#things are almost completely dead over here and I'd like to change that ^^

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Lips like sugar

Pairing | Sugar Daddy!Tony Stark x Sugar Baby!Fem!Reader

Word count | 2.9K

Summary | Tony has offered to pay your way through medical school if you are his date to the endless events, charity galas, and dinners he's invited to. Tonight is no different, but when everyone at the table finds out you're smarter than you may appear at first sight, Tony can't help but smile at everyone with a smug look, and he'll definitely make your evening worthwhile when you come back.

Warning(s) | Sugar relationship, use of pet names (Sugar, sweet girl), swearing, unspecified age gap | Angst: Mention of the passing of a parent, mention of anxiety | Smut: Daddy kink, oral ~ M receiving, throat fucking, cum swallowing, thigh riding, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!).

A/n | This is my first fic after being absent for a while, so I hope you will all enjoy it! It's a fun one to help me get back into the swing of things, so I hope there'll be more fics from my side from now on! I want to thank @buckys-wintersoldier for helping me with this where you could, and enjoying it while I was writing, it made me very happy to see your reactions! 🩵

A/n 2.0 | I want to give a special thank you to @ccbsrmsf1 for the ideas you gave me, as well as proofreading and drooling along with me; I cannot thank you enough for your love and support! 🩵

Banners: @vase-of-lilies | Divider: @firefly-graphics | GIF credit: the owner

Main Masterlist | Tony Stark Masterlist | Read on AO3

You're currently getting ready for the dinner Tony is taking you to as his date, and you're pulling out all the stops to ensure you will look drop-dead gorgeous tonight.

From your black pantsuit with a white lace top to the white stiletto heels, which Tony gifted you not too long ago, to your hair and make-up, you ensure every pair of eyes will be on you. Either out of jealousy or adoration, it doesn't matter; all you want is to be shown off by Tony.

''Are you ready to-'' is all he can say as he walks into the bedroom where you're getting ready. He offered to have you get ready at his house, and you would never say no to that.

''Fuck me sideways,'' he mumbles as he takes in your form from head to toe, and you smile widely at him. You bought the outfit not long ago, and this dinner will be the perfect moment to show it off.

''I'd love to, but you never let me,'' you quip at him, and he shakes his head with a big smile.

''Don't get yourself into any trouble, Sugar, or we might not even make it to dinner with you looking like this,'' he says as he straightens the jacket draped over your shoulders.

Even with the heels, you're still not as tall as him, but you're almost at eye level, which is a welcome change for once. At least you won't have a painful neck at night's end.

''Before I forget, I have one more thing to make your outfit complete, as a thank you for joining me. I know it's not much, but nothing will come close to your beauty tonight,'' he says, which makes you blush.

He enters the closet to grab a white Gucci bag and walks over to where you're sitting on the bed, hands on your lap in anticipation. As you look at him, you're fiddling with one of the rings on your left hand, and you have a slight suspicion about what might be in there.

''Here's just a small token of my appreciation, Sugar,'' he says as he hands you the bag, which you carefully take from his hands. Not too long ago, you told him you wanted to get a particular purse from them, but you didn't expect him to gift it like that.

This may be the very nature of your relationship; you receive gifts to join him as his date, but this would just be too much. He already gifted you the Louboutins you're wearing not too long ago and paid your entire tuition for this year.

But then again, you have never been one to look a gifted horse in the mouth, so you put the bag onto the bed next to you before getting the box containing the gift out of it.

''Go on, open it!'' he urges you on as he slides his hands into his pockets, looking at you in anticipation as he leans against the doorframe.

''I- I'm not sure I can accept this, Tony; you've already given me so much, and I am extremely grateful, but after everything you've already done, there's no need to buy more expensive gifts,'' you say, your voice tapering off towards the end of the sentence.

''Alright, listen to me, Sugar,'' he says as he walks over to you and crouches in front of you so you have to look at him.

''I am gifting you this because I want you to have something special, something you have been dreaming of for a long time. I know I don't have to gift you expensive things, but I do it because I want to spoil my sweet girl, alright?'' he tells you, his large hands resting on your knees.

''Okay,'' you say softly, and he gives you a small kiss on your forehead as he stands up. You close your eyes as he turns around, and a warm feeling settles in your stomach. You can never get enough of him, in whichever way that may be.

You open the box, and inside lay an off-white dustbag with the Gucci logo. You carefully slip it off the bag he bought you. Inside is the Dionysus Python shoulder bag, or the bag you've dreamt of for the longest time.

''Please tell me this isn't some joke?'' you ask Tony, your voice breaking near the end of the sentence. You have dreamt of this bag with your Mom before she passed away, and it feels unreal to have it in your hands. However, you can't show it off to her anymore.

''It's not a joke, Sugar, it is all yours. I know you have dreamt of this bag for the longest time with her, and even though she might not be around to see it, I know she would want you to have it,'' he tells you.

He took his place on your left, and you looked at him with tears in your eyes.

''One day I'll own that bag, Mom, and we will both use the crap out of it, so it'll be worth the price!'' you told her a few years ago, and you both laughed about it then. But now, you'd give anything to hear her laugh one more time.

Your eyes fluttered close as a single tear escaped the corner of your eye, and in an instant, you felt Tony's thumb wiping it with the softest of touches, something you've rarely felt before.

It's not something Tony's ever felt before, either. He has felt your soft, warm skin against his many times by now, but this seems more intimate than all those moments combined. What he feels could even be considered to be love, though he's not sure he's ready to give in to that feeling yet.

You open your eyes to look at Tony, and he gives you a reassuring smile before his hand finds its place on your cheek, pulling you closer to him. You place your hand over the arc reactor in the middle of his chest, your long, black nails matching his suit perfectly.

He places a soft, tender kiss on your lips, pouring every ounce of love into it. Your eyes are shut again, and feeling his plump, pink lips on yours has your mind reeling. You already know you can't get through this evening without telling him how you feel.

The kiss isn't rushed or heated, but it's perfect.

When he pulls away, your eyes shoot open to look into his deep, dark brown ones, and a small smile appears on your lips. It is official: you have fallen head over heels in love with this man in front of you.

Your plan to impress everyone at the dinner has worked because every man can't stop looking out of pure lust, and every woman is watching you with nothing but envy. And Tony? He is, of course, proud as a peacock to have you by his side.

''Here you go, Sugar,'' Tony says as he pulls back your chair, and you take your place as he scoots it in for you. After he's taken his place next to yours, you look over the menu before you, noting everything that'll be served tonight.

''So, you and Stark, huh?'' an older woman across from you asks. You have never seen her before, but based on how she phrased the question, you know you won't like what she has to say.

''Yes, I'm here with Tony tonight,'' you tell her, and you give her a polite smile before turning your head back to him to see what he's talking about.

''Aren't you a little too... young... to be here with him?'' she then asks, and with a small sigh, you turn your head back to her, and you try to tell her in the nicest way possible that she can fuck off to where she came from.

''Ma'am, Tony has asked me to join him this evening because we support each other unconditionally. Tonight is an important evening for him, and I plan to support him in every way possible, and all I can hope is that you and everyone else at this table do the same,'' you tell her.

You didn't notice Tony turning his head because he heard his name twice in less than a minute, but as soon as he listened to what was going on, he couldn't stop the smug smile from appearing.

''Let it go, Sugar, she's just jealous,'' he whispers in your ear, and you nod in response. The next thirty minutes go on without a hitch, though you constantly feel her watching your every move.

''Ma'am, is there something I have done to offend you in any way? Because I am just trying to enjoy a nice dinner and some conversation, but your gaze makes me very uncomfortable,'' you say, most definitely getting annoyed now.

''Okay, let's step outside for a minute, Sugar,'' Tony tells you in a stern yet calm tone, and you do as he says, the woman still following your every move as Tony puts his hand on your lower back.

''I can't fucking believe people sometimes,'' you say as you light the cigarette, you fished out of your purse. You don't smoke often, but when your anxiety gets especially bad, it is a way for you to calm yourself down.

''It's okay, Sugar, she's just jealous of you. She's jealous that I have my sweet girl by my side on a night like this, and honestly, I can't blame her,'' he tells you, but you shake your head in response.

''It's not that, Tony, she's not jealous; she's judging me. She's judging me because of the way I look and the fact that I am here by your side while everyone knows you're single, and fucking everything that moves doesn't help. She is not stupid, but I'm sure she thinks I am,'' you say with defeat.

''I don't fuck-'' he mumbles, but you hold up a finger because you're not done talking yet.

''What do you think, shall I put her in her place when I return? Make it clear once and for all that I'm here because I want to be and not because you paid me to be?'' you say, a twinkle in your eyes.

''Sugar-'' is all he can say because you finish the last cigarette before putting it in the designated ashtray outside, and you walk back in, ready to set the record straight once and for all.

''Listen to me. Tony may have given me a gift for coming here with him tonight, but I would have been here with him without it, too. I know you think I'm some ''gold digger'' or something like that, but I'm not,'' you say as you lean closer to the woman, ensuring she hears every last word.

''Yes, I am fucking him because he will pay my tuition for med school if I do, but I'll be damned if I get judged around here for doing that. At least I am learning to become a surgeon and do something useful with my life. And if I choose to fuck the man I am in love with, in return for a degree, that is my business, and most definitely not yours!'' you tell her, leaving everyone at the dinner table stunned.

You turn around on your heel before walking out of the venue, ready to leave and go home. You're sick of people judging your every move, and it feels good that you took the chance to set the record straight once and for all.

''Fuck, you looked so hot when you defended yourself, Sugar. Can't believe I'm about to rail a badass like yourself in a few minutes,'' Tony says as he frantically tears off his clothes, and you're doing the same with your own.

''It felt so good! I can't believe I've never done it before, but I am glad I did it now,'' you tell him, the adrenaline still pumping through your veins.

''Get on the bed, and I'll make you feel something you've never felt before,'' you tell him, and he quickly obeys you. If there's ever a moment he doesn't want to get in your way, it's now, and he would be stupid to go against your orders.

As soon as he found his place on the bed, you spread his thighs so you could fit between them, his long, veiny cock laying rock hard and throbbing against his stomach.

''Look at you, Daddy, already so hard for me,'' you say as you wrap your hand loosely around his base, and your tongue gives tiny kitten licks onto his tip.

He throbs in anticipation as he hears you call him Daddy because he definitely enjoys it. You don't wait long before you take him into your mouth, though, making him groan deeply from pure pleasure.

''Doin' so well for me, Sugar,'' he tells you as his hands thread into your hair, pulling slightly as he starts thrusting into your mouth and throat, hitting your gag reflex each time.

The fact that you're gagging and drooling all over his cock and balls only turns him on more, so he plants his feet firmly onto the mattress before fucking your throat in earnest, and it doesn't take long for him to cum in your mouth, forcing you to swallow every last drop.

''Fuck, look at you, Sugar, such a good girl for Daddy,'' he says as he pulls you up carefully, kissing you roughly once you're straddling his lap. He can still taste himself on your tongue, making him go crazy.

You two stay like that for a little while, having a rough make-out session that slowly turns into slower, softer kisses where you each take your time exploring each other's mouths and enjoy each other's touches all over your bodies.

Tonight is the first time it has felt this intimate, despite you two having fucked each other's brains out countless times. But then again, there is a big difference between that and making love.

Tonight will be the first time you will make love to one another; you don't know it yet.

Tony has moved to sit up against the headboard, and his now hard cock is trapped between your bodies as you grind on his thigh, your orgasm creeping closer by the second.

His hands are splayed on your ass, helping you move over his thigh, your head laying on his shoulder as soft whimpers and moans leave your throat.

''I-I'm close, Daddy!'' you bring out as he flexes his thigh, giving you exactly what you need to get closer to the edge. It's still not enough to push you over, though, and you're getting desperate at this point.

''Daddy, please! Want your fingers...'' you say as you lift your head, brows knitted together as you keep grinding on him, getting more and more desperate for your release.

''Alright, Sugar, because you're asking so nicely,'' he says as his fingers trail over your inner thigh to where you need him most. His thumb comes into contact with your clit, and he makes small, tight circles, which hurdles you over that sweet edge with a loud moan of his name.

''Can't wait to fill you up, Sugar,'' he says as you reposition yourself over him, his tip getting caught on your entrance as he swipes through your folds, ready to feel you stretch around him.

''Daddy!'' you moan as you first sink onto him, the stretch being something you'll never want to get used to. It feels so good, and it has you throwing your head back from pure pleasure.

Once he's buried to the hilt, you stay there for a few minutes as you adjust, and it's at that moment that Tony can't keep his thoughts to himself anymore.

''Sugar, can you look at me for a second?'' he says, his hands finding their place on your face as yours rest on his chest, each on one side of his arc reactor.

''I've been thinking about this for a while, and I want you to know that I have fallen for you, Sugar. I have fallen deeply in love with you, and there's no chance I'm ever letting you go after this,'' he tells you as he looks into your eyes.

''I will most definitely still spoil you the way I did before, but I don't want you to be my sugar baby anymore. Because that doesn't even come close to describing what you are. You're amazing, smart, sweet, caring, and most of all, you're a good girl, my girl,'' he says, and the way he tells you that has your heart bursting from pure love.

''I- I'm in love with you too, Tony,'' you say before leaning forward, and you give him a soft kiss on his nose. ''I love your slightly crooked nose, deep brown eyes, every inch of your body, heart, and soul... I'm trying to say that I love you, Tony.''

He captures your lips in a passionate, slow kiss that you can't help but smile into. Your dream of finally becoming his has come true, and you couldn't be happier.

''Does that- Are you my... my boyfriend?'' you ask, still unsure.

''Only if you want me to be, Sugar, but only until I ask you to marry me, and after, I promise to be the best husband I can ever be for the rest of our lives,'' he tells you, and he seals the promise with a kiss.

The rest of the night, you two make love to each other while never losing eye contact or letting go of each other's hands.

Tony may not be used to loving someone as deeply as he loves you, but you will be there every step of the way to show him how loved he is and how much you love him.

[dunmeshichilchuck]

For That One Guy On Tumblr part 8

Chilchuck x !fem !halffoot reader

:) I think some of you guys are gonna like this one.

You'd been afraid working with Chilchuck would be difficult, if not impossible, but you soon settled into an easy rhythm with him. With the both of you working together, you could cover more ground. Soon you worked out an almost code to signal to each other, quiet warnings and quick clicks of the tongue. 

