the opportunity to tell you that he loved you so fucking much that he couldn’t make sense of reality anymore since meeting you. So he hovered over you, hands planted on either side of your shoulder width, knees bent between your thighs, his tip teasing your entrance, and he leaned down to kiss you properly. There was only so much energy you had left to hold him, but he made up for the rest.

“Just let me take care of you, baby,” he cooed.

With a gentle push, his tip slid through your wet folds and popped through your entrance. He groaned at the feeling. So wet and warm. With another moan while biting his bottom lip, he pushed in a bit more, watching you intently to make sure that you were alright— Because if it was too much or if you were too tired, he would have stopped in an instant. Masaki knew you well enough by now that you didn’t even have to say anything, he just knew. But you were fine where you were on Cloud 9 as you enjoyed the stretch his cock gave. Was he the most impressive guy in the world? No. Most men weren’t. But he sure did make up for it with how thick he was, and most of the time that was enough.

“I love you,” he whispered into your ear when he was buried to the hilt.

You let out a deep breath to find reality for a moment before replying, “I love you.”

Masaki sat up entirely so that his weight was resting on his knees. His hands moved from beside your shoulders to your hips, and after pulling your hips onto his lap, he started fucking into you at a brutal pace. The concentration on his face was hard to ignore when you thought it was so cute how he barely stuck his tongue between his teeth and his nose scrunched up so that he could keep a proper posture that would make certain that you felt everything all at once.

For a moment you began to wonder how you got so lucky. How did a simple blog about the Pro Hero in your area bring you to the exact moment where an extremely attractive man was, at face value, using you to get himself off, but in reality was fucking you in a way that made sure you felt best— How did you manage to get into bed with a man whose collarbones were always so defined, and he was on the verge of having tight abs— How— Where— When—

But then Masaki brought you back to reality with so little as two fingers flicking your overstimulated clit back and forth.

You hid your face in a pillow to your left to muffle your moans. You were beginning to sound pathetic and dumbed-out, you knew it, and you were sure he had noticed, and that caused you to be embarrassed of yourself. But Masaki didn’t want you to be embarrassed. He wanted you to know just how perfect you were like that.

“I love it when you moan.” He caressed your chin so that you would look at him again. “And I love it when you squirm because it’s too much.” The fingers on your clit moved faster somehow. “And I love it when you look at me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.” His free hand brushed his hair out of his face. “I love you.”

When he could see you clearly again, his hand returned to your chin to make sure you wouldn’t look away, but instead you took the opportunity to take his thumb in your mouth, sucking on it sensually while staring directly into his eyes. A surprised whimper left him. Not as stoic as everyone thought, huh?

But seeing you like that only happened to encourage him further.

Without holding anything back, Masaki thrust every ounce of strength he had into you, and he made sure that his pace on your clit never slowed, even if his arm tensed up, because he was going to make you cum at the same time as him no matter what. He still had one more thing left on his mind. One last thing to really show you how much he loved you.

“You gonna cum around me?” he teased, breathless.

You nodded eagerly, still sucking on his thumb.

He panted as his abs tightened, a telltale sign that he was really holding back for you now but he could also tip over at any second if he wasn’t careful or didn’t make you cum fast enough. So you did your best to join him. You rolled your hips to meet his thrusts but also to add that extra pressure you needed on your swollen clit to finally bring you to the brink.

With a somewhat incoherent mumble around his thumb, you said one last time, “I love you.”

Your walls tightening around him was the breaking point for Masaki. After one final thrust deep inside of you, he stilled and groaned your name and a gentle, “I love you,” as he came inside of you.

So that was how you ended up laying there on the bed as he rested on his stomach, fingers prodding your hole so that he could stuff his cum back inside of you because he didn’t want a single drop to escape, no matter what. How else was he supposed to tell the world that his number one fan was his? How else was he supposed to tell you that he loved you when he was out being a hero and couldn’t be around to shower you in kisses? Every drop had to stay right where it was. He was going to make sure of it.

But he was also still in his head about your first “I love you” that was constantly replaying in his head. And suddenly he wanted to please you again because he was so happy to have you. So his tongue got involved. Masaki licked away the mess he had made of the inside of your thighs, and some of his cum that was dripping that he couldn’t save with his fingers. You shivered from the overstimulation, a sign that you couldn’t take it anymore, so he stopped himself. He licked his lips clean. He sat up. He smiled at you.

“I love you,” he said one last time before collapsing next to you on the bed.

You curled up against his chest. “I love you, too.”

[gemini-sensei]

When omega!LaRusso!Reader finds out what Hawk is up to, oh boy (@sensei-venus)

Everyone knows Hawk is subtly trying to court Reader, often rolling their eyes when he starts gushing about her when she isn't around to hear him. Everyone thinks it's pretty cute, how much thought and care he's put into it and taking his time to be her friend first. Add onto that fact that Reader doesn't fully get what Hawk is doing and it's pretty cute.

He comes around with little gifts, but over time they become more personal. Jewelry, her favorite snacks and desserts, movie tickets to the films she's excited to go see. All sorts of stuff. Reader doesn't think much of it, believing Hawk is just being super nice. After all, he keeps the other alphas away and doesn't say anything out of the way. Sure, he gives her compliments, but he means them in a friendly way, right?

They're hanging out one day, but unlike other times it's just the two of them. However, she doesn't feel awkward or even frightened by it. Hawk makes her feel safe and secure, so she has no problem just hanging out with him. He makes her laugh and they always have a fun time.

Things are going great, like they always have with Hawk, and then there's a lull. She's giggling at something he said and then all of a sudden he's leaning in to kiss her. Her heart thumps hard, she panics, and punches him in the face.

However, unlike every other time she's hit an alpha that got too close, she immediately feels super bad about it. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

Every instinct inside of her is screaming "Why the fuck did you do that?" She's ready to start crying, especially because his nose starts bleeding. She starts trying to clean it up, but he's gushing. Her omega instincts don't let her stop though, she has to take care of him, especially because she caused this.

"It's okay, it's okay," he tries to assure her. He feels so bad as he watches her panic because he didn't mean to frighten her. He just felt so attracted to her and wanted to kiss her, kind of forgetting they aren't together for that moment. So as she's sitting there, holding tissues to his face, he looks at her so apologetically. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry? I'm the one that almost broke your nose," she says, getting a little sniffly. She just wants to bolt and hide, never show her face again.

He tries to shake hisnhead, but she's holding him firmly as she tries to get his nose to stop bleeding. "I shouldn't have tried to kiss you... I mean, I should have at least asked first."

