#totally ate and left no crumbs at this episode

[lazysublimeengineer]

OKAY BUT WHY IS HE SO STUNNING. I LITERALLY GASPED.

LOOK AT HIM OMG. (I know you're looking but still.)

SOBBING. SO PROUD.

Again. This is where the entire animation budget went. They can ruin the rest but not my boy Chigiri.

My husband deserves only the best panels ❤️

[pickmedolls]

✸﹏𓉸ྀི ݁ ˖ ◜GET READY! DOLL SUMMER IS HERE!!

DOLL SUMMER is the third mini album of Heartbreak’s beloved girl group Pick Me. It was released on July 10th, 2024 and featured the tittle track STICKY, which they promoted alongside the lead track ACT LIKE AN ANGEL for four weeks. During this time, they performed STICKY thirteen times, and ACT LIKE AN ANGEL another six. In addition, the girls performed each of remaining the tracks at least once, making the total of twenty-six performances from which twenty-two earned them a win.

GET YOUR PHOTOCARDS HERE!!

⁰¹ STICKY ⁰² GET HIM BACK! ⁰³ CALL ME (4 A GOOD TIME) ⁰⁴ HOW MANY LOVERS? ⁰⁵ ACT LIKE AN ANGEL

⁰¹ The title track might just be the most controversial song on the album. With Pick Me’s carefree and unfiltered style, it’s almost a given that they’ll face backlash for being too bold and "tarnishing" the reputation of K-pop. With STICKY, the drama erupted over its choreography and revealing outfits. Used to this kind of drama, Yue and Kiko went live, with Yue declaring: “Look, I’m done repeating myself. We’re real people, not company-controlled idols. If we want to wear cute little sundresses and shake our asses in our songs, that’s our call. Stop being a fucking pain in the ass and go stan someone else. Honestly, we couldn’t care less”, to which Kiko would add: “And we’re all adults, for you information. We’re allow to twerk on camera.”

⁰² Rumor has it that Jules and Rosie wrote this song with a particular name in mind. Shortly after the group’s debut, both girls found themselves caught up in a rumor claiming they were romantically involved with the same guy, who was allegedly cheating on one with the other. The guy in question was said to be none other than Lee Junseo, a well-known soloist under IDOL MAKER and former groupmate of Jules, artistically known as JUNO. Although the rumor was never confirmed by the companies or those involved, it was never denied either. Years later, with the release of their mini-album, the fire has reignited, and fans are convinced that GET HIM BACK is a silent confirmation of the rumor.

⁰³ CALL ME (4 A GOOD TIME) is yet another testament to the girls’ vocal prowess and their commitment to delivering live. This track is the only one on the album that got its own Band Live Version, quickly becoming a stan Twitter classic for shutting down any haters who doubt their live performance skills. Microphones were on, and the girls ate and left no crumbs! All drama aside, this song is an uncommon occurrence because Yue rarely produces and writes entire tracks on her own.

⁰⁴ No Pick Me album is complete without a Jules-produced banger to let loose and dance until you drop. HOW MANY LOVERS? aligns with the album’s overall sound but adds Jules’ signature fresh and playful twist. Her solo fans devoured the song and made sure stan Twitter was flooded with her fancams. To top it off, the girls released a series of TikTok videos under the hashtag #LoversParty!, where they danced to the chorus alongside various idols, with quick-cut edits switching from one person to another—if you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll want to check out the video above.

⁰⁵ Produced by Heidi, a regular in the girls' discography, ACT LIKE AN ANGEL is the album's most viral track. This comes as no surprise, since all of Heidi's productions tend to become fan favorites, often driving the most traction and success. Heidi's journey as a producer for Pick Me dates back to the girls' debut, when she was personally sought out by Heartbreak to produce Angel of My Dreams, the first of many bops to her name.

ARTISTS CREDITED ﹏ Finn (@bluwavez) ✸ Heidi (@allta1k)

✸﹏Fuck Brat Summer, it’s Doll Summer all along!

✸﹏In an episode of Doll Diaries, the hit behind-the-scenes mini-series for Pick Me, fans caught a bit of drama in the background of one scene. You can hear Sylvia Hara, the group’s creative director and manager, and Yue having a pretty heated conversation off to the side. The mics barely picked it up, but after hours of replaying the clip, fans are convinced Sylvia was going off on Yue for her attitude during one of the group’s win performances, where she looked pissed at Rosie and Jules.

Different fan accounts have slightly different takes, but the general gist of the convo goes something like this: “Yue, you’re not fucking five years old. I don’t give a shit how you feel about them or what you think off-camera. When the cameras are rolling, you cut the crap and smile. I’m done with this bullshit.”

Yue’s solo stans immediately jumped to defend her when the other girls’ solo fans tried to paint her as a bully. She later took to Twitter, claiming it was all just a misunderstanding and that she was having a bad day during the performance. Even Kiko chimed in, saying that everything’s good between the members and that their relationship is actually super close.

✸﹏The girls promoted…[ERROR_NOT FOUND]

[mysimsshowdown]

SHOWDOWN SPOTLIGHT #1

hey its metal and welcome to showdown spotlight! these will not be done regularly at all but as i brainstorm what i want this project to even. Be more i thought id just post some behind the scenes snippets to that ppl got a clearer idea of what im workin with here. heres a bunch of details from the outline doc; namely episode titles, the final teams, and most exciting of all,,challenge ideas!!! woo!!!

the show being contestant vote (the contestants eliminate each other instead of the viewers voting on it like an object show) means i have Complete And Total Control and i can plan out all the story beats and character developments and whatnot without worrying about something going awry because everybody decided to vote out a character i was building something with LMAO. that means i have a lot of neat ideas like this in storage i can dig up and fall back on!

ive not decided a set order i wanna do these challenges in. i keep goin back and forth on all of them because GODD theyre so fun they sound so fun to just write and do and AGHGHHGH i just wanna get this thing out there somehow even though i know like 2 people are gonna care. its MY BIRTHDAY PARTY and I GET TO PICK THE HYPERFIXATION

anyway, onto the teams. when i was working on deciding the teams i wanted them all to have kinda a "Thing". in my head it was like...Franklin is all the, in my eyes, "fan favorite" sims (and also chaz.) besides cassandra those are all characters that have appeared in multiple games and have a decent following from what i know. dj candy and violet appear in Every Fucking Game theyve earned this. Eureka is the goofy wildcard team, a bunch of characters that dont really fit together trying to make it work!! and then The Uhhhh is the result of morcubus trying to make a team out of morcucorp operatives but yuki gets distracted and leaves for another team because she ate the fuckgn contract and therefore doesnt remember signing up to work with morcubus, and theyre left with the fuckin. table crumbs nobody else wanted LOL. poor lyndsay

curating the cast of showdown was really tough because i had to leave out a lot of my fav sims, like summer, beebee, mel, nichole, sapphire, rosalyn--and i know ppl are gonna be questioning why some iconic sims like travis arent here. like bro I only have half of the royal academy on the show thats wild LMAO.

truth be told, 24 contestants is not ENOUGH to represent the love i have for these characters, but the 24 i picked id say strike a good balance between MY personal favorites and generally beloved sims. u may notice i try to address this by having some of these characters play significant roles in challenges!! and i hope that strikes a good balance :)

showdown still has a long way to go and im not totally sure if itll be more than just an idea rn, but im loving working on it and i hope i can get it out there one day!! if ur one of the aforementioned 2 people reading this then thank u very much and i hope u have an awesome day

[lady-green-sleeves]

Since I don’t want to be another broken record talking about how b&c wasn’t the same as the books, instead I’m gonna give my husbands thoughts on it as someone who’s never read the books and doesn’t know what’s gonna happen.

So first off he was confused by the motivations of the characters, not being able to tell if blood & cheese were only in it for money ,or if they also felt some sense of loyalty to Daemon/Rhaenyra/team black.

He was also confused if Haelena knew what was gonna happen like exactly or just a vague unclear idea of what might happen, so far it seems she kinda knows what’s gonna go down. He felt like that along with her just offering only a single necklace made it feel like she had excepted her sons fate and that’s why she didn’t offer more jewelry or money or anything, or why she didn’t beg them to spare her children.

The comment about giving up the kings heir made him feel like Haelena didn’t even like her son bc she saw him as an extension of his father who she clearly has a bad or at least strained relationship with. He also didn’t feel like the whole ‘which ones the boy’ thing made a ton of sense like they easily could have “checked” off camera but instead they make her pick and then still almost go to kill Jaehaera (which ik is supposed to be a Lowkey callback to the book but it’s not well done) instead bc they think she’s lying. But also at the end of the day doubtfully anyone on team black would be able to tell the difference between one head vs the other and if they were wrong by the time the news was out that it was the princess and not the prince b&c could have been long gone with their money (going back to what exactly are their motivations)

Which I do honestly agree with, it’s hard to tell the exact motivations of the characters there must be more than one necklace in that room, it does seem like Haelena had already excepted that Jaehaerys would die. But as someone who has read the book I can see them maybe using her relative ease in giving up jaeherace as the guilt that eventually drives to her suicide instead of it being her picking between her sons.

We both also agreed that the AliCole sex scene Haelena walks in on after is so unnecessary and seems only for extra like shock value. We thought they were gonna keep the relationship between those two more psychosexual than actually sexual so having multiple sex scenes with them kinda dulls the ship down for us (I liked that alicent was followed around by a bunch of freaky men who would do anything for her but she still won’t have sex with them).

I’m not upset that they didn’t follow the book for this scene, they haven’t been following the book that closely since the beginning. I’m upset that they’re trying to tell their own story while also trying to take parts from the book and it’s not working. They just need to pick one story and stick with it. The whole ‘pick one’ scenario doesn’t really work in the context of the story you’ve written so then write something that does. Or make Daemons offer different so the picking makes more sense, so many changes (some relatively minor) could have been made to make the story more coherent and none were taken. It’s one of the most impactful moments in the book imo and they managed to make it confusing along with some cheap gore sounds and unnecessary sex scenes.

The thing that saved the scene imo was Phia’s facial acting you could really see the total horror and helplessness written across her face. Emma and Phoebe also ate up and left no crumbs during their scenes at Luke’s funeral, their grief is portrayed so nicely. I absolutely can’t wait to see more of Phoebe/Rhaena this season, her face card never declined even at a funeral. These three women got barely any screen time but they still managed to save the episode with their grade A expressions and acting.

Some unrelated things I liked about the episode was the little Daeneys the dreamer lore drop (which I absolutely didn’t notice till I saw someone mention it on here) that if confirmed to be true is honestly so cool and could have some fun even if ultimately unimportant plot implications. The costumes seem to be better so far we’re only one episode in but still imo they’re already better than majority of S1E1 outfits. Who was the random north boy in the beginning and why did he look so much like season one Jace, pretty sure it was the same bad wig and all. The writers kinda did the Velaryon/Strong boys dirty with that one lmao they are def not letting them beat the bastard allegations.

Sorry this is so long is you made it to the end thanks for coming to my TED talk and if I said something blatantly wrong feel free to destroy my media literacy in the comments💕

[mangora]

Finally watching episode 9 so here are some live notes:

•Aiden falling over when Tess gave him the water bucket was a peak visual gag

•Alec??? Alec hello???

•Yul with Kai’s shirt…toxic yaoi scraps…

•Oh my god fuck this guy

•Grett you poor baby holy shit???

•LETS GO RIYA GO OFF QUEEN

•Riya looked up to Grett omg…

•FUCK HIM UP ALEC oh my god I hate Yul Grett needs to dump his sorry ass

•I don’t really know how I feel about how they’re portraying Gabby’s mental health. Idk it’s just kinda off

•I love Jake but how much longer are we going to do this TomJake subplot fuck me it’s so boring

•The Ally and Jake beef is kinda sucky too. Also what’s Jake been doing for the last nine episodes if not trying to improve? Wh

•Jake I could fix you

•Tom’s totally lying about his boyfriend huh

•YEP okay

•Also Aiden and Tom bonding over their scars is kinda cute

•Tom still thinks about him??? Okay we’re getting somewhere I’ll let them cook

•Emily I love you so much Emily. Trevor too. Power friendship

•Girl why are you eating a raw carrot. Creature

•I’m still sad that we didn’t get any real Jake/Ellie interactions after they set up a rivalry between them in season one. Come on. Toxic friends. Or rivals who can’t let go of a past platonic bond

•When are we going to get a non-elimination episode it’s been like eight eliminations in a row now I think

•Jake…buddy…

•FUCK EM UP GRETT

•“Ok ok I’m sorry” immediately when Ashley tells him what to do. He’s such a lapdog I love him

•TESSALLY CRUMBS

•JAKE!! FUCK YEAH KILL HIM!! HE’S SO BACK!!

•I’m so proud of him

•Tom <3 I don’t really like him this season but he’s still my cutie patootie yk

•ALLY BABYGIRL YOU DID IT

•Can you guys tell who my favorite team is yet

•I feel like Gabby isn’t really acting villainous yet. Kinda let down on that front tbh

•Yul kinda seems vaguely attracted to Tom

•If Riya goes home…

•Why has no one voted for Yul yet

•Sorry but when did Grett like make up with Gabby? Wouldn’t it make sense for Gabby to still hold a grudge against her for season one? She holds grudges, we know she does, she did it in season one and she’s doing it now

•Listen I get Gabby’s anger but Tess, Aiden, and Tom are right like all of these people would betray Gabby at any other point given the chance and Alec fucked Ellie over multiple times

•Man I miss their friendship actually

•IF RIYA GOES HOME…

•OH MY GOD IS IT TESS

•FUCK

•ONC stop voting off some of your strongest characters before the merge challenge fuck off I’m so sick of these eliminations

•Gabby kinda ate tho

•“Someone say bye to Ally for me” sobbing

•Gabby you’re so babygirl I’m going to miss your friendship with Tom so much

•OLIVER’S BACK

•Wait are Tom and Jake going to talk next episode then? I mean I guess I’m excited but…also not really because it’s probably going to end how it always does. With them just moping and not resolving anything. Augh

Overall the episode was okay I guess? Animation is wonderful as always but I’m really sick of the same like three plot threads being drawn out and of an interesting character going home every single episode without being fully developed beforehand. I feel like the writers— as much effort and love as they’re putting in— aren’t very organized and could use a lore Bible or a clearer outline, because some plots and character arcs are just dropped randomly, and some aren’t resolved in a very sensible or well-paced fashion. That’s not to say the writing is entirely bad, the writers clearly have some good ideas and the dialogue gets better every episode, but I think they need to balance the story better and plan out what they’re going to do with each character more effectively— it would also be nice to have some more relationships between characters instead of each character having 1-2 focal relationships with a few vague allies or enemies outside of that, considering how much time we have left with the season still. But that’s just a matter of preference on my end, I <3 complex relationship webs.

