#they could make it genuinely good and if they went this route and actually made it clear that was their intention

[puhpandas]

the thing is that I literally love the idea of 3 star fam never wanting to go back to the pizzaplex and not feeling any sense of duty for what goes on there once they're free and just. only doing the mimic trapping and that's it and letting Cassies dad (if they even knew about him) do all the dirty work mimic duty of setting up mxes and they just finished it once he died but like. are they going to TREAT it like that.

would they treat it like 3 star being desperate to live normally and wanting nothing to get away from everything freddys but until they end things for good, as the only people left who can, and a reason that they HAVE to go back with cassie being manipulated by mimic, theyll never be truly free and they have to face their fears/abuser to achieve that, but their absence was purposeful this whole time because of them wanting nothing more than to be involved, or are they just not going to touch on it and their absence will feel random and meaningless and Cassies dad important for no reason without that 3 star characterization and itll be mid

[aq2003]

there comes a beautiful time in life where i have to ask myselg th question, "did i accidentally project too hard onto the character that i only relate to a little bit and in doing so hugely missed this one entire aspect/interpretation of the characters . am i stupid"

[seonghwaddict]

save a horse, ride your best friend — song mingi

in which your best friend can’t believe you’ve never ridden a dick before, so he takes it upon himself to teach you.

best friend!song mingi x fem!reader. requested by anon. genre. slight fluff. smut. best friends to friends with benefits. warnings. explicit sexual content mdni, inexperienced!reader, thigh riding, fingering, use of a dildo, big dick!mingi, multiple orgasms, unprotected, creampie, swearing, nicknames (baby, angel, pretty). wc. 4k. rating. mature.

lilo’s notes. this was requested a while ago but i’ve been putting it off because… i’ve never written anything about toys being used so uh, i was worried about the pacing and stuff. i wasn’t sure if you meant for them to be in an established relationship, so i went for the fwb route. IMPORTANT!!!! i lost access to my google account bc of a stupid mistake, if you sent in a request through my google form and would still like me to see it, please send it as an ask <33 i remember a few of them, but do send yours in just in case!!

listening to. need to know, doja cat // if u think i’m pretty, artemas // moonlight, kali uchis

masterlist.

it was a regular saturday evening. you were on a video call with your best friend, mingi, talking about anything that came to mind as you each ate a bowl of ramen as if you were really in the same room. he really only lived a couple buildings away, a two minute walk at most, but actually joining you in your apartment didn’t cross his mind until something interesting was brought up.

you weren’t sure what led to the conversation, but somehow it steered into the direction of something less innocent as you found yourself talking about an embarrassing date you’d gone on a while ago. recounting the story, laughing together, soon turned into a conversation about what each of you like in bed.

“oh, it’s just amazing,” mingi laughed as he gulped down a mouthful of water, momentarily pausing his rambling about how much he loves it when someone rides his dick. he ran a his hand through his short, washed-out pink hair, “honestly, my favourite thing ever since it probably feels just as good for whoever is, y’know, riding.”

based on everything he’s said so far, you came to the conclusion that he was more into giving than receiving, that he got off on seeing all the pleasure he can give his partner. so, it made sense he’d choose to mention the fact that riding him would feel good. not that you would know.

“can i admit something?”

he looked up from his bowl, sharp eyes looking almost hopeful as he nodded.

you looked around your kitchen jokingly, pretending to make sure no one sense was listened as you leaned closer a whispered, your hand cupping the side of your mouth.

“i’ve never done that before.”

his jaw dropped at that, letting out a small laugh. “you’re kidding.”

“no, really,” you insisted, going back to eating casually as if you were having the most normal conversation in the world with your best friend, “i really haven’t done… much, so i can’t confirm or deny your theory.”

“huh.” he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he thought for a moment. his head tilted and it was then that you felt how warm your cheeks felt, how your thighs were pressed together under the counter. of course, he was well aware of the fact that you had much less experience than him, only knowing about two people you had slept with. but damn. he clicked his tongue and shook his head ever so slightly. “that won’t do.”

furrowing your eyebrows, you opened your mouth to ask him what he had meant by that. he beat you to it before you could get a word out.

“i can… teach you, if you want?”

you blinked at your screen, resting your wrist on your countertop and gripping your chopsticks a little too hard. a silence followed his offer, though it wasn’t awkward. in fact, he could see you genuinely considering it as you thought it over. eventually, you gave him a tiny nod.

“i mean,” you shrugged, shifting your eyes away shyly, “sure, i guess. why not?”

he grinned, trying to hide it as he shoved a mouthful of noodles into his mouth and shoved his bowl aside. he chewed, swallowed then got up and made sure to bring his phone with him. you recognised his hallways then bedroom as he walked through his apartment. “i’ll be there in like 15, i need to buy something on the way. just wait there, and where something comfortable and… um, accessible.”

you nodded, despite your confusion, and he hung up. accessible? you looked down at your clothing—or rather, lack thereof. since you were home and not expecting anyone, you’d settled on wearing just a shirt you stole from mingi that was too large for him and much larger for you, and panties. you lifted the hem of the worn shirt, assessing how much of your dignity you’d lose if he saw your pink hello kitty undergarments that you only wore if you were doing laundry.

you could already hear him giggling at the sight.

groaning and cursing under your breath, you dropped the shirt and sped to your bedroom to dig through your closet in hopes of finding something a little more appealing. after making a mess of one of your closet’s drawers, you finally pulled out a pair of less offensive panties. they were made of soft cotton; a muted light blue with thin white lace trim, the cut shaped more like a bikini than what you call your grandma underwear.

deciding they were flattering enough, you slipped off your hello kitty pair—ignoring the embarrassing amount of wetness creating a wet patch right where it was pressed against your core—and replaced it with the new pair. as you untwisted the waistband and adjusted it to fit properly, your doorbell rang and you froze on the spot before pulling yourself together and heading to open the door.

the walk to the door felt abnormally long as you stumbled over on wobbly knees. admittedly, you were a little nervous. sure, there have been times where you wanted to do some more than friendly activities with mingi, but you never actually thought it was happen. yet here you were, opening the door for him so he could come in and show you what being a cowgirl feels like.

“hey,” he greeted you softly, stepping into your home and closing the door behind him. you noticed a small plastic bag in his hand, eying it curiously as you watched him kick off his shoes and hang up his coat. once that was of the way, he took one of your hands in your free one and pulled you to where he knew your bedroom was.

once there, he set the bag down on your bedside table and dragged you to stand between his knees as he took a seat on the edge of your bed. he looked you over, lingering on the familiar t-shirt.

“so you’re the one that took this shirt, huh?” he quirked an eyebrow, glancing up at you as he released your hand and brought both of his to your hips. his thumbs caressed the curve of your waist over the shirt. “it was my favourite.”

you laughed softly, “clearly you didn’t care enough if i was able to keep it for three years without you noticing.”

“you little thief.” his nose scrunched as he glared at you jokingly, giving you a gentle squeeze.

“if you really want it back, you can always take it.”

“nah, it’s fine, keep it. it looks cuter on you anyway.” he took a breath and gave you another once over, humming appreciatively when he moved his hands up higher, dragging the shirt with it until he caught a glimpse of your panties. you tensed, caught off guard by how close he felt. “i need you to relax a little, how about i help you loosen up, yeah?”

you nodded, averting your gaze but returning it to him when you felt him pull you onto his lap. he slotted one of his legs between yours, easing you down to straddle his thigh. his hands ran up and down your sides and few times before resting on your bare thighs, your breath stuttered and he held back a smile.

“are you still okay with this?” he asked quietly, absentmindedly playing with the hem of his your shirt. “if i do anything that makes you uncomfortable, just tell me and i’ll stop immediately and we can just watch a movie or something, okay?” when you only nodded, he continued, “i need you to say it, please.”

“i’m okay with this,” you muttered in return, resting you hands on his biceps, “and i’ll let you know if i need you to stop.”

“good, now…” without waiting any longer, he leaned forward to attach his lips to your neck, his hands slowly beginning to rock you back and forth on his lap.

you sucked in a sharp breath and clung into his arms a little tighter, your stomach fluttering at the feeling of your clothed cunt on his firm thigh, your panties dragging against your clit with ease thanks to how wet you already were. he lifted you slightly as he pulled you towards him, pushing you down as he pushed, the varying pressure making your lips part in a soft whimper. he nearly groaned at the sound, moving his lips right below your ear.

“you know,” he rasped between the licks and kisses, “i can’t deny that i’ve wanted to fuck you for a long, long time now.”

“r-really?”

mingi chuckled as he pulled back to look at your face, half surprised and half needy. he noticed that if he relaxed his hands, you’d continue grinding against his thigh.

“yeah, really. i mean, look at you,” he glanced down, one of his hands lifting the hem of your shirt to watch you ride his thigh slowly, a dark wet patch forming right where your leaking pussy sat. he bit his lip, “you look so perfect… and i bet you’d feel perfect, too.”

you nearly whined at that, fucking yourself on his thigh just a little faster as he sucked a dark mark right above your collarbone before returning to mutter dirty words into your ear.

“i know practically everything about you and your cute little body, you know. better than anyone else,” one of his hands inched it’s way up your thighs, brushing against the edge of your panties, “i’ll make you feel so good, angel, i promise.”

“mingi?” you whimpered, prompting him to lean back a little to look at you with a curious tilt of his head and a raised brow. “if you don’t shut up and kiss me right now, i might lose my mind so… please.”

his beautifully plump lips stretched into a smile as he wasted no time in practically pouncing forward and smashing his lips against yours. it started a little slow as you got acquainted with each other, despite the fact you could feel a nearing orgasm as a knot in your stomach drew tighter with each roll of your hips, but soon the kiss turned hungry.

he groaned into your mouth as you let his tongue explore, making you let out a quiet moan. mingi knew he wouldn’t be able to kiss anyone ever again. you, his best friend of all people, had the most inviting lips he’s ever felt. so inviting, so perfect and so soft. he thought everything about was soft. his hand slipped just under the edge of your panties as his other one made your grinds slow down.

you didn’t mind the slow pace, knowing just a few more rocks of your hips would have you tipping over the edge. but he evidently had other plans as he finally made your hips still completely. you pulled away from his lips with a pout. if you were trying to make him feel bad, it backfired terribly.

all he could think of as he looks at your swollen, red, wet, pouty lips is how much prettier they’d look wrapped around his cock. but he could save that for another time.

“there’s no need to rush, baby,” he chuckled, wiping some saliva away from your bottom lip.

eventually, when he was sure you had calmed down enough, he lifted you off his lap a little and turned to lay you down on your back, pressed against the comfortable mattress as he kneeled on the edge. he gripped your knees and bent them, pushing them closer to your chest with his eyes zeroed in on where your slick was leaking through your panties.

with one hand keeping your knees together and elevated, he ran his other over the fabric, pressing down on where he knew your clot would be and elicit a sweet little moan as you squirmed beneath him. he thought you were so cute like this, you looked so flustered as he gave you nothing but featherlight touches where you needed him most. for now.

“don’t get all shy on me now,” he cooed as he glanced up and noticed you covering your face with your hands, “let me see you, pretty.”

he didn’t continue his touches until you finally removed your hands, giving him a nice view of your abused lips and round eyes, pupils blown wide with lust in a way that had something stirring in his abdomen. and his pants.

he let down your knees for a moment so both of his hands could slip under the waistband of your panties, slowly pulling them down your legs. he actually moaned when he saw the strings of arousal clutching onto the fabric as he dragged it away, snapping when he got too far.

“you’re so pretty, baby,” he murmured, watching your entrance squeeze around nothing, making more slick drip out.

after tossing it aside, he wasted no time in getting your knees back to the previous position and running his fingers through your folds.

“oh, fuck,” he groaned, eyes squeezing shut for a moment as you let out a moan when he tapped against your clit, “you’re soaked.”

he glanced up at you, wanting to see your face as he slowly pushed in too fingers and catching a glimpse of your hard nipples poking through your shirt. your face contorted for s fraction of s second before relaxing, your head tipping back against the mattress as you let out a whine.

he choked back a moan at the tight walls around his middle and ring fingers, the fingers of his other hand digging into your thighs. “sh-shit… you’re so tight. i’m gonna have to stretch you out first, okay?”

you nodded mindlessly, too distracted by his fingers prodding at your sweet spot to care about any words he may have said. but you furrowed your eyebrows and lifted your head when you felt both his hands leave you, finding him reaching for the bag. your curiosity outweighed your disappointment as he pulled something out.

it was a dildo. about as thick and long as the biggest person you had before, and made of what looked to be transparent silicon. your insides tightened at the sight, somehow the thought of him seemingly buying this just for you turning you on even more.

he returned to kneeling at the edge of your bed, leaning down to loop his arm around your waist and lift you up to place a pillow under your hips before letting lay back down.

“couldn’t find one my size, but this should be fine,” he held the dildo and ran the tip through your pussy, collecting wetness as you shuddered, “my cock will just have to stretch you the rest of the way.”

you breath hitched at the implication of his words. so he was bigger than that? your thighs pressed together at the thought of being completely stuffed by him. he chuckled, separating your knees enough for him to have a clear view of your pussy, pulsing and dripping and begging for his attention.

he began slipping the toy into you, filling you up inch by inch and watching your needy hole stretch around it and swallow it up. the sight had him choking back a moan, biting down on his bottom lip.

the stretch had your back arching and pushing yourself against it desperately, feeling like that alone could get you to finish. it only took a few deep strokes for your pussy to get used to the size, squeezing and writhing around it until you couldn’t handle it anymore. your arousal coated it quickly and seeped out with each stroke, squelching sounds filling the room that shot straight to his dick.

when you finally came, your toes curled and your body twitched as you let out a string of and whines and moans, little curses slipping between. he watched with fascination as you came undone right beneath him, not wanting to wait any longer to be inside you. he shoved the toy deep inside you, leaving it there as he leaned back for a moment to discard his clothes, slipping his hoodie and sweatpants off.

when you were brought back to your senses, you found yourself on his lap again, straddling his hips this time as he sat with his back against your headboard. you felt his erectile straining against his boxers and pressing against your core. you couldn’t help but rock your hips against his slowly.

“do you ever ride your pillow?” he asked suddenly, voice dropped what felt like two octaves lower than his regular tone. your eyes widened at the question but you nodded. he nodded too, his hands finding your ass and helping you grind against his clothes length. “this is a lot like that, except you have something in you… and it’s more of an up and down movement… and i’m obviously not a pillow… still, there’s really no right way to do it, just go slow and you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t. plus, i’m here to guide you.”

he gave your ass a squeeze as if to punctuate his sentence, massaging the soft flesh in his palms. when you felt ready, you dropped your hands from his shoulders to his boxers, palming his length a few times before hooking your fingers into the fabric and dragging it down until his cock sprung out.

he definitely wasn’t lying when he said it would stretch you more than the already-big dildo. he was definitely a lot bigger than anyone else you’ve been with, well over average. you nearly dropped at the sight, wrapping your hand around him and jerking him off, eyes fixated on the angry red tip leaking precum as you passed your thumb over it.

the muscles of his abs rippled and squeezed as your worked your hands on his cock, his head thrown back against the headboard and letting out stuttering moans. all the sounds he made encourage you to sit up on your knees, guiding him through your folds and whimpering as you finally sank down on him carefully.

the two of you moaned at the same time, him at how well you squeezed around him and you at how well he stretched you. you stopped when you reached just halfway, unsure whether or not you’d be able to fit more. his hips jerked slightly as his hands squeezed your hips.

