#under no circumstances am i MAKING you look at this if you don't wanna!! just scroll for your life from this post and flee if you need to.

[marclef]

💥WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!💥

okay. listen. this is a thing i made for my friend @abbyroseflame24. i'm just gonna say this right now.

this is vore.

if you do not wanna see that, don't click the readmore. i have given you ample warning. this is simply an art thing for a friend, but if you feel like seeing it, go for it dude. just please do not tear me into pieces for this, i warned you.

TW for body horror, vore

some context: Rose (the character in question) left her keys at the pizzeria at night and has broken back in to retrieve them.

don't say i didn't fuckin' warn you buddy.

[jeonginsleftcheek]

Get better, okay?

pairing: lee know x gn!reader

genre: sick fic, fluff

word count: 742

warning/s: none?

a/n: this is just a short drabble bcs i'm sick and medicated. i hope it makes sense bcs at this point i'm hallucinating.💀 hope you like it, if you did please reblog🫶🏻🫶🏻

~check out my: Masterlist

You're standing in your kitchen, cursing yourself cause you're going to be late for work again. You're trying to make some toast as quickly as possible because you know that your boyfriend will nag at you if you didn't have any breakfast.

You hear Minho getting up, his feet shuffling towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."- you chuckle at his disheveled state, his hair sticking in all directions and a scowl on his cute face.

"I don't feel so well."- he says weakly.

"What?"- the smile on your face fades away, replaced with concern.

You drop what you were doing and come closer to Minho, your wrist on his forehead.

"You're burning up!"- you gasp and he groans.

"Great! Just what I needed."- he rolls his eyes and then winces. "Ugh, headache."- he adds.

"Okay, you go back to bed and I'll call in sick at work and take care of you."- you say.

"I don't wanna be in bed all day!"- he whines. "I've got things to do."

"I know you don't but I'm not giving you any choices. Bed, now."

"That sentence would be hot in different circumstances."- he smirks and you narrow your eyes at him.

"Go to bed, please."- you add desperately.

"Alright, alright, I'm going."- he says and trudges back into your room.

You rummage through the cabinets to find some medicine as you put the kettle on. Sending a quick message to your boss (who was thankfully always understanding), you work around the kitchen, making tea and cutting up some fruit for Minho.

Suddenly, you feel a breath hit your neck and you shriek turning around quickly.

"Minho! What are you doing here? And how did I not hear you?"- you ask, hand on your beating chest.

"I'm bored in bed. And lonely. All alone."- he pouts. You chuckle, having no idea he was clingy when he's sick.

"I'll be right there, honey."- you coo, ushering him towards the room. "You need to lay down."

"But see, I'm fine."

"You're most definitely not."- you say, seeing a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Lay down, please."

He whines again but this time he listens, dragging his feet slowly, making a show of it.

When you're done preparing everything you lay it down on a tray and carry it to your room. You almost melt at the sight, Minho buried in blankets, only his hair and eyes peeking out.

"Let's first check your temperature."- you say.

"Okay, doctor."- he smirks and you shake your head, chuckling at him.

"Wow, your fever is kinda high."- you frown, looking at the thermometer after it beeped.

"Great news."- Minho says sarcastically.

"Here, drink your medicine."- you say and he does so, looking at you with glassy eyes.

"How about some fruit?"- you say and Minho pouts again.

"Feed me?"- he asks and you chuckle.

"You're such a big baby."- you say.

"Am not! Don't you dare tell any of the guys I'm like this when I'm sick. Now, please feed me or I will cry."- he says and you chuckle again, grabbing the plate with the fruit.

"I can't believe my day's been ruined like this. I hate being sick."- your boyfriend whines.

"My grumpy little man."- you smirk.

"I am not little."- he narrows his eyes at you, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Okay, but you're grumpy."- you lean in and kiss his forehead.

"Missed my lips."- he smirks.

"I didn't."- you tease him. "Anyways, lay down now. You need sleep."- you add grabbing a cloth you brought earlier and getting up so you can put it under water.

"Where you going?"- Minho pouts.

"I'll be right back."- you say, disappearing into the bathroom.

You come back and put the wet cloth on his forehead.

"Oh, that's nice."- he says.

"Do you want me to lay down with you?"- you ask and he whines, making grabby hands at you.

You chuckle and change into more comfortable clothes before crawling into bed.

You put your arms around Minho and he settles on your chest, burying his forehead into your neck.

"I had no idea you were this clingy when you're sick."- you smirk, caressing his head.

"You must be hallucinating."- he mumbles.

"Right... I'm hallucinating."- you giggle.

It's silent for a moment and you think he fell asleep, until you feel his arm tightening around you.

"I love you."- he whispers.

"I love you."- you echo, kissing his head.

"Get better, okay?"

✨Taglist: @moonchild9350 @janepg

[forsworned]

USE YOUR HEART ft. NEEDY!SIMON 'GHOST' RILEY

Warning(s): Sexual Content, Grinding, AFAB!Reader, Mentions of Narcotics

Synopsis: Simon is high off of morphine and it reveals his true feelings for reader...

Author's note: Idk because @dmitriene told me to do it and i <3 her

"I don't wanna be alone."

His voice breaks as he reaches out to you. His usual stoic demeanor had completely diminished in your presence. For the first time, Simon was needy. You gaze down at his hand gently gripping your hand, "I need you." He says. Pleas even. Dark, stormy, and now conflicted eyes are peering up at you and he tugs you toward him. You didn't know how to react. Seeing Simon so injured and broken makes you feel some type of way. Somewhat wrong, but somehow...powerful?

"You need me?" You finally spoke up. His Adam's apple bobs up and down.

"Yes.” He croaks out.

The morphine that has been coursing in his system finally kicks in and you were experiencing the lowering inhibitions of Simon Riley, not Ghost.

The Simon Riley laying out on the infirmary bed before you at this moment was vulnerable, desperate, and reliant on your presence and aid--insistent even.

But naturally, you're hesitant. A situation like this is compromising and delicate. Given the nature of the circumstances and his stature, he is obviously still at an advantage, but it feels wrong to pounce at the opportunity. You don't want to feel like a predator skulking about as he studies you with reliant, onyx hues.

You look at the time on your watch.

12:38 AM

It was quite late, but the tugging of his hand over yours disrupts your train of thought.

"C'mere. I want you by my side." He susurrates and you're in a bit of a trance at the resonance of his soothing, sleepy tone. It's not its usual gruff and gravelly, but instead a lulling rasp that pulls you in.

"It's late, Lieutenant." You gently chide as you attempt to pry his fingers off your wrist, but he takes his free hand over your own and pulls you flush against him. Goddamn, he was strong. Even in his dazed and confused state, he is built like a fuckin' boulder.

But he's not listening to you as he fiddles with your fingers, tracing over the skin and where it creases and finely wrinkles. Over the nail bed, and the unfiled ridges, down to the chip that you earned from earlier when you reached for your gun in your holster too quickly. He's thumbing over the half-moon on your thumb and then the scar on the meat of your palm before he brings it to his masked lips as if to kiss it over the fabric.

A small, shuddering breath escapes you, and your eyes are glazing over before you swallow thickly. He cups your hand over his jaw and inhales sharply as he closes his eyes.

"Don't care." He replies, curling his bicep around your waist and secures you so have nowhere to go.

Your heart thuds at the contact and your cheeks are teeming with warmth. And suddenly it feels like the heat in there is turning to the max because you're sweating like a dog under his keen gaze and snug hold on you.

"Want you to stay." And it's as if he's speaking purely from the heart when he looks at you like that. You want nothing more but to crumble into his arms and cave into whatever feelings are lurking within you, but there's an urge to maintain your professionalism. And Simon senses that. He wants you to let go.

Why? He didn't know. Be it the drugs, the near-death experience, or the fact that you look utterly gorgeous under the strong moonlight or all of the above; he wants you with all his being.

His bandage-wrapped fingers loop around the bottom of his mask and he's lifting it up to expose just his lips as it scrunches up under his nose. Even if you have seen the sight a multitude of times over the years of knowing your Lieutenant, it is always as awestriking as it was the first time you saw it. His pretty rosy lips kiss at your wrist and you're stunned.

"Stay." He croaks out.

"And then what?"

You can't help yourself from asking such a silly question. You just need to feel needed by him because there is just something about the clinginess in his body language that pulls you in for more. If Simon is being honest right now, he's on cloud motherfucking nine. He's so high that everything feels like tunnel vision right now and you're the only damn thing he can focus on, not that he would want to focus on anything else.

So when he's telling you to stay, he damn well means it. But he also wants more. He's telling himself not to be too hasty, at least the logical part of him, though he is following his heart's desires. And his heart is conveying to him that he yearns for your closeness, for all your regard, and selfishly enough, your own heart.

At this point, all reasoning is being tossed out the window when he fixates on your trembling, shimmering eyes and your quivering glossed lips that are slightly chapped. But he's thinking to himself, one kiss. One kiss would fix that for you.

Simon is no longer struggling to sit up when he's tensing you closer to him feeling the sweat wetting the small of your back. His brows slightly raise and you feel your cheeks flush at his little observation, but he's not halting his motion to close the short distance between you two. He's bringing his hand over the nape of your neck, carding his scarred fingers through the tendrils of your hair and a soft sigh leaves your lips.

And the way you visibly relax draws out a small smile onto his lips as your foreheads collide. You don't even dare to open your eyes. You swallow thickly as you feel your breath become shallow and sharp. It fans against his lips and he's feels even more enticed to just kiss you.

"Dammit, [name]..." He finally breathes out. And you're eyes are on him and he can feel a thrill creep up his chine when he sees the flash of longing overcome your half lidded gaze.

And now you're yearning to bridge the distance, creeping closer to him, nudging your nose against his, and faintly brushing your lips over the stubble on his philtrum. You notice how his chest huffs out, stuttering as it leaves his lungs.

Long blonde lashes tickle at your own as your lips graze and you're heart is thumping out of your chest. You feel yourself holding back from your own hankerings but the moment that Simon brings his thumb to skim over your bottom lip, you feel the tension snap like a rubberband and you're crashing your lips against his. To hell with ethical conduct and decorum, you want nothing more than to satiate your thirst for him.

And with every kiss, you feel like your hunger is being appeased. The ferocity that grows in the depths of your groin is clawing out as you clamber on top of him and you're tuning out the noisy heartbeat monitor that's becoming rapid. And it cuts out, thanks to the swift movement of Simon pulling out the cord so he can nestle his hands under your shirt and slip his tongue between your open-mouth kisses.

He's losing himself in you and he doesn't care because the feeling of your nails digging into his abdomen is more than pleasant. As if the morphine wasn't dizzying enough, he was starting to feel like he was reaching some sort of seventh heaven. Especially when he hears the soft whimper that leaves your lips when he thumbs atop your hardened bud and gently tweaks it between his fingers.

The tent that's starting to feel like it's pitching between his legs is getting ground upon and he shudders at how fucking good it feels.

"Fuck." He murmurs as he lifts your shirt up to expose your breast to him and he's latching his lips to your sensitive nipple. It's a soft probing of his tongue against the erogenous zone and you're instantly arching your back and he grasps at your hips to abrade your clothed sex against him. And it feels so fucking good.

So, naturally, you're not stopping. And Simon can't help but become absorbed in your pleasure. Your milky moans are like music to his ears as he switches over to your other nipple. The friction builds in your lower belly as you get into a good rhythm and it becomes increasingly euphoric with every roll of your hips. And fuck, it's not even much but the way you are so touch-starved makes it all the better.

"Simon, I—hah—gonna—" You moan out, throwing your head back in ecstasy as his tongue swirls around your bud. He's already addicted to the way you're saying his name between your whimpers.

"Cum." He commands, as he clutches your hips to help achieve your oncoming orgasm. His sexy, raspy voice is enough to send you over the edge and a terrific gasp escapes you as you bury your face into the crook of his neck. Your breath is gone and you feel like your voice melts into a deep, hot sweetness that soothes your electrifying nerves.

There is a brief pause of silence as you catch your breath and the embarrassment skulks in and you don't want to withdraw from him. You only focus on his heartbeat which slows and his breath that levels. Your throat tightens as you shift awkwardly and his hand on your hip feels a little limp. You take another moment to memorize how he smelled to help you calm your nerves.

The aroma of his natural musk enmeshed with the faint scent of cypress digs into your brain as you try your hardest to engrave his essence before it slips away. With one more breath of courage, you withdraw from him to face the music but it seems he's fast asleep. His thumb is still hooked into the belt loop of your jeans, and you can't help but giggle at him.

A small sigh leaves your lips as you calm down from your climax and your shaky fingers, lower his mask back down so it's stretching over his neck. Maybe if you slip away right now he'll think that it was just a nice little wet dream...

But you feel his hand cling to you as you try make your sweet escape.

"Thought I told ya to stay." He mumbles under his breath while he wraps his arms around your waist, securing you and making certain you're not leaving his side anytime soon.

There's a feeling of assurance that fluxes over your edginess and you can finally breathe again. Simon's body feels weightless as he lays in this infirmary bed with your toasty form atop his. It feels heavenly to have your figure pressed against him and he hums in contentment. He's replaying the sound of your moans and the way your body writhed under his touch. And you're starting to feel the rigidity of his dirty thoughts against the zipper of your jeans.

"You sure?" You murmur back, feeling the warmth sidle back into your cheeks.

His grin grows under his mask and you can feel it against your forehead. Sleep overtakes him, but he gives you one last squeeze.

"'m sure."

[thelazyhermits]

Even though I prefer to wait until TWST events reach the ENG server before writing anything for them, I just couldn't help myself when it comes to my Yuu's first meeting with Skully cause I just love him, and I really wanted to give writing him a try.