[firewoodfigs]

Hey I'm actually taking you up on the Asian film recommendations. Any genre except outright horror is a go! (:

You've come to the right person (I abhor horror and would never recommend that to anyone)! <3

I will preface this by saying that everyone should watch Fullmetal Alchemist if they haven't already LOL it truly the best anime ever. 10 stars for Arakawa! My second-ranked anime is Naruto, but Kishimoto's depictions of females is laughable at best and downright sexist at worst lmao. I recently binged Spy x Family too, which I really enjoyed!

Off the top of my head, some recommendations I have are:

Ghibli films (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for all tbh, Ghibli never disappoints): Kiki's Delivery Service Whisper of the Heart Howl's Moving Castle Spirited Away Castle in the Sky and the usual suspects :) honorary mention goes to Kimi no na Wa because I was a total wreck on the plane watching that show (and I got to visit the iconic staircase irl that inspired that scene this year, which was a real treat!).

Dramas: 花より男子 Hana Yori Dango (aka Boys Over Flowers; there are also Korean and Taiwanese adaptations of the same) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Goong/Princess Hours (a real Korean classic, also the cast is so attractive) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ King of Baking 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞 Vagabond (not horror, but there are elements of thriller! the budget for this was insane lmao and it had me so on edge I had to go through the episodes at 1.5x speed hahaha) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Witch at Court ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Business Proposal (had such a fun time bingeing this one with @tsaritsa) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Familiar Wife ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Extraordinary Attorney Woo ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shooting Stars (the male lead is so my type lmao) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Little Women (both the movie directed by Greta Gerwig, and the k-drama that came out not too long ago haha!!) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tearjerkers (includes both films and dramas; this is going to be a long list because this is my ultimate guilty pleasure):

Japanese *1リットルの涙 1 Litre of Tears (warning: the title lives up to its name. make sure tissues are accessible at all times) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Midnight Sun (there is a drama and movie available; the drama lead is played by YUI, who sang FMA's 'Again'!) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Koizora (translates to 'Sky of Love') ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My Rainy Days ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Korean A Millionaire's First Love ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ No Breathing (my friend and I walked out of the cinema drenched in tears lmao the actors really ate and left no crumbs) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beethoven's Virus (@nightofnyx8 I feel like you would love this, plus the OST makes me cry every time...) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 200 Pounds Beauty ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Taiwanese 那些年 (Na Xie Nian / Those Bygone Years -- I think the official English title was 'The Apple of my Eye') ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Our Times / 我的少女時代 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As an aside, the movie adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin was actually stellar and the only film adaptation of anime that I personally deem acceptable (let's not talk about the FMA movies... 😂). Another one that will always hold dear to my heart is Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Cloud was my very first kid-crush before I even knew what that was lmao).

I'm sure everyone has heard of Everything Everywhere All at Once by now -- that was truly spectacular and wacky, I loved it!

Lowkey obliged to recommend Crazy Rich Asians since it was filmed in my hood, but if I'm being brutally honest this movie was probably a 5/10 at best for my bf and I lol, I personally preferred Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (10 ⭐️s from me). Speaking of Constance Wu, Fresh Off the Boat was really funny (also available on Disney+ I think)!

Most of these should be available on Netflix, if not Youtube/other random online sources should work (and generally have subtitles as well)! Most if not all of the above have AMAZING OSTs as well :')

Happy watching, dearest! 💕 and of course if anyone has any further recs feel free to drop them :)

[gottabedramatic]

I AM BACK AND I AM IN PIECES

How am I supposed to move on from Lovely Runner? HOW?????

I just watched the last episode. Yes, I couldn't help myself and binge watched this drama in smaller portions – 10 episodes are out? I watched 8 in 2 days (actually I have more important thing to focus on, like my final exams coming up soon, but... it was LR. Definitely more important than studying, right?). I saved at least one episode left to watch before new episodes aired, but I gave up yesterday, watched 14th and 15th episode and then waited impatiently for the final ep today.

And I'm already considering a rewatch. I've never rewatched a new drama I just finished watching, I've never even thought about it in the first place. It didn't make a sense to watch again something I just finished, until this drama happened.

A few things about the drama (mainly Byeon Woo Seok):

Strong girl Nam Soon introduced me to Byeon Woo Seok, but when I found out his character dies in the drama, I just dropped it. I actually started it cuz I wondered if the drama would be at least half as good as Strong girl Do Bong Soon. Also for the cameo of Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik, and yes, they ate without leaving any crumbs, but that's about it. I really liked Woo Seok in this drama and I even posted a comment on ig's reel where I said morally gray character with good redemption arc would suit him.

I was definitely on a war with the spoilers, trying to wait until Lovely Runner finished airing. And I was utterly defeated by reels, tiktoks and yt shorts of Sun Jae being a total loser for Im Sol. The first thing from this drama that I spoiled to myself was Sun Jae's performance of 소나기/Sonaki/Sudden shower. (Btw, because the title of this song was never translated in the drama, the subs always said "sonaki", that's the only name of this song for me hahah.)

And what after I saw idol Sun Jae singing?My jaw? I had to take a walk to the Earth's core and back to pick it up. Byeon Woo Seok's voice was engraved in my mind in that very moment and this song is living there rent free for the rest of my life. I can't even speak Korean but I got the pronunciation of a few words from the song only by listening to it in the drama and now I'm singing along every time I hear it. And the meaning, the translation?????? If you can hear someone crying in the corner of whatever room or space you're in, that is me bawling my eyes out because of it.

Okay, now about the story (although I could talk about Sun Jae or Woo Seok all the time):

There were a few things I loved about this drama. First and foremost, the main leads devotion to each other. The number of scenes they had together. And the whole plot going around loser-love at first sight and selfless love that defies time and space? Perfect.

This drama was sometimes too hilarious. Whoever was in charge of the sense of humor department probably was one of the best comedians ever in their past life. Some scenes being funny because of Sun Jae being head over heels for Im Sol, then we have ridiculous scenes of Im Sol trying to act normal after she did something weird in front of Sun Jae. Their bickering, side characters making everything even more funny, the timing of all of these moments. The last time I laughed this much was while I watched Twinkling Watermelon. Before it, other kdrama that was as funny and memorable for its humor as LR was probably Goblin. And it makes sense since LR and Goblin have the same director (apparently, that's what reddit comment said, I'm too lazy to check hahah).

I could make even longer rant about this drama but here's the thing: rewatch never looked as temptingly as it looks now.

Also I definitely have to do an update on other dramas but I'll probably need another post for it. I got off my chest what I needed for now, and I'm going to start a rewatch or play Witcher 3 hahah (yes, I should definitely study instead of doing these things).

Dramas I'm currently watching:

A Journey to Love – 25/40 ep

My Demon – 6/16

Didn't finish yet and not sure if I ever do:

Strong girl Nam Soon – 10/12 (on hold)

18 again – probably 4/16 (and on hold)

Only for love – around 25th episode?

Want to watch, just waiting for more episodes:

Welcome to Samdalri

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract

The Last Immortal

A Good Day to be a Dog

Moon in the Day

so yeah, no tags cuz it's just for me as a reminder (for a drama slump) that in fact I have dramas I want to watch hahsha

[captainaikus]

Hello!!! How are you feeling? I just wanted to check in. It sounds like you’re kinda stressed out and I just wanted to remind you to take it easy and rest. Cause you know. You’re sick? *gently bonks head* Always remember to take care of yourself before anyone else. And that it’s your writing. You set the pace. You write for whatever reason you want to and no one can say otherwise. Also remember that it’s okay to set boundaries, those are important too. Just in general take care of yourself is what I’m trying to get at here. I hope you feel better soon. ALSO ALSO some of my favorite comfort shows I recommend are Haikyuu, Tokyo Revengers, and One Piece. Those are totally not my tops 3 favorite anime/manga of all time pshhhh I have no idea what you’re talking about *whistles*. But seriously though those shows are amazing I was just rewatching Tokyo Revengers the other day. I cant get enough. Anyways. I hope you are blessed with cool pillows, heated blankets, and clear sinuses!!! *sends many virtual hugs, the kind that go squish and are all enveloping and warm*

- ✨ anon

✨ anon !! Hi (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)

I'm doing alright; roomie dropped some chocolates as an apology for getting me sick with their germs

Thank you for your kind and encouraging words *pats head* you're such a sweetheart ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა~ ♡

but yeah I did set boundaries; i'm glad to know that you guys like reading my works and i appreciate the interaction, but i don't wanna answer questions that i've already answered before; besides I know no one likes a good cliifhanger because believe me I KNOW the anxiety and suspense that you're all in and good things will come. Just let me do my magic and go with the flow of it yk?

Spoliers + rant

under the cut cause I cannot contain my love for characters

HAIKYUU!! yeah i love that anime (bokuto was one of my first anime crushes) and those episodes are so nostalgic to me ૮꒰˶ᵕ ༝ᵕ˶꒱ა (i'm actually remembering that scene where the principal's wig flew off and istg i laughed so hard. people were staring at me but idc)

I was in the middle of watching season 4 and I never got to finish it (i was actually looking forward to the miya twins) but yeah hq boys are so precious ଘ꒰੭˶• ༝ •˶꒱੭

TOKYO REVENGERS!! I liked the anime; since the eps are still in the making, I decided to read the manga and the last thing I remember is the fight between Terano south and Brahman? (if that's the name of the gang) i actually wrote for sanzu and hanma (hanma was probably the most likes i've gotten in the entirety of writing but eh whatevs) as well as the tokrev boys hcs. My fav character has to be Shiba Hakkai (he's baby and sweet. pun intended if you know the manga), Mitsuya (that man is a blessing. srsly.) and i really like the bonten symbols there have been days where i wanna get that tattooed but nvm. Lowkey though I am impressed with Kisaki Tetta. Like that man is so smart. *speechless*

One piece!! Zoro tho. Man ate and left no crumbs. I was actually thinking abt starting it this week (istg i always get interrupted when I'm watching anime)

*sending back bear hugs with a squeeze*

[mousieta]

Review: Kei x Yaku

Year: 2022 Country: Japan Platform: ...

The premise of this show was my original draw. A cop pairing up with a gangster is a dynamic where the tension comes built in and is right up my ally. It could be that that perspective – or reason for watching – set my expectations up for disappointment if the show didn’t deliver in just the right way. And maybe that is true. However, I came of age in an era where reading into the subtext was the only form of queer representation I could hope to expect. I am used to reading between the lines and extrapolating from the barest of crumbs. But, in many ways, the cupboard here was bare.

The show was billed (at least in my circles) as a BL – so the relationship between the cop Ichiro and Shiro as the Yakuza could be expected to be front and center, building alongside whatever plot the need to justify their partnership.

Sadly, in regards to the relationship beats the writing is both too much and not enough. The show provides shippy moments but no escalating through-line building the relationship between the leads. Relationship moments that could have been explicit are assumed. We know – by the end – that our leads care deeply about one another. We are shown that fact again and again in their behavior. But rather than show us the progression of that importance, it felt like we jumped from one end to the other, hand-waving the steps in between. And for shows in which the audience knows where we are going to end up, seeing how we get there is what most matters.

Now – in the shows defense – this is only the second Japanses BL I’ve ever seen and I know very very little of Japanese culture or media tropes/ conventions. It is entirely possible that a lot of what I wanted to see was actually there – and I just missed with with my dumb American™ filter. If so, that is totally on me.

My problems with the relationship arc aside, would not necessarily be enough for me to pan the show. I do not need a ship to enjoy a show. Good writing and engaging story lines can totally pull me in. Unfortunately, the plot that back-burnered the relationship screen-time is lackluster at best. Its a standard corruption take down that feels paint-by-numbers. The villains are not particularly novel or compelling, the stakes, while high enough, never felt important. I feel like so much more could have been made about Shiro’s roll as seducer of the elite and the conflict and tension inherit in it but maybe we chalk that up to television media rarely going as far as I think it should (few things are going to be, say, Heartless City)

All that said – I did love the show. Watched it to the very end (I’m notorious for dropping a show when it stops working for me) ate it up flaws in the writing be damned because the two lead actors are fucking electric on screen. Inukai Atsuhiro, in particular, is irresistible. The chemistry rolled between them so thick and while it left me longing for more, it was enough.

Shiro evoked so many layers – of danger and seduction and cunning but also a boyish playfulness and vulnerability. Ichiro was his perfect foil. They played heavy into their archetypes – mining them for every ounce of tension. Both managed to make their characters endearing. The little slice-of-life ‘outtakes’ at the end of each episode were just everything.

The show had many flaws (and though it may have righted the a fridging I don’t feel it redeemed it) but the leads made it all worth it. So much so that I fantasize about a season 2.

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, browney3dgirl6!

For @browney3dgirl6. I hope you enjoy this gift as much as I did writing it. Have a wonderful holiday with some sterek pining angst with a happy ending! 

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 6000

Tags: Pining, Miscommunication, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - College/University, Roommates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Getting Together, Friends to Lovers, Oblivious Stiles Stilinski, Oblivious Derek Hale, Idiots in Love

Read On AO3

*****

Call Him More

There was a lot that Stiles could be grateful for in his relatively boring life. Even though he lost his mother at a too young age, he and his father had never been closer. He had gone to high school with a close-knit group of friends that always had each other’s backs through the ups and the downs of adolescent drama. When he graduated, he got into a college not too far from home that offered his dream major of graphic design.

Unlike most of his friends, he took a year off to work and save up some money so he didn’t have to deal with the college roommate situation after the required first year.  When he was assigned his room, however, he thought he might pretend he didn’t have enough money for an apartment. If it meant rooming with tall, dark, and handsome, Stiles figured it wouldn’t be all that bad.

He had known he was not totally straight since his freshman year of high school. Openly gay, Danny, had brought the group to a gay bar that wasn’t exactly thorough with their license checks and Stiles had slowly realized that he didn’t feel as out of place as his friends did. Scott was vaguely uncomfortable but very kind about it because that was just who Scott was, and Stiles thought that maybe the reason he wasn’t as uneasy was that he belonged there.

Forming an identity was the hardest part of growing up for Stiles, but he had done it just as quickly as the rest of his friends. He was open about his attraction to, well, everyone, but never let that dictate any part of his life besides who he decided to date.

That was until he met Derek Hale.

Stiles had seen a lot of hot people in his life - his friends had been considered the prettiest people in Beacon Hills High School and he wasn’t sure how he had stayed a part of the group - but nothing came even remotely close to the perfect pouted smolder, thick arched eyebrows, and kaleidoscope eyes that Stiles thought even the straightest of men would get lost in. Derek Hale was the most gorgeous person Stiles had ever seen in his life and because Stiles had almost no filter from his brain to his mouth, he said as much when they first met.