“come on, baby,” he moaned softly, looking up at you with encouraging eyes, “just a little more… we can make it fit, right? just breathe.”

you nodded and as you took a deep breath, he used his hold on your to sink you further down until he finally bottomed out. he cursed silently, the back of his head finding the headboard again as you whined and dropped yours onto his shoulder.

you felt his tip pushing against your cervix, the new feeling making a lump form in your throat as you blinked back tears. this time it took a while to get used to the stretch before you tried grinding back and forth. it was slow, almost painfully so. he was amazed that despite stretching you with two different things, you were still so unbelievably tight, hugging him in a death grip as your raised your hips an inch before dropping down again.

your soft noises were muffled by his shoulder as your hands rested on his biceps, panting and squeezing gently as every inch of him dragged against the sensitive spongy patch in your walls every time you grinded on him. soon enough you were able to lift yourself to his tip and drop all the way down, your wetness letting him slip in and out with ease.

still, you kept the pace torturously slow, savouring each bounce and grind. his hands had left your hips at some point, exploring your body under your shirt, massaging your breasts and tweaking your nipples. he lifted the fabric but kept it on your as he watched your tits bounce temptingly, your puffy pink nipples making his mouth water as he pushed himself forward to take one into his mouth.

your hips stuttered as he sucked and nibbled at your nipples, throwing your head back and arching into his touch as your grinds grew sloppy. he felt your decreasing pace, using the hand that wasn’t teasing your other breast to guide your hips once more. he angled you slightly differently in a way that made your clit press against his pelvis each time he bottomed out, the speed of your grinds picking up quickly as his hips bucked up to meet yours.

his lips detached from your bruised breasts with a popping sound as he leaned up to capture your lips in his once again. it wasn’t much of a kiss, more teeth and tongue and moans and groans than anything else as you swallowed each other’s sounds.

you finished first, pushing yourself down hard and stilling, filling yourself with his throbbing cock and pressing your clit against him. he held you tightly, burying his face in your neck to suck at all the spot he knew would get your to writhe. many tickling fights contributed to his knowledge on all your sensitive spots.

your body twitched as you returned to bouncing on his length, your juices looking at his base. the overstimulation burned a little, making your thighs and knees quiver, but you were determined to get him to finish too. and by the looks of it, it shouldn’t take much longer.

“shit, baby,” he said, halfway between a whimper and a moan, fingertips digging into your hips as he threw his head back in bliss, “‘m so close— fuck, you feel s-so good.”

his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, bottom lip caught between his teeth. his cheeks and the tip of his ears flushed a deep red, his plush lips a few shades darker and coated in your mixed saliva from your kisses. as you adjusted the angle of your hips, something in him snapped, grabbing your hips tighter and taking over. he took over your movements, thrusting his hips up desperately as you fell forward onto his chest with the sudden change in intensity. his tip pushed itself against your g-spot continually, another knot tightening in your stomach.

the wet sounds of your cunt and your skin slapping against his egged him on until finally he felt like he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“baby, p-please— fuck— please, can i cum i-inside you?” he begged through a groan, “i— please, angel, i-i can’t wait any longer.”

you nodded against his chest with a whine, you were on the pill anyway. not a second later, he released into you, filling you up with stuttering hips. he pulled you down, flush against him and keeping you there as he emptied himself with softly muttered curses, his head dropping to press open-mouthed kisses to your shoulder.

it felt new to you, the warmth making you squirm until you came again without warning. it was much weaker this time but still enough to make you shake in his arms, panting softly after letting out a strangled moan against his skin.

after a few long moments of trying to recover from the shared orgasm, he lifted his head, one of his hands cupping your chin to tilt your head to look at him.

“so,” he started, lips stretched into a smile, “how’d that feel?”

“fucking amazing.” you rolled your eyes at how smug he looked after your confession, not protesting as he leaned forward to kiss you.

this one was much softer than the previous kisses you shared, much more tender. it was a lot shorter too, he pulled away first to rest his forehead against yours.

“yeah?” he whispered, kissing the corner of your lips, “just wait until i hit it from the back.”

networks. @cromernet @wonderlandnet @cultofdionysusnet @pirateeznet

permanent taglist. @ad0rechuu @sankatchu @mlink64 @yeosangsbb @seonghwasbbgirl @likexaxdaydream @dreamingofyeo @yalyallic @yunhoswrldddd @coffee-addict-kitten @thunderous-wolf @chngbnwf

[hannieehaee]

them accidentally ditching you on your bday pt. 2 - vu

content: angsty, gender neutral, established relationship, etc.

part 1

wc: 4512

a/n: lmk if u want a pu ver pls <3 if there's part i forgot to make gender neutral pls lmk!!

masterlist

jeonghan -

jeonghan had no idea what to do. he'd never been in this position before. he prided himself in being a good friend and specially boyfriend. nothing in this world mattered to him more than his loved ones, which was why he was extremely disappointed in himself at having disregarded you and hurt your feelings in such a careless way. he knew it was your birthday, and he had wanted so badly to be with you, but he had been an idiot and let it slip his mind. there was no other way to put it. it made him sad more than anything, to know that you had spent the night worried over him only to wake up to zero communication from him, having spent a good 14 hours into your birthday without any word from him. he needed to fix this, he just didnt know how.

this was so unlike him. jeonghan had always known himself to be an attentive person. he noticed any time you changed your hair almost immediately, he'd notice new additions to your recipes, he'd take note of any time you switched things up in your apartment, he'd remember any and every important date. even now. he had remembered it, except he had skipped over it due to his idiocy, which really only made it worse.

after getting mocked by joshua for ten minutes as he racked his brain to find a solution, he decided to just improvise. he'd go to your apartment and see if you'd at least let him in to try and explain his way through an apology. he would pull all the dramatics if he had to. there was not a single care for his dignity in his mind right now. nothing would prevent him from showing you his utmost remorse.

only thirty minutes later and he was now outside your apartment window, looking up from his secluded spot inside the complex's garden. he pondered about calling you, but decided that going for a more unconventional route might do the trick a bit better. spotting some pebbles nearby, he grabbed a few, beginning to chuck them at your window. okay, kind of corny, but knowing you, he knew you'd appreciate the thought. he spent an unfortunate ten minutes throwing pebble after pebble until you finally opened your window, sticking your head out as soon as you spotted him down below.

"jeonghan. what the hell are you doing?", you seemed and sounded pissed. but, hey! that was a good sign. at least you were acknowledging his presence.

"my love!', he clutched at his heart, 'let me come see you. please. i want to apologize."

"fuck you, yoon jeonghan. why dont you go treat your hangover somewhere else?", you went to close your window, only to stop in your tracks as he yelled out again.

"wait! do you want me to beg? i will. i love you. i dont care what i have to do. i'll climb to the roof and profess my love for you for all of seoul to hear," yes, he was being overly dramatic, but he was also being genuine. if you actually wanted him to scream out to the world how much he regretted his stupidity, he would. you didnt even have to ask.

but he also knew public displays were a huge no for you, dating an idol and knowing the controversies being known as the significant other of the yoon jeonghan would bring. he was putting you in a bit of a spot. you could either let him up to apologize, or wake up to some ominous article stating yoon jeonghan of seventeen might be taken.

fortunately for him, you chose the former, which now placed him in your living room as you crossed your arms and huffed at him. okay, one step at a time. it was time to put jokes aside and get serious.

"angel ... i'm so sorry," he cooed at you, stepping forward a bit.

"jeonghan, dont talk to me like im a baby. im not in the mood."

"but you are my baby," he pouted at you, "you're my angel, my everything. i'm sorry. i didnt show you how much you mean to me last night. all i want to do is love you and take care of you. you can punish me all you want. i deserve it. but please let me sleep in your arms. im already away from you most of the time. dont deprive me one more day," and he meant all he said. you were his favorite form of comfort, and the thought of you being angry or hurt by him made him scared. he never wanted to risk you being ripped away from his arms, specially not due to his own doing.

"jeonghan ..."

"no, wait. i'm sorry. i shouldve never forgotten. i dont know how it happened. all i ever want to do every day is come back home to you, but i did the opposite on the worst day possible. i'll apologize over and over until you forgive me if that's what it takes. please just let me be with you on your birthday. i dont want you alone. i dont want you sad. i want you happy and content in my arms. please? i love you."

he mustve broken you down, as you landed in his arms immediately after he finished his speech. he couldve sworn he saw you eyes puffy and swollen before he wrapped his arms around you. his suspicion was confirmed just seconds later when he heard you sniffle against him.

"aigooo, no angel. dont cry. didnt wanna make you cry. you're making me look like such a bad guy, baby, making you cry on your birthday," he cooed at you as he held you as tight as possible.

you separated yourself from him, finally looking into his eyes while he caressed your cheeks, wiping any lone tears in them, "im so sorry, angel. forgive me? let me stay, please."

"yes, hannie. i love you."

"i love you so much more," and he'd spend the rest of his life the day showing that to you.

joshua -

joshua had not been this hungover in a while. he wasnt sure how this happened. last thing he remembered was his manager rushing him into a car right after the award show, letting the group know they'd been invited to an after party, and the company had deemed it smart to be in attendance for public image purposes. all members agreed enthusiastically, excited to mingle among their peers and maybe make some new connections in the process. joshua had been the lone member to be skeptical, knowing he had promised he'd be back to the hotel at an appropriate time in order to get on the phone with you and celebrate what was remaining of your birthday with you despite the current distance between you. however, he did not want to get in the way of his members' fun, so he kept any objections to himself and joined them with matching enthusiasm.

his original plan was to roam the party for an hour or so, which wouldve allowed him to get back to call you on time, but ironically, time got away from him. the next thing he knew, he was waking up at 11am in the morning in mingyu's hotel room, head pounding and phone full of unread notifications. he wasnt sure how this happened. the last thing he remembered was being at the party, margarita in hand as he and his members drank their souls away in celebration of yet another successful award show season. it was around three margaritas in that joshua had begun to disregard his phone, and with that you as well. as soon as he saw the dejection in your messages upon waking up, he spammed you with texts and voice memos expressing his regret, but received no response from you. he had hurt you and now you were ignoring him. and with good reason.

joshua knew that there wasnt much he could do from his current location, specially while you were (justifiably) icing him out. so he committed to his next best option. he immediately booked a ticket back to korea, letting his manager know that he'd just be returning home two days in advance to the rest of the members. all they had scheduled left was an interview tomorrow, so his absence would probably not have that big of an effect. five grueling hours later and he arrived to korea, exhausted and still slightly hung over, but with a whole speech planned to beg for your forgiveness.

in the process, he had tried calling you again and again, still earning no response. this disheartened him, making him think that maybe his grand gesture would only be taken negatively. he picked up some flowers on the way, gift he had bought in japan a few days ago in hand, ready to knock on your apartment door. despite the exhaustion, he was here. a day late to celebrate your birthday, but still here nonetheless.

your face upon answering the door had been of surprise, not anger like he feared, but that only lasted for a few seconds until you started to berate him.

"joshua? what are you doing here?"

"baby, i'm so so sorry. can i come in? please?"

you moved aside without further words, gesturing for him to continue talking.

he suddenly remembered the flowers and boxed gift in hand, signaling to them before handing them to you, "oh, these are for you," he felt extremely inadequate, something that was very rare for him. he had practiced a whole speech, a whole profession of love and regret, but now his mind was blank. you just looked so. disappointed. he couldn't stand it.

'i'm sorry. i- i have no good excuse. the party got the best of me and i completely spaced out on our plans. i never meant to forget about you. please believe me.'

"joshua ... this was your idea. you had me waiting all night just to ghost me. you spent my birthday partying without even thinking of me."

he grabbed onto your hands, placing the flowers and gift on the table before doing so. he held onto you as he began to get exasperated in his speech, "there's no world in which i wasn't thinking of you. you're all thats ever on my mind. i didnt even wanna go to that stupid party, but i didnt want to inconvenience anyone. please, i- i wanted to call you. i ... yeah, i got drunk and distracted. and thats my fault. im sorry. i came back early to be with you. to make up for being a dumbass. please let me make it up to you. please? i'll serenade you like i promised. i'll get on my knees. do you want me to get on my-"

you interrupted him as he began to kneel halfway through his speech, slapping at him lightheartedly as he began to get more dramatic by the second. he knew it was hard for you to get angry at him when he started pulling all stops like he did. he came back and begged on his knees, even offered to express his love to you through song. he was making you hold in your laugh. these were all good signs, right?

"you .. you're such an idiot, hong jisoo. i hate you," but he knew you didnt mean it. he could hear and see the smile on your face, knowing he had been successful at wearing you down.

"if you ever do this again, ill date jeonghan instead."

"ouch!", he dramatically grabbed onto his chest, as if you'd just wounded his heart, causing you to laugh, "hannie? okay, can't blame you. he's pretty cute," he chuckled, "but for now ... let me spend the day with my love? hmm?", he pulled you closer, nuzzling his nose against yours as you feigned annoyance at him.

"fine," you rolled your eyes, "i'm still mad at you, though."

yeah, he had a lot of making up to do, but this was a start.

jihoon -

jihoon had not stopped beating himself up over his actions ever since you hung up the phone. he had spent the entirety of the day rethinking all his choices leading up to this. he had wanted to go running to you and apologize, but you had specifically asked him to stay away, so he wanted to respect your wishes. still, he felt like complete and utter shit at the way he disregarded you so easily. he wished he could go back in time and slap some sense into himself.

he had always been scared. scared that his job would someday get in the way of your relationship. it had been so hard for him to find someone to love; someone who loved him just as much. and the moment he found you he treasured you more than anything, but now his stupid workaholic tendencies had gotten in the way. he was terrified right now that you'd start to see the error in your choice to be with him. that you'd want to find someone who wouldnt so easily put his job over everything else.

it was now 11am of the following day, and you had not called him yet. he was beginning to get worried. were you icing him out? had he hurt you that badly? he could never blame you for feeling hurt at his neglect, but he could also not help his own feelings of dejection at you ignoring him due to your anger. alas, he still gave you all reason; this had been his own doing.

he waited a couple hours before giving up on waiting, instead choosing to confide in a few of his members to inquire as to what they'd do if they ever pulled something like this with their own significant others. after being scolded for a good few minutes due to his carelessness towards you, they told him that maybe showing up to your apartment as a demonstration of his affection to you (joined by a sincere apology, of course) would make you look his way again.

so now he was here, about to knock on your door with your favorite flowers in hand. he was terrified. the two of you had never fought. there had never been a single time in which you'd hurt each other's feelings. it had all been nothing but love and tenderness in your relationship thus far. he was your best friend, and you were his. yet he had no idea how to communicate to you how much you meant to him, and how much of a stupid mistake his slip up had been.

before he could think further, he forced himself to knock on your door, hoping you wouldnt immediately throw him out. to his surprise, you opened the door and even wordlessly gestured for him to enter. you looked ... sad. you looked the way he'd feel had you ghosted him on his own birthday. yeah, he didnt care much for his birthday, but your absence would wound him nonetheless. he imagined it felt the same for you.

