#this semester was absolutely brutal

[shimyereh]

Done with my fourth semester of grad school!

[theaxolotlkween]

Something something Rex Salazar has more in common with modern cartoon protagonists than the protagonists of the early 2000’s superhero cartoon genre something something he’d be more likely to sing the Cookie Cat song with Steven Universe and fangirl over Good Witch Azura with Luz Noceda then do whatever it is Ben Tennyson and Danny Fenton are getting up to something about a disclaimer about how I like all those cartoons and that I think the crossovers people make are fun, blah blah blah in this essay I will— *immediately collapses because of finals fatigue and autistic burnout*

[weirdgrrlgerard]

weird morning...but now i have mocha, baroque readings and some poetry/reading to go through later yaaaay

[morgaseus]

Absolutely smitten by Rayne Ames the moment I saw him. Look i'm a sucker for self-sacrificing characters. And that got me thinking...

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who is the Golden boy of Easton Academy; Academics? Looks? Talent? Skills? The teacher's love him, every girl loves him, the boys want to be him, and parent's wish their children were like him. He's got it all, so what's not to like about him?

And enter you, a perfectly average student who can't seem to excel at anything other than subjects you're passionate/interested about. Compared to Rayne Ames, you're nothing, not even a pebble at a sidewalk.. So when midterm results came out… you feel like your soul’s about to ascend to heaven

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who’s as cold as the northern winds, even his fangirls have a hard time approaching him! but that won't deter you from approaching him! Not when your grades are on the line!

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who you begged to tutor you! And if he refuses, you threaten to tell everyone how he has a soft spot for rabbits, thereby ruining his image! HA! He can't have that now can he?!

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who absolutely does not care if you tell everyone about his fondness for rabbits; he’s got his priorities straight, he couldn’t care less about some nobody. But upon seeing how genuine you are about needing his help, relented.

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who’s tutoring methods are brutal. You feel like a recruit being told by his superiors to do 100 pushups! You feel like you're about to cry. Ahhh, just what the hell did you put yourself into, you’d rather go to sleep, but you have to push through! Think about your parents, who worked their asses off to enroll you in a prestigious school!

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who was the first person you told about your finals exam result. He didn't seem like it but deep down he’s very proud of you! Your score may not be the same as his but Rayne knows how much effort you put to achieve a high score.

Schoolmate! Rayne Ames who found himself always waiting for you. It's Lunchtime? You’ll come to his room to fetch him, so you two can have lunch together. It’s a semester break and there's a festival near the town? You’ll come to his dorm room so both of you can enjoy it together.

And oh, there’s a prize you really want but can’t seem to get because you suck at the game? He’ll win it for you. There’s a stuffed toy who seems to remind him of you? He’ll get it for you.

Rayne Ames who’s slowly but surely falling for you.

Rayne Ames upon realizing his feelings can't help but be disgusted. Disgusted at himself for allowing someone like him to fall for you.

Rayne Ames who slowly starts to distance himself from you. You want to eat lunch together? He’s got an important task to attend to. There’s a festival near town? Again, he's got an important task to attend to. You need his help regarding this certain subject you're having a hard time with? You can ask someone else to help you. He’s a busy man, he has no time for such frivolities.

Rayne Ames who despite his best efforts in avoiding you, can't help but feel like there’s something, someone lacking in his life. It feels so bleak, so empty,

Rayne Ames who always finds you seeking him, always asking about his whereabouts, despite it being months of avoiding you. He knows that you know he’s purposely avoiding you, any normal person would’ve given up by now, and yet, you still insist

Rayne Ames who found himself cornered by you. Apologizing to him if you did something wrong or told something offensive to him

Rayne Ames who denied any of the above. Telling you that you did nothing wrong and that you should go back to your room now, it's beyond hours.

“Then, is it because you don’t want to be seen with someone like me? Is that it Rayne? Is that it?”

Rayne Ames who’s chest ached.

Rayne Ames whose eyes are as cold as the northern winds told you: “that’s right, i'm ashamed to be seen with someone like you”

Rayne Ames who can't seem to read you, you've always worn your heart around your sleeves, but this time it's like you've totally enclosed your heart. But this should be fine right? This should be enough to deter you. So give up, stop looking for him and go on with your life. 

“You’re not being truthful, at all, Rayne. At Least tell me the truth so I can..”

Rayne Ames who clenched his teeth and told you the truth; how during those times you've been together, he found himself falling for you, and he can’t have that.

And Rayne Ames who told you that you deserve someone better; someone normal unlike him. Someone who can give you a normal life, grow old and have a normal happy family. Without him, without someone like him

Rayne Ames who heard the sharp, piercing noise, before the stinging sensation in his cheek. It took a moment for Rayne to process what happened, out of all the possible reactions for you to have, being slapped did not cross his mind.

Rayne Ames who sees your face contort with anger and sadness; telling him that he has no right to dictate what you should do with your life.

Rayne Ames who feels guilty, he knows what he’s done is wrong, but it's the only thing he knows that's right- keeping people he cherishes away from him. You shouldn’t get entangled with him any further. It's for your own good.

Rayne Ames who pulls you close to him, hiding behind the shadows of a pillar, so as to not get discovered by a patrolling staff. Your argument with him might’ve alerted them. 

Rayne Ames who became too aware of how close you are. Too close. Too close.

Rayne Ames who was ready to pull himself away from you. But before he could make a move, he felt your arms wrap around him, pulling him closer to you. Despite his inclination to pull away, he found himself melting into your embrace.

Just once, he’ll allow this luxury just once more.

[thatnonameuser]

The Red King holds a Bleeding Head

A Wonderland of Yanderes - Masterlist

Chapter 1. Heartslaybul Part 3.

Apparently, what parts of the conversation you missed before running all the way here was that you missed the first bell and were late. So after running, being dragged, all the way here, you'd gone straight to class. 

Thankfully, Ace’s collar problem wasn’t a class problem, thanks to all the classes so far being theory.

With that problem out of the way let's get back to you.

If you planned on learning today, that plan went out the window. Not only where you still repeating what Cater had said to you earlier. Being ousted for being a darling would put you in such great danger, so the fact he figured it out in the hour you spent with him this morning was very much not good.

It also got your desk hit with Professor Crewel's riding crop/wand? for not paying attention in class. Speaking of, Crewel had been the one to rat you out to Crowley so you weren't expecting him to be kind to you, but unlike the brutal berating he gave Ace for making a sarcastic quip in the middle of his lecture, he'd given you a stern look and nothing else.

You just hope that it was fluke, because you don't want to think about the idea if he's in love with you too. Wait, is it possible for a yandere to love platonically, you'll have to research that.

If you can even do that, to begin with. Because the textbooks that you received aren't the right ones. Why? Because they're missing complete pages worth of information.

How do you know?

Because you compared it to Ace's.

There was a love potion spell that would be taught the first years next semester, powerful, dangerous and it could if used correctly sever cognitive thought from the darling for a period of a day, and replace it with false love.

Your copy of the same Potionology textbook didn't have that. Or any of the other potions that could do the same thing. In magical history, the ancient tactics used by yanderes were wiped clean from your copy, when they were present in Deuce's own.

What's worse is that this was done on purpose. How do you know that? Because you pointed it out.

At the end of Potionology, you'd gone to the Professor textbook in hand in search of an explanation.

"Excuse me, Professor Crewel?"

"Pup, it is Master Crewel." You were not calling him that, "How can help you?"

"Um, something's wrong with my textbook? It's missing a lot of pages." He taken it from you and flipped through it. And then set back in your hands.

"There is nothing wrong with this pup. It has everything you need in it." He'd said if he hadn't lied clean through his teeth.

"B-but I checked with one of the other textbooks, dozens of pages on potion recipes are missing?!" You'd argued.

"Pup, you are referring to the textbooks we give the yandere students. By law, I'm required to give you this one." What?!, was what you thought in anger.

"W-What law?" You asked, you were absolutely dumbstruck at his response. You were getting really tired of being left in the dark.

"Darling students are not allowed to readily access any knowledge about what their future yanderes will use against them, regardless of purpose." That was what came out of his mouth, he hadn't seen anything wrong with it.

It wasn't just that either. The same thing happened with your Magical History book when you asked Professor Trein. And you got some more bad news.

The library, your saving grace, wasn't allowed to give you any of the books they'd given you last time. No more information that could help you. You couldn't even use the textbooks Grim would get, as they were being kept in the classrooms rather than in Ramshackle. The jury was still out on your 'The Art of Ensnaring Hearts' class about whether or not you could even attend those in the future. Was this all done to keep you from learning about what the Yanderes know, to keep you from knowing how to save yourself?

Phys Ed, was the only class you could actually do without someone putting you at a disadvantage. It may not have been your favorite class, but considering you might need to run away from a yandere in the future, you ran as fast as you could.

And now your legs hurt real bad. You weren't the most athletic person but Coach Vargas really worked you over.

Eventually, after a really rough morning, break time rolled around.

"Let's see, our next class is...."

"This so-called magic academy feels a lot like a lame, ordinary school." Ace complains. You disagree, normal schools don't usually teach students how to make love spells. You hope at least. Do non-magic schools teach similar yandere stuff? "It's not exactly what I expected, but at least this collar won't be much of a problem after all."

"You with me on that, Grim? ....Hm?" Grim's silence hadn't struck you as weird until Ace said that. Your loudmouth, tuna-loving cat monster hadn't thrown up a complaint since you left your last class.

"Grim?" You search for Grim among the legs of traveling students but you can't find him. A bad feeling sinks into your stomach. Ace and Deuce couldn't do it. They were right next to you the whole time, so what happened to him?! Did he get-

"Oh! Look out the window! i just saw a ball of fur running across the yard!" Deuce exclaims. You transition the fear of his imminent demise to anger for his abandonment of you.

"Where!?" You nearly collide with the window in your haste, as Deuce points him out down below. A small grey blur races quickly across the courtyard, "He's cutting class!" The Headmaster's going to be furious. And the LAST thing you need is being kicked out into a world where MURDER IS OK!!!