“I think I’m in the wrong room,” Stiles said as he gaped at the stunning man in front of him. The man raised his impressive eyebrows and sat down on the edge of his bed before gesturing to the twin mattress on the other side of the room.

“Are you in 110?” The man asked and Stiles thought a voice had never sounded so seductive before that moment. The man was a god and Stiles was truly unworthy.

“Can you pinch me, because you’re so fine I must be dreaming.” Stiles regretted the words almost immediately. Scott had told him to lay off the cheesy pick-up lines and that there was a time and place for them and sometimes that was never and nowhere.

The man furrowed his eyebrows before asking, “Do you have a name?” Before Stiles could answer, the man smirked almost shyly and said, “Or can I call you mine?” Stiles couldn’t help the burst of laughter that left his lips. He placed the box in his arms on the bare mattress across from the man before offering a hand.

“Stiles,” he said. The man took his hand firmly and his smile seemed to light up the entire room.

“Derek,” his roommate said and Stiles hadn’t realized how much one name could change his life.

~~~o~~~

“She’s gonna be here in like 15 minutes, Stiles, can you please just clean up the excessive amount of chip bags on the floor?” Derek yelled from where he was making his bed. Stiles rolled his eyes but noticed the stark contrast between their sides of the room. Derek made a point to fix his sheets and fluff his pillows every morning while Stiles was lucky if he washed his on a weekly basis. Derek’s belongings were meticulously stacked on their rightful shelves and his desk looked as though a scholar had been creating their next published work on the smooth top.

“Why do you even care what my side of the room looks like?” Stiles asked through a mouthful of Cheetos. Derek stared at him with the judgmental gaze Stiles had grown to know and love before wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb. Stiles rolled his eyes but wiped his flannel sleeve across his lips just to appease Derek who smiled sarcastically back at him.

“I actually like to impress the people I want to date, unlike someone,” Derek said pointedly as he stood in front of the mirror and ran a hand through his gelled hair. Stiles ignored how absolutely perfect he looked in favor of standing and brushing off the crumbs that had fallen over him.

“Awe, you want me to impress the people you date, too?” Stiles cooed as he made his fingers into little guns and pointed at Derek with a wink. Stiles saw the dejected sigh in the way Derek’s shoulders rose and fell as he fixed the collar of his shirt.

“You’re my best friend and roommate, Stiles. Anyone I date is bound to spend a lot of time with you. Would it kill you to put a little effort in? For me?” Derek asked as he turned, his eyes pleading in a way Stiles thought no one could ever say no to. He ignored the pang in his heart from the subtle insult and kept his usual sideways smile on his face.

“I’ll put in as much effort as you put into keeping that tie crooked,” Stiles said with a raise of his eyebrows. Derek looked down, tilting his chin as best he could to catch a glimpse at his handiwork. Stiles wiped his cheesy hands on his jeans before stepping up to his best friend and gripping onto the imperfect knot.

“Why don’t you see if Danny is free to go out tonight? I’m worried you’re spending too much time alone,” Derek said softly. Stiles adjusted the tie around Derek’s neck and tried to ignore the ghost of a breath across his cheeks. He wasn’t sure why he kept putting himself in that position; so close to Derek before he left to woo another woman. When he looked up at Derek as he looped the smaller end of the tie into place, though, he remembered that it was worth it to see the bright smile on Derek’s lips.

“I’ll dial up Scott and see if he can tear himself away from Allison for the night, okay?” Stiles never intended to do that, but Derek seemed relieved at the thought so he counted it as a win. Stiles realized that there wasn’t an excuse to help Derek anymore as the tie was sorted, so he patted Derek’s chest with awkward palms and stepped away slowly. “You look great. You taking her to Nonna’s?” Stiles hated that he knew his friend took his first dates to the fancy Italian place across town as Derek nodded in response.

“She said she wasn’t ‘sure’ about Italian food, but…” Stiles gaped at the preposterous notion that anyone could dislike Nonna’s and shook his head as he settled back into his bed. He opened his laptop to try and ignore the slow way Derek coated his lips in chapstick as if preparing for a date ending kiss and fired up an episode of his favorite comfort TV show.

“If she’s a dud, bring me back some fettuccine, yeah?” Stiles asked as Derek opened the door. Derek turned back to him with a small smile on his face that almost looked sad and Stiles wasn’t really sure why. He was the one going out on a Saturday night while Stiles ate junk food and watched the same show he had already seen at least six times through all alone.

“You got it,” Derek agreed.

The door slammed shut behind him and Stiles flinched at the sound. It was one he was all too familiar with. It was the sound of him losing Derek to another person that wasn’t him.

It had only taken Stiles about six months to realize that what he felt for Derek was entirely more than platonic. Derek was the hardest person to figure out but the challenge was one that Stiles couldn’t ignore. He was practically obsessed with trying to get Derek to crack another rare joke or respond with a laugh instead of an eye roll or a scrunch of confusion prominent on his eyebrows. He had put every ounce of his energy during his freshman year of college into figuring out how to get closer to Derek and it took Danny calling him out in front of everyone for him to truly realize that wasn’t quite platonic.

“Is Derek coming out with us tonight, too?” Danny asked as they pushed open the doors to the club they had frequented even before some of the group had turned eighteen. Stiles shook his head and stared at Danny, unsure why he would even ask.

“Derek’s never been out with us unless it involves food,” Stiles reminded him as they caught sight of Scott, Allison, and Lydia waving frantically from the table they had somehow procured in the busy venue.

“Yeah, but I figured things were different now…”

“Guys! You finally made it!” Scott pulled Stiles into a tight hug, but Stiles was too focused on Danny’s words to appreciate the comforting gesture from his best friend. He pushed Scott away a bit quicker than he usually would have and turned back toward Danny who had Lydia in a side squeeze.

“What do you mean ‘different’? Nothing’s different with Derek and me,” Stiles corrected as if the thought offended him. It hadn’t, but he wasn’t about to let his closest friends in on how ridiculously head over heels he was for his straight roommate. Not when they would only try to convince him to stop as if it was possible, as if Stiles hadn’t already tried.

“Yeah, I mean now that you guys are, you know, dating? Hooking up? Whatever you’ve decided to label it,” Danny said with a shrug. A shrug. As if the entire prospect was obvious to everyone. Stiles was torn between disbelief and sheer frustration as Lydia chimed in.

“We figured it would take a little longer, but we’re glad that you’ve figured,” Lydia gestured vaguely at the length of Stiles, “all that out.”

Allison piped up, “Yeah! When Scott told us, we were all ecstatic.” Stiles turned to his best friend in shock, his mouth hanging open so comically wide it was a miracle there were no flies making a home in the cavern.

“When Scott told you?! What exactly did Scott tell you?” Stiles asked but it was clear the question was directed at his best friend. Scott just shrugged - Stiles was really sick of his friends shrugging off his complete panic - before taking a slow, bashful sip of his drink.

“I thought after last weekend you guys had finally decided to, I don’t know, pull your heads out of your asses?” Scott said consideringly and Stiles just stared at him. Nothing had changed last weekend from what Stiles could remember and he was more confused by Scott’s mention of it than ever.

“What the hell are you talking about, Scotty?” Stiles asked as he plopped down into a chair and downed half the drink Lydia had carefully handed him.

“C’mon, Stiles, don’t make me say it!” Stiles thought his jaw somehow dropped even further as he gestured wildly at Scott before running both of his hands through his hair. He leveled Scott with a glare that clearly told him to start talking and, thankfully, he did. “When I came in on Sunday morning to see if you guys wanted to go to breakfast with us and you were… indisposed,” Scott said slowly.

Stiles barely remembered it, and then the entire morning flashed across his mind. Derek had been up late the night before and had come home groggy and exhausted from a night of studying. When he entered their shared room, Stiles was still up playing one of his online games but immediately closed his laptop at how dejected Derek looked. It took everything in him not to launch himself into Derek’s arms and hug him, so instead, he patted the empty side of his bed and just smiled up at Derek in invitation. There were no words exchanged, but both of them apparently needed comfort no one else was around to give them.

Derek must have fallen asleep because before Stiles could react, their front door was opening and Scott’s vibrant voice was echoing through the room. Stiles shushed him as best he could by flinging a pillow in his direction and slid his arm out from underneath Derek’s hard body before meeting Scott out in the hallway. Scott hadn’t even asked what the two were doing and Stiles realized he should have explained something more than ‘yeah, sometimes we share a bed to watch movies and play games but it’s totally platonic’.

“You were spooning, Stiles. I don’t know about you, but the only person I’ve ever spooned in my life is my girlfriend,” Scott said with a gross smile in Allison’s direction. The group collectively groaned but Stiles couldn’t join in because he was too focused on what that weekend might have meant to Derek.

“We’re just roommates, guys. Friends, even. But that’s it,” Stiles said and that was that.

He held onto the hope that maybe Derek had felt the same until the following morning when Derek came back to their room with a hickey on his chest that had a pang surging through Stiles’ heart like a lightning strike. He let go of his hope that they would ever be more than platonic and focused on what he could be to Derek; his roommate, his study partner, the person he begrudgingly spent a majority of his time with, and his friend.

Stiles lost himself in a TV show he wasn’t even sure he wanted to watch and tried to stop imagining Derek being the perfect gentleman he probably was on the date Stiles would never be the one to go on.

~~~o~~~

Stiles woke up a few weeks later with one of the worst hangovers he had ever been subject to in his life. He always remembered to stay hydrated, always had glasses of water shoved in his direction by his friends when it was his turn to let loose, but there was some reason he hadn’t the night prior. He wracked his brain but all that he could remember was in flashes of bright lights, thumping music, and Derek.

Derek.

He vaguely remembered Derek showing up at the bar, but definitely recalled his drunken excitement upon noticing his presence. He was pretty sure Danny had to hold him back from launching himself embarrassingly into Derek’s strong arms. He really should grab a coffee with Danny soon as he always seemed to have Stiles’ back when he became unhinged.

One memory surged through the forefront of his mind and his skin heated up as he thought back on what had happened a few hours into the night.

“Der!” Stiles yelled as he reached the table his friends had gotten for the night. Derek was alone and it was ridiculous that he was alone. How was no one in this club hitting on him? There were literally so many eligible– Oh, yeah. Eligible men at the gay bar that probably weren’t Derek’s type. Stiles pouted at his own internal monologue and when Derek noticed, he raised an eyebrow at him. “Finish your drink and let’s go dance!”

When Stiles grabbed for his hand, Derek pulled him down into the booth beside him and said, “Why don’t you take a break, buddy. You should have some water before you get too messy.” Stiles’ alcohol hazed brain was torn between focusing on the backhanded insult and the fact that Derek was trying to take care of him. He decided to focus on the positive because it was his night to be happy.

“I’ll drink the water if you tell me why you decided to hang out with us lowly peasants tonight in favor of sleeping with your girlfriend,” Stiles slurred. It wasn’t exactly how he wanted the question to come out but he figured it was pretty straightforward. Derek laughed, too, so he thought he had won something out of it.

“She had to study with some friends tonight and Scott called me to take you home when you were done so he could leave early with Allison,” Derek said. Stiles glanced around the club and realized that his best friend was nowhere in sight. Stiles was abandoned with only Derek and–

“Danny! Danny, you’ve met Derek. Isn’t he pretty?” Stiles said with wide eyes as he took in what Derek was wearing. If Stiles hadn’t known any better, he would think Derek was there to impress someone. He had the jeans he usually only pulled out for first dates, a dark button-down shirt, and a polka-dotted tie that Stiles had initially bought him as a joke until he put it on and looked amazing. Derek looked amazing in everything.

“Yeah, Stiles, Derek is very pretty,” Danny agreed with a teasing smirk on his lips. Stiles draped an arm over Derek’s shoulder and used the other to straighten his tie. He realized that he was practically in Derek’s lap but he didn’t mind and unless Derek told him to move, he was comfortable right where he was. “You guys gonna join us on the dance floor?” Danny asked as he gestured over his shoulder to where a group of men exactly Danny’s type were waiting for him.

Stiles nodded eagerly as Derek shook his head and said, “I think we’re gonna hang out here until Stiles drinks some water.” Stiles glared at him but Danny left before he could chase after him and enjoy the music.

“Okay, dad. If I drink that water, then will you dance with me?” Stiles begged, pouting his lip for effect. Derek’s eyes searched his face before landing on his mouth and for a moment, Stiles thought he was leaning closer. He closed his eyes to prepare himself for the life changing moment when all of a sudden Derek was a few feet away at the edge of the booth.

“You’re drunk, Stiles,” Derek said and Stiles raised his eyebrows at him because it was very obvious how much alcohol Stiles had consumed and what did that have to do with anything?

“You’re here,” Stiles responded and it made sense in his head. He was there instead of out with his girlfriend on a Saturday night. He was there instead of studying as he usually did with his nights off. He was there - with Stiles - when he could have been almost anywhere else.

“I came because Scott asked me to,” Derek said sternly. He pushed the half-full glass of water in Stiles’ direction and gestured for him to drink it but Stiles wasn’t feeling too thirsty. He shifted closer to Derek, who in turn stood up as if he was about to be burned by lava, and Stiles pushed past him with barely a wave.

“Tell Scott I don’t need his help and I don’t need yours either. I can find my own way home after I’ve finished having fun,” Stiles shouted as he threw himself into the crowd of people.

He would have liked to say that he didn’t watch Derek leave, but he did. He watched as Derek paid for the drinks left on the table and took out his phone before smiling down at it. He watched as Derek took one last glance in his direction and then walked through the doors.

He doesn’t remember much after that.

The slamming door broke him out of his thoughts and he ran a hand through his hair as if it would appease the throbbing in his skull.

“Loud noises are not my friend right now, can you just–” When he opened his eyes to yell at whoever had entered the room, he saw Derek drop a bottle of water onto his bed followed by a container of pain reliever. Stiles bit down on his bottom lip and nodded his head slowly as he glanced up at Derek. “Thanks,” he said lamely.

Derek nodded back and said softly, “I’m heading out, but I figured you’d need this more than I would today.” Stiles smiled at him but he was sure it didn’t reach his eyes. Between the pain and the shame of the night before, he was sure Derek was never going to talk to him again let alone take care of him.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Stiles blurted out before he could stop himself. Derek raised an eyebrow at him as if asking for him to expand on his apology and Stiles figured he owed him that much. “I was pretty wasted and very unreasonable and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,” Stiles said as he fiddled with the cap of his water bottle. Derek nodded and as he realized Stiles’ struggle to open the bottle, grabbed it from him to uncap the plastic.