"That kind of consideration is a lot more than other alphas have had," she tells him. She looks down, embarrassed as if that were her fault.

"Well, now I know how the rest of them feel," he chuckles. He smirks at her. "All those stories about how you hit hard are true, huh."

Hos words only fluster her further. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he tells her. He tilts her head up. "I think it's pretty hot."

"...what?"

He laughs at her cuteness. "I think you're hot."

That hard thumping returns to her chest and she feels her cheeks burn hot. "Thank you... I... I think you're hot too..."

The alpha wants to cheer. The prettiest omega he's ever met thinks he's hot. His metaphorical tail is wagging so hard. He smiles at her, just so happy to know that. It's enough to make him finally ask her out, hopefully avoiding any punches she may throw.

[readingismyhobby24]

✨ Intro Post ✨

I randomly decided to update this lol (11/7/24)

- i have multiple tags for my own things now:

#faith's little rambles, #faith's asks, #faith's random questions, #faith's fics, #faith's crocheting shenanigans, #faith's art, #faith's updates

- a big part of my blog is to mainly just have fun and make friends! There's a lot of wonderful people on here and I'm so thankful to know them!

- I mainly post about random things, but I do talk a LOT about Linked Universe and the Legend of Zelda. I'm obsessed with it! Always have been and always will be. I'm also a huge Epic the Musical fan now!

-I have an Ao3 account! I've posted a few fics on it if you would like to check it out! writing_is_my_hobby24

Faith is my nickname that I go by one here! I'm 18, I love animals, I love God, I have an adorable kitty, and I love to yap! Especially about Loz/LU/Epic the Musical/literally anything lol. So if anyone would like to yap, I'm always open!

I do want to set some rules here real quick! Nothing insane, but super important to me and many people: this is a safe place for everyone! Everyone is welcome here (as long as you're not causing issues and being mean) I just want everyone to be respectful and kind to one another. Kindness is a big part of who I am and I do my best to spread it, so please be kind on my blog (you should be everywhere though).

So just be respectful, kind, considerate, and most of all: have fun!!!!

Art requests: open!

[solitaryandwandering]

15 people, 15 questions

I was tagged by @wen-kexing-apologist (here) and @telomeke (here), always glad to arrive late to a tag game!

1. Are you named after anyone?

I share a middle name with my paternal and maternal grandmothers (and coincidentally with an aunt who married into the family). As for my first name, my dad used to tell everyone that I was named after Meg Ryan, who he had a crush on and my mom really disliked (unrelated to the crush). It's a slightly creepy story and entirely untrue. I believe in reality they just thought the name sounded nice and chose it over the alternative, Kate (thank GOD).

2. When was the last time you cried?

I honestly can't remember the last time I full-on cried. Usually I only really cry when reading, watching shows or films or otherwise engaging with emotions in that way. When I was visiting family in Ohio I was feeling pretty unlike myself and stifled (the majority of the family are Trump supporters or centrists, if that gives you any idea of the kind of stuff being said). Whenever I visit them and the attention turns to me, the only things they tend to focus on are my love of reading (which I can no longer do very often) and disabilities. I am the first to assert that I am not ashamed of being disabled but there's very little agency I feel around this group of people (and though I love my immediate family they weren't always very helpful), made all the worse by the fact that my sight has considerably worsened in the last year, so any and all attention and vicarious grieving was a bit more difficult to swallow this time around. So, the night before we left, I did sit in the bathroom and tear up for a bit. But, no crying! Legitimately, one of my intentions of the new year is to let myself fully feel my emotions so I can more consciously heal from more of my PTSD and be more mindful in my life, which necessitates more tears. Lots to unpack there.

3. Do you have kids?

No, and I'm unsure if I ever want any. Definitely don't ever want to be pregnant. But I do love kids a lot.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I consider myself to be naturally pretty athletic, despite it all. When I was growing up I played a wide myriad of sports, like tee-ball, ballet (is that a sport?), track (usually 200m), and volleyball, with lots of swimming, gymnastics, rock-climbing (usually in the context of hiking), basketball, baseball, and football thrown in there. I'm still pretty proud of the fact that I can throw a perfect spiral (though getting my hand around the football is a bitch). I used to do a decent amount of weight-lifting, too. I was asked to play rugby at one point in middle school by my history teacher but had to decline due to the risk to my cochlear implant. But by far my number one sport was soccer; I played 19 seasons before I graduated high school, though it was always on a club level. I was actually pretty good (and very fast), if inconsistent (Usher + ADHD + low confidence + toxic sports environment led to some apathy on my end). My nickname was "bulldog" because I was so effectively aggressive and quick. I usually played as a defender (all positions, but left-winger typically), though I was also a midfielder due to my speed. Pretty sure I played every position at least once. Only scored one goal, and it was not an auspicious moment lmfao. I really loved the sport, even if I was bullied/ostracized by many of the girls. Right now, I don't play sports and am in the worst shape of my life, so a 2024 intention is to slowly get back into exercising as regularly as possible, even if I can only regularly keep up with PT workouts.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

I am almost entirely made up of sarcasm and dark humor. I've had to soften this, though, since a large majority of people in my life are not super receptive to either due to either some neurodiversity or trauma.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Depends on the environment, haha. If it's crowded, loud and unfamiliar I am usually noticing people's position in relation to me, if they're looking at me, and if they're trying to say something to me. So, a lot of looking at people's mouths. Otherwise, I think I still notice people's proximity, their body language, their eyes and smile/facial expressions. I grock on to people's emotions pretty quickly so I notice their general mood, too.

7. What’s your eye color?

On the brown side of hazel. I actually think they're a pretty color, especially when sunlight hits them. Then they can look golden, with some streaks of green or copper.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Weird dichotomy, but ok. I'd say I largely prefer happy endings, especially if they're earned. I'd actually argue that some scary movies do have happy endings, just depends on your definition of "happy." I like horror quite a bit, especially as a genre to discuss and learn about, but my OCD does not enjoy watching them, so I am pretty particular about the ones I see.

9. Any talents?

Yes, I suppose? I think I am good at analysis, critical thinking, listening to others, media literacy/reading comprehension, coming up with creative ideas, and learning new things. I also like trivia, though it's been a long time since I really exercised that talent. I think I'm a pretty good writer, too. Really had to resist sarcasm and self-criticism, there.

10. Where were you born?

In a hospital in Northern Virginia, strangled by my umbilical cord and forcibly pulled from my mother with forceps.