"Boy, that guy is not a fast learner." Yeah, Deuce. Clearly!! He just left you alone in a yandere school! You're definitely withholding his tuna for this.

"Not a good look to lose your only student in your first week as a prefect. Want some help catching him?"

"YES!" You yell, not caring about the future implications. Two IOU's in one day is not gonna be good for you in the future. But right now, your present is on the line! "Please just help me!"

You don't know what you looked like when you said that, but considering how the both of them blushed, you'll have to worry about that later.

Right now, you need to get Grim, preferably before he burns something down.

And so you began the chase of Grim through the courtyard. With your legs still burned from the exhaustion of Coach Vargas' training, you could barely keep up with Ace and Deuce and nearly collapsed once on the way.

But thankfully, the fear and rage from earlier turned into adrenaline that propelled you forward.

And propel you it did, into a person.

You had been a few paces behind Ace and Deuce, but you were far enough to lose sight of them as they turned a corner into the courtyard.

So you hadn't seen the person you ran into, but inertia wasn't your friend today.

You had expected to hit the floor of the courtyard, concrete or grass, whichever was softer, and braced mentally for impact. Only for an arm to swiftly wrap around your waist.

Fast, so fast that you can't even get a letter out of your mouth in sheer surprise, whoever caught you had slipped an arm round your waist, saving you from your unlucky fall.

And so the charming prince that caught you was...

Blonde, with his hair cut into a mid-length bob. Perched on his head is a brown hat sporting a pale white feather. His green eyes are like a falcon's, sharp and piercing. He smiles down upon you. Your noses are practically an inch away from touching. The way you're positioned is straight out of a romance novel, the male lead saving the clumsy MC from a nasty fall.

The embarrassment of the situation you've found yourself in doesn't escape you as you feel the blood rush to your cheeks. "I-I’m sorry!" You blurt out. Thank the seven that there aren't many people around.

" , . I'm just lucky that I caught you." He's speaking French? But how does.....y’know what, nope not touching that one.

"Yeah, thanks." He still hasn't let you out of his hold, and you'd like it for him to let you go now. "Could you, uh, let me up now."

"Bien sûr, mon cher," he says something in French that you don’t understand, but he does help you to your feet with a flourish. He even spins you for some reason.

OK. Another weird one.

You dust yourself off, "Thanks, sorry again," you say somewhat sheepishly.

The smile your savior has is seemingly unshakable, and the laugh he gives you in reply reflects that, "Non non, ce n'est pas un problème du tout, though chérie, will you not grace me with your name?" He even speaks like all the lovelorn princes in your childhood storybooks, well minus all the French.

"It's _______. Have you seen a grey cat run through here?"

"Oui, filou he went that way," Great, you prepare to turn but he stops you with a hand on your shoulder, "though it is best if you head that way if you wish to find him." He points in a direction very far from where he originally pointed.

One of your eyebrows quirk up in confusion, "How do you know that?" You ask.

"Call it a hunter's intuition. You wouldn’t want to be late for Arithmancy, ______" He says with a smile.

You thank him before running in the direction he told you, and in no time at all, you find Deuce dropping a struggling Grim into a net Ace is holding.

And so the Great Grim was captured.

"Mrrah! I've had it with these boring classes!" He squirms in the net Ace took from one of the grounds men, even with his claws he can't escape the netting.

"Grim, you'll never be a great mage if you don't attend classes!" You scold but Grim doesn't stop complaining.

"Ugh! When did you get all bossy?!" Grim continues his complaning as you cross your arms.

You ignore his pointless pouting. You got all bossy when you found out that a single screw up could either result in you getting attacked by a obsessive lover, or get thrown out of here on your rear end with no one to protect you from the aforementioned obsessive lovers.

That and he trapped you into another  IOU five minutes ago that might bite you in the ass later. You can't afford to get into any trouble. With Crowley, with the teachers, with the other dorm leaders, the other students. And Grim....is also someone you need to keep yourself sane.

"Pout about it all you want, Grim." You remove him from the net, holding him against your hip like he’s a troublesome toddler so he doesn't run away again. You turn to Ace and Deuce, and smile softly, "Thanks, you guys."

Again, that light returns in both their eyes. Ace smiles mischievously and slings his arm over the two of you in a half hug, "Glad to help clean up the mess made by the worst prefect to ever set foot on campus!"

"It wasn't that bad, Ace. Let her go! Like the last time, Deuce pulls Ace's arm off of you. The two glare at each other, as if silently fighting. Unlike Ace, Deuce tends to respect your personal space only ever doing this when Ace gets too touchy or too close. That and he always tries to defend you when Ace or anyone else teases you. Maybe it really is in your best interest to get closer to Deuce.

"Alright you two, we're gonna be late. Our next class is...." Aw man, it's Arithmancy. No wonder Grim ran off. You say such and Ace groans.

At least they can't censor this class, too. A part of you would like it if they did.

"C'mon, let's not get caught 'skipping' class."

On the way back, you wonder about the man you ran into. Now that you thought about it, he never gave you his name. And you gave him yours immediately, damn it!

Still, the likelihood that he was a yandere for you was too unrealistic. Sure, Ace and Deuce might have budding feelings for you, but the likelihood that four different people were all yandere for you was already rare, even for this world.

Besides, you've already met some people with a lot of character today. So maybe he's just a little weird.

Maybe. Hopefully.

Wait, if he didn’t know who you were.....how did he know that your next class was Arithmancy?

"Woo! Lunchtime at last!" You can't mirror the excitement Grim is feeling right now, even if this a refuge from the classroom confusion from earlier. The cafeteria's as full as ever, and you feel different from the last time you entered it.

Last time, you were surrounded by your fellow students and peers. This time, you're surrounded by the human equivalent of sheep among wolves.

You are the ideal prey of everyone in this room, and some of them might already know about that. Cater's words earlier had terrified you and rang back in your head, "Darling~" You hadn't even known him long, so how could he tell? Would everyone around you just know on sight? Maybe they discovered it before you had?

Still, you skipped breakfast for Ace's apology, so you don't really get the luxury of skipping another meal right now. Even if you don't exactly have an appetite. Despite the volume of delicious smelling food, Grim is piling on your tray, and you feel more like puking than eating.

Even so, you don't really have an appetite right now, despite all the good smelling food that Grim's raving about right now. It's fancy, and Grim doesn't even eat half of it but is piling it up all the same. Can cats even eat onions?

"Shh! Dude, inside voices! Where was this energy earlier today?" You nod in agreement with Ace. Your legs already hurt from PE, and now after chasing Grim, they practically burn.

"_____, grab me the grilled chicken! There's only one left! And an omelet, too. And that jelly-filled bread. Just fill your whole tray with 'em!" You struggle to balance the sheer amount of plates and food that Grim piles on one after the other. Seriously, how does one cat demon thing eat so much?!

"Grim, that's enough. Save some for everyone else!" You finally relent, but unfortunately, you made that decision a few seconds too late.

Your hand, already tired from Coach Vargas' class, finally yields, and you lose the grip on the tray and plates Grim's stomach piled up.

Now for the good news and bad news.

The good news is that you managed to save every plate of food Grim haphazardly stacked on your tray. A gew crumbs were lost, but otherwise, you managed to save everything. Which was great because with cheapskate Crowley's micro food budget, you were pretty strapped for cash and didn't want to waste food.

But then there's the bad news.

The bad news is in your haste to stop the mountain of plates from crashing to the ground and bringing more attention to yourself, your shoulder may have collided into the back of the student in front of you.

You were just getting into accidents today, weren’t you?

"Hey! Watch where you're goin'!" The student you were unlucky enough to bump into, and their buddy for some reason, to whirl around in anger.

"I'm so-" You start to apologize only for him to interrupt you.

"M-my carbonara!" Ah, man. Did you ruin someone's lunch? That's-,"You broke the yolk!".......what?

"Whoa, that's messed up! Pokin' the egg is the best part!" Ok, not ruining someone's lunch, he might be a bit sad, but all is o-

"You better make this right, pal!" He grabs you by your tie and you nearly fall with all the food on your tray.

"I-it's just a yolk?" Is all you can say, completely struck dumb. You already knew this world had it's priorities messed up but this had to be the dumbest argument ever made. "I didn't ruin your lunch, you were gonna poke it anyway, so I saved you a step!"

"Yeah, so get your filth hands of my henchman!" Grim backs you up. But the delinquents don't back down.

"I'm gonna need that grilled chicken of yours as compensation." Normally you probably would have let the guy take it. Let Grim learn a lesson of not carrying his own food and move on.

But this was a matter of principle, damn it!

Also you weren't completely sure if darlings were naturally meek, so backing down was not an option here.

"No." You say point blank. The delinquent stupid enough to fight in the middle of a crowded cafeteria balks like you said something incredulous, "What?!"

"You heard me. NO. Go eat your soggy yolk-y carbonara, while I go eat my grilled chicken." After all, that trouble you went to get this you were commandeering that chicken for yourself. Take that, Grim.

"Hey! That's no way to speak to an upperclassman! Catch me outside and I'll teach you some respect!" Alright, so just won't go outside for a few hours, got you there dumbass.

At this point, Deuce must have gone through the lunch line and caught sight of you. They must have heard the foregoing argument because Deuce steps in to play peacemaker, separating the delinquent from your tie and shielding you behind him. "Um, excuse me, sir, but it said int he handbook that fighting with magic was prohibited....."That's a rule?! Sick! Now you won't have to worry about tha-

"Fighting? You got it all wrong. This is just me helpin' an ignorant freshman know their place." Ok, so much for that. Two advance magic pens at hand, and you're forced to shrink behind Deuce and Grim.

"W-wait a second, I don't have any magic. That's an unfair fight." You hate how powerless you feel right now.

"Who care about that!? If I end end up killin' ya, we just gotta call one groundmen." You forgot about the whole 'murder is not bad' part of the school rules. Does that mean no one will intervene? Damn it again!