“I know, Stiles,” Derek responded. “I was just trying to be a friend because Scott wasn’t there, but I’m not Scott and we’ve got our own kind of friendship, right?” Stiles wished Derek hadn’t used the word friend so much, but it reminded him that was exactly what they were. Stiles was drunk the night before and whatever he thought he saw in Derek’s gaze was wishful thinking. He took a few sips of water before swallowing the pain relievers and falling back into bed.

“You mean the sorta friendship where I embarrass myself and you act like my father?” Stiles joked and then winced at the insinuation of his words. Derek laughed anyway and ran a hand through his hair. It was something he had never seen Derek do before he had started spending more time with Stiles. It made his heart leap to see it.

“The sorta friendship that we have to try our hardest to keep,” Derek said seriously and how was Stiles supposed to respond to that? Derek was more important to him than he realized and Stiles had tried harder every day to ignore his feelings in order to make sure their friendship stayed intact. Stiles briefly wondered why Derek had to try but decided to change the subject in case it started a conversation his hungover brain was not awake enough to have.

“Where are you headed?” Stiles asked and then instantly regretted the question because he knew he wouldn’t like the answer. Derek smiled softly down at his phone as he had the night prior - Stiles hated his mind for recalling that so clearly - and held it up bashfully when it rang.

“We’re headed to the diner a few blocks away. Want me to bring you back some greasy food?” Stiles’ mouth watered both from the idea of greasy hangover food and the fact that ‘we’ meant Derek and the girl that made him smile in the way Stiles had been aiming for for months.  

Stiles shook his head and closed his eyes as he said, “Nah, I’ll see if Danny is up for some post-alcohol coma food. Have fun!” Stiles hadn’t meant it, but he put his best sloppy smile on his face and waved at Derek as he left.

