#we could barely even afford to buy the stuff for my costume so i had to borrow like half of it from a friend

[nonbinarychaoticstupid]

i mentioned this in the tags of another post somewhere but there rly is something so theatre kid core insane in rehearsing les mis and learning how to build a barricade and playing the role of a student in the rebellion at the same time as an awful winter is descending on you and you have no real way of knowing how much money you're going to have left and the coronation of king charles, which will most likely be millions of pounds worth of money spent on watching another racist idiot put a hat on, seems to be a more important use of the government's expenses than feeding and heating the homes of the rest of the country. like idk i really would love to hear the people fucking sing. or something.

[mashedpotittiess]

Games of Tomorrow

Header created by my muse and bb R. Title: Games of Tomorrow. Pairing: Taehyung x Reader. Mentions of: Hoseok, Jin, Subin (Victon) and OC’s Summary: A simple game of beer pong stirred up some not so innocent feelings between you and the man you held much disdain for. After all, he was your enemy. The person you couldn’t seem beat when it came to grades. You were never enough for the rich and popular but maybe just maybe you’d show them what you were all about.  Words: 13k Rating: M  Genre: Enemies to Lovers!au, College au!, Smut, Fluff, Angst.

This was all inspired by this photo which I just edited (color, background and the text)so all original photo credits go to the owner.

A/N: What started as a simple short drabble ended in this much longer than intended fic. This is my first pic so pls be gentle. I am but a noob to tumblr writing. I hope you enjoy this craziness <3 this fic is dedicated to my friend who picked Tae to be the first character I wrote about and sat there and listened to me freaking out cause the fic kept getting longer. Ily R. This is Un-Edited so i apologize in advance for the mistakes. I’ll re-read it and fix mistakes as i come across them. Tags/Warnings: Smutty smut smut, Jealousy, Drinking, Mention of Marijuana, Oral (female receiving) Fingering (female receiving), Unprotected sex (wrap it up kids) Fluff, Angst, Size kink, Tae mentioning his DIG BICK, semi rough sex (not really though).

Fic inspired Playlist Link:

spotify:playlist:77Hd51hVnDHe8Q9JaLxGbD

Taglist: @a-mess-of-fandoms @dnyad

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“Absolutely not” you said calmly into the cellphone receiver. “But y/n! You need to let loose once in awhile, and no I’m not talking about sitting on your couch eating bowls of Ramen and cheese popcorn while watching re-runs of Boy Meets World with a big glass of too much Whiskey” Layla practically whined. She had been trying to convince you to go with her to Seokjin’s party on Saturday for an entire hour. She was right, you knew this coming weekend you’d be plopped onto that same blue couch in your big band t-shirt and fuzzy socks doing exactly that. “I’ll think about it” you finally mumbled out and could practically hear the smile in your best friends voice as she exclaimed a ‘woot woot’ “Okay Hot Stuff, i’ll text you later, gotta get to Volleyball Practice” with that she hung up and you continued your walk to what you’d call a ‘Headache’ of a class.  It’s not that you hated Econ per say, it’s that you studied your ass off, completed extra credit assignments with a flourish and took wonderfully color coded notes (if you say so yourself). But yet, HE still scored higher than you (even if it was just by one point) and what’s worse is that he NEVER seemed to study, never seemed to care.  Trudging into class you took your usual seat in the second row close to the middle. Organizing your laptop, books and assortment of pencils and pens on the table. As Professor Carmine began his lesson writing “Principles of Economics” onto the whiteboard with his usual navy blue marker, you diligently took notes and nodded along with his rhetorical questions.  “Before we end for today lets see who can answer this simple yet intriguing question, “Would you consider Inflation or Deflation of cost cycles to be more costly to a business?” You pondered on how to word your answer for about two seconds before raising your hand. “Yes Ms. Y/L/N” you shifted in your seat slightly. “While I know this question has no definite answer as it can be interpreted many ways, I would say with our current Economy, Inflation of prices would be more costly,” Before you could continue you heard a Deep Baritone voice that you knew too well scoff. “So you think Deflation would benefit a business? that’s essentially lowering your prices which in turn leads to loss of income” You rolled your eyes nonchalantly and turned around in your seat to look at the man in the fourth row who had not only interrupted you but disagreed and voiced his disagreement.  “I said with our current economy Inflation could hurt a business. Do you think regular people can afford to buy a $3,000 purse when they make minimum wage? It could cost a company to make said purse for $200 with cost of material and labor. If you lower those prices by a fraction, said company would still be making money and you could possibly have more demand as more people with regular paying jobs can afford you buy said purse. If you higher the price less  regular people can afford such a luxury item which could hurt the demand. Thus causing an issue with the income for a business”. You said staring at the red haired man pulling a cock of his right eyebrow from him. “Regular people don’t need a $3,000 bag, you want brands to lower the prices so poor people can buy their items? How sad. Tae is right, just higher the prices and get more money. Businesses will make their money regardless of the lower or middle class purchasing their items, as long as they have people like us,” a high pitched voice you recognized as Nami said gesturing to herself and the perfect barbies next to her “buying from them”. Before you continue the alarm from your Professors phone startled you and signaled the end of not only your Monday class but your discussion as well. You picked up your items, shoving them in your bag and trudged out of class. As you passed Taehyung with Nami, Michelle, Hoseok and Gigi at his back he smirked at you and you swore you heard Nami giggling ‘Bet she’s never even held a Chanel bag in her hands. she just wants everybody to be ratchet like people like her’. Smiling to yourself you turned around and flipped them the bird “At least I don’t have to go crying to daddy to buy me a new set of tits, I make my own money and work hard for it. Something you wouldn’t know a thing about, and THAT is what I find sad about your entailed fake ass”. your voice carrying through the hall as you turned back around and made your way back to your dorm. ——————————————— “You know what day it is? TACO Tuesday” You exclaimed while taking a shot of Jose Cuervo and stirring your meat to ensure its cooked properly. Your roommate Casey giggled and Layla downed a shot with you while blasting a Pitbull song. After plating your dinner of carne picada tacos topped with all your usual veggies and homemade Salsa you smiled while your friends posted pics to their instas, Captioning “BB y/n made us food”.  “I still can’t believe you told Nami her tits were fake” Casey giggled while shoving a fistful of popcorn into her mouth. “y/n said her tits and her ass were fake” Layla corrected and you smiled at your dorky friends. “She deserved it, nothing I said wasn’t true. You all were sprawled out on the couch pilled high with fluffy blankets watching a random episode of The Nanny and laughing at random jokes Layla said while scrolling through her Insta feed. “OOOOOOh Valeria is getting ice cream with Subin” Casey practically pouted at the post and you sighed knowing your roommates crush on Valeria which did not go unseen by Layla, causing a metaphorical lightbulb to go off in her head. “You know Casey, Valeria is going to be at Jin’s party on Saturday” Casey being held buzzed sat up catching the bait and worried her bottom lip “Is she?” Layla nodded “This could be your chance to get a fistful of all that Latina, metaphorically and not so metaphorically” she crudely added with a wiggle of her eyebrows and you literally face palmed at your best friends words. Instead of being equally gassed out, Casey however downed her coke and stood up triumphantly “It’s time I tell her!” Layla stood up with her screaming a loud ‘yaaaaas queen’ and both pairs of eyes looked towards you sitting their nursing your Sprite. “What?” you questioned and immediately regretted when both girls practically jumped on you, squishing you between their bodies. “I can’t confess without knowing you and Layla are both there” Casey pouted her soft pink colored lips causing you to shake your head. “You do not need me there while you confess to your crush.”  “But what if it goes bad? what if she rejects me, or worse; makes fun of me? What if i need to leave and I’m crying and I have snot everywhere an-“ Before she could continue you sighed and covered her mouth with your right hand. Nodding you stood up and smiled at both girls “Fuck it, Let’s get your Girl!” you knew Casey had liked her for literally an entire year and you knew you’d feel like shit if you weren’t there supporting your friend as she bared her heart. “I’m only doing this for you though, so know that I love you.” ——————————————— While the rest of the week you were dreading the party Saturday knowing Nami, Taehyung and the other were going to be there, it was Thursday night that was the straw that broke the Camels back. You had just finished returning your copy of Ulysses when you passed Nami practically hanging on the redhead talking about her Angel costume for Seokjins party. Rolling your eyes as you passed you stopped as you heard her ask “What are you rolling your eyes about? This is a private conversation” she flipped her hair over her left shoulder and