There are spoilers for the new JPN Halloween event underneath the cut, so if you don't want to be spoiled, I'd recommend not reading this, although I'm not strictly following what happened with Skully & Yuu's first meeting in the event since I wanted to put my own spin on it.

Also, I purposely avoided bringing attention to the event outfits here since my Yuu's event outfit hasn't been decided yet, so I'll just say Yuu focuses on her and Skully's clothes after this scene lol

Lastly, for those not familiar with my writing, my Yuu is female, so if that's not your preference, you probably won't wanna read this.

For those who do decide to read this, I hope you'll enjoy it! 😊💕

When you regain consciousness, it’s to the sound of an unfamiliar voice calling out to you.

“Hello..? Hello, my dear? Lovely lady sleeping in my arms?”

Upon hearing that voice, your groggy mind immediately focuses on the incredibly warm, gentle tone the unknown speaker uses when addressing you, which you’re unaccustomed to hearing thanks to the kind of upbringing you had and the kind of people you currently go to school with.

Seconds after that voice pierces through the haze that’s currently clouding your mind, you finally register the fact that someone is holding you in their arms, keeping you safely and comfortably secure against their chest.

“Can you hear my voice?” 

Once again, the unfamiliar voice addresses you, and at the same time, you feel a long, slender gloved finger brush against your cheek with a tenderness that surprises you.

Just who is this person?

And why do they sound genuinely concerned on your behalf? Why is everything about them so gentle?

“Hey, my dear, please, open your eyes for me…”

Upon hearing that request, you finally pry your heavy eyelids apart, so you can finally get some answers to the questions currently swirling around your groggy mind.

After blinking several times to clear your blurry vision, you take in the sight of a handsome, white-haired boy, who appears to be around your age, judging from his young face.

Just after your eyes open, the mysterious stranger beams, “Thank goodness, you’re awake!”

For a moment, all you can do is stare at that charming smile, which looks genuine from your perspective. That and the obvious relief in his voice, which doesn’t in any way sound forced, make you think that he really has been worried about you.

After taking a moment to scrutinize the sincerity of that smile, your eyes drift upwards and focus on the boy’s sunglasses, whose dark, circular lenses are completely hiding his eyes from view.

You have to fight the urge to click your tongue upon seeing those sunglasses since his eyes being hidden will make it difficult for you to properly read his expressions, which is why you never liked dealing with the people in Japan’s underworld who wore this type of eyewear specifically because they wanted to make themselves hard to read.

Ironically enough, just after the topic of his eyes occupies your thoughts, the still smiling stranger brings his face dangerously close to yours, making you think he really has no concept of personal space, considering he’s doing something like this and had no qualms about holding you while you were unconscious.

“Oh my, what dazzling eyes you have, my dear. They are just as lovely as you are. I am overjoyed to finally be able to see them at long last.”

Strangely enough, rather than have the immediate impulse to hit him, like what would normally happen under circumstances like these, you find yourself feeling only amused, perhaps because this boy reminds you a lot of Rook, whose eccentricities you’ve grown quite accustomed to these last several months.

Of course, it also helps that your instincts are telling you that this person isn’t a threat to you, and you’re always inclined to believe them since they’ve never lied to you before.

That’s why, rather than push this stranger away, you decide to take advantage of this perfect opportunity that he just unintentionally provided you.

Faster than he can react, you grab his sunglasses and move them upwards, allowing you a clear view of his wide, red eyes, whose pupils have a cool, concentric pattern.

A smirk rises to your lips. “If you’re gonna check out my eyes, it’s only fair you let me do the same.”

After moving his sunglasses to rest on the top of his head, you find yourself pausing after your eyes focus on the diamond-shaped patches of black hair that are now located directly beneath the sunglasses.

It kinda looks like a face…a very familiar face at that. You note. Although, I can’t remember why it looks so familiar to me…

Since there are more important matters that you need to attend to right now, you quickly shelve those thoughts, with the intention of going back to them later.

Quickly, you refocus your gaze on the face of the stranger, whose arms you woke up in, and firmly take hold of his chin, so you can keep him from moving his face away from yours since this close proximity will make it all the more easier for you to read his expressions.

Your earlier smirk returns when the mysterious boy becomes noticeably flustered, making you believe he’s not used to getting a taste of his own medicine. “Now, let’s have a little Q & A, Mr. Up Close And Personal, so I can decide what to do with you.” 

Giving the befuddled boy no chance to refuse, you ask, “Alright, the first and most important question is: Why did you decide to pull an unconscious girl into your lap? Sure, I can get wanting to wake me after finding me in such a state, but was that all really necessary?”

Rather than appear apprehensive upon being on the receiving end of your piercing, judgmental stare, the mysterious stranger, who appears genuinely surprised by your question, frowns, “Obviously, I could not allow a lovely lady such as yourself to remain on the cold, hard ground! I wouldn’t be able to call myself a gentleman otherwise!”

Because you can tell that he’s not lying thanks to the obvious sincerity in his eyes and voice, some of the tension in your frame eases as your gaze somewhat softens. “Heh, good answer. While not every girl would accept it, considering the circumstances, I will since I can tell you had good intentions, although I would still advise not trying something like this with any other girls since most girls would understandably hit first and ask questions later.”

Judging from his puzzled expression, this boy truly has no idea why a girl would react in such a manner, giving you the impression that he can be rather oblivious when it comes to the effects his actions have on others. 

Rather than try to explain things to him, you move onto your next two questions. “Second and third questions: Who are you, and how did you end up here with me?”

Much to your amusement, rather than appear bothered by your interrogation, the white-haired boy, who’s once again smiling and has seemingly forgotten his earlier embarrassment, cheerfully answers, “My name is Skully J. Graves. It’s nice to meet you!”

“As to how I ended up here with you, I stumbled upon your unconscious form by chance after I woke up in this unfamiliar place.” He continues, “I’m afraid I can’t provide any further information since I am just as confused as you must feel about these strange circumstances we’re both now facing.”

The corners of your lips dip downward. He’s not lying about finding me by chance, but I get the feeling he’s not being completely forthright with me about how he ended up here.

It’s possible he just doesn’t remember how he got here since my mind was rather hazy when I first woke up, although my memories of what happened with the crazy book that Grim opened at the used book fair are starting to come back to me. You think to yourself. He may think I won’t believe him if he claims to not remember how he got here, or he simply wants to avoid saying anything that may make him look suspicious.

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot!” Skully exclaims, successfully drawing you away from your thoughts. “How careless of me!”

His concerned eyes peer into yours. “How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere, my dear?”

Upon seeing that he’s genuinely concerned about you, your expression softens. While I get the feeling that there’s more than meets the eye with this guy, I can tell he’s not a bad person at heart. A bad person wouldn’t be so kind and gentle toward me, especially not while I’m interrogating them.

While this doesn’t necessarily mean Skully can be trusted, you can at least give him the benefit of the doubt and be open to the idea of eventually trusting him after getting to know him better.

I would still like to get some more info outta him, especially in regards to how he ended up in this place like me, but it’d probably be better if I space out my questions rather than bombard him with them all at once. You muse. While he’s been pretty accommodating thus far, that might change if I start asking questions that make him uncomfortable, and I’d rather avoid causing any kind of conflict right now when I’ve got other more important things to worry about.

Rather than continue interrogating him, it’d be better to just wait and ask more questions later on once Skully has become more comfortable with you, or even better, if you bide your time, you may glean new information from him that he willingly provides without you even needing to ask since he seems like a talkative kind of guy.

That’s why you finally release your hold on his chin, surprising him, since it’s really for the best that you quit giving him the third-degree, especially when the boy hasn’t even technically done anything wrong yet. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for asking, er…”

Realizing you don’t know if Skully is someone you need to be more formal with like your upperclassmen or if he’s the same age as you, you ask, “How old are you? I can’t tell if you’re older than me or not, so I’m not sure how I should address you. I’m sixteen, by the way.”

Appearing noticeably pleased, Skully eagerly replies, “I am also sixteen! How wonderful to make a new friend who is the same age as me!”

“And you may address me however you please!” He adds, “I will be overjoyed regardless because such a lovely lady is calling me by name!”

The corners of your lips quirk upwards at his cute response. “You’re quite the charmer, huh? I like that. It’s rather refreshing, considering how most guys my age act.”

“Alright, considering you have no preference, I’ll just call you Skully and not worry about any formalities, like what I do with my other friends our age.” You add.

Your smile grows. “Since I’ve gotten enough info to satisfy myself for the time being, I’ll put an end to my little interrogation and introduce myself. My name is Yuu. It’s nice to meet you, Skully.”

Skully beams, “What a lovely name! I’m so glad to meet you, Yuu-san!”

Catching you by surprise, Skully gently takes hold of your hand and tenderly kisses your knuckles. “I thank you for this wonderful encounter.”

Once you overcome your surprise, your expression becomes amused. He did call himself a gentleman earlier, so I guess I should’ve seen this coming, especially with his formal, old-fashioned way of speaking. He’s just like the gentlemen characters you see on TV.

Luckily for him, you’ve always been fond of those types of characters, so you think the two of you will get along just fine.

Plus, it’s not everyday you meet someone this sweet and gentlemanly thanks to the kind of people you normally hang out with, so you want to make the most of this opportunity to get along with this somewhat odd yet still quite endearing boy.

A grin rises to your lips. Most importantly, when a boy acts this cute, it makes me wanna spend more time with him and look for opportunities to tease him to see if he’ll give me some equally adorable reactions.

That's why you decide to have a little fun by shifting your hand that’s currently still being held, so you can gently grab Skully’s, surprising him.

Giving him no chance to react, you bring his hand close to your mouth and tenderly kiss his knuckles, mirroring his previous actions, all the while channeling the princely charm Cater always has you show off for your fans on Magicam. “Likewise, handsome.”

Much to your delight, Skully instantly becomes incredibly flustered because of your actions - to the point his blush covers the majority of his face, making you think this is the first time someone has ever done something like this to him.

Even better, after you release your hold on his hand, Skully, who has apparently been rendered speechless, considering how quiet he now is, uses both of his hands to cup his incredibly flushed cheeks, making him look even more adorable.

Your grin grows at the incredibly endearing sight. Looks like he's the type who gets super flustered when flirted with, like Deuce and Sebek. How adorable. I’m definitely gonna have some fun with this boy. Hehe~

Regrettably, you don’t get to enjoy this moment for very long, because, seconds after you recall how Deuce and Sebek usually react to your playful flirting, you finally realize that something is missing here.

Or rather, some people.

Wide-eyed, you immediately turn to look around and realize that the only people in the surrounding area, which consists of a barren forest that stretches out as far as the eye can see, are you and Skully. “Wait a minute! Where are my friends?!”

I can’t believe I let myself get so distracted that I totally forgot about the others! You internally scream. I’m a horrible mother! Where are my sons?!

As you panickily try to climb out of Skully’s lap so you can start a search for Grim and the others, the white-haired boy catches you off guard when he suddenly rises to his feet and takes you along for the ride.

Once on his feet, Skully gently sets you down, so you can stand on your own. “There you are, Yuu-san. Now, what was that about ‘friends’? Did you not come here alone like myself?”

Rather than answer his question, all you can do is stare at this boy who’s now towering over you like a lanky giant. Holy shit. He’s tall. I had figured he would be a tall boy just from how he was hunched over me earlier, but I was not expecting him to be this big. He may be even taller than Jack and Tsunotaro!

Skully curiously tilts his head when you fail to answer his question. “Yuu-san? Are you alright?”

Realizing this is not the time for gaping like an idiot, you give yourself a quick mental shake before replying, “Yeah, sorry. I was just surprised by how tall you are. I have some friends our age who are tall, but I’m pretty sure you’re even bigger than them, which seriously amazes me.”

“Anyway, to answer your question, yes, I should have some friends with me here since they were all with me right before I ended up in this weird place.” You continue, “While it’s possible I’m the only one who ended up in this crazy predicament, I find it unlikely, considering how close some of them were to me when I got enveloped by the weird magic that brought me here.”

Much to your amusement, mere seconds after those words leave your mouth, you hear some incoherent screaming coming from the distance, and you immediately recognize that voice as belonging to Sebek since you'd know that booming voice anywhere.

Thankfully, the screaming you hear isn’t the kind that indicates Sebek is scared or in trouble, so more than likely, he’s just freaking out about his current circumstances and/or your absence. 

Your shoulders slump with relief when you hear your son’s voice. “Speaking of my giant friends, that voice belongs to one of them. Thank goodness. At least, now, I know where I need to go.”

“Would you like to go with me, Skully?” You ask, “I’d hate to leave you on your own, and we’ll have a higher chance of getting out of this mess we’re in if we work together.”

Skully beams, “I would be more than happy to accompany you! Thank you for your kind invitation!”

With that settled, you turn to face the direction that Sebek’s screaming came from, but before you can start walking, Skully surprises you when he quickly moves to stand in front of you.

Before you can question his actions, Skully gracefully bows before offering you a hand, smiling all the while. “Please allow me to be your escort.”

Since you see no harm in it and it would be nice to have a hand to hold onto while you’re walking through this somewhat creepy forest, you reach out and take his proffered hand. “Alright, thank you. Do you know your way around this forest, Skully?”

He shakes his head. “No, unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with this forest like you.”

Grinning, Skully asks, “But don’t you think it’s a wonderful experience to wander hand-in-hand in a mysterious forest?”

His question makes you giggle. What a romantic. Skully just keeps getting more and more entertaining the longer I talk to him.

After you rein in your amusement, you warmly smile, “Holding hands definitely would make this situation better, so I’m fine with walking like this.”

Plus, someone, who’s as touch-starved as you, would never turn down the opportunity to hold hands with someone, just as long as you know that person isn’t dangerous, of course.