When the door slammed shut again, Stiles felt his heart dive into his stomach and wondered if before noon was too early for another round of mind-numbing drinks.

~~~o~~~

A few weeks passed and Stiles wasn’t sure how much longer he could handle sharing a room with the person he tried so hard not to be in love with. He had thought if he threw all of himself into his friendship with Derek, he could somehow make their relationship just like his and Scott’s. He found out he was sorely mistaken because anytime Derek so much as glanced at him, let alone hugged him or patted his shoulder as friends do, Stiles would melt inside.

He hated that he reacted like that. He had thought he’d gotten over the ridiculous pining aspect of his feelings when he spent ten years obsessing over Lydia, who was never going to be the love of his life. Everyone reminded him of that when they got the chance and Stiles thought maybe that was the problem. Even a year after he had realized his feelings for Derek, his friends were still convinced the two were in some secret relationship that Stiles didn’t want them to know about. If he could get one of them to remind Stiles that Derek was a month into a relationship with someone else - a woman, which Stiles reminded himself of often - maybe he would finally stop feeling like he was the lead in a dumb romantic comedy every time Derek walked into the room.

But lately, Derek seemed annoyed with even a glimpse of Stiles. He would come back to their shared room after a date with the girl Stiles still hadn’t bothered to learn the name of and nitpick everything he could see. He didn’t seem to like the way Stiles tucked in his sheets or the way he organized his side table. He even went as far as complaining about the new detergent Stiles had bought to wash his clothes. Stiles felt like he was walking on eggshells and still, his heart skipped when Derek glanced his way.

Like clockwork, Stiles heard a key in the door and his eyes widened in panic. He was in the same clothes he had been the night prior, his bed unmade and probably covered in cheesy crumbs from another bag of Cheetos, and he was sure the air was stale as he hadn’t been able to get out of bed in the morning to take a shower. He jumped off of his bed and quickly tore off his shirt and pajama pants, throwing on a relatively clean pair as he stripped his sheets and threw them into the overflowing laundry basket. He grabbed the card from the dresser just as Derek opened the door and smiled brightly as he tried to contain how out of breath he was.

“Hey Derek, I’m about to–”

“I’m moving out.”

Stiles was sure he felt his heart shatter.

“Derek, what are you–” Before he could even finish his sentence, Derek was tossing his neatly folded clothes haphazardly onto the bed as if he had no cares in the world. The sheer surprise that flooded through Stiles was just as much about Derek’s words as it was his actions. Tidy, organized Derek had half of his room on his bed before Stiles could even blink.

He launched himself out of his bed just as Derek said, “We can’t keep doing this.” If Stiles had been confused before, he was even more so by the phrase.

“This? What? Derek, what are you talking about?” When Derek said nothing, Stiles continued frantically. “I was just about to go do laundry. I can clean my half of the room in a few hours and we can talk about this,” Stiles pleaded. Derek seemed to grumble to himself as he pulled out flattened boxes from beneath his bed but froze when Stiles rested gentle fingertips against his wrist.

“Don’t pretend you don’t see it, Stiles,” Derek said with humor in his voice that had chills racing down Stiles’ spine. He looked quizzically at Derek who shook his head in response. “We’re at each other’s throats more often than not and I’m not willing to risk our– our friendship because we spend too much time together,” Derek spat the words as if they were dirt on his tongue and Stiles had to stop himself from flinching.

Stiles had no idea where it had come from. He had noticed the tension between them, it was almost impossible to miss when you lived with someone, but he had thought it was completely one-sided. Stiles had started to back off after he had realized things with Derek and his girlfriend had started getting more serious, but he didn’t think Derek had minded.

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about and will you stop?!” Stiles shouted as he let his fingers wrap around Derek’s wrist. Derek turned to him quickly, their chests pressed together so that Stiles could feel Derek’s puffing in and out with his panting breath.

“I can’t just stop because I don’t have a distraction anymore!” Derek yelled causing Stiles to take a tentative step back. He kept his fingers around Derek’s wrist, the steady pulse almost calming to him, reminding him that Derek was still there and hadn’t left yet. Stiles could fix whatever was happening and everything would be okay.

“A distraction? Derek, what are you–”

“I picked classes this term to stay out of this room, I studied late nights so that I wouldn’t be a bother to you, I started dating because it was all I could do to distract myself from–” As if his words had caught up to him, Derek’s eyes widened and he ripped his arm out of Stiles’ grasp. It took everything in Stiles not to reach out to him again.

“Distract yourself from what?” Stiles asked so softly that he wasn’t sure Derek had heard him.

Derek turned around, his shoulders sagging as he let out a deep breath, and said, “From you.”

“Me?” Stiles couldn’t help how broken his voice sounded. The admission barreled toward him like an out of control car looking for its next victim and Stiles was powerless to stop the inevitable pain that came from the crash.

“I didn’t mean it like–” Stiles wasn’t about to let Derek finish so he held up his hands.

“No, obviously things with whatever her name is are more serious than I thought and you want to spend more time with her than the person who thought they were your best friend and you know what?” Stiles took a deep breath to calm the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. “That’s completely fine, Derek, cause I don’t need someone who is going to nitpick everything that I do. I want someone who wants to spend time with me not because they’re forced to,” he stated as he picked up his laundry basket and propped it on his hip.

“You think I don’t want to spend time with you?” Derek asked as he blocked Stiles’ only exit to the door. Stiles scoffed and narrowed his eyes at Derek, replaying his words in his head over again to be sure he wasn’t making it up.

“Sorry, does distract have another definition that I don’t know about? It seems like you want to keep as far away from me as possible and are choosing to spend time with this girl over me,” Stiles countered. It was the only explanation he could think of and at the moment it sounded incredibly reasonable.

Derek laughed and took a step toward Stiles as he said, “I’m moving in with Boyd and I don’t have a ‘girl’ anymore.” Well, that definitely changed things. Stiles wasn’t sure how long he stood there gaping at Derek, but it must have been long enough for Derek to start to feel at least a little uncomfortable as he started talking again. “I need a distraction from you because if I spend more time with you than I already do, I’m going to fall even more in love with you than I already am. And I can’t have that for obvious reasons,” Derek said, the last piece almost in a whisper.

“Obvious?” Stiles was sure that wasn’t what his next word should have been, but it was rare that he knew what was going on in Derek’s head and he wasn’t going to let the moment pass him by.

“We’re roommates, Stiles, friends. You’ve said it yourself. I’ve been trying to distance myself so that my feelings for you don’t impact that but apparently, I can’t handle it. So, I’m leaving,” Derek said as he stepped to the side as if letting Stiles make a choice, as if Stiles would choose anything other than letting Derek know they had both been stupid.

“You don’t have a girlfriend,” Stiles said slowly as he dropped the laundry basket to the ground. The noise startled Derek from his packing and he turned, nodding slowly. It was enough confirmation for Stiles to continue. “And you love me?” Derek nodded again, more surely this time as if it was easier to answer.

“Yeah,” Derek whispered, “I do, and I understand if–” Stiles grabbed the knot to Derek’s slightly off-kilter tie and before he could change his mind, he crashed their lips together.

That life changing moment that had seemed just out of grasp for so many months was finally becoming reality and Stiles felt his entire world shift into place. Derek’s hands rested gently on his hips before sliding more securely around Stiles’ back and pulling him so they were flush together. Stiles had always wondered whether it would feel like a fairy tale kissing Derek and he was happy to be proven right. Derek’s lips tasted like vanilla chapstick and a spice he couldn’t quite place and being in his arms felt like home. It might have been cliche, but he wasn’t sure he had ever been so happy.

When Derek pulled away, it was only to rest his forehead against Stiles’ and take a few deep breaths. Stiles had done the same, he thought he might have been floating. Stiles opened his eyes to see that bright smile he had always made a point to bring out in Derek and he saw that his eyelashes cast soft shadows against his cheeks as he shook his head.

“How long?” Derek asked and Stiles didn’t need context to know what he was asking.

“Since the first moment I saw you,” Stiles answered honestly because he wasn’t about to keep lying to Derek when it finally felt as though their truths were out in the open. Derek huffed out a laugh and the heat of it sent a shiver down Stiles’ spine. He realized he didn’t need an excuse to be that close to Derek anymore and the thought alone made him smile wider. “You?” Stiles asked.

Derek opened his eyes and ran his hands up Stiles’ body until he could cup Stiles’ flushed cheeks in his hands. He answered, “When you invited me into your bed after one of the worst nights of my college life.”

“We’re idiots,” Stiles chuckled, straightening Derek’s tie that he had messed up in their heated kiss.

“I was only moving out because I couldn’t keep pretending all the things you did around this room annoyed me. God, Stiles, I love every single thing about you and I’m sorry that I made you feel–” Stiles leaned forward and pressed their lips together once more just because he could and pulled away with a small smile.

“You have never made me feel anything less than lucky to have you in my life, Derek,” Stiles said and when Derek nodded, he added, “but there’s no way I’m letting you move out.” It wasn’t a question, but Derek shook his head hastily in response.

“Now you’re never getting rid of me,” Derek responded as if Stiles would ever try. He had Derek finally after months of being roommates and friends. He wasn’t about to let Derek go without being able to call him more.

[dietgaymags]

A definitive ranking of DWTS Season 29′s celebrities thus far

So I'm obsessed with Dancing with the Stars as much as the next guy. I’ve seen every season since number 11, when I was like 9 years old. But I dropped off a few seasons ago, disappointed that they really had the nerve to put the legend Lindsey Stirling on the same season as the other legend Jordan Fisher. That was not fair to anyone, because Lindsey would have wiped the floor in literally any other season. 

But Season 29′s cast was released and I got excited again. About 80% of these names I was not only familiar with, but were people I enjoyed for some reason or another. Skai Jackson, Nelly, Johnny Weir, AJ McLean, Nev Schulman, Carole Baskin, Justina Machado, Monica Aldama, and the list just goes on. They really said “we need to get young people back into the show.” And they did. I was hooked. And though Len is gone and Carrie Ann is going some sort of which way with her votes (we don’t talk about it), I’ve watched every episode with bright eyes and so much excitement. We have some good dancers this season. And some bad ones. But mostly good. So here’s my definitive ranking of this season’s stars (and, by extension, pros). And if you don’t agree, that’s fine. I am simply a nineteen-year-old girl who likes to watch ballroom dancing. 

NUMBER 15: CAROLE MF BASKIN AND PASHA PASHKOV

Besides the moral obligations to not allow a murderer to appear on the show, I think DWTS did a good job trying to rope people in by bringing her on. When the cast list was released, my jaw dropped because I knew she was going home first and I wanted to be there to see it. 

And somehow, she did not... go home first? She made it another episode? While I’m sure it was a ploy to keep people interested in the show so they didn’t watch the premiere and drop off, Carole Baskin is sure to go down in DWTS history as one of the worst competitors. Her highest score was a 16, sure, but her lowest was an 11. We’re treading Master P territory. And I had a full traumatic episode watching her in a lion-esque unitard. Fuck, I needed to bleach every orifice on my body. (Overall Rating: 1 dead husband/10)

NUMBER 14: CHARLES OAKLEY & EMMA SLATER

You cannot tell me this man isn’t having the most fun he’s had in a minute. He was another easy-to-spot early elimination, but I actually enjoyed watching him to some degree. Emma danced circles around him, but you could really tell he was trying his damnedest and I appreciate it. And his performances didn’t strike cold, dead fear into my heart like other people.

He also got the same average score as Carole over the first two episodes, but one of those was NOT an 11. Slightly better, imo, just a little less improvement than Carole---which is why Derek booted him in the first place. (Overall rating: 1.5 left feet/10)

NUMBER 13: JESSE METCALFE AND SHARNA BURGESS

Did they---did they ever dance? I literally don’t remember anything other than that Newsies dance, which I have to say I particularly enjoyed. It might be because I like Newsies. It might be because Sharna’s hair is gorgeous this season. I don’t know, but it probably wasn’t because of Jesse’s dancing. 

That’s literally all I have to say. (Overall rating: 2 confused braincells/10)

NUMBER 12: CHRISHELL STAUSE AND GLEB SAVCHENKO 

WOAH, she’s coming in with the hot takes! Chrishell hasn’t even been eliminated yet! And look, it’s not even Chrishell’s fault that she’s so low on the list. It really isn’t. She’s been performing, well, okay thus far. Not great, considering her highest score was a 26 on a Paso double where she literally did not even dance (look, I’m not a judge, but I would’ve given it a 21 MAYBE). She’s trying, and she seems to be really enjoying it; I absolutely adore her energy. But most of the issue here is attributed to her partner, Gleb.

His choreography is just... I don’t know... lazy. He throws himself around like a god among men and Chrishell is just there. I don’t really appreciate the pros who prefer to dance over their partners instead of with them. I don’t understand why he thinks this method will get him a mirrorball, but it’s just not gonna happen. (Overall rating: 2 measures of actual dancing/10)

NUMBER 11: ANNE HECHE AND KEO MOTSEPE

Look how happy they look! No, but seriously, they didn’t do that bad. They just had a bad week. Week 2, they had a higher average score than SIX other couples on the show, and they left with a score of 21. I legitimately think that their Disney night dance was underscored. Sure, it wasn’t wonderful, but it didn’t deserve a fifteen.

I know they had no chance to win the mirrorball, but Keo has a history of being stuck with less-than-stellar partners. Anne was not a bad match; they just had bad luck and better competition. I did love watching them, though. And Keo is beautiful, but need I say more? (Overall rating: 3.5 early elims/10)

NUMBER 10: VERNON DAVIS AND PETA MURGATROYD CHMERKOVSKIY

I honestly haven’t enjoyed Peta’s choreography since Season 22, when she and Nyle DiMarco ate up the dance floor and left not a single crumb. She and Peta were another pair where I was like, “Wait, who got eliminated? They’re still here?” The judges were right in saying Vernon had a lot of energy on stage, and look at him here. He’s big cheesin’.

They kind of existed for me is all I have to say. The only reason they’re ranked higher than Anne and Keo is because their average score was just overall better. They never scored extremely well, with their highest score being a 22, but they never did too horribly either. They were meh. (Overall rating: 4 touchdowns/10)

NUMBER 9: NELLY AND DANIELLA KARAGACH

Another hot take? Yes. I can never tell whether or not Nelly enjoys being here until he actually dances. During rehearsal, confessionals, critiques, he always looks a little embarrassed or nervous? I’m not sure. But just like Vernon and Peta, all of their dances have been kind of meh. 

That’s not to put Daniella down in any sense. It’s her first season as a pro, and her abilities definitely shine through in her performance. But like I said about Gleb earlier, she has a tendency to dance over Nelly at times (see: the Freddy Krueger dance from last week). I don’t see Nelly living up to the standards the judges say he’s lived up to thus far, but that might just be my personal opinion. (Overall rating: 5 heeled sneakers/10)

NUMBER 8: MONICA ALDAMA AND VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY

Another surprisingly hot take. I actually really enjoyed each of Monica’s dances this season, especially since she’s someone with essentially zero dance experience. I’m still very pissy that the Ratched dance sent her home---it was one of my favorite dances of the night, and I have no clue why she only got a 22 for it (especially when Chrishell and Gleb got a 26). 

Val has always been someone on the show who can take a non-dancer and genuinely make them better. This is the case with Monica. We saw so much improvement with her over the weeks. We’re getting to the part of the list where I love all of the dancers. Still, Monica and Jeannie should not have been the bottom 2 last week, but in the case between the two, it’s right that Monica was eliminated. Still, I would have loved to see her next week. (Overall rating: 6 cheer pyramids/10)

NUMBER 7: SKAI JACKSON AND ALAN BERSTEN

Sure, she got the first 10 of the season. Sure, the Chucky dance was kind of spectacular. But she’s also had the lowest score for two out of seven weeks so far. She has yet to be in the bottom, but I’m sure that’s the fans working for her. I can’t deny her talent on the dance floor, but I would argue that objectively, Skai has made the most mistakes out of everyone this season.

She’s been remarkably inconsistent over the course of the season, but when she’s good, she’s really, really good. She was my pick to win when the cast was released, but now I don’t see that happening unless the fans really come to vote on her, which I think they will. But there is no excuse for an 18 on Week 6. She can do better. I know she can. But until then, she stays in the middle of my list. (Overall rating: 6 Ms. Kiplings/10)

NUMBER 6: JEANNIE MAI AND BRANDON ARMSTRONG

To be completely honest, I had Jeannie Mai pegged as an early elimination from Week 1. But she and Brandon continue to astound me as a team. I love every single one of their dances, sad that they’ve been consistently underscored. That Hannibal Lecter paso was stunning, and the Up dance on Disney night made me tear up a little. 

They’re not higher for the sole reason that others are just better. Not because I don’t love what they put out on the stage every week, but Jeannie just isn’t the strongest technically. Until they get eliminated, though, I’ll be watching with bated breath. (Overall rating: 7 hole-in-ones/10)

NUMBER 5: KAITLYN BRISTOWE AND ARTEM CHIGVENTSEV

Do I just not see what everyone else is seeing when they’re obsessing over Kaitlyn Bristowe? I mean, everything she’s done so far has been wonderful, but she’s not my favorite. Technically, it’s on point 85% of the time. and she has the second-highest point total so far in the competition, but she has yet to do a dance where I step back and think, “Wow.” That’s what puts her behind the top four.

I did not like the Cruella DeVille paso doble at all last week, but I think that was attributed to the song choice more than anything else. I have yet to be taken aback by Kaitlyn and Artem, but their work is undeniably, objectively some of the best on the show. (Overall rating: 7 roses/10)

NUMBER 4: AJ MCLEAN AND CHERYL BURKE

Now we’re at the spot on the list where if any of these guys win the mirrorball, I will be satisfied. Something about AJ is simply magnetic. He has such a kind disposition and wonderful talent on the dance floor, it’s so hard not to love him. His samba is one of my favorite dances on this season so far, and I’m genuinely concerned that he’s been underscored this whole time. 