11. What are your hobbies?

Watching BL and scrolling Tumblr, of course. But I also love watching films, in general, and reading media analysis and criticism. I also like reading social critique (that's my sociology degree talking) and lightly keeping up on psychological research in areas I'm interested in (trauma, sexual health, mental illness/health, developmental psychology, etc.) as much as I can. I also listen to a lot of podcasts (mostly fiction) and listen to music. Another intention for the new year is to slowly get back into reading books, however I can. And I also want to write more about BL on here :)

12. Do you have any pets?

Technically no - we have one dog which was passed on to us when my high school Braille teacher died, but she is with my dad, whom my mom is in the process of divorcing. He is holding on to her both as emotional support and collateral. So... I am not sure if I will see her again.

13. How tall are you?

Sort of average, around 5 ft 4 in

14. Favorite subject in school?

English, first and foremost. Followed by history (though my teachers usually were not great), most sciences (even if the mathematical sections caused some grief), and anything artistic or creative, such as a film studies elective I took in high school. In college I liked most of my psychology and sociology classes, thankfully, since those were my majors. Basically anything but math. I could always get behind the theoretical enjoyment of mathematics but (undiagnosed) dyscalculia REALLY made me suffer in those classes.

15. Dream job

If I ever get enough money and stability to do so, I want to go to grad school to become a clinical social worker. Otherwise, my actual "dream job" is to work in some way in media analysis, though I have no idea what that would entail or what it would look like.

Not tagging 15 people, I don't even know that many who would do something like this lol. Do if you want!

[valiantstarlights]

Loved your personal trainer Dream!!! ❤️❤️❤️I love how both are just really really horny for the other

Now I got the feeling Dream might do some brochures like Destruction's (if I got that correctly, do they have the list of exercises/training in them?)

But these are only for Hob and they are meant to be done in the bedroom (or maybe in the gym at late hours when no one is there)😏

And those, too, having extremely silly and lewd names as titles

Will wait patiently for the next chapter 💞

Thank you for your kind words and for waiting 🙇‍♀️ RL is being rough on me rn (and not in the fun way), but I'm always cheered up by everyone's reactions and feedback 😊

Endless Gym Brochures

Endless Gym has a variety of brochures in the reception area, and they cater to all sorts of gym-goers, from beginner level to advanced.

The brochures have all been pre-tested to a random sample of their target audience, and comments and suggestions made by the group were taken into serious consideration.

(There are brochures for tai chi classes, extreme sports training, self-defense, dancing, etc.)

Destruction's brochure underwent the pre-test stage as well, though I suppose he's more involved in the creation process and had insisted on the exploding volcano and raining hellfire theme. 😂 His target audience is, of course, very intense people (who would voluntarily sign up for classes named Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse Regimen 💀), so the brochure was approved in the end. 🤷‍♀️

It's a mystery how Hob got Destruction's brochure. Maybe Jo just picked one at random, thinking that the contents of all the brochures are the same?

Dream's Spicy Brochure

Realistically, I don't think Dream would make one, because there's always a chance that it could leak to the general public and...that would be super bad. 👀 Can you imagine the size of the crowd wanting to sign up?

However! That isn't to say that Dream doesn't already have a spicy training program outlined in his mind. He is only waiting for Hob's explicit consent so they could begin. 😏

In this ask I answered, we can briefly see Dream in the process of training Hob's virgin hole into taking his cock. And that's all I'm gonna say about spicy training for now. 😊

[jinx-on-mars-19xx]

But just because you have ptsd doesn't mean you can be mean or prejudge people. Having ptsd is not an excuse for anything. You're acting super weird lately.

... I have not pre-judged a single person. I have not used PTSD as an excuse for ANYTHING. I said "no duh I'm paranoid, I have GAD and PTSD." I'm not sure who you are but I'm guessing you haven't been here long? You know you don't have to follow me. If you're the same anon bully as before I haven't prejudged you, I'm REACTING to what you say. Like you want. I've always been weird hon, kind of the point.

Also thanks, of course this shit set my anxiety off because I don't like confrontation. How am I being weird? I get hate if I'm positive all the time and I get hate if I'm not. I can't make everyone happy and I'm not trying to. Are you expecting me to be nice to people attacking me? I'm so confused. I can be whatever I want, this is my blog. That's the cool thing about it. I didn't even have to answer this but I don't want to hide from my followers what I deal with.

Am I mean or weird lately guys?

You know what I am? Recently dumped. By someone who promised never to leave. Recently dropped by a friend who promised never to leave. Found out I have a very serious medical condition that alters my entire fucking life. I found out my dad's cancer is getting worse, and my mom is getting weaker all the time. September hit. The WORST time of year for me. It starts the hell months for me. Obviously you know me so well so you know I was raped by my first boyfriend in September years ago and lost a child in December. If you know me well enough to know I'm weird lately you know that right?

Why is everyone else, including you- allowed to judge and be mean? Why don't I have the right to emotions on my own page? If you don't like that sometimes I have feelings, you have the ability to go. I was literally just in the hospital and yet still I try to keep up my reassurance and care-taking personality. WHERE have I been mean? When I was defending myself? Stop hiding and bullying as an anon. At least I never hide.

Please though guys, if I'm weird or mean or something let me know! Comment here please? I don't know what's going on or why I'm getting singled out. Does it make you feel better picking on me? I hope so. I just feel bad for that. I really think if I'm such a problem you should just block me? Or unfollow me? See no one else has been saying this stuff. I'm assuming you're the same anon as before. Thank you for your input, I'll take it into consideration.

To everyone else, I hope you're doing well! Love you so much 🖤

[nerdy-talks]

Warning : This post is going to be a very personal rage dump/rant.

There are heavy topics involved, including cancer and death. Also explicit language.

Out of consideration and respect to those of you who would prefer not to read it (since I completely understand why you wouldn’t want to), I will continue under the cut

Also pictures of my dogs, to break up the doom and gloom ^^"

-------------------------

I absolutely despise, loathe, hate toxic people.

Especially when those toxic people are the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” type.

Especially when those people don’t have the fucking balls to confront others directly and just choose to slink about behind the scenes like scummy little vermin.

So… my uncle Joe passed away a few days ago.

It was expected. He had been battling pancreatic cancer, which ended up spreading into his liver and lungs.

With that being said, even though he will be dearly missed, at least he no longer has to suffer.

I was close with my uncle.

In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that I was much closer to him than I was with my own father (my Dad was a permanent presence in my life up until the day he died, but we had an extremely tumultuous, dysfunctional, volatile, abusive relationship.)