The traps were sporadic and sometimes difficult to find and prepare for. Sometimes they were triggered by movement, sometimes by pressure. You weren't sure if you would have been able to get through them all alone. 

The labyrinth changed around you as you moved, doors clicking into place or disappearing. Soon you'd been unwillingly shunted off what you'd thought was the main corridor into who knows where. 

Eventually you came to a dead end. Chilchuck huffed in exasperation. "Damnit I'll have to either find some way through this or we'll need to backtrack, which would lose us a lot of time."

"Well if it's going to be a minute until we can move on we might as well stop for a meal now." Senshi said cheerfully. 

He stopped and made a move to unpack. You held up a hand. "hold on! Let me check this area for traps." 

You quickly combed the area. Surprisingly, it was completely clean for about ten feet away from the dead end. Definitely enough to set up a quick camp site. 

Once finished, Senshi began happily unpacking and then slicing up the walking mushroom. You joined Chilchuck in poking around the walls for hidden passageways. 

"There's no traps right around here. Not for another ten feet back" You said. 

"Yup, that's why I'm thinking it's not actually a dead end. Something's gotta move"

You nodded, and continued combing over the wall, poking and prodding at the bricks. 

"That was a really dumb thing you did back there."

You glanced up, affronted. Did you somehow miss a trap? "What? What did I do?"

"You know what I mean!" Chilchuck quietly hissed. "Tackling Izutzumi! There was a solid chance that wouldn't have worked and you haven't built up nearly enough body mass for resurrection to work again! We could have resurrected Izutzumi, I don't know if we could have resurrected you. It's not our job to put ourselves in danger unnecessarily! It's not brave, it's just stupid." 

You bristled and hissed back. "It wasn't like I planned that! I saw someone in danger and reacted. If I'd stopped to make a thought out plan Izutzumi would have died, and I don't know if you noticed but she's not exactly over abundant in body mass herself."

"Yes but she has more than you do! We *have* to keep expectations consistent across all halffoot workers, that's how this works and how the union continues to function. Yeah maybe you're okay with putting your life at risk for a stupid fucking reason but no halffoot should be forced into that!" 

"I'm not part of the union." You shot back. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Izutzumi watching you with a bored expression. Ah. Cat ears.

You switched seamlessly into your native tongue, your voice rising a bit from anger. "When I went into the dungeon there were no regulations and you had to do whatever it took to prove you deserved to be here! Yeah we're both halffoots, but you're a man and you're tall for a halffoot, do you have any idea what it's like to be a tiny halffoot *woman* trying to get people to take her seriously? I learned how to fight and how to do stuff like that out of *necessity* because otherwise I would have been dropped by the wayside! And I don't have a contract with this party, and it might be nice to have another trap guy but they don't actually *need* me, and I'm telling you right now I will NOT be left behind and I WILL do WHATEVER it takes to be a part of this party. I don't give a shit about your fucking union. Let me take my own risks and stop treating me like a goddamn child, I have enough of that from the other races." 

You were half yelling by the end of that and your face was flushed and hot.  How dare he try and sit there and talk you through how halffoots were exploited like you hadn't gone through it too? Preaching on his fucking high horse. 

Chilchuck scowled, but he looked just slightly taken aback. He'd glanced at Izutzumi when you did and probably had picked up what you had, because he answered in the same language. "You don't have... Fuck you're right. I can probably negotiate one for you, you really don't have to do stuff like that just to be in this party. Why does it even matter to you so much? You don't need to stay here, you don't need to be doing this, we can just send you back. Marcilles all shy about it but they can learn the home spell from their book I bet. She picks stuff up real fast." 

You grit your teeth and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Tell me. ONE. personal fact. About yourself." 

He blinked, mouth hanging open before he snapped it shut. "What?" 

"I've heard Marcille referencing her school, Laois talks about his sister and a bit about his village, Senshi won't shut up about the stuff he's into, and Izutzumi is Izutzumi, but YOU don't share SHIT. so if you want ME to start sharing you better fucking open up too buddy."

"I- that's not- what- I keep my personal and professional life very separate!"

You grinned. "Then don't expect me to be any different." 

Chilchuck opened his mouth to retort, before shutting it again. Then he shrugged. "Yeah that's fair, keep your reasons to yourself, I'll negotiate you a contract anyway, just forms sake." 

You put your hand down, the wind a bit let out of your sails. You hadn't expected him to back down so easy and you felt oddly...disappointed. it'd been a bit since you'd had a really good knock down drag out argument. 

"Food is ready!" Senshi said "Come and eat while it's hot!" 

Taglist, ask to tag:

@hopefully-not

@night-shadowblood-writes2

@thoughtfulbelieverstrawberry

@dunmeshimeshi

@leguink 

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@reh-llik

@sy1v30n

@qardasngan

@mshope16

@drowsydoggy

@anaxnee

[themissingnumbers]

WARNING: FLASHING/GLITCHING IMAGE UNDER THE CUT. This also contains descriptions of gore and body horror.

[ @pkmn-monochrome - Previously... ]

Red narrows his eyes as he stares down at Cody, shutting up and listening as they explain. The corners of his lips twitch as they finish, the shadow cast over his eyes falling ever so slightly heavier.

"... So, that's how it is, hm?"

"Barely... any different..."

"... Exactly what I..."

"..."

"I've gotta say, you've really got a way with words! You're so articulate when you're scared, Cody."

He snickers to himself, hopping off the grave and pacing around, looking between the other and the Ghosts.

"Observant, too~! You're right, I really couldn't be bothered to care what you think of me. I'm not exactly here to make friends. I'm sure that'd the last thing you'd want, anyways! See, I'm just here to satiate some curiosity."

He leans in front of Blastoise, tilting his head.

"I would like to formally apologize to the oversized Sobble-in-a-shell for my language. I'm not exactly used to being around others... Twenty-six years of imprisonment wouldn't really teach a guy to have a filter, heh."

He waves a hand nonchalantly, completing the circle.

"And as for your marketable figurine of a rat, well... I'm not interested in being a snotty kid forever. Unfortunately, I don't need any hacking done to screw up my game badly enough to change some things around.

But, hey... I'm not here to make chit-chat with a couple of one-note monsters. It's all about you, the most REAL one in this room. Cody, Cody, Cody, star of the show~! Let's get back to the point. I know you don't exactly think highly of... things like me. What was it you told that one poor girl- 'You've had more than a decade to get over yourself,' right?"

He throws his head back, cackling as if the old remark is the funniest thing he's heard in his life.

"I meant it when I said that I don't CARE. But I AM nosy, and your vitriol towards REDs in particular is just so interesting... Even seein' the face clearly strikes a nerve. So honestly, I'd LOVE to hear EXACTLY what you're thinking..."

"If only you were willing to spit out any fighting words, that is! But you've been so much more polite than I expected, after all the reading I've done..."

He passes by in front of the other, looking off into the distance.

In that moment- a moment of passing footsteps, of the blink of an eye, of a lack of care... something heavy fills the air.

A damning presence looks down on Cody with a dozen eyes, countless mouths, gnashing teeth and twitching claws, two hundred and fifty-five whispering voices. It's a disgusting and shambling creature, a sick and unholy patchwork of amalgamated hearts and yellowed blood, wrapped up in tattered flesh and backwards fur, mismatched feathers and scales and blubber and skin. Writhing, wheezing, bleeding, rotting, every misplaced piece existing out of sync.

Something impossible. Unknowable. Invalid.

The feeling it imposes upon them is suffocating. Like not breathing for years, like something vile filling their lungs, a sickness that is rising, thrashing, tearing, desperate for a taste of "fresh meat" if one could even call a dead trainer that anymore.

"It almost seems like there's something you're worried about," the voices from within it hiss, layered countless times under the casual and teasing tone of Red's own that is lost under the madness...

... Yet the instant the words spill from his lips, that awful sensation is gone as quickly as it arrived. Everything is as it should be. Despite how intense it was... It was little more than two seconds of some sick kind of illusion.

Was it even real? Was that pain all false? Red hasn't lifted a finger, no less even looked Cody's way.

It's as if nothing even happened.

"I wonder, I wonder, what it could be~?" the man babbles on as he walks away, feigning ignorance- because he must be, he must be screwing around with them at this point, right? How could he NOT be?

And now he's laughing- giggling to himself under his breath, like this whole ordeal is some joke that only he's in on.

"After all, I'm just some harmless little video game character. I'm not even real, right?" he chides, "Certainly nothing like one of your big bad players who could crush your shoddy little cartridge cause you decided to be a little bi..."

He trails off, managing to catch himself.

"... Decided to misbehave. What, you don't think I hold any real power over this place, do you~? I can't cause..."

"... Permanent damage."

He slows to a stop several paces away from the monochromatic trainer, spinning on his heel to look at them with a smile that could be described as warm, but...

From heart, to flesh, to grin- there's not a single warm thing about this man in this moment. Only proven further by a final remark, laced with a threatening kind of curiosity.

"So would you like to stop trying to play nice and tell me what you really think of me... Or are you gonna let me get bored?"

[legobiwan]

Another story idea:

One of the - and I hesitate to call them "issues" as I think the series is pretty complete on its own - but one of the loose threads from the end of Gravity Falls Season 2 I'd like to tug at is the ease with which Ford finds redemption after his return to his dimension.

On the surface, it seems like the only person he needs to work to reconcile with is his brother, with whom he can barely share a civilized conversation with until after the zodiac is broken and the elder Pines twins are left seemingly helpless in Bill's improvised prison.

And yes, Ford gets the kick in the ass he needs after his brother's memory is erased (at his own hand), as he realizes at that juncture just how much his hubris has cost him (even if he hadn't consciously valued the relationship with his brother before, there have been steady hints throughout the series and books that Ford values Stan in some way, even if he's shit at showing it).

But it's all...rather easy.

McGucket asserts that he's done forgetting and ready to forgive, even though he was probably the biggest victim to Ford's actions and ego throughout the entire series. (There was another post I saw around here about "hurt people hurt people." Bill may have been awful to Ford, but Ford was almost equally as awful to Fiddleford).

Give me a story where McGucket starts to gain back those memories - of his anxiety and panic and near-slavish devotion to a man who barely gave him the time of day. Give me a Fiddleford who won't take Ford back after this all comes back to light, who finally grows a spine and cuts ties with someone who mistreated him for years.

Give me a story where Mabel is outwardly enthusiastic towards Ford, but also afraid. Afraid that she's not enough for him, that she can't be her brother, that Ford will look down on her. Give me Mabel acting out in her most-Mabelest ways to try to both win over Ford and smooth out the relationship between him and Stan (and knowing she's a child coming from an unsettled home life, this hits all the worse).

Give me a story where Dipper realizes the truth of the old quote, "never meet your heroes." Where he finally come to terms with the fact that Ford is just a person - and a very flawed person, at that. A person who nearly sold the world for his ego and worse yet, held his grunkle and sister with little regard, held Dipper's own future with little regard except how it would benefit Ford.

And yes, finally, give me a story where Stan and Ford have the seriously hash things out. Where they ned to come to terms with their trauma from their youth (and the one thing I can't blame Ford for is what happened with the science fair project. Stan shouldn't have been there and he knew better. Stan also knew he was less than second banana to his brother his entire life, and his father made no bones about showing it. Say what you will, but an almost-18-year-old Ford was never going to react well to that situation, nor would he totally understand the consequences of Filbrick kicking Stan out at that age. Stan was also horrifically co-dependent on his brother, something his parents should have helped to sort out way earlier). Stan needs to sort his issues with both his (now-assumedly-dead) parents, as does Ford. Ford needs to come clean as to the who, what, where and why of Oregon. And Stan needs a reason to live for himself, and not for others - especially not his brother, from whom he has an almost desperate need for affection. (And you have to wonder, after 30 years...now that he's gotten Ford back, is there some kind of pit that's opened up in Stan, some raison d'être that's vanished leaving him uncertain as to everything in life, even with Ford vowing change and ships and adventures from his end. That's got to be one hell of a whiplash).

Anyway, what I'm saying is I love Ford but there's a ton he has to reckon with, and worst off, he has to reckon with other people if he truly wants to change. (And oh no, can I think of another two-dimensional being who may be going through the same thing in a time-warped psychiatric institution, hmmm, I wonder...)

[rita-repulsa-ke]

the mistake

Still post-finale, still Agatha. Rio makes a mistake. Agatha is very sexy. Some flirting, some angst and a few jokes. Going with a headcanon here that Agatha has made a contract to kill people for Death in exchange for her life, which is why she does so much murder.

It was 1942 when Rio made the mistake.

Agatha was setting up, drawing a circle, readying herself for her new ‘coven’ to arrive, humming the ballad to herself. Rio, sitting in a tree, was humming along.

Do not mistake this for a ceasefire. Do not imagine this scene as peaceful. But they had both acted out the same drama for centuries, Agatha running and fighting, Death always one step behind, the single unwanted constant in her chaotic life. Sometimes, Agatha simply had other things to do than fight.

Things like preserving her own life.

”Cutting it real close this time, darling,” Rio called down from the tree. “I want my bodies. Or I get to take my favorite girl home with me.”

Agatha made a gagging sound without looking up and Rio laughed, dangling from a tree branch by her legs. “I like the song.” She was trying to provoke, Agatha knew, for her own sick amusement, or to get Agatha’s attention on her or maybe to run down the clock. “Your Nicky is such a good singer.”

That one word, spoken too freely, changed everything.

“Is,” Agatha repeated.

“Uhh,” Rio scrambled to sitting on the tree branch. "That wasn't what I mea—"

Agatha spun and her power slammed Rio to the ground hard enough to make a small crater, chains of purple wrapping around the other woman, holding her in place, though they both knew she couldn't hold Death for long.

At least, not with magic.

“You told me once that you escort them beyond the veil and never see them again. You told me you can’t speak to the dead.” She stalked over, put a booted foot on Rio’s chest, which made Rio's eyes widen an appreciable amount and her lips part very slightly.

Agatha leaned her weight onto that foot, met the eyes of the monster who pretended to be able to love her. “Rio, baby, did you lie to me?” she asked, head tilted, mad smile playing across her lips.

“I don’t actually owe you any answers, you know,” Rio said, but she couldn't meet Agatha's eyes, her expression almost guilty.

As if Rio could feel guilt.