You squeeze Skully’s hand. And I can’t turn down a request from someone who seems to be as touch-starved as me, considering his past actions remind me a lot of how I typically act around my friends, not when I know hand-holding will make both of us equally happy.

For a moment, Skully just stares at you in surprise, or at least, you’re assuming he’s surprised since you can no longer see his full face thanks to his sunglasses, which he returned to their rightful place after he helped you to your feet earlier.

His reaction further convinces you that your hunch about him being touch-starved is right since he really seems very unaccustomed to someone willingly accepting his touch.

Just like how you were before you came to NRC….

Once he overcomes his surprise, Skully’s earlier cheerfulness returns with a vengeance as he happily replies, “Let us be off then! I look forward to meeting all of your companions, whom I’m sure are just as lovely as you!”

Unfortunately, I doubt they’ll be excited to meet you when we show up, and they see you holding my hand. You wryly think to yourself. 

And, of course, you were exactly right.

[measuredingold]

more cuddling with noah, but written properly 🥲 very short so i’m not considering this a fic so no word count and will probably tag this as a headcanon <3 anyways enjoy

cw/tw: fluff fluff fluff that’s literally it

A sigh from the top of the stairs breaks you out of your doom scrolling, eyes looking up from your phone to find Noah already staring at you.

His brows were furrowed and lips set in a deep frown, and the bags under his eyes made it clear he's been up a lot longer than you realized. Your eyes drop to your phone again to check the time, finding yourself frowning that it's well into the evening, and this is your first time seeing Noah since breakfast.

You look up. "Hi baby."

He sighs again before trudging down the steps, and you can practically see the heaviness of whatever is on his mind weighing on him. You shift on the couch to get in a much more comfortable position, back pressed into the cushions, and your arms opening once Noah gets closer to you. He gently falls onto you with a groan before wrapping his arms around your middle the best he can.

"Hi." He mumbles, face burying against the crook of your neck. One of your hands immediately finds a way to his hair, fingers carding through it while the other rests on his back.

"What's up?"

You feel his body slowly start to melt into yours, burrowing himself closer to you. You shiver at the feeling of his hands sliding up under your shirt, cool to the touch.

"Can't get this one part right." His voice is muffled against your neck and you can barely understand him, but don't bother moving him. You know this is the first time all day he's been semi-relaxed. "Pissing me off."

"Take a break, honey."

"I am." Noah groans. "Right now. Gimme like... 10 minutes, then I'll head back up."

You laugh softly, scratching at his scalp gently before smoothing down his hair. "You need a much longer break than that. How long have you been at it?"

"Uh..." It takes much longer for him to respond, brain probably fried from staring at his screen for so long. "Sometime this morning?"

"I figured that much. You were working before I even got up."

"Needed to get a head start on it." He yawns loudly then and tries to snuggle his body closer to yours, fingers digging into the skin at your sides.

"You can work on it tomorrow." You can't stop the frown forming on your lips, hand running up and down his back. "When was the last time you ate something?"

"...This morning."

"Noah."

"I knooow." It comes out as a whine and you can't help but laugh again, turning your head to press a kiss to the side of his head. "I forgot. Too caught up in the song. I didn't realize how much time had passed until like, 30 minutes ago."

"Want me to make you something? Or takeout?"

Another long moment of silence follows your question, and you think briefly that maybe he had already fallen asleep, the exhaustion catching up to him. Eventually you hear him make a noise and wiggle his body closer to yours, nose pressing against the base of your neck.

"...Takeout?"

"We can do that. Chinese?" Noah nods against you. "Want me to order it now?"

"In a second." He sighs out and you can't help but shiver at the feeling of his breath against your neck. "I just wanna lay here for a while longer."

You practically melt at his words and your hand drops from his hair to wrap your arms around him fully. You wish it was under better circumstances, but you loved whenever he was in one of these moods. Where he needed to be as close to you as possible, practically needing to live in your skin to feel somewhat sane. You squeeze him to your chest, feeling him try to wiggle his way closer to you.

"Whatever you want, my love."

He practically purrs at that and your face flushes when you feel the brush of his lips against your skin.

"Thank you." He murmurs in response before relaxing against your chest again, letting out a deep sigh you think he's been holding in.

You don't say anything, just squeeze him tighter to you as you both lay there in silence, basking in the comfort of each other.

[starberry-cupcake]

back by popular (?) demand, I am now starting chapter 28 of gideon the ninth and I guess I'm sharing updates to the general public now ( @lady-harrowhark this is your responsibility). I think I'm gonna put them under this tag because I am being told I will want to look back on them later (sounds threatening ngl).

previously, in gideon the ninth:

isaac was ended by some junji ito shit

jannemary was ended by a stealthy junji ito shit

very pointed messages were written for them

which is too dramatic to be a random monster killing, if you ask me

gideon took a 15 minute nap and was startled awake in hell

gideon most definitely did not look much at the room before she took said nap, nor did she remember the paper she's still carrying around

I'm losing my mind at the paper

I'm like watching another d&d player choose to never look at something the dm gave them

were we are now:

gideon is back, now with More Trauma

harrow has the compassion of a feral kitten

this is a bad combination for me, personally, in particular, because this means gideon is going to look for comfort in my mortal enemy dulcinea

she gives her a talk that is trying to distract me from the fact that I don't trust her, but I will never trust her

she was like "it'd be better to die here than to be living longer and trapped" and I was like "wanna let me help you with that?"

palamedes has also been carrying a dulcinea boner, which also makes things difficult for me

because if my mortal enemy ends up being bad and dangerous, and palamedes is in danger, it would force camilla to be in danger, and we don't want, under any circumstances, to put camilla in danger

mayonnaise uncle has been gossiping in the eighth and ortus's mom (where I'm from, 'orto' means 'ass', so I will never forget his name) spilled the beans on the ninth

he offers gideon literal tea with a side of the metaphorical tea

here's where I went "boy, I sure hope harrow doesn't push gideon away and gives her a reason to turn to these guys"

harrow proceeds to do just that

with clockwork precision

I cannot emphasize enough how meticulously she did this

if pushing people away was an olympic sport, and if that was the way to judge this competition, this book would be 10 pages long because harrow has mastered the craft

you could hear gideon's psyche becoming dust

needless to say, we're having tea with the eighth soon, everyone bring your scones and poison

which, you know, fine, at least gideon will be told information

and btw, protesilaus is still live reacting from an unknown location

idk what regina george twin, yandere simulator twin and chad the third are doing but, at this point, I don't know what anyone is doing, really

except for dulcinea, I JUST KNOW she's up to no good

and the second is probably still dealing with the fact that they lost to Camilla The Everything

[lionizingheathen]

OK NOW I CANT STOP THINKING OF REMUS ACTUALLY LETTING SIRIUS (plus james maybe) HAVE A GO WHILE WATCHING HHHNGGGF??!??

I can do that (Warning that I've never written anything like this so I deeply apologize if it's not what you're looking for)

Remus Lupin x Sirius Black x James Potter x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Smut, multiple orgasms, watching, choking, slapping, throatfucking, degredation, spanking, unprotected sex, oral sex male receiving, hair pulling, multiple partners

Remus had you stripped naked before they even arrived, laying you across the bed. That'd been hot enough, but seeing the way that Sirius and James looked at you, like they wanted to swallow you whole... God, it was so much.

"Are you 100% sure about this mate?" James asked, and Remus nodded, placing a soft hand on your cheek to make you look over at him with a crooked eyebrow. God, you wanted to rile him up, see exactly what he would do when put in the right circumstances.

"Yeah, it's not a problem. She likes to put on a show, isn't that right?" He asked softly, and you nodded, chewing on your lip. You'd do anything that he asked you to do.

"Yes..." You responded, and James bent a little bit, clearing his throat. You didn't care, you were too busy daydreaming about what was going to happen.

"Hey. Y/N." James said, and you lifted your head, looking up at him. He placed a hand under your chin, rubbing a thumb across your cheek, making you shiver.

"Yeah?"

"Are you 100% sure that you wanna do this?" James asked, looking you in the eyes. You smiled, reaching over to squeeze his hand. He'd always been so gentle, it would be fun to watch him lose control.

"Yeah, because if you don't, James and I would be happy to just stay and like... watch one of your muggle movie things." Sirius offered, and your smile only grew as you shook your head. God, Remus had picked such good friends.

"No, I want this too... but it was sweet of you to ask me." You said, and he nodded.

"Wouldn't wanna do this if you weren't 100% okay with it." That was such a kind thing to make sure of... granted, it was also customary, or at least you felt it should be, to ask beforehand.

"Oh, I am."

"You're up, Potter." Remus said, pushing him forward. James took a deep breath and nodded, giving you a smile.

"Okay..." You got up on your knees, placing a hand on his face, feeling his hands come up to cup your breasts, his thumbs brushing across your nipples.

"What do you want, Jamie?" You asked, and he swallowed heavily before answering.

"Can you suck me off? I've been thinking about how good that would feel for years." He said, and you flicked your eyebrow up, giving him a smirk as you pushed him away a bit before letting yourself fall to the ground onto your knees.

"You want my lips wrapped around your cock, Potter?" You asked, and he nodded frantically, unbuttoning and pulling his pants down, letting his cock spring out. You swallowed back a groan as you wrapped your hand around it. He was about as thick as Remus, but a little bit longer which was daunting... but a challenge you would gladly welcome.

"Yes." He groaned, and you grinned up at him, leaning in.

"Good boy." You flicked your tongue across his tip, groaning to yourself at the taste, feeling him tense. "He tastes so good." You moaned before taking him into your mouth, taking him as deep as you could, letting him gently lead your head until your nose was pressed against his pelvis. HIs head was leaning back and you watched as his chest rose and fell quickly.

"Holy shit... Ohmygod her mouth is so fucking hot..." He moaned, pulling his hips back to gently snap them forward again, making you gag around him. He moved a little faster, but not too hard, clearly afraid of hurting you... which was a shame because you wanted to see him go feral.

"Calm down, mate. Don't get too excited, you'll never last." Remus said with a chuckle, and James let out a high whine as he glanced down at you, his mouth dropped open. You clenched your thighs together, trying to reduce some of the throbbing there, but it did nothing.

"Shut up..." You bobbed your head up and down, letting your fingers slip between your thighs to rub at your clit, making you moan around him. "Fuck." He whined, and you felt your face get hot. God, he was so fucking hot.

"You can fuck her throat, James. She likes it rough." Remus cleared his throat, clearly trying to get your attention. "How do you feel about that, baby?" He asked, and you pulled off, breathing heavily as you looked up at James, jerking your hand quickly up and down his cock, making him tremble.

"Please, James. Fuck my throat raw." You begged, and he looked down at you, his gaze softening for a moment.

"Are you sure?" He asked, and you rolled your eyes. The cute, respectful side was getting a bit overplayed, you just wanted him to take some goddamn control.

"Stop asking that and just fucking do it. Go with your gut, Potter. I know how to stop a man if needed." You said, and he chewed on his lip, nodding as he pulled you back onto his cock. You swallowed around him eagerly, letting him fuck your throat as hard as he wanted to. He let out a loud grumbling moan as he gripped your hair.

"Fuck... God, Remus you get this every night?" Sirius asked, and you blushed as you felt James fuck harder into your throat. He was so eager... you knew he would be, you knew how doting he was on Lily, there was no way he wasn't like this.

"Every night... every morning... pretty much whenever I want she's willing to get on her knees for me... or do pretty much anything else." Remus murmured back and you felt your cunt clench at this. You liked when talked that way about you. Sirius groaned in approval and you felt his eyes on you once again.

"Lucky bastard." He murmured, and Remus let out a throaty chuckle, undoubtably with the biggest smirk on his face.

"Should've acted quicker in seventh year. Could've had her at least once." He responded, and you whimpered around James's cock, gripping onto his thighs as he paused, buried in your thoat, making your eyes tear up around him.

"Shut up."

"Oh my god, fuck I'm getting close." James cried, and Remus let out a snort.

"Seriously? Already? Fuck, you finish fast." He said, and James whimpered, shaking his head as he strained, the veins in his neck popping out for a moment as he increased his pace.

"Not normally." He let out a high whine, holding your face against his pelvis as he doubled over, gripping the wall behind him. "Oh fuck." He gasped, and you felt him cum down your throat, frantically swallowing around him before you pulled back, giving him a wide smile.

"You taste good, Jamie." You said, getting up from your knees. He pulled you against his chest, tucking your face against him as he held you. It was sweet that that was his first instinct, to hug you tight and murmur quiet praises into your ear, it made your heart squeeze. Truly the best man. Lily was lucky.

"That was amazing. Fucking amazing, Y/N." He sighed, pulling away to give you a wide smile. You placed a hand on his cheek, rubbing your thumb across his cheekbone.

"Thank you, sweet boy. You're up Sirius, what do you want?" You asked, watching as he smirked at you, walking over with so much confidence that it made your knees weak.

"Oh, I want your cunt. Bend over on the bed. On your hands and knees." Sirius said, and you dropped immediately, smirking back at him as you did. You followed orders well, the boys were bound to know that by well.

"Yes sir." You said, and he gripped your nips, snorting as he saw your position. What?

"Come on, spread those legs futher for me. I know you can." He said pushing your further open before you felt the head of his cock prod against you, slipping inside a moment later, making you gasp. There was no need for prep, you were dripping already.

"Holy shit..." Your mouth dropped open as you felt him inside you. He was by far the thickest, causing a pleasent burning stretch as he began easing himself inside of you. "Remus, he's so big." You whined, and he let out a chuckle as Sirius continued to stretch you, making you see stars. How was he still going?

"You can take it. You can take anything, baby." Remus said, and you groaned, nodding as you felt Sirius slide the rest of the way inside, making your eyes roll back.

"Yes sir." You sighed, and Remus smirked at you, making you shiver.

