#told ya i'd make Content eventually

[macsimagines]

I cannot thank you enough for now incredibly you bring my silly little ideas to life~

May I request for Yan! Shin, Izana, & Ran on how they are as a husband to their darling and how they are as fathers? (like them after they’ve finally achieved their Yandere dreams of marrying their darling and having kids with them and everything ) ʚ♡ɞ

TW: YANDERE CONTENT, MINORS DNI, BABY TRAPPING, MANIPULATION, COERCION

Yandere!Shinichiro Sano

Is so happy that you've made him a husband and father. It wasn't easy trying to convince you to go out with him, but eventually he called in enough favors and 'saved' you enough times that you relented and dated him for a short period.

Short because after that he tried very hard to get you to marry him and when it was obvious you weren't going to relent he eventually started to just poke holes in condoms and simply waited for the great news.

"Oh? You're pregnant? Well shucks, looks like I gotta take responsibility. When are you moving in?"

Ya he's not hiding the fact that he's all too pleased to put a ring on you and have a baby in you. But he does his best to provide and make you happy.

He comes home with flowers all the time, just cause, and sometimes he'll bring your son with him to the shop. "You need a break baby, I can take over today."

Shinichiro loves having JR. around. He of course loves his son, but it does help he's the perfect combination of you and Shinichiro.

Yandere!Izana Kurokawa

He had to force you to marry him. You had tried to leave him and he wasn't going to let you live any kind of life without him. Those first few years were less than marital bliss.

The fighting, the screaming, the crying. It was honestly hell. Izana almost let himself think you weren't worth the trouble but he was kidding himself if he thought he could live a life without you.

That all changed when he found out you were pregnant. Now it was real, now he couldn't afford to fuck up.

"Y/N, I know you hate me, I can accept that, but please for our babies sake, lets make this work."

Izana is like a changed man, he's kinder and even gentle. He can tell you're still resentful and bitter, but he'll accept that. He just wants his child to feel loved and know he did all he could to make that happen.

You finally go into labor early, Izana doesn't know why or what he did wrong but this was obviously his fault. He was going to loose you both. You really were going to leave him and take the one thing he wanted most in the world with you.

But you pull through. You and his precious and perfect daughter. She's puny in his hands, even for a newborn, just barely bigger than his own palms, but she's perfect. And he'll never let her go.

"Hey, princess. You don't know how happy I am to finally meet you."

Yandere!Ran Haitani

Made you his wife after he found out you had his Twins. One boy and one girl. His brother was the one that had to break the news to him about it 4 years after he had told you to get lost.

"Hey bro, remember that trick that said you knocked her up?" "That bitch? Like I'd ever forget to wear a condom." "...You might wanna have a look at her insta."

Well shit. Obviously the rubber ripped because he was staring at his little clones on your feed. It was very apparent he was the father only a fool would deny it.

"You ain't my dad!" Your son hisses at him "Ya! You ain't!" Your daughter will parrot back. Clearly introducing himself as their father while they were beatingtheshitoutof playing with other kids wasn't the best idea.

"Our hair is pretty an' black!" "Ya! Yours is purple and ugly!"

Ran might not like how the kids are giving him shit, but he certainly does love the idea of another infamous pair of Haitani siblings running amok in Roppongi.

He also doesn't like the fact that you try to fight him tooth and nail for him to not bother your family. "Our family baby, C'mon. Let me take responsibility."

You have no choice but to relent to his threats of custody and courts, knowing damn well you don't have the connection he does.

And he doesn't love the fact that you're a huge bitch to him or the fact that his twins seem to live and breath violence more than he and his bother did back in his youth. But he must admit he thinks it's way more hot how cold and unforgiving you are compared to your old self. You keep him entertained at least.

"Guess who just had to bail our little ankle biters outta jail~ Why not thank your husband for a job well done."

[devilfic]

❝small favor❞

VI. growing pains.

parts: previously plot: you and peter are getting used to each other, but there are growing pains. pairing: mcu!peter parker x gn!reader. cw: mentions of several injuries, mildly suggestive content, hurt/comfort, peter being a problematic vigilante boyfriend (not telling you he got his ass kicked). words: 5k.

a/n: something a little shorter and sweeter (after the pain, of course).

You lift your head, heart hammering away, and meet the eyes of Peter Parker.

He fits him perfectly. The curls, his lips. But now there are eyes that fill in the gap, honey-color eyes that speak to that soothing feeling he gives you. He's leaning his forehead against yours now, looking up into your own eyes. You've thought about this exact moment happening before, but you had never gotten around to what you would say when it finally did.

Peter's thumb brushes up against your hip—having sneaked underneath the hem of his sweater during your reverie—and it jolts you back, "Well, come on," he nervously laughs, "don't leave me hangin'."

You take a handful of his hair in your grip, passing the silky strands between your fingertips and recalling the first night you'd ever felt them, "Why now?"

Peter's nose scrunches up, "I told you. I was never fooling you."

You shut your eyes, stretching your neck forward to brush your nose against his, "No, but... why right now? Why like this?

"It might be obvious but I really, really like you. I... I just kept thinking that I really wanted to tell you, because you're this smart, ambitious, funny—amazing at baking, by the way—person that I didn't want to miss out on, but you don't really know Peter Parker. You know Spidey. You know Spider-Man. And that's a lot to live up to which is weird to say because it's... also me? And eventually, the more comfortable I got with you, the more the lines started to blur together. But I just worried that if I dragged it out any longer, I might set you up for disappointment and I just... wanted you to see me. Really see me. At least once, before I told you. Does that make sense?"

And you do see him. You're seeing everything you imagined and more mystery yet. The pictures in this room could only tell a fraction of the story of Peter Parker, your time with Spider-Man telling another. You let the little voice in your head that drives your curiosity get excited at unraveling it. Just this once. "I told you at the gala, didn't I? That if anyone in that room was you, Peter Parker would be it."

You hear a low grumble in Peter's throat, "Mm, yeah. Yeah, you did say that. You also said that... I'd be shaking and crying if you yelled at me-"

"That's irrelevant."

"You say that whenever I'm right."

"I say that whenever it's irrelevant."

"Yeah, but you do have a thing for me, right?" Peter smiles, taking your cheek in his hand. The bliss on his face knocks you right out of whack. The dresser digs into your back as you try not to get lightheaded just looking at him.

It's so unfamiliar to put a face—a whole face—to Spidey, and now you can see it all. Every wrinkle, every flutter of his eyelashes, every brow-furrow. Everything, everything.

Your lips part to tease him, but Peter's door suddenly shakes under three firm knocks.

"Hey. Is Harry. You okay?" Harry Osborn is slurring over his words, and you can tell he's got his mouth pressed up against the door because it sounds a little muffled when he speaks, "I'm really sorry."

Peter's shoulders had tensed at the knocks, pulling you closer to his body for the fraction of a second when neither of you knew it was Harry. But once he recognizes the voice, his mouth drops to your shoulder to muffle his laughing. You press your face into his hair to stifle your own, barely able to choke out a sincere, "It's no biggie, Harry. Really!"

"Ya sure? I feel really awful about it. May's... May said I stained the tablecloth too."

"I'm so sure, Harry."

"I can buy you a new shirt. As many-" He pauses to hiccup, "-as many as you want."

"You really don't have to!"

A few seconds later, Harry mumbles, "Are you mad at me?"

You whisper to Peter who is biting his bottom lip to keep from giving himself away, "Is he always like this when he's drunk?"

"After the tequila mellows out," Peter snickers, "he won't let it go until he makes it up to you, you know."

Through the door, you can hear Harry say something like "you really are mad at me" to himself. "Seriously, it's not a big deal, Harry. Look, I've already got a new sweater on and everything!"

You kind of hear Harry's question, but you notice Peter's reaction first. He stiffens, tilts his head toward the door, inhales deep.

The door barely cracks open a hair before Peter's webbed it shut.

The look Peter gives you tells you everything you need to know: Harry doesn't know.

Your mouth falls open as you slip from between Peter and the dresser and rush over to the door. You slip two fingers between the web and the door frame, testing the strength, and the lack of give is impressive. "Uh, sorry Har! I'm not decent right now."

"But you... you said... a new sweater-"

"Yeah, but..." You glance over at Peter for help which ends up being the absolute wrong thing to do. You'd taken your eyes off him during the mere second it took to reach the door, and now he's half naked standing in a pool of red and blue and frantically pulling a shirt over his naked stomach. You stare at the ridges of his abdomen as they flex, and even a little longer after Peter pulls a "You Compute Me <3" t-shirt down over it. He gestures vaguely at you, even as his cheeks go pink watching your eyes dart to his boxers and back up to his face, "...it got on my pants too?"

You hear Harry whine a little, thumping his forehead against the door, "I'm really sorry."

"If you think about it, it's kind of like payback. I spill my drink on you, you spill your drink on me. We're even now." You peek at Peter who's now bent over digging through his drawer for a pair of shorts and force yourself to keep your thoughts elsewhere.

"I'll buy you new pants, too. I'll buy you so many pants."

"The stain isn't even that bad! I'm just spot-cleaning it, really. You can go back to the party."

"Oh... well, I was gonna, but I can't find Pete."

You open your mouth to dig up some reassuring lie when Peter presses himself into your back, snatches the webbing off the door frame, and opens it to reveal a flustered looking Harry on the other side.

Whatever embarrassment he felt over the whole drink ordeal washes away instantaneously. He frowns, blinks, stands upright at once. He stares between you and Peter.

Peter is the first one to say something, "Hey... man. Hey. I'm here. You found me."

Harry raises a finger to point accusingly at you two, but nothing comes out of his mouth for a bit. Like he'd forgotten to say what he was thinking out loud, "Have you been here the whole time?"

You look at Peter. His right hand rests on the small of your back like an awkward prom date, and when he meets your gaze, a nervous laugh tumbles out of his mouth, "Yes... yeah."

Harry's eyes narrow, "Why'd you change clothes?"

"Hot flash."

Both you and Harry give Peter a bewildered look this time. How he'd kept his secret identity a secret this long was truly a plot armor miracle.

"I can take a hint, you know," Harry's demeanor deflates, even though he sounds less sad and more disappointed, "I just wish you guys would've told me you were dating earlier. I know I've been gone but I still wanna be in your life, Pete."

Your heart softens at that. You feel kind of terrible about how clumsily you've all stumbled into this moment. You feel Peter stiffen and swoop in to save him, "No! You've got it all wrong, we're not dating. We just... kissed. For the first time, actually. That's why I didn't let you in at first. It was... you know."

You watch Harry process it for a moment. Then, as if all transgressions had been forgiven, he smiles. With a deep bellow the whole house can hear, Harry turns to yell down the hallway, "That's 20, Leeds! I called it!" He gives you both a fleeting goodbye, throws in a "congrats", and runs downstairs.

You let the door quietly glide shut. Peter runs a hand through his hair, letting out a rough exhale. "So, Harry, one of your best friends since college, doesn't know you're Spider-Man? But I do?"

"It's complicated." Peter groans, "I didn't tell anyone at first. Not MJ, not Ned, not even May. Then it all just kinda happened. With Harry, though... it's not that I don't trust him, I just don't know how to bring it up."

You watch him take a seat on the edge of his bed, dropping his chin in his hand to look at you. You press your back to the door, "Bet him 20 bucks you couldn't crawl on the ceiling?"

Peter snickers, "Nah. I'd bet him 80."

"Speaking of: you wouldn't happen to know anything about that 20 Harry was talking about, would you?"

Peter's cheeks go pink and he drops his head in his hands.

Boldly, you press off the door and saunter over to him, dropping to your knees at his feet and resting your folded arm on one of his legs. He peeks through his fingers to look at you and then quickly closes them again. You tug his chin toward you and his hands have no choice but to fall away, revealing his wobbly, embarrassed smile and the blush that had spread up to his hairline, "Parker." Is all you say.

He tries to hold out and bless him, he's really cute when he tries, but he turns to mush after holding your stare for too long, "The guys thought it'd be funny to make a bet on when I'd... give in."

"Give in? To what?"

Peter wails and throws himself back on the bed dramatically, flopping like a fish. You crawl up onto the bed beside him with a shit-eating grin. He tries to throw his arm over his eyes but you pin his wrist beside his head while he debates between looking at you head-on and staring up at the top bunk, "Hey, don't hide from me," you whine, "tell me."

Peter grumbles something sarcastic under his breath but it hitches when you throw a leg over him, straddling his lower half and blocking his view of the box-spring. You think his pupils blow a bit wider, "To you," Peter's voice is tender now, careful and vulnerable, "I... kind of told everyone I wanted to make a good impression on you. Or a better impression than the last two. And Harry's been teasing me about it all day so I thought I'd just spite him for it and... and then I... put on the suit. And something stupid happens to me when I'm around you, but if I hadn't, I don't know if I would have had the courage to kiss you."

You slip a hand up Peter's chest, "If it makes you feel better," you lean down to peck his lips, "it was a damn good kiss."

"Yeah?" Peter's voice pitches up a little, cracking on the word.

"I've gotta tell the Web-Blog about it now. Full disclosure."

Before you can even giggle about it, Peter has you flipped on your back, pressing his mouth to yours in a dizzying kiss that shuts you right up.

You have not heard from Peter in 12 hours.

For normal couples, 12 hours without speaking wasn't the end of the world. Jobs, family, friends, alone time; it was reasonable—healthy even—for normal couples. 12 hours was nothing.

But you and Peter were not normal, and 12 hours for you was four days in normal couple time.

It had started the night before. Peter had promised he'd swing by for your usual debrief, a little later than usual due to where he'd be patrolling, and you had reassured him it was fine. You'd made tea and prepped the couch for the possible (inevitable) sleep-over, and waited. And waited. At some point, you'd passed out exhausted on the couch thinking that he might swoop in around three a.m. with snacks and an apology, only to wake up hours later to sunrise and nothing. No one. Cold tea and a couch only you slept on.

You'd shot off a text (well-concealed concern, of course) hoping he'd gotten some well-earned sleep after patrol, dancing around the missed date. It was fine, you were sure. It was only eight in the morning and he didn't have a tight schedule like you.

But by the afternoon, there is no response to your text.

You just about gnaw your fingernails off before Jameson recommends you take a walk to gather your bearings, or "you're shaking like my wife's teacup poodle off half a shot of espresso, go somewhere I can't see you."

Halfway down the block and no less nervous than when you left, you call the only person you know who might be of help, "Hey, Ned. Are you busy by any chance?"

"Nah, you caught me on my lunch break. What's up?"

You press your back to a storefront window, letting the city pass you by, "It's Pete. He was supposed to come by last night for our weekly debrief but he didn't show. No text, no call, nothing. And he always does his best to let me know if he can't make it."

"Hm, that's weird. Did you try calling him?"

"I... texted him? Assumed he was just too tired last night and slept off patrol at his place. But it's been a few hours and he still hasn't responded. I didn't wanna seem like a clingy partner if he was just busy but I'm getting worried. You haven't heard from him, have you?"

You can hear Ned's computer chair squeak on the other end as if he'd shot up in his chair. "That's... not like Peter."

Your stomach turns to lead, "Ned, you don't think-"

"Hold on." You hear rapid typing on Ned's end, "I traced his phone back to his apartment." You would ask how he managed to do that so quickly, especially at work, but you supposed you'd rather not know, "He's there for sure. Or his phone is, at least. Log shows he definitely took it with him on patrol."

You frown, "Really?"