Agatha dismissed the magic and dropped to kneeling, leaned down and pressed her forehead against Rio’s, saw the other woman swallow compulsively. “But you want to tell me. Don’t you? You've wanted to tell me for a while now, I'd bet.” Her voice had gone soft, sweet, her fingers were on Rio’s cheek and this was also a dance they both knew all the steps for, but one that never failed her. She was so very good at seducing Death.

Rio turned her head, tried to get Agatha’s fingers in her mouth. “Plenty of time for that later,” Agatha coaxed and Rio, the final sunrise, the terrible end of all things, whimpered very quietly.

It was so nice that she'd never lost this particular power, though it took all her willpower not to use it to hurt Rio.

There was plenty of time for that later.

“Tell me the truth,” Agatha purred. “Tell me how Nicky is a good singer.”

“I can’t," Rio whispered "It’s forbidden.”

Agatha fingercombed the other woman's hair, pressed her lips to the corner of Rio's mouth and enjoyed listening to her whine. “You have done so many forbidden things for me. You saved me. You gave me time. One more time, my love, for me. Tell me a secret.

“…Will you forgive me?”

Agatha pulled back and gave the other woman a wicked smile, taunting, teasing, promising things she would never, ever give. “You know? I might yet.”

Rio breathed out with relief akin to a dying person’s final breath, a moment of complete surrender—but where other people surrendered to Death, Death surrendered to Agatha. “I can speak to him. He asks after you.” Here her smile sharpened, took on a vicious edge. “I lie, of course, when I tell him how you are.”

Agatha's turn to shake, her hands clenching and unclenching. It had been such a long time. Sometimes she woke and she'd forgotten Nicky all together.

Until, inevitably, she remembered.

“How is he?“ she whispered.

Rio opened her mouth to speak, but then her jaw snapped shut with too much force, as though an invisible hand had slammed into it. She sat up and her voice, when she spoke again, contained a hint of grave dirt and the cries of endless mourners. “Dead, Agatha, he is dead! And this is why these are sacred mysteries, I cannot tell you about the state of the dead and even if I could, you would not be able to understand them.”

“But he still sings?”

Rio’s expression softened at once and her voice was altogether too human, a lie Agatha had once allowed herself to believe. “Yes, love, he still sings.”

The fight ran out of Agatha then and she sank back, buried her head in her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?“

”There are rules! I should not have told you this much!” Death snarled and when Agatha looked up, she could see Rio's mask had fallen off, face skeletal, nose melted away.

Once, Agatha had found her true face beautiful.

Now she couldn’t remember what beauty was.

"You, especially," Rio continued, a small laugh in her voice. "Who knows what madness you'd wreck with such knowledge?"

“I want to know,” Agatha said. “I want to know all of it.”

Death gave her a surprisingly sweet smile, entirely out of place for any version of her. “Wait. Let the clock run down. Forget your planned slaughter and sit with me until the end. Then you can finally discover what lies beyond the veil.”

Agatha burst into hysterical guffaws, and Rio’s expression twisted into something more familiar, imminent violence and a hint of more mundane hurt.

“And give,” Agatha hissed, jabbing a finger at Rio, who stared blankly at the offending digit. “You the satisfaction? You think I seduced Death into letting me live, only to give up and die now?”

“Agatha.” Two centuries of violence, physical and emotional, between them and still, Agatha had never quite heard this tone in Rio’s voice. Something dreadful crept into it, ancient and terrible.

Agatha Harkness did not yield to such parlor tricks. “What, baby? Am I hurting your feelings? You thought we fell into bed together because I like bad boys and not because I wasn’t done living yet? Anyway, I don’t need you. I’ll wring every ‘sacred mystery’ out of this world all by myself.”

Rio groaned, a much more human groan. “How many times, Agatha. How many times will I break the rules for you, over and over and over again, only for you to throw it back in my face?”

“Generally depends on how likely you think it is that I’ll kiss you.”

Rio laughed, but it was a terrible laugh, one that made even Agatha flinch back ever-so-slightly. "You were never going to forgive me," she said.

Agatha shook her head. "Honestly, if I were you, I'd have at least held out for a kiss. Probably the last chance you're going to get this century."

Rio stared at her, then started to giggle. She scrambled over, always too fast, and pecked Agatha on the cheek. "Ags, it's getting dark."

"Is that a metaphor? Because I'm fully capable of seeing the sun going down."

"And where are your new best friends?" Rio singsonged.

Agatha's forehead creased. She glanced at the position of the sun in the sky, then back toward the small town she was using as her staging ground. "They're coming."

"They aren't," Rio said. "Someone warned them. Agatha Harkness, witch-killer. Follow her to the Road at your peril. Maybe I should have put it into song, but they seemed to take the warning well enough in prose.”

Agatha froze. "That's—that's cheating, interfering, you can't do that!"

Rio burst into strident, almost physically painful laughter. "Says who?"

Agatha felt caught out, small and mortal and aware of the sun going down in more ways than one. "…You never have."

"I wanted it to be fair. I wanted, eventually, for you to come to me of your own. Free. Will," Rio said, nodding along with each word. "Buuuut I'm getting tired of waiting, Ags. I miss you! And now we'll get to have an eternity together."

The sun wasn't all the way down, the temperature hadn't changed at all, but suddenly Agatha Harkness was very cold indeed. "…Rio, please," she whispered.

Rio's laugh was a banshee scream, a forewarning of imminent death, the petty, small-d version, the kind that only affected one person, but unfortunately, this time that person was someone she knew very, very well. "Agatha, Agatha, Agatha," Rio tsked, shaking her head. "You only get one seduction a day, max. So how do you want to do it? Personally, I like knives."

Agatha opened her mouth, then stopped and listened. There were voices, coming toward them. Voices singing a very familiar song.

"Maybe your warning wasn't heeded after all," she said as she scrambled to her feet, the other witches burst into the clearing. "Well-met, sisters! Come and join me—"

"Agatha Harkness," the leader of the group declared. "Your crimes are known to us! Do not try to defend yourself, we have heard how many witches you've slaughtered."

"Moi?" Agatha said, her eyes gone wide with false shock, hand pressed to her chest.

"Oh for…" Rio murmured, toying with her knife, watching with narrowed eyes. Agatha would have bet, from the way the other witches didn't glance at her, that they couldn't see Death, sitting so close, observing the action.

They would see her soon enough.

"Witch-killer!" Their melodramatic leader yelled, striking a pose. "We will destroy you."

"Give it your best shot," Agatha purred.

It ended as it always did, her feeling like she'd had a spa day and Rio gathering souls to take back with her. Feeling all-powerful, unkillable and therefore slightly more magnanimous, she leaned over and gave Death a kiss on the cheek. "You'll get me next time, champ."

Rio glanced over at her and Agatha flinched back, because the look in the other woman's eyes was worse than violence or frustration or even lust—it was unmitigated affection, mixed with mild contempt, like Agatha were a particularly adorable pet of some kind. "Sometimes," Death said, with a small shake of her head. "You are so cute." And suddenly she was too close, her lips inches from Agatha's own. "All the time in the world, baby. Sooner or later," she slid her fingers through Agatha's hair, nuzzled against it before releasing. "You will be mine."

She spun on her heel and waved a hand over her shoulder as she led souls to the final mysteries. "Bye, Agatha. I'll be sure to tell Nicky you said hi."

Like/comment/reblog, you know the deal. Want to read something from a much cutesier era, written pre-finale? Try out rain check

Or for darker post-finale stuff, check out the present

[fizzyapplecandy]

The Friendly Ghost Girl

Genre: fluff, angst, strangers to lovers, happy ending (different from each person's perspective)

warnings: character death, heavy themes

4.9k words

Summary:

Is there life after death? After meeting a stranger on his deathbed, a friendly ghost decides to stick around to help him find his peace.

Sometimes, things don't turn out the way you want them to.

You imagine what your life will look like two, five, ten years from now.

A house in the suburbs, a cozy fireplace where you tell Christmas stories, a fluffy dog sitting in the corner...

You get the gist.

Unfortunately for me, this will never be the case.

As I stand over my lifeless body, limbs sprawled on the pavement, paramedics rushing around the scene, I can't help but wonder one thing.

Is death truly the end?

I was an honour student in high school. The best grades, the most accomplishments, medals in every competition there were. College came naturally to someone like me. With a major in business, I was on the way to becoming a success. I could feel it in my veins.

The only thing I feel now is the light breeze coursing through my body as I sit on the edge of a bridge.

In theory, if you fall from this height, you'll probably end up dead. In practise, I am already dead, so this doesn't apply to me.

I don't know what went wrong. One minute I was laughing with my friends, stumbling around after one too many tequila shots, and the next...

I shake my head as the image of running cars passes before my eyes. I feel bad about the people who were with me that night. The sight was not pretty.

I was about to leap from my spot and disappear into the night when I heard whimpering from my right. There are many people crossing over this bridge, but mostly with their cars. I turned my head around and there he was.

Standing a couple of feet beside me, a handsome man leaned down to look into the flowing water under the high bridge. He had a solemn expression on his face. His eyes were red, nose runny, fingers almost blue in colour.

What caught my attention the most were his blood stained lips, and his bare feet.

He looked like he was on the brink of death.

He gripped the railing, and sniffled. I almost felt bad for him, but then I remembered he was the one with a beating heart.

I scoffed.

"Pathetic."

His eyes widened and he turned towards me.

Our eyes met.

Wait?

He could see me?

"Hey there. Isn't it dangerous to be sitting on a ledge so high up?"

"Almost as dangerous as going barefoot in this cold weather. On a non-pedestrian bridge."

A tight lipped smile stretched across his face.

"Fair enough."

I jumped back down and came to a stop before him. He was even prettier up close. With his high nose, foxy eyes and the cutest little mole underneath one of them.

That didn't change the fact that he looked too ill to be standing.

"Is there a reason you chose to come here like this?"

He nodded.

"You see, you are a complete stranger. Which makes it good, because you aren't biased to me personally. Which further means you can give out your honest opinion."

Weird, but hey, he's the first person I've talked to in... Well, I don't know how long.

I crossed my arms in front of me and gestured for him to continue.

"You see... I'm dying. Like, for real. I have had this autoimmune disease and it's been a pain in my ass for ages now. The doctors don't know what to do anymore. They say I'm not going to be able to walk for much longer, or talk. And everything else that comes with being alive. So, to retaliate, I'm going to jump off of this bridge while I'm still myself. I don't want to die tied to bed."

He took a deep breath after finishing his rambling, and it's to say I'm surprised is an understatement.

I took it all in before looking into his eyes. I could tell he was struggling.

"Listen up good buddy, because you aren't going to believe me. I, for one, can say that death is boring, but bearable. If I was in your shoes, I'd do the same. However, seeing as I'm already dead, I can't really help you. I get the point, but it's a stupid one."

He let out a barking laugh. God, was it annoying.

"Okay, I'm probably already far gone. Or you are just a seriously crazy lady. There is no way you are dead."

Was he calling me a liar?

"I'll have you know I am as dead as it can be. Buried six feet under, white casket and all that jazz." I did like my white casket.

He started shaking his head. "Cut it out, I'm supposed to be the neurotic one."

Before he could move, I went right through his body.

He froze. Slowly, he turned around. His face became even paler than before.

I smirked.

"Told you I was dead."

He stood there, looking at me, mouth wide open.

"But... How? I see you! I know I see you!"

With his finger pointing at me, he couldn't stop fidgeting.

"I know that. I don't have a single clue either. However, you are the first person who's talked to me in months, so I don't want to question it."

"Fair point. Does this mean..."

"There you are!"

I turned around and saw a tall man running towards us. Well, my new friend to be exact.

"We've been worried sick Wooyoung! You can't just leave like that! The nurses are going around the hospital like lunatics. Your mom is in shambles. And you're barefoot, again! Are you insane?"

The boy, Wooyoung, put his hands up in defence.

"Okay, okay. Calm down Mingi. I know it all too well."

Tall man, Mingi, ran straight through me and grabbed Wooyoung by his shoulders. Rude much?

"I'm sorry about the yelling. I'm just glad I found you. Come on, we have to go back, it's freezing out here."

Wooyoung nodded and glanced at me.

"We're going to the Seoul Medical Center, the one across from the main shopping mall?"

Mingi furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why are you being so specific? You know where we're going."

By the look in Wooyoung's eyes I knew that information was for me.

I nodded and waved him off.

"I'll come find you later buddy, go now. You've made a mess out of your friends and family."

Mingi ushered him inside his car and I watched them drive away into the night. Wooyoung turned around and watched me as they disappeared along the road.

"Seems like this isn't going to be so boring after all."

.

.

It's been a few days since my encounter with Wooyoung. The only living person who knows of my existence. I've yet to go visit him in the hospital. I have to admit I'm afraid.

Afraid that all of it was just a moment, and if I appear again, I'll be invisible.

It's also fun to keep men on their toes.

It all came to an end when I found myself in front of his hospital room. It's easy to get the information you need when you are invisible.

I looked into the little window and saw him sitting on his bed, a tray of untouched food beside him. He was gazing at the sunset with a small smile on his face. I took one step inside and cleared my throat.

"Well, here I am. You probably can't hear me anymore. So bye now, it was nice meeting you."

I turned on my heel when he interrupted me.

"Wait."

Shoot. Here we go.

"I hear you. I see you. Don't worry, I'm just spaced out at the moment. This new medication is a pain in my ass."

I nodded and slowly moved towards him.

"Hey I get it. We're not in a normal situation anyway. How have you been? Still thinking about jumping from bridges?"

He snorted a laugh.

"You wish. They've been keeping an eye on me since that night. Security had been notified of my escape plans. Now I have guards surrounding my door at night." He turned to look at me.

"You know, I'm jealous of you."

What? Of me?

I pointed to myself. "You're jealous of a dead girl?"

He nodded. "Yep. You get to do what you want without any consequences. Like, really, you can go anywhere you want, see the world, scare people..."

I put my hands up to stop him.

"Okay. Hold on. You think this is fun? I'm literally a ghost. No one can see me, my family put me into the ground, and I'm constantly levitating. You know how lonely I get?"

He was silent so I continued my rant.

"I've been contemplating for days about visiting you. You are the only thing that made me feel human again. You see me. You hear me. You annoy me as well."

Wooyoung chuckled. "I get that a lot."

"You probably deserve it."