We visited my uncle Joe regularly ever since I was a baby, all the way up until somewhat recently. He spent countless hours at our place throughout the years. He was super close with my parents, doing tons of outdoorsy activities with them. I spent a good amount of my childhood with his family. When his wife passed away, my parents helped him and supported him. He helped us move twice. My Mom took his kids places when she was just dating my Dad. When my Dad passed away, my uncle Joe was there for me without me even having to ask.

Literally everything was good between us, and always has been.

It’s also thanks to my uncle Joe that we gained a new furry member of our family last year, who we named Dandy 💙 my uncle’s dog had puppies, he asked how many we wanted, so we took one lol

(I’ll include a few poor quality pictures because… well, I should probably break up this message with a little “positivity”, right?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was Dandy when he was still just a baby, 4 weeks and 3 days old.

Look at the cute little potato 🥹

We visited my uncle Joe every week to see him grow and develop, anxiously waiting until he was old enough to bring home.

And this was the day he finally joined our family ~

Look at how tiny he was compared to my one Black Lab (sorry for the terrible quality picture. Our carpets are old, but I swear they don't look that dingy ^^")

And here's Dandy today, one year and five months later ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway! Back to my rage-fueled rant :

My uncle Joe met someone about a year and a half ago, and she moved in with him pretty quickly.

Which certainly wasn't a bad thing. We were genuinely happy for him.

She seemed very nice, sweet, accepting, kind, receptive, and welcoming.

But for whatever reason, the dynamic changed the moment my uncle fell ill and the control landed in her hands.

Since my uncle Joe was sick, we all mutually decided that it would be best if communication was between my Mom/me and her (we would text her to check in to see how he was doing, as well as find out if/when it was a good time for us to visit)

This is where some inconsistencies started to appear.

For example :

She would tell us not to visit because my uncle was too sick (which was totally understandable!), but then would tell us a few days later how he was doing great and had fishing trips planned all week.

I 100% believed her at the time.

After all, everyone has both good and bad days.

But then when we would visit, my uncle Joe told us how he couldn’t fish anymore because the chemo was causing neuropathy in his hands, and he couldn’t hold his fishing pole or cast/reel the line in.

Though we just assumed he discovered those issues after she told us about those supposed fishing trips.

But the true eye-opener happened during our one visit. My uncle Joe welcomed us into his home, we talked, found out some updates about his health (which was declining), etc. He was open/transparent with us about everything.

When my uncle went to the bathroom during that visit, his girlfriend made the comment “I probably should have told you guys not to come here, since he’s in a lot of pain today.”

Knowing my uncle, I didn’t budge from my seat. I knew that if he wasn’t up for company, he wouldn't hesitate to tell us to leave.

And I’m glad we didn’t leave… because literally 10 minutes later, her granddaughter came waltzing in to visit her.

My uncle came out of the bathroom, sat on the sofa doubled over in pain as he was talking to me and my Mom (at this time, we asked him directly if we should leave, since we knew he was dealing with a lot and we didn't want to overstay our welcome. He told us not to leave, that we could stay because he felt like shit regardless).

But as he was sitting there, clearly in pain, his girlfriend and her granddaughter asked him to get up and carve a watermelon for them instead of doing it themselves.

What sense does that make?

'I should have told you guys to stay away, but I’m gonna make him strain himself and carve a watermelon for us even though he’s already suffering and struggling enough'

…. Okay. Fuck you too.

We obviously didn’t say anything. We just visited for a little while longer, then left with a friendly/cordial “goodbye, nice to see you again” to her and her granddaughter, told my uncle that we would be thinking about him and see him again, and wished them a good day.

Two and a half months passed before we heard from them again.

Why? Because she refused to answer our numerous calls and texts.

She deliberately ignored us, which actively prevented us from having an opportunity to see my uncle.

And she knew damn well that we wouldn’t just show up at my uncle’s house unannounced because we didn’t want to disturb him if he wasn’t feeling up for company.

We only got in contact with him again after he directly called our phone and left a message saying “hey, just checking in. I hope you’re both doing okay, since I haven’t heard from either of you in a while. Stop by when you can”.

So we went to his house.

When we explained the situation to my uncle Joe/passive aggressively confronted his girlfriend, her excuse was “oh, sorry. The reception here is bad so my phone was probably just acting up.”

For two and a half months?

Even though she was literally using her phone in front of us, which appeared to be working perfectly fine?

Even though she’s always on her phone every time we see her?

Even though she could have reached out to us, yet chose not to? Not even once in two and a half months??

I call bullshit.

My Mom even told her that she was on the verge of sending a text that said “okay, cunt.” since we thought she was ignoring us after not responding to our multiple texts/calls.

We all laughed it off as a joke, Joe's girlfriend even said “hahaha, I probably would have laughed if I got a text like that!” … but it most certainly was not a joke.

(My Mom is extremely outspoken and normally doesn’t hold back, especially when it counts. She’s the type of person you either love or hate, but she’s definitely one of a kind and the perfect example of a strong, independent woman who gives zero fucks lol)

Anyway, that visit went well. We behaved like usual, talked to both my uncle and his girlfriend normally, caught up on stuff, etc.

After that interaction, his girlfriend miraculously responded to every single call and text (bad reception, huh? Funny how she had zero service issues after we called her out in front of my uncle)

But basically every time we talked with her, she would say “it’s not a good time to come by, he’s really sick.”

And we would always respond with things like “we totally understand”, “thank you so much for letting us know”, “we wish there was something we could do to help”, “we’re here for you if you ever need anything or anyone to talk to since we know this also isn’t easy for you”, “we’ll check in next weekend”, “please take care of yourself”, “we’ll be thinking about you”, etc.

Then finally, my uncle Joe told us to stop up again two weeks ago. So we did.

He was extremely sick and remained in bed, but we said hello and he told us that we are more than welcome there and we could just visit with his girlfriend. So we did. The visit remained cordial and friendly.

The next day, my uncle called and apologized for not getting up when we were there.

We immediately told him that he has absolutely no reason to be sorry, that we completely and wholeheartedly understand, that we would understand even if he told us to leave the moment we arrived, and that we were keeping him in our thoughts.

The week after that, his girlfriend said he was too sick for company (which again, we obviously understood and thanked her for letting us know, wished them the best, etc).

We didn’t visit my uncle Joe after that. He passed away before we had another opportunity to see him.

Now, here’s where my anger starts to come into play :

His girlfriend didn’t let us know when he passed away.

We found out from my other uncle, Mike, two days later. (My Dad had 3 brothers. His eldest brother is my uncle Joe who just passed away. His youngest brother is my uncle Mike who let us know what happened.)