"It showed him returning home at one this morning. It's still on. Last location ping was half an hour ago. Doesn't seem like he's used it, though. No calls sent out, no texts either."

"You're scary good at this, Ned."

You can hear the pride in Ned's tone as he types some more, "Look, I'm gonna give him a call and see if he picks up. If he doesn't, I'll head over to his place and see what's going on for myself. I'll let you know if I get anything out of him, alright?"

"Alright. Good. Be careful."

"Hey."

"Hm?" You bite hard into your bottom lip.

"Don't pull an Aunt May on me."

"What's an Aunt May?"

"The whole pretending you're not freaking out when you really are freaking out thing. Classic May."

"Can you blame me, Ned? I'm... I'm new to this. I don't know the protocol for dating a-" You bring a hand up to your mouth to muffle the rest of your sentence, "-vigilante. I don't know what's too much or- or..."

"If it helps, I hear there's no protocol at all. Pretty disorganized system, if you ask me. Many a couple left asunder." You choke on a little laugh, "It's gonna be okay, okay? Peter likes you a lot. It's probably nothing. Don't stress yourself out. I'll talk to you later."

The phone clicks. You feel like you should be surrounded by silence after that but the city bustles about you as if you're not even there. It's overstimulating, but you don't think you'll find much refuge back at the Bugle either.

And you would go, you would if you could. You'd be meeting Ned halfway if you knew where Peter lived but it was embarrassing. You hadn't worked up the courage to ask and Peter had never invited you over, and so now you're stuck on a street corner twiddling your thumbs wondering if your boyfriend might be hurt or worse while you mull over being too forward.

You wait five minutes, but no updates from Ned. 10, and nothing still. A half hour passes and you think you might actually vibrate through the floor with worry when you get a single text from Ned. It's an address.

Jameson hadn't been too happy when you took the rest of the afternoon off, but you'd promised to edit a particularly scathing piece about Spider-Man in exchange and, well, he couldn't say no to that.

As you knocked on the door of apartment 215, you could hear quarreling voices behind it come to a halt. Then, unmistakably, your boyfriend asks, "Who is that?" Your saliva gets stuck in your throat. You have to force down a swallow, the pressure building in your nose and behind your eyes as footsteps draw near to the front door. You hated that this would be the first time you stepped foot into Peter's place: unplanned, uninvited.

Ned is the one to open the door. His disappointment is palpable but very clearly not aimed at you. He blocks the doorway, dropping his voice to a whisper, "I know it's a lot to ask, but please don't panic. Not yet."

What no one had seemed to tell Ned in his 20+ years of living is that prefacing something with "don't panic" often had the opposite effect. Your heart rate spikes. It stutters when Peter calls out your name weakly.

All the swirling fear you'd been bracing for hits you at once. Peter is curled up on his two-seater—a cramped, dingy thing—looking like death itself. He hadn't even taken off the suit fully, the upper half bunched up at his waist like he'd only had the energy to get it down that far. His chest and torso are littered with fresh scars, some more ghastly than others, few hastily covered in a concoction of ointments and bandages that sit in a pile by the couch.

You rush past Ned and collapse on your knees beside it, "Peter?"

He winces. His face is bruised, mottled around the eyes and mouth and nose. His hand shakes as you reach for it.

You turn to Ned, "What happened?"

"Fisk happened," his best friend grumbles, "a lot of Fisk happened, apparently."

You remembered what he'd said about patrol last night. He was over in Hell's Kitchen, checking on some suspicious activity by the rail yard. Your heart jumps in your throat. "Fisk was there?"

Peter lets out a shuttering breath, "Overseeing transport."

You glare at him with more heat than he probably deserves right now, but you're beginning to tremble with rage and you've nowhere to put it, "Did you know Fisk was there?" Peter does not answer. He doesn't even bother to look at you anymore. "Peter."

"I had a chance," he coughs, spit dribbling from the corner of his lip that you quickly blot away with your sleeve, "to catch him in the act."

"He could've killed you!"

Peter can't argue that. You want him to; you want him to tell you that it wasn't so much of a close call. It'd put your mind at ease, keeping every other possible scenario at bay. He can't even do that.

You hover a hand over his cheek but can't bring yourself to touch him, afraid to irritate the bruises there. "I'm taking you to a hospital."

"You can't." Peter and Ned's voices ring out in unison.

"Then we'll take you to... to somewhere. The Avengers facility, some top-secret resort on an island I don't know the name of. Something. Peter, you could've died."

"And I'll heal," you watch Peter press himself up on his elbows, but he wobbles under his own weight and drops back down into the cushions, "it's just gonna take a while."

"Tell him he's being ridiculous, Ned."

Ned frowns from the hallway, arms crossed over his chest, "He is. But he's not going to leave the city. I've... tried."

You bite your lip, "Then what if we get someone down here instead? They come to Peter."

You see the cogs turning in Peter's brain, trying to strum up some kind of excuse, but you're already stealing his phone from the coffee table and scrolling for her contact before Peter can stop you. If you weren't so worried about his health, you'd have hesitated before dialing her number. You jump up from the floor and to your horror, Peter tries to follow you.

He stumbles—of course he does, he's barely able to stand upright—and at the very moment he reaches for your arm, the phone picks up, "Peter? It's been a while. How are you?"

"This isn't Peter, this is... this is a friend of Peter's," Peter's fingers still on your elbow, his chest pressed to your side, and you can feel him struggling to keep his weight off you to stand. Both you and Ned force him down onto his bed. "Listen, I'm sorry to bother you, but he got hurt really bad last night and we could use any help we can get. Is it possible you could send someone over? Anyone who can help?"

"Um," Pepper Potts sounds stunned, "is Peter there? Can I talk to him first?"

You reluctantly hold out the phone to your boyfriend, daring him to ignore the determined look in your eyes. And, to his credit, he does try.

"He's recovering quickly, though it won't be as quick of a turnaround as he's used to. Make sure he takes these every six hours and keep an eye on his liquids," Dr. Said places a bottle in your hand, her tone just barely betraying the exhaustion she feels after working on Peter for hours, "I would recommend no heroing until he's fully recovered, but this isn't my first rodeo."

You wonder how many heroes Dr. Said has fixed up in her time. Pepper had said she'd send over an "expert", though she'd never had the pleasure of working on Peter.

You walk her to the door and lock it behind her when she leaves, and it's only then that you realize the sun has begun to set, the buildings across the street reflecting fleeting sunrays through Peter's living room window. You're careful maneuvering throughout the place: shutting blinds, flipping on lamps, picking up his suit and discarding it in the laundry bin. It's only one room—Peter's apartment—so he watches you the whole time.

You're thinking about what to say now that it's just the two of you (Ned had gone back to work after his lunch break ended), but Peter beats you to it, "I won that," you look at Peter sitting up in bed, then follow his finger to a shelf above his desk scattered with trophies, "at my middle school mathletes competition. The one next to it was for 2nd place at our science fair; I would've won first but the soda dispenser on my ice cream float machine malfunctioned and sprayed root beer in the principal's eye."

You snort, "Pity. You kept the trophy but not the machine?"

"I kept it! It's probably in May's attic buried under my basketball participation trophies." Peter smiles for the first time since you'd gotten here. He pats the bed beside him.

As you crawl into Peter's bed, he tells you about everything else; his rug is from a garage sale (and no, those weren't bloodstains, just a freak accident with tomato paste), he'd had his bed since college but splurged on a new mattress with graduation money, he paid a little less on rent now in exchange for letting the landlord's daughter take his bike to work sometimes (swinging was faster anyway).

The little details end up not being very little. There's so much of him here, packed into this tiny one-bedroom. The half-baked Spidey gadgets scattered across his desk and the science beakers in the kitchen sink... it's so much more than what you imagined.

You curl into Peter, laying flat on your side as he tucks his arm underneath your head. He must've run out of things to point at because it's silent between you both for a good while. The sun has fully set by the time he speaks again, "I wanted this to go differently."

"This?" You mumble.

"This. You coming over for the first time. I would've liked to have... don't know, vacuumed. Changed my sheets. Washed the blood out of my suit," you both laugh at that, "I would've made you dinner. I've got tons of recipes saved on my phone."

"Oh yeah? What would you have made me?"

"Ugh, there was this uh... this pasta chip thing? You boil pasta noodles, season 'em, throw 'em in the air fryer and they come out all crunchy. I would've borrowed May's fryer and went to town."

"That sounds really good actually."

"Yeah, I gotta-" Peter reaches for his phone on the windowsill but stretches himself too hard. You sit up a little to press your hand to his shoulder, worrying over his irritated stitches, and he sinks back into the headboard in defeat, "I gotta show you. Sometime."

Peter is avoiding your eyes but you can see the swirling pools of shame and embarrassment in his. While Dr. Said had worked on his injuries, he had said next to nothing. Just stared at the ceiling, or at her, or at you. It was unnerving. He never passed up an opportunity to joke—especially at his own expense—and yet... "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Peter winces at your question. Still refusing to look at you, the arm around you tightens and loosens. You brush your fingers against his bandaged cheek and for a second, he instinctively bumps into it. "I didn't want to worry you."

"And Ned? MJ? May? You couldn't tell them either?"

"I... I just needed to sleep it off."

"Pete," You nearly growl his name, enough for him to actually look you in the eyes this time, "don't bullshit me. Not after today."

Peter swallows. He believes your threat unsaid, and buckles, "I'm sorry."

The tightness in your frown softens, "Why?"

Peter laughs but you can tell there's very little humor in it. A defense mechanism, maybe, or his feelings are just that absurd, "I never set out to tell anyone that I was Spider-Man. I mean, I thought about it all the time but it all just kind of... happened. Before May, before Ned, before... Tony, it was just me. If I beat up a bad guy, it was between me and whoever managed to catch it online. If I saved a little old lady, it was between me and her. If I got hurt, it was just me. I learned to handle that."

You think back to what Peter said, about how he'd been Spider-Man since he'd started high school. Imagining a younger Peter—the Peter in those family pictures at May's—beaten to a pulp most nights makes you sick to your stomach. "But you've had Ned, and MJ and May for years. Don't you-" You don't get the chance to finish your question. The look Peter gives you is your answer.

"I love them but they're not... they didn't sign up for this. I did. When I fuck up, it's me. It's just me. It has to be."

"And the other heroes? I'm sure the others would help."

"The others have bigger fish to fry than me," Peter chuckles, "and I swore I would take care of New York. It's my home. So that's what I'm going to do, even if I have to do it alone."

"But you're not alone." You take his free hand in yours, fingers intertwining despite the splint on one finger. "Pete, I'm not asking you to let me out in the field with you in a dollar store knock-off of your suit, I'm asking that you just tell me—tell us when you need help. If things get dicey, say something. I'd rather know than find you in a ditch somewhere because you were too-" and you want to say proud, but you fear it'll burn the wrong way, "-too worried about us worrying. We're here for you. I'm here for you. I care so much about you that I think my heart might explode."

"Whoa, hey," Peter's eyes prickle with tears as he laughs, releasing your hand to cup your cheek, "telling me that kinda proves my point, you know that right?"

You can't help but smile, "I can't help it. You do crazy things to my feelings, Parker."

Peter draws you in for a kiss, then two. Your shoulders sag with the weight of the day and you try your best not to lean into his bruised shoulder. "I'm sorry. I should've sucked it up and said something. Ignoring you was a jackass move."

"Yeah. It was."

"I'm really sorry."

"I forgive you."

Peter's eyelashes flutter open but he keeps your noses pressed against each other, "You wanna sleep over?"

You raise an eyebrow, even as your heart accelerates, "Easy there, tiger. Make me dinner first."

Peter wiggles his injured hand against your cheek, "Uh, chef's on sabbatical. Will takeout suffice?"

You press a kiss to his nose. "Sounds good to me, handsome."

[gamebunny-advance]

Sus.

I just need to get this story off my chest because it's been bothering me since it happened. It's nothing really relevant to what I usually post or anything that's happened here, so feel free to skip this "story" if the subject matter offends you.

Content Warning for minors in implied sexual situations.

So, Youtube likes to recommend cartoon review/analysis videos to me, even of shows I've never watched. Sometimes I watch them because I like watching people be passionate about any given subject.

But other times they can be a little cringe because it's still grown adults yelling about cartoons, ya know? I'm happy that they've got something they're passionate enough about to sink so much time and effort into a video, but that doesn't automatically make me share their enthusiasm, especially if it's coming from a place of a bad faith criticism.

For the most part, I just move on from videos that give that vibe, but I recently came across one that disturbed me in a way that no one in the comments was really pointing out because they were too busy agreeing with the sentiment that the cartoon in question was bad.

The video was about some reboot for Tiny Toon Adventures (I literally know nothing about it other than what the video told me, and at this point I'd rather not learn anything more about it).

The video had pretty high production values all things considered, with a lot of original animation and art, like actual lip-synching on the avatar and detailed backgrounds as opposed to the static sprites on single colored/patterned backgrounds I usually see among cartoon critics.

I didn't stay long enough for the credits or check the description, but presumably all the art was done by the speaker/creator. Due to this, I was impressed enough to stick around to see what he had to say. Generally speaking, you just don't put that amount of effort into something that you're not passionate about, and I'm here for the passion first and opinions second.

The first talking point was about how the show apparently changed the relationship between the lead characters, Babs and Buster Bunny, from friends/lovers to siblings. This was gotten across in the usual way of the speaker overacting how angry/shocked they are about what is honestly a mundane change in the grand scheme of things. This was turn-off number 1 because I don't find the "caustic critic" to be that funny, especially when it's in service to bad faith criticisms. But, that wasn't what really disturbed me.

What set off a red flag to me, was the "skit" that followed.

The speaker detailed a situation where children, illustrated as a young girl and young boy, who were fans of the new reboot would eventually go back and watch the original show and be corrupted due to them misunderstanding the characters' relationship as being incestuous. I thought that this point was heavily exaggerated (as bits of this nature tend to be), but it's still not what disturbed me.

What disturbed me was how one of the sight gags to illustrate this point was to show the children wearing character themed underwear.

I'm not saying the underwear was drawn as a separate prop that they were implied to be wearing. I mean that as a part of the gag, I was forced to briefly look at two children standing in their underwear for no good reason. And to get to that gag, the characters were first fully dressed in merch before revealing their underwear underneath.

So not only was I forced to look at two children standing in their underwear, but they were literally undressed in front of me to make that "joke".

And immediately following that, I'm also forced to look at the girl child wrapped up in a spiderweb about to be eaten by a giant spider to illustrate the point that the kids are now trapped in some sort of "mindweb" from the confusion.

So me, knowing that tying people in spiderwebs is an uncommon but real fetish, felt deeply uncomfortable by this scene occurring right after the children were shown half naked.

Like, I'm not accusing that creator of anything because none of this is proof of any wrongdoing or bad intention outside of the bad faith criticism of the show. But I will say that I was so disturbed by this that I literally couldn't watch the rest of the video, so I don't know if it got worse from there.

But to try and prove that I'm not trying to say this in bad faith, I'll grant a couple of "outs":

The children weren't drawn particularly realistically: they were stick figure-esque in comparison to the more detailed art in the rest of the video that I saw. If the artist really wanted to detail these children, they probably would have, so I don't believe the drawings were meant to be especially gratifying.

I also know that cartoon print underwear is a shorthand for the character wearing them to be obsessed with the cartoon on the underwear. It's literally a joke from the Spongebob Movie, so if this guy was old enough to have been a fan of the original Tiny Toons, then he probably would have been in the age range to watch that movie and internalize that joke (or seen it elsewhere in a different cartoon). So it's possible that he might not have considered the implications of showing a child in a similar situation.