Cheryl is a mf VETERAN at this, too. She knows how to teach this man to destroy a dance floor. The energy he brings, the life he brings, the nasty footwork that he DEMOLISHES. I did not expect to love AJ as much as I do. In my opinion, the most improvement we’ve seen in a star this season. (Overall: 8.5 backstreets/10)

NUMBER 3: JUSTINA MACHADO AND SASHA FARBER

Justina is living proof that you don’t have to be as big around as my pinky finger to do ballroom dancing well. She’s easily the best female star this season, and Sasha has accentuated her talents on the dance floor without overpowering her, which I enjoy. On top of that, she looks so happy to be here, which translates heavily into her dancing. 

I will say, not every dance from her has been my favorite, but there hasn’t been a single dance out of her that I haven’t liked. Her presence is so powerful and destructive that everyone needs to watch their backs. Remember, this is a sitcom mom, not a professional dancer. (Overall rating: 8.5 days at a time/10)

NUMBER 2: JOHNNY WEIR AND BRITT STEWART

I am a firm believer that Johnny and Britt should have gotten a perfect 30 on their contemporary back in Week 5. I am also a firm believer that they should have gotten a perfect 30 on their Viennese waltz last week. I am consistently blown away by Britt’s choreography every single week, and their chemistry as a pair is unlike anyone I’ve seen in the show’s history. 

What I like about them so much is how much of a team they are. That really makes so much difference out on the dance floor. Their grace and style is completely unmatched, and as a first season pro, Britt is destroying some of the pros who have been here for years... Gleb. I can’t wait to see their performances every single week, and I hope they continue to dance together somehow even after the show is over. (Overall rating: 9.9 triple axels/10)

NUMBER 1: NEV SCHULMAN AND JENNA JOHNSON CHMERKOVSKIY

Hey, quick question: did you expect this? Because I definitely didn’t. Catfish has always been my guilty pleasure show to watch when I’m bored and lonely, and Nev has always been this super dorky guy, so when they announced the cast list, I was like “Oh, this is gonna be funny as hell.” Because it could only go one of two ways: 1) Nev fumbles around like a dork and goes home pretty early, or 2) he wins the mirrorball. 

APPARENTLY it’s the latter. Nev surprised me, and I think everyone, with his natural talent, and Jenna is heavily playing off that in her choreography. She’s been giving him very difficult, technical work and he’s has continued to astound. With the first 30 of the season rightfully deserved, Nev is a force to be reckoned with. Like I’ve said earlier, some of the pros like to dance over their partners to hide their weaknesses. I would go so far as to argue Jenna lets him dance over her. Together, they’re an absolute wildfire, and if they continue at this pace, consider the competition already won. (Overall rating: 10 chest hairs/10)

[avelera]

*emerges from their grace* a chubby Newt that stress eats???? Also hi it's been a while :v

aaaah, babe it’s been too long!! Thank you for the prompt!

This one’s gonna combine a few Anon prompts too including: 

Chubby Newt never manages to lose his lovehandles even in the middle of the war, his eating habits aren’t always the best and there’s always junk food wrappers in his room but he’s always comfortable and soft and friend-shaped.

&Newton’s one of those kids that stacked on the puppy fat as a teenager but assumed he’d grow more and even out but he just… didn’t? Like, he’s taller than he was which is nice but he’s also still got chipmunk cheeks and a few stretch marks on his thighs and for all his talk of being a “rock star” he can actually be quite sensitive about these things, especially when it comes to being intimate with someone (he’s had a few bad experiences). But he’s still got a rockin bod! 

And mostly:

sickfic type thing with (a lil chubby) newt who ate too much and hermann taking care of him—

On the Risks (and Benefits) of Stress Eating

Also available on Ao3

Words: 2,682 (I knooow)

Ship:Newt/Hermann

Timeline: Shatterdome era

Man I just remembered I was thinking of tying my SFW Shatterdome era prompt combo one into the tattoo prompt but then sickfic took over. OH WELL. I’ll get to that one soon cuz it’s amazing.

This ficlet is proooobably gonna lead into my NSFW prompt combo, just FYI ;3

—-

“Newton, maybe you should slow down?”

Newt grunted in acknowledgement of Hermann’s point, whatever it was, and went back to summarily ignoring it. The LiDAR mapping of the latest Kaiju attack had just come in and he needed to square them with the video as well since there was almost zero chance he’d get any live samples from this one. He’d have to make do without. He crunched on another potato chip without tasting it and when the bag was empty tossed it on the ground with the pile of others. His brain hummed, streamlined and focused from taking his medication twice today and if he stayed focused he could ride this wave to getting a week’s worth of work done in an evening. And if he could manage just a few, oh, thousand more nights like that then maybe they’d have a shot at winning this war.

“…Newton, that’s your fifth bag of junk food, this is getting obscene. At least let me fetch you a meal from the cafeteria before it closes? Perhaps something with a vitamin buried in it somewhere?”

“No thanks,” Newt muttered. Could the guy not see he was busy? Cafeteria food meant knife and fork which meant freeing up his hands which meant breaking his concentration and he was on a roll. Achieving this level of focus was a once in a blue moon thing for him, usually he needed to bounce between three projects to finish any and sure, that meant three projects got done in the time it took most people to do one, but he wasn’t going to stop now when hyperfixation was helping him out for once. Just to make the point he blindly reached over and grabbed another bag of snacks, tearing it open with his teeth and burying his hand inside to stuff his mouth full before returning his hands to the keyboard.

“… Newton, I…”

Newt snarled and spun in his chair. “What is it, Hermann? Can’t you see I’m working, or at least I’m trying to if you wouldn’t interrupt every five minutes?!”

Hermann recoiled, his hand snatching back from where it had presumably hovered at Newt’s shoulder. He drew himself up, expression growing pinched and severe. His suit jacket was tossed over one arm and he gripped his cane hard in the other hand. “It’s been three hours since I last interrupted you and before that it was another two. I only interrupted this time to tell you I’m retiring for the evening, so do remember to switch the lights off this time,” he said stiffly.

Newt blinked then his eyes drifted to the clock blinking military time on the wall. 2300 hours. Oh. His vision swam now that it broke from the screen and he realized he didn’t feel so great. Like, not great at all, maaaybe more than a little nauseous.

Then he spotted the pile of junk food bags and wrappers in a halo around his chair. His lap was encrusted with crumbs and his keyboard wasn’t much better. He prided himself in his total lack of squeamishness but this was…kinda more than a little disgusting.

About as disgusting as he felt right now.

Hermann’s wide lips thinned to a line. “I did try to warn you.”

Newt groaned and flopped back in his chair, which was a big mistake because the accidental stretch sent a pang through his belly and he doubled over, heaving shallow breaths and trying to swallow back the nausea.

“And don’t throw up on my shoes, if you would be so kind.”

“No promises,” Newt wheezed. Hermann took a careful step back out of the “blast radius.” Newt swallowed a few more times, fumbled for water bottle on his desk and took a swig. His medication left him dry-mouthed so he always had one handy. After a tense moment, the wave of nausea passed which only reminded him of the other gross part of his hyperfixation bouts.

Stress eating. His whole body felt bloated and gross and his stomach distended to just this side of pain. The buttons on his shirt were tight and if Hermann would just take off already so he could unbutton his pants and breathe he’d feel much better. His stupid, tight pants were only a fashion statement when he wasn’t spilling out of them like an over-ambitious muffin in front of the guy he’d been hopelessly dreaming about boning since he were twenty-fucking-three, and right now he couldn’t imagine feeling any less sexy. Newt buried his face in his hands with a groan.

“You can go. Don’t worry, I’ll get the damn lights,” Newt muttered into his hands, then scraped them back through his hair as he sat up. Hermann was still standing there looking, if anything, kinda… worried.

“Are you certain you don’t need help returning to your quarters?” Hermann said. “I know how it can be with your… your mind the way it is, and it does you no favors when you lose track of your surroundings, and worse, your own wellbeing like this.”

“You say “lose track” like it was something I had control over,” Newt said dryly.

“My apologies, I know it’s not as simple as that, I merely meant…”

Newt waved him off. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Thanks for trying earlier, sorry I was a dick about it.”

“Well, I won’t contradict you on that point.”

Newt snorted. On any other night it would be way too embarrassing to let Hermann walk him back, people might get ideas. They might get the exact idea that Newt was really hoping someone would get, and that someone was Hermann, when Newt went through waves of getting handsy with the guy when the crush got too bad and then scrambling away again when another fight flared. Usually because Hermann had a stupid opinion about Newt’s research, or Newt had an opinion about Hermann’s stupid research. It was just how they were, and fighting was almost as good as fucking when it came to breaking up the very one-sided sexual tension.

Ugh, sexual tension. No fucking chance of breaking that tonight. Maybe it was for the best.

“Actually, y’know what? I think I could use that hand,” Newt winced.

He wasn’t sure if he should expect another exasperated retort or jibe for that one, but Hermann said nothing, only offered his arm to Newt the way he’d done countless times in return.

Hermann must have deemed this episode to be on the no-insults side of the line that existed between them, where dwelled the topics Never To Be Discussed, mostly stuff they had no control over. Newt never brought up the leg unless it was logistically necessary and Hermann never brought up Newt’s weird brain except for similar reasons (one time Newt heard that Hermann tripped a J-tech with his cane for calling Newt that spastic freak in the dungeon but try as he might Newt couldn’t get anyone to verify that crowning moment of awesome). Their insults always stayed in the realm of the other’s stupid research, or stupid clothes, or stupid hair/tattoos, stuff that they had control over (and god if only Hermann would take control of that wardrobe). For whatever reason, Newt stuffing himself with junk food on a work binge counted as “stuff they couldn’t control” and for that he was endlessly grateful.

The floor swayed beneath Newt’s feet and he had to swallow back another wave of nausea as he stood. He leaned on Hermann’s arm more than he’d really meant to when he’d accepted, he didn’t want to hurt the guy, but while their progress was slow out the lab (Newt got the lights on the way) and down the hall to their rooms. Hermann hesitated outside Newt’s door.

“Would you like me to come in…?” Hermann said hesitantly.

God, yes, Newt thought, not that he could ever say it.

“God, yes.”

Crap.

“… and see you settled?” Hermann finished.

Double-crap. Just play it cool, Newtster.

“Sure, I feel like total shit. Maybe you could rub my tummy or something?” he winked.

That wasn’t cool at all.

Newt grimaced. It’s not like he cared what Hermann-stick-up-his-arse-Gottlieb thought about him (ok he did care, a lot, way too much) but even his not caring was more about hoping that attitude came across in a reckless, devil-may-care, sexy bad boy kind of way. Not because he was too nauseous and bloated to give a shit that he was covered in crumbs instead of engine oil or alien guts, and just generally gross.

Instead of waiting for Hermann’s inevitable exasperated huff and retort about Newt’s talking nonsense, he opted for spinning the industrial-grade lock on his door and going inside. He stumbled through the doorway and only then turned to see Hermann still standing there, his cheeks lit up like Christmas.

“Is it something I said?” Newt hazarded.

Hermann shook himself. “Your… stomach, is it really hurting that much? All jests aside, Newton, the medical bay is closed but I’d be happy to help however I may. Your health is a serious matter.”

Newt’s eyes narrowed. Since when was Hermann helpful about anything? “You want to rub my stomach?”

Hermann’s face turned crimson and for once it was definitely not with anger.

“I…” Hermann said in a strangled tone.

“Look, I’m gonna get ready for bed,” Newt said and jabbed his thumb back over his shoulder at his rumpled pile of comforters. Godzilla sheets poked out at the corners, it wasn’t exactly a love nest. “You can do whatever you want.”

Newt turned and back to unbutton his shirt. The iron door clanged shut behind him and he sighed, exhaling to allow his gut to hang over his pants and sighing with deeper pleasure when his fingers reached the top button of his pants. He’d have to file that blush away for later, because for now if he was going to take another stab at seducing the human personification of a sweater-vest (why did he crush on that guy so hard, why?) it would have to wait until he felt human again at all.

There was a polite cough from behind him.

Newt shrieked and whipped around, his hands flying to cover himself since the pants had slid halfway down his thighs. Hermann stared, his fist covered his mouth until he slowly lowered it. “I… you said whatever I… I’d feel better if I knew you were…” Hermann cleared his throat. “I’ll just see myself out, then.”

“Wait,” Newt blurted. Seriously, Hermann was still here? Newt had said he could do whatever he wanted and he’d stayed? “Was that offer serious?”

Hermann turned back and the blush was there again, heating up to his ears. “I… I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t,” he said stiffly.

“I, well… sure? Hell, why not? It’s not like I was going to get any sleep without it,” Newt said. Right, they were just pals here. Pals who were mostly rivals, pals who definitely didn’t have crackling sexual tension filling the room like a Tesla coil gone haywire. That was only in Newt’s head. He tentatively finished unbuttoning his shirt and tossed it over the back of his desk chair before bending to shuck his trousers. “Thanks, man, I guess that means I owe you.”

“What are you doing?” Hermann squawked.

“Getting ready for bed?” Newt said with a raised eyebrow. “Dude, you stayed, sorry if that means you get the whole package because I am not wearing anything except boxers to bed.” He paused, and it couldn’t get much worse anyway so he added with a wink, “And even that’s a concession.”

He snickered under his breath as Hermann sputtered but then, the guy had volunteered and there was something going on with that blush that had the wheels in Newt’s brain turning. It’s not like he could do anything more to sabotage his future chances with Hermann anyway, so might as well not worry about it. He flopped down on the bed, then winced and curled in on himself as the pangs returned with a vengeance. Yeah, it hadn’t been a total joke about the not being able to sleep. The first time he’d had a night like this was when he started undergrad as a teen and back then he’d averaged at least one night like this a month.

“Here, just let me,” Hermann huffed as he sat down beside Newt on the bed. He was still wearing the shirt and sweater-vest, which made Newt feel a little underdressed for the occasion until he reminded himself that Hermann was overdressed which instantly made him feel better. Hermann’s fingers were cold but it was nice, kinda soothing as they began to massage slow circles around his belly. His soft, protruding belly with its gaping Kaiju maw and airbrushed flame abs that definitely weren’t fooling anyone at this point.

It was only a few minutes before the pain began to ease and even with a double dose of meds, Newt found relaxation taking the place of the manic energy that had powered him through the night and probably would have gotten him to the morning just in time for a spectacular crash if he’d kept riding it.

“Dude, you’re really good at this,” Newt murmured and let his eyes slide shut.

“I…ermm, I’ve watched some videos on the matter,” Hermann coughed.

Newt’s brow furrowed and he cracked an eye open. The blush was back. Interesting. Hypothesis time. “Sorry I’m so gross right now,” he said. “I know this is more up-close-and-personal you wanted to get with me, especially with the whole swollen tummy and over-eating thing.” Hermann’s blush spread. “It’s not like I plan it or anything, I just lose track of time. It’s been like this for ages, I was never a skinny kid or anything, but the freshmen fifteen hit pretty hard especially when my dads weren’t around to keep healthy food out and, uh, I grew out of a few wardrobes…”

Hermann gave a muffled squeak and his fingers dug a little too hard into Newt’s stomach so that he winced. “That’s… interesting,” Hermann said faintly. “Hrm. That is… you should be more careful in the future. I’d be happy to keep you well stocked in food of some nutritional value if it will spare you another night like this.”

“You’d feed me? That’s sweet of you, Herms,” Newt said. Jackpot. Hermann looked like he was going to start sweating if he blushed any harder, he might have already. “I’d eat from your fingers if it meant not feeling this cruddy again any time soon.”

Hermann released a deep, slow breath that shivered at the end. “D-Don’t be absurd.”

“I’m not.”

Hermann jerked to stare down at him and Newt looked back up frankly. Forget gross, he was starting to think he’d stumbled upon being quite the opposite.

He yawned hugely. “…But not tonight. I’m wiped and I need to let a little of this to go down before I think of eating anything more,” he said and patted his stomach, rubbing it once for good measure. Hermann’s eyes widened. Yup. “You can stay here if you want.”

“Why would I stay here when my quarters are next door?” Hermann said and sounded like he was trying to be offended but the words came out breathless.

Newt shrugged. “Why not? I don’t mind,” he said and curled over on his side and shut his eyes. “It’s up to you.”

He didn’t open them, just waited to hear the heavy iron door open and shut.

It didn’t.

—

[ila9182]

Nothing From Nobody: The Closer one-shot

Hey everyone!

This is just a silly idea that came to my mind while listening to Dean Lewis's new album, especially to the song "Hold of Me" (which I used for this fic). This story takes place during The Closer, first part before 7x11 "Necessary Evil" and second part, right after this episode.

Special thanks to Catherine who proofread my story so quickly!

Feel free to tell me your thoughts about it! I’d appreciate that, thank you! The complete story after the gif or you can read it here!

NOTHING FROM NOBODY

So you say to me now

"I need nothing from nobody"

But I can see it on your face you're hurting

Grab a hold of me

"What's going on with the Captain?" Andy asked as he sipped his cranberry juice, leaning against his desk. He watched Sharon walk around the Murder Room, an annoyed expression on her face, as she seemed to be looking for something.

"You mean the wicked witch?" Provenza corrected his partner, emphasizing the nickname they had given to the woman a while ago. "Maybe she lost her broom" he added with a sneer in his voice. He chuckled at his own joke, nearly choking on his drink.

"Provenza" Andy sighed while shaking his head at the older Lieutenant's rudeness.

"What?!" Provenza exclaimed, a shocked expression on his face. He couldn't believe that his partner, the one who drew the wicked witch on the white board, the one who confronted the woman every single day, had just scolded him for his joke. "Who cares, Flynn!" he shot back, irritation in his voice. "Drink your stupid healthy juice and shut up. You're ruining a pleasant evening."

Andy rolled his eyes at his partner before going back to follow the woman with his gaze. Sharon was inspecting every corner of the room. The others seemed not to have noticed her fumbling as they were all too busy talking and eating snacks from their Thanksgiving buffet.