You can hear Deuce growl at their threat. Withdrawing his own pen, he shouts his signature, and by that you mean only, spell. Grim

For a student that probably knows one spell Deuce puts up a hell of a fight. You wonder where he's getting all the cauldrons from. The two 'upperclassman' must've been flunkies, because there was no way these people would be able to lose so badly and so easily to two people that barely know anything about offensive spells. Your one worry was the mountain of food you were holding would fall. That and hearing Ace grumble about not fighting. For your honour, for your praise, you'd didn't know. At this point, you're starting not to care.

Surprisingly, or not if it didn't, the battle is done and won without the hundreds of students present even hesitating in their respective conversations.

"Whoa, didn't know you had it in you...."

"Look, I'm gonna let you off the hook this time, but only 'cuz I don't want my pasta gettin' cold." Sure and it's not like you 'upperclassman' lost a cat and student who only knows how to summon a cauldron.

"Pffft! I knew you were all talk! You better hope I never see you again!" Grim taunts as if Deuce hadn't done nearly everything. You keep quiet this time, redirecting your silent fury into mocking.

"Whoa! Two upperclassmen being beaten by students who were nearly expelled in the first week. That's kinda sad." You mock as you watch two delinquents shrink back with their figurative tails between their legs, departing with their, hopefully, cold lunch.

"Thanks Deuce," You turn to him and say with a smile, and his earlier anger dissolves into a soft smile. Like you being grateful for his help and protection sucked the rage out of him. You hate that you know it wasn't as wholesome as it was on the tin.

"N-No problem," he stutters, cheeks flushing.

"Yeah, yeah enough of that." Ace grumbles, pulling Deuce away by his arm. His anger hadn't been pacified by Deuce's victory, in fact it worsened. If how deep he's frowning is any indication.

"If you guys are going to fight again, can you help me carry all this to a table?" It's been two days and their near constant warring over you is starting to become normal.

They snap out of it instantaneously, "Sure, Prefect!"

Grim had been bitter when you told him you were taking his grilled chicken as compensation for the mess he got you in. But he eventually relented to stuff his face with all the partially lukewarm food. Speaking of, the food's good if a bit cold.

Hearing Grim rave abut how good his food is makes you chuckle lightly, stroking your fingers back through Grim's fur. He purrs again, and that sense of peace from earlier return. Maybe this morning was just a fluke, and all will be well now.

Mid bite, Grim asks, " So, I saw your guys' dorm, but what are the other ones like?" A part of you wants to know but that's a question for another day. You need to get through today first, and then-

"I'm sure you're familiar with the statues of the Great Seven? Night Raven College has a dorm themed after each one." You choke mid bite on the half-chewed chicken in your mouth. Cater's voice took you by surprise, so much for a peaceful rest of the day. You weren't the only one.

"Bwah! You're that guy from this morning!"

You turn and face him as well as an unfamiliar face. Green hair, glasses and a clover stamp underneath his left eye. The last card suite you were left meet. Another card soldier, now just needed a tyrannical queen.

"You tricked us into paintin' those dumb roses."

"'Tricked' is such an ugly word. Do you think that I wanted to spend MY morning painting roses? It's dorm policy, I'm just following orders."

"And grinning like a fiend all the while..." More than that if what he last said too you was any indication.

"Now, now Deucey. Outside of the dorm, I don't care what rules you follow. Here, I'm just a friendly mentor figure." Like earlier, you feel that he isn't being genuine again. If his dorm is so full of people, why couldn't they help instead of trying to trick you into it. Still, brownie points are brownie points, and they better pay it forward when things get tough.

"Please. Do NOT call me Deucey."

The mystery man laughs, "That's how Cater shows he cares." he finally says. He gives of the air of that one dad friend that prevents the friend group from going up in flames. You feel a small pull at your heartstrings, you're starting to miss your friends back home.

"So, who are you?" You ask.

"Ah, i should introduce myself. The name's Trey. Trey Clover. I'm a junior at Heartslabyul, like Cater here." So you've finally met the three of clubs, or clovers if that's what you call it.

The ace of hearts, deuce of spades, three of clubs and four of diamonds, were ALL Heartslabyul students named after playing cards because this seems comical now. Also, how drunk were their parents to not recognise how ridiculously silly naming your kids after the numbers when their last names, sin Ace, are all card suites was.

Though considering the possibility that one half of their parents were probably being held hostage, you probably shouldn't judged their naming skills.

"And you must be _____, the new prefect from the dump of a-ah, I mean, the 'rustic' dorm." Ramshackle can't seem to stop catching strays, huh?

"Alright, Ramshackle might be a dump, but it's my dump. Can we please stop insulting where I sleep at night!" Your anger receives a few laughs in response. You hope you weren't a cute angry in their eyes. Last thing you need is them looking at you like you were an angry kitten.

Trey's laugh warms you a little, the dad friend energy feels a little safe. You don't feel the lingering worry from earlier, after all what is the likelihood more than three people are in love with you?

"I heard the whole story from Cater. Thanks for looking out for our boys yesterday." You beam, even if you were very, very inconvenienced last night and this morning, it's still nice to be praised. That is until you remember that the one doing it might find someone and spend the rest of their life making them miserable for the sake of love.

"It's no problem," You say regardless.

"I don't recall inviting you to sit with us...." You hear Ace murmur.

Cater slides in and seats himself between you and Ace, "Hey now, we're all from the same dorm, right? Let's try to get along. Here gimme your digits." He hands his phone to you, expecting you to put in your number.

Problem is, "I don't have a smartphone." and you probably wouldn't if you did. But regardless Cater looks at you as if you grew another head.

"For real?! I never thought I'd meet one of you IRL!" His eyes light up with that weird glow again, "I know a place that sells the latest models cheap. How about you and I go on a phone-shopping date?" NO. NO.

"NO!" You accidentally say out loud, way too loud and hurried to be brushed aside as you overestimating your volume. Some heads from nearby tables turn, to you and the others are silent waiting for something? But you don't know what.

You back track trying to amend what you said, " No, Crowley hasn't started giving me allowance yet, so I'm kinda broke. Maybe next time?" Please never ask me that again. Maybe you should join a club so you can say you're busy if he tries to ask you out again.

That glint in Cater's eyes darken, but it doesn't match the teasing look that he has on his face, "What is up with you, _____? You look so tense! It's okay, baby! Relax! Relaaaax!" He squeezes your shoulders in half-massage but it just makes you feel more tense.

Tret comes to your rescue, "Cater. You're freaking out the freshmen. Maybe take it down a notch?"

Cater laughs, still not backing away from how close he is to you, "Sorry! I can get a little extra sometimes. What were we talking about....The dorms, yeah? What fun to mentor new students. Go ahead, A-M-A."

Ant that what you all spent the next fifteen minutes talking about. The dorms and their super important history while completely ignoring the ramifications of that history have on at least half of the population, yourself included. You'd already read up on the seven dorms, but hearing about the crazy strictness of the Dorm Leader of Heartslabyul made you a little uneasy. But still, when you talk to the him maybe things will go well, maybe he's a sweetheart with a non-tolerance policy for the most extreme of rule breakers.

Still, there are so many different types of students with different personalities and different yandere types. You spotted a wolf beastman, two student whose style of dress reminded you vaguely of the Middle East the person you ran into earlier sitting at a table full of Pomefiore students, (you made a mental note to ask about him later) and the most powerful students on campus, of course from Diasomnia.

Cater continues his opinion piece in the unapproachability of that dorm. "The vibe they give off makes it real hard for regular schmucks like us to even approach them."

"It can't be that bad, they may look a little intimidating but otherwise they look like regular old students..." You say, sure one of them looks young enough to be your younger brother or a middle schooler and has the pointed ears of a fae, but they look so normal.

Then again, you were discussing animal-human hybrids and talking paintings earlier, and you're in a world full of yanderes, so what isn't normal and what is?

"And their Dorm Leader is that times a thousand." You crane your neck to the Diasomnia seating area and you don't see any features that would be capable of scaring off a whole school of students, they all look relatively fine.

"There's a little kid in that group!" Not so subtly, like their earlier pointing out of a rather androgenous purple-haired boy in the Pomefiore dining areas, Ace rather loudly points out the younger looking fae.

"Ah, we do get some child prodigies here. But that guy is no kid. He's a junior like us. Name's -"

"Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge."

"Ah!" You yelp rather loudly as midway through your turn back towards the table, only to be face to face with the same face you had just been looking at hanging upside down right in front of you. You nearly fell out of chair in a mix of shock and surprise.

You stammer in shock, "H-how did you-"

"H-he just teleported!" That can happen?! You really need to read more about this place.

Lilia, once standing upside down on the chandelier as if that was completely A-OK, floats down onto your table as if this was as normal as him walking over. He smirks, bending down to meet your eyes, " I understand my apparent age interests you? As this bespectacled fellow accurately noted..." His voice is completely opposite to his appearance, and he talks like a whimsical grandparent than a teenager. "Despite my fresh-faced, boyish good looks, it would be inaccurate to call me a 'child'." Yeah, seriously. Whoa.

"'Fresh-faced' he says." Trey seems to agree with your doubt on the young part.

He smiles and for some reason, you feel unbelievably uncomfortable. it's as if he read you like an open book without words being exchanged. The look in his eyes is unreadable, but it's not like the glint you'd seen in Ace, Deuce and Cater. Either way, it makes you squirm in your seat, "You need not gawk at us from afar. You may feel free to speak with us directly. We are schoolmates, are we not? All of us at Diasomnia House welcome you without reservation." Without reservation, he says and yet the two trailing after him are yet to say a word. And they're staring in silence, but it feels more like glaring. No wonder Diasomnia had the reputation it did.

"And yet, those guys over there aren't exactly rolling out the red carpet in terms of approachability..."

Lilia brushes that aside with a laugh, "Forgive me for appearing above you during your meal." I do hope we can speak again." Why does that part feel directed at you? Maybe you're being paranoid.

As Lilia and his entourage depart, Ace takes the opportunity to whisper to the table about the impossible feat of overhearing their conversation. Which you can agree with how on Earth, or in the Twisted Wonderland, did they hear you from across the room. You weren't even that loud. Ace was right, that was creepy.