So my Mom called her and offered her condolences, asked how she was doing, told her that we’re here for her, and asked about the arrangements. My Mom also told her that Mike was the one who let us know about Joe.

She made the comment “there’s going to be a small ceremony, but only for immediate family.”

Which didn’t make sense to me or my Mom. We were both very close with my uncle Joe, we are family. So that comment seemed a bit… off?

But we dismissed it and instead talked to my uncle Mike.

We asked him to please keep us updated, since we wanted to pay our respects to my uncle Joe and our family.

Well… I don’t know what the Hell that lady said to my cousin (Joe’s son), but he told my uncle Mike not to tell us anything else.

That snake in the grass obviously ran back and told my cousin that we found out about Joe’s passing from Mike.

But uhh... We deserved to know.

Now, we literally just found out this morning that the ceremony was held yesterday. We weren't invited (the day/time wasn't publicly announced).

We were excluded. We were denied the opportunity to say our final goodbye.

I blame his girlfriend. Completely and entirely.

I especially find it super interesting that she didn’t attend the ceremony either… almost like she was afraid that we might possibly show up and confront her (which we would never do, purely out of respect for my uncle Joe)

When my uncle Mike told us, he apologized. But we told him that we don’t blame him, since we certainly didn’t want to put him in the middle of it.

It just pisses me the fuck off.

Bad enough she actively prevented us from seeing my uncle Joe, even on his “good” days. But then to keep us away from the ceremony too?

And she HAD to have fed my cousin a bunch of lies and bullshit to cause him to tell my uncle Mike not to inform us of anything. (Luckily for us, my uncle Mike loves to talk so he didn’t mind spilling the tea. He just felt guilty for not doing so sooner. But I understand why he waited, and I hold zero animosity towards him)

It’s especially confusing and upsetting since we always remained on good terms with all of my cousins.

We saw my cousins regularly, got along well with them, joked around with them.

Literally nothing that we did or didn’t do would warrant such a reaction from them.

If there was any fault on our end, I certainly wouldn’t be angry about this situation or waste my time typing this up. (I'm not the type of person who plays the victim, I admit when I'm wrong and own up to my faults/wrongdoings. That just isn't the case here.)

So it’s seriously a mystery to me… which is why I blame my uncle Joe’s girlfriend.

Absolutely nothing changed in the decades of knowing my uncle and his kids. Literally the only recent change was her coming into the picture.

(I also want blame my cousin, since he’s older than me and has a mind of his own… but I also know that he’s grieving the loss of his father, so I feel like that bitch took advantage of the situation to say whatever she wanted about us while my cousin is vulnerable and not thinking clearly/properly).

Regardless of the finer details…. I am absolutely livid.

It’s like a giant “fuck you” to us, like we aren’t good enough, like our feelings don’t matter.

And that pisses me off beyond belief.

I’m debating whether or not I should confront her.

On one hand, I probably should just let it go and move on.

But on the other hand… I want to play dumb, call her, and be like “How are you doing? Do you know when the ceremony is?“ just to see what she says.

And then tell her to go fuck herself.

Is that immature of me? Sure.

But I’m angry. Annoyed. Irritated. Fuming. My rage is boiling, my wrath is building. And I feel like exploding.

Needless to say… my Mom was right. That lady is a cunt. A toxic, festering, diabolical, oozing, gaping, pungent cunt.

If you’ve read up to this point, I genuinely apologize for dumping all of this off here.

I just needed to vent a bit.

I also owe everyone who has tagged me a HUGE thank you. You have all given me a much needed distraction from everything, plus I genuinely love being tagged.

So I will absolutely start posting/replying to those a little later (I've already started on them and have them saved in my drafts, I just want to finish them all and post everything at once lol)

[ghostradiodylan]

Which Hacketteers do you think are pro Christmas music and who do you think is totally against it?

Okay this is a great question and such a hard one for me because I’m kind of ambivalent about Christmas music myself! I like it fine for a couple of days beforehand but when it starts playing in stores right after Halloween? I’m still in spooky mode, stop trying to make me be merry for the sake of capitalism! 😂

Also given the setting of New York state, I wonder if any of them come from Jewish or otherwise non-Christian families. Idk who’s most likely to fit into that category but it’s a consideration. Christmas culture infects everyone though lol.

❄️��️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

I feel like Jacob is a literal child so he probably gets super excited about everything Christmas and is like helping his parents put up elaborate light displays and buying Christmas themed snacks and stuff, so he’s probably listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween and I feel like Emma might be similar. Emma might come Christmas caroling at your house because she loves performing so much! Emma doesn’t mind a pop cover or a bit of Mariah Carey at all.

Kaitlyn might be a total Grinch if left to her own devices but she can’t help indulging Jacob a little. She doesn’t mind Christmas music in the context of Christmas movies but she probably wouldn’t listen to it on purpose just for fun. She has a secret soft spot for the soundtrack to The Muppet Christmas Carol.

I feel like the holidays might be complicated for Ryan. We don’t know why his mom isn’t around, though I obviously have my headcanons for fiction, but that might make it a little bit of a tough time for him. At the same time, he seems really invested in his sister so he probably wants to make Christmas special for her. He lives with his grandparents, so maybe they’re listening to the more classic, old school Christmas music and jazz covers and he’s probably fine with that.

Dylan I think could go either way, either he’s rolling his eyes about it altogether or he’s making massive playlists of indie and alt rock covers and then throwing in annoying goofy songs like “Dominick the Donkey” and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” I think he probably does not want to hear Christmas music prior to Thanksgiving. But maybe I’m just projecting as I often do.

Abi’s watching The Nightmare Before Christmas on repeat to match her Hot Topic aesthetic. 😂 She likes that original soundtrack and the various artist cover versions and “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” by Fall Out Boy. But when it’s actually the week of Christmas she gives in and gets into the regular cheery stuff.

I wonder how long Nick has been in the US because I always think it has to be so weird for Australians to have all this wintery themed Christmas music when it’s summer in their hemisphere at Christmas time! Maybe he gets really into it because it’s so different from what he’s used to. Or maybe he gets cranky and misses the summer and listens to Tim Minchin’s “White Wine in the Sun” to remember warmer holidays. Could go either way.

Maybe it’s his 50’s fit talking, but I imagine Max being into the old crooner type Christmas music, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and more recently stuff like Michael Bublé that’s copying that style. I feel like he starts terribly serenading Laura with that music in early November.