"Such a good girl." He replied, and you nodded, chewing on your lip as you furrowed your brows. God, this felt good... Sirius was good, you knew that from conversations in school.

"Fuck, her cunt is so good, Remus. How could you wait so long to let us do this?" Sirius asked as he gripped your hair, yanking hard as he thrusted quickly, pushing the breath out of you each time. Heaven on earth.

"I agree, we should've done this sooner. It's fun to watch her get all fucked out." Remus said, and you felt Sirius's hand slap down hard on your ass, making you yelp. God, this felt so good... so fucking good.

"More... Harder... Please." You begged, and Sirius laughed, reaching forward to push your face against the mattress, pounding into you harder. The new angle made you want to scream, your eyes rolling back in your head as you tangled your fingers into the sheets.

"Look at her, James. She's such a fucking whore." James was practically trembling, his fingers digging into his trousers as he watched you.

"Yeah... she is..." He grunted, and you looked over at him, seeing his cock straining against his pants. You wanted to feel him down your throat again.

"You're hard again, mate." Remus commented, and he shot him a glare.

"I know." You knew what to do, what to ask. He seemed like he could follow directions well.

"Touch yourself for me, Jamie." You begged, and he whimpered, nodding as he shucked his pants down his legs again, gripping at his already leaking cock.

"Shit... okay..." He whined, and you chuckled, a large smile spreading across your face as you felt Sirius's hand smack down on your ass once again.

"He takes orders so well." You gasped, and Remus nodded in the corner, looking pleasantly amused at the exchange, though Sirius beat him to voicing it.

"Guess we know who's in charge in your bed, huh?" Sirius chuckled, and James gave him a look that was supposed to be a glare, but ended up as a pout at best.

"Fuck, shut up!" He groaned, his hand working his cock faster. So pretty.

"Sirius, please, harder!" You begged, and Sirius grunted above you, pushing you harder into the mattress as he increased his pace once again, making your mouth drop open

"Of course, beautiful." He murmured, and you felt yourself begin to fall over the edge, knowing you would be screaming within moments. God, this was good.

"I'm... I'm cumming, oh my god I'm cumming!" You cried, and Sirius chuckled, biting down on the skin of the back of your neck, thrusting harder as you saw stars, gripping hard onto the sheets, feeling yourself tremble beneath him.

"Good girl, good girl, cum on my cock, making a fucking mess all over me, fuck yes." Sirius groaned, and you whimpered, unable to come up with a thought, any words you had in mind completely wiped free as he ignored your sensitivity.

"You look so good baby... looks like James is gonna cum again." Remus said, and you looked over at the other man who was jerking his cock frantically, the tip angry and read. You let out a groan as Sirius reached around, wrapping his hand around your throat, tightening his grip quickly.

"Cum on my face, Jamie." You croaked out and he looked at you, completely gone as he stood up, walking closer as he hung his head back, letting out a loud groan.

"Really? Are sure?" He asked, sounding frantic, and you nodded, looking up at him, your mouth hanging open as Sirius used his free hand to rub roughly at your clit.

"Yes! Cum!" You begged, and James looked down, his brows furrowed and his glasses falling down his nose as his hips jerked forward, his cum spurting out to coat your face, making you gasp. You grinned up at him, appreaciating how frantic he was. So cute.

"Holy shit..." He hissed, the last spurt coming out before he fell away, collapsing onto his chair, breathing heavily.

"God, you look good all covered in cum, beautiful." Remus sighed, giving you a large smile. You glanced down at his crotch, seeing his cock straining against his pants. It forced you over the edge once again, seeing how badly Remus wanted you. God, he was going to ruin you after this.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum again! Oh my god, oh my god!" You cried, your lip trembling as you collapsed flat against the bed, feeling Sirius grip your hips as you let out high moans with each hard thrust, your eyes rolling back in your head. You heard Remus let out a throaty chuckle from across the room, making your face flush.

"Still screaming after having your throat fucked raw... You really do love this, huh baby?" Remus asked, leaning forward. You nodded frantically, feeling a pleasant buzz over your body as Sirius thrusted frantically inside of you, getting closer to the edge himself.

"Yes! I love it, love being used." You cried, and Sirius groaned behind you, spanking your ass hard once again, making you gasp.

"Holy shit I'm getting close." He gripped under your chin, bending over you so you could see his face. He was straining, chewing on his lip as he looked down at you. So hot. "Where do you want me to finish?" He asked, and your brain went blank. Anywhere he wanted. You would take whatever the fuck he was willing to give you.

"I... I..." He rolled his eyes, shoving you back down onto the table as he thrust hard and fast into you again, addressing Remus as though you weren't even there.

"Remus, where do you want me to-." He didn't even get to finish his sentence before Remus was talking.

"Cum inside her, she fucking loves it." He said, and you nodded, feeling him still inside of you, gripping hard onto your hips as he filled you with his cum, making you tremble.

"Shit... Fuck! Take it, fucking take it." He groaned, pausing for a moment before he pulled out, both of you panting before you gave him a smile.

"God, Sirius... that was so good." You sighed, sitting up to walk over to Remus, resting your chin on top of his head, wrapping your arms around him. He placed his hands onto your arms, making your heart skip.

"Yeah it was... fuck, I gotta bring Lily next time." James looked at you almost nervously as he shifted around on his feet. "Would you want that?" He asked, and you nodded quickly. You'd wanted to be fucked by Lily for years.

"Fuck yes, that sounds amazing."

"I just know she'd love to cum on your face." James responded, and your heart pounded at the thought of that. Lily Potter had to taste like a goddamn dream.

"Sounds perfect." You said, and Remus stood up, stretching.

"Until next time, boys." He said, nodding at them to show themselves out before he turned to you with a large smile. "You were wonderful, dear." Remus said, and you pressed your hand to the front of his trousers, pressing frantic kisses to the side of his neck, making him let out a quiet grunt.

"You're hard." You murmured against his skin, and he sighed, pulling you back from his neck so he could look down into your face.

"I just watched you be fucked for an hour straight... Yeah. I am. Get on your knees." He instructed, and you let him guide you down before you unbuttoned his pants, pulling them quickly down his thighs

"Yes sir." You gripped his cock, leaning forward to lick the tip of his cock.

[romanreignsbae]

I’ll help you - R.R

Me and my boyfriend Joe of 2 years now have always supported eachother no matter the circumstances. More recently Joe's schedule has been hectic as ever, because football season has started and he has a minor problem consuming him.

Since he came into college on a full ride scholarship for football this doesn't mean grades don't matter. He's an student athlete so his grades are always took into consideration before football.

Me and him have basically have all our classes together. In one class specifically, he's been struggling and is on the verge of failing, if his grade goes any lower, he will be taken off the football team until it goes back up and he can't have that.

We have a test in 2 days that's worth enough to bring his mark back up, so here I am in our dorm room trying to help him study.

I'm explaining the question thoroughly to make sure he understands. "So, Joe do you get it?" I ask him. I get no response so I look up at him seeing he's staring at me in awe. He then keeps eye contact while pushing my hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear. I blush profusely.

"Your so gorgeous baby, you know that" he talks in low voice while questioning me. But no- I can't fall for this right now.

"No Joe don't try to sweet talk your way outta this, you gotta get your grade up otherwise you won't be able to play" I remind him. He groans loudly before throwing his head back clearly annoyed.

I don't blame him because this is a pretty hard class, even for me. "C'mon Joe-" I get cut off with lips being smashed onto mines.

I try to pull away but he only deepens the kiss. I decide to let him get everything outta him, before I lecture him a little. He pulls away smiling at me with a proud look on his face. He reaches out and runs his finger over my now bruised bottom lip.

"Joe now seriously let's do a few more questions…then we can lay down and take a nap together" I try to compromise.

"Alright fine" he replies. What takes about 30 minutes we get through about 4 questions and I can see Joe's kinda starting to get the hang of it.

"Can we finally lay down?!” he pleads me in a whiny voice.

I nod my head and leads me to our bed. I lay down on my back and he crawls on top of me, laying his head on my chest. I start running my hands through his hair and within a few minutes I hear light snores. Before I know it I feel myself falling into a deep sleep too.

I wake up the next morning and get ready for my first class. I always wake up earlier then Joe because I like a fresh start to my day. I usually wake Joe up around 15 minutes before we leave cause he barely takes any time to get ready.

We get through all our classes and before we know it, it's break. Me and Joe hold hands walking through the courtyard. Usually during break we just sit under a tree and chill. I read occasionally if he wants to throw a football around with his friends. But it's rare cause he claims he would rather spend his time with me.

We place ourselves down under the big tree that gives a shadow to block the sun. I open my book bag and pull out the text books we need for him to study.

"Babyyyy nooo, not during break" he whines. I try not to giggle at his tone.

"Yes Joe, you have a practice that runs late tonight, when you get home your not gonna wanna study and the test is tomorrow, so you need to study" I explain.

He surprisingly complies and nods while he leans his head onto my shoulder.

"Ok so I'm gonna give you a few practice questions, and if you need help wait until the end, I want you to try these yourself at first" I announce.

I grab my notebook and write out a few questions. I hand the book over to him and I see him writing. A few minutes later he hands me back the notebook.

He had a confident look on his face and I hate to burst his bubble but these were all wrong. "Joe sweetie, these are wrong, but you got all the steps right, your just rushing the end" I exclaim.

He's truly so smart he just needs to try harder, and if he did I'm confident he would be doing phenomenal in all his classes.

"I know, I just don't have any motivation for this type stuff" he tells me. He leans forward and tries to give me a kiss. I back away and he groans.

"Y/n baby, please let me kiss you" he begs. A idea then pops into my head.

"Okay Joe, how bout every question you get right, you get a kiss, but… don't rush otherwise you won't get one" I compromise to him.

His eyes light up. He shoots up and sits up straight. "Yeah yeah lets do that, gimme some questions" he says almost excitedly. I laugh at his excitement.

I hand him the notebook and this time he takes about 20 minutes, I calmly read waiting for him.

I look over the answers and squeal. "Yes Joe! These are all right! I'm so proud of you, your gonna do great on the test" I exclaim.

He smiles at me proudly "that's because I have the best tutor" he tells me. He then quickly pulls me by my sweater and smashes his lips onto mine. We share a mini makeout session, until I feel my head throbbing in pain.

I quickly pull away and keep my eyes shut, the pain is so bad. "Hey! What the fuck man! Why the fuck would you do that" I hear Joe yelling.

I open my eyes and see that a football is right beside me. Great. I've had a football thrown at my head.

"Owww" I whine out while trying to contain myself from crying.

Joe collects all my books and puts them into my bag, he then picks me up and I nuzzle my face into his neck, his cologne calming and distracting me from the pain.

When he stops walking I open my eyes to see we are in the nurses office. Joe explains what happend to me to the nurse.

She quickly tests me out. "Ok well, it's not a concussion, but I suggest you rest now, stay home from school tomorrow and go back if you feel right" she tells me.

I thank her and we leave, while we walk to our dorm room, Joe's shit talking the guy who through the football at me, and about how he's gonna beat him up during practice.

When we get back Joe lays me down on our bed and gets a ice pack placing it on my head.

"I'm gonna stay here, instead of go to practice today" he lets me know.

I feel guilt wash over me. "No no, go Joe I'll be alright" I try to convince him. He doesn't budge at all though and pulls me onto his chest.

The rest of the night we spend cuddled up in our bed watching movies and order takeout.

The next morning I wake up before Joe per usual and decided I don't feel good enough to go to school. I wake up Joe and inform him he needs to get ready, but I'll be staying here.

He offers to stay with me, but I protest since he has that test today.

"Your gonna do great baby, just remember take your time and double check your answers." I tell him.

When it's time for him to go he kisses me softly before asking if I need anything before he leaves, which i refuse to.

I spend my day reading a book I've needed to get to, I took the opportunity since I had nothing better to do.

I look at the time and see Joe should be back any minute. While I'm finishing the book I hear the door slam open. I turn to my side to see Joe with a massive smile on his face.

"Baby, baby! Look what I got on the test" he practically yells. He walks over to me and sticks his hand out. I take the paper from him to see '93%' bolded in red in the corner of the page.

"Joe, you did it! I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you!" I tell him excitedly.

The rest of the night is a calm night, I decide I need some fresh air so I sit on the bleachers reading during Joe's practice. And we spend our night embraced in each other's arms.

[cosmicaces]

i've never been good at writing intros to posts and that isn't gonna change today, esp since only a handful of people are probably gonna read this. i am making this post for me, because this is something i noticed and i wanna talk about it. leave it to me to make a detailed post about a character from a movie from three years ago.

rody has pstd! let's talk about it

[ID: A screenshot from MHA: World Heroes' Mission. Rody is pointing at Deku, winking. Deku looks annoyed. End ID.]

to preface this:

i am not a professional 👍 i have ptsd 👍

analyzing characters is fun for me! this is how i am interpreting rody with what i know about him from the little media he's been in + some additional speculation. feel free to incorporate this into your belief system. or not! all that i ask is that you bear with me.

now, before i get into it (preface...2!):

everyone knows about fight or flight, right? well, did you know that there are actually 5 trauma responses? fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and flop. (there may be more, but these are the ones that have the most information on them.)

fight and flight are the body's primary responses to a bad situation. freeze, fawn, and flop are more complex responses that happen when the first two aren't available. little self-explanatory, but for the sake of infodumping:

freeze: the body is in a state of hyperarousal. the muscles are tight and ready for action but is ultimately paralyzed. think of a deer in headlights.

fawn/befriend/submit: this response involves complying/befriending the aggressor; people-pleasing in an effort to remain safe. this is more common in cases of abuse.

flop/shutdown/collapse: the body is in a state of hypoarousal, aka its shutting down; muscles go slack, brain stops receiving sensory info. this can often result in fainting. you know how some people faint when they see blood? or when they're on a rollercoaster? yeah, it's this.

it's important to have this context. as a matter of fact, you probably already know where i'm going with this:

rody faints when deku is climbing up the bridge. of course, right? he had reached such a heightened level of fear that, when his brain realized it couldn't trigger one of the other four responses, he just... flopped. why bring this up? well, and i think this is easy to miss, but rody didn't pass out once. he actually passed out twice.

when they first reached the train, it appears that, in their brief moment of safety, rody had collapsed.