"Well....Diasomnia House does have a bit of a reputation for having lots of special students." "Well, special is a word for it...." You say,

Trey explains further, "Some of them are extremely talented at magic. Their Dorm Leader, Malleus Draconia, is considered to be one of the five best mages in the world." Wow. Your decision to stay away from that Dorm was even more justified. How powerful is the top five most powerful.

"Malleus is reeeeeeal bad news. Though I suppose the same could be said of our dear Dorm Leader."

"He can't be that bad...." You whisper, spying a short, red-haired boy with grey eyes walking in this direction. Wait, wasn't that the dorm leader that.....collared...Grim...Oh no. "Hey Ace...?" You whisper.

Ace must not have heard you because he starts his own tirade. "No kidding! He collared me for eating one slice of tart! All his rule obsession is outta control!"

"My 'rule obsession' is 'outta control', is it?" Well, Ace is doomed. Maybe Ramshackle has a tent you can set up outside.

Completely oblivious to the new voice that joined the group, despite the fact everyone else here already has, Ace continues, " You bet it is. Riddle's just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole 'rules' schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb." You sigh, facepalming. Maybe you can get Crowley to buy a strong lock for your door.

Deuce takes one for the group and points out the obvious before Ace can unintentionally piss off the 'tyrant' behind him further. "Ace! Behind you!"

Ace, still not taking the hint, looks behind him and then appropriately freaks out. "Bwah!? Dorm Leader!" The Dorm Leader of Heartslaybul, Riddle Rosehearts (and the Red Queen in this abridged tale) crosses his arms in indignation.

This is not going to go well.

[igotanidea]

Late night reward : Jason Todd x reader

(I swear this plotline never gets boring. Hereby dedicated to @lightwing-s and her bar exam preparations ;) )

***

Late night in your apartment.

It's so peaceful and quiet, since every other soul in the building seem to be asleep, your window being the only one lighted by the desk lamp.

Just you and Jason.

And a pile of textbooks and notes on the floor, couch and shelves.

Your hopeful thoughts of finally having time for your boyfriend were brutally torn by absolutely unexpected and completely unnecessary collusion of your college professors.

The staff were clearly focusing all their efforts on making students' lives a living hell by dropping mock exam week on them.  

“Ugh!” Y/n’s strained voice tore right through the calmness of the apartment and the loud thud of a book being thrown onto the floor jolted her boyfriend awake.

“Are you okay?” his reaction was immediate, the concern and instinctive need to protect her suppressing all the haziness caused by sudden awakening. And it made her feel guilty of the reckless action.

‘I will never pass this shit.” She muttered hiding face in her hands, acting as dramatic as a young distressed woman could.

“Maybe you would be feeling better If you actually concentrate on the book rather than throwing your source material around. You know your exams are important and you’re all around the place!”

Ok, now the previous guilt were gone.

“I am concentrating! You should know it best since your girlfriend has been studying non-stop barely having time for you! Unless-“ she raised an eyebrow in a teasing manner “perhaps you don’t give a damn so much, that you didn’t even notice me not spending time with you?”

“Of course I did.” He scoffed. He wanted to argue with her but knew that no matter the words he would just play right into her hands “But we talked about it. This is your last semester. Your finals-“

“Mock finals.”

“Still.” He cut her off with a stern expression “your finals are important”

“I know.” She sighed in an exasperation moving from behind the desk to snuggle into his side on the couch. “I’m just so tired… And tired equals  stressed. And stressed equals distracted.”

“I know baby.’ Jason hummed wrapping one arm around her pulling her closer while brushing her hair in a soothing gesture. As if he didn’t notice the dark circles under her eyes and the fact that she has been lacking sleep for weeks now. It was a bit disturbing, coming back from the patrol in the middle of the night and spotting her swaying in a chair, half-conscious, and carrying her to bed. “Just a few more weeks, Y/N. And then you’ll be able to relax and I’ll cook you the big, good dinner. And no studying allowed.”

“This is motivating…”

Jason nodded and sighed switching the position a bit, so he was leaning on the bed headboard, her back to his chest, hands wrapping around her midsection.

“What are you doing?”

“”Allowing you to both feel comfortable and study.”

“Mhm. Cause your hands in this place are not distracting at all.” She muttered squirming further into his chest eliciting a little laugh from Jason.  

“Go back to studying, princess.”  He leaned forward to kiss the back of her neck “you look so pretty when you try to focus…”

“this is not helping…” she whimpered

“oh really?” Jason teased caressing her waist “what about now?” on the bright side that deep, hoarse voice in her ear had been chasing all the drowsiness away.

“mm. nope. Not at all…”

“What if I give you a kiss every time you go through a chapter?”

“Might need some advance payment…” Y/N grinned turning in his arms just so she could face him

Jason gave her a cheeky grin not wasting another second and capturing her lips in his, smiling into the kiss, so full of himself and the way he thought he played her.

“I was hoping you’d ask for that”

“Of course you did.” She muttered against his lips

His arms wrapped tighter around her, pulling her closer, free hand moving up her back to tangle in her hair and holding her head in place while deepening the kiss.

“I’m drawing a big loan here, am I not?” Y/N whispered locking arms on his neck

“I’ll give you a good interest.” He pulled back way to quickly leaning forehead on his so she could feel the closeness in a bit different way “I believe in you, all right, love? You can finish this chapter. It’s an easy one. And then I’ll kiss you again. And then you can read another one.”

“Promise?” she feigned a sad face   

“Promise.” He smiled pecking her lips as a bonus and handing her the book leaning back again. He closed his eyes, keeping his arm loosely wrapped around her in case she wanted to come back to collect her reward and get more of his smooches.

All night if needed.

[entomolog-t]

The cold weather has me absolutely FERAL for cold weather G/t meet cutes (and not so cutes).

Like, maybe a borrower is looking for a particular item their resident human keeps in their purse/backpack etc... and while routing through it, they happen to miss the sound of the human's alarm going off (much earlier than their normal routine). They don't, however, miss the sound of them barreling down the stairs. Before their mind can form any semblance of a coherent thought, they're sent sprawling back as their whole world seems to flip as the human haphazardly grabs the back and rushes out the door.

The car rumbles to a start- and they hear the muffled sound of the human swearing and the door opening and closing again. They risk a peak outside the bag and see the human preoccupied with scraping ice of the window.

In a snap decision, they clamber out of the bag, hiding themselves in whatever spot they can manage. This was fine. They'd have to figure a way back in the bag later, but the human never left the house for longer than a few hours at a time. They'd never actually been in a car before- and the air that was being blasted through it was warmer than expected. Perhaps they notice some travel snacks laying about.

This would be fine...

Right?

Hours later the borrower is deeply regretting their choice to abandon the bag, having learned that the car, unlike the house, does not stay warm while the human isn't inside. They can hear the wind howling outside.

In the beginning it was almost peaceful. Watching the snow fall from the safety of a still bearably warm vehicle, sheltered from the ruthless wind outside... but as the chill sets in, so too does the panic.

They try to take their mind off the cold, moving around, exploring the vehicle to stave off both the chill and boredom alike, though their curiosity is short-lived.

Hours pass, the winter sun too quickly setting in the horizon, and taking with it what little warmth it offered. If they're lucky, maybe there's a discarded glove or hat left laying about that they can take some degree of shelter in, though it offers little relief.

They don't remember falling asleep, but they do remember waking- their body racked with brutal shivers, teeth clacking together as they curln in on themselves. It's dark. Though in the pale light of the moon, they catch the soft puffs of their breath in the air.

The approach of footsteps is both terrifying and relieving simultaneously. The borrower scrambles out of sight and lets out a barely audible sigh of relief as the car rumbles to a start, slowly bringing warmth back into the vehicle.

Their relief, however, is short-lived. The human tosses their bag in the back with a huff- out of reach of the borrower. They panic the whole ride back, trying to come up with some semblance of a plan but- nothing.

The human drives, eyes barely managing to focus on the road. Exam season was painful. They'd spent the whole day on campus trying to cram a semesters worth of material into their brain. They hadn't meant to stay so late, but their practice exams had gone... not great.

As they pulled into their parking spot, they could practically hear their bed calling their name. Though, as they go to exit the car, they hear something else entirely.

"Wait!"

They swallow. A strange feeling of dread pricking at the back of their neck as they realize the voice had come from their own car. Frantically, their eyes scan the car, thankfully seeing no person hiding in the back.

Just as they're about to dismiss it as some sleep deprived strangeness, they see it. A small figure, standing frozen on their passenger seat. Even at their tiny size, they're visible shaking.

"Please... I-" they seem at a loss for words. Maybe they don't know how to explain the situation, maybe they don't want to. The only thing they know for sure is they absolutely do not want to stay in the car another second.