Additionally, while I don't recall much of Tiny Toons, I know that it's one of those shows that while it's made for children/general audiences, has a lot of mature humor, so maybe he thought he was doing the same thing without considering the implications of what he'd done.

Which is basically the same justification as the last point, but really the only way I can imagine someone thinking any of that was okay is ignorance.

But your dear ol'Sammy has been around the block a few times. Even though I can easily make up reasons why all this could be completely innocent/accidental, I feel like I can tell the difference between someone who made an honest mistake, and someone that is incapable of hiding what they really are. And this is sadly falling under the latter.

I always hope that I'm wrong in situations like this. I hope that I'm just paranoid and there's no malice at play here because my goal is not to punish wrongdoing, it's to make sure that other people are safe. But I can't ignore a red flag once I see it, and it was driving me crazy that no one seemed to be acknowledging it.

I won't link the video here because I don't want it to spread around, but if you really want to seek it out, then I've probably given enough information for you to find it on your own and make your own judgement about it.

[zenertia-falken]

THE VOID RANT

OK, so I guess we're doing this now because of the last post 👏

VOID was originally a gender-swapped NULL (hence the name) but as I fleshed out the idea, I realized that she had some potential as her own character.

I originally made VOID with a wolfcut bob, trying to come up with a semi-modest haircut to mirror NULL's mini updo.

HOWEVER, roughly around the same time I pulled this idea out of my ass, NULL hit the public domain after mystman's BB+ ARG was solved (THAT WAS WILD, I NEVER EXPECTED THE REWARD TO BE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN RIGHTS TO NULL, HOLY SHIT, THAT MAN IS ON ANOTHER LEVEL), making me think "HMMMM 🤔 NULL&VOID would be a cute ship dynamic", so I went ahead and humored the idea of them being a couple for a little bit, instead of VOID just being a vanilla NULL swap.

Finding myself completely enamored by the idea, they eventually turned into a tragic couple (I'll get to that at a later date), even turning into a social commentary of sorts about something I face myself (I'll also get deeper into this as production goes on, cuz it's a pretty sensitive topic for me and this is already probably gonna be a pretty long post). It became a bit of a comfort ship for me to help me work through this issue via my art.

Now, since NULL was public domain, I was already planning on adding him into a comic I was developing; MOUSE (no doubt you'll be hearing more about that too since these two idiots are a part of it now).

I'd been writing it since 2007 on and off, but lacked the amount story beats I felt necessary to turn it into a fully-fledged series. But with these two being 'glitched' characters, they fit the vibe perfectly, offering the perfect opportunity to 'immortalize' them in the pages of this story while also adding a bit more content to a story that so desperately needed it.

God willing, I can only hope I do them, as well as my message, justice.

I'll no doubt be speaking more about this in the future, along with my other original content (like, non-BBIEAL stuff, if yinz're interested—and even if you're not interested, because my therapist told me to stfu and do it already cuz I have good ideas (??) and I should try it sometime cuz it'll help with my self-esteem or some shit)

Draco Noir will be a fun one, holy crap, hahaha

I made that one upsetting on PURPOSE; I... Am SO SCARED about how people will react to it, cuz it'll either be super edgy and everyone (who reads it) will love it, or everyone will take it the absolute wrong way and cancel me for it, but just know that it's SUPPOSED to be an uncomfortable read in advance, okay? Okay. Cool, please don't curbstomp me if it makes it to print 😭🙏

tldr; it's a gritty, grimdark crime drama about a dragon detective.

So lemme know if you're into that shit, too.

Also, there's a Baldi reference character in one of the volumes I have planned (because of course there is) but it begins and ends with his name being 'Professor B' and the way he's designed. Everything else is completely original, although I'll probably end up sprinkling in a few subtle references to the game and fandom lore with him.

But idk, this has nothing to do with VOID, asdgfkl—

See ya guys later

[star-going-supernova]

Hey Starchild, how's it going?

I am quite bored at the moment due to lack of 3 star content, so I figured I'd just throw some dumb prompts/scenarios at ya for your amusement.

1. Vanessa learns that Gregory can drive a car, chaos ensues.

2. A few days after being freed, Vanessa encounters another lost child (not an orphan) in the pizzaplex. Flash backs and panic attacks ensue before Gregory comes to save the day.

3. Gregory accidentally calls Vanessa "sis" for the first time. Wholesome fluff and happy tears ensue.

4. Vanessa attempts to have a "friendly get together" (date) with Luis at the pizzaplex, but gets constantly interrupted by the glam fam's shenanigans. Eventually the 2 decide to join in on the activities and have lots of fun.

So yeah, I wish I had more news to share. I hope you consider doing some of these prompts as I think they have a lot of potential.

Have a wonderful week!

Hey, friend! It's going pretty good, I recently finished up two small projects for work, so that felt nice. And I've been getting so much writing done recently, which feels awesome!

Aw man, that sucks. I hope you find something to do/read! In the meantime, I was struck by a vision. Hope you enjoy!

• • •

Vanessa was losing her mind. And not in the mind control way.

For weeks now, any time she came out of the pizzaplex or the grocery store or even the post office once, her car wasn't where she would have sworn she parked it. It was still in sight, just always a little further away.

Gregory, who always opted to stay inside, never seemed concerned. He was absolutely bewildered whenever she brought it up. "What do you mean, did the car move? This is where you parked, Ness!" he'd said more than once.

"I'm going crazy," she announced, setting the milk on the backseat. "This is not where I parked, Gregory, I know it isn't."

She fell into the driver's seat with a wumph and gripped the steering wheel like a lifeline. "I was by the lamppost, not the cart corral. I specifically told myself, 'Take a good look, Vanessa, you're by the lamppost with the dent.' And now!" She flailed at the window. "The lamppost with the dent is way over there!"

Turning to Gregory, her tirade came to an abrupt halt. He was practically shaking with suppressed laughter, lips pressed tightly together in a futile attempt to keep a straight face. His eyes were alight with mischief.

The little hamster wheel in Vanessa's brain squeaked round and round in frantic circles. "You!" she belated cried. "You've been moving the car!"

With a snort, Gregory broke down laughing.

"You brat!" Vanessa yelped, indignant. "This whole time, I can't believe—since when can you drive?"

Collapsing against the door in hysterics, Gregory wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "It's been so hard not to give it away," he choked out between giggles. "Oh, man, the look on your face!"

Vanessa sat back in her seat, making noises of disbelief. The betrayal. "I took you in, I feed you, I gave you my old Switch, and this is how you repay me?"

Gregory positively howled with laughter, leaning over his legs.

"Adopt a gremlin orphan, they said. It'll be fun, they said." Vanessa started snickering. "Well they didn't say you'd come pre-programmed with knowledge on how to drive!"

"Pre-programmed," Gregory wheezed.

Finally starting the car, Vanessa shoved his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Just wait till Freddy finds out."

"Oh, he knows already. They all have a bet going on when you'd figure it out."

"They what!"

[its-that-kattt]

Back when I had just moved out and started doing my own thing my father reached out to me asking that I help out a friend of his complete a children's book she was working on, I agreed and started texting back and forth with the writer and was fairly excited since it was a cute story and she seemed nice enough ... Until I asked about payment. 🤨 red flag #1

She didn't want to discuss money until she "knew what she was paying for", ok understandable, I could've sent her examples of already finished art work but she requested that I make full color "test pages" of a part of the story that she'd sent me to look over and full designs for the characters, with no payment guaranteed !! 🤨🤨🤨 red flag #2

Now at this point we'd been going back and forth for a couple days over this issue while I worked on the pieces you see above, I had convinced her to be content with getting one test page and the character designs while also putting my foot down on what I expected to be paid for , which of course would be any and all art she wanted me to make. I went over what the "industry standard" was , and that I'd expect something comparable.

In the end she decided that she didn't want to pay me for cover art, wouldn't agree to royalties since she was "a first time author" (which wasn't true she had released several books this was just her first children's book), and only wanted to pay like $20 a page (sooo $400 for a 20 page book 😬) red flag #3

I only agreed to this setup as I was tired of arguing with a brick wall and at least had some numbers to work with. Unfortunately for her I was young , petty and very unprofessional and as soon as she started pushing for me to "hurry up so they can release the book" I just ghosted her. Texts and emails went unanswered and eventually she quit contacting me. I assumed she had found someone else to bother for art and forgot about the situation for years until I stumbled upon the art in the archives.

I got curious , looked up the author to see if the story had actually been released and it was! The art was very cute and well done (Also a very different art style then what she originally told me and had sent references of so I'm glad I didn't do much more since she might have been unhappy with the art anyway 😭) Despite the bad taste left in my mouth after our original interactions, I'm glad she found someone and only hope she was less of a pushy jerk with them 🙄

All in all I did learn alot from this, Mainly that I don't start any kind of work until payment is agreed upon by both parties and if someone gives me the ick I don't have to deal with them, and to be wary of people my dad recommends to collab with (which I should've known better at this point but ya know hindsight 20/20 lol)

I'm still quite happy with the work I did do so I'm sharing it here UwU

[homosexual-fast-dancer]

Wah, it took me a decade but finally, my half of a trade with @digitalheartbeat!

Wander x Lex, The Datenight

"What? What do ya mean you've been on a picnic?" Wander threw his arms up, in shock at what Lex had just told him. "Well… yeah, a meteor isn't really the ideal place to hold one… especially seeing as I was always by myself…" The green alien chuckled slightly while rubbing the back of his neck, against his better judgement he really didn't think the nomad would react in such a way. "Well that just won't do! I'll tell ya what, I've spotted this real nice planet before, hows about we go there tonight?" He grinned while they just looked at him somewhat surprised at the invitation. But quickly he resumed his smile before nodding ever so slightly, turning away to look at the fauna but really just to collect his thoughts.

'Was… was that just a date invitation? Does he want to go on a date with me?? I mean I doubt it but what if…' Lex thought to themself as they continued on their travels. Being so close to the lad of his affections most of the time certainly didn’t help in the matter either, he was always worried to accidentally blurt something out. 'But… maybe, just maybe… I've never been on a date before, what if I make a fool of myself? What if- What if-' He started to panic, as they had finally reached the planet of their destination. Sylvia had noticed this and after sending Wander away, sat down with Lex to find out how she could help the turquoise haired alien.

"I just… don't want to make a fool of myself…" He finished confiding in the Zbornak, after which she lightly placed her hand on his shoulder making him look at her. "Eh, I wouldn't worry about it… chances are, if this is a date, he's probably just as inexperienced as you are, Wander's never been the amorous sort so this is also new for him." She smiled at him, while he nodded at her somewhat returning the smile. She was probably right, but with the evening soon approaching he didn't have much time to dwell on such thoughts…

And eventually the night did come, and swallowing down his nerves Lex waited at the planet Wander had told him about. Yet he didn't have time to worry for too long as bounding up the hill he saw the green hat of the alien he had been waiting for. "Hiya Lex! Sorry it took me so long!" The orange lad chuckled nervously before pulling out a pre-made picnic from out of his aforementioned cap. While the picnic was fun with Lex and Wander just bouncing conversation topics to each other, a single solitary thought had been nagging away at the back of the scarved alien's brain. And he just had to know the answer, so plucking his courage he gulped and took the plunge.

"Hey Wander I, uh, gotta ask… is this a date?" Lex grinned awkwardly while Wander's eyes shot open, and he started to nervously chuckle. "I, Well… I wouldn't mind… but," He started jabbering away before coughing to collect him, "It-It can be if ya want it be…" He shrugged with a small laugh that made them almost melt. Yet he sighed contently, responding, "Yeah… I think I'd like it to be."

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Healing Ties - Chapter 7

*Warning Adult Content*

Yore slept with his arms around the mage, the smaller body tucked in safe and secure against his.

He'd missed sharing his bed with another person, though as he'd had to make clear this was not like that.

Still, it didn't have to be for it to be nice.

There was something about the warmth and the smell of another person that made him feel soothed.

He wasn't so sure it made the mage feel soothed, though.

His heart had calmed down eventually but it was clear that there was a lot about this situation that made him nervous.

That was fair enough.

He was entirely at Yore's mercy and he was having to tolerate Yore telling him hardly anything.

Someone had badly hurt him and Yore didn't even feel like he could promise that he wouldn't without risking giving away too much.

It would be over soon, though or at least Yore hoped it would.

Today they would pass by the Griffin's Roost campsite and if anyone was there they would hopefully be able to point him towards Lucas' whereabouts.

The mage couldn't be allowed to see the campsite, though.

Not when there was still a possibility that he was acting as a spy.

Early that afternoon, Yore carefully put the mage down next to a tree stump and set the bag down next to him.

"There's something I need to take care of quickly. You sit here and have something to eat and drink and I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Yes, sir," the mage murmured, head down.

He had started out with a bit of defiance in him but over time he seemed only to have become more submissive.

Well, for now that was useful.

Hopefully they could get this situation cleared up soon enough and be honest with one another and then the mage could stop being scared.

The campsite was far enough away that there was no risk of the mage seeing or hearing anything he shouldn't but not so far that there was any sense in shifting.

The smell of a campfire on the air told him someone was there.

Three men and two women were gathered around the fire, fresh fish filleted and laid out on a grill that sat over the fire just starting to cook.

The first woman who spotted him started to reach for a weapon before recognition slid over her face.

"Oy. You're one of those werewolves, aren't ya?"

The man who had been laying out the fish to cook looked up from his work and let out a bark on laughter.

"Nah, he's the werewolf. Yore, wasn't it?"

"That is my name."

"You're like the werewolf prince, yeah?"

"Hmm," Yore said.

That wasn't exactly true but he didn't feel like explaining their power structure and where he sat in it to a bunch of bandits.

"Do you know where Lucas is by any chance?"

The man who had spoken frowned and shrugged, looking between the others.

"He's at the Inn," the woman who hadn't spoken yet volunteered.

"Burton got hold of some fancy alcohol and sent him up there to see what he could trade it for."

"Ah, that'll be popular. Think he'll still be there by the time I get there? I've got someone with me, so I'll be walking on two legs."

"Yeah, should be. He's always up there for at least a few days. Likes to socialise. Not sure if that means networking or fucking, though."

"I'm not sure those are entirely separate things for him," Yore said.

"Thank you. I'd stay and chat but I have someone waiting for me."

"Careful if you go near the water," the man with the fish told him. "I swear something tried to grab me when I was gutting the fish. Got out of there real quick."

"Smart man," Yore commented. "And thank you. I'll be careful."

********

Fanner hadn't expected to be handed an opportunity like this.

Part of him really wanted to just ignore it and wait for Yore but he knew it could be his only chance of escape.

And maybe, probably... escape would mean death but he just kept flashing back to being tied down on the table, helpless, as Whelan cut into him.

He couldn't let that happen again and no matter what Mr Burrows had planned Fanner highly doubted he'd abandoned the idea.

If he didn't escape it would happen and it would be worse because Mr Burrows would make sure it was done right next time.

Part of his body would be removed and he would have to live with the horror of that as it slowly grew back, just like his finger had.

Fanner took a bag of shelled nuts from the bag and left everything else.

He would probably regret it later but taking things without permission felt like stealing.

Though technically he was property, so running away was the biggest theft of all.

He tried not to think about that as he started walking.

Fanner tried to move quickly but the terrain was rough and his side hurt and his body was screaming at him to just lay down and rest for a while.

But he couldn't.