"Put yourself in my shoes for a second. I'm living every day thinking it's my last. My friends keep crying, my family's already planned out my funeral. They are asking me about floral arrangements! They want me to be a part of it, even when I'm dead and cold. I just want to go on my own terms, without this whole ordeal."

"My mom put red roses on my casket even when she knew I liked pink ones better."

He shut his mouth and looked at me in confusion.

"What?"

"What I'm trying to say is, those things don't matter. They want you included because they think it's the only way to make you feel more comfortable about the fact that you are dying."

"I get that. I do. But they are suffocating me."

"Too bad for you then. I'd kill to have conversations like these. Wanna know something funny? More like morbid. They couldn't let my parents see me until they put my head back onto my shoulders. A truck came out of nowhere carrying glass plates. And what do you know? One fell, started an avalanche, I was too drunk and carless and here I am!"

I gestured around me as I stood up.

"You have to get that through your head. Not everyone has a support system like you do."

He looked down at his bare feet.

"I'm sorry you died."

"Yeah, me too."

I sat next to him again. I knew he was at a crossroad. Not a single person in the world would like to be in his shoes now. Death is a tricky bastard. I tried putting my hand on his shoulder, but it went right through.

He shivered. "Woah, that felt weird."

"I guess. Sorry, I don't know why I did that." I gazed out the window while he searched my face with his curious eyes.

"You know, for a ghost, you're really pretty."

I scoffed.

"Yeah, thanks."

I couldn't help but wonder if my cheeks would have flared up at the compliment if I was alive. They probably would. He wasn't so bad to look at, but I can't make myself tell him that.

It felt comfortable, sitting next to him in the silence that followed. It was almost... Normal.

Like he was a guy, I was a girl, we were in the moment, that was it.

"You know you never told me your name?" I turned my head towards him and hummed.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm Y/N. Renowned ghost girl."

I put my hand out for him to shake, even though I knew it was impossible. Still, he reached over and our palms were inches away, doing a make believe handshake.

"Nice to meet you Y/N. You already know who I am. Tell me Y/N, how is ghost life treating you?"

"Well it was rough at first, because I didn't have a clue what happened. After a while it becomes... Boring I suppose. I do have fun going around different places, but I never seem to find any..." I trailed off and looked at my hands.

"I never seem to find peace. It's what I want the most."

Wooyoung sighed. "I guess peace is the one thing everybody's looking for."

"You know, I've met some other ghosts, but only briefly. They all moved on from this in between space faster than me. I don't know what I'm doing here. I've made my piece with the fact that I'm dead. I've said my goodbyes. So I don't know why I'm still here."

"Maybe there is something you haven't done? Think about it. There has to be a thing you didn't do, never had the chance, and now you can't settle."

I blinked at him. Then it came.

"I've never been in love." Wooyoung choked.

"What?"

"I've never loved someone. Sure, I liked the guys I've been with, but there was never a person I've fallen in love with. I didn't think that would set me back so much."

"That kind of makes sense."

"If this is what's holding me back I'm going to be here forever."

"And why is that?"

I looked at him and sighed.

"If you haven't noticed already, I'm dead. No one is going to fall in love with a ghost. But, hey, at least I will get to witness flying cars in the future."

Wooyoung chuckled. "I like your sense of humor. Don't worry about being alone though. Once I'm gone, I'll be at your side looking at the flying cars."

"You want to tell me you've never been in love as well?"

"Never, not once. It's difficult to date people when you are bound to your bed most of the time. They can't handle it."

"Well then, my friend, we are going to have a blast."

Our eyes met and I couldn't quite place the feeling in my chest. It kind of tingles? Wooyoung is a handsome boy, even with the obvious signs of his illness showing. He is also quirky, but in a good way.

He cleared his throat.

"My mom's going to be here soon. She always comes in the late afternoon, says it's the calmest time in the hospital. I want you to stay, but I might feel awkward."

I stood up and went to the door.

"No, no. I get it. I've got places to be anyways. Listen, Wooyoung. Try not to make this time miserable for your parents and friends. This is all they have left with you. Be more positive, okay? I'll be by your side in the meantime. It doesn't hurt to have a friend who knows the ropes, if you get what I mean." I smiled as I gestured around myself. He nodded and watched as I disappeared through the wall.

The cavity in my chest was getting a lot tighter lately, and now it seemed like it was going to suffocate me. Jokes on you, I'm already dead.

.

.

Two days later I went to see him again. I wish I didn't.

He was hooked up on various machines, his face even paler than before. And here I thought I was the ghost.

A nurse was checking his vitals before letting out a sigh and walking outside. I was careful to approach his bed, afraid of disturbing the peace in the room. Once I got closer, I could see just how much worse he looked than the last time I was here.

I carefully sat in the bed and cleared my throat.

"Hey there... You look rough buddy." I shook my head. "Sorry, that was rude. What happened in the last couple of days Wooyoung?"

It was difficult to look at him. I couldn't quite place the feeling in my hollow chest, but it wasn't good.

I knew it was a shot in the dark, but I had the sudden urge to hold his hand. I reached over and lightly placed my fingers in his cold hand.

Wait?

Cold?

I furrowed my eyebrows and squeezed his hand.

I could feel him? I could actually feel his skin?

"Oh my... Wooyoung! It's a miracle, look! I can touch you! Hey, buddy, you've got to wake up. I can't be the only one excited about this."

He was as still as a statue.

"Come on Woo. Wake up and look at me."

He still wasn't giving any signs of waking up, but the beeping of his heart monitor became louder. Soon enough the machine started going loud and crazy. Nurses rushed in and I quickly moved away. As soon as I let go, his heartbeat became normal.

We all looked at him in confusion. Was he actually able to feel me in his unconscious state? The nurses went around, double-checking everything. My eyes were focused on his face. I could see his eyelids fluttering.

Soon enough, he slowly opened his eyes and looked directly at me. The nurse shot a light at his pupils, but he tried moving her away without breaking our gaze.

They fussed around some more while I stood waiting patiently. He never moved his eyes from me.

As soon as the door closed, he let out a tired chuckle.

"So, touching me in my sleep? Very naughty of you Y/N."

I wasn't sure if ghosts could blush, but I sure felt a bit warm.

"Hey, it wasn't like that and you know it."

I came closer and sat on the edge of the bed again.

"Wooyoung. You felt it, didn't you?" He nodded.

"I don't know how this is possible Woo."

He smiled. "I like it when you call me that."

He let out a sigh. "I suppose this is a sign. I am about to die, you know? Maybe the spirit forces and gods want me to get used to it."

His ramblings were far fetched, but kind of made sense.

"Well, I mean... I don't know. But, it's nice to finally feel something real." Without hesitation, I placed my hand on his again. He interlaced our fingers and moved his thumb to caress my hand. I felt slight tingles running through my palm. It felt... Nice. Warm, comforting, everything I've missed since my untimely death.

"You're really cold Y/N. I should get used to that."

I laughed. "Yeah, that's one thing you won't be able to escape. But it's okay, you won't notice it. Or you'll get used to it."

He nodded.

"You know, I'm glad I met you Y/N. At least now I know I won't be so alone once I pass. I think about you when you're not here. It makes me happy I suppose. Now, I do have one request from you."

I could hear his voice getting weaker. I knew he was tired, so I nodded for him to continue.

"Will you wait for me? I know you have the whole world to explore, and maybe you want to move on quicker, but please... Wait for me to come. I don't want to be without you."

He squeezed my hand with the little strength he had, his pleasing gaze almost piercing me.

He wanted me? I've never had someone so desperate for me, since I knew I was nothing special. But Wooyoung thought I was, and that should count for something.

I placed my other hand on his cheek. His eyes widened, but he didn't move away. He almost leaned into my touch.

"I'll wait for you Woo. I can't leave my only friend hanging."

His mouth stretched into a wide smile and he grabbed the hand that was on his cheek, caressing it lightly.

"Thank you, Y/N."

I nodded and untangled myself from him before standing up. I went towards the door and turned around to look at him.

"I'll leave you now, but I'll come back. Rest for now buddy, you've had a rough day." He nodded and waved.

"Bye angel, see you soon."

.

.

Life doesn't care if you are happy. It always finds a way to mess with you. Once you get too comfortable, it slaps you so hard you get whiplash. I don't know if people can die from heartbreak, and I'll never find out as I'm already dead. I suppose it could be possible.

I wasn't happy about the fact that Wooyoung was dying. That's absurd. I was happy that we found each other in our darkest moments, finding comfort in one another. I was imagining what life on the other side would be like once he joined me.

I came to the realisation that I've fallen for him in a way. Being inexperienced in love, and then seeing how good it could feel gave me a wave of happiness.

About three days have passed since I've seen him. I promised I would come back once he got a bit more stable, but I was prepared for the worst.

What I wasn't prepared for is seeing him almost jumping around his room in glee. His cheeks were rosy, his feet no longer bare, and his laugh filled out the room. He looked healthy.

There was a pang of anxiety running through me.

The worst part, he didn't even notice me. The room was full of his friends. I remember the talk one from the night on the bridge. Mingi, was it? The others were called Seonghwa and San. I gathered as much sitting in the corner of the room, watching them interact.

He usually gave me a sign if he knew I was there, but now there was nothing.

It brought me joy to see him so happy, but I had an internal conflict. Didn't we agree to be with each other? Was it so impossible for me to be happy, after everything? I knew my happiness would cost Wooyoung his life, but I was desperate at this point. I couldn't help but accept the fact that he was better, and he no longer stood on death's door.

His friends left after a while and we were alone. He sat on his bed and gazed out the window. He sighed, his smile going down.

"Hey Y/N. I don't know if you're here right now. I don't know if I can see you anymore. Wanna hear something funny? The doctors said my test all came back really positive. After the other night when we held hands, I only got better. I think you helped me in a way. You know, I was actually excited to be with you. I... I think I fell in love with you. Maybe you were a fragment of my imagination? My body isn't exactly in its best condition. Who knows... Thank you Y/N. I want you to find peace." He took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No, wait... I know I might sound insane and selfish, but... I don't want you to go. I want you here. I want you to be here. Why is it so hard for us to be happy? We could've been happy! My God Y/N I can't... I miss you..."

Tears slowly made their way down his face. My eyes stung, but I knew I wasn't able to cry. It broke my non-beating heart to see him like this. He was in complete shambles over me, a ghost. Someone who isn't real anymore.

I slowly approached his side and sat next to him. I made sure we didn't accidentally touch.

"Hey Woo... It's okay buddy. We knew it was impossible from the start. Everything we had was impossible. But it's going to be okay baby. You're going to get even better in time. You'll find a nice, pretty girlfriend. She would have to get used to your sarcasm, but with the amount of charm you possess it won't be difficult. I'm going to miss you, though. You've made me happy these past few weeks. Thank you for that. I might be able to move on finally. I did the thing I've never done before. I fell in love."

I knew he couldn't hear me anymore, but it felt comforting to confess to him.

He was wiping away his tears and smiling. His wanted to place his hand on the bed, but he accidentally put it on my outstretched palm.

Wait.

I quickly moved away and stood up. He shot up as well.

"Y/N? You felt that, didn't you? I knew you were here! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Y/N! Please don't go away, stay with me. Just for a moment longer. Please..."

He crouched down and leaned his back against the wall, sobbing again. It was hard seeing him so distraught.

I sat next to him and slowly leaned my head against his shoulder.

He let out a cry.

"Thank you Y/N... Just for a moment. Be here for just a moment longer."

And so we sat there. The room was quiet, aside from his desperate sobbing. It was as bittersweet as it gets.

He calmed down after some time and I felt his breathing get even. He fell asleep with his head against mine.

I slowly stood up and made him comfortable on the floor. I didn't have the strength to move him to the bed, so this would have to do.

I moved his hair out of his eyes, caressing his cheek and that cute little mole he had. I slowly leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I wish you all the best Woo. I'll see you, someday. Goodbye."

With that, I disappeared into the night.

.

.

The view from the bridge was the same as that fateful night. The flowing water from bellow was calming my mind though. It brought me a sense of tranquility. It's been a week since I've said my goodbyes to Wooyoung in the hospital. It's been difficult to say the least. I can't stop thinking about him, our late night conversations in his hospital bed, the promises we've made.

I knew it was selfish of me, but I was sad, so I allowed myself to be selfish for a moment.

I couldn't bring myself to visit him anymore. It would be too difficult. I knew he had enough of a support system beside him.

I couldn't help but wonder if he missed me as much as I missed him. I'm a smart girl. I know he will find someone to fill up the space in his heart again. He will have a big family house, Christmas morning in front of the fireplace, with a fluffy dog sitting in the corner.

I want my dream to become his because I know he can make it true. That's all I needed to make peace with the situation.

There was a light ahead of me. Somewhere down the river, shining so bright it could hurt your eyes. I knew what it was as well, but I couldn't bring myself to cross over.

The universe thought I was ready, but I wanted a couple more minutes to take everything in.

"Sitting on the bridge, again? You know if you jump you won't die, so what exactly is the point?"

I froze. Not only am I a ghost, I am an insane ghost.

"What? You won't look at me anymore? I know we had some bumps in the road Y/N, but I thought we had a connection, you know?"

I slowly turned to my left, and there he was.

Standing in all his glory, dressed to perfection, with his eyes no longer tired but mischievous.

"Wooyoung?"

He smiled. "Hey there. Long time no see."

I jumped down and took a couple of steps towards him.

"How in God's name is this happening? Woo? Are you... Dead?"

He nodded.

"Burried six feet under and all that jazz."

My eyes widened.

"But how? You were better! Wooyoung! You didn't do anything stupid, right?"

He put his hands on his hips in a sassy manner.

"Hey, that was one time. Do you have that little faith in me? I died completely naturally, I'll have you know. The doctors told my parents I had a jump before the big fall. That usually happens to patients who are on their deathbed. Had me fooled though, I thought I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life."

In a second his hands were around my waist, squeezing me in a hug.

"But I can't say that I mind now. I knew my time was done, and I've made my peace. What I couldn't make peace with was not seeing you for the rest of my life."

My arms went around his shoulders and you couldn't tell who's grip was tighter.

"Wooyoung, I'm so sorry..."

He took my face into his hands and put our foreheads together.

"Hey now, don't be sad. I told you, I've made my peace. I'm okay. I've said my goodbyes. I've made floral arrangements with my mom. All is well."

I chuckled and nodded.

"So now what?" He smirked.

"Now I kiss the shit out of you."