"i ... i'm so sorry. i dont know what to say .. i- i fucked up. so badly. i have no idea how or why i forgot. there's nothing i can do to make up for it, but please know im so fucking sorry."

"jihoon ... how? you picked my birthday of all days to lock yourself in your studio? i've never judged your busy schedule. i understand your career. i respect it. i get that you cant help being busy. your job is too demanding of your time, but for you to ignore me when you had full control of your free time? why?", he could see how disappointed you felt at his neglect; how hurt you felt at him, not only through your words, but through your closed off body language. you were hugging yourself with your arms, not holding eye contact as you stared anywhere but into his eyes. despite your confident words, your demeanor was deflated. and it was his fault.

"it was- it was a mistake. it was all my fault. i cant argue my way around it. but i love you. i didnt .. i didnt mean to neglect you. you're all i think about. every song ive ever written, even before meeting you, was about you. you're everything. i'm just an idiot. i dont know how to do this ... ive never loved like this. i have no idea what to do when i fuck up. all i can do is promise you to be better. please give me a chance to be better. i'll be more attentive. i know i'm cold, and im not too affectionate, but i love you. i'll make it up to you. please, just dont let this be the end. i'll keep you in my studio with me whenever i lock myself away. won't ever go a day without letting you know what im doing, how im doing. please. i'll do anything to show you."

he worried his ramble mightve been too much, feeling to scared to even hold eye contact with you as he went on and on about how much he loved you. unexpectedly, upon looking up, he found your reddened eyes, with a stuffy nose to match. fuck. had he hurt your feelings again?

"jihoon ... i- i love you. i'm sorry. i cant believe you could ever think i wanted this to be the end. i was hurt and mad- i am hurt, but i love you," you sniffled your way through your short speech, but jihoon heard it perfectly fine. these were the words he prayed to hear from you all of last night as he stayed up thinking about you.

"fuck. thank god," he couldnt help himself in hugging you, holding you tightly against his arms, and sighing in relief at your reciprocation, "i love you. i'll take the week off. let me take you away and show you how much you mean to me. please? will you come with me?"

"yes, jihoon. i love you."

"i love you. you have no idea."

seokmin -

seokmin felt extremely scared. you weren't answering any of his calls. he knew you were physically okay, but he also knew your feelings were hurt, and you were probably extremely angry at him. you had all reason to be angry at him. he ditched you and kept you in the dark all day. on your birthday! seokmin had never been in a situation like this before. he had always prided himself in being the best boyfriend that one could ever be, even sometimes introducing himself as your boyfriend instead of with his own name. except today he had disappointed both you and himself beyond belief.

he knew you'd asked him to stay away for the night, and he'd usually respect your one and every wish, but today he needed to go against the current and go and beg for your forgiveness.

in very non-seokmin fashion, he exited the event just as quickly as he'd arrived, not even caring to say goodbye to his friends. you were his number one priority, after all. specially today of all days. he had his driver stop by a flower shop on the way, hoping the innocent gesture would maybe have you show some mercy on his stupidity.

he showed up to your apartment immediately after, having mentally prepared a whole speech for you on the way there. he was going to tell you how much he loved you, and how this was just a completely stupid slip of his mind, that this would never happen again, but all these thoughts left his mind as soon as you opened the door, eyes swollen and glossy. every rational thought went out the window upon spotting your saddened state causing seokmin's eyes to match your own as he felt himself begin to tear up. he couldnt help himself in immediately embracing you in a tight hug, thanking god when he felt you hold him back.

you two sniffled against each other for a bit, neither of you full on crying, but still being overly emotional at the situation. seokmin mumbled endless apologies against your hair, running his hands up and down your back as if to soothe you. he was over the moon to hear an 'i love you' from you in the middle of your sorrowful mumbles against his chest, doubling the sentiment as he cried to you how much he loved you and how badly he regretted letting you slip his mind for even a second. when he pulled back, he expressed the same sentiment all over again.

"my baby ... i love you so much. please let me make it up to you. i- i brought you flowers!", he finally recalled the flowers he had dropped as soon as you closed the door behind him ten minutes ago, "i know it doesnt make up for anything, but please let it be a start. i'll do anything you want. just want you to never cry over me like this again, baby. i love you too much to make you cry," he wiped at your tears as he said this, caressing your cheeks while he looked at you with pure adoration in his eyes.

"minnie," you pouted at him, "stay the night? please? want you at least for the bit that's left of today."

"today? oh, baby. i'm giving you my whole week. told you i was gonna make it up to you. i'll do everything you want, my love. now let me take you to bed, yeah? wanna hold my beautiful angel to sleep."

he slept soundly that night, knowing you had somehow forgiven him and even given him the privilege to hold you in his sleep, also knowing he'd do anything and everything necessary to make up for his stupid mistake.

seungkwan -

he had put literally everyone else above you. on your birthday. there was truly no other way to spin it. he had never felt more guilt in his life, and it was all completely on him. having even thought of going out with his friends on your birthday shouldve given him the first red flag in his stupid plan. why didnt he just bring you along? god, he was such an idiot. and then allowing mingyu and dongmin to entice him into a two hour long live broadcast just to secure some fanservice was just the nail in the coffin.

he knew he hurt you badly. he had promised you he'd be there, but had just left you in the dark all day. he couldnt blame you for not wanting to see him today, but now he was stuck tossing and turning in his bed as he itched to hold you in his arms. he had called the company immediately after your call, letting them know he'd be skipping the usual dance practice and recordings in favor of being with you, which is what he should've done all day today.

it wasnt long until he grew too restless to simply stay in bed while he knew you were probably in a similar position, except most likely sad and angry. he couldnt help himself when he decided to head to you, feeling bad at calling up his driver at such late hours of the night. the journey to your apartment was a short one, which left him with little time to think over what he'd say to you in order to convey his regret. he didnt care much for what he said, he just wanted to alleviate your hurt somehow.

just as he expected, you were awake, now standing in front of him as you opened the door to your apartment. your eyes were puffy, a huge indicator that you'd been crying. your eyes also wouldnt meet his, with your eyebrows lowered in clear sadness. seeing you and knowing your current state was his fault felt like a kick in the gut. he had never made you cry before, so he was extremely disappointed in himself. worst of all, seeing you cry made him start to tear up a bit himself.

"baby ..."

"what do you want, kwan? i thought you were busy all day," your words carried venom behind them, but your delivery was still of someone who had been hurt.

"no, baby. you know that's not true. i'm never too busy for you. i'm so sorry. i was such an idiot. there arent enough apologies i could give you. i- i never meant to hurt your feelings."

"you still did."

"i ... i know. i'm sorry. i love you. the last thing i ever want is for you to be hurt by me. i never shouldve gone out with my friends to begin with. you're too understanding of my busy schedule, and i dont deserve it. i shouldve made time all day for you today."

"was ... was it that important? being gone today specifically?", you seemed insecure in your question, which only made seungkwan's heart soar at making you feel insecure around him in any way.

"no! no, of course not. i wasnt thinking. i shouldve told them id go with them next time, or taken you with me! i was so stupid, i'm sorry. you're my priority. i need you to know that."

"it's- it's fine, kwannie. i understand. you dont see your friends that often, you-"

"no! stop. dont try to rationalize it. i made a mistake. you dont have to cover for me. i hurt you and i made you feel unimportant when you're the most important person to me. im so sorry. please never doubt that. i get you all to myself so little, and staying away from you was such a stupid mistake."

more tears had started flowing down your cheeks the further the conversation went on. he wasnt sure if it was because you were touched by his words, or because he was failing at making you feel better. as he neared you enough to wipe your tears with his thumbs, he hoped it was the former.

"baby .. don't cry over me. please. i'm just an idiot. you should never cry over me. i only ever want you to feel good things when thinking of me. i- im so sorry."

"kwannie ... i love you. i understand. i know you dont want me to understand, but i do. you have to make your choices when you're as busy as you are, and .. even though it did make me feel unimportant, i get it."

"it'll never happen again. i'll- i'll keep you by my side day and night. let me- please let me keep you to myself tomorrow. just wanna be with you. please?"

for the first time in the night, he saw you shoot him a small smile, uttering the words he wanted to hear most, "yes, kwannie. will you .. will you stay? please"

"you don't even have to ask."

a/n: thank u to everyone who enjoyed this lil series aaaa i hope it was realistic enough T-T sorry if the reconciliation seemed rushed, i just didnt want any of them to end up with an angsty ending hehe also sorry for seokmin's being shorter than anyone's i just cannot imagine that man ever hurting anyone's feelings.

[steddieas-shegoes]

Request: wrong number au, Eddie texts Gareth something personal but puts in 1 wrong number & ends up texting Steve. The two of them hit it off & start chatting & then when they meet IRL they are completely head over heels in love & its cute as fuck

MY LOVE MY LOVE MY LOVE!!! LOVE A GOOD WRONG NUMBER AU!!! I can't believe I've never written it before now. I also had to actually include Gareth because I am actually obsessed with him lately, and I just think it's really neat that we can make these characters our own. This was such a fun and cute request! I didn't do the inappropriate route because I thought this was hilarious so sorry about that. I made up for it with something else! - Mickala ❤️

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

GARE BEAR! You won’t believe it but i dropped my phone in a sewer. Lost everything.

He had never been so happy about having his closest friends’ numbers memorized. His phone was somewhere under the streets of Chicago, floating through dirty water and sewage, dying a slow and painful death.

He texted everyone else one at a time, let them know he had a new number and to completely delete the old one because it would never be recovered.

They were used to things like this happening; He lost his phone annually at this point and it was cheaper just to get a new number than transfer everything to a new one.

He went to dial Wayne, the old school part of him insisting on phone calls instead of texts still, when Gareth’s name popped up with a new text.

Not sure who Gare Bear is, but sorry about your phone. That’s shitty.

Eddie let out a loud laugh.

did you mean to make a pun?

Did it make you laugh?

yes

Then yes.

Eddie sat down on a bench, entirely focused on his conversation with this stranger.

Did you find your Gare Bear yet?

Not yet but i think i’m pretty happy talking to you for now

Smooth, Eddie.

Admittedly, he was in a hell of a dry spell.

Going on almost two years, actually.

A little flirting with a stranger never hurt anybody, not when he clearly needed some practice.

Not sure if your Gare Bear would like it very much though

Wait, what?

Eddie stared at his phone, trying to comprehend what that could mean. Why would Gareth not want him talking to a stranger?

I hope you find your partner though!

Oh.

Oh!

Eddie hit the call button in the corner before he could even register what he was doing.

“Hello?”

Oh no, he sounded hot.

“Hi. So, Gareth is very much not my partner. He probably actually wishes I would really forget his number,” Eddie rushed out.

“Um. Okay?”

“He’s been my best friend for ten years and he thinks I’m a mess. Not a partner,” Eddie further clarified.

“Got it. Not a partner.”

“Yes, exactly.”

They stayed silent for a moment before Eddie coughed.

“I’m Eddie, by the way.”

“Steve. Sorry about your phone, seriously that sucks,” he sounded genuinely apologetic, like he personally threw Eddie’s phone in the sewer.

“Oh, no big deal. I lose my phone more often than I go out with someone,” Eddie said.

Why did he say that?

Steve let out a laugh and it was like music.

Eddie couldn’t help the smile taking over his face at his laugh, already knew he wasn’t gonna be able to let this guy go without learning more about him.

“So you’re, what? Celibate?” Steve asked.

“Far from it. Well, maybe not far from it. Temporarily, maybe. It’s been a while,” Eddie admitted.

“How long?” Steve asked, a loud bang coming from his end of the phone. “Sorry, I had to go outside for some privacy.”

Eddie wasn’t going to read into that. He wasn’t.

“Two years give or take. I mean I’m not counting shitty dates that ended before they got worse. So, yeah. Two years.”

“Been a year for me, but. Yeah, I get it. My last relationship didn’t end on the best terms. She decided I was too in love with her I guess,” Steve sighed, voice sounding pained.

She.

Steve was probably straight.

There was no way he’d be lucky enough for Steve to like men.

Or for Steve to like him.

“I can’t really imagine breaking up with someone because they loved me too much. I’m usually the one who falls too hard,” Eddie admitted.

“Yeah, well, same here,” Steve sounded sad, a bit withdrawn.

Eddie wanted to hear him laugh again.

“I doubt either of us have ever fallen as hard as my phone did down a drain,” Eddie said sadly.

Steve let out a loud laugh and Eddie smiled.

“This might sound crazy, but I’m kind of glad your phone decided to live in the sewers,” Steve said when he finally calmed down. “And maybe a little too happy that you typed your friend’s number wrong.”

“Oh really? Why’s that?”

Was this flirting? Was he successfully having a flirtatious conversation with a potentially very hot guy?

“So I can be bold and ask if you maybe wanted to meet up somewhere?” Steve asked hesitantly.

“So you’re in Chicago?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“For the last five years, yeah.”

“You busy tonight?”

Eddie’s heart stopped.

He was really going to meet up with a stranger just because he liked his laugh and hoped he was hot.

He’d done more with less.

“Yeah, actually. I’m getting dinner with this guy I accidentally texted,” Eddie smirked, looking down at his feet.

“Dinner? What a lucky guy. Where are you going?” Steve sounded amused.

“Well, it depends on what he likes. I’ve been craving some pierogies. Ever been to Staropolska?” Eddie asked.

Gareth’s family owned it, and he used to eat there two or three times a week while they were in college, usually working off his bill in the kitchen doing dishes after.

He hadn’t been in a couple months, work keeping him busy and his budget being pretty tight when he moved into a studio apartment by himself.

He had enough to treat himself tonight though.

“The one on Milwaukee? Yeah. One of my favorite places to get devolay,” Steve sounded surprised that he knew it.

“You won’t believe this, but the friend I was trying to text when I got you, his family owns that place.”

“No way! Then we have to. We owe it to the guy who has almost my exact phone number,” Steve responded.

“Meet you there at seven?” Eddie asked, suddenly more nervous.

“Seven sounds good.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Steve giggled. Eddie fell in love.

“We should probably hang up.”

“Should we?” Eddie asked, not wanting to stop talking to him yet.

“Yes, I have to do my hair. Gotta impress the guy who drops his phone in the sewer and texts strangers about it.”

“He sounds like a loser. Don’t put too much effort in,” Eddie sighed. “But okay. See you at seven.”

“See you then.”

They both stayed on the line for a minute.

“Okay. For real. Bye,” Steve laughed.

“Bye, Stevie.”

He hung up before he could convince himself to talk to him for the rest of the afternoon.