Andy glanced at Provenza who then shook his head in disbelief, sighing. "Flynn…" the Lieutenant warned him.

"Oh give me a break, old man" Andy snapped. "Go have another round at the buffet, the turkey is calling out for you." He motioned toward the table full of food that served as their Thanksgiving celebration together before heading back to their respective families.

Provenza groaned as he walked away, leaving his partner alone. Andy stood motionless studying the Captain until he saw her drop her arms to her sides in surrender. She looked down and walked away from the Murder Room. Andy followed her, curiosity getting the better of him. Before she disappeared at the end of the hallway he called out to her, "Captain."

He heard her sigh as she slowly turned around to face him. "Lieutenant Flynn, now is not a good time" Sharon firmly answered while simultaneously crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's going on?" Andy asked, tilting his head and shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Please," she let out with a snort. "are you here to check if your stupid prank worked?" She shot back, irritation now evident in her voice.

"What are you talking about?" Andy questioned her, shaking his head in disbelief. He was having a hard time in understanding what she was alluding to. "A prank?"

"Oh, cut me some slack," she snapped while glaring at him. "Do you really want me to make more a fool of myself than what I already have? You think I don't know you hid my coat somewhere in the building?!" She spat out angrily. "Let's make the wicked witch go back home without a coat in the middle of winter. She'll freeze." Sharon continued on in a mocking tone and gestured with her right hand. "How funny and mature of you, Lieutenant."

"I have nothing to do with this, Captain" Andy replied in a surprisingly calm tone.

"You really think I will believe you?! Lieutenant Flynn who hates me so much has nothing to do with this." She scoffed, waving a hand between them. "Yeah, right."

"You think I have nothing better to do than pull pranks on you?" Andy shot back, slightly raising his voice. He started to lose his temper and he knew he should walk away from her before he could say things he would regret later. He shook his head in resignation and glanced one last time at her before turning his back and walking away.

"I'm sorry, I assumed that you…" Sharon started, biting her lower lip.

Andy stopped in his tracks and faced her before cutting her short, "You assumed wrong."

They exchanged glances for a couple of seconds, silently studying each other until Sharon looked down, sighing, "I've searched for it everywhere."

"What else is missing except your coat?" Andy softly asked as he walked back to her.

"Only my coat" she replied, lifting her head to meet his gaze. "I was planning to go home and went looking for my coat. I only found my bag." She added, gesturing to the handbag on her shoulder. Andy was about to say something when she forestalled him, "Yeah, I've checked. Nothing is missing from my bag."

He nodded and took a look around before offering to her, "Let's search for it together. Two pairs of eyes are better than one" he added with a smile.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, but this is useless. I've looked for it everywhere. I left it in the break room and it isn't there anymore" she explained with a frustrated sigh. "I don't want you to waste time on me, you should go back to the party. I'll head home now."

"Wait, Captain." Andy hand reached for her arm to stop her exit, but before he touched her he froze, his hand hanging in the air between them. He then chose to use it to rub the back of his neck as he reasoned, "You can't possibly leave like this… it's cold outside."

"I'll be mostly in my car and I only have a short walk to my building. I'll survive, Lieutenant." She shrugged. "I just hope my coat will reappear soon. It's a piece of clothing I really like." Sharon sighed as she rummaged in her handbag. She suddenly stilled as a new realization dawned. "Oh God no" she groaned and covered her face with a hand.

"What is it?" Andy tilted his head and frowned.

"When I went back with you all from the crime scene I put my car keys into the pocket of my coat. I told myself I would put them in my bag later and totally forgot about it. The keys were still in my coat pocket when I arrived at the party."

"Oh" Andy let out as he understood her implication. Sharon rubbed her forehead before letting her hand run through her hair with a heavy sigh. He could tell she was upset at herself and her inattention. He cleared his throat before saying, "Wait here, I'll be back in a blink of an eye and I'll drive you home."

"Please, Lieutenant, this is totally unnecessary." Sharon stopped him with a wave of her hand. "I'll call a cab. There is no need for you to leave so soon."

"Wait here, I'll be back." He simply repeated with a grin.

"Lieutenant, I said…"

Sharon didn't have the time to complete her sentence because he was already out of sight. She shook her head at his stubbornness and smirked. He came back after a couple of minutes, his winter coat draped over his left arm. Without a word they reached the elevator and when the doors opened they stepped inside. The ride was silent. Andy studied her and he could suddenly see how tired she looked. He didn't think he had ever seen her this way. Sharon nervously ran a hand through her hair before letting out a sigh and looking down. Andy then told her, "I'm sorry about what happened…"

"You don't have to apologize, Lieutenant. You have nothing to do with this" Sharon paused before adding with a sad smirk, "I know it won't be hard for you to believe it, but this is not the first time something like this has happened to me." She paused and shook her head before continuing,"I'm more used to acts of mischief than kindness, Lieutenant. It apparently comes with my job" she stated simply, not bothering herself to look at him.

"Uhm…" He cleared his throat, lifting his arm where his coat was draped over, "Do you want my coat? It's freezing outside" he offered with a faint smile.

"I need nothing from nobody." She whispered, her tone suddenly defeated and her head still lowered.

Andy frowned and didn't exactly know how to answer back. He took a few seconds to study her and noticed for the first time the hurt on her face. Captain Sharon Raydor, the Ice Queen, the wicked witch wasn't as insensitive as she appeared to be. Maybe they all went too far with her, mistreating and disrespecting her on a daily basis. Andy started to realize that she was after all human. He recovered from his initial surprise and managed to crack a joke with the hope that it would ease the mood, "Good thing that tonight I'm Mr. Nobody." He draped the coat over her shoulders and he felt her jump slightly at his touch. She slowly lifted her head and met his gaze as he smiled, "You won't do yourself any good if you catch cold." He paused and his smile grew wider as he added, motioning to his coat, "And this is not debatable, Captain."

Sharon simply nodded and thanked him while she adjusted the coat around her body. She didn't feel like arguing. She just wanted to go home. She followed him as they stepped out of the elevator and reached his car. Andy groaned and told her, "Sorry for the mess, Provenza was in my car earlier and he ate his unhealthy snacks during the whole drive." He walked to the passenger side and began picking up the empty coke bottle and the ruffled snacks packaging from the car mat. "Apparently, he thought my car was some huge garbage can" he grumbled as he brushed his hand on the seat to sweep away the crumbs. Andy put the garbage inside a plastic bag and threw it on the backseat before motioning for Sharon to get in, "Please, Captain."

The drive was silent with the exception of the few times Sharon gave Andy directions on how to reach the condo. It wasn't an awkward silence. She was just too tired to even think of something to say, and Andy had been surprisingly respecting her need for silence. Sharon had rested her head against the window, glancing absent-mindedly outside. She had felt from his stare on her every so often as if he was checking to make sure she was okay. She had scoffed at her own ridiculous thought and had briefly closed her eyes while taking a deep breath.

Andy stopped the car in her parking lot upon arrival, which caused Sharon to slightly jump out of her daze. They both stayed in silence for a while longer, neither of them moving. Andy suddenly cleared his throat while thinking about something to say to break the silent moment. Sharon broke his train of thought by making eye contact and expressing her gratitude. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You didn't have to do all this, but I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it, Captain" Andy answered with a smile. He noticed that she was about to take off his coat and stopped her with a hand, "Please, keep it to cross the parking lot." As he sensed her objection rising, he offered,"I'll walk you to the door, so you can give it back to me."

Andy was out of the car and jogging to the passenger side before she could argue and opened the door. She got out of the car and they silently walked to her building. When they reached the entrance, Sharon faced him and took off the coat before handing it back to Andy, "Here, Lieutenant. Thank you so much." She offered him a faint smile as she added, echoing his previous words, "You better put it on, it's a cold night. You won't do yourself any good either if you catch cold."

"Yes Ma'am." He grinned as he complied. He adjusted the coat before reassuring her, "I'll make sure to find and bring back your coat, Captain."

"Appreciate it, Lieutenant." She nodded. "Goodnight" she added with a smile before walking to the elevator. She offered him a brief wave of her hand as the doors closed. Andy nodded and shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat before walking back to the car and headed home.

Sharon sighed as she stopped her car at the umpteenth red traffic light. She wanted to be home already. It had been another exhausting day and she just wanted to chill out on her couch with a glass of wine. Frustration hit her when she recalled the confrontation she just had with Goldman. She finally had the proof that there was a leak in the Major Crimes Division. Sharon would continue her investigation tomorrow now that she was aware of this new element. She sighed. It just felt to her like a never-ending story. Every time she felt she was making a step forward, she ended up taking two back.

Another thing that bugged her was the mystery of her missing coat. While she had found her car keys on her desk the morning after the party, her coat was nowhere to be seen. She was slowly giving up on the idea that she would ever have it back. Whoever took it must have thrown it in the garbage or burned it, she thought. Andy had promised he would find it, but she hadn't heard from him since that night four days ago. Maybe he was just messing around with her and enjoying the fact that she had stupidly fallen into his trap. She shook her head, chasing away her thoughts as she finally arrived to her condo. She parked her car and got out. She swung gracefully her handbag up to her shoulder and quickly walked to the entrance. Before she could reach the front door she suddenly saw a form move from one of the pillar and Andy Flynn appeared in front of her.

"Lieutenant, what are you doing here?!" Sharon asked, her voice a little bit higher than usual as she stood surprised, a hand on her chest.

"Hey Cap', sorry I didn't mean to frighten you nor stalk you, but..." He took a few steps nearing her and he motioned for the clothing draped over his arm, "Here, I have something that belongs to you."

"Oh, my coat!" Sharon exclaimed, her face briefly lighting up as she took it from him. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I was starting to think I had lost it for good."

"Assholes from Robbery thought it was funny to take it and hide it in their division" Andy explained, shaking his head. "Too bad for them because I happen to be a good detective…" he paused as he felt her skeptical stare on him and conceded to her, "with a huge package, yes, but still a good detective… and I found out what they were up to."

Sharon smiled briefly before looking down at her light grey coat as she informed him, "Guess I know why they did it. I wrote some of them up last week for excessive use of force." She ran a hand through her hair and added, "Anyway, thank you, Lieutenant. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Captain." Andy nodded.

Sharon walked past him and was about to enter the building when Andy cleared his throat. She turned to face him with a questioning look. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he fumbled for words, "Uhm… about… about that rumor going around the department today…" He paused to make sure he had her full attention,"Are you really retiring?"

"I think it is none of your business, Lieutenant" Sharon stated calmly, crossing her arms over her chest. A clear sign that she wasn't willing to talk about this topic.

"I know. I know" Andy repeated as he raised his hands in defense. "But really, retirement?" He asked cautiously while looking into her eyes. He knew he may be going too far by insisting on the topic, but he hoped she would listen to him all the same. "I get it, that coat prank was a douche move, but isn't it a bit too overreacted to call it quits?"

"You obviously have no idea what it feels like to work in a place where you are not appreciated and where people hate you." She looked down, her voice dropping low as she hit the end of the sentence. She started to fidget with the collar of her coat to avoid his gaze as she tried to keep her emotions at bay. The last thing she needed to happen was for her to break down in front of Lieutenant Flynn. Sharon was stronger than that, she was better than that. Get a grip, Raydor! She ordered to herself.

"Oh come on, it's not like you're not appreciated." Andy answered back, but when he met her glaring stare, he rephrased, "Well, we all know deep down you are doing the right thing, that you are trying to help us… even Chief knows it."

"You all have a weird way of showing it" she coldly shot back. Sharon lifted her head to once again meet his gaze as she added, "You above all."

Andy sighed and pulled out his hands from his coat's pockets as he raised them in surrender, "Okay, I've been an ass in the past, I know. I've been responsible for that stupid nickname people keep calling you. I've been a jerk. I was wrong. You were just doing your job, you were just trying to help. You are still trying to help."

"Should I frame these words?" Sharon sarcastically answered back and shook her head at him. "I don't think I will hear them again any time soon."

"Here, frame the next ones too because I won't say them twice" Andy told her with a challenging look. "You are damn good at your job, you're a hell of a Captain and maybe that's what bugged us all. You being so good at your job, so righteous, such a Captain Rulebook." He paused as he noticed Sharon rolling her eyes at the new nickname he had come up with. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he added, "As much as we won't admit it, we need you. We need you because you're the only one who can keep us from blowing up the whole department… and who can prevent Chief from doing something wrong and stupid."

They exchanged glances for a couple of seconds, neither of them speaking. Sharon then let out a frustrated sigh as she asked him with an annoyed and short tone, "Why do you even care if I retire?!"

Andy simply replied with a shrug "It would be a damn waste, Captain." Sharon was surprised by his self-control. She would have expected him to snap at her or to tell her to get lost but his composed answer was quite astonishing. She was slowly starting to realize how far he had come.

"Allow me to point out that you'll be the only one thinking of it as a waste" she said softly in a defeated tone. Sharon was aware that if there was a list of the most hated LAPD officers she would without a doubt be on it. Lieutenant Provenza had even mentioned throwing a party if she ever retired. That was how happy the other officers were at the fact that she may be leaving.

"Who cares, Sharon?!" Andy shot back, raising his voice. Andy realized his loud volume, sighed and lowered his voice as he continued, "Has this ever stopped you before?" He paused to leave her the time to ponder his question."I never thought of you as a quitter. You are a pain in the ass-Captain, but you aren't a quitter." He told her looking straight in her eyes, "And you won't start today."

"Are you done lecturing me?" Sharon asked, annoyance in her tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, her coat secured against her. She was in a full defensive mode and he doubted any of his words would have made a difference if she had already made up her mind about retirement.

It was probably a lost cause but Andy needed to get his thoughts out and now that he had done it, he felt like he had no more reasons to stay. "Yes, I am. Now you're free to do whatever you want to do." He gestured between them before adding, "I'll get out of your hair now."

He left her no time to answer as he turned his heels and walked away. He didn't get far but was stopped in his tracks by her voice calling back to him, "Andy?"

He turned to face her, surprised by the fact that she used his first name and not his rank as she usually did. "Yes?"

"That retirement thing… it was a hoax. I needed to do this for my investigation." Sharon paused when she noticed he was about to ask more details. She raised her hand to stop him, "Please, don't ask, I can't tell you more. You'll know about it very soon" and reassured him with a nod. She was taken aback when he nodded back at her, accepting her explanation and not asking for more. He had definitely come a long way. "But anyway, it feels good to know that whether I retire or not matters at least to someone. Thank you" she added truthfully and offered him a faint smile.

Andy walked back to her as he nervously ran a hand through his hair, looking down as he fumbled, "I know you need nobody, but if you ever…" He stopped, realizing his words didn't quite make sense. He let the hand that was in his hair fall back to his side as he added awkwardly, "I'll be glad to be that nobody."

Andy cautiously met her gaze and he wasn't sure she understood his offer. He wasn't sure himself that his words made sense. He noticed her face soften and he couldn't quite remember having seen such a soft expression from her at work.

"I appreciate that" Sharon finally answered. She stared at him for a few seconds more before surprisingly reaching for his arm. Andy didn't expect the touch and he hid his own surprise the best that he could. She lightly squeezed his upper arm with a barely noticeable smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow at work?" Andy then asked with a faint smile as he covered her hand and gave it a brief squeeze.

"Sure, Lieutenant. See you tomorrow." Sharon replied as she let go of his arm. "Thanks again for the coat." She added, motioning for the piece of clothing over her arm.

"Anytime, Cap'."

Andy nodded politely at her and he was surprised when Sharon rewarded him with a smile that truly reached her eyes this time. He answered back with one of his renowned Flynn's grins before he shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat and walked away to his car. Andy was sure she wouldn't take his offer of a friendly shoulder in times of need, but he hoped that Sharon understood that the coat situation was a peace offering. He hoped she understood that they could leave the past behind and start anew.

When Andy reached his car, he turned around and noticed that Sharon was still standing outside her building as if she was checking that he made it safely to the car. Andy chuckled amused and then saw Sharon gracefully wave him goodbye before disappearing behind the doors. He got into his car and glanced one last time at the building before driving away. Maybe he was wrong, maybe she got the message after all, maybe it could all be the start of something new. Maybe.

You've got a hold of me.

[aggrievedgt]

garrett watts x borrower oc  |  part one

hi so me and @pocketsizedlove were plotting out this idea and i started a fic??? so let’s go?? they might have their own fic going as well and it might be different than mine so be sure to check them out too just in case they also start one bc im sure it’ll be better than mine JSJFNEFF BUT ANYWAY i love garrett watts so much and there’s NO WAY this man isn’t a g/t fan bc he collects tiny kitchen supplies like....... boi...... but anyway on with PART 1