---

AHHH ! I love cold tiny meet cutes so much!! Especially when it differs a bit from the classic "tiny passed out in snow"

Anyways! Enjoy my current flavor of g/t brain rot😘

[kiiingsnake]

sorry for the inactivity. i’m still working on my commissions between an absolutely brutal college semester. i live in shame

[stargazerbibi]

🐣🫐🌼 3RD YEAR, 2ND SEMESTER: GOALS & PLANS 🌼🫐🐣

hello there!! fancy seeing you here again hahaha,,

if you know me, you probably guessed it, the new semester is starting soon and so far this thing has worked 2/2 times so.. i'm not about to jinx it by not doing the challenge. whatever works, works, yk?

this time around, i'm only taking 4 classes :( it makes me feel so lazy and wasteful, but i'll need to stay another full year anyways so it's not like it affects anything really (and i'll have way more time to study a subject i, for once, kinda enjoy). either way, i'm sure the classes are going to be absolutely brutal and i won't even notice after the 1st week haha

the term is going to have a maximum of 143 days (ending on the 5th of july), including both exam seasons (which, hopefully, i won't need!!!!), but i think i'm going to start 2 days earlier. yes.. because 145 is a round number.. but also cause i have to clean up my room and prepare everything :P

🌬️💿🪐 GOALS 🪐💿🌬️

-> pass all my classes: 4/4 ☑️

-> keep my duolingo streak alive ☑️

-> read 12 books: 7/12 (last read: The Enigma of Room 622, by Joël Dicker)

-> move furniture + organize shelves ☑️

-> organize email ✖️

-> transfer photos to computer ☑️

-> visit dad ☑️☑️☑️

-> get my driver's license ☑️

🗞️🌕🗡️ FUN PLANS 🗡️🌕🗞️

-> re-read jjk: 5/20

-> watch 10 movies: 11/10 (last watched: Dune: Part Two) ☑️

-> watch 10 series: 6/10 (last watched: Kaiju No.8)

-> build legos: 5/5 ☑️😭

-> buy cute mugs to put my pens in ☑️

-> finish 1 game ☑️ (100% Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion)

-> complete my acnh island ✖️

🌆🔮👒 COUNTERS 👒🔮🌆

-> late nights: 10 too many to count (goal: 0) ✖️

-> hangout with friends: 10 (goal: 10) ☑️

-> things i created: 10 (goal: 10) ☑️

-> primogems: 6,372/28,000 ✖️

i'll add more things as they come up, but for now this is the plan ;)

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Have you learned anything interesting recently? I’m gifting you the excuse to tell us about something (whatever you like)

I super appreciate this but I am actually delighted to report that I have learned absolutely NOTHING in the past three days. The spring semester just ended for me, which included a brutal slog through grading 150+ assignments and left my brain a puddle of sludge.

On the 28th I'll start the process of my Master's exam, which includes a 10 page written paper and then an oral defense, so I've been using this time to catch up on the newest season of Survivor and finish knitting my sister's graduation project!

-Reid

[hanaonesflower]

Synopsis: Nanami misses his girlfriend while being on a business trip, he decides to leave early so he could come home and fuck her, shows her how much he wanted her.

Note/message: I MISS THIS APP SO MUCH!!!!! This semester at school gave me a mf ass beating but hey I’m still alive and I’m back w a piece for nanami. Ofc I would write for Nanami bc I’m OBSESSED with him but yll already knew this! Also, happy new year!! <33

｡+ﾟ *｡ ｡+ﾟ *｡｡+ﾟ *｡ ｡+ﾟ *｡ ｡+ﾟ *｡ ｡+ﾟ *｡ ｡+ﾟ *｡｡+ﾟ *｡

No but can you imagine Nanami, blonde, pretty, stoic business man, begging on his knees for you? He hates business trips, he hates his job in general but what else is new. This past trip was absolutely brutal, he had the worst jet lag, his coworkers didn’t know when to shut up and stop being a nuisance, his boss attempted at bonding activities for the team but Nanami wanted nothing to do with it. He couldn’t even get to have a hotel room to himself, having to share them with other men whom he found to be hygienically incompetent.

The trip would have been 10 days but by half way into it, Nanami felt like he couldn’t take it anymore. He found himself tugging and pawing at his throbbing cock in the middle of an importing board meeting when he suddenly had a thought of the video you sent him last night. A naughty strip tease in the new lingerie you had purchased to surprise him with for when he arrived home but it just couldn’t wait.

He was reminiscent of the way your body moved and how skin was shaped by the lingerie. Each part of the lace fabric covering a part of you that made his mouth water just thinking about it. You were so, so goddamn pretty he couldn’t contain his urges when the time was the most inappropriate. He was counting down the minute it would take for the meeting to adjourn, 15 minutes felt like an eternity for Nanami. He debated requesting his boss to let him attend the rest of this business trip via a web call and head home early. Which his boss surprisingly agreed upon.

He took another look at the videos you sent him, virtually keeping him company as he locked himself in the plane’s lavatory. A palm on his dick, rubbing the fabric against his skin, the friction was getting too pleasurable. Cumming now felt like a betrayal to you, Nanami knew what you didn’t know wouldn’t hurt you but his loyalty was boundless. Shutting off his phone and sliding them back into his pocket, splashing some water on his face before taking deep breaths. He left the confined cubicle and returned to his seat. And yes, he was still throbbing with need and desperation.

The minute his taxi came to a halt at the front door of your home, he bolted out, almost forgetting his own luggage in the car. He thanked the driver hastily before dashing towards the front door. His excitement was as high as ever seeing your car parked on the driveway.

He swung the door open to you lounging around the house in your prettiest loungewear you showed off to him right before his departure a few days ago.

“Kento! You’re home early!” Your excitement was met very much with his big, strong arms as he braced you plush to his broad chest. You smelled him, he smelled like gas and stale cigarettes and the airplane air. But you could still smell him.

Nanami always smelt like old pine and musk, with a dash of eucalyptus. You nuzzled your face closely, taking him all in. Relishing this moment in his arms, tightly wrapped around you.

“Sweetheart, I missed you,” he groaned out. His tone wasn’t neutral. It held much of his unmet needs these past few days, combined with pent up frustration and the amount of blue balls he’d given himself. He sounded desperate. He dragged his lips against yours, despite being a little chapped, he thought they were delicious.

It didn’t take long before he shoved his tongue in your mouth, explored your mouth and shoved it hard down your throat. He came to the conclusion that no matter what, he would never get enough of you. Usually, Nanami was gentle, treating you like fragile glass, with the tendency to break with any miscalculation. But today, he was still to risk it, knowing he could fix you.

Swinging your legs around his torso, he carried you toward the couch, tongue still unwilling to relinquish its place in your mouth. You moaned into his, that roused something within him.

“I’m going to take you, right here, right now.”

Getting down on his knees, eyes oozing with plea and bargain, hands hungrily grabbed at your tender flesh, squeezing and feeling all that he had been missing these past few days.

“Kento, please, use me baby,” so pliant, so suggestible when you were like this. Legs slowly spread open for him, your essence drove him out of his mind. Eyes focused on your glistening pussy, god, he fucking loved this.

“Baby, you’ve been missing me, too, haven’t you?” Diving head first into your pussy, he no longer abided by his strategic demeanor. He was messy, careless, utterly chaotic. Tongue lapping away at your essence, smearing your wetness across your thighs and littering bruising kisses on them.

“Tell me you want me, too, baby,” he smirked.

“I want you, I want you so bad, Kento baby please,” you pleaded with tears in your eyes. Nanami didn’t have a degrading kink but he thought that having you completely at his mercy provoked the corrupted side of his.

He worked his magic down there, ripping orgasms out of you mercilessly. Your legs quiver under his stimulation, unable to withstand it yet unable to let go. He took advantage of it, of you. You tugged at his pants, his cock sprang free, the beaded precum on the tip made you drool. Wiping at it with your thumb and shoving it in your mouth. Your dainty fingers wrapped around his hardened dick, searching and feeling each vein decorating his shaft. You brought it upon your mouth, tonguing it down, pushing it down your esophagus and then some. Nanami didn’t like to be rough with you, but your eyes told him you wanted him to be; so he firmly locked your head in with his hands and drilled his hips into your mouth, down your throat until you formed fat tears.

“ I love it when you whore yourself out for me, baby.”

[wannab-urs]

Build Me Up Buttercup | Ch. 6

But I love you still

Summary: Morning. Breakfast. The talk. Hot Steamy Sex. 

Warnings: MDNI | 18+ | This is actually a soft sweet chapter with very little angst. Mentions of Joel’s past trauma but nothing in depth at all. Sexy sex with accidental creampie oopsie. 

Word Count: 2.7k - i did not mean to write this much lol.

A/N: I’m really sorry it took me this long to get this out. That work trip was brutal in so many ways. Thanks for sticking around and for reading this series, it really means the world to me. I love seeing your reactions! I am so eternally grateful to @mishasminion360 for encouraging me to write in the first place, @beskarandblasters for being there every step of the way, and the entire whore home chat for listening to me bitch and moan and reading my silly little stories and everything else. Love y’all <3

You wake up to early morning sun streaming through the window, which is weird because you have blackout curtains. And there’s an arm thrown over your waist and a scruffy beard tickling your shoulder. 

You’re in Dr. Joel Miller’s bed. And you’re not even naked. 

Last night, you’d accused him of cheating on his wife with you, and in doing so, you’d brought up a 20 year old trauma that likely cut him to the bone. Sure you’d been harboring a secret crush on the guy for the whole semester, but in reality you barely knew each other. 

He owed you absolutely nothing and yet he’d bared his soul to you last night. Well, in a very Joel Miller way of doing it. Man of few words and all that. But you’d yelled at him after he rescued you from some frat boy dickhole and cuddled with you all night. Maybe you’re the asshole in this relationship… situationship… whatever it was. 

“Morning, pretty girl,” his sleep-rough voice shocks you out of your thought spiral. You roll in his arms and look into his gorgeous brown eyes. He looks content. Happy even. Not the slightest bit upset. He should be upset.

“Are you mad at me?” You ask him, still searching his face for any traces of anger, and finding none. 

“No, sweetheart, ‘m not mad at you,” he chuckles like you’re silly for asking. Joel Miller is not the asshole you thought he was… he’s a fucking saint. 

“Good morning…” you press your face into his chest, unable to make eye contact. “I feel like the biggest dick on the planet,” you mumble against him, words muffled. 

Joel slides the hand resting on your hip up your body and tucks a finger under your chin, lifting your eyes to his, “I’m not mad at you, darlin’. You didn’t know.” You breathe out a sigh of relief. He presses his lips to your forehead and then grumbles out, “Well, I’m a little upset with you, but not about our conversation last night.”

“I don’t understand.” Your brows furrow and your mouth sets into a little pout. 

“You went to a frat party, wandered off by yourself, and then had to call me to rescue you.”

You stare at him in disbelief before pushing yourself out of his arms to sit up. “I am a grown ass woman, Miller. I can go out if I want to.” Okay maybe not a saint. He’s still irritating. 

“You are. You can. But not by yourself. And don’t call me that,” he says sternly, sitting up and pressing his back against the headboard. 

“I wasn’t by myself I- actually, why the fuck do you think you have any right to tell me what I can and can’t do?” The audacity of this man. Seriously. 