He breathed out a loud sigh, smiling as he realized he had a date.

He dialed Gareth’s real number immediately.

“Gareth, I have a date!”

“What is this number, Eddie?”

“Oh, I dropped my phone in the sewers. Not important. I have a date!”

“Jesus Christ. Okay. Come over then.”

—-----------------------------------

Gareth had been his pre-date hype man since high school, though he wasn’t very good at it.

Mostly he calmed Eddie’s nerves and helped make sure his hair didn’t look like he just woke up, which was often its unfortunate state of being.

“So, you don’t know this guy,” Gareth said from his bed.

“No.”

“And you talked for like two seconds and decided you’re in love with him,” he continued.

“Yes.”

“And you think this is totally normal and sane?”

“I didn’t say that. But we just…I dunno. We clicked. I haven’t been that at ease with someone in a long time. It felt natural,” Eddie fell back on his bed, starfishing so his arm and leg hit Gareth’s legs.

“Dude, I’m not discouraging it. I’m happy for you. I just don’t want you to be disappointed if it isn’t as easy when you meet,” Gareth said softly.

“Yeah, thanks. I think it’ll be okay, though.”

“Alright. Tell babcia I’m coming by tomorrow for lunch.”

Eddie sat up and gave Gareth a quick hug.

“Thanks Gare Bear!”

—-------------------------------------------

He arrived 20 minutes early so he could sneak in the back to say hi to Gareth’s grandmother, who still insisted on getting her hands on the food every day for a couple of hours despite being nearly 80 years old.

“Babcia!”

“Eddie! My kochany! You forget to visit and I forget what you look like!” she rushed over, flour and oil stains all over her apron.

He should have kept some distance so his shirt didn’t get ruined, but he ignored the part of his brain telling him to look perfect for his date so he could get a hug.

“You know I have to watch my money,” he said against her shoulder.

“And you know I feed you for free if you clean up after yourself. No excuse,” she pulled away and looked him over. “You look handsome. Why?”

Eddie put his hands on his hips.

“What? Don’t I always look handsome?”

“Of course, but this is different. Your hair is smooth and you smell like the perfume store,” she smirked. “Is it a girl? Or a boy? Or a someone?”

“It’s a boy. We’ve never met in person, so I wanted to make a good first impression,” he admitted.

“Oh! How lovely! What’s his name?” She was back to kneading dough, but kept her eyes on him.

“Steve. He actually has been here before, loves the devolay?”

Babcia froze.

“Steve? Oh goodness.” She turned to the sink and washed her hands, muttering under her breath about something.

Eddie’s heart sank. Babcia didn’t seem happy about this.

“What’s wrong? You know him?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Is he not a good guy? Has he been mean to you? I’ll call and cancel right now,” he insisted, reaching for his phone in his pocket.

“No, no. Nothing like that. He is a very sweet boy. He got broken up with in this restaurant a few months back. Tore me to pieces. He just sat here for hours crying. I moved him to a corner booth for his privacy and he left me a $100 tip and ever since then when he comes in I make sure to give him as many szarlotka as he wants.” She touched Eddie’s shoulder. “You be good to him. He has a nice heart.”

Eddie’s mind raced.

Why had Steve agreed to come here for a date if this is where he’d been broken up with? Why did he even bother coming back if it held such bad memories?

What if he didn’t see this as a date?

The front door chimed and he heard the employee at the front welcome someone.

“He will be good for you, drogi.”

Eddie nodded before making his way to the front, stopping in his tracks when he saw the most beautiful man he’d ever seen standing at the podium, talking to the employee with a smile.

“That’s him,” Babcia said from behind him. “Go get him.”

She shoved him forward, nearly making him trip, which caught the attention of Steve.

He looked over with a curious smile, and then realization seemed to hit him.

“Steve?” Eddie managed to ask, loud enough to be heard over the few full tables in the restaurant.

“Eddie?” he asked back, hesitantly moving towards him.

“I, um,” Eddie started, then cleared his throat. “I usually sit by the window, if that’s okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Steve nodded.

It was cliche, like the room around them closed into just them existing together, like the stars had aligned exactly right for this moment to happen.

They sat down at the table Eddie usually sat at, staring across the table at each other in slight awe.

Eddie really hoped that Steve was having the same feelings he was.

But one thing was stopping Eddie from being completely enraptured.

“Is this a date?” he asked suddenly.

“What?” Steve seemed surprised by his question. “I mean, yeah. I’d like it to be. I thought it was.”

Eddie nodded once, but remained quiet, thinking.

“Oh God, it wasn’t, was it? You were just being nice. What is it with this restaurant? If I didn’t love the food so much or babcia, I would never step foot here again, I swear-”

Eddie put his hand on Steve’s to calm him down, frown on his face.

“Woah. What?”

“I just. I don’t have the best history with dates here and I guess I didn’t learn the first time something bad happened, and now I’m being too much too fast again in this place and-”

Eddie pulled Steve’s hand up to his face, placing a soft kiss to his knuckles.

“Stevie, calm down. This is a date. I’ll have as many dates here as you want to to get rid of whatever negative stuff you associate with this place. Babcia would hate that I ruined this place for you,” he said quietly.

Steve seemed to relax at his words.

And if you wanna tell me about what happened, you can. If it’ll help,” Eddie offered.

Before Steve could reply, Gareth’s cousin, Ben, came to take their order.

It was a quick order, both knowing exactly what they wanted, and then Steve looked back at him.

“It’s just. My last girlfriend, who I was with for almost three years, dumped me here. It was kind of out of the blue for me, and I had a really hard time that night.”

Eddie felt his heart break.

How could someone do that to Steve? He didn’t need to know him better to know that he didn’t deserve that, especially not if babcia had taken him under her wing so quickly.

“She must be awful to have let you go like that,” Eddie squeezed Steve’s hand in his, resisting the urge to go to his side of the table and hold him.

Steve shrugged and looked down at their hands.

“I mean, I should have known. She was never much for romance or spending time together that didn’t involve work or school. I was looking at engagement rings and she was looking at apartments to get away from me. I was just…really blinded by what I thought was love,” Steve smiled sadly at him.

“It wasn’t?”

“Well, it may have been a type of love. It was more comfort than anything. She was kind of all I had for the first year we were together, and I think I just ignored how unhealthy that was for both of us. And then I met Robin in college, and she was like the opposite of Nancy in every way. A few months before Nancy broke up with me, I told her that Robin’s parents kicked her out when she came out to them and that she needed a place to stay until we graduated. She agreed, then never made any attempt at getting to know her. And I didn’t read into it, Nancy isn’t like, super talkative with people she isn’t already close with, and Robin just kinda stayed to herself when Nancy was home.” Steve took a shaky breath. “But it turns out she didn’t bother getting to know her because she already knew she was gonna break up with me and leave the apartment to me and Robin, so.she just. Didn’t bother. Robin warned me, but I didn’t listen.”

Eddie wanted to cry.

Steve’s voice was full of pain, but not in a way that told him he still loved her, or still hoped they would get back together. More that she broke a part of him that he still hadn’t been able to fix no matter how hard he tried or wanted to.

“Was she jealous?” Eddie asked, trying so hard to understand what could have happened.

“I dunno. I mean, Robin’s a lesbian, and I definitely never had feelings for her anyway. Nancy was always so sure of herself, I can’t imagine she’d be jealous.”

“It sounds like she didn’t appreciate you very much.”

“What do you mean?” Steve didn’t sound mad, just curious.

“Well, she didn’t even make an effort to get to know your best friend, right? And it sounds like she was too busy focusing on her future to even think about what you looked like in it, and instead of trying to plan it with you, she made a future for her. She sounds a bit selfish,” Eddie shrugged.

Instead of being upset, Steve laughed.

God, Eddie loved that laugh.

“Sorry, it’s just that you sound exactly like Robin. You’d probably be two peas in a pod.”

“Tell me about her,” Eddie genuinely wanted to know more about the person who kept Steve going.

Their food arrived in the middle of the story of how Steve and Robin met, but it didn’t stop him from continuing.

Eddie listened with a fond smile, filling in Steve’s gaps of silence as he chewed a bite of food with questions or something related to what he’d been talking about.

It was easy.

It was fun.

Halfway through the meal, Steve’s foot rested against one of his and it felt like electricity shooting through his bones.

Eddie told him about Gareth, and his family who had pretty much adopted him when they both moved here from a small town in Indiana. He talked about his uncle who raised him for most of his life, who visited every Christmas despite being on a really tight budget.

Time passed quickly, but not at all.

They hadn’t realized how long they’d been sitting there until babcia came out without her apron to hand deliver an apple tart.

“You boys enjoy. I’ll see you both soon!” she said as she smacked a kiss on top of each of their heads.

Both of them blushed, but tried to cover it up with a bite of food.

As they finished, Steve looked outside to see how dark it was, how few people were left walking the streets.

“Guess we should head out,” he muttered, sounding like that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Would you wanna come to my place? We don’t have to do anything except talk, I promise. I just don’t really want this to end yet,” Eddie suggested.

“Really? I haven’t bored you?” Steve asked, just a hint of self-deprecation in his tone.

Eddie shook his head.

“Not at all. I’d really like to get a chance to love you the way you deserve,” Eddie said.

Steve’s eyes widened.

Eddie should back up, should say something less intense.

But if this ruined it, then at least he said what he was thinking.

“You think you could love me?” Steve asked, barely more than a whisper.

“I think I already do a little,” Eddie admitted.

Steve blinked at him for a moment, mouth slightly agape.

“I need to kiss you,” he finally said.

“Now? Here?” Eddie smiled.

“Now. Here.”

“I won’t stop you.”

Steve stood from the table and stood in front of Eddie, placing both hands on his cheeks and leaning down.

Their lips brushed in a barely-there kiss, softer than Eddie expected.

Steve stayed there for a moment, eyes closed, and Eddie couldn’t help the words tumbling from him.

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

If someone had said it to him, he would think they were just trying to get him into their bed, but that wasn’t the case here and he hoped Steve knew that.

“People used to call me a charmer, but I don’t think I’m half as good at it as you,” Steve whispered, his breath ghosting against Eddie’s lips.

“Just honest.”

“Take me home,” Steve said, opening his eyes and staring at Eddie, his eyes glowing with something close to love.

—-------------------------------------

They stayed up all night, never doing more than kissing and mapping out patterns on each others’ skin.

They talked about everything, even the painful parts of life, even the parts that they hadn’t shared with anyone else.

It didn’t make any sense that someone who had been a stranger not even 24 hours ago could already mean so much.

When the sun started to shine through the curtains of Eddie’s apartment, Steve sighed and buried his face in Eddie’s neck.

“I have to go to work,” though he burrowed his entire body further into the bed and Eddie’s side.

“You could call in sick,” Eddie suggested, pressing a kiss to the top of Steve’s head.

“Robin would kill me.”

He and Robin worked together as team teachers at an elementary school. When one of them missed, it left the other with 34 kids alone.

Plus, Steve loved his job, worked hard to be a teacher, and hated missing a day if he didn’t need to.

“Maybe you could bring Robin here after work? I can make dinner?” Eddie’s job was pretty easy, marketing for an Indie record label based out of New York remotely really kept him busy for a couple hours a day and the rest of the time was spent writing his own music.

Steve sat up and looked down at him, his hair ruffled from Eddie running his fingers through it for the last eight hours.

“You’d wanna meet Robin?”

“Yeah, if you want me to. She sounds like fun.”

Steve started crying.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry. Good job, Munson, already ruined something good,” Eddie was reaching for a tissue from his bedside table.

“No, no, I’m sorry. I’m just tired and emotional. And just. It means a lot that you’d wanna meet her,” Steve said between gasps for air as he continued to cry.

“Of course I do. I could even invite Gareth over, too, if you want. He won’t believe that our date went well,” Eddie joked, brushing the tears away from Steve’s cheeks.

“I’d love to meet him,” Steve said, sniffling.

“When can you guys get here?”

“Usually we’re done by four, but sometimes we stay later to finish grading stuff. Maybe we should say six?”

“Got it. Any allergies?”

“Robin is allergic to shellfish. She says she is. I think she just doesn’t like them,” Steve rolled his eyes.

“No shellfish, got it. Any preferences, my love?”

Steve blushed at the term of endearment, looking down before he leaned in to kiss Eddie softly.

“Anything you make will be great.”

“You wanna borrow some clothes for work?” Eddie asked.

“Do you have any business casual stuff?”

Eddie gagged.

“Unfortunately, it’s required for the job sometimes. Far left of the closet should have something,” he nodded towards the small closet by the bathroom.

Eddie watched as Steve walked over and picked out his only pair of khaki pants and a navy button down. Steve looked back at him and winked before he nodded towards the bathroom.

“Could use some help working the shower if you’re willing to,” he smirked.

Eddie jumped up from the bed and ran into the bathroom, ignoring the way Steve was laughing.

“The hot water is tricky sometimes. I should probably get in there too to make sure it stays hot,” Eddie said as he stripped off his pants.

“Definitely. Wouldn’t want me to get cold,” Steve put a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. “Kiss me?”

Eddie leaned in to kiss him slowly, letting his tongue brush along his lips just to get a taste.

“Okay?” Eddie checked in.

“Yeah. You remember what you said last night? About loving me like I deserve?”

Eddie nodded.

“I want you to. And I want to love you back.”

“I think we can arrange that.”

[sufferu]

Thinking about the Anastasia Camp in Arc 3 because holy shit, practically that entire camp was legitimately going out of its way to try and yank Subaru back to his senses and he has NO IDEA.

Julius is obvious, everyone knows at this point that his entire duel was him trying his best to prevent Subaru from getting dragged out and slaughtered in the street. But like, Anastasia did not have to go THAT FAR out of her way to try and teach Subaru a lesson. Girl literally set up the most obviously identifiable trap in the world with all of the tells perfectly aligning with the flaws she believed she saw in his character, told him to his face where he screwed up and what he needed to work on in order to not screw up next time, and then made a show of walking out as a group with all of her mercenaries just to point out the very obvious signs that the flaws she had just pointed out had prevented him from noticing. And also — someone else pointed it out, but it’s arguably implied that she only decided to do that after hearing that Subaru had picked a fight with Crusch Karsten like THREE DAYS after Julius had apparently completely failed to teach him that very necessary lesson about MINDING YOUR TONGUE. Which is just — she heard about that and went “Od Laguna that boy is legitimately going to get himself murdered ten times over if I don’t do anything to stop him isn’t he” didn’t she?

But it’s not just them because Ricardo was ALSO fucking in on it. We don’t see him until the final loop, but when we do he seeks Subaru out almost immediately and starts subtly gauging him out, seeing how he reacts to him mentioning Julius and the Royal Selection Ceremony and the White Whale and everything, clearly weighing his conclusions about Subaru’s reactions to all of that to the story he obviously heard from either Julius or Anastasia after the Incident at the ceremony. He even starts giving Subaru bits of advice because it becomes clear that Subaru is SO fucking stupid. Like, Subaru asks him what is. Probably a really racist question about whether he feels weird about riding a Liger — being a demihuman and all — and Ricardo makes a show of being very casual as he answers it by saying that “ah, well, this is an animal and I’m not, so there’s that” before moving on to basically say “word of advice: never ask anyone that again” and he does it nonchalantly enough to not make a big deal about it while also getting across that what Subaru just said could very easily be taken as an insult worth fighting over. And then he goes out of his way to save Subaru from the Whale at one point, getting his mount sliced in half and himself very seriously injured in the process.