Yore would be back soon and if Fanner wasn't far enough away, he would find him.

Ahead of him the ground gave way to a rocky ledge.

The drop was only approximately as tall as he was and he was not very tall but he was afraid of what trying to drop down would do to his wound.

He could try to go around but that would slow him down.

There was a tree root growing down over the drop at the far end.

It was a bit further to the ground at that end but if he could climb down he could avoid jarring his injury.

He grasped the root firmly in his hands and dug his feet into the side of the rocky wall as he eased himself over and then he abruptly realised he was stuck.

He didn't have enough strength to hold on with just one hand.

If he let go to try to lower himself down or even pull himself back up, he would fall.

The rocky wall crumbled beneath his feet as he scrambled for a foothold and he could feel his hands starting to slip.

He braced himself for what was about to happen.

And then a hand wrapped around his arm and effortlessly pulled him back up.

Yore's eyes met Fanner's and he didn't look happy.

"What are you doing? You..."

Fanner grabbed hold of Yore's wrist and Yore looked down, confused as Fanner pulled.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just render him unconscious like he'd accidentally done to the cow once but as he drew energy from Yore he found the pool was far deeper than he had anticipated.

Whelan hadn't had anywhere near this much energy.

Confusion flooded Yore's face and he started to pull away.

Fanner pulled harder, rapidly drawing energy from him now he was no longer worried he would kill him.

Yore wavered on his feet and then fell to the ground unconscious but Fanner made sure to check, definitely not dead.

Fanner had to get away.

If Yore woke up and caught him again, he would be in so much trouble.

He had never done anything like this before, never been openly defiant and certainly never attacked someone.

At least... not on purpose.

He had to keep reminding himself that he had killed someone.

He found the shortest point in the drop and slid down as gracefully as he could.

He felt a sharp jolt in his side as he hit the ground but it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd been expecting.

With Yore's energy coursing through him, he felt high.

He was moving faster now, clearing enough ground that he might actually be able to get away from Yore.

He'd heard stories of children who got lost in the woods accidentally simply because their parents took their eyes off them for a few minutes and they wandered off.

If a child could become so difficult to find accidentally, surely he could do it on purpose.

His stomach cramped from hunger and his mouth felt dry.

He found a narrow river and gulped down the clear, fresh water and then sat next to it and ate some of the nuts he'd stolen.

Despite everything else he'd done, he still felt a little guilty about the nuts.

He felt guilty about a lot of things.

Fanner could feel his body healing itself.

His side hurt less already.

He finished the nuts and knelt next to the stream again.

He would have another drink and then he would keep walking, putting more distance between himself and Yore.

What he would do after that... well, he would worry about that later.

He was afraid he'd lose his nerve if he gave it too much thought and there was no going back now.

Fanner reached his hands down and just as they touched the surface of the water, something grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward, into the river.

[soft-dyke-omo]

all in your head - a supercorp omo fic

I’ve been working on this for weeks and I’ve daydreamed about working on this in intricate detail for months. Not betaed because I can’t stand to look at it anymore.

If this shows up in the supercorp tag even though I didn’t tag it - I’m so sorry, this is about Lena pissing her pants. Don’t look. 

It��s all in your head.

Maybe, if Lena kept telling herself that, she’d speak it into existence.

You’re just nervous. It’s your first date after all.

And honestly, it was bad enough that something as trivial as a date could phase her like this. It had never been like this before, she’d been sure the so-called “first date jitters” were a fabrication of the romance novels her mother had dismissed as mindless drivel. And she’d been inclined to believe her. Up until now, dates had been nothing more but a business transaction to her, and like all business transactions, she’d been calm, collected and aloof throughout. Also, like all business transactions, most of them turned out to be orchestrated by her mother.

But that was before Kara, before weak knees and fluttering hearts and -

It’s all in your head.

You don’t have to use the bathroom.

It didn’t matter now anyway, because at this moment she saw storming into the restaurant, cutting a corner dangerously close and almost taking a waiter with her, before she arrived at the table Lena had reserved for them, out of breath and beaming.

“Sorry I’m late!”, she panted, frantically pulling her blouse into place when she noticed the blue of her supersuit peeking out from beneath. There was no need for pretence between them, but she had to protect her identity to the public, especially when she was this bad at lying.

“Nonsense, darling. I’m sure it was important.”

“Not more important than you. Not to me.”

Well, and there she was, completely disarmed by the charming blonde. Checkmate in 3 moves. She couldn’t fight the smile that spread over her features, and maybe she didn’t want to, because she knew the effect it had on Kara. An effect that became evident when Kara just stood there, smiling back at her, for a total of ten seconds before remembering to sit down in their booth, across the table from Lena.

For a second, Lena wondered idly what her mother would think of her, sitting in a restaurant that had things such as booths and served a food item designated the monster burger. It wasn’t the type of restaurant a Luthor was usually seen in, it lacked the pricey wine pairings and the menu completely written in French. But what it had was a comfortable ambiance, and the glowing recommendations of one Kara Danvers. She’d take this over the stuffy, pristine establishments her mother used to drag her and Lex into when they were children any day.

A memory flared up in some part of Lena’s brain she’d long since thought buried, a memory of white tablecloth and important investors and feet swinging off the chair because she couldn’t reach the floor, not by a long shot and she needed to go so, so bad.

Bad memory. Like touching a hot stove, she immediately forced herself to forget, to think of literally anything else.

She took a sip of her wine to distract herself, a truly bad idea as she immediately felt a pang in her bladder. Fuck. She’d already had quite a bit of wine while waiting for Kara, not mention all the coffee she’d had even before out of a nervous habit.

“Are you okay?” Her girlfriend’s concern shook her out of her ruminations.

“I’m stellar”, she replied, her voice coming out a bit pressed as she crossed her legs under the table. She took a deep breath.

It’s all in your head. You’ve been in worse situations. You can hold it.

“How was your day, darling?”, she asked instead, hoping to shift attention away from herself. Kara gave her a dramatic sigh. “It was torture, Lena!”

Lena chuckled. “Tell me about it.”

And Kara did. It was very strange how Lena used to hate people who couldn’t stop talking about themselves on dates, but as soon as Kara was talking, she had no intention of interrupting her. Just listening to her was enough to brighten a stressful day. The waiter stopped by their table – it was hard not feel a bit triumphant since he had been sending pitying glances over to Lena’s table while she was waiting, insisting that her date will show up any minute now – and they ordered. Kara heartily recommended their home-made elderflower sirup, and just to make her girlfriend beam at her she agreed to give it a try. It was teeth-rottingly sweet and even worse, it arrived in a tall glass, because apparently every item on the menu arrived in a portion large enough to feed a small family. She gulped down the glorified sugar water while pressing her thighs together.

She could just ask to use the bathroom. She should just excuse herself, it would be easy, she never had problems addressing her needs, why was it so difficult now?

“Hey, are you okay? You’ve been a bit squirmy...is the sirup that bad?”

She hadn’t noticed her discomfort was so obvious. She really needed to get a grip…

Get a hold of yourself. The memory reared its ugly head again, with flashes of her mother’s iron grip on her hand and an icy voice hissing at her to stop squirming, to sit like a proper lady, and to never ever interrupt like that again.

As hard as she tried to repress it, the common sense that told her to just go to the bathroom got drowned out in a chorus of don’t interrupt, don’t you dare interrupt, just hold it hold it hold it.

“I’m sorry”, Lena answered, her teeth gritted against a sudden wave of desperation. “I guess I’m just nervous.” The lie passed her lips with practised ease, and she immediately felt guilty. Even worse, Kara immediately accepted this.

“Rao, I’m so glad it wasn’t just me! I’ve been going insane for three days because I couldn’t wait to go on a date with you but I was also really nervous. Alex kept making fun of me because we’ve been going out for lunch for years, but it’s different now that you are my girlfriend.” She let out a giggle, and then added: “My girlfriend. I’ll never get tired of calling you that.”

Lena didn’t answer. She had to make a conscious effort to keep from holding herself with her hands. Somewhere far away she heard Kara talking. Lena tried to focus on her words, anything to keep herself grounded in reality, to stop herself from remembering. She didn’t want to relive the shameful warmth spreading through the seat of her pants -

A spurt. No, no, she must have imagined it. Lena Luthor didn’t wet herself, she had better control than that. She surreptitiously adjusted her seating position and froze. She could definitely feel wetness in her underwear. She swallowed, blanched.  This couldn’t be happening. A quick glance downward told her it didn’t show, yet. She desperately clenched her muscles. She had to keep from panicking. With a clear head, she would find a way out of this situation. She came from a family of geniuses, she couldn’t just sit there and wait until her bladder inevitably gave out.

She glanced around – thankfully the restaurant wasn’t very full today, or any day, really. Lena had the sneaking suspicion Kara was the only one keeping them in business. And in this moment, Lena was glad for it: At least nobody would see her sitting on her heel to try and keep from giving in to her desperate need. Her face burned in shame as she adjusted, trying to angle her leg correctly – the second she lifted herself off the seat, she could feel another spurt escaping, but this one didn’t stop. She immediately dropped back down, but it kept going, saturating her pants and the seat cushion below her. Four seconds later she managed to regain control, but the damage was already done, there was no way this mishap wouldn’t be visible to everyone as soon as she stood up.

She forced herself to take deep breaths. Maybe she could salvage this. If she could just hold on until they left, she could just cover the evidence of her leaks with her jacket – but it was midsummer, of course she didn’t bring a jacket. Desperation hit her in waves, made even worse by the feeling of her wet jeans clinging to her, reminding her of the helplessness of sitting on a chair that was far to big for her, the back of her skirt soaked and dripping onto the floor, silently imploring her brother to help her, and Lex regarding her with a warm, comforting smile and icy eyes before announcing to the table that little Lena had an accident.

She didn’t know whether it was the shame of the memory or the pain of holding it, but Lena couldn’t hold back a whimper as she lost another spurt. She clenched her thighs together as hard as she could, but she was leaking periodically now, the liquid gathering on top of her lap in a hot pool. Tears were gathering in her eyes. How pathetic and yet so in character for her to cry in front of Kara – oh God, Kara. She’d be disgusted, ashamed at being seen with a Luthor who couldn’t even hold her pee like a toddler…

“Lena? You’re worrying me.” A gentle voice, and an even gentler touch on her wrist spelled disaster for her. A jolt went through Lena’s body at the unexpected feeling, and without a warning her bladder let go completely. She could hear the muffled hissing of the stream hitting her jeans. And if Lena could hear it, that could only mean that Kara could as well…

“Are...are you peeing?”

Lena couldn’t hold her tears at bay anymore. She jerked her wrist away from Kara and buried her face in her hands, sobbing, not bearing to look at the disgust she was sure she’d see on her girlfriend’s face. Ex-girlfriend, she reminded herself. There was no way Kara would ever be able to look at her and see anything but a pathetic girl who pissed her pants because she didn’t dare to ask if she could be excused. And she was still going, helplessy peeing into her pants, and by now it was splattering onto the floor noisily. She couldn’t make it stop. Finally, after what felt like hours, the stream tapered off, leaving Lena sitting alone in her puddle. She didn’t move, she didn’t want to face the world. She hoped against hope that the ground would just swallow her up.

“Oh, Lena…”

Kara’s voice took her by surprise, she’d expected her to be gone by now.

“Are you okay? Are you sick?” There was a light touch on her forehead, as if trying to read her temperature, and the concern Kara showed her was all too much.

“Stop it!”, Lena hissed, turning to glare at Kara, who shrunk back into her seat. God, what was she doing, pushing Kara away like that even though she’d shown her nothing but care. Then again, she’d always been her own greatest saboteur.

“I’m not sick! I pissed myself because I’m a stupid, worthless -”

There was a burst of superspeed, and the next thing Lena knew was the feeling of soft, comforting arms around her.

“Shh, Lena. You’re not stupid, not at all. Accidents happen, baby. Let’s get you home, hm?”

Absently, she noted that she should probably be horrified at being talked down to like that. Still, as if the whole horrible ordeal had taken every ounce of her energy, she went pliant and let Kara lead her out of the restaurant and into an alley, cringing at the feeling of her heavy, soaked jeans rapidly cooling.

“Wait here, okay?”, Kara whispered to her, and in a flash, she was gone.

Gone.

Lena ran a hand through her hair. What now? The thought of her driver seeing her in this state was enough to make her feel sick, but the prospect of walking home in her soiled pants for everyone to see was even worse. She was just about to take out her phone when Kara reappeared in front of her.

“Don’t worry about Robert, he won’t tell a soul, he’s a good man. And I’m the one keeping his business afloat.”

Lena nodded dumbly, numb to everything happening to her. She felt spent and just wanted to hide in her apartment, never to be seen again.

“Come on, Lena, hold onto me.”

She realised what Kara was offering, and it was almost enough to make her cry all over again – offering to fly her home, despite everything that happened. Lena shook her head frantically. “I’m dirty...it’ll get all over you.”

“I don’t care”, Kara said, holding out her hand. Lena didn’t have the energy to refuse. She clung onto Kara as she felt her gently lift off the ground, closing her eyes and selfishly enjoying her embrace, the last she might ever share with Kara. Typical Kara, always putting others first. No wonder Lena had fallen for her as hard as she had. As they touched down on her balcony, Lena composed herself. She wanted to face their break-up with dignity – as much dignity as she could have in urine-stained pants and tear tracks on her cheeks. She let Kara guide her inside with a hand at the small of her back.

She closed her eyes. Best to get it over with.

“Thank you, Kara. I’ll be fine now. You can leave.”

“Leave? Do- do you want me to go?”

Lena scoffed. She couldn’t help it, lashing out had always been easier than being vulnerable.

“Don’t pretend like you want to stick around after what I did. After how I embarrassed you.”

“Lena, I’d never be embarrassed by you. You had an accident, they happen to everyone sometimes. I won’t leave because of that.”

Lena swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “I…”

She couldn’t find words for all her swirling, chaotic feelings.

“I need to get out of these clothes.”

“Yeah, me too”, Kara said and sheepishly glanced down at the wet spot Lena had left on her when they were flying.

“Why don’t you clean up in the shower while I zip home and put on some comfy pants. I’ll be back before you’re done.” Then, as if sensing Lena’s uncertainty, she added: “I promise.”

Lena peeled off her sodden pants and put them in the hamper, then she stepped into the shower. She forced herself to take her time in cleaning up, to get her mind out of fight or flight mode like she’d discussed with her therapist. They’d talked about her past, about flashbacks and anxiety attacks, but so far it had never seemed to help her in the middle of one. After an extensive shower she put on a new outfit, stepping into her living room and exhaling a breath of relief when she saw Kara, dressed in comfy sweatpants, sprawled out on the couch while some animated movie was playing on the TV. Her girlfriend – girlfriend! - lifted one edge of the comforter she had draped around herself in a silent invitation to join her. Without hesitation, Lena crawled onto the couch next to her and leaned against Kara’s shoulder.

“I’m-”, she began, but Kara shushed her.

“If the next word out of your mouth is sorry, I don’t want to hear it. We can talk about it later if you want to, but right now, I think you need some TLC.”

Lena agreed, and snuggled closer into her girlfriend, who in turn pressed a kiss against her temple. Lena relaxed and for the first time today, she let herself believe it was going to be okay.

[kydrogendragon]

Mammon Seeks out Lucifer's Advice

Pairing: Mammon x GN!Reader (in mention) Rating: 18+ for talk of mature content Characters: Lucifer, Mammon

Had someone told Mammon that one day he'd be outside Lucifer's study, getting ready to ask him advice on such an intimate topic such as this, he'd have laughed them out the door.  And yet here he was, his fist inches away from the wooden door that separated Mammon from his inevitable embarrassment. 