you yet again rolled your eyes. “This is a public hallway, which means anything you say that can be heard by others can in fact get a response be it verbal or physical by someone other than the intended person in the conversation.” You were just about to turn around when she hmmphed “Whatever, mind your own business” turning around you were met with Layla jogging towards you. “Hot Stuff, what are we going to wear to the party? I’m thinking Doja Cat from the ‘Juicy’ MV, omg you should be -“ Before your best friend could continue, Nami stepped towards you with her arms crossed. “And how did someone like you, get an invitation?” punctuating the ‘you’ she pointed at you. “Jin and I are both on the Volleyball team” Layla stated and turned towards you “And he said I can bring whoever I wanted.” “I still don’t know why you hang around people like her” she once again pointed to you with her baby pink manicured index finger. You knew Layla had money and could very well fit in with their group. You sometimes felt like you were her downfall, the anchor to her social climb. But she always reassured you that she hated people like Nami and never understood why out of everyone, she hated you in particular for the passed two years. “Maybe because she’s my BEST friend, whoever gets invited to the party doesn’t involve you Nami. It’s JINS party, not yours.” Layla shook her head and you bit your bottom lip while curling your fists at your sides trying to calm yourself down.”Maybe she should be Donkey from Shrek, or maybe an edgy emo kid from 2010 with her ugly tattoos” Nami smirked and you heard Taehyung ‘who was scrolling on his phone let out a light laugh, his deep baritone further fueling Nami’s ego. “Have you ever even been to a party? like have you ever even left you dorm for something other than classes and your jobs” she sneered at the words jobs. “You should just reconsider coming, people like YOU don’t belong. People like YOU really should know your place” Your jaw visibly ticked “Seems like you have an obsession with anything my best friend does, is this like you having a big lesbian crush on her?” Layla said while placing a hand on your shoulder and doing her best Janice from Mean Girls impression. Before Nami could say anything back Taehyung nodded out a “Guess we will see you there then, bye Layla, bye y/n” turning to leave. Nami rolled her eyes and checked her phone “Not like it’ll matter what you wear, wait, OMG you should soo wear a ghost costume, it would suit you. Get it? cause you’ll be invisible and you don’t belong” then turned around, her yellow heels clacking against the tile as she following Taehyung down the hall cackling. “I still don’t know why she’s always hated you of all people? like it’s been two years of the same thing with her. I honestly don’t know how you haven’t hit her. I’ve seen you fight” She smiled and grabbed your hand, holding it while you all made your way down the hall, which made you smile and let out a small giggle at her comment about you fighting. She knew about your childhood and how you practically lived at you neighbors boxing gym to let off steam as a stress reliever. You had agreed to find a suitable costume as rage filled you from Navi’s moments and Taehyung’s lack of interest in the matter. (not that you would’ve expected much from him)

As you scanned the rows of costumes hung on the wall neatly you waited by the changing room while Layla and Casey tried on their costumes. “I think i’ll just go with this one” Casey smiled softly while twirling in her peter pan costume, her blond bob swishing lightly. “It’s so cute!” you hugged her and turned to see Layla emerging with a shake of her head “This isn’t giving me enough Doja Vibes”. You let out a hmm and pulled the pink/red mid length wig from your left and threw her a pair of red tights telling her to go put those on while you scoured the items on the racks.  Layla finally emerged from the dressing room after you finished giving her the scattered pieces you had found. Clutching the green watermelon rind skirt, she twirled around in the same manor Casey did earlier and shook her pinky/red bandeau covered chest at you. After tightening the green suspenders that were connected to the skirt she smirked “Now it’s your turn Babe, and Casey and i are paying” before you could interrupt her she continues “not buts! You agreed to find a costume” Shaking your head you said a chorus of “No’s” vehemently at every option she held in front of you. “Y/n you need something to accentuate how hot you are! make her eat her words” you huffed and shook your head “Naughty Nerd is not the way to go Nami” Hanging the customer back on the rack she mumbled a “she said nerd so i figured hot nerd would be well, hot”. You grabbed a simple Witch costume that consisted of a mid length purple dress and a black hat with matching stockings, something low key but still a costume. Before you could go pay for it Layla grabbed your hand and stopped you. “No, y/n that isn’t enough, plays were paying” she pointed to herself and Casey who nodded.  “Layla I don’t want to draw anymore attention to myself, I don’t need to look “hot” cause I’m not. I’m just a regular person who isn’t enough for these people. I’ll never be or do enough” You look down at your right arm and traced the intricate patterns of your black and white peonies and hibiscus that lined your inner arm. Your friends had never seemed you look so vulnerable, and something in Layla snapped.  “She called you invisible and said you weren’t enough but guess what? She knows all about you makes sure you’re always uncomfortable around them. Which means she sees you as a threat”. you bit your bottom lip at her words “She has called you ugly, ratchet ‘which who says that anymore, poor, insignificant and she made fun of you working your ass off to pay your tuition because your deadbeat parents can’t do shit for you. You’re the smartest person in class, you’ve got street smarts and fuck man, you can literally kick a grown mans ass. Remember when those guys were grabbing Casey at the club and you stood up for her and literally fought two of them and won? Little miss prissy bitch couldn’t stand a 5 secs with that y/n. I know you don’t bother with fighting her cause you’re afraid of her connections and getting kicked out of school but fuck y/n grow some balls”  Snapping your head in her direction you walking up to her standing in her face and exclaimed “Firstly Taehyung is the smartest in my Econ class. Secondly, don’t you think I’m already aware of what she says about me? don’t you think i want to punch that stupid smile off her face full of fillers? You wan’t me to grow some balls? FUCKING FINE, but I’m not wearing a “sexy nerd costume.” Smirking and trailing your fingers along a row of costumes  you looked at your friends. “I’ll show her just how hot I can be”  Layla smirked at you “That’s my girl, so what do you have in mind then” You slid your fingers along what felt like vinyl. Cocking your right eyebrow up you gripped the material. “What’s hotter than the Devil?” ——————————————— Standing in front of your mirror in your bedroom you were already regretting your choice in outfits for tonight. As you stared at yourself you reminded yourself why you were doing this. You were going to prove a point and that was all that mattered. you were going to prove you weren’t any of the negative things Nami said about you. Running your hands down the scrappy vinyl like material that was covering your chest and part of your upper body. Your hands stopped above your navel where the top stopped and you cocked your hip to the side, descending your hands further down your bare skin to the top of the matching vinyl like skin tight pants that resembled shiny black liquid covering your skin leaving little to the imagination. You plopped yourself in front of your desk to the makeshift vanity that was full of makeup products for the nights preparations. Curling the ends of your hair you laughed as Layla pranced around shimmying to Nasty by Brooke Candy. “Don’t trust that hoe he N A S T Y” you all yelled the lyrics.  Finishing your Deep Burgundy and black smokey eye, you applied a sharp winged eyeliner and smoked out the lower lash line. Applying small round black jewels under your eyes you finished the look with a deep burgundy matte lipstick, fluffy lashes and a soft pink toned blinding highlighter. “We have like 5 minutes, get your asses in gear” Layla announced as you were tying your simple black leather choker around your neck. After zipping up your over the knee 5 inch stiletto vinyl black boots, you placed your black horned headband on your head securing the little clips in your hair and primped the strands around your face to frame sexily.  The ride there was filled with bopping to music and Layla yelling that you were a bad bitch out of the windows for all of the campus to hear which caused you to yell as the Uber driver. Taking a deep breath, you exited the car and holding Layla and Caseys hands, you walked the short distance of the walkway to Seokjin’s Lavish off campus Townhome. The smell of weed and alcohol mixed with the sound of loud bass thumping greeted you as Layla pushed open the door. Walking through a sea of bodies you felt several pairs of eyes on you and you had to remind yourself it was fine. Settling yourselves in the kitchen, you started to make you all some drinks while Casey looked out for Valeria and Layla handed you cups and bottles. You decided simple Margaritas on the rocks were safe for the night and handed them to your friends. A tall and beautiful man you knew as Seokjin himself walked in and greeted you all, making sure to give Layla a hug to which you noticed her little blush creeping down her neck.  “I’m glad you all could make it! Layla are you Doja Cat? omg Casey you’re Peter Pan! y/n are you the devil? oooooh are those Margs I see?” SeokJin asked which you nodded and asked if he wanted one as well. “Yes please! I suck at making drinks, oh and please just call me Jin” Smiling you stirred the mixture into a clear cup and handed it to him earning a dazzling smile. As he took a sip, Jin pressed his right hand to his chest over his heart “You NEED to come to all of my parties and make me drinks. This is so delicious” As he mimicked the chefs kiss signal you laughed and Layla beamed a smile at him. “Y/n works as a bartender part time at Nely’s next to campus” You nodded and sipped you drink while surveying the beautiful white marble kitchen and chrome accents. “You have a beautiful Home Jin” you smiled to him which made him softly pat you on the back “Thank you! I take pride in my kitchen. It’s where I blow off steam from Volleyball practice” Layla shook her head “You need to blow off steam? you practically don’t even sweat while we run plays” to which Jin scoffed “We all need to blow off steam Layla” You and Casey watched as both people seemed really comfortable with being around each other. You noticed Layla blush and Jin smile every time their eyes met. “Oh you’re here” said a shrill voice you knew none other than Nami herself, dressed in a fluffy white see thru robe, white satin dress that barely covered her butt, knee high white vinyl go-go boots, white lace stockings and sitting atop her head a thin gold halo attached to a headband. Next to you Layla smiled and placed her hand on her hip “Yeah, we said we would be here so here we are” you heard the brattiness in her voice and giggled when you notice Jin staring at her hips. “Ew, don’t stay too long” Nami said while walking out. Jin shook his head which prompted Layla to ask why he had invited Nami. “Well our families are friends and my roommates are friends with her” You cocked an eyebrow” You have roommates?” Before Jin could answer you heard a deep baritone laugh getting closer, turning your head to the side you saw Taehyung accompanied by Hoseok walking into the safe haven of the kitchen. “Tae, Hoseok, come meet Layla and her friends Casey and y/n!” Jin smiled “These are my roommates” As the men stepped closer you tried your best to cover the shocked look on your face. “HEY we have two devils!” Hoseok yelled out and smirked.  Taehyungs hair was parted down the middle and some of his fringe was swept up into two red ‘horns’ he donned black skin tight vinyl pants, red shiny shoes that looked a lot like Gucci Mules, a sequined Blazer with only one button down right above his navel that accentuated his chest as he decided to forgo a shirt and a thing black choker similar to yours but tied in a small bow sitting in the hollow of his throat. Feeling his eyes roaming over your body and landing on you horns you busied yourself by chugging your drink and earned a holler from Hoseok. “Hey y/n can party!”  Before anything else could be said, Casey spotted Valeria who was waving at you all to join her in the living room. Throwing your cup in the trash you followed Casey out of the now suffocating kitchen and tried to hide your expression as your eyes met the Red Devil while you slid passed him.  “Hey girls!” Valeria smiled and hugged you both causing Casey to blush. Layla had stayed in the kitchen talking to Jin which made you smirk knowingly. “This is Subin” the man next to her looked up from his phone and sent a side your way, you noticed his costume as a werewolf from the looks of his tattered ripped shirt and what looked like a gnarly bite mark on his collarbone.  “Hi I’m y/n and this is Casey” Casey narrowed her eyes at the man and how close he was standing to Valeria mumbling out a ‘I know who Subin is’. As you four talked you noticed Valeria standing closer and closer to Casey while laughing at some inside joke they shared. Before you knew it Valeria had swung an arm around your friend and they shared a soft smile. You really hoped all went well for Casey, if not, you might have to kick some ass. While you were thinking of the cuteness overload that Casey and Valeria together could be you heard a shuffle from your right “you look nice when you smile” Subin smiled at you and you felt the pink tint forming on your cheeks. As Casey pulled Valeria with her outside for some “fresh air” which you knew as go time. You decided to get straight to it and ask Subin himself “Are you and Valeria a thing?” choking on his drink he coughed out a loud ‘no no no no’ and you cocked an eyebrow. “Val and I are just friends, plus she’s not really into someone like me like that?.” “Someone like you?” Nodding Subin smiled knowingly and looked towards the door both girls had just slipped through. “As in she like boobs, your friends boobs to be exact.” Your eyes widened “Wait no! not her boobs, she liked your friend in general i was just saying boobs to accentuate how Val wouldn’t like me anatomically.” You giggled at how flushed he had gotten and he smiled along with you. You hadn’t noticed a pair of eyes staring as you talking to the man dressed as a werewolf. Hoseok noticed the look in his friends eyes, it was the same one Taehyung had gotten anytime you rolled your eyes at him, ignored his presence or had gotten in a heated debate. He had been sporting that look every time he looked at you for a little over two years now. Since your first year of college when you had shared a Psych class and battled for top spot in class. He knew his friend had taken an interest in you and it never dissipated.  