“I’m not sayin’ you can’t! Just don’t like it, is all. ‘S not safe,” his stern voice takes on a note of sincerity and you can see the worry in his eyes. He’s completely right, and you don’t really want to admit that. 

“Yeah?” You climb into his lap and wrap your arms around his shoulders. “Well fuck you, Miller."

“That can be arranged, darlin’,” Joel grips your waist in his hands and jerks you toward him, your breath hitching as you feel his hard length against your clothed crotch. You grind against him, drawing a grunt from his lips. “But we’re gonna eat breakfast first.” 

He wraps his arms around your body and rolls so that you’re under him. You pout at him and he nips your protruding lower lip before getting off the bed and slinking out of the room. You stare at his retreating form in disbelief. Asshole.

“Can I take a shower?” You yell.

 “Course darlin’!”

You hear faint music start to drift through the house as you head into the bathroom, but you can’t make out the song. 

When you get out of the shower, you put Joel’s sweatpants and t-shirt back on, leaving your panties in the pile of your clothes from the party last night. You make your way to the kitchen, but you’re brought to an abrupt halt in the doorway.

Joel Miller, grumpiest man you know, has a spatula in his hand and is swaying his (admittedly cute) butt side to side to the music, quietly singing along to Baby, I’m Yours by Barbara Lewis. You stand in the doorway, not wanting him to stop singing. His voice is rough, but pleasant. He has absolutely adorable bed head, the morning light streaking through it and making the silver strands in his unruly curls shine. The old band t-shirt stretched across his broad form. God damn he’s gorgeous.

Joel flips a pancake out of the pan onto a plate already piled high with them and glances over his shoulder. “You just gonna stand there lookin’ pretty, or are you gonna come eat?” 

Your face flushes at having been caught gawking at him. “I was just enjoying the show.”

You walk over to his kitchen table and sit down in the same place you had last night. “Coffee or tea?” He asks you.

“Coffee please.” He brings you a mug and a plate with a couple pancakes stacked on it. He goes back into the kitchen to grab the syrup and you suddenly remember you need to text your friends. They probably think you got kidnapped. “Joel, where’s my phone? I need to tell Coop and Em I’m not dead.” 

He walks back to the table and sets down the syrup, dropping a kiss to the top of your head. “It’s on charge in the bedroom. Cooper called while you were in the shower, so I answered. Hope that’s okay.” 

“You answered my phone? And like spoke to Coop? Did they know who you were?” 

“Yeah. Is that okay?” He suddenly looks worried and you realize it sounds like you’re upset.

“No yeah it’s totally fine. I just know they’re actin’ a fool in the group chat with Em right now.” You’ll cross the hurdle of explaining how you got into this situation later. For now, a very pretty man made you breakfast and you’re really hungry. 

You pour some syrup onto your pancakes and take a bite. They’re the perfect amount of sweet and fluffy. “Holy shit, Joel, these are amazing! I didn’t know you could cook.” 

“Thanks. They’re Ashley’s mom’s recipe…” he gets a wistful, nostalgic look in his eye, the hint of a smile ghosting his lips. “I’m glad you like them, doll.”

As you eat, you ask him random questions. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Green.”

“Dark green or light green?”

“Dark green.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“One. Tommy. He lives in Wyoming.”

“That’s really far away. Do you have any friends?”

“Not really. Bill and Frank are alright, I guess.”

“Wait. Bill and Frank like the Bill and Frank? The weirdo history professor who thinks Bush did 9/11 and the super hot and super not conservative art professor who are somehow together?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Just weird that of all the people to be friends with you pick the extremely crotchety old man and his lovely husband. Actually, never mind that makes sense. Do you think Bush did 9/11?”

“No.”

Once you’re both finished with breakfast, you help Joel clear the table and take the dishes to the sink. You take a deep breath and ask the question you’ve been meaning to ask all morning. You don’t want to be a what are we are girl, but he’s your professor. You lean against the little island in the center of his kitchen, folding your arms around yourself, while Joel washes the dishes. 

“Joel?” 

“Yeah, darlin’?” 

“If we’re gonna do this… whatever this is…” You trail off and take a deep breath. “How does this work, with you being my professor?” There. You did it. Now he’s going to tell you that you can’t do this and this isn’t anything. 

Joel sighs and grabs a dish towel to dry his hands. He steps into your space, grabbing your hands and wrapping your arms around his waist before bringing his hands to cup your cheeks. “Baby doll, I don’t know about you, but I’m startin’ to think this could be something. And if you feel the same way…”

“I do!” You give him a reassuring squeeze. “I want this. Us.”

“Then we’ll keep it quiet for a few more weeks, you’ll graduate, and we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it. How’s that sound?” You giggle at his phrasing and bury your face in his chest, squeezing him tight. He envelops you in his arms and you stand in his kitchen, hugging each other and soaking in the warm feeling.

“Darlin?”

You look up at Joel and he kisses you.You part your lips and he deepens the kiss, licking into your mouth. Joel’s kisses are all consuming. You’re getting addicted to the feeling of his mouth on yours - the way his lips are slightly chapped, the way his beard and mustache tickle your face, the way it feels like he’s pouring a piece of his soul into you for safe keeping. Your heart swells with it. You dig your fingers into his shoulder blades, pulling him closer to you. You can’t get him close enough to you.

He grabs your waist with his hands and lifts you onto the countertop without breaking the kiss, stepping into the space between your thighs. You tangle the hair at the nape of his neck in your fingers and he groans into your mouth. 

His hands slide to the waistband of your borrowed sweats and he slides them down your legs, finally breaking away from your lips to toss them on the ground behind him. “No underwear? Dirty girl.” He slips back between your legs and your shirt quickly joins your sweatpants. 

“You’re so beautiful, baby,” Joel pants into your ear. He presses his lips to yours again and pulls you to the very edge of the counter top. “Lay back, darlin’. I’ve been dying to get my mouth on you.” 

You lean back onto your forearms and your breath hitches as he digs his fingertips into your thighs, spreading them apart. He presses his nose into your clit and inhales deeply. “You smell sweeter than maple syrup, baby doll.” He buries his tongue in your opening, swirling it around before licking a stripe up to your clit. “Taste better too.” He sucks your clit into his mouth, nudging it over and over with his tongue and drawing a deep moan from your throat. 

“Fuck, Joel, feels so good.” Your head drops back and you grind against his face as you feel yourself getting close. “Gonna come, Joel,” you whimper. He speeds up his tongue on your clit and slips a finger inside your tight heat. The combination of him pressing against the soft, sensitive spot inside you and a hard suck on your clit sends you over the edge. You cry out his name as you come, walls fluttering around his finger rapidly.

Before you’ve even come down from your world shattering orgasm, he’s wrapping your thighs around his waist and picking you up off the counter. He locks his mouth with yours and you taste yourself on him, smell yourself on his facial hair, and fuck that’s hot. He makes it as far as the hallway before he’s pressing you up against the wall and kissing you stupid again. You suck his bottom lip into your mouth and lightly graze it with your teeth. He groans and tightens his grip on you, heading to the bedroom again. 

“You’re gonna fuckin’ kill me baby,” he says, laying you gently on the bed and crawling on top of you, settling his still sweatpants covered but very visible cock against your dripping pussy and grinding into you. You whimper at the contact on your over stimulated clit.

“You’re gonna kill me if you don’t take your - fuck,” grinds down into you again “your fucking clothes off and fuck me, Miller,” you get out through gritted teeth. 

“Can’t have that now, darlin’,” Joel chuckles and stands up, finally stripping his pants and shirt off. And holy shit. You hadn’t exactly forgotten how big he is, that would be hard to forget. But it’s just as stunning the second time as the first. He really is beautiful. His skin is golden and lightly freckled. His broad chest and big arms are slightly contrasted with a cute little belly. A trail of dark hair runs from his navel down into soft curls around the base of his gorgeously flushed cock. God damn you want that cock inside you. 

“Please,” you whine. 

“Of course, darlin’,” Joel settles back on top of you and nestles the head of his cock against your entrance. “Oh, and don’t call me Miller.” He thrusts inside of you in one long, slow stroke, making you scream out in pleasure and the smallest bit of pain at the stretch.

“Joel, you’re so fucking big oh my god,” your walls flutter around him, trying to get used to the way he fills you up so completely. 

“I know baby, you can take it.” He waits until he sees no more traces of comfort in your face, then he retreats and pushes forward at that same slow pace. “You’re so fucking tight, baby. Squeezing my cock so good. You’re fucking perfect, baby, so fucking good for me.”

You keen at the praise, lifting your hips to meet him as he thrusts into you. No one has ever filled you up so completely before. No one has ever hit that spot deep inside you that makes you choke on your own moans. 

“Please, Joel,” you beg him. You want more of him, somehow. He is everything and you need more. 

“Please what darlin’?” Joel rolls his hips into you harder on the second word and you realize what you want.

“Harder, Joel. Fuck me harder!” He complies immediately, sitting back on his haunches and grabbing your hips for leverage. He thrusts into you hard and fast, pulling you into him. Your body goes limp and you can’t do anything but take him. You think he’s hitting your cervix. You can’t really think anymore. A stream of choked moans and half sobs fall from your lips. 

Joel looks like a god above you. His powerful biceps flex with every pull of your body into him. A sheen of sweat on his body makes him glow in the mid morning sun. His curls are damp, a few pressed to his forehead. His face is set in determined focus. You’re going to come again. You can feel the coil of pleasure in your stomach about to snap and he hasn’t even touched your clit. 

Like he can read your mind, he starts rolling his hips at the end of each thrust, grinding into your clit.

“Joel! Fuck! I’m com- I-” You can’t get the words out as your cunt clenches around him hard. All your senses black out except for touch. You feel him inside you, all around you, running through your veins, making your whole body shake as you come harder than you ever have in your life. 

“That’s a good girl. Come on my cock, pretty girl. So good for me. Fuck!” Joel’s praise washes over you and you feel absolutely euphoric. He buries himself deep inside you and you feel him twitch inside you over and over, cum leaking out around him and down your thighs. Joel falls forward, catching himself on his forearms and dropping his forehead to yours. You both take several deep shuddering breaths, coming down from your highs. 