With that, he crashed his lips onto mine. We didn't know where to hold onto anymore, moving our hands around, feeling every inch of each other. The kiss was desperate, full of unspoken emotions that were begging to be let out.

It's a good thing we don't need to come up for air, because we couldn't stop ourselves.

After what felt like ages, our lips disconnected and our eyes met. He smiled.

"I love you Y/N. I hope you know how much you mean to me."

I smiled as well. "I love you to Woo."

A bright light appeared before us. He looked at me before grabbing my hand.

"I think this is our sign Y/N. Are you ready to spend eternity with me?"

I nodded. We turned towards the light and started walking.

"Thank you Wooyoung. I'm at peace now as well."

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not defending an ex-friend when people called her a slut?

I (20 f) fell out with my best friend and roommate M (20 f) at the end of sophomore year of college. reason we fell out isn't the main subject of this post but I think it's relevant so I'll try and keep it as brief as possible.

For context I'm Black attending a VERY white school. Frenshman year I was the only black girl in my building and this was just post-covid so student groups were pretty dead. So first trimester most of my college friends were the girls from my floor including M (white) and S (20f, asian american). It was very isolating tbh, esp bc I experienced a lot of microaggressions, but the girls I befriended were pretty good at sharing my outrage and letting me confide in them.

The worst incident was when at a party, a guy (G, white) made some very racist comments towards me and in general (said the n-word a few times). I admit I escalated it by engaging w him and the whole thing got out of hand, a lot of people saw, and he got a reputation as a racist. Afterwards, he was always rude to me, blaming me for egging him on while drunk and just constantly making disrespectful comments about me and my 'attitude' where i could hear. no one ever said anything to his face but were supportive of me after the fact - S was always particularly supportive and said she could relate.

I was generally fine with avoiding G esp in sophomore year when we moved out. I lived with M and another friend (P) and it went pretty well. We were asked in like November if we would renew our lease, and though M and I wanted to the third friend didn't, so we began to think of replacements, and S was looking for a place.

Thing is, while S and I were still on good terms I felt like she was being a bit secretive w me. She'd often come over and talk privately w M and I got the gist she was seeing someone and didn't want me to know. I shook it off as us growing apart and the fact I'd gotten more involved in Black student groups and hadn't hung around with our dorm friends as much, but then in Jan, as we were planning to sign the new lease, I found out she was dating G. Tbh at this point we weren't even close friends that I felt a strong personal betrayal, but more so I was mad at them both for not telling me while making plans for us to live together. They knew I was uncomfortable around G and wouldn't want to live w his gf, esp without knowing. It felt like they were almost purposefully going behind my back.

I didn't do anything at the time, just slowly backed out of the lease renewal and made other arrangements. I stopped hanging out with S almost completely and was just cordial w her and took a big step back from M and our dorm friends.

The other relevant bit of context here is M had a boyfriend (T, 20 m) who was in our freshman dorm and very close to our year one friends (lived with them sophomore year and now junior year too). She broke up w him in Feb, which led to a lot of her friendships w our dorm friends (her only friends really) to deteriorate a bit, esp as she was no longer super comfy hanging around where he was. this especially became an issue in the spring trimester bc she got a new boyfriend over the break, a friend from her classes T hadn't liked.

So, M kept pressuring me to hang out w her and our dorm friends a lot more, which inevitably meant seeing S and now G, who they'd all decided they were cool being around when I distanced myself. I told her why i didn't want to and I didn't want to see G again but she promised he had 'changed' and wouldn't say anything to me. eventually I folded and went out w them all once and it honestly sucked. M completely abandoned me to be w her other friends, G didn't say anything but kept glaring at me the whole time, and I felt very out of place. afterwards I told M i was sorry, I know she felt awkward around her ex without me, but I wouldn't do that again.

She left it till like the end of the year then there was a big dinner she really wanted to go to that T would be at (her bf was not invited), w all our dorm friends. I kept saying I wouldn't go, but then she told me she checked w the hosts and confirmed (and promised) G wouldn't be coming. I said okay but asked we sit next to each other and made it clear how I felt around S etc, and she agreed and promised we would. Long story short G was there, I wound up next to S and across from him snickering at me the whole time, with her on the other end of the table. I texted M about it, she said it was 'fine' and I was imagining it and to try and enjoy the gathering.. yeah no. I dipped before desert, she chased me outside asking what was up and I explained why i was upset, she said i can't expect her to be there for me the whole night and she's allowed to 'have a good night without my drama,' i said racism wasn't drama and she literally dragged me along to deal with her drama, nevermind my comfort, and that she was an incredibly selfish friend for putting me in this position. I left, she wound up crying with everyone comforting her, everyone there (M included) went off at me for being an unsupportive friend/dredging up year old drama with G/overall making everything about race, I cut them all off and moved my stuff into my girlfriend's place a week after all this and didn't speak to anyone since.

which is pretty much all the backstory (longer than the main bit, sorry), that gets us to the actual AITA situation. Junior year starts, I'm at a welcome back party w some other friends and i'm vaguely aware my old dorm friends (including S and G) are also here, but it's a huge party and i'm w my very supportive friends who ik will back me if anything happens so i dont really care. eventually M arrives w her bf, gives me an awkward look but doesn't say anything to me.

Then at some point, I'm upstairs using the bathroom and I hear the girls from our dorm group speaking to M in the hallway. Apparently it came out over summer she'd hooked up w her new boyfriend before she ended things with T and they were all pissed at her (esp for her playing the victim w her ex). I tried to stay in the bathroom until the conversation ended but someone was pounding on the door and I wound up having to get out and waddle past them awkwardly to get back downstairs. When I got out one of the girls was calling M a slut and other names and while i tried to avoid it I accidentally made eye contact with M, who was super upset and crying. I kinda just shrugged and went downstairs.

Later that night i got a long ass message from her new bf about how he knows I'm upset with her but it wasn't fair for me to just leave her in that situation, and that it was petty and selfish of me (esp bc I'm usually the person calling out this shit). I spoke to my gf, and she said she understands why i did nothing but also that it's never okay for people to call someone a slut. I agree with that 100% and in any other case i might have tried to diffuse the situation (like if it was safe and I thought I could). I've told a couple friends who think I did nothing wrong and it wasn't fair to expect me to say smth when she never said/did anything to defend me and that she had it coming, but my mom told me I should've done the kind thing and not stoop to their level and it's made me feel really bad. I think I might be TA bc i could have stood up for her without anything bad happening to me beyond being in an uncomfortable convo, and also bc it kinda felt good seeing her friends turn on her? Like she threw me under the bus to be in their good books and defend them and they dropped her ass anyway, and if I acted from a vengeful place then thats asshole-y of me. but also no one in this story has apologised to me once and as my friend says its not fair to rely on black ppl to fix racist white ppls mess.

so, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[unicornofthesun13]

JWCT Countdown: Prompt One: Favourite Character

Brooklynn is definitely my favourite character and based on the recent speculation over her 'death', I thought I'd write my idea of a reunion scene, also serving as a mini character study.

-------

“What? You’ve never seen a ghost before?” Brooklynn asks, stepping out of the shadows. She tries to sound confident and draw attention away from her arm, or, half-arm.

Everyone gasps anyway.

After months, she’s finally seeing them again and she can’t believe her eyes. They're not the same. Darius' eyes are heavier, surely carrying the weight of the world, once again. She's changed too. Like on Nublar, her purple and blue hair has grown out, revealing the brown roots.

Ben is the first to move, grabbing her shoulders. “You can’t do that to us!” He whisper-yells.

She cringes. The bad guys are still around here somewhere. Her heart jolts just thinking about it.

“You hypocrite. I literally stole the line from you,” Brooklynn says.

“What-what happened?” Darius asks. His gaze flickers, not so subtly, to her arm and the smear of blood on her cheeks.

She takes a deep breath. She’s run through what she wanted to tell them when they finally found her hundreds of times, but it will have to wait.

“Right now, we need to focus on getting these dinosaurs out of the hands of these people," she says. Then she meets Darius' stare. "I'll tell you later."

She can't promise.

The mission is almost complete and then everything she’s sacrificed, everything they’ve all been through, will have been worth it. They can’t just stand around chatting, revealing their location. Not now.

“Can we at least make sure you’re not going to, I dunno, drop dead?” Kenji asks. He's reverted to his early Nublar airhead voice, twinged with anger and frustration. She knows he's just masking his terror.

Not all of this was her fault but guilt seizes her anyway.

“I’m fine,” she says, not quite lying, but not quite telling the truth, either. So many things hurt but she can’t focus on any of them. If she pauses, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to get up again.

So she doesn’t stop. There’s always more to uncover. Always more to unbox. Consequences be dammed.

[forwntrx]

GIRLS LIKE GIRLS ┊͙˚. 04. ROOM 312

𑁍┊inkigayo (written portion)

aeri's gaze met yours from across the room, "you invited her, here?"

"yeah," you say nonchalantly, "why not?"

this whole situation was bizarre. i mean, you aren't exactly the type to strike up conversations left and right, let alone shoot a text to yunjin. this was a leap into uncharted waters. still, aeri didn't comment on it, and you thank the universe for that. aeri often had too much to say. but most of the time, it wasn't like she was wrong.

these days, promotions had gotten into your head. even if your comeback was being well-received, you were always looking for the next song to write, the next hit for your group. it was clear to aeri and the rest of your members that you were struggling. just the night before, you had locked yourself in the studio for a record twelve hours.

yunjin bursts into your dressing room, completely breathless. she had ran all the way over here, that was obvious--her cheeks are slightly flushed and her hair, well, it looked like she'd been caught up in a tornado. yet, even in this state, she managed to look so pretty. (you know, the standard idol package?) when you see her you...smile? what is up with that? it was as if all the gloom and sleepiness left your body. yunjin brings a light that was impossible not to feel energized by.

she had to be minutes away from performing, but here she was. with you.

your eyes scan her, head-to-toe. she flushes even deeper in your gaze.

"hey." she's nervous. it's cute.

"hey." you say, you lean off against one of the walls and close the distance between you. her breath hitched, and you couldn't help but chuckle. gently, you brush a piece of hair that was stuck to her microphone. your fingers linger for a moment longer than necessary.

"you didn't have to come now, i would've waited for you." you tease.

yunjin's eyes widen. your voice was deep, but sweet. she didn't know what she thought you would sound like but .. god, this was not it. you were just so perfect. she reminds herself she's standing in front of you, and responds with a nervous smile, "i thought i'd have enough time to see you. we haven't actually talked yet, yknow, since the cookie thing. i'm still really sorry about that by the way."

you shake your head. your eyes never leave hers. "don't worry about it. what goes around, comes back around. trust me, your gonna wake up one day and realize a cookie i baked you was made with gasoline."

yunjin laughs, light and infectious. "really? remind me to never accept a cookie from you. i wasn't even trying to kill you! you're actually trying to kill me!"

her laughter is hard to resist, and you find yourself joining in. "listen, fair is fair!"

it's when you two laugh together that aeri loses it. she tries to act busy on her phone, but the covert glances she sends your way are a dead giveaway. between stolen looks, she manages to fire off a hundred texts to her girlfriend in complete awe. this whole thing was crazy.

you both settle on one of the couches. yunjin has five minutes before she has to go on stage. you couldn't believe her, she just loves pushing herself to the limits.

"you've never seen the music video? or heard my song?" yunjin's face twists, like you had personally come over and punched her in the stomach. you want to roll your eyes. she searches across your face for SOME form of recognition, but your face didn't change.

"nope."

yunjin pouts. "you should watch it! it's really good. maybe give it a stream too, so we can snag a win."

you almost chuckle. "a win? did you forget i'm promoting too?"

yunjin grins, full of mischief. "i want you to get a win...just after my group does."

aeri's ears perked up at those words, a wince briefly crosses her face. those were fighting words as far as you were concerned. the unspoken competition ignites, and your smirk told her all she needs to know--this wasn't a game you intended to lose.

between your banter, the casual back-and-forth that makes it feel like you had been friends for ages and not days, time keeps running and running. when yunjin decides to look at the clock, she has one minute until she has to go on stage.

"oh shit! chaewon-unni is gonna kill me!" she jumps up, and you can't help but laugh.

"i'll see you at the ceremony then, yunjin. when my group wins." you say.

yunjin's voice trails off as she reaches the doorway, halfway out of the room. "i'm looking forward to it!" she calls back. with a swift spin, she collides into an unexpected presence.

"sorry, sorry, sorry!" she exclaims, bowing deeply to the person she'd bumped into. with a final smile in your direction, yunjin dashes down the hallway, a silent prayer that her groupmates won't be thaat mad at her absence.

"who was that?"

minjeong's voice cut through the air from the doorway. her gaze follows the girl who fled down the hallway, curious and mildly annoyed. whoever that was fucked up her shoulder.

you slung an arm around your friend, fingers gently working on her shoulder. "took you long enough. you okay?"

minjeong sighs and nods. "i'm fine. she's not made of stone."

you grinned, teasingly. "true, but you know, you're very fragile. i'm afraid you'll be out for weeks after that disaster."

with a shove, minjeong pushes you away. you play around too much, especially with her. but it's one of the many things she loved about you. "can't stand you," she murmurs, but her eyes say a completely different story. one you don’t even know the full details of.

"lying, as always. so, did you get it for me?" you ask.

"of course i did, why wouldn't i?" minjeong tosses you one of the vending machine drinks with her uninjured hand.

aeri's head snaps up from her phone, a look of disbelief crossing her face. "why in the hell didn't you get me one?"

minjeong shrugs. "i only have two hands."

you chime in, making aeri roll her eyes. "clearly, she likes me more. it's all about priorities. isn't ryu still here? go ask your girlfriend."

aeri beams. "good idea!"

"too late..." all of your heads turn to the entrance as jimin walks in, holding aeri's favorite drink in her hand. she shoots her friend an apologetic look, "i was nearby and remembered you saying you were thirsty."

aeri's eyes well with tears. "jimiiinnn-aaaahh!" you watch as aeri flies from her seat to jimin's arms. you never knew she could jump like that. maybe her true career should've been an athlete? your country needed her at the olympics.

jimin stumbles, and giggles as she manages to catch her. the two friends held onto each other, their laughter filling the hallway. you shook your head. one second later and they would've both been on the floor in pain.

"i always knew you loved me the most!"