Taehyung sipped his beer and kept his eyes glued to your face while you smiled and laughed at something the man next to you had said. Hoseok was tired of nothing coming from this and slammed his beer down hopping onto the coffee table earning a ‘that wasn’t cheap get down!’ from Jin “It’s beer pong time!” Hopping off the table he stood in front of you in all of his Napoleon Dynamite Glory. “Y/n come play beer pong” he smiled at you and you could help but notice how beautiful Hoseoks smile was. Shaking your head “I don’t think i’ll be playing tonight Hoseok but than-“ Nami cackled at you from her band of barbies and interrupted “ Hope, don’t waste your time with her she isn’t worth it. Plus she probably can’t even play, she’s never even been to a party before.” Thats what caused you to roll your eyes and place your hand into Hoses outstretched one. “I’ll play”. You and Subin followed Hoseok to the side of the living room where a few beer pong tables were already set up. Layla and Jin had joined you as well, intrigued to see you playing. “Okay teams of two. Usual rules of no leaning over the table, must drink your drink if a ball is sunk, one re-rack per person on each team, and if a trick shot made with one hand behind your back and a foot away from the table is sunk by the opposing team they may make a request that you have to complete. Said request can’t be anything illegal or THAAAT bad. “Can I take a shot instead of drinking a beer? I don’t really do well with beer” you asked honestly which cause Hoseok to holler “Fuck yeah!”  Before you could pick a teammate Hoseok smiled and pulled Taehyung over “We have to have the two Devil’s playing” You shrugged and asked Subin if he would be your partner to which he smiled an ‘of course’ which earned a cock of an eyebrow from Taehyung which Hoseok noticed and smirked. “I’d be on Tae’s team but I think to make it fair we should have another female” Nami walked over laying her hand on Taehyung’s shoulder and smirked “I’ll play” you rolled your eyes and mumbled an ‘i’ll play’ mimicking her shrill voice which earned a chuckle from Subin. “Ooh an Angel and a Devil on the same team, how heaven and hell” Hoseok smirked and set up the cups handing each team their set of ping pong balls. Layla and Jin brought you a bottle of tequila (your eyebrows shot up when you noticed it was ‘Gran Patron’ and then you remembered these people are well off. You had made the marg’s with a different bottle of Patron which while not cheap wasn’t as expensive as this particular bottle was) and shot glasses to replace the typical drink of beer if a ball is sunk. Beer really didn’t sit well with your stomach, you assumed it was the carbonation.  “Layla you do know this is like a $500 bottle of alcohol right?” Layla smirked and Jin smiled responding “I don’t really drink Tequila unless it’s in a marg and my uncle left this bottle here from his last stay, as far as I’m concerned you can have it.” You opened the bottle letting the smell of Agave fill your senses and re capped it. “Ready?” Hoseok asked to which both teams agreed.  Taehyungs team started to which Nami missed her shot, the next shot was Subins and he sunk it, picking her to chug what looked like some sort of fruity cider. Taehyung was next and he lined up his shot before seemingly sinking it before he looked up “Subin drinks” he said smoothly and Subin drank what was left in his cup. You were up next, carefully lining up your shot you watched as the ball plopped right into the cup and looked at the duo in from of you. “Nami drinks” Nami rolled her eyes “Ughh again??” she exclaimed and you smirked “What? can’t keep up?” you asked to which she grumbled and drank what looked like another cider. Nami sunk her next shot and picked you to drink, as you poured the liquid into your shot glass you smirked right at her while downing the shot like it was water. Unknown to you, a pair of dark eyes watched as you licked your lips while placing the glass down. The game continued with each of the teams missing and sinking shots until you won the game, hugging Subin you both had only had around 3 drinks each and decimated the other team. Taehyung called for another game as in 2/3 wins to win the full game. You had surprisingly agreed but only because Nami wouldn’t shut the fuck up with her little snide comments and you loved the look on her face every time she missed or you sunk her shot.  