[ID: Deku picks up Rody to shield him from Beros's oncoming arrow attack. End ID.]

[ID: Deku is carrying Rody, swinging under the bridge in an effort to evade Beros's attacks. At the end, Rody appears as though he is coming to. End ID.]

up until this point, rody had been freaking out during their escape from the police. for him to have no initial response to being physically moved by deku... hell, he looks like he's just coming to. if we're going based off of the dub, he even yells "what's happening?!" simply put: he shut down and, more specifically, he shut down in what had been perceived as a moment of respite.

the reason i point this out is because, while we don't choose our trauma responses, there are events that can impact what they can be.

so... what is the purpose of the flop response?

quoting from an article here, but it's thought to help people in three different ways: to reduce the mental impact of the circumstances, to cause a physical disconnect (thus experiencing the trauma less directly), and to prevent additional assault.

the point i'm trying to make here is, well...

[ID: A flashback showing Rody protecting his siblings. A villain strikes him with a pipe. End ID.]

rody's been assaulted! and this is only one instance that we know of. we don't fully know what he's had to go through when providing for his siblings, but there is no doubt that there have been negative repercussions on his mentality.

did you notice how he startles easily?

[ID: Rody puts his hand on Deku's shoulder, scaring him. His response startles Rody, causing him to flinch backwards. End ID.]

[ID: Bakugou suddenly appears behind Rody, causing him to jump. He flinches back, turning to face him. Pino is also startled, flying to sit over on his other shoulder. End ID.]

with ptsd, some people can develop an exaggerated startle response. this happens when your nervous system gets stuck in survival mode. your brain is hypervigilant; any sudden sound or movement that you don't expect can make you feel like you're in danger and your body has to be ready to react in a given moment.

look at the difference between how deku and rody flinch. deku has a standard flinch, but rody violently flinches, almost as though he's been struck. do you see how he moves his head? his arms? how, after both instances, he's starting to sweat? yeah 👍

continuing along this line of thinking, let's talk about rody's attempted betrayal.

[ID: Rody being approached by the oni villain. He braces himself for the attack, clutching at his head. End ID.]

i feel like most people, when cornered and under the imminent threat of being attacked, try to block it or defend from it in some way. rody... didn't do that. as a matter of fact, it looks like he's trying to hide.

[ID: Deku runs towards Rody, shielding him from an arrow. Rody panics and turns away. End ID.]

additionally, in this scene, rody is apologizing. in this moment, he sincerely believed that deku was going to hurt him for his betrayal. instead of trying to run, he just... froze. braced himself again. i know he was very scared, but, despite deku having just saved him, seeing his fear at being approached... psychologically, there's something else going on here.

i think rody had been re-traumatized.

again, we only have that one flashback regarding a violent encounter with villains, but i genuinely have reason to believe that it wasn't a one-off scenario. the only reason rody tried to fight was to defend his siblings. they are his reason for continuing forward. but... what if there were times when they weren't there? and he had to face the villains by himself?

... yeah. i think that's why he responded the specific way that he did. his life was actively in danger, yes, but how many times had he been in that position? pleading, trying to garner sympathy about his siblings, wanting to be let go? i think the severity of his psychological distress in that instant is what caused him to try and hide rather than attempt to minimize any incoming damage.

as for feeling threatened by deku, that can be easily explained, too. rody talked quite a bit about betrayal, it seemed like a very natural thing to talk about. he's probably had to betray some villains and gotten hurt for it. honestly, you could probably argue that this contributed to his confusion regarding deku protecting him instead.

similarly with starting posts, i am also very bad at ending them 👍

tldr; rody soul has ptsd as a result of his encounters with villains after his father's disappearance. this has given him an exaggerated startle response as well as both a freeze/collapse response in times where his life is threatened. who knows what other symptoms he may have! what we can say for sure is that this kid needs therapy.

if you read all this, thanks! i hope you enjoyed me dissecting him like a bug.

[usmsgutterson]

We Could Leave The Christmas Lights Up Til January - S.R x reader

I am typing this authors note and feeling like the friend who's like "ITS CHRISTMAS" from the like. middle of the month forward when I'm actually the friend who reminds you how close it is to christmas or the new year bc I don't want to face that knowledge by myself and suffer well with others.

This was written as a through-the-years style fic. It'll have fifteen chapters which will correspond with the og fifteen seasons of criminal minds (I have not watched seasons sixteen or seventeen, please do not judge me lol) and three scenes per chapter, one set in November, one set on or around Christmas, and the last set at some point after it. The reader is also a fiber artist but if stuff relating to that comes up, I will make a note of whichever terms I need to.

Fic type - this is largely fluff!

Warnings - the reader in this has a slightly similar, but also somewhat dramatized version of my family dynamics bc I wrote this whenever the knit projects I was working on frustrated me and when writing the dynamics it just HAPPENED, but then I edited it so that the dynamics wouldn't hit SUPER HARD if I ever reread it. Otherwise, booze is mentioned a bit, and there is swearing present bc I apparently am incapable of writing a fic without dropping an f'bomb.

When you leave the office that night, it's half-past seven on a Friday in November. You and the rest of the team have the weekend off, and while Penelope and the others had gone out for drinks, you'd gotten back from a case in Miami that morning and had said no to the offer when she'd made it.

You had really just wanted to get home, if you were being honest. You told her you couldn't swing it because of plans already made with someone else, but Garcia didn't need to know that those plans were a glass of wine, Loops 'N Threads Classic Cotton and a crochet hook to work up some dishcloths in lieu of anything too expensive for your aunts christmas gift, or that the someone else you had plans with was your DVR so that you could catch up on the five episodes of Prison Break you'd missed because of the way that cases and work had been piling up.

She also didn't need to know that the wine your mother had given you would have a spot, or that after you were caught up with Prison Break you'd probably order and eat your way through an entire pizza from Antonios while watching a documentary about lemon sharks. Your Friday nights were your own, and even though you adored everyone on the team, you would seldom give up your Friday night ritual of doing a craft while watching whichever cable TV you needed to catch up on or whichever one the network of your choice had been running a marathon of, even if giving it up meant giving up dinner, drinks, and laughter amongst yourself and the rest of the team.

So, as you and Spencer are heading out—Spencer had declined Penelopes offer but hadn't specified his reasons as to why—he looks at you with a knowing sort of smile.

"Crocheting and Antonios?" he asks, quirking an eyebrow.

You nod once, lips pursing just a little while you mentally ready yourself for any oncoming judgement. "Mhm," you nod. "I have a bottle of red I wanna drink, so it'll be a tipsy crocheting night, I think."

"That sounds fun," he says. "Enjoy it."

"What're your plans for the night?" You ask. You've been with the team since six months after Spencer had joined up. You'd joined, under Hotch's wing, at the age of nineteen where Spencer had joined up under Gideons when he was twenty.

He shrugs. "I was thinking about calling my mom, seeing how she's doing," he says. "I try to call her at least once every so often and I do my best to write, but—it's just—"

"Maintaining those kinds of relationships isn't that easy," you nod. "I mean—my parents just live in my hometown so the circumstances are different, but I get it, even if it's to a lesser degree."

You don't really talk to your parents, and they don't really talk to you, and it's been that way since you went to the FBI Academy when you were eighteen. You came to DC after being hired by the BAU and they stayed in Maine, and things have been like that in the five years since you left the state.

"Your mom came around recently, right?"

You nod. "She was in town for a bit, but she came down while we were working on a case so I only got to see her a few times before she was heading back to Maine." She'd come up at the start of October, while you were working a case out of state, and she'd left six days after you'd returned from the case. In that time, you'd seen her at breakfast, lunch and dinner on three separate days. She'd left you the wine as a gift because she hated red and needed to pass it off, but you loved red wine so it was fine.

"Was it a good visit?"

"It was—well—it was fine," you laugh.

"That's the nicest way to put it?"

"Calling it fine is me being stellar," you laugh again. "Being kind, being gratiuitous, even. It was less than fine, but it could've been worse, and other visits of hers have been by miles."

Your relationship with your mother has been somewhat contentious since you were a teen, but she comes down once every few months and unless a case or something better comes up, you usually try to book Christmas off to spend it with your parents and sisters in Maine. This year, a bigger part of you than not is hoping that Christmas is disrupted by a case somewhere completely out of Maines reach, like Nevada or California or even the likes of Alaska, which has got to be some snowy hellstorm in the wintertime, though you can't say.

"You gonna go down for Christmas?" Spencer asks, laughing a little. He knows some of what your relationships with your family are like—knows that you and your mother have a difficult time finding common ground, knows that you and your father don't get along but have found some weird little middleground where you can exist without screaming at each other. He knows that you and your older sister are sort of friendly but only really mildly close, and that you and your other older sister don't talk often and see each other even less than the sparing conversations you have throughout the year—and he always looks at you kind of pitifully when your mother gets brought into the conversation, but there's been less and less pity as the years have passed, more sympathy.

"I don't want to," you laugh. "I really, really hope we get a case in Nevada or somewhere that even my mother wouldn't be able to justify asking me to drive down to Maine from. Like—I'd love it if we got a case in Alaska the day before Christmas Eve, honestly. I know it's not gonna happen, but—Christmas with them, my aunt, and my uncle? No. I can't subject myself to that without a whole lot of booze."

Spencer laughs, shakes his head a little bit. "You'll be fine," he says. "I won't hope that a case comes up at Christmas, but if one does, I'll buy you a victory tea."

"Why?"

"Because I know you love your family—you're hardwired to love them—but you hate Christmas with them, and I don't really like the thought of you being where you don't want to be because of family ties and guilt."

You laugh. "If it gets too dreary, promise you'll answer my call?"

"Yeah," Spencer nods. "Of course, but what if I call you first?"

"I will answer so quick," you laugh again, shrugging. "Seriously. Whether it's you or Hotch, I will take literally any excuse I can get to slip out from whichever room I'm in to the back porch just so I can talk to someone who isn't my aunt for a few minutes."

"Looking forward to that," Spencer says.

You smile, turning away as you do to hide it. It feels like an awesome ending to a mediocre day and you're grateful for that.

-

When your phone rings at five o'clock something along the lines of five weeks later, it's Christmas Eve. You've spent the last couple of hours alternating between cheap screw top rose and a jack and coke, occasionally swapping both options out for a hot chocolate that you spike with kahlua and a splash of baileys, and when your phone rings, the sound of it is a welcome reprieve.

You tuck a mug of boozed up hot cocoa into your right hand, answering the phone with your left as you dismiss yourself out to the back porch, standing amidst snow that's, by that point, a couple days old. A fresh coat is due to fall any day now, but by the time it does you'll probably already be back in DC.

"Hey," you greet. "How's Christmas on your end?"

"It's good," Spencer answers. "How is it on yours?"

"It's amazing."

"You've been drinking?"

"Jack Daniels, cheap rose, and the occasional spiked hot chocolate," you laugh a little. "It's making everyone more tolerable."

"Thats good," Spencer says. "Don't forget to drink water, though. It'll make you less hungover tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," you nod. "I've drank plenty of water—hangover headaches are fuckin' awful, and I don't feel like dealing with that tomorrow morning. A headache on top of dealing with my aunt? I couldn't put myself through that kind of torture."

"How've things been with you and your mom?"

"So far I haven't done anything to piss her off yet, which is surprising," you laugh. "Normally she's leaping down my throat the second I do something like use a tone that she thinks is amiss or defend my dad where she doesn't agree with him. I'll say something stupid and she'll yell at me before midnight though, I'm sure."

"Try to be a little optimistic," Spencer says. "I mean—just—take it easy. Don't do anything too nuts, okay? I know you well enough to know you have Prison Break on one of the DVRs in that house, and I also know that you know your own limits. Don't push yourself past them."

"I won't," you say. You know yourself well enough to know that you're probably lying, but you brought your needles and a skein of yarn so worst case you can just knit and keep your mouth shut, hopefully not miscounting any of your stitches in your drunken state. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay? I get in around ten on boxing day too, so—coffee?"

"Coffee," Spencer says. "Merry Christmas, Y/N."

"Merry Christmas, Spencer," you respond, hanging up the phone thereafter. You stay outside for another few minutes, drinking your hot chocolate, watching the sky and prolonging the time between then and your next interactions with your relatives.

Eventually, when you go back in, you're met with a sly look from your aunt and a suspicious look in your mothers eyes, while your father and uncle chat about current events and your sisters are busy in a game of Uno.

"You got a boyfriend?" Your aunt asks, her smile cheeky.

You grimace. "No!" You say, beelining for the kitchen and the bottle of Barefoot brand zinfandel. "No—it's—it isn't like that. A friend had planned to call and I didn't say no."

"Oooh, a friend," your mother teases. "That's quite vague, Y/N."

You nod, finishing the last sip of hot chocolate in your mug and rinsing it out, setting it in your favored corner of the kitchen counter and reaching for the wine glass you'd left in that same area.

"Intentionally so," you laugh. "You two are so nosy. I love you both to bits and pieces, but—it's not anything like what you're thinking. The friend is a coworker."

You reach for the bottle of zinfandel and pour an amount that just barely skirts the edge of avoiding being obscene, putting the cap back on and leaving it on the counter along with the rest of the alcoholic companions that will reside on the countertop until at some point tomorrow, when the drinks are switched out from booze and beer to soda and water.