𑁍┊masterlist －previous — next

idc what anyone says yn is definitely kalis uchis coded.

winter sneak??? no one TELLS her who that was talking to yn, not yet anyways

after this, yn makes sure to watch yunjin's mv in full. she might have watched it twice.

i love aespa idk what else to say

𑁍┊a/n: ohh yeahhhhh, i have alot more chapters i might update more today,, but i hope the written portion was ok. it was a just a little something, i wanted to show their first meeting !!! there will be more written portions over the course of the story that will be better lmao

𑁍┊ taglist: CLOSED! @aeongiies @runawaymazola @wintersgff @winieter @luvjanexx @justme-idle @sewiouslyz @lcv3lies @yerisdumbass @nasyu-kookies @kchwnsgf @jeindall777 @dr-wholehearted @thoughtfulqueenlady @yunalvrrr @juhyunsthirdwife @haerinfangs @awkwardtoafault @idk-idc-rn @unforgiven-000-hotline @dream-chasers-things @pandafuriosa60 @1r3n31ty

[lightyaoigami]

If you have to choose your favorites 5 scene/dialogue in Those, what would it be?

amazing question. i will not be including 'my doctor doesn't even consider me a smoker' because that's everyone's favorite already.

one

"When I first saw you at the funeral, I thought you'd be the same. Yet another of The Lady's beautiful court jesters. It surprises me when I'm wrong." "I'm glad that I obliged." "You haven't obliged me with anything yet. This dinner doesn't count." "You're a fast worker but I'm faster. We could have skipped this shit, you know? There's no need for dinner and candlelight at our age. And, y'know, neither of us is wearing a dress." "I wanted to speak with you," he says thoughtfully, following it up with a more cheerful: "And get you out of your clothes, but that goes without saying." "We could have done both of those things at your place." "No, I'd like to understand you." Something about his personality has changed. He's much more softly spoken and pure sounding, which worries me. The dreamy quality of his voice makes me feel pensive and angry, so I reach forward suddenly and pour myself another glass of wine. "I don't want to be understood. To be understood would make me dead."

two

I remember once when, back in the day, I went to a party. It was house party but it was in a really big house. We had to wear masks, so it was one of those parties. I wore a skull mask; a white skull. L was an abstract crow or something. He saw me just as I saw him and we knew. Couldn't see each other's faces, but we knew. That was a good night. Anyway, he didn't know that I was going to be there and I didn't know that he was going, so we were strangers. Only we knew. Point is, if I wasn't there, he would have found someone else. Someone less.

three

"I don't know, but it looks very important from where I'm standing." "Stand somewhere else then." My consistent smile parts my lips when I take a few long steps towards him until we're only inches apart. Well, I can't really see his suit anymore, which is what he wanted. "Like, here?" I ask. His panic is practically another person between us and he drops his briefcase, so this tactic must have been perfectly balanced and executed. I congratulate myself as I kneel down to pick it up to deliver the killing stroke. "I'll get it," he says hurriedly. "It's no problem," I say, smiling up at him in my most winning way. This is a tried and tested method and he out of everyone was a complete sucker for it, always. I grab the handle of his case with one hand and hold onto his leg with the other. For support, obviously. When I stand again, I can almost see the gleam in my eye reflected in his face. While he's apparently unable to move, I lean forward and breathe in over his neck, but I don't touch him until my face is so close to his that our noses barely glance and slide off each other. He sucks in air when I lick his cheek lightly with the tip of my tongue. He's dying inside. His poor eyes can't lie. "You know, you really should be more careful," I tell him, and tilt my face slightly so my lips hovers over his in some worshipping adoration. He pants softly, swallows and his eyes grow heavy as he looks at me, but I won't do anything unless he gives me a sign. An almost silent "Oh fuck" catches in his throat as he stares at me, and I drop his suitcase to the floor again. Hallelujah.

four

"Light, I'm not going to say this again until the next time you leave your wife for me, because you'll get bored of it, but you're the best person I've ever met and I'm proud of you. Of what you've done, despite what I might have said in the past, because I'm a liar and I was lying before. And I love you." Oh. I'm more stunned by how he says it than what he actually says and I don't know what to say, so I stuff something that I hope is only a slimy, battered carrot into my mouth instead, and it's revolting. Once I've finished chewing, I talk down to my plate. "It's really hard to cut spring onions all slanty like." "It looks like a forty-five degree angle." "It is." "Well done."

five

So, picture the scene. I was on my way to the door wearing one of my less good suits. That doesn't matter, but I think that it expresses something about my state of mind and health. But I didn't make it as far as the door. I was overwhelmed by a sudden sickness, ran to the bathroom and threw up my guts into the toilet until my throat burned and I nearly passed out. It was like how people describe botulism, only worse. Those bastards don't know how I suffered. Anyway, Kiyomi found me dying on the bathroom floor, and I remember it in the same daze I experienced then. L wasn't in my mind at the time because all I could think of was trying to find some way to stop feeling as terrible as I did. My mind was empty like the rest of me was, so I just lay on my side and hoped that it would pass. Some unprecedented disaster had happened and I was powerless to do anything.

bonus from i know the way it ends

"Your face was almost golden because of the lights everywhere. Remember the gold coin neon lights over the casino? The lights made you look like you were gilded. I've only seen you look at me like you did then a few times, but you were beautiful, I thought my heart would burst, I… Palpitations from all the coffee, probably but… yeah."

[wyrm-with-a-why]

hiiii :3 I'm here with a barrage of sociolinguistic centered transformers headcanons. Most of this is my musing about the tfp universe, but i guess it could apply to other continuities. this is a thinly veiled info dump but i would like to hear some of your thoughts and ideas on this ^_^

I want to preface this by saying that language is the key component of every culture, at least in my opinion. As a texan, I consider my accent and the way I phrase things to be a strong part of my culture. I figure the same should go for cybertronians, considering all their variations, including different frametypes and castes and origins and all that jazz.

First and foremost I wanna talk about how quickly language changes. vernacular is ever changing. There are many examples of words becoming outdated or ‘cringe’ within just a few years of them existing in the public vocabulary. and if you think of how cybertronian life spans compare to humans, it's obvious that cybertronians must live through many many many changes in language. like complete evolutions of dialects and the births of new languages. so i think it would be fair to assume that just about every mech is a polyglot.

I also think it's fun to think about how the caste system could affect the common speak of certain areas. I imagine that most high class regions are more productivity/efficiency focused than, say, tarn, so a common language is more important to them. therefore they might have a ‘cybertronian standard’ that everyone speaks and maybe some few dead or actively dying languages still floating around. However, in a ‘lower caste’ polis like tarn or kaon, without that sort of structure and with a sort of individualistic culture, different dialects are more likely to spring up and thrive. like there's no distinct ‘kaonite’ language, but instead a collection of dialects that vaguely resemble each other originating in kaon.

That point brings me to conclude that decepticons found it hard to communicate with each other when the war first began. mechs came from all over cybertron to fight for the decepticon cause. and in life during wartime, there were things to worry about other than language, as important as communication may be. i suppose they MUST have adapted to each other's speech at some point over millions of years, in close quarters. hell, they might have even used their mixed up language to confuse the autobots and evade intel breaches. and maybe different units of the decepticon militia could've developed their own dialects, being on their own for years and years (similar to antarctic english!!)

ok now (entirely self indulgently) i wanna talk about my language based megatron headcanons. I figure he must speak uniquely, given his origins. I'd guess his mother tongue originated in tarn. more specifically, a dialect spoken almost exclusively by miners. a language most likely VERY different from any other tarnian tongue, due to the physical barrier between miners who never see the light of day and every mech on the surface. I like to think their dialect is derivative from their profession and a tight knit relationship between miners. Then of course he becomes a gladiator, and learns their language, which has probably developed distinctly due to their unusual profession as well. I imagine megatron would study other languages in his free time, and translate his own poems and other works to reach as many as possible. When megatron would give his speeches in the arena, and later to the greater public, he would try to hide as much of his original accent as possible. Not because he was ashamed, but because he knew it would make him 'agreeable' to the higher castes and more persuasive to a larger demographic. He still very much believes that what he's saying is more important than how he says it, but he understands the impact that language has on persuasion. After a while of constantly making speeches to the masses in his ‘charisma voice’ it's become his standard way of speaking (basically my reasoning of why he talks Like That). He only ever speaks his native language to soundwave, and a bit to orion pax before the war. and he almost exclusively talks to soundwave in the kaonite gladiator dialect. Basically it's considered a high honor to hear megatron speak without his regular inhibitions, even though he is deeply proud of his origins and consequently his language.

oh goodness i just realized i've basically written you an entire essay-length rant (T▽T;)

sorry if this was a messy read, i just wanted to get my thoughts down lol. Every paragraph is basically its own thing 😭. Tell me what you think though!!! (if you actually feel like reading all that ToT). I'd like to hear someone else’s input on this; its one of my fave talking points (> w <)

We have a lot of similar ideas!!! I’ve always headcanoned the miners to have their own specific dialect that no one else can understand so unless they’re a Tarnian mining caste bot Megatron sounds like he’s just making noise. I headcanon that hell often curse in that language but his curses aren’t anything translatable (like some French curse words) they’re just a swear word specifically for the language

I also love the idea of accents and different accents, Megatron’s accent randomly slamming into his voice at full send catching everyone off guard even himself sometimes

And I think it would be hilarious if Megatron would talk shit to himself about everyone and no one can understand what he’s saying. I also think it could be interesting if this idea was ever explored : let’s say there’s an important message written in something but it’s in miner Tarnian or something along those lines of situations

Cybertronian language is so fun!!!

Also, tossing another projected headcanon that Megatron has dyslexia and has to make sure his writings, poems or messages are written in the proper dialect and not in old Tarnian or kaonite dialects. Soundwave could help him with the kaonite parts, basically peer reviewing his work for accidental slip ups in language change because Soundwave can catch his only other dialect, kaonite, faster than Megatron who had to learn kaonite then other dialects (like many others probably did) when the uprising started

[bumblebeesfromvenus]

Aching Heart left there in The Cold ♡

Character of your choice x reader, (ex. Leon Kennedy, Jason Todd, Link, Ghost, etc)

A/N:...I don't know what came over me. This is probably the most heart-wrenching thing I've ever written. You can blame (or thank) Blackbriar for that. I recommend the songs 'You're Haunting me', 'Bloody Footprints in the Snow', or 'The Séance' by the aforementioned culprit, if you really want to get into the story! I'd love to know which character you imagined while reading this, let me know <3

~Fi ❄️

Warnings: GORE, graphic depictions of dead animals, ANGST, this hurt to write but also I love it, hurt no comfort, AU but idk what this is tbh, I'll buy you tissues <3

Word count: 2.2k

Please don't copy my work! I put a lot of effort and heart into the things I write.

@pinkalmondcake @vampkennedy you wanted snow, but I don't think this what you meant.......

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The cold nipped at your fingertips as you slowly gained back your consciousness. You were absolutely freezing. Your eyes slowly fluttered open, having a hard time adjusting to the blinding white that enveloped you.

With a groan, you slowly managed to sit upright and take in your surroundings. You were sitting in the middle of a snowy forest. The thick blanket of flakes was covering the trees, making their branches sag. There was nothing but trees and snow, no matter where you looked. No end in sight, not a clearing or perhaps a wooden cabin. There was absolutely nothing except your cold, shivering self that still rested in the middle of these endless woods with rosy cheeks.

You held onto a nearby log to heave yourself off the freezing ground. Your legs were shaky and unreliable and your thick wool clothes that were once to keep you warm were now completely soaked and doing nothing to keep the cold and humidity out.

Gentle flakes were floating down upon you, catching on your hair and blanketing you in the same manner as they once had the plants. There was almost like a fog hanging close to the ground, dipping the scenery in an eerie atmosphere. It was dead silent. Not one little noise from the various animals that you knew lived here, not a creak of the tree branches who should be giving out under the weight of the snow. Not a breeze, let alone another human.

Your heart ached at the sight. What happened? You remember these woods, but not like this. They were always prosper, full of life. The flowers would bloom and the trees would carry bright leaves on their crowns. Birds and insects would harmonize to make a beautiful symphony that had your soul blossoming in your chest. The squirrels and hares that lingered around the plush forest floor were gone, no fawns and does were in sight. It was... dull. But at the same time so incredibly peaceful.

Not a single sound except your soft breaths. You could feel your muscles relax, yet there was a tightening feeling in your chest that you couldn't seem to shake.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Before you could even realize it, your feet were carrying you down what you remembered was a path, leaving the imprint of your body in the snow behind. The more you walked, the more the atmosphere changed. It was still quiet and white, but it became tense. Incredibly so. Like a string that was about to snap. You could make out a faint pink glow across the snowy ground in the distance. Hope bubbled up in your chest. There had to be something there, right? Something that could explain all of this.

Your breaths became shorter as you subconsciously sped up your pace to make it to that eerie glow. Before you could get far, though, you stepped on something with an echoing crunch. You stopped in your tracks and took a step back, wanting to see what was under the imprint of your boot. Kneeling down, you began digging, exposing deep crimson tainted snow. Blood. It was now staining your hands. With panicked and labored breaths, you dug your fingers deeper, unveiling what looked like a bone. It was now in pieces from you stepping on it. You stumbled back as much as you could as you were still kneeling, your hands leaving red traces in the snow.

Without a second thought you bunched up snow in your palms and tried to wash the ruby on your hands away. With teary eyes you harshly scrubbed at your skin, hoping, praying that you would get the blood off. Thankfully, you did, and your fingertips were now red from the cold and not from blood.

As soon was your hands were clean, you gathered up your many wool skirts and ran. As fast you could, dragging your boots through the snow. You were getting closer and closer to the pink glow. Now, it felt like you shouldn't be running towards it, but you couldn't go back to the horror you had found. You didn't want to go back.

Something caught your eye. Small, dark spots in the pure snow. You slowed your pace, intrigued by the tracks. Fear shot through you when you realized they were red. It was blood. Again. Your eyes were glued to what seemed drops of blood. They got bigger and bigger as you went on, turning into puddles. There were deep traces in the snow behind them, like something or someone was dragged across the snow.

You were too focused on the stained snow, tears cascading down your rosy cheeks at the absolute horrors before you that you tripped over something, falling forward into the cold. You were able to catch yourself with your hands, letting out a grunt at the impact. You recovered quickly, turning around to see what exactly it was that you stumbled over.