And then to top it all off, the minute Julius sees Subaru again he gives him such an obvious test that Mimi almost ruins it by calling him out on it, in a way that very much mirrors the test Anastasia gave him in that failed loop, goading Subaru into a negotiation about Why the Anastasia Camp should continue to help them fight the Witch Cult without telling him that they were already planning on doing exactly that anyway. He even ends by nodding and saying that he’ll give Subaru’s efforts a “passing grade.”

Like, the Crusch Camp was helping Subaru a bit more explicitly — healing his gate and all — but that was very much a transactional exchange, with Crusch even explicitly stating that she will only ever help Subaru with his endeavors if there is something in it for her and her Camp. Meanwhile, for someone known as the Merchant Princess, Anastasia and her companions were being way more altruistic in their attempts to actually do Subaru some good. Aside from Rem, the Anastasia Camp may genuinely have been Subaru’s closest ally within that entire Arc, from start to end.

(Fuck, even in the IF route connected with this Arc. It might say something that Halibel is the one who houses Subaru and Rem (and even helps Subaru land a job) in Sloth:IF, considering that he’s got very strong ties to Anastasia.)

[marinettesaltprompts]

The Maribat deconstruction got me thinking: am I the only one who thinks Adribat is a more....plausible (??is that the word) concept than Maribat? Like, not even in a romantic sense but a familial platonic sense.

Think about it, he's :

got the tragic backstory & suffered from neglect

canonically been abused waaaaay beyond school bullies

taken for granted by adults (primarily his dad & Master Fu) and by his peers (LB)

dealing with the existential crisis of not being human if we go the sentimonster route.

Look, I get that trauma & suffering should NEVER be a competition but when you think abt it, Adrien's suffered just as much, if not more so than Mari ever did even with Chloe & Lila in the picture. You could argue that some of what she suffers in salt fics (isolation, no support system, emotional suppression, harassment) are ALSO things Adrien goes through bcz while he's a superhero like her, UNlike her, his home life sucks.

So if there's either hero the Bat Fam would empathize with more, it's him. Yes, they can hold him accountable for screw ups but if we go the Good Parent!Bruce route, he can give Adrien the physical & nuanced emotional training he needs to spot red flags & deal with them beyond passivity. The training is harsh but at least he doesn't play favourites, giving Adrien no excuse to slack off & proper motivation to mature. Plus, in the Bat Fam, everyone has clear roles & secrets aside, nobody strings anyone along, offering him a reliable structure to fall back on.

He doesn't come into the Bat Fam expecting to be in charge. Instead, the nitty-grittiness would push him to be more independent & decisive instead of impulsive.

If LB tries to call him out, he could point out how for all she claims to be the 'responsible professional hero', she REacted instead of acted & if real IDs are thrown in the mix, he can call out how she just went with the 'woe is me' route, resenting that everyone didn't jump on her call for a witch hunt when she could've communicated to them privately.

Sorry, this turned out longer & less explicitly mari salt-centric than I thought but I tried to stay objective. I hope you don't mind.

Technically everyone would have their own opinion about whether a Miraculous/Batman crossover could actually work. In my opinion however, I believe that the best bet for a good crossover would be through Adrien more than Marinette, in part because of the reasoning you gave, but also because Adrien would fit the idea of a Batfamily member more thematically than Ladybug ever could. If anything, he's like Catwoman but without the whole stealing bit.

Keep in mind that the whole Maribat AU was created with the goal of creating a salt fic (albiet with a crossover), and the OG creator even took a character that was no way romantical and turned him OOC to make their convoluted idea work, ironically in a method reminding me of the "My Immortal" Harry Potter fanfic. Regardless how it later developed, the original idea was pure salt, albiet one that took off because of everyone's hate boner for any character that wasn't Marinette, with people later trying to justify it for one reason or another. It's an idea that should have never worked in the first place outside of this context. In contrast though, Adribat would actually work because of a genuine commonality connection.

Also I don't mind talking about Adrien on this blog. In my mind, Marinette salt and Adrien sugar are the one and the same on this blog, because the salt of one character is usally sugar of the other due to how these prompts go.

Hell, my entire blog was made in opposition to the more well know Adrien Salt Blog made by another individual, which has both plenty of Adrien salt and LOTS of Marinette sugar, though I would call the latter justification for Marinette's own bad behavior as it never discusses her own issues, it just let's her go off scott free by pinning the blame all on Adrien.

In any case, I like your idea! If you or anyone else want's to share any Adribat prompts that you got, feel free to send them here!

[xsapphic-celestialx]

guys I ended up on the wrong side of swiftie tumblr please help get me back to the normal side where people don’t think that Taylor swift is secretly a lesbian who is singing to k*rlie kl*ss 😭😭 like istg she could marry Travis tomorrow and have 8 kids with him and they’d all be like “omg performance art” like you really think queen kylie kelce would involve her family in this if it was fake? The same kylie who is NOTORIOUS for not taking any bullshit? You think she’s involving her kids in this? Not a chance (side note Kylie kelce please adopt me I love you)

also if she was gay it makes more sense from a pr perspective for her to be single for a while rather than for her to have a “beard” she’s constantly slut shamed for having boyfriends and it’s not like those men get away Scot free either…. like she was fresh out of a 6 year relationship she could very easily have gone the “taking some time to work on myself before I get into another relationship” route if she didn’t want to date men anymore but instead she went straight to matty Healy of all people (which I genuinely think is one of the worst decisions she’s made in the past 5 years but then again she’s a grown adult who can do what she likes it’s none of my business and that is an opinion for another day)

“she’s being so loud in her songs only gaylors would understand” so close! Believing that a celebrity is sending you secret messages is actually a sign of schizophrenia! She’s not your friend she doesn’t know you and you should probably seek help xx

p.s. if you read this and felt offended I suggest you get a job I’ve heard they’re really good at filling all that free time you use to try and tear apart a stranger’s relationship

[loveandfictionforall]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could take this request! I thought maybe a oneshot (platonic!Dale Horvath x fem!reader)

So it’s set in season 2 at Hershel’s farm. Shane makes her really uncomfortable by trying to get her to sleep with him, flirting with her, etc. so she hides away in Dale’s RV to try to stay away from him. Dale finds out what’s going on so he comforts her after having a talk with Shane.

If you don’t want to do this it’s totally fine!! Just lmk if you will or not so I won’t be waiting for nothing if you don’t😭

I kind of went a different route but I hope you still like it. I genuine loved your idea. Dale is often forgotten but he was a good man.

tw: mentions of harrassing, mentions of getting touched without consent

It's been a long time since you were truly sitting with Dale down. He had always been your friend, even though a lot of years separated you from each other. It had been quite a ride since arriving at the Camp. Back then you were together with Lori, Shane and Carl after knowing them for years. You used to be Carl's babysitter, actually being on duty when the apocalypse began and following Shane, Lori and Carl. You suffered through the loss of Rick, just like those three and stumbled like everybody else through the beginnings of the outbreak.

Since you were a woman, Lori and Carol got you into doing the chores with all the other women. The men went out, looking for food, clothes and medicine. You also wanted to do something. Teaching Sophia and Carl math and history wasn't really important for you but Shane always declined your wishes.

So instead you began to hide. At first it was in the woods until you got a mouthful from Shane - and even Merle. Soon you began hiding in the Camper, with a Dale always winking at you when he saw you slipping into it. When Lori, Andrea or Carol went asking, he always played his part: shaking his head and lying through his teeth, telling them where he saw you last. You never been there but it threw them off your trail. And thus, your friendship with Dale began.

Dale tried fixing his Camper with you. But unlike all those other tasks, he actually wanted you to do it, guiding you and giving you new knowledge about the workings of cars. On evenings he would invite you to sit on the roof with him, watching the stars and talking about those old times. You learned a lot about him and how his life had been. Soon you were kind of his kid - adult but also his kid. He showed you how to fish, how to skin them and even gave you his little pocket knife.

Even when Andrea began to insert herself into the friendship, Dale and you were inseparable. In the end, it would be Dale's death which would end your genuine friendship with each other. But you two didn't know that Hershel's farm would be his demise. Instead you were looking at each other with bright smiles and hope fluttering in your chest.

Sure, things were rough, especially since Rick appeared from the dead, still alive and healthy. It shook your world and made you hope that you will too see again your family. Nobody could escape the whole drama of Lori and her men but her so harshly shoving Shane away made things worse for you. You always knew that Shane looked at you sometimes a bit too long. When the world was still whole, you kind of liked it - being noticed felt good, especially by an older man with a bright career. Now it made you break out in goosebumps. Your neck hair would rise and without turning you would know that Shane would be staring at you.

It started small - a conversation here and there, a small compliment about her sharpening skills of knifes or her really good hiding skills from the other women. It still gave you the creeps but what should you do? Shane didn't to anything at first. But after Otis died, Shane changed. The crazed look in his eyes. Sometimes he would drink in the evening before he would press himself against you, his breath ghosting across your throat and cheeks. After that the touches started. It grossed you out - so much, that you tried to find a reason to sleep with Dale in the Camper. It wasn't possible, after all there was only one sport to sleep in.

But Dale knew something wasn't right.

And on one evening, while sitting together on the roof of the Camper, watching the starts you finally gave in.

"It's Shane.", would be all you would say. You still remember how Dale would straighten his back, his eyes getting serious when he turned all of his attention towards you.

"What did he do?" There wasn't doubt in his voice. It didn't waver. It was like he always knew something wasn't right with Shane. He saw Shane and knew he was danger.

"He just… He-" You could talk about it. Just thinking about it made you tear up. And finally those tears fell when Dale circled his arms around you, pressing you against his warm body, shushing softly against your frizzled hair. It just made you sob harder. In a world without any true rules and consequences, you couldn't do a thing. And even though Rick and Shane were fighting, it was his best friend, he wouldn't believe you. And Dale knew that.

So instead he gently swayed both of you while you used every strength in your body to talk and tell him about everything. Dale was your saving grace. He never doubted you.

"You will sleep in the Camper. I will take your tent." His words would have a final tone. Arguing with him would be unwise, his opinion was set in stone.

"But your back!" The small chuckle from Dale would make you smile. You always teased him with being too old.

"I think I will manage. It is far more important that you feel finally safe again."

When Dale lead you into the Camper and helped you into bed, his eyes were soft.

"You are a true blessing and you deserve to feel safe and loved. You will always be welcome with me." To be honest, it made you cry again but now they were finally happy tears.

It was a memory you never wanted to forget in this forsaken world. It would be a memory which would keep you alive, even in the toughest of moments, even after Dale died.

[jess-the-vampire]

I love the idea of Eda being this terrifyingly powerdul witch who rules over the Boiling Isles, but she's still a complete softie when it comes to her kids.

Eda: We have ways of making you talk-- Luz, sweetie, Mommy's working right now-- Oh my gosh, did you draw this? *holds up Young Luz's drawing of a flower* That is so good!

(i'm going to pocket that idea as a animatic video i could do later)

yeah the reason this happened was because when i made the au, even though it was a swap au, i really did not have the heart to make eda of all people actually abusive.

so i figured "Hey, if au philip is not going to be 100% like eda anyway and keep some of his flaws from the show, i don't seen why eda can't be technically an antagonist but also keep being a decent parent".

the swap is trying to keep them in character, even if philip is struggling to get better and eda is having her own unique issues.

(like i think there's some misconception that philip is a "Good person" in the au, and while he is better....i would not clarify him as a "Good person", just a "Recovering" and "Improving" individual)

So eda loves her kids, even if she screws up, there's good intent at least.

it's actually what i originally was hoping they'd do for belos before it was revealed what his relationship with hunter was like in s2.

Not that i'm against what they went with (Like it's still a fine story as is), but it would of been kinda interesting for a show to tackle a child leaving their villianous parent behind, despite the fact they have a genuinely loving relationship.

like imagine if philip HAD cared for hunter (I mean i think he technically kinda does in canon, but in a more toxic way), he was still doing all this horrible stuff and still hurting people, but hunter was the exception and he always treated him well.

So when luz and the gang try to turn hunter around, it breaks his heart to see his uncle as a bad person, and how to process that. Not to mention how hard it would of been for him to leave in the first place.

could even still of had the grimwalker aspect and left hunter wondering if his uncle ever loved him at all or he just loved caleb instead.

Making belos abusive to hunter was just the obvious route to take, so it would of been interesting had they done something like this and subverted those expectations. It would of certainly added to the "People are complicated" thing the show kinda was talking about near the end.

But i don't write the show, so instead i just added some of those aspects into my au instead with eda and luz (Though eda in this au really isn't that bad a person tbh)

i guess it makes for a fun dynamic in the au, eda cares about her kids and her family and that's more the motivation for her being an antagonist then anything.

[darilarostarg]

Changes to HOTD Season One

I may get jumped for this but this was in my drafts after I saw someone else mention some changes they would have made to season one. So in light of season two arriving in a month, here are mine that I would added/changes to make the series run and little more coherently without changing the entire plot; 

More highborn ladies around Rhaenyra and Alicent. 

I just found it a little unbelievable that the Princess and named heir had a grand total of one friend. I like the idea of Rhaenyra and Alicent having a small core group of highborn ladies. I also think it would have been great to add to the dynamic of when their friendship falls apart. 

Maybe they gravitate to Rhaenyra’s ‘side’ as she will be future queen, further isolating Alicent, adding to her eventual hatred/treatment of Rhaenyra. I think the fall out of Rhaenyra and Alicent’s relationship especially in the beginning needs a little extra kick, and this is a simple and effective way to do so. Not only was Rhaenyra given the freedoms Alicent never was, she also ‘took’ all her friends with her.

Once we made the jump to Olivia taking over as Alicent I would have gone full ‘book Alicent’, or at least once Driftmark happened. 

I think the flitting between hating Rhaenyra and caring for her doesn’t work (unless you are a Rhaenicent, if we are being honest!). 

They should have let Alicent fully believe Otto’s brainwashing, especially after the response to Aemon being marred. I genuinely believe that would have made Alicent even more sympathetic to the general audience as well, as I just don’t think the back and forth is really logical after that point, and the general audience just sees her as a hypocrite, not as another victim to Westeros’ patriarchy. 

I think it would have been beneficial to see more Alicents scheming against Rhaenyra in court etc. It would have been very cool to see her go fully spiteful and powered by fear (mainly because of how Olivia played the small glimpses we did see at times, and they worked better for me than the more sad/passive Alicent we got at other times).

It also would have prevented having the foot fetish scene with Larys. I do not understand why that was the route, when they could have Alicent be a willing participant in those schemes, which is much more interesting. Also no ‘misunderstanding the prophecy’ scene, or the green council going the way it did, or Rhaenyra crying over a 20 year old piece of paper….