I feel like Laura might not get super into Christmas until school is out because she’s so driven, so maybe she pushes all that out of her mind until then, except when Max is badly crooning “White Christmas” in the shower. But then again, I also headcanoned her as a choir kid in high school so she probably had concerts to practice for too that made her get into the spirit earlier than she really wanted.

Thanks for the asks today y’all! I think my brain is tapped out but I will be meditating on some I can send back! 💜💜💜

[ruethemazerunner]

15. someone to lean on

Takatora led Maisie through the cordoned off area reserved for Militants and ‘V.I.Ps’ (who were mainly just other executive members, with a few exceptions). It was considerably less crowded than the rest of the party, so navigating the area without colliding with drunk dancers was a lot easier.

He took Maisie all the way to the back, to the same spot he’d been in when he’d first spotted her making her way through the crowd. It was more private there, closer to the wall of the tent and away from prying ears and eyes.

Maisie looked around the ‘lounge’ as they finally stopped, taking in all the Militants that were there, the flashing neon lights produced by small L.E.D projectors, and the loveseats scattered around the sides that were mostly being occupied by couples that were only a few step short of giving everyone a very uncomfortable show. Takatora was used to people having no shame or shyness within the constant partying of The Beach, but seeing it when Maisie’s hand was still tightly grasped in his suddenly brought a blush to his cheeks.

She blinked up at him, “How come there’s so many people here? I thought it was, like, a super exclusive club.”

Takatora cracked a smile at her innocence, her big eyes looking surprised.

He leaned down so she could hear him over the loud music, “It’s mostly supposed to be Militants and Executive Members, but we are allowed to invite some people in.”

Maisie’s mouth formed a little ‘o’ shape, her eyes wondering back to the smaller dance floor in the middle of the tent. Takatora swallowed hard as he took the time to admire her now that he knew she wasn’t looking. Everything from the freckles smattered over her temples and her shoulders, to the roundness of her cheeks and the curve of her waist, it all made him feel lightheaded in the very best way. Takatora had trouble believing she was real.

Maisie finally looked back to him after a few more seconds, smiling at him bashfully, “It’s kinda nice in here, and I like that it’s not as crowded. Thanks for inviting me in, by the way.”

The last part of her sentence reminded Takatora that he hadn’t even asked her why she’d come over. Not that he wasn’t over the moon about it either way, but if something was wrong he needed to know. He would fix it for her.

“Did something happen by the bar?” Takatora wasn’t sure if that was the best way to phrase the question, certainly the last thing he wanted was for Maisie to think that her presence was unwanted, but the concern in his eyes must’ve been clear enough, because Maisie actually smiled.

“No, nothing, really. I just…” She suddenly looked bashful, reaching down as if to play with the ends of her dress, but since she was wearing shorts she just tugged at the hem of those instead, “Uhm, I saw you, and then Kuina saw that I saw you, and she kind of convinced me to come over here.”

Takatora wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Had Maisie only come because she felt pressured by her friend?

His silence must have seemed different than usual to Maisie, because her eyes suddenly widened and she snapped her gaze back up to his in alarm as if realizing something, “That doesn’t mean I didn’t wanna come over! I just didn’t know if you’d want to talk because it seemed like you didn’t want company, and I didn’t know if I would be allowed in-“ Maisie rambled, tugging on the arm that was still held their entwined fingers with her other hand, as if urging Takatora to believe her.

He breathed a small internal sigh of relief, “It’s okay. If you ever want to come in, just come get me. I always want to talk to you.”

Crap. He hadn’t meant to voice that last part, but it was too late now. He immediately turned his gaze to the floor, ears pink, too much of a coward to look back at Maisie and see what was sure to be rejection in her eyes.

He figures he should’ve known better by now.

Instead of awkwardly letting go of his hand and making an excuse to leave like he was so sure would happen, Maisie squeezed his hand and kicked her sneaker-clad foot shyly.

“Really?” Maisie asked softly.

Takatora still avoided her eyes, but nodded nonetheless, “I like talking to you.”

He tried to play it cool. He didn’t want Maisie to know how much more than that it was just yet.

Maisie beamed up at him, Takatora shyly meeting her gaze with the tips of his ears still hot.

“I like talking to you too,” Maisie said. She had yet to let of of Takatora’s hand, or his arm with her other hand, for that matter. It felt like Cloud 9.

“Can I ask you something?” Maisie spoke again before Takatora had a chance to fully absorb the happiness that her response made him feel. He nodded for the girl to continue nonetheless.

“Why are you down here? I’ve seen you hang out here a couple times, but you don’t really strike me as someone who would be into… all of this.” Maisie let go of his arm to gesture around them.

Takatora looked around him as he thought of how to word his answer so it wouldn’t sound odd to Maisie, “Aguni likes to place me on watch duty. He… says my appearance usually scares people into behaving.” He didn’t want to admit to her that it wasn’t just his looks, but also his reputation that made people steer clear of him most of the time. He didn’t want to scare Maisie away by making her think of him as a monster.

Takatora was no saint, far from it in fact, but he wouldn’t touch a single hair on her head without her permission, and he would make sure she knew that.

To his surprise, Maisie looked up in mild alarm, her brows pinched adorably as she once again latched onto his arm with her free hand.

“Oh no! You’re supposed to be on watch duty? I didn’t mean to distract you from your job! Oh gosh, I’m so sorry- I’ll just go back with Kuina, I’m really so-“

But Takatora shook his head vehemently and didn’t ease his grip on her hand, urging Maisie to stay put. He would’ve found her concern adorable if he wasn’t so focused on coming up with any excuse to get her to stay.

“It’s okay,” Takatora reassured her. “I don’t usually have much to do anyway. And Niragi is here too.” He didn’t have to add that most people had a tendency not to draw too much attention to themselves when Niragi was around, he was sure Maisie could put two and two together.

Maisie relaxed, but still seemed slightly worried, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to get in trouble with Aguni. Isn’t he technically your boss?”

Takatora shrugged, “I guess so, but it’s not like I’m breaking any Beach rules, so it’s fine.”

Maisie bit her lip, Takatora’s eyes immediately snapping to the action, but he looked back up as he heard her voice once more, “If you say so… Do you usually just stand her all night by yourself when you’re on watch, then?”

Takatora nodded, not really knowing if elaborating was necessary. Maisie was clearly good at reading people, and even if she wasn’t, nothing about him screamed ‘social’, Takatora was fully aware of that.

“Do you wanna go somewhere else?” Maisie smiled up at him.

Takatora blinked down at her, mouth suddenly dry. Maisie wanted to go somewhere, with him, just the two of them, alone, at night. They’d quite literally been alone together just that morning, but the simple fact that it was nighttime now made it feel much more intimate.