The scream that ripped through you echoed through the forest. Before you laid the carcass of a deer. Bloodied and ripped open. Deep gashes adorned the animals body. You could see some blood dripping from where it's ribcage had been cracked open, sinking into the snow. It was fresh. A recent kill. By what? Or who? Your heart broke for the poor animal.

The once curious and innocent eyes now drained of all life, staring back at you empty and dull. "What happened to you..?" You whispered shakily, having the urge to reach out to it. But there was nothing you could do anymore, not much at least. You muttered a quick prayer under your breath, gently stroking down the deer's face, hoping that at least its soul would be granted some peace.

You pulled your damp shawl tighter around your shoulders, continuing onwards. Nothing could've prepared you for what you saw next. A trail of slaughtered animals. All kinds, big and small, predator or prey. It seemed like whoever did this didn't discriminate. Their bodies were torn open, insides spilling onto the snow. Ribs were poking out, spines were exposed, and tufts of fur and feathers littered the ground. You felt sick to your stomach. A massacre, pools of blood tainting the snow.

Snow, something so beautiful and pure was now stained with the spilled blood of innocent creatures. You kept your gaze to the ground in front of you, silently weeping over all of these poor animals. You swallowed the bile that rose in your throat, its burn like acid.

When you eventually did raise your head, you saw someone. A man who had buried his sword into the chest of a wolf, twisting it and cracking its bones. He pulled the sword free and it dragged in the snow as he walked, leaving crimson streaks. His back was to you, thank the gods, but he just slowly went on.

You were frozen in place, your breath stopping in your throat as your heart beat faster. You couldn't move, you couldn't breath, you could only stand there, helplessly, wondering why he would do such a thing. Despite your brain screaming and yelling at you to turn back, your feet moved in his direction, following the bloody footprints he had left.

You tried your best to keep your eyes off the slaughtered creatures, focusing on his haunting silhouette instead. He came to a halt, letting go of his weapon which landed in the snow with a thud. He fell to his knees soon after, his shoulders sagging as his head fell forward. Sobs and cries racked through his body, making his form shake. You had the instinct to hold him, keep him close to your chest.

But he was a stranger, was he not? Cautiously, you stepped closer, hoping to not alert him of your presence. The hem of your skirt was now also stained with blood, leaving faint marks as it gently brushed against the surface of the snow. There was something so familiar about him, but the more you tried to think what it was, the hazier your mind got.

His cries were tugging at your heart uncomfortably, but you didn't know why. It was only when he cried out your name in pure agony that something in your mind clicked. It was your lover. The man you loved so deeply and fully that it hurt. The one you wanted to spend your entire life with. The one that you were devoted to so wholly. Without thinking, you breathlessly called out his name, making him freeze as a sob got caught in his throat.

His head whipped around, eyes wide and red, the tear streaks on his cheeks looking like they were beginning to crystallize from the bitter cold. "My love.. is that really you?" He breathed out, fully turning towards you, still on his knees. You could see the shock, the relief, and the excruciating pain in his eyes.

"Yes... why wouldn't it be..?" You brows were furrowed in concern. Why wouldn't it be you? What, in the Gods' name, was going on? Another sob tore through his chest as he reached out for your hands and pulled you down against his chest.

One arm was tightly wound around your waist while the other was gently stroking your damp hair. His face was buried in the crook of your neck as he continued his wailing cries. You could feel his hot tears running down your neck, despite it all, they felt freezing, sending shivers up your spine. Your hands found his cheeks and you softly pried his head from your neck.

"What's the matter, my darling?" Your voice soothed all of his aches and ailments. The gentleness it held was something he'd never experienced before. Until you. The tears spilled from his beautiful eyes still, even as he forced a wobbly smile onto his lips.

"I-I.. I thought I'd lost you.." he sighed, leaning into your touch. He looked so incredibly tired. Exhausted, really.

A soft, understanding smile settled on your face, though the furrow of your brows didn't waver. "You'll never lose me. I'll always find my way back to you. No matter what." The words pumped blood back into his cold heart. He sighed in relief, you could almost feel the heavy weight on his chest falling away for yourself. His eyes fell shut as he basked in the warming feeling of your touch, the pads of your thumbs stroking over his tear stained cheeks.

"I love you. With my whole being and soul do I love you. I'd carve out my heart if you'd ask me too." The confession made its way off his tongue with such ease, it had to be nothing but the truth.

When no response came and the warmth left his cheeks, he opened his eyes. Nothing. Absolutely nothing in front of him but the forest and the gruesome scene he had left behind. His blood froze in his veins. No. He searched for any indication of your presence. Footprints, kicked up snow or maybe a lingering warmth on his face. Nothing.

"No... No, no, no, no!" His heart-wrenching yell managed to shake the trees, dusting everything in a fresh layer of white. "Not again..." he sobbed, steadying myself with hid hands as he grasped at the snow where he was sure you had been. Trying to hold onto you desperately. He wailed and wept, clutching at his heart.

Had he gone mad and it was all a delusion? Or were you really here and someone took you away again? He couldn't tell. He only felt his heart shatter into a million shards again. He would scream for you until his throat was sore and his voice would give out. He had managed to lose you, the love of his life, twice in one lifetime.

His hands balled into fists as an overwhelming rage took over him. He would make them pay. He would hunt down the abominations that had cost him his love, and he would rain hellfire down upon them until they felt even a sliver of the pain that he had.

Picking himself up with a grunt and a scowl on his face, he reached for his sword. He tightly gripped the blood-soaked weapon and turned around to go down the path from wence he came. His gaze was stone cold as he walked past the field of death and destruction he had left.

He left his aching heart there in the cold, hoping you'd come back one day to keep it safe for him. But for now, he buried it deep in the snow where you were, vowing he would never feel that kind of agony again.

What he didn't know, however, was that you were always with him. Your ghastly pale and transparent hands were always reached out towards him or placed right above his heart.It pained you just as much when your touch would phase through him, the cruel reality twisting your heart.

So you went back to wander aimlessly around these endless woods, waiting for him to join you inevitably. You picked up his discarded heart and held it close to your chest, promising to give it back to him when the time came.

For now, you'd gently remind him of your presence with little breezes fanning over his cheeks, almost like a kiss and pleasant dreams, hoping to stitch up the gaping hole left in his chest.

You'd be together again. You'd wait eons for him because he would always return to you, just as you would to him.

Not even the thin veil of death could keep your souls apart.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

... *hands you a box of tissues and offers a hug* I'm sorry :(

[sirfrogsworth]

Computer q. For otherwise identical monitors, is a 4000:1 contrast ratio noticeably better from 1000:1? I don't mean for fancy art but like if I'm watching a movie, could I see the difference in a dark scene? I looked into oled's, but those are expensive and I think the way I use my stuff would cause burn in.

I hope you don't mind, but I got carried away and answered pretty much every computer monitor question anyone has ever had. And since this turned into a whole thing, I thought I'd share it for everyone to benefit.

For a computer monitor I would say the most important aspect is actually the viewing angle. This is how far off-axis you can look at the monitor before the image degrades.

We sit very close to our displays and at that distance, even a change in height in your chair can affect the image. Move a little bit left or right and a cheap display could completely wash out and look terrible. And if you get a display that is 27" or above, even if you sit dead center, the edges of the screen will appear dark and washed out with a bad viewing angle.

The two best display technologies to get a good viewing angle are IPS (in-plane switching) and OLED. If you are interested in a display without these technologies, be sure it has a decent viewing angle. You can read more about viewing angles here and here.

IPS has very little concern for burn-in, but it is still a concern with OLED. In recent years OLED has greatly improved and image retention and burn-in can be avoided with regular maintenance. Displays will have pixel shift features and noise modes that work out all the pixels evenly. You can run these features every once in a while to prevent burn-in. You can also play special anti-burn-in videos on YouTube (full screen) to exercise the pixels to uniformity.

So if you don't mind the hassle, you can manage an OLED with low risk.

That said, OLED was almost exclusively for TVs and has only recently been introduced for computer displays. The current options are quite large and fairly expensive, as you alluded to. So if you are trying to stay within a budget, it might be best to seek out an IPS display.

Another consideration is resolution. Everyone is obsessed with everything being 4K now. But I think increasing the resolution brings diminishing returns with regard to increased detail you can actually notice. So if you don't mind going with a 1440p monitor (about 2.5K), you can save some money on resolution and get higher quality in more noticeable areas. Personally, I feel 1440p gives you a nice, noticeable bump in detail over 1080p. Whereas going from 1440p to 4K (2160p) is less noticeable unless you have very good vision.

Another benefit to 1440p is that video games are much easier to run on high quality settings with a reasonable GPU. And you can use technologies like super sampling (Nvidia calls this DLSS) to increase the detail you may lose from not going 4K.

The only concern I'd have with not going 4K is if you edit 4K video. It will be difficult to do a pixel level analysis of your footage otherwise. But other than that, you can still watch 4K content on a 1440p monitor and because it is being downsampled, you will still notice a nice bump in detail.

So if you don't have a reason to get a 4K display, I think 1440p is worth considering.

The next concern would be color. Or color gamut. This is how many colors the display can accurately reproduce. If you don't do any art or video color grading, you'll at least want something that does 95 to 100% of sRGB. That is the color space the entire internet uses. And if you are going to be watching HDR movies, you might want a display with a decent percentage of the P3 color space as well. Doesn't need to be 100%, but the higher the better. And for those who do art, a good percentage of Adobe RGB is recommended.

Also, many manufacturers offer displays that come pre-calibrated from the factory. If color accuracy is important, I would seek out one of these displays with a Delta E rating of 3 or less (lower is better).

A newer factor in displays is peak brightness. This is measured in "nits." In standard dynamic range (SDR), video only needed to reach 100 nits. Most HDR content is mastered to reach 1000 nits. In the future, that number will be 4000. And if micro LED technology ever becomes affordable, we may go up to 10,000 nits. But almost everything is around 1000 at the moment, so that is a good number to shoot for.

HOWEVER, because HDR is tone mapped (the brightness of your display is factored in and the content is adjusted accordingly), you can still get some benefits of HDR, even if you cannot do the full 1000 nits.

All monitors can do 100 nits for SDR content. But with more things being displayed in HDR, having more nits will give you a better experience. This does not mean your display will blind you. Usually bright stuff only takes up a small portion of the screen. But having more nits allows highlights to really pop and feel immersive. A lightsaber might actually feel hot and dangerous on a bright enough screen.

Computer displays are often rated as HDR400 or HDR600 or HDR1000 based on their nits. The HDR400 isn't great for HDR content. If you can do 600 or above within your budget, you'll get a better experience. If you are going to watch movies, this may be a feature you prioritize.

I know you mentioned contrast ratio, but I'm afraid that is a little complicated to answer. It can depend on other aspects of the monitor and the viewing environment. So I'll try to give you the info you need to figure out if the display you select will suit your needs.

Manufacturers can use tricks to fudge their contrast ratio in product descriptions, so it is best to go to an independent review website like RTINGS to see what they measured. (They do good TV and monitor reviews too.) You'll see that OLED displays are said to have "infinite" contrast ratio, due to being able to turn off pixels completely. Which means it is probably time to move to a new metric because that gives very little info on the dynamic range of the display (the difference between the darkest and brightest thing it can show).

You definitely want a decent contrast ratio for your display, but this can be subjective. If you have a nice bright screen, your brain may feel the contrast is fantastic, even if the actual darkest black point of the monitor isn't great. If something is really bright, then dark things will *seem* darker by comparison. And if you are viewing in a dark environment, the contrast will look even better. So this is where seeking out a professional reviewer's experience of the monitor can be helpful. One monitor's 4000:1 ratio might be a different experience than another with the same measurement.

Because TVs are generally larger and can have more backlighting zones, they can get decent black levels without OLED. But smaller computer displays have more difficulty in reasonable price ranges. So manage your black level expectations if you go with an affordable IPS display. They can get bright, but they aren't great at blacks like OLED. I'm afraid that is just a limitation of the tech. In fact, getting a brighter display might be preferable to a better contrast ratio. And it will be easier to see if you are in a bright environment.

Most IPS displays are going to be between 1000:1 and 5000:1 and while it does make a difference, if you sit it next to an old plasma or an OLED, you're going to be disappointed. So I would not make contrast ratio a super high priority with IPS, because non-OLED computer displays just aren't going to give you inky blacks. I would say 2000:1 or better is going to give you a decent experience. But, again, I would seek out reviews rather than trust the official product specs when it comes to the quality of the blacks.

And one final consideration you may want to factor in is the refresh rate. This is mostly for gaming. Most displays will give you at least 60 Hz or 60 "refreshes" per second. Gamers tend to like 120 Hz or higher. This won't affect movie watching very much as nearly everything except Gemini Man is 24 fps.

TLDR overview...

Get an IPS or OLED display for a good viewing angle. I personally feel this is the most important feature.

Choose a resolution. 1440p can allow you to increase quality in other areas to maximize your budget. Only get 4K if you have a legit reason or you have fighter pilot vision.

Color gamut or number of colors. Try to get 100% of sRGB for web content, 90% or above of Adobe RGB for art/photography, and 90% or above of P3 for HDR movies and video editing.

If color accuracy is important, look for pre-calibrated displays that have a Delta E of 3 or less. (Lower is better)

HDR brightness. If you want to experience good HDR, you'll want the brightest screen possible (measured in nits). HDR600 or HDR1000 are great. If you don't care about HDR, then don't worry about the rating.

Contrast ratio and black levels. It's going to be meh on pretty much anything but OLED. 2000:1 or better is a good goal to shoot for, but be sure to check independent reviews for the subjective experience of the black levels. Dark viewing environments help too.

Refresh rate. 60 Hz is fine for most things. Gamers prefer 120 Hz or faster. And if you are a competitive gamer, you may want to seek out more info on "variable refresh rate" and "pixel response time."

Pick the variables above that seem most important to you and then seek out a display that does those things decently within your budget.

[eventinelysplayground]

One Thing

Kinktober Day 22: Mutual Masturbation | Hate/Angry Sex

Pairing: Jude x Female Reader

I'm going to start this off by saying I do not know that much about Jude other than the few event stories in English so far and the fanfics I've read on here so I could be completely off on his character. That said his personality is pretty up front so I think I'm at least in the ballpark for him but if not I apologize in advance. You and Jude get into an argument that has a more pleasing outcome then usual. CW ⚠️: some light choking and roughness, possibly some consent issues (sudden/surprise kisses and touching) but is made clear it becomes consentual. This fic is NSFW so minors do not interact. WC approx 1757.