Either given Rhea more screen time, or went with the book version of events with killing her off screen.

I understand logically why they had Daemon kill her, but due to the lack of screen time, I just don’t think the audience cared about her enough to really hold Daemon to it. I think killing her off screening, and having Daemon find out in the Stepstones via letter, and a scene of him actually going to the Vale to try for his inheritance all smug without a care for his dead wife, would have been just as an effective way to show Daemon’s disdain and hatred for his first wife, if not more effective.

Daemon and Laena’s relationship. 

I think it would have been nice to actually allow Daemon to be shown to be a somewhat decent man at certain times. I just think if canonically the character is described as ‘made of light and darkness in equal parts’ they should have made more of an effort to show that, have Daemon’s love for his family be his light. It also means that when he is dark, it’s actually more shocking and cruel as we know he is making an active choice to be that way, that at his core he is not a good man, despite the light we see with his family. It reduced Laena to a stepping stone plot point, and I just wasn’t a fan of that. 

Inclusion of Laena and Rhaenyra's relationship. 

I just think this would have played well into the fact that to Alicent, Rhaenyra, no matter how much she believes she breaks the rules, does what she wants etc. she is still constantly surrounded by people that love her, while all Alicent has done has lived dutifully and ended up in a loveless marriage with no one to turn too but Larys fucking Strong. 

Bi Daemon 

Because that is something I want, and I’m allowed to be selfish every once and a while!

[dianasaurusrex102]

Maybe it gets better? (I could wait, it'd be my pleasure) Pt.2!!

Authors Note and CW’s under the cut :p

Authors Note: Oh hey :D I didn’t take nearly 2 years to write the sequel wdym? And I most certainly didn’t set the ground work for a whole series that I definitely can’t finish but will do what I can, that’s insane!! Anyways thanks for those who came from the first part or those who I promised a part two and have been waiting (I see and appreciate you!!). This one is for my sapphic girls!! Ballora is the one out of the three who gets the least amount of love so I’m correcting that. Also giving my femcel core girls some rep, I can have my cake and eat it too! Comments and reposts are my food so part three might not take a whole year if I’m fed but who knows :) I absolutely hate when fanfic writers out their fan art into fics so I’m making seeing their redesigns options is you’d like to see the click here.

(Also @crazyytogetherrr @azmosposts @cherryxsapphic pspspsps come get your long over due food)

Content Warning(s): Female reader and anatomy, insane amounts of pet names, obsessive behavior (mild daydreaming of kidnapping in a non serious tone), and of course smut

—

You came back just like you said you would, you were never one to go back on your promises of course. But now you were standing in the office you'd originally sworn you’d never come back to. Thankfully, this time you know what you're getting into. 

The hours before you got here were spent pacing and almost obsessively debating if going back was the best idea. Your mind went back and forth on whether Ballora invited you back out of pure politeness (do robots even feel the need to be polite??) Or if she genuinely wanted you back, if that was the case would the others want you there too? 

With those thoughts weighing you down you gave yourself 5 minutes of wallowing in your own anxieties so if you ultimately chose to stand her up you had the option to run away with your metaphorical tail in between your legs. But now with your time running out, and no convincing reasons to turn back you straightened up your outfit in the smudged, dirty reflection of the window.

You dressed up, meaning a pretty sweater and skirt instead of your more casual clothes. Even if only 2 out of your 3 robotic friends (lovers?) would be able to see you, you wanted to look your best for this second meeting.

Your hands shook as you flattened out the last wrinkle on your sweater, your thoughts racing a mile a minute. You were in actual mortal danger last time you came here, yet here you were more worried about your outfit then hightailing it out of there all because a couple unsettlingly sentient robots made your entire year in one night.

You checked the time on your phone for the umpteenth time, 11:59 stared back. It was now officially too late to take the cowards route, excitement and unease mixed in the pit of your stomach as the reality of your situation dawned on you. 

This was fine, right? You'd be fine?

You squeezed your eyes as tight as you could, hoping your almost debilitating anxiety would quiet down. You conjured up the memories you'd been replaying in your head over and over again. Ballora embracing you in the dimness of her room, holding onto you as if you would disappear if she let up. Foxy's toothy smile as he procured a Funtime Foxy plush to keep you company. Even Freddy's giddy monologue as he absent-mindedly squeezed his arms around you.

They loved- liked you… didn't they? Maybe love was too strong of a word for only one meeting, but you had only met them the same night you decided to sleep with them. Your mind finally slowed down, any self-doubt being filed away for another time.

Love or not, you were going to make good of your promise. You opened your eyes as you took a deep breath, stars dancing across your vision because of your prior eye squeezing. This was your new life now, secret lewd relationships with robots and casual breaking and entering. 

You slipped your phone into your backpack's side pocket, you'd come prepared this time with a blanket, some water, snacks, and your aforementioned funtime Foxy plushie.

With one last check in the mirror to make sure you looked your best, you inched towards Ballora's door, only stopping once you grasped the handle. 

"This is a good idea, a great idea even!" You thought to yourself, blood pressure surely sky rocketing into unsafe levels as you slowly opened the door. Serene, classical music filled your ears and immediately put you at ease. You walked a couple more steps, eyes feverishly scanning for Ballora but her voice found you first,

"Y/N?" Her voice was an uncharacteristic whisper,"Is that you?" She had one foot on her stage, seemingly in the middle of getting on.

"Yes! Uh- I mean yes?" You awkwardly responded, an unintended shrill tone escaping you. Minireenas hurriedly teetered away in their ever cute fashion, thankfully taking your mind off of you already botching your greeting.

"S-Sorry I'm a little late I was-" An explanation was on the tip of your tongue, but Ballora's sudden rush towards you momentarily threw you off. In an honestly disturbing display of speed she made her way to your side, immediately scooping you up into the air with her arms under your armpits. A disgruntled squeak left your lips as she spun you around once, then twice, before hugging you close to her chest as laughter spilled from her lips.

"I-I-I thought you weren't coming! I was so worried that you'd leave us behind. That'd you f-forget about us!" Relief was all but palpable in her tone, clearly beyond herself with excitement, "B-But you're here! You're really here! My dearest y/n…" 

Affection was oozing off of every word she spoke, such raw emotion cutting right through you. Your heart warmed with her caring sentiment but her tight bear hug was firmer than you'd like, constricting you to the point that you could barely breathe. 

"Ballor-a? I can't- really breathe-" You felt bad not openly reassuring her, but you felt like she'd appreciate it if you didn't pass out on her. She let out a surprised noise, quickly releasing her grip and setting you on the ground. 

"Ah! I apologize, I didn't mean to get so emotional" Ballora murmured, wiping her hands on her cloth skirt in an antsy motion. Her posture quickly turned dejected, faceplates shifting and face souring in tandem. A dull ache remained at your sides but you quickly ignored it,

"No! No please don't apologize, that was just a little too tight" You gazed worriedly at her closed eyes, arms moving to hug her waist,"I would never forget you Ballora, I'm sorry I made you feel like that" For the first time in your life you cursed the gods for not making you an optimal height for kissing animatronics, even on your tippy toes you barely even hit her chin. 

A thankful smile pulled at her lips, you reached a hand up in an unusual show of confidence and gently guided her down to your level. You hesitantly slid your lips against hers, feeling the firm, cool metal against your softer human ones. Ballora's mouth was seemingly only specialized for mimicking realistic speaking, meaning that unfortunately for the both of you, fluid kissing was not possible.

Even then just the firm press of your lips to hers was enough to convey every reassurance you wanted to. You pulled away to gauge her reaction and make sure you hadn't overstepped. It seemed like quite the opposite was true, as Ballora smiled down with a giddy expression.

"Well aren't you a romantic honey? Thank you" You weren't quite sure if she was thanking you for the kiss or for the kind words you reciprocated, your mind too busy gazing at her teeth. Now that you were up close and personal you could see her seemingly human-in-shape teeth taper at the ends just enough to be noticeably sharp. A small shiver ripped through you at the thought of what those teeth could do, 

"I would love to kiss you some more, hun but I do have to give you something" Ballora said, changing the subject and disentangling the two of you so she could twirl her way to her stage. You trailed behind, already needy and missing her warmth but still eagerly watching her blindly grope behind the drawn curtains beside her stage.

"Foxy helped me get this from the workers today, figured you'd might be interested sweetheart" She procures a piece of paper from its hiding spot, eagerly handing it to you in order to hear your reaction. The front read "Circus Baby's Pizza World" with a smaller "Help Wanted" just under it. Cutely drawn representations of the animatronics littered the page, pointing at the long list of jobs. 

The starting pay of each job was an almost eye popping large amount, the lowest paying job paying more than double your current job. The icing on the cake was the sentence at the bottom "No Prior Job Experience Needed", a smile grazed your face as soon as you read the words.

"I assure you I'm not attempting to indoctrinate you," Ballora joked, "After this week, there's a good chance that they will be putting keycard locks for the nightshift, the easiest way for us to bypass this would be for you to be employed here! But if that's not favorable we could figure something else out dear, no worries''

"This is perfect! I'd love to work with you guys, I'm not sure if they'd actually hire me but I can try!" You said, excitement emanating from you.

"The whispers from the staff assure me that management is, quote, 'floundering for new hires' so while I may not be privy to the details, I can imagine someone as wonderful as you will be picked up in no time" Her hand found its way to your lower back, dangerously close to your butt (not that you minded). The reassuring pressure left your skin pleasantly buzzing, you busied yourself by flipping to the paper around.

A basic job application form with almost laughably low quality confetti in the background stared back at you, it couldn't be that easy right? A job this high tech wouldn't just have you fill out a form, there had to be a catch. 

You bit your lip, what if they just didn't choose you? Your meager associates degree didn't even earn you anything above a grueling low paying office job, how the hell were you supposed to convince them to let you deal with such sophisticated animatronics?

You shouldn't have come back, you should have known that. Even if your intuition always tried to psych you out of everything you did, no matter how big or small, you knew better than to get your hopes up for something as good as the prospect of finally connecting with someone.

A small taste of copper exploded in your mouth, a direct result of your teeth overworking your lip. Despite the pain, you dig them in further as you try to think of anything to say.

"I'm sure you'll make the right decision" Ballora said unprompted, "I must say I've missed your voice, might we sit down and talk? How's that sound?" Without any eyesight she must have taken your silence as a cue to move on with the night. You were grateful for her stellar social skills, since they effectively pulled you out of your circling thoughts. You unlodged your teeth from your bloody lip,

"I'd love to, just- uh let me put my paper in my bag real quick" Your voice quivered a bit, as your anxieties still whispered in the back of your mind. Ballora either didn't notice your slight breakdown, or chose not to comment on it (both of which you were thankful for). She took a graceful step back, retracting her reassuring touch but allowing you space to get situated.

"I'm allowed to make decisions without thinking of every what if" You reminded yourself, kneeling down to delicately stuff the paper in your bag. 

You really did almost not come back, your mind rationalizing the fact that what you were dealing with down here was completely and utterly out of your control. Yet your body ignored any and all rationalizing, waking you up in the middle of the night in a puddle of your own arousal at the fuzzy memory of cold metallic fingers dancing along your body.

You zipped your backpack up, noisily announcing that your task was done in order to notify Ballora, who in turn made a small nod in your direction. You could see the semblance of a smile grace her face as she turned to the nearest wall. You pushed your backpack so it leaned against the nearby stage, quickly clamoring onto your feet to follow her.

"Whatever happens will happen" At least you were wanted here (which really couldn't be said for anywhere else you went sadly). But hell if you weren't going to make the most from it. You watched eagerly as Ballora carefully maneuvered herself into sitting against the wall, metal screeching as she finally hit the floor.

"I'm… not so graceful when it comes to sitting. Us animatronics really were only made to stand" Ballora joked, a refined giggle lacing her words. She seemed a bit bashful at her lack of elegance but continued on anyway, patting her lap invitingly. 

"I think you're always graceful Ballora" You answered, sweetening up your tone to an artificial level. You carefully lifted one of your legs over her stretched out ones, and carefully lowered yourself into her lap. 

"I'm glad you think so, but be careful darling, all that flattering you're doing might get you more than what you bargained for" Ballora wasted no time, as soon as you completely sat your weight on her she let her hands roam free. Her long, segmented fingers found their way to your face.

Closing your eyes, you obediently stayed still while you let Ballora trace her finger tips over your features. She took in all the information she could, the height of your cheekbones, the roundness of your closed eyelids, the slope of your nose, only slowing when she pressed a thumb against your lips.

"You're quite beautiful y/n," Ballora murmured, "Times like these really make me jealous of the others, I bet you make such cute faces while we defile you" Your face broke out in a blush, response getting caught in your throat as she gingerly pressed her thumb past your lips. Almost on instinct, your tongue flicked up to meet it. You weren't sure if you were disappointed or relieved that you couldn't taste anything, but at the very least the cold metal was a pleasing sensation against your tongue.

"Good girl~" The praise spilled from Balloras lips with a playful lilt, your tongue stopping its minute kitten licks as a whine unwittingly pushed its way out of your chest. Your eyes snapped open, embarrassment flooding your system at your involuntary reaction. Ballora, ever unphased by anything, has a pleased smile on her face.

"Now that's the reaction I was hoping for darling" she cooed, free hand wandering down the column of your throat. You had half a mind to pull back from the overwhelming mix of touch but in a swift purposeful move her other hand had made it down to your hip, stalling your squirming. You hadn't even noticed you were moving until she stopped you, your mind running a mile a minute and not getting a break as Ballora pressed your tongue down firmly.

"If you'd like to stop, just tap my wrist, okay?" You did your best to nod around her digit, "Let's keep at this, I think this is going just great" She leaned in to press a firm kiss against your hairline as her thumb got to work lazily petting your tongue until spit bubbled out the sides of your mouth.

Ballora rocked her thigh up just enough to press against your clothed mound, and you immediately knew you were done for. With a thumb in your mouth, an insistent pressure between your legs, and a hand that somehow snuck its way under your sweater any coherent thought was quickly squashed to make room for your growing libido.

"I can see the appeal of being inside someone now, shame only the boys get to" Ballora spoke in a nonchalant tone, cocking her head slightly at the choked noise you made. Only it wasn't just a choked noise, your knee-jerk reaction to the upsettingly hot comment was to inhale which quickly turned into you actually choking on your own spit. You quickly lean backwards, heaving slightly as you almost cough your lungs out.

"Too much?" Ballora asks as her hand not covered in spit pats your back, you take a second to even out your breaths before answering.

"No, just-" You wipe your mouth and let out one more cough, "I was just a little surprised 's all" Your embarrassment only worked to darken the flush on your cheeks, all the coughing didn't gross her out did it? 

"Sorry, sorry" The hand on your back urges you forwards, "What if I make it up to you? Hm? How's that sound princess?" Her cloyingly sweet tone calms your nerves, 

"Yeah, I'd like that…" You whispered quietly, allowing yourself to be coaxed forward. You leaned your weight against her chest, unabashedly nuzzling into her smooth neck. Reveling in the shudder she gave in response to the touch, you wrap your arms around her torso.