“Fuck. Fuck baby I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop,” Joel half whispers. He slips out of you and climbs off the bed and you whimper pathetically at the loss of him. He’s back moments later, wiping you clean with his t-shirt. 

“IUD,” you murmur, still too fucked out for full sentences. Joel looks confused for a second before he lays down beside you and pulls you into his arms. 

“You have an IUD?” You nod and snuggle even closer to him. “Thank fuck.”

You giggle at him and press a kiss to his chest before drifting off to sleep in his arms.

A/N2: I have an idea floating in my head for an epilogue so that may come along at some point, but I’m not gonna promise anything lol. They live happily ever after, though, obviously. 

Tag List: @beskarandblasters, @cutesyscreenname, @atinylittlepain, @wednesdayday, @whoiscaroline, @goldenhxurs, @northernwindd, @djarinxore, @worhols, @amanitacowboy, @silkiers, @4ueijos, @livinxdeadxgrl, @chknikkbxss, @thepriceofpepper, @lexic-22, @sunshinebtrfly, @ccelinea, @harriedandharassed, @leeeesahhh, @suzmagine, @strang3lov3, @thereaperisabitch

[soupthatistohot]

hello soup!! i was wondering if you had any thoughts about kafka asagiri - i’ve heard that that’s a pen name he chose based on franz kafka, an absurdist/modernist writer. do you have any thoughts about why he chose that writer in particular or possibly elements of bsd influenced by franz kafka’s work?

Hi there!! This is a topic I've actually given a lot of thought to because I studied some of Kafka's work for school last semester, so thank you for giving me an excuse to infodump about it!

Franz Kafka is a very prominent absurdist author, and as I've discussed a lot recently, Asagiri seems to incorporate a lot of absurdist themes into BSD, so Kafka must have been an influence of his.

Something important to note about Kafka as a person is that he was a very peculiar man for his time and culture. He was a sickly vegetarian in a culture that ate meat and potatoes, he was a sensitive writer who had to write by night because he worked an office dayjob he hated, he had a contentious relationship with his father, he was socially awkward and notoriously romantically troubled -- basically, I would be shocked if he wasn't neurodivergent.

His works often emphasized the absurdity of reality by bending it in entirely unrealistic ways. His most famous work is "The Metamorphosis," in which a man turns into a giant bug, and his story "The Trial" tells the story of a man framed for a crime he doesn't know about and did not commit, who is sentenced to death basically without trial. Similarly, in "In the Penal Colony," a man in sentenced to be brutally tortured without having trial for his crime, which was petty and small. These three stories especially emphasize the theme of being unjustly punished for no conceivable reason, perhaps an externalization of Kafka's own feelings about his existence in our reality, which he certainly considered to be absurd.

Kafka's works often focused on the absurdity of bureaucracy, but there was also always an emphasis on the loneliness of the main character. In multiple of his stories he simply names the protagonist "K," essentially a self-insert character for himself. He definitely had a tendency to project onto his characters, such as the protagonist of "The Hunger Artist," a man who performs starvation for years until a crowd gets bored with him (Kafka wrote this at a time where he was incredibly ill and could not eat).

All of this to say that there are absolutely themes of Kafka's work and of absurdity in general in BSD. One of the main things, I'd say, is the fact that almost all of the characters are outcasts and weirdos in one way or another. While this aspect of BSD is practical in that the characters' quirkiness makes them compelling and often likable, I think it's also inspired by the alienation one often feels in an absurdist reality. The absurdist protagonist often does not fit into or understand the world around them (which is impetus for them to try to rebel against it), and in the same way that Kafka's characters fought against the system (and often failed), so too do many BSD characters. There's a way in which Kafka didn't "fit" into the world around him that I feel many BSD characters could relate to: Dazai and his struggle with humanity, Atsushi and his struggle for purpose, etc.

Asagiri also doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of bureaucratic institutions. The entire Hunting Dogs arc is centered around the corruption of the government and military, which definitely falls in lines with Kafka's apparent frustrations with the powers that be. Asagiri also plays into that theme of unjust punishment by making his characters endure so much hardship in their struggle with the absurd. Yosano's backstory comes to mind, as does Chuuya's experiences with N in "Stormbringer."

I think where Asagiri and Kafka differ the most is that Kafka often depicts his protagonists failing in one way or another (typically death), whereas Asagiri allows his characters to succeed. To Kafka, the rebellion against an absurd reality, though a noble cause, typically resulted in one's demise, leaving little room for actual hope. Asagiri allows his readers some hope through his characters persisting time and time against in seemingly hopeless situations. So while he might have been inspired by Kafka's absurdist storytelling, how the two authors conclude their works and the tone that they take differ due to their worldview.

I'm not exactly an expert on Kafka, so there's almost definitely stuff I missed, especially because I'm only familiar with certain works of his. I also don't know if Asagiri has talked about Kafka as an inspiration at any point, something an english-speaking audience might miss if interviews are old or untranslated.

Regardless, thank you for asking about this! It was super fun to write about, so I'm happy to share what I do know :)

[rheian]

dividers © || header by me || total fics : 27

The man, the myth, the devil himself! sorz I haven't been posting much (and by that, i mean by a whole ass semester) school has been kicking my butt.

the first few fics in this rec list are pretty heavy. if you aren't in the mood for that, skip to "Maybe Redemption is Stories to Tell" !! anyways, have some of my favorite fics about this guy.

nothing's a gift by eluvion (T, 7k words, completed)

summary: The Sokovia Accords pass. From a corner of New York, Matt watches history repeat itself.

cw: referenced suicide and child abuse, ableism, american militarism, dehumanization, police brutality, american politics in general, anti-sokovia accords || ok, kinda controversial fic due to the nature of the sokovia accords BUT please do read it! It is an actual experience. You can absolutely tell that the writer spent a LOT of time on this fic and is wonderfully researched.

all the glory when you ran outside by whitchry9 (T, 10k words, completed)

summary: When Matt is thirteen years old, he breaks his leg. Turns out it's cancer. (Radioactive materials can have that effect.)

cw: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH!!!, underage kissing || i was so absolutely heartbroken. What the fuck.

Little devil by Timpaxew (G, 13k words, completed)

summary: Tony’s counting his blessings, because honestly this could have been worse. Babysitting a de-aged eleven year old vigilante may be a lot harder than he’d thought it be, but at least Peter’s here to help. And at least no one else was turned into children. Baby daredevil was a lot less cute than Tony would have thought. This whole child solider thing was more depressing, than anything. Tony was going to kill this stick guy.

cw: child soldiers, everything that comes with matt murdock’s backstory

small potatoes by deniigiq (NR, 1.9k words, completed)

summary: The road between ten and fifteen had been a slow descent into bad and then worse. (Matt had a hard time in foster-care. It affects the way he relates to Peter.)

cw: child abuse, suicidal thoughts, suicide || “i’m i’m crying fuck” me too past me. me too.

To Know Him by withthekeyisking (M, 19k words, completed)

summary: Recently orphaned, Matthew Murdock is in high demand. And this time, Stick isn't the one to find him.

cw: brainwashing, emotional manipulation, rape, child soldiers, child abuse, typical warnings for the red room, hydra, and wilson fisk || one of my all time fav fics about matt!! do note that it has an open ending.

The Devil You Know by IsisKitsune (T, 44k words, completed)

summary: ... is better than the one that doesn't know you. Matt woke up in an unknown place. He couldn't remember going to sleep. Had, in fact, remembered being unable to sleep and just heading for the chapel to pray, hoping to wear himself out and calm his Always overactive mind... How did he get here?

cw: past child abuse, child soldiers, ableism, captivity

Of Monstrous Shape by Rosalui (M, 10k words, completed)

summary: “Put me in the ring,” Matt said. His glasses were cracked like a spider’s web, and in the shifting shadows it looked as if he were raising hackles in disgust. “The House doesn’t profit from quick deaths,” said the jailor.

cw: ableism, human trafficking || “Involuntary Battle to the Death”

what's past is prologue by avocadodreamin (NR, 12k words, completed)

summary: In which the past may have made Matt Murdock the man he is today, but that doesn't mean Foggy has to be happy about it. (Or, five times Foggy hated Matt's childhood.)

cw: past child abuse and just in general stick.

Veneration by WerewolvesAreReal (T, 19k words, completed)

summary: Matt has a strange talent for attracting beautiful, intelligent women. Sometimes, though, he indulges in another type - older men, gruff men, men who insult him and tear him down. Foggy doesn't understand... until he meets Stick. 5+1

cw: ableism, sexual abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, age gap, attempted rape/non-con || uhm.

everything we hear, everything we see by Katbelle (T, 5k words, completed)

summary: Matt gets hit with an honest-to-God real truth serum. The consequences are much less fun than pop culture has led Foggy to believe. "I don't hate you, Matt." Matt blinks. "Oh." He blinks again, and his eyes go almost comically wide in surprise. "You're not lying anymore. Foggy, you're not lying, did you know that?"

cw: referenced rape and child abuse, non-con drug use, referenced underage sex (that was non consexual)

nothing he can't endure by Katbelle (T, 21k words, completed)

summary: Matt and Foggy deal with the aftermath of Matt's Veritaserum-induced word-vomit — or don't deal, as the case may be. Foggy launches a revenge plan against Stick with the help of his weird neighbour. Interesting family connections are made and discovered. In the meantime, Matt and Foggy deal with some of their other problems, or at least try to. (SEQUEL TO EVERYTHING WE HEAR, EVERYTHING WE SEE)

cw: referenced child abuse, rape/non-con, and underage sex (that was noncon)

Learn to Live With the Unimaginable by prettybirdy979 (T, 22k words, completed)

summary: He's just supposed to be helping Red and his friend for this one thing. Only here because their interests align and Red's not willing to place the lives of children over his morals. Course that all flies out the window when Red ends up getting himself - and his friend Elektra - turned into kids. And not just any kind of kids. Oh no. That would be too easy. Red and Elektra would have to be child soldiers, who somehow choose to trust Frank. Because of course nothing in Frank's life is simple anymore.

cw: child soldiers, childhood trauma, canon-typical violence, canonical child and character death

~

Maybe Redemption is Stories to Tell by DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee (T, 25k words, completed)

summary: In which Matt Murdock copes with Asgardians, little sisters, and nosy superheroes. Also known as 'why you should never let Loki crash on your couch' Featuring an excess of Asgardians, more paper cranes, New York City, shenanigans, 80s movies, hot cocoa and feelings. Not necessarily in that order.

cw: – || okay, confession: i put this fic here due to a VERY specific scene that is in my brain 24/7. BUT! I recommend reading the entire series.