Jude was in an even fouler mood than usual today. It had been three weeks of having to put up with you tagging along with him and Ellis and he was fed up with it.

What the hell was a bird like you doing waltzing into a house late at night anyways? Not a bit of common sense in that bird brain of yours and today was no exception.

“Get in there.”

“Ow, you're still hurting me!”

You had come to the docks with him while he was doing his day job and your day dreaming almost got you smacked in the head with a heavy wooden crate as it was being moved. If he had been even a second slower in reacting he would have had a hell of a time explaining to Victor about what the hell happened.

“Stop your complainin’!”

Jude opened the door to his office with a bang as he shoved you inside. He released his grip on your arm and slammed the door shut behind the two of you. He looked at you as you rubbed your arm where he had grabbed you.

Freaking fantastic, now I'm gonna have to explain those to Roger! What the hell’d I ever do to get stuck babysitting her?

“What the hell's wrong with you!?”

Jude stared at you waiting for an answer meanwhile you just stood there continuing to rub your arm while glaring daggers at him.

I don't got the patience for this.

“If you're too dumb to-”

“I'm sorry it won't happen-”

The two of you had spoken over each other. Jude let out a frustrated sigh and motioned to you.

“Go ahead and finish Princess.”

Jude couldn't help but smirk at the furious look on your face.

“I was going to say it won't happen again and thank you for saving me but now never-.”

“You should be saying more than a simple thank you to me for not only saving you but having to put up with you.”

“Put up with me!?”

“Ya, do you have any idea how much of a nuisance yo-”

“Hahaha!”

“The hell are you laughing at?”

“You're complaining about having to deal with me? That's rich, I'm the one that's had to put up with your horrible attitude and violent threats the last three weeks!”

“Why you-”

“You know I think I should have chosen to just have Crown kill me that night, at least then I would be in heaven instead of whatever type of hell this is!”

You little bitch.

Jude didn't even think, he was too pissed off as he walked towards you and wrapped a hand around your throat then backed you up against the wall.

“What did you say?”

“I said I'd rather be dead than living in the hell that is having to follow you around.”

The hell is with this bird? Why the hell is she always getting under my skin like this?

Jude tightened his grip around your throat and he felt you swallow.

“I can make that happen, the lectures and dirty looks would be a lot easier to put up with then you.”

“Then go ahead and do it.”

Jude tightened his hold around your throat even more. He was making sure to keep the pressure just below where it could seriously harm you but he heard the way your breathing changed anyway. It was more ragged and shallow now and he looked into your eyes expecting to see fear but instead they were full of a fiery defiance.

Damn it this ain't working.

“What are y-”

“Shut up already.”

Jude brought his face to yours and kissed you. Your lips were just as soft as he’d thought they'd be as he forcefully claimed them. The way you squirmed under him trying to fight against him made him smile and he felt weeks worth of anger and frustration start to melt away. He loosened his grip around your throat as he pulled away and smirked seeing the blush on your cheeks and ears.

“What…what the hell do you think you're doing!?”

“I figured I'd try this release first, if it doesn't work I can always still kill ya.”

Jude took advantage of your brain trying to process what he said and kissed you again. It was more forceful this time and he nipped at your lower lip wanting to taste you more. You just squirmed more under him while trying to tilt or twist your head away from him.

“Open your mouth.”

Jude growled when he went to kiss you again and felt that your lips were still closed followed by you shaking your head.

“I wasn't asking Princess, now open your mouth.”

When he kissed you this time he found your lips parted for him and he smirked. He slipped his tongue into your mouth claiming every inch of it as he took your breath from you. He swirled his tongue even deeper in your mouth trying to catch your tongue. You fought him on it but only at first, soon he felt your movements slowing and he was able to catch it twining it with his own.

Soon he was out of breath himself and when he'd pulled away from you he saw a mix of lust and furey in your eyes.

“That's a hell of a look, looks like you can't decide if you want to fuck me or kill me.”

“I definitely don't want to fuck you!”

“You sure about that?”

Jude reached his free hand under your skirt and up between your legs. Just as he thought as soon as he pressed on your underwear he felt the wetness start seeping through.

“With how wet you are you still gonna try and say you don't want me?”

“That's…that's not because of you!”

Jude couldn't help himself and he laughed at your stubbornness.

“Then it's from what I did to ya. I never thought you were such a nasty lil bird.”

“It's not from that either!”

“Gotta be one or the other Princess, and while you're thinking on which one it is...”

Jude moved his hand out from under your skirt and heard the whine you tried to hold back.

“I'm gonna take these off.”

I ain't able to hold back much longer, how the hell do you keep driving me so mad? I should of just let the damn crate hit her…

Jude kissed you as his skilled fingers undid your skirt. He let gravity do the work for him as he ran his hand along your hip and top of your thigh before slipping off your underwear then bringing his fingers back between your legs. He let them glide over your clit and your wet folds and he smirked when you moaned into the kiss.

“Which one is it Princess?”

Jude stopped his fingers waiting and you glared at him.

“You're such an ass.”

“That ain't an answer and I'm not moving till I get one.”

“You're serious?”

Jude didn't respond to you with words, instead he caressed your throat with his thumb.

Hahaha if looks could kill.

“Fine, it's from both okay! Now can you please finish what you started.”

“Anything for a Princess.”

Jude crashed his lips into yours again and this time you kissed him back as he felt your arms snake around his neck and pull him closer. He quickly undid his pants, taking out his cock before he finally released his hold on your neck. He pushed you harder into the wall then lifted your legs up and wrapped them around his waist before guiding his hard cock into you.

“Ahhh!”

Judes hands dug into your thighs and lower ass leaving behind shallow gashes as he held you up. He felt your hands slide over his shoulders and dig into them through his clothes as he kissed down your neck before biting it and you moaned.

“That's it, sing more for me.”

Jude thrusted deeper now hitting a spot he hadn't before. He wanted to go even faster but despite how wet you were you were still so tight and he was afraid of hurting you, not that he'd admit it out loud. He kept going deep and slow while biting at the soft skin on your neck and drawing out more moans.

“Jude...go faster.”

Jude raised an eyebrow before he looked at you.

You got any idea what you're saying, any idea how much I'm holding back so I don't hurt ya too badly?

As if you heard his thoughts one of your hands slipped from his shoulder and began undoing the top buttons of your shirt exposing the tops of your breasts.

“It's already embarrassing enough to be fucking you don't-”

“Hey!”

Jude shouted at you and you stopped talking then he kissed you roughly. No longer caring if he hurt you or not he began thrusting as fast and deep as he could and you cried out into the kiss. He moved his lips down the marred flesh of your neck to the newly exposed skin on your chest. He bit and sucked at the skin turning it shades of red and purple as your hand wrapped around the back of his head.

“Oh God Jude!”

Jude felt your walls tighten even more around him and he winced.

It's like a vice down there, who knew you were hiding something like that.

Jude barely had time to finish that thought before he felt your walls tighten even more and he felt you arch into him.

“Yes! Ahhh!”

Jude moved one of his hands from supporting you up your side to lightly wrap around your throat again and it made you moan even louder. He felt your grip on him loosening as he pulled out leaving just his tip in you and then he slammed back into you and you yelped. He kept pulling almost fully out and slamming back into you until he felt his cock twist and he pushed as far into you as he could, filling you up with his cum and kissing you as he did so.He took his hand off your throat again moving it back to support your bottom as you collapsed into him with a contented sigh.

You really are a strange bird.

“Hehe, looks like I found one thing about you that's likable.”

Jude couldn't see your face but he knew from the huff you let out that you were glaring at him again.

“Keep letting me fuck you like that Princess and I may eventually stop hating you.”

Tag List: @nightghoul381, @queengiuliettafirstlady, @nani-nani-nani, @floydsteeth

[backgroundagent3]

hey!! hope you're doing well!!

i know you're reading funny story right now (ahhh) and probably have a long tbr so there's no pressure to read this but i just read the ex vows by jessica joyce and i think you might like it!!!

it reminded me a lot of happy place in that it focused on a found family of friends and how they changed over the years, and it was a second chance romance, and there's a wedding they're prepping for, but it also felt completely like its own new and different thing! i think it's one of the best non-emily henry romances i've ever read and it's the kind of romance that emily henry writes, where it's more emotional and focuses a lot on the character journey.

anyways, since happy place is your favorite emily henry i thought i'd let you know about it!!

Hii! I'm doing good! Thank you so much for the recommendation, I always struggle a lot finding new books to read. I've got a couple of books I'd like to read first, but it sounds so good, I'm so excited!! I just loved the whole vibe of Happy Place, and I love reading about found families, so I'll add it to my tbr.

I'm almost done with Funny Story and on the one hand I can't wait to finish it and tell you about it, but I also never want it to end!

Also I forgot to tell you I finally finished Daisy Jones & The Six!! It's the book that's taken me the longest to read, which is weird cause it's so good! I guess I was really busy but anyways. I loved the format so much, it's so unique, and it also makes it so easy to read! I have a really short attention span, so a book that's basically all dialogue is perfect for me. Some spoilers ahead!

The characters were so funny to me. I went in thinking it was gonna be a found family but then it turns out they all kind of hate each other. They're all so unique and fun to read about. Camila and Karen are so cool, and Warren's the comedic relief, and Pete's just some guy, and Billy's insufferable, and Daisy's also kind of insufferable, but I still loved her. I've seen a lot of people hating on Eddie, and I genuinely don't understand it?? Yes he had a short fuse, but also yes he was justified (at least in my opinion. I hated how Billy kept screwing him over).

I also loved the "where are they now bit", because here I am thinking Pete is dead throughout the whole book, and then it turns out he just had no interest in being part of the interview (which is very cool of him, I too would try to forget about my incredibly dysfunctional found family). The Julia plot twist was so cool, and I couldn't believe Camila was dead all along! I loved her so much. It was so satisfying seeing what their lives look like today, and every ending was very fitting for each character too.

Also loved reading about Karen and Graham, and even though I knew they wouldn't stay together, I was so invested, and I cried my eyes out at their ending. It's so heartbreaking, and you kind of see both POVs, which makes it even sadder.

I think it's just one of these books that leave you staring off into the distance for a while. Just seeing the lives they lead, and knowing that this is how rockstars' lives were actually like feels so special and sad and exciting, and I don't even know where I'm going with this but yeah. 10/10.

Thanks again for the recommendation, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book! I'll try to finish Funny Story asap (I'm almost done, for real this time). <3

[lionheartslowstart]

POA

Something happened recently that has caused me to confront the fact that I am truly disabled. It's not that I didn't know I was, of course I have since the autism diagnosis, but I really, and I mean really, got hit in the face with it.

I'll explain.

I can't go into too much detail regarding the actual circumstances, but the long and short of it is that I had to give my parents power of attorney in order to solve a housing issue. I trust parents completely and I know it's not something they would ever abuse. They made it clear to me that should I ever want to dissolve it, we could do that, and that the sole purpose for getting it was to avoid any houses issues now and in the future.

We had to go to a lawyer's office to sign the document and have it notarized. It was all very official. Afterwards, I drove home, sat on my bed, and just cried.

When I received the autism diagnosis, I was diagnosed with Level 1 autism. Autism is divided into 3 different levels. However, in my research, these levels seem to pertain strictly to social skills. In this way, yes, I am a Level 1 autistic. But if we're talking about "functionality," I'm not so sure I can qualify as Level 1 anymore. (Seriously, why IS it split by social ability? That's stupid.)

I'm 30 years old, and I'm still financially dependent on my parents. At this point in my life, I can't work a full time job. As a result, I will never be financially independent, and I will never be able to afford housing on my own. I say "at this point," because maybe one day that will change, but I doubt it. And for the record, I count myself lucky I can at least work a part time job, because 85% of autistics can't work at all.

Autism is a developmental disability, and I feel that as I'm getting older, it's become more obvious. Because I'm staying the same. I mean, obviously not completely the same. I've learned and grown and matured, and my friends who have known me for over a decade always comment on how much I've changed, but that's not what I mean. I mean that I feel like an adult and a child at the same time. I mean there are certain things I can't DO, certain things I can't retain or process, because my brain just won't let me. For example, I can't set up health insurance by myself. Every time my mom tries to explain it to me, my brain glazes over. That's the best way I can explain it. And I swear, I am trying SO hard to pay attention. I can't help it. My brain just...won't.

If this is what my life looks like when I'm 30, what is it going to look like when I'm 50? 60? 70? Not good. Not a good quality of life at all.

I'm so jealous of my friends and family. I don't understand how they do it. Even my other autistic friends are able to work full time or go to school full time without incident. (I did go to college full time but I almost ended myself like 3 times and I had to take a LOT of time off throughout.) It makes me feel guilty and bad. Like a loser. A failure. And yes, I know that autism can look different in everyone. I guess this is just one of the ways it affects me personally. But even so, it's painful to watch everyone around you be fully independent, and for whatever reason that's just not you. I mean, I'm independent in other ways. I can live by myself, make my own appointments, work part-time, and form meaningful relationships. I'm really trying to focus on those things instead, but it's been difficult to stay positive. I feel like financial independence is pretty major.

I want to interject here and say that I am insanely grateful to my parents. I know how blessed I am. They are my biggest supporters, both emotionally and financially. They love me so much, and if I didn't have them I'm certain I'd be homeless, probably long dead. I know that most people don't have parents like mine, let alone autistic people. I thank them all the time and tell them how guilty I feel and reassure them that I'm not lazy or spoiled, that I take their support very seriously. And they always assure me that they know, and not to worry about it, and they just want me to be happy.

But I do worry about it. My parents have wasted so much money on keeping me alive, it makes me physically ill. If I wasn't around, they'd have more money in their pockets for other things. They wouldn't have to worry about me all the time. I genuinely feel like they'd be better off without me, at least in the long run.

Like I said, the thoughts have been real dark lately, y'all. I've been extremely depressed since we instated the POA. This is my reality.

I don't know if my friends will still want to be friends with me in 10 years. Even my autistic friends. I don't like that I'll most likely never be financially independent. It is my greatest shame and I wish so badly it wasn't true.

People who insist autism is a fad and that people fake it for attention or whatever can eat my entire ass.

I would do anything, and I mean anything, to not be autistic.