He originally though of asking Asmo for advice, but he knew if he did that, Mammon would truly never hear the end of it. Or worse yet, MC wouldn't hear the end of it either, and Mammon was not having that.  He considered Satan as well, figuring the guy's probably read all about it at some point in his life, and frankly, Mammon was still half tempted to ask him instead.  But with Satan, he also knew that it would eventually come back to bite him, somehow, someway. 

So Lucifer it was.  His dearest older brother.  The only one he figured (hoped) wouldn't use this moment against him or MC.  And so he knocked.  Probably the first time he's ever knocked in, well, maybe ever, now that he's thinking about it.

It was silent for a moment, before Lucifer spoke.  "Enter."

Mammon pushed the door open slowly, as if the air behind it was thick as honey. He poked his head in, the fire in the fireplace flickering in his golden-blue eyes.  Lucifer sat at his deck, a familiar sight, framed by stacks of paper and folders. His dark eyes flicked up, narrowing at the sight of the second-born. Lucifer sat up, folding his hand in front of him on his desk, raising a single brow.

"If you're going to ask about your credit card, I'd advise you to reconsider. Unless you're particularly fond of being a ceiling decoration." Mammon glanced off to the side as he wormed the rest of the way inside. He raised an arm, running his fingers through his hair as he spoke.

"It ain't anything like that," he said, gently nudging the door closed with his foot.  He sighed, already beginning to regret his decision.

"Oh?" Lucifer said, leaning back against his chair, a hint of intrigue on his lips.  "Then what is this about?" Mammon's eyes wandered back towards his brother.  He could feel the heat pooling in his cheeks already.

"It's about MC." Lucifer's eyes narrowed, any trace of amusement that once was there now long gone. Mammon shuffled under his gaze.

"What did you d-"

"I didn't do nothing!" Mammon shouted, shaking his hands in front of him.  "I swear!  MC's fine.  They're safe.  I just..." He groaned, walking forward before collapsing in one of the chairs in front of Lucifer's desk.  His head fell forward into his hands as he tried to fight off the reddening of his face.  They were both quiet for a moment, the only sound in the room being the soft crackling of the fire.  "I gotta ask ya a question, but you gotta promise to not laugh," he mumbled into his palms.

"A question?" Mammon peered up at his brother, pointing his finger up at him with alarming speed.

"Yeah, and no teasing or anything, got it?  You're unfortunately the best I got at the moment, so don't go thinking I'm happy about this, alright?  I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for MC." Lucifer chucked, leaning back once more as he waved a hand in front of him with a flourish.

"Very well," Lucifer said, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.  "What is your question?"

Mammon took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself.  His hands gripped his knees, eyes staring at the lonely paperclip resting on the desk, refusing to make eye contact as he spoke.  "How do I be a good Dom for MC?"

Silence once more. 

Mammon didn't dare look up, afraid of what he'd see.  This was a terrible decision, he knew it.  Why did he think this was gonna go well?  He should have just asked Satan. He'd have laughed at Mammon, sure, but he'd probably get his question answered. He should just leave and hope that Lucifer never mentions tonight ever again.  Hell, Mammon could probably have just raided the library and read for once. That would have been less painful than this.  Breakfast was gonna be a nightm-

"MC wants you do be their Dom?" Mammon's head whipped up, expecting anything other than Lucifer still sitting calmly, hands still clasps comfortably on the edge of the desk.  All Mammon could do was nod.

Lucifer hummed before standing up.  Mammon watched as his brother made his way to the rack of Demonius on the wall.  Lucifer poured two glasses half full, set the Demonius back, and made his way back over, offering one of the glasses to his younger brother.

"I feel it's safe to assume this conversation would be less awkward for the both of us with a bit of Demonius," Lucifer said, sitting back down as Mammon took the glass in his hands.  He took a long sip before speaking again.  "Have you ever done this before?"

"Kinda?" Mammon said, fidgeting with the ornate glass in his hands.  Lucifer raised his brow.

"Kind of?" Mammon groaned.

"I dunno, I mean, I've kinda done dominant-ish stuff in the past, but it wasn't ever all that serious or nothing.  And not with anyone like MC, ya know?"

Lucifer nodded, his eyes watching Mammon's form carefully.  "Nothing like that with someone you genuinely care about, correct?" Mammon nodded, taking a sip, begging the alcohol to take effect quick.  "Have the two of you talked about what you're wanting from this relationship in that regard?"

Mammon rubbed the back of his neck, twirling the dark liquid in the glass.  "A bit?  We were just talking and they mentioned wanting to try some more stuff out and they said they were a Sub and wouldn't mind trying out some dynamics kinda stuff out next time, but that was about it." He sighed, thumping his head on the edge of the desk.  Mammon was quiet for a moment, the worry and fear that brought him to Lucifer's office in the first place beginning to creep back up. "I just don't wanna fuck anything up for once," he whispered.

Lucifer's eyes softened, watching his brother's form slump further into himself.  "You won't," he said, reaching his hand out and resting it on top of his brother's snowy hair.  Mammon stiffened at the contact before melting into his touch. "There's a reason I entrusted MC'a care to you, after all."  Mammon furiously blinked away the tears that were threatening to come forth. 

"Thanks," he whispered after a moment, not initially trusting his voice to not betray him.  "So," Mammon said, lifting his head back up and slouching into the chair.  "What do I need to do?  How do I do this?"

Lucifer's hand retreated back to his glass, his fingers tapping along the stem.  "Talk to them.  Clearly layout your preferences, your limits, what you want, what you don't want.  Decide if you want this dynamic to exist solely in your own privacy or if this is something you both want more consistently in your day to day lives." Mammon nodded as he listened. "You should go into this conversation knowing how you feel on these subjects as well."  Lucifer leaned forwards, his gazed fixed directly on his brother. "Mammon?"

"What?"

"Do you know what you would say to these questions?  Do you feel comfortable being a Dom to begin with?" Mammon shifted in his seat, holding the glass closer to his chest.

"I think?"

"You think or you know?"

Mammon took a breath before responding.  "Yeah, I know.  Well, kinda know.  I know I wanna do this.  I dunno about the other stuff, least not right now." Lucifer nodded.

"Good," he said.  He took another sip of Demonius before continuing.  "Some dynamics have a written contract they prefer to have that sets the rules and guidelines out clearly, but that's not necessary.  Many Doms will have rules laid out for their Subs to follow.  Some are strict with their rules.  Others are more like guidelines, and breaking these rules often result in punishments.  Now what that punishment is is up to the two of you to decide.  Some punishments are more pleasurable than others.  If you both are truly in need of ideas, I have some-"

"Nope, we'll be good!  I really don't wanna hear about your kinky punishment ideas.  This is already awkward enough." Lucifer chuckled, twirling his Demonius.

"Very well," he said with a smirk.  The both of them took another sip, Mammon tipping the glass back until it was empty.  Lucifer shook his head as he strode back over, grabbing the open Demonius bottle and bringing it over to the desk.  He set the bottle down closer to Mammon as he sat back down. The younger brother eagerly refilled his glass as Lucifer continued.  "Regardless of if it's just a single scene or a more ongoing situation, you should be checking in with MC as well as yourself.  How you decide to do this is up to you, but make sure that it's clear and obvious where each of your headspaces are at.  Make sure you both have ways, either safe words or something akin to it, to immediately communicate a need to stop.  Which leads us to our next topic of aftercare."  Mammon nodded along, sipping at the Demonius as he listened.

"Aftercare is incredibly important, for the both of you, not just MC.  This is the time to clean or patch up as needed, discuss anything as needed, cuddle, and recover.  I'd advice that you each layout desired aftercare methods as well." Mammon nodded, still avoiding eye contact, finding the floor much more interesting.  "Do you have any questions?"

Mammon sat, thinking, as he absorbed everything Lucifer said.  It was probably the first time in centuries that he'd actually paid attention for this long to his older brother.  "No, that's good." He stood, setting the glass down on the desk.

Lucifer stood as well. "Should you ever need advice in the future, my door is open."  Mammon smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, don't go thinking this is the new norm, alright?" He said, already maneuvering to the door. "Doing this for MC, that's all."

"Of course." Lucifer watched as Mammon opened the door, before pausing, his fingers strumming against the wood. Mammon glanced back over his shoulders.

"Thanks, Lucifer."

"You're welcome, Mammon."

@adash-ofstardust hope I did it justice!!

[tsumusamu]

nice receive [miya atsumu x fem!reader]

genre: fluff and (once again, a sad attempt at) humor

word count: 3.8k

summary: eight months into your relationship, atsumu takes you to meet his family. things don't go as planned, but of course, everything ends up alright in the end anyway. alternatively, miya atsumu adores you and his family thinks it's easy to see why.

warnings: uhhh implied sexual content at the end but it is like barely there ok

commission for @ muppetz (it wont let me tag for some reason ugh) thank you so much for commissioning me!

a/n: this ended up being way longer than the word count requested but that’s no one’s fault but my own because i dont know when to shut the FUCK up anyways i hope this one shot is enjoyable lol

content under the cut!

You literally never thought that you would ever end up in this situation.

"C'mon babe, why the long face? Ya nervous or somethin'?"

"No." You purse your lips, huffily averting your gaze from your boyfriend's smirking face.

"Ya don't needa be like that." Atsumu drapes an arm across your shoulder, pecking your forehead as a sort of reassurance. "No one could ever hate this cute face, after all." He accentuates his words by squishing your cheeks, drawing out a yelp of protest from you.

"If you keep talking like this, you're gonna jinx it, you know." Your words come out softer and more hesitant than intended, and you startled even yourself at how utterly anxious you sound.

"Yer gonna be fine. Trust me, I wouldn’t take just any random girl to meet my folks, and they’re well aware of that." Atsumu ruffles your hair.

"I just... I hope they're not..." You pause for a moment, trying to find the right word. "...Disappointed?" You grimace when your boyfriend suddenly throws his head back in such voracious laughter, that you swear you saw a few hysterical tears.

"Are ya jokin'?" he all but wheezes. "Yer the libero for the national volleyball team, for God's sake. If anythin', I'd be the disappointment here."

"'Tsumu — " you start, but he interrupts you by pulling you in for a comforting hug.

"Don't worry yer pretty head anymore, got it?" he murmurs into your ear. "Yer wonderful, and I couldn't be luckier to have ya. My parents are gonna love ya. Honest."

A small smile tugs at your lips as you reach around his back to hug him back. "I hope so."

A year ago, if someone had told you that you would end up having Miya Atsumu introduce you to his family as his girlfriend, you would've laughed until your ass fell off and your stomach ached like no tomorrow.

You had been absolutely overjoyed when you were chosen for the women's national volleyball team, and you were so eager to start playing with your new teammates that you had decided to attend the national team's training camp without hesitation despite your recent knee injury at the time. However, you completely overlooked the fact that you would be working with the men's team as well, which would've been completely fine... if not for Miya Atsumu.

When you first met Atsumu, he was the cocky, annoying little shit of a setter for the Japanese men's national volleyball team, someone who you were stuck training with for the next two weeks.

You still remember the first words he ever spoke to you.

"The hell are ya doin' there, lil libero? If yer not gonna be able to save the easiest ones, then ya might as well sub out."

You also remember the first thought you had about him.

'Prick.'

And the first words you spoke to him.

"Can't you look at this — " You had gestured angrily to the knee brace supporting you. "And take a fucking hint, or what?"

He had sent some unapologetic, biting words right back at you and that marked the beginning of the time you have had the utmost pleasure of knowing Miya Atsumu. The two of you had bickered rather relentlessly (not too unlike literal children, despite the both of you being well into your twenties) throughout the rest of the camp, and by the end, for some unknown reason through some unknown method, he ended up with your number.

He started texting you constantly, and as much as you tried to convince your foolish self that he was just a nuisance, you found yourself responding to his messages like an idiot anyway. Throughout the next few months, you learned that Atsumu was far more than just his overly confident demeanor; he's genuinely kind-hearted, down-to-earth, and actually kinda hilarious. And eventually — neither of you quite knew how — the two of you were staring across a table at each other in a fancy restaurant as if daring the other to blink and lose an unspoken game, on a first date that neither of you thought would go as well as it did.

A little over eight months into your happy and committed relationship, Atsumu suggested that the two of you go to his hometown in Hyogo for a weekend to visit his family. You had immediately agreed with his idea, excited to meet his parents and twin brother in person, but now that he's leading you out of your shared hotel room to go do just that, your stomach's knotting uncomfortably.

Atsumu's been nothing but supportive and comforting ever since you started showing that you're nervous to meet his family. He was always happy to provide a never-ending flow of cheesy words and warm hugs, but you're genuinely afraid of embarrassing yourself. You want to impress his family and not have them see you as undeserving of their son, who you truly care for from the bottom of your heart. Atsumu is your first long-term boyfriend, and you would jump off your roof if you managed to mess anything up during the visit to his folks.

The taxi ride to Atsumu's childhood home doesn't do much to soothe your nerves either, with you fiddling with your fingers the entire way through while Atsumu makes small talk with the driver. As the cab pulls up to the address that your boyfriend had provided earlier, you instinctively clench your fists so hard that you think you might bleed.

A look of alarm crosses Atsumu's face as he notices that you're still just as anxious as you were when you left the hotel earlier. He thought that the ride to his parents' house would give you some time to cool down, but that had clearly not been the case. His eyebrows furrow in concern as he reaches over to grab one of your hands in his, giving you a comforting squeeze.

"Just breathe, darlin'." He runs his thumb over the shallow nail marks embedded in your skin. "If it means anything to ya, my mom's a huge fan of yers. For real. I didn't tell ya this before, but she's especially excited to meet ya. Keeps yappin' to me askin' how I pulled ya." You flush.

"R-Really?" you stammer, wide-eyed.

"Really. Who wouldn't be a fan yers?" Atsumu grins, pecking your nose. "See, ya got nothin' to be worried about. Just chill out and be yerself, 'kay?" You nod, some of the tension releasing from your shoulders as Atsumu leads you out of the cab, hand still clutching yours.

You're feeling a little better now, though your thoughts are still running through your head at the pace of a mile a minute as you watch Atsumu pay the taxi driver and thank him for the ride. Atsumu's mother is my fan? Your ears start to heat up. I hope I can somehow live up to her expectations of me…

“Ma! We’re here!” Atsumu shouts at the top of lungs approximately one second after simultaneously ringing the doorbell and obnoxiously pounding on the door.

“Comin’, comin’, ya brat!” A feminine, yet strong voice hollers in return. You freeze on the spot, your mind going blank once again. It’s happening. It’s finally happening.

The door aggressively swings open, revealing a middle-aged woman wearing a pink apron and carrying a wooden spatula in her hand. Her dark hair is pulled into a bun away from her face and her eyes, the same chocolate brown as Atsumu’s, are gleaming with annoyance. She briefly glares at Atsumu for his rowdy entrance before her gaze catches onto you, and her entire face lights up with excitement.

“(L/N) (Y/N)! It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“M-Mrs. Miya,” you stammer out, trying your best to smile but you’re sure it looked more like a wince. “It’s good to m-meet you t-too.”

"Aw, hey now. What happened to my feisty girl? It's not like ya to be so lame.” Atsumu lays his forearm on your head, effectively using you as an armrest. You jerk away, scowling.