Why Oliver chose to live in a pigsty was beyond him.

Technically, he didn’t know it would become a pigsty when he first moved in, but he did choose to stay. The bean he moved in with had started off okay, a little quirky but overall an average human. Over time, though, he began collecting things, and then more things, until the house was like an episode of Hoarders. Oliver had seen that show in passing on the TV when the human left it on, and he couldn’t help but compare it to his current home.

The mess allowed for a few pros, however. Clutter meant that he could hide easier, could utilize his environment to climb and traverse the house better, and that things going missing were less noticeable. Or, so he thought.

Oliver had been making his daily rounds, scavenging in the kitchen for food. There was none, as per usual. The human— Garrett Watts, he’d read off of a piece of mail one day— rarely grocery shopped and always finished the food he ate, leaving absolutely nothing for Oliver to borrow. He was lucky to find the discarded crumbs from a bag of chips on the floor that night, but they were stale.

“This’ll have to do,” he grumbled, shoving the chips into his bag. He kept a piece to eat while he idly made his way back toward the living room. He wasn’t worried, Garrett wouldn’t be back until—

The doorknob rattled. Oliver swore under his breath, his first instinct to dive behind the trash can. His breathing ragged, he pressed his back to the wall. Why is he home so early?!, he thought to himself. Garrett pushed open the front door, and Oliver could hear him humming to himself.

He wasn’t supposed to be home for another hour, it had said so on the text on his phone that Oliver had read that morning. He would always sneak into his room while he was sleeping, since he slept far longer than Oliver, and check his phone for texts from friends detailing plans, or calendar reminders for events. This morning, he’d gotten a text from someone named Shane, saying that their plans would go until 7 p.m.. It was only 6.

Oliver hated unpredictable beans.

He sighed, leaning his head back into the wall, resigning himself to waiting until Garrett was out of the living room. Then, he’d make his way to the cabinet under the sink, where his entrance to his own kitchen was. With a start, he realized that he’d left the cabinet wide open.

Oh, he was so screwed.

Garrett knew there was a borrower in his house. He was sure of it.

He may have a lot of stuff, but he kept track of all of it. He knew where every knickknack was, every collectable. He knew that he had two tiny pots and one of them was missing. He knew that he had a full container of safety pins, and over time the supply had slowly depleted, though he had not used a single one. He knew for a fact that he did not leave the kitchen cabinet open before he left. But, there it was. Wide open.

“Oh, I knew it!” he exclaimed, hands on his cheeks in excitement. “Dude, if you’re in here, you can totally come out! I won’t hurt you, I swear, I think you’re super cool and I wanna be friends!”

Garrett, of course, got no response, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He lowered himself slowly onto his hands and knees to search under the furniture in the living room, all the while muttering general reassurances to coax out the borrower. This time for sure, he’d find them.

Oliver’s heart skipped a beat. Garrett knew he was here. He thought he’d been careful, but obviously he’d underestimated the human. He needed to get into the walls, and fast. He couldn’t, though, not with Garrett actively searching for him about 5 feet away. He’d surely notice Oliver running like hell to the blatantly open cabinet. He’d not only catch him, but also find one of the entrances to his home.

This was a fucking nightmare.

With Garrett making his way to the kitchen to continue his search, Oliver internally debated whether it would be worse to be found or to reveal himself. The fact that he wasn’t even considering trying to escape demonstrated how unbelievably hopeless he was. He could see Garrett now, walking past the trash can, and involuntarily began to whimper. God, Garrett was fucking huge.

Even for a human, Oliver knew that Garrett was much taller than average, and had a much stockier build. He was a true giant. Oliver’s eyes stung with tears, and he clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself quiet. Garrett steadily approached his hiding spot, causing him to tremble and shake. This was it. It was over.

Garrett caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and swore that he heard… oh, no, is that crying? The YouTuber made his way toward the movement, and gasped as he glimpsed what was behind his trash can. He pushed the can away, kneeling very slowly.

On his floor, curled up against the wall, was a tiny person. Curly, medium length black hair was pretty much the only thing he could see, as the borrower was compacted into a ball, and shaking. He was right, the noise he heard was the quiet whimpering and sniffing of the crying borrower. Garrett looked at them in concern and sympathy.

“Oh, no, don’t cry, I promise I’m nice… my name’s Garrett, what’s yours?” he inquired softly.

The borrower didn’t respond.

“...Okay, I know this is probably scary, but I swear, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I'm not planning on hurting you or keeping you like a pet or anything like that. I may be huge, but I’m not a monster.”

Still nothing.

Garrett sighed, and adjusted his position so he was on his stomach, arms crossed, head resting on top. He was nearly eye level with the borrower now, or would be if the tiny person lifted their head. He would be patient though; he would let the borrower cry it out, and then hopefully they would be more eager to talk.

Oliver wasn’t planning on talking anytime soon. He was going to sit here and cry, and then he was gonna pretend to keep crying even when he was done. He would wait, with his head down, until Garrett gave up, or fell asleep, or something. He would not interact with him. There was no way he’d give in.

He found himself fake crying for far longer than believable. It had to have been at least two hours, and Garrett hadn’t moved. He’d even ordered food, something called ‘Chipotle.’ Oliver decided after a while that crying wasn’t going to work, and instead let his sniffles and sobs die out into soft, even breathing. Surely the bean wouldn’t take advantage of a sleeping borrower, right?

                                          PART TWO COMING SOON!

[starkslydia]

ok so what we actually got was:

milf rhaenyra. MOTHER rhaenyra. rhaenyra serving motherism. the BEST mother. girldad daemon but he is depressed and he probably thinks he’s failed rhaena (her egg not hatching) so he alienates her? also they cut the hug between him and the twins i wanna m*rder someone for that but at least he’s teaching them high valyrian. alicent being a bitch and yet still manipulated and also disliking her own children while fueling generational trauma into them like leave aegon alone he just wants to bully aemond and wank over the window??? anyways. daemon and laena my beloveds i get that they were trying to sell daemon being depressed but i think they needed a few more scenes together - him kissing her bump was cute tho. laenor is kind of a dick which will make next episode way easier to digest! his relationship with the kids is still adorable. aegon my little deranged depraved piece of shit. aemond did in fact serve sewer rat realness i’m obsessed with his little dumb brain cannot wait for him to go full psycho honestly. HARWIN THE BEST DAD THE BEST PARAMOUR THE BEST PERSON HE DESERVED TO KISS RHAENYRA GOODBYE HE DESERVED TO AT LEAST DIE WITH HIS DAD HE WAS TOO GOOD FOR THAT COURT. helaena being a dreamer <3 helaena being a total weirdo <3 helaena flinching at alicent touching her <3 my best girl. viserys gaslighting himself about the kids grandpa of the century. baela and rhaena my girls i hope we get more of them next ep because that wasn’t enough!!! i want daemon to reassure rhaena!! i want to see their twin bond!! laena talking to rhaena about vhagar :( that old hag refusing to kill her own rider :( laena being so proud about riding said old hag :( HARWIN BEATING CRISPY CHICKEN’S ASS HIGHLIGHT OF THE EPISODE!!! olivia ATE and left no crumbs the mannerisms of alicent the insanity the desperation the self-created anguish of it all… but emma. EMMA D’ARCY. the birth scene. the caring, attentive, kind mother. rhaenyra’s smile, tears, screams of pain, her tone when defending daemon, her standing up to laenor, her softness with harwin. emma d’arcy delivered an award winning performance in their first episode and i cannot wait to see that else they’ll bring to rhaenyra <3

ALSO next week’s teaser? they only showed the dagger scene which we’ve already seen in clips and stills. but everything else they’ve kept under wraps. aemond. vhagar. lucerys. daemon. rhaenyra. next episode is going to be INSANE.

milf rhaenyra. girldad daemon. alicent being a depressed insane religious bitch and looking good while being said bitch. daemon and laena riding their dragons. GRANDMA VAGHAR. rhaenyra x laenor dynamic being girlboss x gaycon. harwin being the best bio dad. jace and luke and baby joff. aegon giving trump jr vibes and aemond serving sewer rat realness. daemon growing his hair again. helaena being cute AND weird as fuck. the velaryons and targaryens gaslighting the hightowers about the strong boys. baela and rhaena and pentos. laena riding the biggest dragon alive like the bad bitch she is. harwin beating criston’s ass. emma d’arcy as rhaenyra and olivia cooke as alicent. episode 7 teaser right after this insanity wraps up. brace yourselves for episode 6 tonight!

[roselukes]

Offside l.h. - Chapter 10

Previously

Maya had been watching Luke’s practices for 2 weeks now. She was entertained by the idea of a bossy Luke. She walked down to the sidelines after the rest of the boys had gone to the locker room. “You look sexy when you shove your friends into the walls.” Maya giggled and pecked Luke’s lips.

“You look sexy when you sit in the bleachers to watch me shove my friends into the walls.” Luke grinned and kissed her deeply. “We going back to yours to study after this?” Luke asked, taking his gloves off and throwing them to his bag.

“Yeah, I got more snacks for us today.”

“Did you get the cheesy bugles?” Luke held her waist and looked down at her.

“You know I did,” she giggled, pressing her lips to Luke’s. “You’re too tall to kiss when you’re not wearing skates, but it’s even harder when you are wearing skates. You’re like 7 feet tall.”

“You’re just short.” Luke laughed, kissing her cheek. He sat on the bench and took his skates off. Luke watched as the rest of the team exited the locker room.

“See you at home, Luke.” Ashton smiled at him and waved to Maya. Maya waved back and smiled softly. The team left the arena and Maya smiled at Luke.

“You know, Ashton is my favorite of all your friends.” Maya giggled, cupping Luke’s cheek.

“You’re my favorite of all my friends.” Luke grinned and pulled Maya down to kiss her. She giggled and rubbed his cheek.

“Come on, you need to get showered. Let’s go.” Maya held Luke’s hand and followed him back into the locker room. Luke pulled off his jersey and began untying his pants.

“I could use some help.” Luke smirked down at Maya, causing her to blush. She giggled softly and helped Luke take off his padding and guards.

“Okay, go shower.” Maya pushed Luke toward the showers.

“What? I’m not going without you.” Luke smirked and pulled Maya’s shirt off.

“What if someone comes in?” Maya breathed deeply as Luke removed her bra.

“No one’s gonna come in, we’re alone here.” Luke kissed her deeply and pushed her leggings down.

“You better hope no one does.” She mumbled against his lips and kicked her leggings off, followed by her thong. Luke lifted her up by her thighs and held her legs around his waist. He walked them both over to the showers and turned the water on. “Fuck, Lu, that’s really cold.” Maya whined and wrapped her arms around Luke’s head. Luke laughed and turned the knob to the left to make the water warmer.

“Okay, we’ve got two options here. You can wash my hair while I fuck you senseless, or while I make you cum on my tongue.”

“Why do I have to do all the work?” Maya pouted.

“Hey, I’m offering you orgasms.” Luke laughed, rubbing her thighs.

“Fine, gimme your tongue.” Maya huffed and let her legs drop from Luke’s waist. Luke smirked and knelt down in front of Maya, lifting her legs onto his shoulders. “God, you look so good down there.” Maya bit her lip and grabbed the shampoo. She gasped softly as Luke licked her clit.

“Don’t forget to actually wash my hair, Dragonfly.” Luke chuckled and sucked on her clit gently.

“Fucking hell.” Maya moaned and squirted the shampoo into the palm of her hand. She ran her fingers through his hair, saturating the shampoo into his hair. He grinned and flicked his tongue against her clit. “Oh, my God, Luke.” Maya moaned louder and pushed his face closer to her core.

“You’re practically dripping for me, baby.” Luke smirked and wiggled his tongue against her entrance. She arched her back off the wall and gripped Luke’s hair.

“Holy fuck!” Maya moaned louder and tightened her legs around Luke’s head. Luke laughed softly and pushed her legs apart.

“You’re supposed to wash my hair, not crush my head.”

“I’m sorry, you’re just too good with your tongue.” Maya giggled and pushed his head back to rinse his hair. “Fuck, okay, come back now.” Maya begged, pulling him back. He laughed and drove his tongue into her wetness. “Luke!” Maya screamed, gripping his hair tightly. “Jesus, fuck.” Luke smirked and fucked his tongue into her roughly. He reached up and grabbed the conditioner, handing it to her.

“Finish my hair, so I can finish you off.” Luke smirked and sucked on her clit harshly. Maya moaned loudly and squirted the conditioner directly onto his hair. She massaged it onto his hair as she moaned loudly. Luke rubbed his tongue against her clit in a figure eight pattern.

“Luke! Fuck, oh God. Fuck.” She moaned loudly and squeezed her eyes closed as she released on his tongue. Luke hummed softly and licked the juices from her thighs. “You’re so amazing.” She breathed deeply, pushing Luke’s head back again to rinse the conditioner from his hair.

“You taste so good, Dragonfly.” Luke grinned and helped Maya stand on her own. She giggled and leaned against the wall for support.

“Should we change spots now?” Maya asked, looking down at Luke. Luke stood up quickly and nodded.

“Yes, yes. Please.” Luke begged, kissing Maya quickly.

“Okay, but you have to use conditioner first. I don’t know why I do it, but it makes my hair feel softer.” Maya said and got down on her knees in front of Luke.

“As long as you keep your mouth around me, I’ll do whatever you want.” Luke grabbed the conditioner and squirted some into his hand. Maya smirked and licked a stripe up his cock before taking the tip in her mouth. Luke bit his lip and ran his fingers through Maya’s hair, covering her hair in conditioner. Maya smirked and held Luke’s thigh as she moved her head down his cock. “Oh, fuck.” Luke moaned and tilted his head back against the wall. She looked up at Luke innocently and pushed her head down the rest of the way until his cock hit the back of her throat. “Maya! Oh, my God!” Luke moaned loudly and gripped her hair. She pulled off slowly and took a deep breath.

“Just relax, Bug.” Maya smirked and took his cock back in her mouth. She hollowed her cheeks and bobbed her head quickly along his length. Luke moaned loudly and pulled the shower head down to rinse her hair. She held her head down against him.

“Jesus Christ, keep doing that and I’ll be cumming in 5 seconds.” Luke moaned, squirting the shampoo into his hands. Maya giggled around his cock and bobbed her head quickly. She brought her hand from his thigh to his balls, rolling them in her palm. Luke groaned loudly and released into her mouth. “Holy fuck.” Maya pulled her mouth off and swallowed his load.

“Wow, at least I finished washing your hair before I came.” Maya joked, standing up and rubbing the shampoo into her hair.

“I’m sorry. It just felt so good, I couldn’t help it. I had to cum.” Luke chuckled breathlessly. Maya rinsed her hair as Luke covered his body in soap. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed the soap from his body onto hers.

“Luke!” She laughed, trying to push him away. “I don’t want your used soap.” Maya laughed, grabbing the bar of soap from the shelf.

“At least let me wash you then.” Luke huffed, taking the soap from her. He rubbed it against her body gently and kissed her shoulder.

“Why are you being so gentle now?” Maya asked. “You were ready to wreck me, like, a minute ago.”

“Oh, I’m always ready to wreck you. But, I also like being gentle with you, because you’re all mine and no one else gets to be like this with you.” Luke grinned and rinsed her body, watching the soap roll off her body. Maya rolled her eyes playfully and stepped out of the water. She grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around her body. Luke smiled and turned the water off before grabbing a towel.

***

Studying was a bust. Luke ended up eating the whole bag of bugles and then complaining about being hungry. “Can we please study, Luke?” Maya sighed, wiping the crumbs from her book.

“Or, we could watch Netflix.” Luke grinned and grabbed the remote, turning the TV on.

“You are going to fail statistics and you won’t graduate and I’m going to laugh at you forever.” Maya huffed and closed her book. “I’ll get some popcorn.” She got up and from her bed and walked to the kitchen. Luke continued to look through her Netflix account to find something to watch. Maya came back in a few minutes later with a bowl of popcorn and some seasonings. “I have white cheddar, ranch, and cheddar.”

“Let’s mix them all.” Luke suggested, grabbing the bowl. Maya sat back on her bed and poured all three into the bowl. Luke shook it around a little before grabbing a handful of popcorn and stuffing it into his mouth. “Okay, what are we watching?” He asked with his mouth full.

“Criminal Minds.” Maya said, grabbing the remote.

“Never seen it.” Luke shrugged.

“I have seen every episode of this show 4 times, some even more than that.” Maya smiled and ate a couple pieces of popcorn.

“Why don’t we watch something good. Like Family Guy?”

“Honey, your definition of good is very different than mine.” Maya laughed and scrolled through the TV shows. “How about Bob’s Burgers?”

“We should watch an actual movie. Like, something long. Let’s watch Heathers.”

“No, that movie scares me. You remember that kid Willie from Harvey?”

“The kid who was a freshman when we graduated?” Luke asked, Maya nodding. “What about him?”

“He looks like JD and I get scared. Willie likes to play with fire.” Maya shivered slightly and kept looking. “Let’s watch 10 Things I Hate About You.”

“I’ve never seen it, what’s it about?”

“A guy starts dating a girl for money and he’s a total asshole, but he’s hot so it’s okay.” Luke’s stomach dropped at the trope. Dating a girl for money sounds an awful lot like a bet.

“Uh, I guess we can watch it.” Luke said, trying to keep his cool. Maya played the movie and turned off her lamp. She snuggled up to Luke and shoved more popcorn into her mouth. Halfway through the movie, both of them were fast asleep. Luke woke up in the morning with Maya’s face tucked into his neck. Her warm breath fanned over his skin, giving him chills. Luke smiled to himself and carefully slipped out of bed.

“Hey, get your ass back in bed. It’s too early.” Maya mumbled sleepily.

“It’s almost noon, Dragonfly. I need to get back to the frat house. I’ve got hockey stuff to do today.” Luke sighed, but laid back down with her.

“Mm, fine. But, we’re going to dinner tonight.” Maya pulled her blankets up around herself, cocooning herself in.

“That’s fine, Maya. Just, go back to sleep. I’ll come back tonight.” Luke pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before getting up again. He gathered his things and made his way out of her apartment. Luke drove back to his house and walked inside.

“Look who it is. Where were you last night?” Chad asked, the group of guys in the living room all turning towards Luke.

“I slept over at Maya’s.” Luke said, not even trying to hide his grin.

“You’re whipped for this girl and she’s just a bet.” Cory laughed.

“Yeah, about that..” Luke said, scratching the back of his neck. “The bet’s off.”

“What? You can’t just say it’s off.” Tony scoffed, crossing his arms. “You can’t back out. Not now.”

“You don’t understand, Tony. I love her and this would kill her.” Luke sighed. “She can’t know.”

“We won’t tell her, but the bet is still on.” Liam announced.