“We don’t have to, Tora.” Maisie said, smiling in seeming understanding at his lack of response. Takatora had to hide a shiver, the sound of the nickname Maisie had thought of just for him making his skin feel all sorts of tingly. He’d never cared much for his name, but he thought right then that he could listen to Maisie call him ‘Tora’ for the rest of his life and never get tired of it.

Takatora simply nodded mutely, but apparently that’s all that Maisie needed, because the next moment she’d tugged on the hand that was still clasped around hers, and she started leading Takatora right back the way they had come, straight to the exit.

~~

Maisie led Tora through the V.I.P section with a firm grasp on his hand, skirting around the couples heatedly making out and grinding all around them. She walked straight pass Kido, but shot him a smile nonetheless. He had just been doing his job earlier, she reminded herself.

Maisie knew where she wanted to go, had thought of it instantly the moment Tora had accepted her proposal. The views from her room were gorgeous, but what she really wanted was the chance to see the beautiful waves and sparkling sand she could see from her balcony up close.

Maisie was aware that technically residents weren’t allowed to leave Beach premises without permission, but she had faith that since Tora was here they wouldn’t get in trouble. He was a Militant, after all, and a high ranking member of The Beach.

She continued to lead him through the rowdy pool area, but instead of heading towards the grand archway that marked the entrance to The Beach, she took a turn and led him towards the backside of the hotel, near the gardens.

Tora followed Maisie the entire time without complaint, his larger hand still wrapped around hers. She wasn’t ready to admit how safe his hand holding hers made her feel.

When she finally reached the back exit she’d been looking for, she paused and finally turned back to Tora, who was quietly looking at her with curiosity in his eyes.

Maisie blushed and cleared her throat shyly, grateful for the darkness surrounding them since it meant Tora couldn’t see the pink hue staining her cheeks. He made her feel nervous, but Maisie didn’t think it was a bad type of nervous. It certainly wasn’t the same skin-crawling type of nerves she’d felt when Niragi had approached her.

“Uhm, my room has this really pretty view of the ocean, and I’ve always wanted to go down there and check it out, but I haven’t had a chance yet,” Maisie looked up shyly, gaze shifting between Tora’s eyes. “Would you like to take a walk? The sand shouldn’t burn now that the sun’s gone down.”

Tora’s face remained in the same neutral expression it usually did, the only change being a slight widening of the eyes and a slight parting of the lips. Maisie didn’t know if these were good reactions, but nonetheless he nodded mutely, so she took it as a good sign.

With a big smile and a “let’s go, then!” Maisie let go of Tora’s hand to open the back gate of the garden and beckon him down the stone steps to the sand below.

~~

The second they reached the cool sand at the very bottom of the worn stone steps, Maisie reached down to unlace her sneakers. Takatora looked away with a blush, thankful for the darkness around them concealing the red hue of his cheeks.

Maisie straightened up again after a minute, now barefoot with both of her shoes held in one hand. She gestured towards Takatora’s own feet with a smile on her face.

“Aren’t you gonna take your sandals off?” Maisie tilted her head while she asked, and Takatora struggled to respond, the absolute adorable sight of her head tilted in confusion along with the dimple in her left cheek brought out by her smile causing his brain to short-circuit momentarily.

Takatora finally shook himself out of his stupor and bent down to remove his sandals, setting them down by the stone steps before glancing back at Maisie.

At her questioning look, he spoke, “No one comes down here, we can leave our shoes. It will be easier than carrying them.”

Maisie beamed, placing her sneakers right next to his sandals. Takatora was momentarily arrested by the sight, a vision coming to mind of Takatora coming home after a long day, placing his shoes next to Maisie’s, which were already there by the entrence of their home. The thought of something so domestic made Takatora feel a strange longing in his chest that he’d never felt before.

‘She barely knows you. Stop making up impossible scenarios in your head and get a grip,’ Takatora chastised himself, all the while knowing damn well that it was going to be impossible.

Maisie beckoned him forward with a silent nod of her head, and Takatora followed without any hesitation.

For a while they just walked side by side, the only noise that could be heard coming from the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the dull bass of the party they’d left behind.

Takatora took in the sight of the moonlight reflected on the surface of the dark water, the occasional crab making it’s way across the damp sand and scuttling out of sight back into the waves.

He turned to look at Maisie. Her eyes were half closed, seemingly relaxed as she breathed in the salty air, the light breeze ruffling the loose strands framing her face. The moonlight illuminated the bridge of her nose and her Cupid’s bow, along with the lighter-colored ends of her hair. With the backdrop of an endless sky of stars behind her, she looked nothing short of a goddess.

Not for the first time, Takatora found himself wondering how he’d ever found anything beautiful before he’d met Maisie.

A few short moments later, however, the girl in question suddenly stopped walking and turned towards the shore.

Takatora stopped with her, looking at her face in curiosity, wondering why they’d stopped, even though her gaze was pointed at the water.

“Sometimes I miss it,” Maisie spoke suddenly after a moment of silence.

Takatora looked at her in surprise, not understanding what she meant. Maisie looked towards him, a smile breaking out on her face at his obvious confusion.

“The sea, I mean,” she clarified, looking out towards the water once more. “I know the vastness of this ocean is far greater than the sea I saw everyday growing up, but still. Sometimes just being near water reminds me of home. It’s nice.”

Takatora listened to the sweet girl beside him, watching her eyes close in content with that strange tightening in his chest that he only ever seemed to feel around Maisie. He wished he could’ve bottled the sea up and give it to her right there, just to see that radiant smile he often saw on her lips spread across her face again.

A sudden shuffling noise broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked to his left to see Maisie settling down on the sand, looking up at Takatora and patting the ground right next to her.

“Do you wanna sit?” She peered up at him. Takatora lowered himself on the ground next to her and sat down, taking off his katana and leaving it on the sand next him, on the other side of Maisie. He kept it close enough to grab just in case something happened, not trusting any of the rowdy people of the Beach if they somehow stumbled upon this little stretch of shore.

They both sat in silence for a while, Takatora too busy trying not to internally combust at how close Maisie was and the warmth radiating off her skin, and the object of his very overwhelming affections seemingly lost in thought.

Takatora had just managed to get his body under control, his skin feeling like it was on fire by just having Maisie that close to him (she truly did make him feel like a teenager again), when she leaned her head on his shoulder. His poor heart shot right back into the frantic rhythm it always did when Maisie touched him.

As if Maisie was hellbent on making Takatora faint, she also sighed and spoke softly, “I like spending time with you, Tora.”