“Shut the hell up, asshat,” you snap without thinking. About half a second later, regret slams into your body like a truck. Oh, shit. I just called my boyfriend an asshat in front of his mother. You were about to run off into the streets in utter embarrassment if not for Mrs. Miya letting out a hearty laugh way too similar to her son’s and linking arms with you.

“No need to look so scared, dear. I don’t bite. And it’s good to see that yer willin’ to put this brat in his place.”

“Ma!” Atsumu whines, pouting petulantly.

“Yer really losin’ out with him though, y’know,” Mrs. Miya whispers to you as she leads you into the house by your arm. “I’ve got another son; Atsumu’s twin. Osamu’s quite well-behaved. If yer just likin’ the looks, he would be the better option.” You can tell she’s joking by the merry twinkle in her eyes, but instead of humoring her you end up shaking your head with a quiet chuckle.

“I think Atsumu’s perfectly good for me.” The two of you pause to watch Atsumu practically sprint into the kitchen, and a few moments later there’s an agitated yell as proof that he was on his way to annoy his brother. You smile. “He makes me really happy, Mrs. Miya. You raised him well.”

“Aren’t ya just the sweetest thing?” Mrs. Miya coos at you, pinching your left cheek. “And so pretty too. I swear ya could probably clobber my brat at volleyball as well. You and yer teammate… ah, Miss Amanai? The two of you always caught my eye while I watched yer matches. Make sure ya let her know.”

You blush a little and thank her, making a mental note to tell Kanoka that. She’d probably find it extremely amusing, especially since she was the one who had given Atsumu your number in the first place (which, as you had found out months later, was because he had practically groveled at her feet multiple times. Dumbass.)

“Come meet my husband, (Y/N).” Mrs. Miya leads you into the living room, where an older, balding man with rimmed glasses is quietly flipping through a book. He gives a start upon hearing your entrance, clearing his throat and sitting up straight.

“Ah, hello!” Mr. Miya greets you. “I’ve heard a lot about you! From both Atsumu and the missus.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Miya.” You nod once in a respectful manner.

“It’s about time that he settled down with a nice girl. Make sure ya keep him in line though, got it, missy?”

“Of course I w — “ you start, but Mrs. Miya is already dragging you towards the kitchen. You smile apologetically at Mr. Miya, and he just laughs and waves.

“Osamu’s makin’ dinner right now. He is such a hardworkin’ and dedicated boy. Both of them are, really,” she rambles. “But Osamu sure can cook a mean meal. He and his twin always used to fight over who’s the better cook. But I betcha Atsumu hasn’t touched the stove since he left for university years ago.”

You debate telling her that Atsumu had made quite a decent meal for the two of you just last week to celebrate your eight-month anniversary (which you hadn’t even known he remembered), but before you can formulate the right words in your head you’re suddenly shoved in the path of an unfamiliar man. Well, not really unfamiliar. He has the same face as the boyfriend who you see every day, after all.

Miya Osamu is (as expected) the literal carbon copy of Atsumu; same strong eyebrows, same hooded eyes, same angular jawline. The only thing that easily sets them apart is his black, ruffled mess of hair in stark contrast with your boyfriend’s bleached blonde.

Mrs. Miya pulls Atsumu away from the two of you, demanding that he help her with some mundane task, leaving you and Osamu by yourselves in the kitchen.

An easy smile graces his lips as he sticks out his hand. “Hey, I’m Osamu. Honored to finally meet the famous (L/N) (Y/N).” You smile back, gripping his hand firmly and shaking.

“And I’m honored to meet the famous ‘Samu.” At your words, Osamu bursts out laughing.

“Man, I don’t really let a lot of people call me that, y’know? But if yer gonna be part of the family, you could be an exception.”

“F-Family?” You pause, your sudden confidence dissipating as fast as it had come.

“Naw, no pressure. Just sayin’.” Osamu casually continues with his task of shaping onigiri. “I can tell he really likes ya.” You raise your eyebrows in curiosity without entirely meaning to. “I mean, we’re twins, it’s like a sixth sense. And also he never shuts up about ya when we text or call.”

“I hope you’re hearing all good things?” you quip jokingly.

“Oh, for sure. If I didn’t know who you were I’d think that he’s talkin’ about the reincarnation of a goddess with the way he talks.”

“Seriously?” You snort, and Osamu just laughs.

“So I’d like to ask ya the favor of continuin’ to take care of him. Guy’s just a huge ass baby. I can obviously see that yer good for him, though. He wouldn’t have stayed for so long if he wasn’t serious.”

The two of you briefly glance at Atsumu helping his mother set the table. They’re currently debating over whether Atsumu should go back to his natural hair color and “Stop makin’ yer hair look like fuckin’ straw!”

“He is a huge ass baby,” you start seriously, causing Osamu to smirk. “But he’s an honest and good person, so I’m not too bothered. I’ll take care of him, promise.”

“Thanks.” Osamu sighs, glancing rather fondly in his brother’s direction. “He’s an asshole, but at least he’s a redeemable asshole. I’m glad he’s finally got someone around to take care of him. Makes us all feel a little more relieved since he’s away from home.”

You suddenly feel warm inside.

Atsumu had been right; you truly didn’t have anything to be afraid of. The Miyas have been nothing but kind and welcoming so far, and they even seem to already have a positive opinion of you.

“Can ya help me carry these to the table?” Osamu holds out a plate of freshly-made onigiri.

“Ah, sure!” you accept hurriedly, taking the plate from him with careful hands. You take slow, calculated steps towards the dining room; the last thing you want is to accidentally drop any of the food.

Atsumu and his parents are already waiting in the dining room, and they all look up at you expectantly as you approach them with the onigiri plate in hand.

“Why, thank you, dear!” Mrs. Miya chirps. “Helpin’ Osamu out! How sweet of ya — “

She’s cut off as disaster strikes.

You trip on your last step to the table, causing a single onigiri to tumble off the plate and towards the floor. Your mouth drops open wide as you practically slam the plate down on the table and in practical slow-motion, watch the onigiri plummet down, down, down —

Then you dive.

You dive towards the floor, in the same manner as you do when you’re digging for a volleyball.

And you catch the rice ball in one hand, laying flat on your stomach. You have a moment of mental celebration; yes, you caught the onigiri! Then you realize that you look like a fucking idiot as you lay face down with one hand extended and clutching a rice ball like it’s your lifeline.

There’s a few seconds of agonizing silence.

You want the earth to swallow you whole.

There’s no way that you could ever show your face in front of Atsumu’s family or even Atsumu himself now; God you’ve never been more embarrassed in your life, and over an onigiri too —

“Nice receive!” Atsumu suddenly bellows, clapping his hands boisterously. “(L/N) does it again!”

His brother, who’s standing a few feet behind you with a platter of chicken skewers, pumps his free fist into the air and joins in with a “Hell yeah!”

Mr. Miya starts laughing the same loud Miya laugh that you’ve heard way too many times today, and his sons soon follow suit. Shame is still flooding your body, but now you’re realizing just how ridiculous the whole situation is and you resist the urge to smile at your own stupidity. As soon as Mrs. Miya recovers from her initial surprise, she comes to help you up, and you can tell that she’s doing her best not to laugh as well.

“Are ya okay, dear?” she briefly inspects you for any sign of injury.

“All good here, Mrs. Miya.” You smile, genuinely and comfortably, as Atsumu comes behind you to wrap his arms around you and peck your cheek, still chuckling with a small note of pride. “All good.”

-

“See?” Atsumu’s smug as hell as the two of you enter the hotel elevator on your way up to your room. Osamu had dropped you off so there would be no need for another cab. “I told ya that they’d fuckin’ love ya.”

“Why’re you rubbing in something like this?” You scoff, dodging when he tries to pull you into a crushing hug.

“Because I was right.” He smirks. You roll your eyes to heaven.

“Well, you can’t blame me for being nervous! I still can’t believe that none of them got upset at me for diving for a rice ball at the dinner table.” You groan, hiding your face in your hands.

“Nah, why the hell would they? It was cool. Yer cool, Miss National Team Libero.” He laughs, reaching for you again and this time you let him bring you close to him. “Besides, like I said before, who could ever resist yer pretty lil face?”

“You’re a hopeless asshole.” You sigh, and Atsumu of course just chuckles, his laughter vibrating against your ear as you press yourself into his chest.

“I’m yer hopeless asshole.” He pecks the top of your head. “C’mon, babe. It’s our floor.”

You hadn’t realized how tired you are until the two of you enter your hotel room and you see the large, inviting bed. You practically jump onto it, burying your face into a pillow. “Goodnight…” you mumble sleepily.

“Ya gotta go shower and brush yer teeth first, idiot.” A pillow smacks you in the side of the head, and you leap up with a cry of surprise. “Damn, don’t be so loud, sweetheart. It’s late, y’know. Don’t wanna get a noise complaint like last night.” You turn bright red at the reminder.

“Shut u-up,” you retort. “I told you that we shouldn’t have tried to do it on the balcony.”

“It was fun, though, y’know! An experience. And ya sounded like you were enjoyin’ it, anyway.” He chucks another pillow at you, and you yelp as it nails you in the face. “Now get yer cute ass over here, we’re gonna shower.”

“You can’t make me.” You stubbornly lay back down and close your eyes, and you had peace for all but ten seconds before Atsumu’s plucking you off the bed and settling you into his arms bridal-style. Your eyes shoot open in shock and you flail desperately. “Put me down!”

“No can do. I’m not sleepin’ next to yer stinky self tonight, darlin’.” Atsumu laughs as you scowl.

“The floor’s always open for you,” you snap.

“Aw, yer no fun.” He steals a kiss from you in the blink of an eye; the only evidence of there being contact at all is a tingling feeling on your lips. You feel your heart melt just a little more.

“Fine. After we shower, we go straight to bed. Got it?”

“ And brush our teeth. Yer mornin’ breath is bad enough.” He lets out quite an unpleasant squawk when you smack him lightly in the shoulder. “Alright, sorry, sorry.”

“Is this just your excuse to see me naked?” you tease him as he sets you down on the bathroom counter before immediately removing his shirt to reveal his muscled torso. He grins wolfishly at you and shrugs.

“And if it is?” Atsumu’s eyes are zeroed in on the small hickey he had left right below your collarbone last night, which is now visible thanks to the way your shirt had rumpled after he had practically manhandled you into the bathroom.

“Well, I won’t complain.” You follow his gaze down to your neck, before glancing back up to meet his eyes and raise an eyebrow at him. “If you’re going to make it worth my time.”

About an hour later, the two of you are lying in bed together, effectively tuckered out and finally ready to sleep. Atsumu’s strong arms are wrapped tightly around you like a protective cocoon as you snuggle your face against his chest. The slow, steady rhythm of his heartbeat rocks you towards dreamland, and all the worries from the past day are slipping away.

“Hey, ‘Tsumu,” you mumble against his chest. He grunts tiredly.

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

There’s a small silence.

“...Thanks,” you finally say after a beat.

“Huh? For what?” he quips.

“For being patient with me today, even though I was so nervous. And for taking me to meet your family.” You crane your head to look up at him, contentment adorning your features. “I had a good time. I hope they don’t hate the idea of me coming around again sometime.”

Atsumu smiles that familiar smile, the smile filled with affection that others rarely get to see. His eyes are almost half-mooned with joy, his lips are curved up in genuine adoration, and his cheeks are flushed with color. You saw this smile for the first time when he set an incredibly low ball at training camp, earning the awe of everyone in the room, including yourself. Never did you think that you would ever have this expression of pure love aimed at you, nor did you think it would fill you with so much happiness every time you had the blessing of seeing it. He says nothing for a while, suddenly resorting to trailing kisses all over your face. You let him, closing your eyes peacefully as he showers you with his love, ending with one final peck to your nose.

“I'm sure they'd like to have you around again.”

And if Atsumu continues playing his cards right, he thinks there might be a possibility that in the next five or so years, you could truly become part of the family with a glittering ring on your finger.

Only time will tell if that possibility will ever come to fruition, but as you tilt your head up to give him one last kiss on the lips and whisper those three words to him, he knows for sure that he wants to continue building towards that future with you.

“I love you too.” He lets his eyes fall shut as well, before resting his chin atop your head and savoring the warmth of your body against his.

Only time will tell.

-

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general taglist (italics for people i could not tag):  @aomineavenue @intheawks​ @deltahemm​ @bap-kingdom @shegoeshexing @brinnnx @crescentsteel​ @ dokidokisama @smellssharpies​ @dearhajime​ @plutoxxxworld​ @kritiiiii​ @ muppetz @ iscreamtea @rizzyrisso​ @makeitrainonsomehoes​ @maraudusk​ @kybabi​ @tsumue​ @thischickwritessometimes​ @angrylittleriri​

[cyanide-latte]

Hmmmmm thoughts on books you think are overrated/get too much undeserved attention? Like something that's super popular and you just don't get why? 🤔

Oh ho ho, Lottie always here with the big questions to make me think!

You know, I sometimes find myself wondering if social media platforms where the bookish community is active and thriving doesn't result in some kind of echo chamber that contributes to why some books of modeling and mediocre quality get so popular and overhyped? BookTube, much as I enjoy watching some content creators, does this, and I'm sure the same is true for Bookstagram, BookTok, etc. Publishing companies and booksellers notice content creators with a large viewership, so they offer sponsorships and free gifts in exchange for the creator pushing something that sponsor wants pushed. Which then eventually results in an echo chamber of many, many people hyping up something that really isn't all that amazing, no matter how popular it is. I strongly think that's part of it.

But then there are books where I see they're extremely popular and genuinely scratch my head over it. I almost thought I wouldn't be able to think of an example for this but almost immediately one popped into my head and I'll probably get shit for my unpopular opinion, but...

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Now, here's why I know my opinion is unpopular. I enjoyed her original Grisha trilogy when I read it. I've got mixed feelings about several aspects of it, but I enjoyed the story. Most people find it boring or too trope-y or "standard/generic YA fantasy", whatever the blessed fuck that means. But I've not seen a single damn person do anything but praise her Six of Crows duology.

So, I've not yet started the second book in the duology, Crooked Kingdom, though it's on my backlist TBR to read for 2022. But I read Six of Crows dubiously because it was so hyped. Because WOW it's a heist book and that's never been done before and WOW the main cast checks off the hot keyword diversity boxes and WOW even though it's YA you won't think it's YA because it feels so *~Adult~* and not trashy it's practically more like New Adult fiction instead of YA, and WOW WOW WOW!

.........

I read the book. I liked the characters. And there were elements of the plot that were interesting. But the pacing. Dear God, the pacing. 2/3rds of that book is just flashbacks giving us characters' backgrounds, and it's interspersed in a somewhat haphazard way throughout the main "presently-occurring" plotline. It was disruptive, and realizing that the actual plot of the book barely filled a third of its near 700-some page count made me question a lot of things about what Bardugo was doing. What was she being told to do by her editors? Why didn't she make a series of novella prequels for the backstories and then the rest of the book? Heck, could've put that all in the book still without disrupting the narrative flow. OR, given how little of the book was "present time", could have made one book all the backstories, then made Crooked Kingdom somewhat longer than it is to contain the whole thing. Especially considering the way Six of Crows ends on a cliffhanger to set up almost the entire plot for the sequel, when they only barely accomplished the initial heist plot very quickly if you cut out the flashbacks and condense that "present time" together. Could have been done very differently and much better from a structural perspective.