Living Life in the Shadow of a Goodbye by prettybirdy979 (NR, 1.8k words, completed)

summary: Just because they fought together, doesn't mean Luke knows that much about Matthew Murdock, recently 'resurrected' blind ninja (okay they rescued him from a bunch of nuns but seriously, the man should've died).

So when he, somehow, gets roped into helping Matt train Danny to learn to pay attention to his surroundings well... it might be a chance to get to know the guy. A bit.

Plus he gets to throw things at Danny. Always a plus.

cw: –

Through the Internet's Eyes by AsperJasper (T, 3k words, completed)

summary: It's the age of the internet, and Matt Murdock really thought nobody would ever connect any of his dots? Fat chance.

cw: – || just another social media fic.

Avengers v. Ableism by whitchry9 (T, 2k words, completed)

summary: The Avengers are surprisingly good allies, as Matt finds out on a number of occasions where other people are dicks.

cw: ableism

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost (But Matt's Not Wandering; He's Just Lost) by prettybirdy979 (T, 2k words, completed)

summary: Matt has a super important meeting in Sta-no, Avenger Tower that he's running late for. But finding it in Tony Stark's futuristic nightmare of a non-ADA compliant building might be a problem. (Aka Matt Murdock vs Tony Stark's building and high tech security. Here's a hint- the security loses)

cw: –

Strike the Harp by prettybirdy979 (T, 20k words, completed)

summary: Matt's been invited to Foggy's for Christmas, his first ever magical one (his Dad didn't do big displays of magic and well, nuns and magic don't really mix). He's excited; it's going to be amazing. There's just one problem... Foggy may have implied to his family that Matt had no magic. Oops?

cw: – || two words. magik murdock. that’s all thank you

Small Comforts by kfantastique (T, 6k words, completed)

summary: Matt is finally allowing himself some physical comfort from his friends and Foggy is so relieved. The friends are confused that Daredevil apparently likes cuddling?? Foggy thinks it's hilarious and adorable but he been knew.

cw: some drinking and non-consensual drug use 

Don't Worry Bro, We Got This by QueenofLit (G, 1k words, completed)

summary: After having teamed up so often with the Avengers, Matt knew it was going to come out eventually. He just hadn't quite expected this kind of reaction. Okay, no, he had actually expected the disbelief and accusations. How the Avengers reacted to that, however, was... weird. People mad at him? Usual. People defending him? Definitely weird.

cw: ableism

Ifs, Ands, and Butts by whitchry9 (T, 7k words, completed)

summary: Wherein Steve recognizes Matt Murdock as Daredevil on the basis of The Booty. He just doesn't know how to bring up the topic.

cw: –

Words on a Page by AsperJasper (G, 1k words, completed)

summary: A few times over the years when Matt wrote things down and other people had to read it.

cw: –

Not Your Damsel by whitchry9 (G, 6k words, completed)

summary: Matt is getting really sick of being rescued by the Avengers. What's he's even more sick of is needing to be rescued.

cw: –

Almonds by Anonymous (M, 1.9k words, completed)

summary: The story inspires Karen to ask, “Alright, what’s one food you will never, ever eat again?” She thought it would be fun. And it is. It’s fun when she shares the story of the time she bit into a raspberry and heard something crunch, spitting out a mangled ladybug, and ever since then she refuses to eat raspberries or anything raspberry flavoured.

It’s fun when Foggy tells the story of when he was a teenager and he ate way too much kugel too quickly after breaking his Yom Kippur fast and threw up in the shul bathroom, and now eating kugel reminds him of that experience.

“Almonds,” says Matt, “Because of the time Stick poisoned me.” Like he’s discussing the weather. Like that’s a normal fucking thing to say. It’s not fun, then. Nothing has ever been less fun.

cw: past child abuse and sexual abuse, poisoning

deserve to take up space by whitchry9 (T, 2k words, completed)

summary: “You know. The autism. He's autistic, right?” Foggy has no clue what Karen is talking about. "Those are all… just Matt things." Unless they're not just Matt things.

cw: –

penny for your thoughts by deniigiq (NR, 7k words, completed)

summary: Foggy broke them up by vociferously admiring the progress Karen was making on her vomiting gourd. They all rallied around this artistic monument for a bit. May decided that everyone needed to drink hot cider and Matt waited, kindly and politely, until everyone was holding a drink and nervously giggling about the silliness that was The Conjuring. “You wanna hear something actually scary?” he prompted to sudden silence. (Matt opens up a bit to tell Team Red and friends a ghost story.)

cw: –

The Curiosity Game by ArtemisRayne (T, 14k words, completed)

summary: Clint Barton knows that boredom is dangerous; it tends to lead to him doing stupid things. Stupid things like making bets with Tony Stark about which one of them can find and befriend the Daredevil of Hell's Kitchen first. Yet another "Daredevil Meets the Avengers" fic.

cw: –

[peachdues]

I hope this doesn't come off offensive or anything but if you don't mind me asking, what was Sam's honest reaction when you first started writing smut for fictional characters? Was bro like "girl what are you on?" Or was bro like, "Honestly, same."

Not offensive at all! I’ll always talk about Sam.

Honestly he wasn’t surprised. He’d known I’d been wanting to get back into writing for a while and we both read/swap fics all the time. I started writing right as I was wrapping up my finals in my last semester in law school/started the absolute hell that was Bar prep and he was actually really happy that I’d found something to do that wasn’t bar prep.

I know I talked about it while doing it, but obviously I have a greater following now than I did then — Bar prep is brutal. You get no time from the end of the semester and exams (and law school exams range anywhere between 3-10 hours per exam, and there are multiple) before bar prep begins. For six weeks I was locked in a room, studying 10-16 hours a day. Browse any Reddit or Facebook bar prep page and you’ll SEE how mentally unwell people are. You’re isolated from all your friends and family — even your law school friends. I missed birthdays (including my own), date nights, events, etc. because I simply had to study. You’re constantly feeling like you’re going to fail this exam (and in fact, bar prep weirdly encourages that idea??) so yeah, you’ll see a ton of people talking about how depressed or even suicidal they feel during it, and those who’ve made it through constantly stress the need to find something that gives you a sense of purpose outside of the Bar.

For me, that was writing. Sam was a huge encourager of it (even the smut) because he was worried about me and my mental health. He was watching me stress, not eat, and go to bed well after he was asleep only for me to wake up before he did and start the nightmare all over. I think it was a relief for him to see me find even the smallest bit of joy outside of that hell. He’s the one that asked to read what I wrote — I didn’t ask him.

In short: Sam has supported it from day one. He knows I use my sexual experiences to inform my smut writing and it doesn’t bother him. At the end of the day, he knows and is confident in the fact that I only have eyes for him, no matter how much I thirst post about fictional characters (and it’s true — he’s the only person I truly think about in that way). So it’s never bothered him!

[fierypen37]

Suggested prompt:

Hospital setting. Jon is a single, hot, doctor who never dates anyone (all other doctors and nurses try hard to get to him) but he only works and is dedicated to his daughter/son, until comes Dany, a sweet nurse who is enchanted by him and who gets Jon's attention (but he is complicated).

Tumblr ate my notification, anon. Apologies. Here's the flash fic:

Check my Pulse

“Ugh, here he comes,” Margaery said, rolling her eyes. Dany scanned the hallways, expecting the humorless terror, Dr. Stannis Baratheon, or even worse, the jovial (and handsy) Dr. Saan. Seeing neither, Dany looked past her to glimpse a dark head bent over a tablet and muttering dictation into a hospital phone.   

“Who is it?” Dany asked, straightening the hem of her scrubs. Margaery was her roommate from nursing school, though Dany had been a semester behind her. This was her first week on the surgical floor of King’s Landing Central Hospital and Margaery was assigned as her preceptor.

“It’s Dr. Snow. The impossibly hot and entirely unavailable trauma surgeon,” Margaery groused. As beautiful as Margaery was, when male attention was turned elsewhere, it stung her sensibilities.

“Maybe you can set him up with Loras,” Dany said, peering around the corner. Dr. Snow was hot. That messy black hair, the wire-rimmed glasses, the breadth of his shoulders straining against his white lab coat.

“Oh no, he’s not gay. Loras came by one day with lunch for me and flirted—like he does with everyone. And with Dr. Snow: nothing.”

“Not married?”

“No ring. An ex-wife listed on Ravensgram. And an absolutely adorable little girl,” Margaery said.

Dany nibbled on her lower lip, studying Dr. Snow. Marks of sleeplessness hung beneath his eyes, a scowl line creased deep between his brows. Moved to sympathy, she seized on an idea. There was a lull in their work, so she hurried to the break room and quickly nuked a cup of the coffee she brought from home, adding a dash of cinnamon, a dribble of cream. She took the seat beside him and set the coffee at his elbow.

“Mid-shift is always brutal. Looks like you could use a pick-me-up,” Dany said with a smile. Dr. Snow looked up from his work and returned the smile with a weak one of his own.

“Thank you . . .” his eye dropped to her ID badge, “Daenerys.”

“My friends call me Dany.”

Dr. Snow took a sip of the coffee, his eyes widening. The next smile was a brilliant flash of teeth.

“With coffee like this, I hope to count myself as your friend. I’m Jon,” he said, offering his hand for a shake. Dany felt Margaery’s eyes boring into the back of her head as she returned the handshake.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Dany said.