Takatora struggled to respond, his head feeling very light. He didn’t need to, though. Maisie seemed to understand his silence like no one else ever had. So instead of answering, he simply shuffled closer to her, his cheek lightly brushing the top of her head at their proximity.

For a while they sat like that, gazing at the dark waves before them. The breeze gently blew Maisie’s strands away from her face, so that Takatora had a clear view of her features. She looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen her.

Suddenly something caught his eye. Looking to his right, Takatora saw a white clam shell washed up on the shore. Iridescent in the moonlight, it looked beautiful. Takatora grabbed it at once and placed it face up in the palm of his hand, offering it to Maisie.

She lifted her head off his shoulder in surprise, first looking at his face and then glancing down at his palm. She let out a soft gasp, leaning forward to get a better view of the shell.

“For me?” She asked timidly, looking back up at Takatora with her eyes round in surprise, her pink lips parted slightly.

Takatora swallowed hard, trying to restrain the blush fighting it’s way onto his skin, and nodded mutely to Maisie.

The small girl gave him a shy smile and gently took the shell from his hand. The second her fingertips made contact with the palm of his hand he felt electricity crackle under his skin, and Takatora desperately tried to suppress the urge to lace his fingers with hers again.

Maisie turned it over in the palm of her hand, examining the pearly shell with her head tilted in wonder. She looked back up at Takatora and beamed at him.

“It’s beautiful, Tora. Thank you.” She said while holding the shell close to her chest. Her doe eyes stared up at him, an emotion Takatora couldn’t place shining in them.

Before he could dwell on it too long, however, he saw Maisie’s face morph into an expression of alarm, and suddenly she let out a loud squeal as she looked to her feet.

Takatora was a second away from pulling out his katana from where it sat sheathed on the sand, mistaking Maisie’s surprise as fear, when he realized what had made the girl react that way.

His own body jolted as he felt the ice cold water wash over his bare feet and the bottom of his cargo’s. He felt a tingling sensation on his skin where the sea foam dissolved at his toes.

Maisie quickly jumped up on her toes, and Takatora could see why; the whole bottom of her shorts were wet. He quickly looked away and was quick to stand up as well. He could feel that the material at the back of his pants, along with the bottom of his ripped hoodie had been slightly drenched in sea water.

“Darn it,” He heard Maisie’s sweet voice giggle. Takatora braved a peek back at Maisie, hoping his face wasn’t too pink. “These are Kuina’s. She’s gonna kill me.”

Maisie was trying to get a look at the back of the jean shorts in question. They were absolutely soaked, but more than that they were now covered in wet sand. Maisie sighed.

“No point in wearing them now, good thing I came down from my room in a bikini.”

Then, to Takatora’s great surprise, Maisie started to slide the shorts down her legs in order to remove them. Takatora wasn’t sure if he was going to pass out, combust, or straight up colapse. He stood there like a fish out of water watching Maisie take off the shorts, leaving her now only clothed in her lilac bikini, knowing he should look away and give her the respect she deserved even though his eyes seemingly didn’t want to cooperate.

Maisie looked up once the garment was removed and had been carefully laid on the dry sand along with her shell.

“Aren’t you uncomfy? Your clothes got wet too.”

Takatora tried his best to school his expression as best he could while he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t mind.”

Maisie was about to respond when a light breeze blew all around them, carrying with it the cool breath from the chilled water. Maisie shivered instantly, wrapping her arms around herself as a chill wracked her body.

Without even thinking, Takatora started to remove his sleeveless hoodie from his torso. He felt exposed without the security of the hood obscuring his face, but weirdly he felt like he didn’t mind not being hidden around Maisie.

The small girl blushed when she realized what Takatora was doing, his arms now extended towards her with the black fabric hanging from his fingers.

Maisie shyly pointed her gaze to the ground.

“You don’t have to do that, Tora. I don’t want you to be cold.”

Instead of answering, Takatora simply shuffled closer, beckoning her into the warmth of his hoodie. Maisie finally relented, allowing herself to be bundled up in the soft material, poking her arms through the cut-off sleeves so she could wrap the hoodie more tightly around herself.

It took everything within Takatora not to audibly swoon at the sight of Maisie wearing his hoodie. The garment was much too big and long on her, swallowing up her frame and making her look tiny. Since her shoulders were much smaller, the torn sleeves, which usually rested right on Takatora’s shoulders reached almost to Maisie’s elbows, and the frayed hem of the hoodie reached well past her thighs.

Takatora swallowed as he allowed himself to fully take in the image of Maisie wearing his clothes.

She looked back up at him with a shy smile painted across her pink lips, “Thank you, Tora. You’re sure you won’t be cold?”

Takatora shook his head. Even if he was freezing, it wouldn’t have mattered to him.

Since the unexpected high tide had left them both damp, they decided it was best they head back up to the hotel to change into slightly warmer clothes. Takatora was slightly sad that his time alone with Maisie had to be cut short, but one look at her reddening nose had quelled his own mental protests. Her well-being was more important to him.

Maisie carried her shorts and the shell Takatora had given her tucked between her hands, held closely to her chest as to keep herself as warm as possible.

They both put their shoes back on, heading up the rocky steps back towards the iron gate.

As they re-emerged at the pool area, Takatora following silently behind Maisie like a protective shadow, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that every person that was looking their way knew that Maisie was wearing his hoodie. It filled his chest with a sense of pride he rarely felt, and he had to try very hard to suppress the smug smirk that wanted to paint itself across his lips as he saw the men they passed shooting him envious looks.

It became even harder when he saw Maisie waving at someone; upon looking in the direction Maisie was looking in, he realized that it was her friend Kuina and that man Tatta that he’d saved the previous night. While Kuina was giving Maisie a wave in return with a smirk plastered on her face, Tatta looked mildly alarmed at the sight of Maisie wearing Takatora’s clothes while the man in question stood less than a foot behind her.

Takatora didn’t take his eyes off of Tatta, hoping the message was clear.

———-

EEEK HI FRIENDS!! I can’t believe it’s been a month since S2 came out :0 yall better not stop writing about our fav characters just yet!! I hope y’all like part 15, sorry it took a while. I’ve been thinking about making a playlist for Maisie, so I’ll let you guys know if I manage to put it together.

I’ve also been thinking about writing for Tatta and Kyuma! There’s so many characters (not just AIB ones, for that matter) that I wanna write for, but I don’t even know where to start, so if you have any suggestions, leave me an Ask (if you want it to be anonymous, pls say so in the ask and I won’t post it.)