But that wasn't what happened and it made me question why the book was written the way it was, and why so many people (especially people I'd watched long enough to know they normally wouldn't be able to stay engaged with such a writing technique,) think it's amazing. Is it solely because it hits diversity checkboxes? Is it because the idea of a heist plot in a fantasy setting seemed very new and shiny? (I'm pretty sure that's actually been done before. Maybe not in a book targeted at a YA demographic but I'm fairly sure I've seen it done before.) Is it just that SoC is a Hi-Lo book [re: High-interest, Low-vocabulary; entertaining and 'easy' to read, without being inherently childish]? I don't know. I may never know. But I don't get why it (and many other books out there) are so overrated and overhyped and adored when they're more mediocre than most people will admit.

[itsadamcole]

heaven knows

fem!reader x finn balor

(requested by anonymous) “Reader and Finn have been best friends ever since they were at NXT.  Reader have a crush on Finn but never express their feelings because she feels Finn only thinks of her as a friend.  Until finally the reader dating Dolph and Finn began to realize his feelings. Reader first moved to RAW and started dating Dolph, 3 months later Finn also got a shake up to RAW.  Dolph had to move to Smack Down and the reader and Dolph relationship ended because of that.”

word count: 4.1k+

warnings: smutty (that’s about it for warnings ig)

— thank you to anonymous for this request. i had a lot of fun writing it ... this imagine is based on the song “Lost in You” by Westlife —

masterlist || request an imagine here

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

*** 3 months ago ***

“Finny!” you shout, running up to your best friend. Finn Balor turns around and looks at you.

He smiles and says, “Hey. What’s up? How’d the meeting go?”

You basically shout, “I’m moving to the Raw roster!”

Finn’s smile drops a bit but you don’t notice it. “Raw?” he asks. “I thought ya like it here on NXT.”

You look up at Finn and say, “Ya know that I’ve wanted to go to Raw for a while.”

“I know,” he says. “Ya haven’t been on NXT for that long and I thought ya liked it here.”

You say, “I can talk to Regal and to Vince to get ya moved to Raw with me.”

Finn shakes his head and says, “I’m staying here for a while. I had my time on Raw and they never used me right.”

You pout and say, “I’ll still come visit when I’m home. I’ll be home all the time, I promise.”

He smiles at you and says, “I’m proud of ya for being moved to Raw. Ya will be the best damn announcer that the red brand has ever seen.”

“And I better be the first person ya call after ya win the NXT title,” you say.”

You smile at your best friend and he says, “Of course. Ya will be the first person I call after I win the title.”

“I better be,” you say. “Maybe I’ll come back to NXT eventually but I’ll make sure to watch every week.”

You smile and hug Finn.

When you were told that you were being promoted to Raw, it was a bittersweet moment. You love NXT and you love the roster. Not to mention you don’t want to leave Finn, your best friend and crush since day one in NXT. You’re both from Ireland and have always stuck together. It’s how you became such close friends.

Now you’re leaving and you hate that you are.

***

*** present day - november 2019 ***

You sit in your dressing room, brushing out your long brunette hair. You hum quietly to yourself as you brush your hair.

There’s a soft knock on your door so you get up to answer it. You open the door, revealing your boyfriend Dolph Ziggler. “Hey,” you say, smiling. “I was just about to come see you.”

You have Dolph have been together since you moved to Raw three weeks ago. He asked you out the day you arrived and have been together since.

He kisses your cheek before walking into your dressing room. Dolph says, “The shake up is today and I was just told that I’m moving to the Smackdown roster.”

You look at Dolph and say, “I thought ya told them that ya wanted to stay on Raw.”

“I did tell them but they’re moving Bobby and I to Smackdown,” he says as you approach him. He looks down at you. “We’re going to be on different brands, Y/N.”

You hug him and say, “We’ll make it work, Dolph. We have to.”

He runs his fingers through your hair and say, “I would love to make it work, Y/N. I would love to, but you know what it’s like when couples work on different brands. It rarely ever works out.”

You look up at Dolph and ask, “What are ya saying, Dolph?”

Dolph says, “You know how much I like you and how much I like being with you, but we can’t be together if we’re on different brands. It never works out in the long run.”

“So you’re saying we should break up?” you ask.

He nods in response. “Maybe one day we can reconnect but right now, we can’t be together,” Dolph says.

For some reason, you’re not disappointed by this news. You like Dolph but you’ve always thought that there was someone better for you out there.

Someone like Finn Balor.

You miss Finn. You haven’t spoken in a month because of your schedules. He's been busy defending his title on NXT and you've been busy with being an announcer. You've tried to find time to talk to Finn but either he's busy or you're busy.

Dolph says, "I'll, uh, see you around, Y/N."

"Ya too, Dolph," you say. Dolph leaves your dressing room and you sigh. You go grab your phone and try calling Finn.

Finn doesn't answer, leaving you upset.

There's another knock on your door and you answer it. Triple H stands at your door. "Hi," you say, surprised. "Can I help ya with something?"

Triple H says, "Just coming by to drop off the card for tonight. Pierce is sick."

That's when it hits you. Triple H usually runs things surrounding the NXT brand. You ask, "Is NXT involved in something tonight?"

"Possibly," he says. "If I can get Vince's approval. This is the card with the matches on with that NXT is involved in."

You nod and take the card, reading over it.

Adam Cole versus Drew McIntyre. Lana and Dana Brooke versus Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Seth Rollins versus a mystery opponent is slated to be the main event tonight. "Who's Seth's opponent?" you ask.

Triple H says, "I don't know. He's issuing an open challenge tonight. That's all I know."

You nod and say, "Well, thank you for the card." He gives you a kind smile before walking off. You close the door and sigh.

NXT is getting involved and you can't help but wonder if one Irishman is going to be making an appearance.

To distract yourself, you get into the attire that was left in here for you. A lacey black dress that sparkles. Your shoulders and arms are the only parts of your body that can be seen under the dress because the lace is sheer. The dress falls to just above your knees.

A third person knocks on your door as you're about to do your makeup. You answer it, revealing your best friend, Becky Lynch. She smiles and says, "Look at ya. Looking all snazzy. I like the dress."

You smile and let her in. "Thank you," you say. "But I have no control over my wardrobe. The dress is kinda cute though."

Becky kind of laughs and sits down. You do your makeup as Becky says, "I heard Dolph's moving to Smackdown."

"Yeah, he is," you say. "He came in here and said that relationships don't really last when the couple is on two different rosters. Well, he said that it usually doesn't work out, so he ended it." You shrug.

Your best friend squints her eyes at you and says, "Ya don't seem that upset about it."

You do your eyeshadow and say, "I liked Dolph, but I always thought that there could be someone out there that's better for me."

As you speak, your mind wanders to Finn. You wonder how he's doing. You hope that maybe you'll catch a glimpse of him tonight. Maybe he'll be Seth's mystery opponent. You don't know.

Becky says, "Someone like Finn Balor? Because he's calling ya."

Quickly, you grab your phone that you threw on the couch and you answer the phone. "Finn?" you say as soon as you answer it."

"Hey," he says. "There's my favorite announcer. How ya doing?"

You smile and say, "Fine. I'm doing okay. How are ya doing?"

Finn says, "I've been better. I saw ya called and I wanted to see if something was wrong."

Becky points at you and mouths, "I knew it." You wave her off and say into the phone, "Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about ya earlier so I thought I'd ring ya to see if ya were busy."

He says, "I'm a little busy but I have a second to talk."

"I was just getting ready for Raw but I can stop for a second," you say.

Finn laughs softly and says, "So, tell me about Dolph. Everything okay there? Ya seemed happy the last time we talked."

You say, "I, um, we kinda broke up. He's being moved to Smackdown because of the shakeup tonight."

He's quiet before he says, "Oh, that's terrible. I'm sorry."

You shrug and say, "It's fine. I know there's someone better for me out there." You glance at the time. "I have to go now but can I call ya later?"

"Yeah," he says. "Call me after Raw is over and we'll actually talk for more than a few minutes."

You smile and say, "Okay. I'll talk to ya later then."

You both say your goodbyes and you hang up the phone.

Becky says, "Tell me how long ya have had a thing for Finn Balor. I don't blame ya, by the way. That man is very attractive. Maybe not as attractive as Seth but still attractive."

You laugh and say, "I've had a thing for him since our NXT days. Basically since day one." You rub the back of your neck. "I'm sure he doesn't feel the same way about me though so I never said anything to him about it."

She laughs and says, "Tell him. You're single now and ya said that there was someone better than Dolph Ziggler out there for ya. What if that person is Finn?"

"He's not on this brand either," you say. "He's NXT champion so he wouldn't have time for me anyway."

Becky says, "Well, that's not true. When Seth was Universal Champion, he still had time for me."

You blink at her and say, "You and Seth were champions at the same time, Becky. You traveled together for press and everything."

She thinks for a second and says, "Yeah. That's very true. Okay, anyway. I have a match tonight against Asuka so Imma go get ready for that. I'll see ya out there."

You nod and finish getting ready for the show tonight.

***

There are five matches on the card tonight, plus the main event. The first match was Dana Brooke and Lana versus Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. Shayna and Nia won.

The next match was Becky versus Asuka for the title. Asuka retained, which left Becky mad.

The third match was a six-man tag match, with three teams of two. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are a team against the teams of my now ex-boyfriend Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode and two members of the Undisputed Era, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong. It's basically a mini Survivor Series match, minus the eliminations. The stipulation is if the Undisputed Era loses, they stay on NXT. If they win, they get moved up to Raw.

The Undisputed Era wins the match and all four of them are now members of the Raw roster.

The fourth match is Keith Lee versus Braun Strowman. Keith wins.

The fifth match is Drew McIntyre versus Adam Cole. Randy Orton interferes and costs Drew the match.

It's main event time. Seth's music hits and you say into your microphone, "Making his way down to the ring, he is the Monday Night Messiah, Seth Rollins."

Seth gets into the ring. He doesn't have his disciple, Murphy, with him as he's handed a microphone. "So, as you can see, my disciple Murphy isn't here with me tonight. That's because he's a traitor and left me. So, I'm issuing an open challenge for anyone to come out here and prove to me that they have what it takes to be my disciple. Come on, anyone. From Raw or Smackdown, or even NXT. Come on out."

Everyone looks at the stage to wait and see who comes out. Everyone in the arena waits.

And that's when Finn Balor's music hits. Your jaw almost drops, happy and excited to see Finn with his title. The crowd jumps up and cheers. You smile in the timekeeper's area as Finn makes his way down to the ring. He's handed a mic on the way down.

Seth has a smile on his lips as he looks at that title around Finn's waist, who's dressed and ready for a match in his white ring gear and a matching white leather jacket. This is the gear he wore in his last main roster match at Summerslam in 2019 before he went back to NXT in October. The NXT title is now over his shoulder as he steps into the ring.

Finn is looking at Seth. His music fades and he says, "Hi, Seth. So, I heard ya are looking for a match tonight. How's this? Ya and I in the ring right now. If ya win, then ya get my title and I'll be your new whatever ya call it. If I win, I keep my title and ya never can challenge for this title, or any title that I hold, whether it's the WWE Championship or the United States Champion. I think ya get the point."

You look over at Seth and he says, "You're on Balor. Let's get a referee out here and get this started."

The crowd cheers and you're handed a card with something to read on it. You nod and as the guys get ready in the ring. You look up and say, "This match has just been made official by WWE officials. The following match is scheduled for one fall and is for the NXT Championship. Introducing first the challenger, weighing in at 217 pounds, from Davenport, Iowa. He is the Monday Night Messiah, Seth Rollins."

You listen as the crowd boos Seth. You forgot how much the WWE Universe loves Finn Balor.

Once the crowd dies down, you talk into the microphone again. "Weighing in at 190 pounds, from Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, he is NXT Champion. Finn Balor," you say, smiling as the name Finn Balor leaves your lips. The crowd cheers. Finn looks at you and points at you, making your face heat up.

The ref takes the belt and holds it above his head. Someone runs over and grabs it, bringing the belt back to the little area. You look at the gold belt. It looks so pretty with Finn's side plates on it.

The bell rings and the match is underway. Your eyes are on Finn the whole time.

It takes 20 minutes but Finn hits the Coup de Grace and pins Seth, retaining his title. You take the belt and run to the ring, not being able to hold in your excitement. You bring your microphone with you because you have one more thing left to say.

Once you're in the ring, you almost tackle Finn with a hug. He hugs you back and you hand him his title.

"And still NXT Champion, Finn Balor," you say as Finn's music blares in the arena.

He looks down at you and takes your microphone. You stare up at him as he says, "I, uh, I need to say something really quick."

The crowd dies down and you stare up at your best friend. He looks at his title and he says, "This title isn't mine anymore. This title isn't mine anymore because as of this moment, I am on the Raw roster. As a full-time Raw superstar, I cannot hold the NXT title." He puts the title down on the ground before looking at you. "But as a full-time Raw superstar, I can spend all the time in the world with ya. Travel with ya, talk to ya whenever I want. And most importantly, take ya on a date or two whenever we want."

Your eyes widen as you stare up at Finn, realizing that he has feelings for you too.

"If ya would like, of course," Finn finishes with. The crowd collectively gasps as they wait for your answers.

Finn's arm is still around your waist and you're still standing close to him. So, you give your answer in the one way you've been wanting to. You put your hands on Finn's face and pull his face down to yours. Your lips crash to his and immediately begin moving against them.

He smiles into the kiss and drops the microphone, wrapping both your arms around his neck as his arms wrap around your waist.

The crowd cheers loudly as you kiss Finn in the ring.

***

Eventually, you and Finn make your way back to your hotel room. He tells you about what he had to do to get to Raw.

Since NXT was part of the shakeup this year, there was a chance that he could get sent to Raw. It was small because he held the NXT title. So after some negotiations with William Regal, Triple H, and Vince McMahon, he would voluntarily relinquish his title after a match tonight. So that's what he did. He voluntarily relinquished his title and is now apart of the Raw roster.

He also told Vince that he wants a run or two at the WWE Championship, which is held by Drew McIntyre. Vince agreed because he knows the fans love Finn versus Drew. Add a title in there and it makes for a few good championship matches.

Once back at the hotel room, Finn says, "I need to shower really quick then we can watch movies or something for a bit."

You nod and watch as Finn disappears into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. The water starts and you sigh.

It would be really bad if you just walked into the bathroom and told him everything that you've been feeling, especially tonight.

When Finn walked out in the white gear, a little ache formed in your core and you tried what you could to stop it.

Your feet are carrying you to the bathroom before you can do anything. You shed the dress and your shoes before walking into the bathroom.

The shower in the bathroom is a glass stand up shower. Most of the glass is distorted but the top maybe 16 inches aren't so you can see from Finn's chest up. His eyes are closed as he rinses his hair.

Quickly, you take off the bra and panties you're wearing before you open the door to the shower. Finn looks down at you and asks, "Y/N, what are ya doing?"

"Saving water," you say. "Kinda."

He smiles down at you as you close the glass door. You stare up at him and he asks, "Now what are ya really doing?"

You say, "Seeing ya in the white gear tonight made me feel things, Finn. I know I shouldn't just get in the shower with ya, but-" You're interrupted by Finn's lips coming down to yours. You gasp, surprised by the kiss.

His lips move against yours before he pulls back and says, "Ya are telling me ya want me to, what?"

You stare up at him and say, "Whatever ya want, Finn. I just need ya to do something to me."

Finn smirks a bit and his hands come down to your waist. He guides you so your back is against the wall. You stare up at Finn and he says, "Is this what ya really want? I want to make sure it's what ya want one hundred percent."