"Sweet thing, and here I thought you wanted to take a breather" Balora teased while easing her left hand, still tacky with spit, under your skirt. "And for the record I wasn't joking about wanting to be inside you~" Now that you didn't have a foreign object in your mouth you could successfully give a sharp inhale, no choking involved. 

"Foxy's the only one with custom parts, though with some convincing I could probably get either of them to swap with me" Probing fingers massaged the meat of your thigh, and you have to settle the adrenaline in your veins to form a response.

"Custom… parts?" 

"Oh yes, they didn't build Foxy that pretty on accident" Ballora elaborated, "Though I do admit we did help each other from time to time, we haven't done much experimenting, well, not before you came honey" That certainly got your attention, wiggling in her lap as her fingers finally grazed where you needed them.

"Cute~" the simple comment combined with her free hand effortlessly lifting your hips just enough to where she could press against you drew a needy noise out of you. 

“When you say helping each other you mean…?” You had to ask because she couldn’t possibly be implying what you thought she was, in the back of your mind you were vaguely aware that she had rendered you incapable of speaking more than half a sentence.

“Well, after a certain adorable human snuck her way into our hearts it opened a new…” Her fingers nonchalantly snuck their way into your panties, “world of possibilities for us. We are children’s entertainers at heart, but a night like that after months of inactivity is hard to move past.” Your ears burned with embarrassment, partly relieved that you weren’t the only one that was deeply affected by what transpired. Her chilled fingertips busied themselves by ghosting over your clit before smoothing over your folds,

”But that’s enough about us, tell me y/n, did you miss us too?” Ballora mused, digits now moving in a smooth, languid motion only aided by your slick. 

Of course you missed them, how could you not? You’d replay that night over and over again in your brain almost obsessively, every detail searing itself into your brain. At night when you were just trying to catch a wink of sleep, in the morning while you robotically went through your pre-work routine, in the evening while you drove home. Nearly every moment you were left to your devices was filled with the knowledge that not only did you technically trespass on a newly opening business, but also had two rounds of sex with the performing animatronics while in constant peril. 

The insanity of losing your virginity at a pizzeria chain only squandered by the pure lust that surged through you at the reminder that you in fact lost your virginity, that someone (something? Do animatronics count as people?) in fact wanted to have sex with you. And being wanted was one of the most addicting feelings you’ve ever felt.

”Of course I missed you guys,” You sighed blissfully, “It was -ah- crazy hard to even sleep-“ An incessant nudge against your entrance made your words taper off as more sounds tumbled off your tongue.

“Oh?” Ballora’s tone took a dangerously raspy edge, “Don’t tell me you were touching yourself to the thought of us, naughty girl”

”N-No, it was- just” One of her fingers teasingly threatening to press inside momentarily distracted you, “Dreams..? I’ve never been good at- by myself-“

”By yourself?” She prompted, her fingers stilling being both a blessing and curse.

“Y’know- uh getting myself off? At least wh-en I’m awake” God, you were really telling her about that huh? You guessed that people who were intimate with each other talked about this kind of stuff.

”Hmmmm~” Her pointer finger eased itself halfway inside you, “Poor thing, you must’ve been so pent up huh? Glad we could help you even when we’re apart. You said dreams?” Each time she prompted you to talk was surely taking years off of your life, you clenched up uselessly around her unmoving digit.

”Ballora- please just? Move?” You pleaded, thighs tensing as you attempted to shift in any way, only to be reminded of her iron hold on your hips.

”You get pretty spacey when I move, princess. I’m helping you out a little, making it easy. Why don’t you tell me about those dreams?” You let out a peeved puff of air, but obliged.

”It wasn’t anything crazy, just…” You said, trying to find the right words. “You -ngh!- guys kept showing up in my dreams? I’d wake up all- gross and sweaty.” That seemed to be what Ballora was looking for if the way she brought you impossibly closer and nuzzled your temple was anything to go by. Her warm breath puffed around the shell of your ear, making you shiver but quickly still when her lips inched close.

”Your body knows it’s ours.” Sharp teeth gingerly closed around your ear, ever mindful not to maim; just to impose their presence. “You’re wonderful Y/N~ You came back to me like the good girl I knew you were, and now I can bring your dreams into reality. Is there anything in particular you’d like, princess?”

“Anything- Everything? Please?” You didn’t even know what you were trying to say, only desperate to say the right things to get her hands fawning over you again. Your dreams more often than not delved into a too-deep-and-fucked-up territory you would rather not vocalize nor realize.

Ballora’s smooth chuckle calmed any remaining nerves, the muscles in your body singing as her hand got back to work; The finger inside of you effortlessly sliding completely into your welcoming heat while her thumb blindly felt its way up to your clit. While your immediate impulse was to shift, you were stopped by the smallest pinpricks of pain blooming as her teeth bared down,

”Careful dear, I might hurt you if you squirm too much.” Ballora practically purred. You made a vaguely understanding noise, doing your best to quell your nerves and not move. Another correct response got you another one of her fingers, their lazy movement making your head spin.

”Ballora?” Her name left your lips before you could stop it, spoken just between a gasp and whine. The teeth on your ears again dug in just enough to make you jolt before releasing, Ballora smoothed over the warm sting with feather-light kisses.

”Yes, honey?” Now that the threat of having a chunk of your ear be ripped off was less of an immediate concern, your hips eagerly angled so you could manipulate her fingers to hit the bundle of nerves inside of you that they seemed to be avoiding. You earned yourself a couple toe-curling zaps of pleasure until the hand on your hip gave a squeeze in warning.

”Naughty, what were you saying Y/N?” Her tone had just enough edge to make you regulate the overwhelming urge to implore her to move any faster.

”Um- I was thinking I could uh-“ Your voice shook, unused to asking for something so openly. “I could help you? We could finish together?” You leaned back so you could see her reaction clearer, not missing the way her fingers yet again slowed to a halt. Ballora’s faceplates shifted with a noise, a separate audible hiss of warm air escaping from somewhere sounded with it. 

You couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing, eyes still scanning her face as it pinched up with something you couldn’t decipher. Did you mess up the moment? Your hands trembled as you gripped her shoulders, brain already attempting to conjure up an apology for even asking. Of course she didn’t want your inexperienced hands on her, she didn’t offer for a reason and you just had to open your big mouth- A indulging smile spread on her lips, cutting through your small freak out over her perceived rejection.

”You want to make me feel good too princess?” She cooed, bringing her unoccupied hand to cup the back of your head and press a lingering kiss on your lips. “My perfect little girl is so considerate~” Your whole body jolted at the surge of praise, the warm feeling filling your lower belly only fueled by her fingers reanimating at a brutal pace.

”I’m perfectly content with just helping you out right now darling, nothing against you; I usually seldom indulge myself, direct pleasure can be a tad too overwhelming for me usually so if you’d let me feed off of yours this time I’ll keep your offer in mind for the future” Ballora traced warm kisses down your chin with unprecedented speed, leaving your mind reeling at the addicting onslaught of attention. All your inhibitions melted with every curl and pump of her fingers.

“Pretty little thing’s gonna come so quickly~” Your body instinctively curled into her, “Maybe I should drive things out even further…” 

“Please!” Was the only pitiful response you could muster up, already so worked up that you believed her obvious bluff. Ballora soothed your outburst with spindle-like teeth pressed gingerly against the skin of your neck,

”Ok~ You’re awfully needy Y/N~” She said. You gasped as she quickly withdrew her fingers from you, 

“I really would like more time for the two of us~ I should just tie you up and keep you in here with me, then I wouldn’t have to share” A protest died on your lips as three digits were practically shoved back into you.

”But that would be greedy of me unfortunately, I’ll just have to settle for giving you the best orgasms out of the group” Her casual, sincere way of talking lulled you into a warm sea of pleasure. She rendered you into a human puddle in her hold as you surrendered to her syrupy sweet words of affirmation.

Muscles aching from the way you wildly tensed up as she abused your sweet spot, head swimming as you felt overwhelming pressure curl in your gut every time her thumb worked at your clit; And even her teeth did their show of digging in just enough to make your skin crawl, was more than enough for Ballora to make good of her promise of making you have a world-resetting orgasm. You took big heaving breaths to try to keep yourself from becoming any more boneless, resting your entire weight on Ballora as tremors overtook your body.

You barely registered her words of vague praise, more focused on the way she slowly extracted her hand from inside your underwear- and by proxy yourself. Her now free hands had free reign to lovingly pet along your thighs,

“I’m guessing that was good?” She murmured kindly. 

“Mmmm” 

“I’ll take that as a yes” Her warm laugh washed over you, pleasant and somewhat tinny as it always was. Your arms wrapped around her neck again, a welcomed feeling of calm making you giddy enough to press appreciative kisses on whatever metal-plastic-skin-stuff of hers you could reach.

”Foxy and Freddy should be expecting us soon.” 

“Can we relax for a bit?” You asked, not feeling up to moving any time soon.

”Of course, darling~ Any more time I get to keep you to myself is time I will never take for granted. I never was good at sharing”

[mqverick]

Walking On Air || chapter 7

Tom Kazansky was many things according to his flight mates; an arrogant pilot, a determined man who did not like being bossed around by people like Maverick, a passionate fighter and a gentle lover, despite his tough stance. While he couldn’t deny any of those characteristics, he drew the line when people thought of him as foolish. Thus to why he knew — had known from the very first day, the very first moment he caught you laying an eye on Maverick — that he’d been slowly, but with a steady pace, losing you.

Though it might not have been crystal clear to you in the beginning, Tom was very aware of the fact that Pete Mitchell was intrigued by your presence and eventually would get you to feel the same way about him. He didn’t know Maverick well nor cared to befriend him, in fact it was quite the opposite. Call him prejudiced, but he believed in the power of first impressions, which the freshly transferred pilot had made into a disastrous impact upon his name in the Navy.

There were countless nights when, even though you were tucked in bed, cuddling against Tom’s chest, his brain would betray him with nerve wrecking thoughts of you calling quits on him. He’d been preparing himself for that moment ever since the two of you began dating, knowing you were and would always be too good for him, notice all his flaws, grow bored of his routine.

At some point, your relationship had been a dream. It was steady without any distractions, doubts, fears or problems and Tom had shortly forgotten about the worries gnawing at his head. He was planning to tell you how he felt; that he loved you and could see a future with you, his only future — but then Maverick crept his way into the picture, drawing you apart.

It wasn’t even intentional on either sides, that’s what bothered him the most. If Tom knew one thing, it was that falling in love rolled naturally, all it took was a good glance on that one person to realize they were made for you, that they were the fundament of your existence. During dogfights, discussing tactics — hell — even during lunch, he watched you fall in love with Maverick a little bit more day by day. Unspoken words, guilty gazes, forbidden touches. He had been genuinely hurt the day he found out that you had secret plans with the pilot, refusing to believe that his overthinking was actually a piece of reality.

He knew he’d overreacted and had hurt you too along the way. You were distraught, distancing yourself from him, building up walls that he thought had collapsed somewhere along your relationship. Watching you fade him out of the picture was painful, but (and that might sound weird) he’d never seen you look happier than when you were with Maverick. It was all natural, your heartwarming smile, your dilated pupils, your nervous hand movements. It was exactly how he’d felt when he first asked you out.

You, on the other hand, were completely in the dark about how deep Tom’s knowledge was in your relationship with Maverick. You thought of him as the innocent, trusting boyfriend which he’d proved to you he was, making your heart burn the minute you walked into the same room as Pete, instantly getting washed with guilt.

After babysitting Bradley with Maverick while Goose and Carole were away, feelings had gotten even more confused and complicated if possible, twisting the gut inside you painfully. The more time you spent around him, the less you trusted yourself not to engage in anything foolish that could ruin everything you’d worked so hard to build. But the heart wants what it wants, as Carole had put it. You were going through a hard time and it showed, but at least your temporary grounding at Top Gun had served its time.

Being able to fly again was like a drug, made you not ever want to see the ground again, let alone touch it. You wondered what the impact would be if you just left everything behind and went on a different route, get lost somewhere mysterious, explore new paths, new people. Leave Maverick.

You couldn’t, a little voice rang in your head, almost mockingly. You found a quiet spot at the hangar and walked there while the others spoke loudly in the background while waiting for Viper. You leaned against a railing, sighing in exhaustion as you supported your chin against your palm and stared off into the distance.

“Not feeling well?”

You looked over your shoulder to realize that Maverick had been towering above you, cheeky smile on his face as he fought off the need to run his fingers across your arms.

“Go back with Goose, Pete,” you replied cheerlessly. Your morose approach had him take a few steps away from you, nodding at your state. He didn’t push it for once, which brought you at ease. You made your way along with him a couple of seconds later, seeing as Viper had finally come.

Sitting with your head lazily laid on your boyfriend’s shoulder, you glanced at the sky, watching Maverick’s plane fly, wishing you were up there instead of him. Iceman was discussing something with his RIO, Slider, to which you paid no attention. Hadn’t Viper been there and you would’ve drifted off; your eyes felt too heavy with burdens of the brain to keep open.

Out of the blue, you heard someone yelling in annoyance, snapping you back to reality. You realized Maverick had probably proceeded to go for a bloody show-off, such as buzzing the tower. Of course, you thought, trembling at the idea of baring Iceman ramble on and on about how irresponsible the pilot was and how little appropriation he showed for his own work.

You found yourself discreetly following Maverick and Goose inside, hiding behind the slides that covered Viper’s office as he was telling them off. Goose was side-eyeing his friend the entire time, blowing air and sighing in defeat as Maverick still managed to look like a fun sized dwarf next to him, even though his spine was straightened up.

When they walked out, Goose was pulling at his hair in dread, which earned a small chuckle from you. You’d been a fan of his over dramatic stance for as long as you could recall.

“I’m pretty sure Goose hates me,” Maverick suddenly spoke, looking towards your direction. You blushed in embarrassment, not expecting to get caught. “Love the fact that our misery amuses you, by the way.”

“You did this to yourself,” you replied coldly while every cell of your body tried to hold back a grin.

“I did this for you.”

His reply threw you off, causing your eyebrow to cock in question. “What are you talking about? Why would you buzz the tower for me, what kind of benefit could that possibly provide for either one of us?”

Maverick sighed, opening his mouth to say something but regretting the action shortly after. Your facial expressions pushed him to choke up a messy reply that took you a few seconds to process.

“You were smiling a moment ago, weren’t you?”

As much as you hated Tom’s preaches, you wished he could’ve been there when the sentence fell out of Maverick’s mouth, just to put him in his place for risking his career to see you smile. Your heart nearly leapt out of your chest, face frozen as you stared at him giving you a shy not at your lack of response and walking away. As per usual, your mind was racing through impossible dimensions and suddenly no aspirin was suitable for relieving the aching sensation.