"You two will be an item in five years, I guarantee it," your aunt says. "Seriously. You don't be vague about someone with your family unless there are feelings there, Y/N."

You laugh a little more, taking a sip of your wine and debating rummaging through the fridge to find the brownies that you'd hidden in the back of the fridge for when the drunken cravings kicked in.

"I've been vague with you people about women coworkers," you retort. "I've been vague about mentors who are older than Dad. I'm vague about lots of things."

"You should open up," your uncle says. "Nobody likes a closed off little snowflake who wants to appear mysterious."

"Trust is earned," the older of your two sisters retorts. "You have to trust people to want to open up to them."

"Do you not trust us?" Your mother asks, looking at you with pain in her eyes.

Not like I did when I was a kid, you think. "I do! I just—work life and family life are two separate things to me. If I were as open as you guys want me to be, telling you work stories and funny office anecdotes, you'd all want to hear less about my job."

"Being an FBI agent can't be that hard," your uncle retorts.

"You say that as a man who's never watched someone you love like a sibling get shot at," you retort. "You've never seen someones body missing parts, or seen someone who narrowly evaded a serial killer shaking with grief and with survivors guilt already starting to manifest. I love you all, but not one of you understands what it's like, and I wouldn't wish you did across a thousand lifetimes."

Nobody knows what to say, but the look in your eldest sisters eyes is clear—she's proud.

"Well maybe you should work in a different area," your aunt says.

"I wouldn't trade my job or my coworkers for anything," you respond. "The plus sides make up for the drawbacks tenfold."

Things go a little quiet after that, and you eventually grab the bottle of Zinfandel and retreat back out to the back porch, not caring how cold it is.

You stare at the sky for ages, drinking your way through the entire bottle of zinfandel as you do. You're half asleep when your phone rings again, and you pick it up as you make back inside, figuring the rest of your family had gone to bed as well.

"Hey," Spencer greets. "Just calling to check in again."

"Hi," you respond. "Everyone else has gone to sleep, I think—nobody is in the kitchen or the living room, and if I don't hit the hay I'll be dead on my feet tomorrow morning."

"Do you have any sports drinks around?" Spencer asks. "The elctrolytes in them will help replenish the potassium and the salt that you lose after a lot of drinking. Bouillion soup also serves the same purpose, and water is basically universally known as the one thing you should consistently drink between alcoholic beverages."

"My mother gets a twelve pack of the fruit punch Gatorade, puts it in the fridge and normally will make the drunkest of us chug a bottle before we conk out, so I'm gonna grab one and then chug it and head to bed. Thank you for calling to check in, Spencer. It means a lot."

You head for the fridge and keep to your word, opening it and grabbing one of the gatorades.

"It's no problem," Spencer says. "I've know you—how long now?"

"Four entire years," you laugh, closing the fridge and pressing your forehead against the metal door of the freezer on top of it. "Oh, God. Four years of working at the BAU. That is a surefire way to make me feel old."

"How old do you think you'll feel when you've been working there for a decade?"

"Absolutely, positively, ancient," you say. "Oh my God—thirty three? That is not an age I can picture. Asking me to picture that while I'm drunk feels like such a low blow, Reid."

"How about twenty-eight?"

"I'm starting to think you just like the sound of my voice," you retort, laughing a little as you compose yourself just enough to turn your phone onto speaker and set it on the counter. You lean against the counter and take the screw top off of your gatorade, sighing a little. "Are you asking me if I have a five year plan, Dr. Reid?"

"Yeah," he says. "Yes is the answer to both your statement and your question."

"Well, in five years, I'll be twenty-eight," you start. "I'd like it very much if I were still on the team, and if I am, that means nine years at the BAU. I'm going to get better at knitting and finally stop knitting things for people who don't offer to buy the yarn or otherwise compensate, I think. I make things free for ungrateful people too often. Maybe even adopt a kitten or take in a shelter dog. Fuck—Reid, I can't really even decide what I'm going to do in the next five minutes, let alone the next five years."

You chug the gatorade as you think about it—a bigger apartment would be nice, one that's closer to work would be nicer still. One with a good view of the city, maybe a library or a liquor store within walking distance, if not a Michaels or a Joanns.

You've always been more of a cat person but you have a ridiculously insurmountable softspot for greyhounds and pitbulls, so if you thought you could take in an animal in the coming years, you would have the knowledge and the background to give them a good home.

You'd maybe want to change up your hair color, if the drunken opportunity presented itself. A change in appearance feels like the sort of thing a person finds necessary at the age of twenty four, in the last year before the brain fully develops and stuff starts changing bit by bit.

"I think I'll still be on the team," Spencer says. "I know it. I love what we get to do everyday, Y/N. Helping people? Saving lives? We do good. We're good people."

"What else do you think about the next five years?" You ask, your voice quiet.

"I think I'll still be living in my same apartment, and that I'll still bicker and get into prank wars with Morgan," Spencer says. "I think I'll still play chess against Gideon on the jet home, and I'll still love to learn anything I can. I know for sure I'm still going to be trying to get you to watch Dr. Who with me, though I hope you agree to watch it after five years of attempts at cajoling you to."

You laugh, and the air takes on a somber kind of tone. "Maybe," you say. "Not likely, but maybe, Reid. Look—I'm going to go to bed so that I can just deal with tomorrows probable hangover head on, but thank you for calling me not once, but twice tonight. I really needed some company that wasn't a little bit of an asshole."

"Yeah, of course," Spencer says. "I—well—merry Christmas, Y/N."

"Goodnight, Spencer," is how you bid him adieu, hanging up the phone thereafter. You throw the gatorade bottle into the recycling and head off to the room you'd claimed, turning the tv onto a low volume and falling asleep with The Muppet Christmas Carol beginning to play in the background.

-

"How was everyones Christmas?" Garcia asks, practically buzzing with excitement as she comes out into the bullpen. Spencer is leaning against your desk, the two of you talking about nothing in particular when she comes around, and Garcia looks at you with a happy grin. "How was Maine?"

"It was Maine," you shrug. "Snowed. A lot. In turn, everyone in my family drank. A lot."

"Oh," Garcia shakes her head. "Too many people and too much booze is God awful."

You shrug. "My parents, my sisters, and my aunt and my uncle hardly felt like too many," you say. "And the amount of booze in which I indulged hardly felt like too much."

"You had a lot," Spencer retorts, looking at you skeptically. "I got a text Christmas morning, if memory serves—"

"A text to thank you for being so nice," You fire back, cutting him off. "Totally not asking you for hangover cures. I would never."

Spencer shakes his head, laughing slightly. You grin, taking a sip of the tea he'd brought you that morning.

"Yeah," he says. "I didn't get a text asking for the ultimate hangover cure-all. I guess I must've remembered it wrong."

Your grin widens, and you nod. "Guess so. How were things with your Mom?"

"They were great," Spencer says. "I had a good time."

"I'm glad," you respond. "Your mother sounds pleasant."

"She is," Spencer nods. "I'd hate to spend more than an hour with yours though."

"She's comin' here in June," you fire back, leaning back in your chair as your grin morphs from grin to smirk. "Be careful for the next six months, Reid, or I'll invite you to dinner with her, myself, and my father."

"That sounds like some form of mideval torture," Derek fires, laughing. Spencer shakes his head.

"Not if Y/Ns there," he murmurs. You take another sip of your tea to avoid seeming flustered to the rest of the team, and Spencer sighs when JJ comes around. You sit up in your chair, already anticipating her next words.

"We have a case," she says. "A series of deaths in Witchita. Briefing room in ten!"

You and Spencer exchange a look. There are only a few days left of it, but it looks like the last of 2005 is due to be a whirlwind.

[ughgoaway]

What was it like when neighbor Matty and girlie met 🤭

-Belle <3 <3 (love u)

omg, my beloved belle!!! good question my love

Ooooh okay, so I think you first see each other on move-in day. you're lugging box after box upstairs, pink-cheeked and sweaty in a way that makes you look like you're on mile 25 of a marathon. Wou were expecting to be able to use the lift, but there's a sign on it that says “broken until further notice” and judging by the dust that covers the paper, it's been that way for a long time.

You're dragging the last box across the floor when a man dressed in all black with curls peeking out the hood dragged over his head strolls into the building, he spares a glance at you and smiles, adjusting the headphones that sit on his ears. Despite them being plugged into his iPod, you can hear the heavy bass and mumbled lyrics in the room just because of how loud it's blasting in his ears.

He strolls past you carelessly, walking up to the lift and pressing the button. You go to grab his shoulder and tell him it's broken, but before you can the lift dings, and the doors slide open. You watch in frustrated shock as he strolls in, pressing the door close button and shooting you a wink a few seconds before they click closed. you don't take the final box up the lift out of principle, but by floor 3 you're wondering if you have any principles left or if you've sweat them all out.

But you don't count that as your first meeting, because neither of you spoke, the actual first time you met was under unfortunate circumstances.

Matty being a bartender means he really has no concept of other people's less nocturnal schedules, so when he comes home at 4 am from a shift, he doesn't hesitate to turn on the radio and clang around his kitchen making a grilled cheese.

As soon as the radio clicks on you roll your eyes and flip over in bed, dragging your pillow over your ears as you do. You try to let it go, not wanting to be that annoying neighbour on day one of moving in, but when he drops a pan on the floor and it makes an ear-shattering bang, you can't help but roll out of bed and storm over. You knock furiously on his door, gradually banging louder and louder when he can't hear you over the nirvana he’s blaring.

Eventually, the door creeks open, and Matty doesn't hesitate to look you up and down, silently judging your Winnie the Pooh pyjamas with a smirk. It's then you realise the hot mystery stranger from earlier just happens to be your neighbour, and a shitty one already.

Your eyes widen briefly at the sight of him, but they soon settle into a scowl Matty grows to know all too well. You huff lightly before speaking, “Look, maybe your last neighbour was more cool than me, or half dead, but would you be able to turn your music down a bit? It's 4am and I've only just finished unpacking. i'd like to sleep without Kurt Cobain screaming at me through the wall”

Luckily the man whose name you don't yet know nods, not dragging his eyes away from your exposed legs before he speaks. “‘Course love. Don't wanna stop you getting your beauty sleep, do I, princess?” his familiar smirk falling over his face once again. Maybe it was endearing the first few times, but at this point, you kind of want to smack it off his smug face. 

“Thanks. princess,” you respond, rolling your eyes as you walk back to your apartment, acutely aware of his eyes on your ass as you stroll. You turn back to catch him in the act, but his stare doesn't falter when you spin around, instead, he nods at you and winks just like he had earlier on, clicking his tongue before slipping back into his apartment. You stay frozen for a few seconds, but the gradual turning down of smells like teen spirit brings you back to earth, finally able to hear your thoughts again. It's then and there you knew he’d be trouble, and you didn't like that you couldn't quite figure out how you felt about that.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

i love the pumpkin decor from anura and the skulls from silk cradle !! even though its not even close to halloween,,,(its always in my heart lmao) i was thinking about bishops (+narinder and/or labert, if your up for it) platonically with a child! black cat reader (who is kind of like in the spooky month skid and pump mindset LOL, but the town they grew up in, possibly outside the lands of the old faith, is very halloween-centered)

i hope this isnt too specific !!

Don't worry, Halloween's ALWAYS in my heart haha. I love those decorations too! And the ones from the blood moon ritual. Can't wait for that event again

.........

Heket

With pumpkin patches flourishing in her domain, it only makes sense for her to have celebrations and rituals surrounding the harvest season.

Yet she knows nothing of this "Halloween" you've rambled on about to her followers, nor why you became so excited upon discovering that Anura's environment reflects the autumn season.

That's because the town you're from is centered entirely around the holiday, with you living among ghouls, skeletons, demons, crows, and (of course) other black cats.

To you, every day is Halloween and you're loud and proud about it!

You introduced the idea of jack o'lanterns to Heket when she discovers you carving a pumpkin, sticking a candle inside after you gutted the entire crop, much to her confusion and annoyance.

"You there..why do you waste precious food?" She accuses, but you're completely oblivious to her anger.

"Where I come from, we always carve pumpkins! And we make cool things like this!" You show her your finished product: a Yellow Crown carved onto the face of the pumpkin. "I offer this to you, Lady Heket."

"I see, but...what am I to do with it?"

"You put it outside your home to ward off scary spirits! Like those who wanna wilt the crops!"

She had her doubts about these traditions of yours, but she grows to like this "jack of lantern" and puts it into effect almost immediately.

More followers join in, learning how to carve their own pumpkins and place them outside their homes.

It actually gives the incredibly superstitious and paranoid some comfort that they won't be haunted or plagued by negative spirits/energy.

Heket made a point to allow an overabundance of pumpkin patches during Halloween season so there's enough for both food and carving.

She also discovers people are willing to pay for the best-looking ones, so she allows the elders to run stands by the fields and make some coin.

Ofc, a good chunk of the profits go directly to her.

Shamura

Skull piles and skeletal decorations are commonplace in Silk Cradle, being trophies of wars and intimidating those who dared wander into their domain--grim reminders that it could be their own skull next.

You, however, find them nonthreatening as you've had similar decor back in your little town of Halloween (/ref).

Fake or not, you loved them all the same (plus the cobwebs, even though most are just part of the natural environment) and had to ask Shamura if Halloween was celebrated all year here, too.

Although their brain struggles to recollect things, they have books on holidays and their ancient origins..so they are aware it exists.

But it's not one they ever cared to implement.

Nevertheless, they permit you to decorate your home to your heart's content with whatever skulls and bundles of silk you found--as well as pumpkins shipped from Anura.

They're nicer to you bc you remind them of Narinder back in his youth, fascinated with the spooky and the taboo.