Your hands rest on his chest and you nod. "It's what I want, Finn," you say. "I've wanted this for a while."

He smiles and kisses you. The kiss is rougher than the kiss in the ring and his hands start to roam. Soft sighs leave your lips. As the two of you share the kiss, Finn moves and presses you against the cold wall of the shower. Your hands are on Finn's cheeks, slipping your tongue into his mouth. Finn smirks against your lips.

The kiss continues for a second before Finn leans down and picks you up by your thighs. You wrap your legs around his waist as Finn pulls back from your lips and he starts to kiss your neck.

A soft moan escapes your lips as your hands slide into Finn's short wet hair. You smile and say, "This has gotten longer since we last saw each other."

Finn smirks and looks up at you, detaching his lips from your neck. He says, "I'm guessing ya like it."

You giggle and nod, saying, "It gives me something to hold onto." He laughs and kisses you again.

He reaches to the side and turns the water off. Carefully and slowly, Finn leaves the shower with you wrapped around him. He's careful not to slip on the tile floor of the bathroom as he leaves the room.

Finn walks out to one of the beds, laying you on your back. The kiss breaks as he looks down at you, eyes wandering all over your body.

"I've imagined how ya looked for weeks and this exceeded all of my expectations," he says, smiling down at you.

You giggle and stare up at him, saying, "I could say the exact same thing." You glance down at his semi-erect member that's poking at your thigh.

He starts to kiss your jaw and he says, "You're so beautiful. I can't believe that maybe you'll be mine after this."

Sighing, you say, "I've been yours this entire time, Finn."

Finn smirks against your neck. You slide your hands down his sides and use one of your hands to stroke Finn's member. He gasps a bit against the skin against your neck. You feel him begin to harden as you stroke him.

"Keep going like that and I won't last as long as ya probably want me to," he gasps.

You leave kisses to his head and say, "We have all night, Finn. And all day tomorrow."

He looks up at you and says, "Good, because I won't be able to stop once I've started."

You reach up, pecking his lips before you say, "Then start."

Finn smirks a bit before he kisses you harder than he ever has before. You sigh softly against his lips as he runs his tip through your already soaked folds. "Finn," you mumble against his lips. "Please. Tease me another time. I need ya right now."

Slowly, Finn begins to push himself into you. You gasp into the passionate kiss.

You're not a virgin but you're not really that experienced in bed. Finn knows this so he's making sure he's careful with you. On the other hand, you know how experienced Finn is in bed. He's never had to tell you. You used to travel with him when you worked for the NXT brand and stayed in the hotel room next to him sometimes. He's not really that quiet, and neither is whoever he's with.

He moves slowly and shallowly at first, making sure that he's not hurting you. The little bit of pain that you feel slowly melts away to pleasure, and you're a little bit of a moaning mess underneath Finn's body. You drag your fingers down Finn's back as he moves.

Every few minutes, Finn picks up speed and thrusts deeper into you. You wrap your legs around Finn's waist again. Your back arches off the bed ooccationally and chase Finn's hips. He slips deeper into you, making you moan and gasp under Finn.

A wave of confidence overtakes you a couple minutes later. You roll so you're straddling Finn's waist with him still inside you.

Finn stares up at you as you begin to move your hips, riding him. Finn intertwines his fingers with yours and helps hold you up. You throw your head back as you bounce up and down on Finn's now rock hard member. Moans escape your lips and Finn grunts and growns beneath you.

Your walls begin to clench around Finn and you moan, "Finn, baby. I'm about to come."

"Come, princess," he gasps, thrusting up into you as you move your hips.

Your eyes are squeezed shut and you release around Finn as he quickly pulls out of you and comes all over your stomach. You collapse onto Finn, your sweaty chests sticking together as you come down off your high.

Finn wraps his arms around your shoulders and you sigh, your ear pressed against his chest. His heart is beating quickly. You feel him leave kisses on your forehead. You smile and look up at him, resting your chin on his chest. Finn smiles down at you.

"So what do ya say?" he asks. "Will ya officially be mine?"

You giggle and nod, leaning up and pecking his lips. "Yes."

[ultraclops]

I told ya

Days 7 and 8: Struggles & Freedom!

This one is based on my own experiences as an ace person, so I'm gonna slap a content warning for aphobia on this one.

[CW: Aphobia, s*x mention, ableism]

[Note: the red text boxes aren't any canon character, they just represent negativity towards aspec people]

[Dialogue transcript:

How do you know you're ace if you haven't had s*x?

But you'll have to have s*x some time!

You'll get over it eventually.

A relationship without s*x is meaningless!

Do you even love?

You just need to find that special someone!

But you're too attractive to be ace!

SCREW Y'ALL!

I'M ACE AND PROUD!

End transcript]

As I said in the intro, this comic is inspired by my experiences as an ace person. For a long as I can remember I've never felt s*xual attraction, nor enjoyed anything related to s*x (such as smut, NSFW art, mature movies, etc.). At first I thought it was normal, until I realized everyone else didn't feel the same way as I did. At first I figured it may be due to my neurodiversity, but my siblings are neurodivergent and they experience s*xual attraction. That's when I discovered that I was asexual!

The first person I openly told I was ace was a therapist I had while I was in foster care. She proceeded to invalidate me, saying that I'd just get over it and that I'd have to have s*x some time. It pained me to be utterly ridiculed by someone who's job was to make me feel better - but then again, this was the same woman who told me straight to my face that I couldn't possibly have PTSD because I was only physically abused for 16 years and she saw her best friend die in a car accident. Trauma ain't a goddamn contest, people.

I've seen plenty of aphobia online and offline, such as people framing our sexuality as if it's a "choice", something we'll "grow out of" or that we'll change our minds if we meet "that someone". I didn't make the choice to be born without s*xual attraction. I'm 20 - going on 21 - and I'm still asexual. I've dated like 3 guys in my lifetime, and - guess what! - I'm still asexual. It's exhausting to see other LGBT+ people spew out the same rhetoric against aspecs that was used against gay, lesbian, bi, pan, trans and nonbinary people without so much as thinking "Hey, isn't this a little f*cked up?"

So you know what? I'm ace. I'm s*x-repulsed and abstinent. My orientation isn't a decision that I can just change on a whim. S*x =/= love, LOVE = love. I'm ace, and I'm goddamn proud of it!

Tangent over, now why I chose Mao specifically:

Hehehehe projecting onto comfort character go brrrrrr

Mao doesn't really seem like the type of guy to be preoccupied with the thought of starting a family or anything along those lines - if anything he's just focused on becoming a legend, and the only family he makes is the family he finds along the way. He treats Adorabat like his own daughter and expresses grief when she's hurt or taken away from him, even if she's not his flesh-and-blood.

In Meet Tanya Keys, when Tanya keeps mock-flirting with him he barely reacts - if anything, he looks uncomfortable. He does blush briefly when Adorabat asks if he likes Tanya, but that doesn't exactly mean that they dated in the past - he's blushed out of embarrassment several times prior to this episode. Before you go "He told the King he loved him!" or "Then why couldn't he stop thinking about BC?", love =/= s*x. Also in Enemy Mime he makes fun of BC for flirting with the Mimic Blob sooo–

Not to be stereotypical or anything but I just really think it fits his straightforward, no-nonsense personality. "Why would I do that when there's monsters to slay, criminals to capture and people to save?" is probably his modus operandi

Literally the only suggestive joke he makes is about a tray of cobbler. I'm not saying ace people don't make s*x jokes (because I do too sometimes) but if this guy only jokes about screwing cobbler what makes you think he'll screw another person

Tangent no. 2, aside, had fun on this! Had fun on all my art for this contest honestly, but this one especially because purple and katana. I'm an ace that loves purple and katanas. I'm a walking stereotype.

Also for the bottom pose, I referenced the scene from Weapon Of Choice when he uses the Lunar Lash for the second time! Nice image 👌

[scented-morker]

hi honeyy! may I request one of the ships please??? I'd like to know who would you choose from txt and enhyphen heh

I'm an 03' capricorn,, my hair length is under my shoulders and right now it's a faded shade of red.. my eyes are dark brown and my height is 5''4..

I like to stay inside and love rainy days 'cause they're perfect for tea or coffee :). I'm a very calm and patient person,, if you see me without knowing me I might seem a little intimidating (that's what my friends say) but I'm actually really nice and I tend to get well with everybody to the point everyone says I'm actually very caring and kids like to hang out with me haha. (I'll add to this that my love language are acts of service and physical touch)

One of my favorites hobbies is drawing and listening to music,, I sing sometimes and get complimented by it, but I'm too shy so I mostly do it for myself when I'm alone. When I draw I like to create new pieces of clothing and that's why I'm into fashion design and hoping I can study the career.

I like languages and learning about cultures too! right now I speak english, spanish, a little french and I'm studying korean heh.

I don't really know what else to say.. I'm not really an outgoing person but if someone asks me to do something and I'm free I don't doubt on saying yes. I might be a little shy if I first meet a person but if they're nice that helps me to be a little more talkative.

ummm I listen to many genres of music(? for you to get an idea of my music taste,, my top 3 are: want you so bad by the vaccines, trust by alina baraz and alleyways by the neighborhood.

i hope that's not too long :( but thank u in advance! take care <3

No it wasn’t too long at all!! This was perfect :D

In txt

I ship you with : Soobin !!

I know he’s a lil bit older, but I think your aura is very calm and gentle which I think would work really well because he’s kinda the same way

At first he probably thought you were intimidating, which everyone would tease him for since he’s like 2x your size

I think you guys would actually be a really good match, like you’d be the couple that is basically an old married couple by the time they’re in their 20s and everyone laughs at them but is secretly jealous: yeah that’s you guys

lil scenario

Soobin wandered out from his room, it was still a little early in the morning and he was planning on just staying in bed until he realized you weren’t next to him.

He spotted you sitting on the floor against the coffee table, your hair was hanging down your shoulders wildly and you were softly singing Trust. He just stood there in the doorway staring at you like 🥺🥺 he just couldn’t fathom how you kept getting more and more perfect to him.

He waddled over to you, wrapping the blanket around your body as well as his as he squeezed behind you, wrapping his arms around your middle in a back hug.

“Whatcha doin lovebug?”

A peek over your shoulder told him you were sketching out a new dress, something you had thought of as soon as you woke up and needed to get out before you forgot.

You muttered out something along those lines, while he sat there behind you, hands fiddling with the tangles in your hair.

“Do you want a drink?”

He had just realized the extra mug sitting next to yours, and he giggled at the fact that you had thought of him and made him something before he even got up.

He took the warm mug from your hands, taking a sip and then snuggling his head further into your back, perfectly content with sitting like that all day.

In En-

I ship you with : Sunghoon !!

Okay so hear me out on this one, at first my brain was like Jake, but I think the fact that you kinda remind me of him makes this the better option because we all know how close they are

Like you would be this dudes BABY, like the ‘THIS MY BABY AND AINT NOBODY FINNA TOUCH HER’ ya know 💀

He would treat you so soft and I think that his love language is also acts of service so you guys would go well together. I can see him losing his mind is you start speaking like French or Spanish around him, he just like !?!.&!,$,!!!!!!?!!&,’! that’s my talented s/o, homeboy is such a simp

lil scenario

The first time the boys did out about you was an accident. Sunghoon was a pretty laid back guys and he didn’t see the point in telling everyone just because he got an s/o, so he just didn’t tell anyone, and no one asked.

But then one day they had a free day and he decided to spend it with you, even though it meant turning down the boys.

“Oh sorry guys I actually already have plans, but next time I’ll totally come!”

So he took you to this cute little like street fair, and it had lots of different stands with foods and little trinkets from all sorts of different places because he knew how much you liked learning about different cultures.

He STARED 🥺 when he saw how your eyes lit up and you got so excited to learn about where everything came from. You were definitely all of the vendors favorite that day.

You guys spent a really long time there and it started getting dark so you guys found a bench and sat down, finishing up your last treat of the day.

You were sitting there, excitedly babbling about what it tasted like and the tradition of making it with family, Sunghoon just sitting across from you, the biggest heart eyes ever, and the boys see you guys and they just kinda go ???

They eventually come over and introduce themselves, almost choking when Sunghoon introduces you as his s/o, and you have to put away your shyness for a little bit to get to know them, but of course they’re all extremely kind and they automatically like you, so everything works out in the end. Except Sunghoon gets chewed out for not telling them

Alright that’s it!! You seem like a sweetheart and I hope you enjoyed your ships <3

[spinelwritings]

Heya. If you don't mind, I'd like some Spinel comforting her asexual s/o after an encounter with their aphobic parental figure(s). Sorry, it's just that my aphobic parents have been awful on me lately. Take your time though and enjoy the holidays :3

Thank you, sweetheart! I had a pretty nice holiday! Fun fact: I’m asexual too! Enjoy!

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

Spinel was confused about why you had agreed to go to lunch with your parents. They weren’t exactly nice people. She was even more confused when you said she couldn’t come with you. You told her it was something you had to handle yourself, just get it done and over with. You didn’t want to drag her into it. She didn’t really understand, but she respected your choice and let you go, waiting for you to come back.

It was far too soon when that door opened again. Something inside Spinel’s chest felt like it was breaking when she caught sight of your face. You looked crestfallen, eyes rimmed red as if you had just been crying, shoulders slumped.

You fell onto the couch, curling up next to the gem who instantly wrapped you up in her arms. You sighed, feeling much better now that you were home and in Spinel’s arms. In your opinion, it was the best place on earth. 

She gave you time to calm down, more than happy to just cuddle. She felt you relax slowly but surely and only when you let out a content sigh to speak up.

“Feeling better, Doll?”

You nodded.

“Yeah, a lot better. Thanks.”

She hummed at that, running a hand through your hair.

“Do you wantta talk about it?”

There was a pause and Spinel worried she had messed up. Was this one of those where you weren’t supposed to talk about it? But you didn’t tense up or anything and eventually, you did talk.

“It was my parents again. Just being stupid.”

Spinel sighed. Yeah, she knew what you meant. You had been struggling with your parents for a long time, ever since you came out as asexual to them. She didn’t see what the big deal was. What did it matter to them what you did and didn’t do with your body? That was your choice and none of their goddamn business! She could feel the anger bubbling inside her and took a long, deep breath to calm it. 

“You have to be one of the most patient people I’ve ever met. Who else would be able to handle people like your parents without punching ‘em in the face?”

You snickered, shaking your head.

“I don’t think it’s patience, love. More like an unfortunate obligation. They’re my parents. I can’t just cut them out of my life.”

Spinel frowned at that.

“Wasn’t the whole point of movin’ here to get away from them?”

“Yeah, to get away, not to just forget them.”

“And why not?”

You shifted in her arms to better look at her face. You could see the anger there and you couldn’t help but feel all warm and full. She really cared about you, didn’t she? 

“I don’t know why ya couldn’t just stop talkin’ to ‘em. All they ever do is hurt ya an’ make ya feel like garbage. No one has the right to make ya feel terrible, no matter who they are.”

You smiled softly at her as she talked. You loved the way her accent came out sometimes when she gets all worked up over something. It was cute. You stopped her rant with a kiss to her nose, giggling at the look on her face.

“I appreciate it, hun. I’ll think about it.”

That wasn’t enough for Spinel, not really, but she sighed in resignation. 

“All right, that’ll have ta do.”

You cuddle back close to her, humming happily. You really did love this gem and you knew by the way she squeezed you tight and nuzzled into your hair that she must feel the same.