You returned to Iceman, letting him take you back to his place in order to forget, kissing him senseless the moment he closed the door and pushing his body against it as if he weighed the quantity of a feather. It had felt like ages since you had become so passionate around him, yet ignited zero spark for you, excluding the short moment when you pulled away from his lips to take a look at him and saw Maverick’s face instead. It freaked you out and you stepped back rather abruptly, which caught Tom off guard.

He was worried, asking you what was wrong. You managed to play it off by calling it a rough day, suggesting the idea of cuddling in the bedroom to heal your migraine and exhaustion. Moonlight rays reflected from the half-curtain-covered window as you kept your eyes squeezed shut, pushing yourself to fall asleep, but even Tom’s breath against your neck was putting you in a frenzy. Silently unpeeling out of the covers, you throw a robe over you and wandered in the darkness, looking for your shoes. When you got outside, you let your feet walk you back to the gorgeous spot Maverick had taken you that one time you met up outside of the academy.

The calming sounds of the sea, waves splashing against the rocks, crickets chirping inside bushes — god, the place was magical. You sat by the end of the cliff, letting your legs dangle around and breathed in while letting your mind come at peace. Unexpectedly enough (or not), you snapped your neck around when the sound of footsteps approaching echoed through your ears.

Of course it would be Maverick.

“Pete?” you asked in surprise, running a hand through your messed up by the wind hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m just here because I needed to think.”

“Crazy how my thinking spot provided enough inspiration to become your thinking spot,” he commented sarcastically, earning an eye roll from you as he crouched down a few centimetres away from where you’d been sitting. “Penny for your thoughts?”

You sighed, shivering a little. Maverick shook off his jacket and put it around your shoulders for what was — what, the millionth time? You accepted and embraced the warmth of it nevertheless, wrapping it further into your arms.

“You’re such a scumbag, Pete.”

“Pardon?” he chuckled slightly in confusion.

“Being a reckless pilot won’t magically amuse me enough to fall for you. Don’t ever do that again.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is about,” Maverick realized, wincing dramatically in pain when you shoved him with a nudge of your shoulder.

“I’m already impressed by you, okay? Whenever you’re up there, it’s like you own the sky. I’m both incredibly intrigued and envious,” you admitted in a low voice, not daring to meet his eyes.

“I can’t believe you just said that, I need to record it for proof when Goose hears about it tomorrow,” Maverick joked, making you scoff at how unserious he was being.

“See? I told you; scumbag.”

“Hey,” he called defensively, easing back with the nonsense. “In all seriousness, and you know I’m one hundred percent truthful right now, I would do anything to see you smile. I don’t care in how much trouble it’ll get me into, because cause in the end it’s worth it. I hate seeing you so upset.”

You felt a jolt deep in the pit of your stomach, breath coming in short as your heartbeat picked up space, threatening to break free from the prison of your ribs. “Don’t do that, Maverick.”

“How can I not when you say my name like that?”

Your eyes finally captured his, holding a blissful and secret glow you yet had to figure out how to make go away. You couldn’t stand Maverick; not because of how much of an impossible douche he was, but because it was difficult to tell whether he meant the things he said to you or was just too fucking good at getting what his mind was set on.

The more you pushed him away, the more he clung to you, just like magnetic force. The mere thought of giving him a shot almost crossed your mind. Your love would be a tumultuous symphony— full of passionate crescendos, heartbreaking solos, and soft, tender interludes. It wouldn’t perfect, but it could be real, it could be yours.

You carefully scooted closer to him and leaned your head on his shoulder, feeling him shudder under the contact. It was a bizarre, funny feeling to watch a man who makes every woman in his way faint dramatically, like in a 40s movie, get nervous around little old insignificant you.

It was dark, and the night sky was picturesque. A black to navy gradient was the backdrop for a full moon; the night sky so clear you could almost see every crater. The moon, a glowing bluish white, loomed large, surrounded by an ethereal glow, which shone brightly against Maverick’s facial features, casting him even more mesmerizing.

The ocean waves lapped lazily, a jumble of royal blue that glistened in the night. White foam crested the top of the waves as they approached, spilling onto the sand like a net being cast. The two of you were sat in silence, but this time it had escaped the awkwardness, having embraced something the intimate.

“Can I ask you something?” you spoke softly.

“Go ahead.”

“Why are you always so hotheaded?”

A long, pained exhale through the nose, then silence all over again. “Have I ever talked to you about my dad?” You shook your head, burying it deeper against the side of his neck. “He disappeared in an F-4, November 5th, 1965. Everyone believes he died because he screwed up, but there’s no way. My old man was the best fighter pilot.”

“That’s why you rush to be the best as well. You want to be like him,” you realized out loud, gently wrapping an arm around his and giving it a little comforting squeeze. You felt him nod against the top of your hair. “Nobody knows what happened to him?”

“Someone must. But to hell with it, it’s all classified. I never got to enjoy the feeling of having a family. I watched my mother die. Cancer. She had a long time to think about it. They say you reach an agreement with death. Come to accept the fact that pretty soon you won't be here. She was very brave, braver than I am. You go up there, there isn't time to think. If you make a mistake, you're just a smudge on the ground.”

“Bloody hell, Mav,” you sighed, daring to look up at his glistening eyes. You could tell they were burning with hot tears, which he struggled to contain. Your free arm tugged his at the side of his head, laying down on top of yours as you held him. You weren’t accustomed to that side of him, yet found it incredibly beautiful; how sweet and courageous he was with all the miseries that had tortured and deprived him of a childhood.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for the atmosphere to get so gloomy,” he chocked with a sniffle.

“Don’t you apologize. I wish I could help you find out about your dad, though. I’m sure I can pull some strings and—”

“I don’t want you to get in any trouble, Roger. You’re already so much more than I could ever ask for and I know I don’t mention it a lot, but I appreciate having you, even as a friend, more than you actually think.”

You awed, untangling yourself to him except from moving your head away from his shoulder in the slightest inch. You stared ahead at the starry sky, until the warm feeling of his fingers touched your own, silently asking for permission to hold you. You granted him the favor, clutching tight against the little gaps. That was it. Everything you’d dreamt of as a child, finding your soulmate, the only person in the whole universe that was made just to be yours. You’d found him.

“Do you believe in soulmates, Pete?” you asked intrusively, regretting the words the moment they left your mouth.

“Do you?”

Yes. Yes, I do, your inner voice replied confidently, but your brain never let you express the opinion out loud. Not when nothing was supposed to happen between the two of you. Not when you were such a coward, afraid to admit the things you mutely screamed at him.

“Touché, douche,” you opted for instead.

“You’re always so direct.”

“You’re always so irritating.”

“That I am.”

You both chuckled, aware of the true feelings expressed through mildly sarcastic and mean remarks about one another.

“I need to go,” you muttered with a broken heart.

“You go every time it gets like that,” Maverick complained, pouting slightly. He could almost feel the sadness bleeding from his heart whenever he just stood there, watching you get lost in the road, walking away from him. It killed him.

“I’m sorry, Mav,” you whispered back apologetically, trying not to show that you felt the same way he did when you left him. “It’s better if I don’t stay, for both of us. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And with a faint goodnight and the ghost of your lips against his cheek, you were once again one with the shadows of the night, just like always.

chapter 8

tags:

@holishol

@iheqrtaustin

[yuseirra]

Yeah.. That character made my head hurt so bad.

Maybe this can end up being my first time being totally off about a character, I know...people can be different from what they make themselves appear to be as,

But he acts like that when he doesn't need to pretend to be so/even could be left in a disadvantage if he does. There are so little pieces given to make of that character but I just felt he's nice. Like genuinely nice. It actually overthrew the impressions they gave of the guy previously so I was like 'huh? What is going on? What are they trying to do with this guy?'

If that was intentional, then they did a really good job with writing him XD; If it was just my own feelings?; then maybe I'm good at finding the potential good in things..

The thing is, it was to the extent I felt, 'But is it really possible?? For someone with this kind of personality to have actually done all those things they are accused of?; if so, something must have happened, it REALLY isn't natural for it to be that way'

I just don't know if this is me or not. It bugs me so much. The fact that we don't really know anything that solid about this guy made it worse; It's going to be ugly one way or the other, if this guy isn't horrible, then it'd make Aqua look bad. If this guy is horrible, Ai would suffer. The best way to resolve this probably, would be to have him start out really good but then have become really broken to the extent he does deserve what Aqua did to him(which is what the manga would likely conclude as)

But if that's the case, then that's also going to leave me to wonder if he deserves this sort of fate...if he does end up dying and all. If that's the case, then he needs a chance to be brought back, which also aligns with what Ai's wanted for him, that's the route that makes the most sense for me...

Kamiki's life's just been plain terrible, he never got a chance to be happy except for that brief moment he had with Ai and apparently, she did find him pretty lovable but I guess he was already breaking down quite a bit by then huh.

Oh, there's no point in thinking about what's going to be told(or never touched) anyway. I felt bad watching what he went through though.. I do hope my hunches about him being a really good person in essence is right. We never get to see how great of a person he could have been though and he's taken as plain evil, by our very protagonist too and that really irritated me, is he REALLY? Did I just completely miss the mark? Sigh. I had no idea I'd be this confused about a character before. I bet that's intentional but at the same time, I don't think most people would be as...having a hard time as I am trying to make sense and interpret the guy.

[butwhatifidothis]

1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 12 for rhea? :3

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I like Rhea because her story brings with it so many interesting things to think about, and the choices she's made throughout it are also thought-provoking. Yes, she's tried to do the best she could with the options given to her, yes she's tried to do everything in order to bring peace to Fodlan, but that doesn't make her choices any less morally ambiguous or debatable - something she acknowledges, and even wishes to make up for when she's felt she'd made bad choices!

Plus her being fairly shy about mingling with others due to her status making her feel as though she'd bum down the mood gives her a real sweet quality to her lol. Makes me wish even more she was allowed to talk to more characters.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That she put her identity out on blast in Shambhala in order to protect everyone. She also does this during the siege on Garreg Mach, but her initial transformation was away from everyone; in the second time she does is in front of everyone, but she cares about saving people more than her own safety at that moment. Considering how long she hid her Nabatean heritage from the world, it feels like a huge step forward for her, Nabateans, and Fodlan as a whole being able to put behind the horrific massacre of the Nabateans. She isn't deemed a monster by anyone, no one tries to kill her in her dragon form; they all just admire that she went so far to keep them safe! It's just a really good moment (that's uh, fucked by either her dying for sure on VW or her randomly going berserk on SS, but still!).

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

The above mentioned going berserk thing in SS is easilyyyyyyy my least favorite thing about Rhea's writing (because due to the nature of Rhea's character I don't really find myself outright disliking any aspect of her character). It's stupid, it comes out of nowhere, it makes no sense (even with FEH trying its damndest to throw out a reason), and it just kinda fucks with SS' pacing more than anything. She's only the final boss there because SS needed a unique boss and no other reason and it sucks major ass.

Even the suggestion of her going berserk on VW and Nemesis being the final boss of SS just kinda... moves the problem somewhere else, not actual fix what's wrong with it (the lack of foreshadowing that anything like this would happen, the fact that it doesn't happen on the other route where the exact same thing happens to Rhea but nothing happens to her there, the nonsensical nature of it, etc.). Definitely the weakest part of the writing of her character, imo.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Not the song question 😭😭😭 imma be straight up with you I do not think of any song for any character like almost ever sorry for the lame answer but I don't got shit for this question

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We both love cats!!

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

i like when they write her in character I like when fandom allows for Rhea to genuinely grow close to other characters, rare as it is to see happen. She has such an interesting viewpoint and has a lot of similarities to a lot of characters, so seeing that get expanded on and not just have her be The One True Bad Guy Of 3H For Totes For Realsies Pinky Promise is always nice lol

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

On AM/SS after the war she lets herself openly baby Flayn as her aunt instead of withholding outright doting due to her archbishop position + hiding their familial relation. She gives her gifts and teaches her constellations on her star chart and does up her hair and tells funny story about Seteth that make him look silly - she just gets to be family with her niece!!

[volkswagonblues]

JEJSJDAH HI making myself known is actually terrifying #socialanxietywhooop but here we go

I JUST FINISHED READING FIREBENDER'S GUIDE + DELETED SCENES AND OH. MY. LORD. quite literally obsessed I'm sitting here at work zoning out because it has left such an impact on me...where do I even start?

okay so I recently got back into atla because well I just started feeling so nostalgic?? and a zukka spiral later led me to your fic (one of my favorite jujutsu kaisen authors had your fic bookmarked. I knew I had to do it.) and well!!

the characterization. I'm absolutely obsessed. the way you wrote sokka as a cherry dude but he still has issues!! the depiction of said issues. zuko as he tries and tries so hard to do better even when he fails...personal favorite scene that made me giggle was when he ran back to apologize to li and lo btw cackled out loud on public transportation

but I guess what I'm trying to say is that firebender's guide, to me, feels like a really good depiction of how startlingly flawed and human we all are. like. not inherently bad but not all good, because no one is ever all good. it feels like such a good character study of zuko and all that he is since realizing only he can regain his own honor. it's just...how do I even express how lovely and raw and real it is in the best way?

AND THE WAY YOU WROTE ZUKKA. giggles. they're so!! even when they're mad at each other they have. a certain understanding. it's expanding on what we know about canon so beautifully. the gentle way sokka loves zuko while being mean enough about it because zuko just needs a little push when it comes to certain things. the desperate way zuko needs sokka but realizes that it can be gentle and fond. just. [incoherent screaming] THE WAY YOU WRITE YEARNING OHHHHH. MY.

and that's not even covering the wonderful way the plot took me for a ride. it was so beautifully crafted. I wish I could be you :") I was just as immersed in the larger plot as I was with the zukka dynamic. the worldbuilding ahdhajdj I respect SERIOUSLY respect the amount of research and dedication you put into this fic. genuinely. it all came together to craft such a beautiful picture and I'm HERE FOR IT!

anyhow. concluding what essentially became a rant. tysm for blessing the world with this fic 🙏

Hey! okay, sorry this has been sitting in my inbox for a week because it's such a lovely message and I'm so touched that someone is reaching out to me about this fic. It was my first proper, completed, novel-length fic and I wrote it during COVID lockdown when I like, jobless with no outlet at all for my mental energy.

The process of writing the fic taught me a lot about plotting--I went the screenwriter's route and used the Save the Cat beat sheet (you can google it, it's basically a screenwriter's tool for plotting out movies, which is a medium that doesn't take shaggy and meandering very well. There's an excel version for novelists here: Elizabeth Davis’s Save the Cat Beat Sheet Spreadsheet for Novels)

I didn't read this book back then, but a book that really helps with worldbuilding is John Truby's The Anatomy of Story. I think some of the best books on plotting and storytelling are done by screenwriters.

And about the fic in general--ATLA is such a beautiful show and the zukka summer of 2020 was SUCH a crazy time because everyone was so desperate for a mental escape, I'm happy it still holds up!! I love both characters. I love thinking through the moral implications of the history in ATLA's worldbuilding and playing with the fantasy rules of that universe. Thanks so much for reading and thanks so much for brightening my day by telling me about it <3