All the giant axe traps and toxic pits scattered throughout Silk Cradle never bothered you, as you've seen them back in the spooky dungeons of your hometown.

Usually the resident bugs would freak out any newcomer shelling in new traditions..but Shamura told them that you, specifically, are not to be harmed under any circumstance and that they allowed this.

You've actually befriended Hauras, sewing them a spidery Halloween cape for them in place of the gray rags they wore.

They wear it with pride to every sermon from there on, not caring who judges.

Kallamar

This bishop's paranoia is a force to be reckoned with.

Even if one hapless follower said the words "red crown" in any context, he'll strike them down for "preaching heresy". He's easily scared of the taboo and misfortune falling into his realm.

So Halloween is definitely the last thing he wants to hear about, especially with its association of black cats (who are in turn associated with bad luck and Narinder).

He keeps trying to shoo you away when you try explaining that's a common myth.

If he sees you using bones and skulls as decorations, he feels sick to his stomach and orders you to take them down.

Those can be used to forge weapons or intimidate potential dissenters! They're not yours to keep!!

Yet you never listen, oblivious to his demands as you try telling him they're harmless.

Would he ever punish you for disobeying with sickness or sacrifice?

No...or at least not at this stage in your life.

That would damage his already-fragile reputation as a leader even further.

But if you grew up into an elder and continued with these "twisted traditions", however, he'd punish you as retribution for the "torment" you've brought upon him.

He just wishes you'd follow his ways and his ways alone.

Fortunately for you, that retribution never comes as he's brought into Lamb's cult during your teen years...with you keeping the Halloween tradition alive and well.

And Kallamar has a more open mind now, although he's still easily spooked by the decor Lamb brings out during the Blood Moon Festival.

The first time he partakes in it, someone pranked him with a fake ear and it traumatized him so bad he cried and hid inside his shelter.

But you comforted him, forgoing the festivities and sharing your candy until he was okay.

You just show him how to carve a jack o'lantern for the remainder of the night, and he's in awe as it glows.

Every year since, Halloween becomes less and less scary for him--and it's all ironically thanks to you.

Leshy

As a young bishop, he's open to ideas for traditions, holidays, etc. for his followers to enjoy.

So when little kitty cat you hailing from a distant land of Halloween propose celebrating it...he's all for it!

The only problem is, well, his sight.

With the Green Crown, he can see the general forms of followers, his siblings, and most structures within Darkwood, but he wouldn't be able to see the tiny details that gave Halloween its magic.

But you explained how you could go for bigger and brighter things. Like jack o'lanterns (made of both pumpkins and turnips) and skulls of giant beasts!

He approves of it and lets you lead in decorating the village nearest to his temple.

Followers initially questioned why they had to listen to a child, of all folks, but they're grateful it's something genuinely fun.

From your town, you've also brought scented candles to really enhance everybody's spooky spirit.

Especially for your Lord Leshy, who finds the smells delightful.

The pumpkin spice ends up becoming his favorite.

You've got him completely fixated on this event.

Plus it's a good opportunity for chaos to reign: with followers pranking one other and scaring each other half to death, dressing up like ghouls and skeletons.

The Bonfire Ritual is one Leshy likes to conduct to boost both his strength and cult morale (he's gotta benefit from all of this somehow too, of course).

Lamb

Not only did Lamb's cult know about Halloween...but they also celebrated it with the Blood Moon Festival.

You fully participated in the ritual every year, rushing outside just in time to see the moon turn blood-red and the sky darken for several days.

The ghosts of deceased followers usually terrified the living, yet you greeted all of them with smiles, waving goodbye as Lamb exorcised them with their book.

Crows, cattle skeletons, and even demons flocked to the cult as well, having been residents of your hometown, too.

And the decorations?????

You were obsessed and jumping for joy, wanting to decorate your little shelter and help everybody else with theirs!

And of course you participated in the many activities going on, including bonfire rituals, apple bobbing, and passing out soul cakes (yep you had a recipe for that from your hometown, too).

One year, Webber showed up and was initially scared since everyone was just staring at them and the spiders scattered around their feet..

But you greeted them warmly, showing them around the cult grounds and what the festival was all about.

Lamb themselves is impressed.

You're only half the age of most of their followers, yet you're active and very responsible (although only if your tasks have anything to do with Halloween).

So as a gift, they bless you with a jack o'lantern necklace. Not only does it light up at night, but its magical properties allowed you to lift up any pumpkin no matter its size with ease!

You vow to carve the biggest jack o'lantern the Old Faith's ever seen.

[archaiclumina]

I am sappy atm and this post will likely not stay up forever, because I am nothing if not notoriously fickle about sharing facts about my life with the old world wide web. But, I miss my brother and I wanna talk about him. The rest is under the cut <3 to avoid upsetting folks. tw include cancer and death

I truly do believe the dead only die when we forget to remember them. And while I remember my brother all the time, I rarely talk about him with strangers on the internet. But today, I want to. So I will tell you a bit about my brother, and share some of my family photos with you all!

People in my day to day life, and a few online friends who have gotten to know me really well, (and some folks who saw a post kinda like this one but a bit sadder at the start of the month you guys know who you are c':), already know how much I love my brother. He is gone now, but that doesn't stop me loving him at all. I speak of my love for him in present tense, because it didn't die when he did. Nearly every day I see or learn something that I wish I could share with him and tell him about. I wish I could tell him that David Byrne made new music with Montaigne. Or show him the Monster Hunter Rathalos Telecaster that Fender released. I wish I could tell him I got into my PhD! Because life is strange and maybe a little bit ironic, I found out about the approval for my PhD proposal on his birthday this year, so maybe in some strange universal way he does know about these things, even if I can't tell him. I like to think of it that way sometimes and sometimes, it is comforting to think that might be the case. But most of the time I am cold, and hard, and logical. I know my brother doesn't know anything anymore, because he is dead now. In those moments, I remind myself it's my job to learn about the things he loved still, to keep him close in an abstract way. I suppose in another way, it's also my job to tell other people about the things he loved, and the sort of person he was, to keep his memory alive. And I guess that is why I am writing this essay thing right now.

My brothers name was Marco. I used to call him Marcy. When I was 5 I apparently explained to him this was because "Marc" was for short, and "Marcy" was for long c': His friends called him pumpkin seed <3

My brother was 12 years my senior. We didn't really grow up together. Our home life was not great and he was a homeless youth due to those circumstances. But despite our big age gap and the fact neither of us got to spend our childhoods together, we were probably as tight as sibling could be in adulthood. We saw each other regularly, we texted regularly, we went to the movies together, went shopping together, we browsed second hand bookshops and scoured for occult classics from AE Waite, or epic fantasy from Le Guin. We sat on the grass in the park and looked up at the trees and he could tell me their names just by looking. My brothers love for plants is a huge part of why I worked plants into Oli's character concept tbh.

He was the person there for every important milestone. Graduation, birthdays, all that stuff. Funny story, digital cameras didn't exist when I turned sixteen and my bro spent a whole evening snapping pictures of my birthday with the lens cap on c': we don't have any photos from that birthday, but the memory of discovering all the blank photos when we developed them still makes me laugh a lot c: Here's a picture of us the day I graduated from my Masters.

I get emotional to look at it because you can see how happy I am and how proud he is of me. He always told me he was proud of me, I am sure most, if not all, big brothers are like that. And I know he would still be proud of me today if he was around, but gosh, wouldn't I give anything to be able to hear him say it again in the flesh instead of just in my memories. He was so supportive of me, and my dreams, "I never want you to stop writing," he used to say to me, I really wish I could tell him the book I was working on when he was sick is not only going to get read by people, it's going to form an entire academic work on the journey of authorship in the digital age.

When he was dying of pancreatic cancer, he was really adamant he needed to take lots of selfies for us all of him being silly, and joking around, often with silly snap chat filters, so no matter what, we'd remember him that way. Here are some examples of the ones he would send us c':

He was an amazing self taught guitarist. One of my favourite things in the world was listening to him learn a song by ear. He would pluck his way through it, learning the notes perfectly for each bar of the tune. Like my husband, metal was his main love, but he also was eclectic in tastes like me. He loved that "Enter the Ninja" song by Die Antwoord so much it's what we played when they cremated him. We made a playlist together when he was dying so I'd always have music to remember him by and he asked me to put on Betty by Taylor Swift because "it's a nice melody". He was a man of diverse and discerning tastes c':

When he was dying, his muso friends all brought their amps and instruments around, and our neighbours in our apartment complex were all beans who never complained once about the noise. (Obviously we had explained the situ before we let a bunch of metal heads rock up with marshall stacks c': ) Here's a photo of him playing just after the selfie he took during his chemo that I posted above!

He was the best and coolest brother I could have ever asked for. Even though his life was so hard, he was nothing but gentle and compassionate. He taught me how to be kind to others. Please know that every time I am writing a nice tag on your stuff, it's because he showed me how important it is to do that. The way he lived and the way he died taught me to say the kind words, to tell people how you feel, to take chances to connect with others, because time is so, so short, you know?

Sorry to maybe be a bit of a downer to folks, I know it's not great to hear about people dying of cancer. But he was so special to me, and I miss him a lot and it's been four years without his laugh and his jokes, and four years without him telling my husband he is the best cook, and four years without him asking me "where's my zucchini bread!?" (He was a vegetarian for nearly all his life and very fond of zucchini in just about every form you can cook it c': )

My husband knew my brother since he's known me, they were great friends, even before we dated, when we were just neighbours! (yeah my husband used to be my neighbour, but that's another story c': ) My brother and my husband were so tight they used to hang out together when I was living in the USA!

Here's the three of us together in October 2020 at a cool nature spot near where we used to live. He was so sick he couldn't go far from home really, but this place was super close and had a Japanese garden there too, which he loved, because I love Japan. We had a picnic there by the river the day we took this photo, it was about two weeks before we found out the treatment hadn't helped his prognosis and he only had two weeks left. Actually they told him he had a week left, but my brother was a resilient mother fucker and outlived their estimate by an extra seven days!

I know my husband misses him as much as I do. He was like a brother to him too. An unofficial brother-in-law, because he could only be there in spirit on the official day.

Boopoween day was an amazing blessing, I usually spend Halloween looking at photos like these and crying. But for the first time in a long time, I spent the day laughing and feeling connected to the world, instead of all alone with my grief. So thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who indulged all my silly spam boops that day. You really don't know what a gift you gave me. Halloween was our favourite holiday, it's another really strange, and ironic, and hard thing to deal with, that he died on that day. His birthday was October 2nd too, so the whole month is a bit of a write off for me honestly and why I don't spend much of it on socials.

This past few days my husband decided he would put some positivity into the universe and use his talent to do some nice things for people because he thought it was something my bro would have liked, and because it is nice when you're feeling sad to find a way to make someone else smile c: and, It really made both of us smile to see how happy everyone was with his little gifts, so thank you all!

And thank you for reading a little bit about my brother. It was nice for me to share some stuff about him with folks <3

[ahgasegotarmy116]

what was jk’s initial reaction to the revelation? Like after oc went outside to cool off and he was left with Jared and Jina. Did he tell them off? I really wanted to see what he would tell Jared since he was apperantly giving him the stink eye for a while now

"Jina" I call after her as I watch her stalking towards Jared as he walks back into the house after chasing y/n. "What?" she spits out, whipping her head back around to face me. 

"Wanna try that again?" I ask, cocking a brow at her and she stiffens after realizing what she had done. "I'm sorry dad I just...well Jared he-" "What were you thinking Jina? Sneaking around with your best friend's boyfriend? Oh I'm sorry her fiancé" I say, throwing it back at her again to instill further guilt. "I raised you better than this and you know that" I growl out, trying to keep my anger at bay. 

"How could you do this? Y/n was your first and from what I can see only true friend you've had since we moved here. Why would you do something that cruel?" I ask, clearly not understanding how my own daughter could cause someone that we both care about such heartbreak.

"I don't know dad it just happened okay. There's nothing I can do about it now so can we just drop it already?" she says, her head on a swivel, no doubt looking for where Jared had disappeared to. "No we can't just drop it. I expect to see you and Jared in my study. Now!" I bark out and her whole body stiffens in fear before running off to find him. 

~~~~

I hear a faint knock at the door and grant them entry without even glancing up. 

"You wanted to see us?" Jared asks with that all to familiar arrogant tone. "Sit" I bark out and they both take a seat at the two chairs I have placed in front of my desk.  I stand up and glare down at Jared thinking about how easy it would be to snap his neck right now. 

He's been a thorn in my side ever since Jina brought him and y/n over to the house for the first time and I've been waiting for the day I could put him in place. Although I wish it was under different circumstances. 

His gaze always full of lust towards both of them when they weren't looking but oh how I saw it. I saw it every damn time and I kept my mouth shut mistakenly thinking that my daughter would stay as far away from him in terms of anything more than a platonic friendship and even that had me grinding my teeth at the thought. 

"You're lucky you're not six feet under for what you did to y/n and Jina" I growl at him, holding myself back from hurting him. "Are you serious? She came onto me" he claims but I know without even looking at Jina that it's a lie. 

"Oh yeah and so I guess you really don't have much of a brain if you couldn't tell her no or get her off of you. Or did you even try?" I add, cocking my head, cracking my neck in the process to gain some form of relief from the stiffness that come over me after I heard those devastating words leave y/n's mouth. 

"Right" I say, filling up the silence Jared had left, all of us knowing he would be lying if he said otherwise. I take a deep breath before turning my back to them to compose myself before saying another word. 

"I'm keeping the baby dad" she says, making the choice I was sure she would've made anyway, at least this way one less person has to suffer. Life might've been seen as being 'better' if she had taken the easy way out but we all know that we would've felt their absence everyday if she had. 

"Did he force himself on you?" I ask her, not daring to look him in the eye otherwise I might snap. "Are you seriously asking if I raped her?" Jared says, getting up out of his chair and after that I'm at my limit and loom over him and look him dead in the eye, this time asking him the question since he so eagerly jumped in before she could answer. 

"Yeah Jared I am. Did you rape my daughter" I growl out, praying to anyone who might hear me that the answer is no. "No I didn't fucking rape her" he grits his teeth and flares his nostrils, clearly trying and failing to intimidate me. 

"He got me drunk dad but I said yes" Jina admits to me and before Jared gets whatever insult that had been bubbling in his throat out my fist collides with his face, leaving him falling to the floor and coughing back the pain from the blow. 

"Fuck" he groans out as he staggers up to his feet. 

"If I catch you anywhere near this house. If I see you touching either one of them I will gut you from the inside out you hear me?" I bark out at him and he flinches back at the volume, now knowing that violence is not beneath me when it comes to my girls. 

"Yes sir" he says, hissing at the sting of his busted lip. "Get the hell out of my sight" I say and turn my back to him again and hear him stalk out of my office and out the front door. 

"Dad why-" "Why did I what? Punch the guy who got my daughter vulnerable enough to be able to convince her to have sex with him and is now pregnant with his baby? Are you really asking me why I did that?" I scoff and she tries to speak again but I cut her off before she can say anything else. 

"How long?" I question, waiting for the answer and dreading the number. "Wha-" "How long have you been sleeping with him Jina for fucks sake just answer the question" I shout and watch her cower back into her chair. 

"Why are you talking to me like this? You've never yelled at me before" she asks, making my heart break as I see glimpses of the broken little girl I know she hides inside of her but not letting up because I know she needs discipline and not sympathy right now. 

"How, long?" I say again, emphasizing each word. "Six months" she whispers out, cringing at revealing the shameful amount of time they had spent together. "How far along are you?" I question, this time a bit gentler. "Two months" she says even quieter than the last. 

"Do you have a doctor?" I question, wanting to make sure that she and the baby are being looked after properly. "Not yet" she says hanging her head, finally letting her shame consume her entire being. "Get one and tell me the name so I can cover the costs" I say, my back turned to her, trying to withhold that part of me that wants to hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay. But she fucked up, and she deserves to feel the guilt and the shame of her actions for a while now that it's out in the open.

"Dad I can-" "This isn't open for discussion Jina. Find a doctor and send me their information or I will find one for you myself. Now leave, I don't want you coming back here until I say so" I say, keeping my voice as level as I can. 

"But dad I-" "No Jina, go. We'll discuss this later" I say, leaving the room before I have a chance to lose my resolve and go to the nearest bedroom to calm down before seeing the rest of our lingering guests out. 

~~~~~

Hope this answered your question hehe

Thanks for the ask love 🥰

[ghost-husbands]

I have Thoughts™.

My perspective of Payneland and Cryland, under the cut because knowing me, this is gonna get long probably.

Before I begin, I wanna leave a little disclaimer and say I am not here with the intention of bashing any ship or any character. I love Charles because he's my favorite and that's that. I love Edwin as well. I think Payneland is fantastic and they really carry the whole show. I love it. I also like Crystal and the struggles she's had, the way she's carried them and survived them. I do have a soft spot for Charles x Crystal. I love them all, just to be clear. Not hear to bash anybody or throw shade...okay let's get to the other stuff.

Okay so I've always been one to pay a LOT of attention to the little details that the writers/directors/actors themselves with acting choices etc put into the portrayal of characters. Whether that's body language or dialogue or whatever.

When I think about what incites me to ship or not ship a pairing, I realize that it's a couple of things.

The chemistry that may or may not be there. It could be a pairing that interacts or does stuff together, and if they get along and it just seems so natural and doable, I can see that. This will usually be me thinking "Oh god, these people are perfect together. Look at the way A is looking at B! It's obvious B is in love with A" or whatever.

The circumstances - They could be two characters that the plot itself is driving together. Maybe star-crossed lovers or A pining for B etc.

And then there's the matter of the emotions/reactions that you can see between said characters. Now this fascinates me.

Taking a look at the Charles/Edwin dynamic and Charles/Crystal. I'm not so much intending to compare the two with the end of saying "this one or this one" when you can say "why not both?" Because frankly I love them both but differently. It's more to look at the relationships and those ideas I mentioned above in respect to these characters.

Charles x Edwin

Historically, they have a LOT more time together, by each other's side for 30+ years after Edwin finds Charles on the brink of death in that attic in 1989. Charles isn't ready to go and refuses to leave Edwin alone. From then on, they never part. As for what happens between their first meeting and when the show begins, I'm not extremely familiar because I haven't read the comics and all I do know is from what I've seen.

You can see that there is deep devotion between the two of them. They will protect each other (even if that's mostly Charles taking the beatings to keep Edwin safe) for sure, that notion is there. Edwin knows he can count on Charles and vice versa. Edwin definitely has feelings that he's struggling with through the season (being honest with himself as to what they are and dealing with the impossibly hard to bear burden of keeping those inside his heart bc he, prior to 1x07, doesn't know how Charles will react to this). Charles, on the other hand, cares very, very much for Edwin and would probably tear the universe apart if that was necessary to make sure that Edwin was alive, safe and sound by the end of the day. I've heard different things, but it seems to me that Charles also has these feelings, but it either didn't occur to him before or he didn't know how to identify or put those into words. That's perhaps why he said 'I can't say that I'm in love with you back' not 'I don't love you' or 'I'm not in love with you'. It was definitely NOT a rejection, I don't think so. Anyway, this is thought spilling for another moment.

A particular detail that hasn't left me alone since I saw it pointed out here...the fact that both Charles and Edwin, when they are embraced by other....BOTH of them, in those separate moments lay a hand over their heart. It affects them, they feel something there in the heart. What that is, I have no idea. I really want to know, and it's a delicious left-to-us-to-think-about sort of thing which in a way is much more fun than simply explaining it away with words. But that is contact (which, mind you, in theory, ghosts don't have) they wouldn't, theoretically feel.

And yet. When Charles hugs Edwin, Edwin afterward lays a hand over his heart and reacts as if something happened there, and I'm pretty sure it did. Same for Charles, when he hugs Edwin after they find out they're staying where they are...he feel something there.

Charles x Crystal

I know that this isn't a common ship (at least not nearly as popular as Payneland) and most will look at it from a perspective of "Not possible, he's a ghost, she's a human being. That's going to fall apart at some point". Some would also probably say that it's not something essentially romantic (that's looking at it and saying that what is there isn't love but could be friendship, other third thing whatever). I just want to look at Charles and Crystal as Charles and Crystal and pick apart the stuff we see.

Charles is compassionate, warm and has a big heart. I saw that from the beginning. He's the one who steps up and to Edwin's chagrin, announces that they'd be taking Crystal in until she's recovered. They go off on a walk and he enjoys it, even laughing when she's essentially mocking him, trying to be "mean".

The alley scene

His compassion really just struck a chord with me because of that moment in the alleyway. Now Edwin is upset (and I think he's right to be. Perhaps not in a shouty way but he's a little bit right) because the rhythm he's accustomed to with Charles has been turned on its head with Crystal's arrival. They have a demon to deal with on top of the cases they're working on, inconvenient stuff happens because of the little human being Charles has taken in, despite Edwin's displeasure. (Edwin is dear to me, and I love him. Not trying to bash him in any way...) So he's upset and he snaps, distinctly unhappy with the unnecessary problems the DBDA is met with because of Crystal. Crystal's patience is worn thin (poor girl had a nasty run in with demonic ex-boyfriend only moments before) and she gets mad. She snaps, and walks off. Charles watches her go, and Edwin makes a comment about how Crystal was yelling at "them" but Charles clarifies that it wasn't "them" as in, she wasn't yelling at Charles so much as Edwin. Anyway, all this is besides the point.

My point is that Charles at that point, follows after and listens, attentively, to Crystal relating how she feels that she can't go back to her home, that without her memories, that's how she feels. He looks pensive, considering what to do. What does he do? He wants to show her something. Tells her they need a mirror.

He shows her his parents, there in the mirror, and basically tells her that he relates. He knows what it's like. It just strikes me that he's being a little bit vulnerable here. We later find just how deep that stuff is inside of him, and we even get a little hint of that when he explains that his dad wasn't a very nice person. But he's showing her that he's listening, he knows what she means to a certain degree and just the act of doing that is reaching out, in a way, that's how I take it. His compassion.

The scene outside Jenny's shop

Crystal is shaken from what's just happened, and can't help but remember David and the toxicity of that relationship. Charles is there for her, and as I've said before, I think it's really interesting what he does next. He's sitting beside her on the curb and he just puts an arm around her. This is a comforting gesture, he knows, for her. Can he feel it? Aside from maybe physical pressure, no, not really. He just does it, for her. He doesn't get anything out of that.

The kisses - (or his attempt and her rejection, and the goodbye kiss)

Another point of interest for me was the kisses. It's established, confirmed in the canon by 1x07, I believe, that ghosts can't actually physically feel stuff like touch, a kiss or anything of that ilk. Earlier we see that when Charles tells Edwin he kissed Crystal. Edwin asks whether or not he felt it, and Charles (and this really is something that's been bouncing in my head) points to his temple, and says "...but I felt it here". Emotions? The emotional impact of it, rather than the physical effect it would have on him. Memory? He remembers what it's like to kiss and considers that, but still can't quite feel it.

Then, there's the moment when Crystal wakes up from that nightmare. (Part of me, not going to lie, thought, Charles would never hurt you...I don't understand how he could end up in a dream like that, confused with David the demon, but Crystal's trying to sort herself out). Charles goes in to talk to her, and the first thing he does is lean in as though to kiss her. Again, he's not gonna get anything out of that. It seemed to me like simple affection he wanted to show her, because we know he damn well won't feel anything. Not really. She pulls away because that nightmare really shook her and she's just not ready to pursue anything. (Which was good writing on the part of the show, it's realistic.) Just caught my attention that that had crossed Charles' mind to do that.

And then, the goodbye kiss.

Now this is more of a question from me. Why?

We see clearly that Charles isn't happy to see her go. He cares about her. She's his friend, he just doesn't want her to leave. Like 'he grabs her bags and holds them out of her reach "Nope you're not going"' doesn't want her to go. To his question of "Why does this feel like a goodbye goodbye and not a 'see you in London' goodbye?" she answers with a kiss. Doesn't say anything, just kisses him.

He looks a little confused, uncertain, trying-to-solve-a-puzzle about it. Which I think was an interesting (but not out of character) response to that, because he wouldn't have been able to feel it. But that begs the question, what exactly is it in his head that he does feel...

My final thoughts: I think Charles and Crystal are cute. According to show canon, no, it just can't happen on a logical level, according to where she is in trying to step back into her life and discover herself, and just the fact that he's a ghost. It wouldn't work. As friends, I think it's something sweet and I also think that the affection there is something real, something that they both need. And the characters as well. Affection, love and understanding are things all human beings need, and it's a lovely thing to see that given and received among all of our loved characters.

In the scope of fanfiction and the free creativity there, I'm open to possibilities because of the existence of AUs, different times, different places.

I certainly don't think that there's anything toxic to this relationship, but that's just me.

If you came to the end of this, bless you. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[nourtella]

Describe your ideal daddy (physical and emotional)

thank you for this thought provoking question !! my answer is below the cut, cause i understand not everyone wants to read all of that hihihi <3

emotional:

as stated in my pinned post, i love sophisticated men. men that are well read, soft and eloquently spoken. men that have a way with words, in a genuine not manipulative manner. men that have the ability to make me stumble over my own words, because of their own. men that talk about concepts or words i need to look up the meaning of. men that will keep me hooked on their every word and can keep me stimulated intellectually and mentally. men that i can learn from. men that are wise and are able to lead.

i love soft, gentle and caring daddies most. daddies that put my needs before theirs, even though i would wanna give back to them ten fold, cause they're just that loving to me. daddies who are nerds or have niche interests of some sort, that make me wanna rip their clothes off, when they passionately show me or talk to me about it. daddies whose love languages are either acts of service or words of affirmation (physical touch would be just the cherry on top). daddies who are healthily jealous and possessive over me. daddies who crave and yearn for me just as much as i am in need of them and are under no circumstance holding back to show me that. so, you could say i am into what a lot of men falsely deem as "simp behavior".

daddies who are nice and respectable gentlemen, who take the most pleasure in praising and worshipping me, rather than "hurting" me, even though it'd be consensual. daddies that are pleasure doms. daddies who give me gentle discipline, when i am acting like a bratty princess (which is like most of the time), but get off on me behaving that way regardless. romantic daddies. daddies who you could never tell are into kinky shit, cause they radiate a golden retriever energy to the outside. daddies that cum just as hard, if not harder, from jerking off to my selfies. daddies that talk me through it. daddies that can also be submissive !!!!!!!!!

physical:

i don't have a type looks wise, cause i like a lot of things ! but i do love men with very masculine features most !!

beards, mustaches or bare faced. longer hair, short hair- i love it all, as long as he's well groomed and it suits his face. speaking of hair- idk what it is but hairy men are so hot. chest hair and happy trails especially !!! he needs to be a little ugly (don't ask, it's a girls thing). tattoos are hot and so are glasses. he needs to dress well and be up to match or coordinate outfits with me occasionally. also, nice big strong veiny hands and arms !!

he could be on the skinnier side, he could be a little chubby, be super athletic and chisled, have a dad bod- you name it, i like all of those. i also do not have a criteria for his height. all that matters, is that he's a whole lot bigger than me, which is not gonna be hard with regards to how i'm built. after all what's most important to me, is that he fulfills my emotional criteria, cause then he'll automatically look like the only and most handsome man in the world to me !! <3