The second game continued until there were only 4 cups left on your end and 3 on the opposing team. You and Subin hugged each other after your last shot that nailed Nami yet again and she held her stomach calling celebrity shot which basically called Hoseok into the game to replace her. You were 5 shots in and feeling light, not nearly drunk but nicely buzzing as you could hold your liquor well. Stepping in Hoseok smirked “Imma flip things up, If i sink this shot ya’ll gotta do my request” Folding his left arm around his back he took a few steps away from the table and focused on nailing the center shot, and to your surprise he actually did nail it. “Hmm little devil, I request that you take a shot” Your eyebrows shot up as that sounded easy enough. “Oh dear, not a normal shot. I’m talking about a body shot, your partner needs to lay on the table and you have to follow all body shot steps down to the lime in his mouth.” Rolling your eyes you turned to Subin to ask if it was okay with him. Your buzzing partner agreed and insisted after you asked if he was sure. Laying his body down on the table with the crown of his head facing Hoseok and Teahyung. He lifted his shirt up to his chest so that you could sprinkle salt from his navel up to his chest. Filling the shot glass, you placed it above his belly button and gave him the lime wedge to slip between his lips. Taehyung gritted his tech as you climbed onto the white table situating yourself above Subins lap. People who were watching the game from afar gathered closer to watch as you once again asked Subin if it was okay and he smiled a yes. Leaning down you tentatively dragged your tongue from his belly button up to his chest licking up the salt, then dipped back down to his belly button and wrapped your lips around the shot glass leaning up and getting the liquid pour into your mouth and down your throat. You crawled up his body and carefully took the lime from his mouth, making sure to dig into the flesh of the lime and not actually touch his mouth. After all, you just met him and didn’t want him to think you were taking advantage of anything. Throwing the wedge into a discarded cup you hopped off of the table and handed Subin a napkin to wipe the remnants of salt and tequila off of his body.  “Can we get on with the game?” Taehyung grumbled and you rolled your eyes nodding. Subin sunk his next shot and Hoseok took a shot of Tequila instead of chugging a beer. It was now 3 to 2 and Taehyung missed his next shot, too focused on the way you were fanning your hand over the back of your next from the warmth the liquor was giving you. It was your turn and you sunk your next shot causing Taehyung to chug the beer Jin handed to him. Hoseok smiled and once again moved his left arm around his back “Might as well make it interesting, another request for another trick shot” you rolled your eyes and smiled at the brunette as he wagged his eyebrows and closed his eyes. You truly did not think he would sink another trick shot, let along with his eyes closed. But as you watched the ball sink into one of your cups your eyes went wide. You heard hollers and screams hyping up the shot that Hoseok had just made and mentally readied yourself for another body shot. “If you’re thinking I’m going to have you do the same thing, you’re wrong” Your eyebrows furrowed and he smirked “It’s Subins turn to take a body shot” Taehyung let out a deep warning “Hoseok, don’t” You didn’t understand why he would have a problem with it but you turned around to look at Subin to ask if he was once again okay with such a thing. He nodded and in turn asked if you were okay. Smiling you handed him a shot glass. After you situated yourself the same way Subin had, you saw him falter on where to put the salt since your top stopped right above your navel, and you grabbed the bottle of salt from his hand and placed a trail from your collarbone up your next. You figured it was safer than your cleavage.  Subin handed you the lime wedge and you softly bit into it watching him fill the shot glass and place it above your belly button. Layla looked down at you and smiled as she saw you getting chorus of “Fuck yeah y/n” which had made Nami who was sitting down roll her eyes. Climbing into your body and leaning down, Subin let his tongue drag along your collarbone to your neck slowly before leaning down and wrapping his lips around the shot glass in the same way you had done to him and leaned up to gulp it down. Leaning down once again he was about to take the lime wedge from your mouth when a hand n his shoulder stopped him. Before you could ask what was going on you saw a strand of red and felt a pair of lips on yours pulling the lime away.  Taehyung had had enough, he was tired of seeing you with Subin and even more tired of the games Hoseok was playing. When he watched Subin lean down to your mouth he couldn’t take it anymore and his body reacted on it’s own. Doing what it had been wanting to do for years.  You watched as Taehyung spit out the lime wedge a leaned back down to capture your lips in his in an upside down kiss. A chorus of oohs and oh shits followed which caused you to push him off and jump off of the table. You shook your head at him and wrapped your arms around your body “What the fuck Taehyung?” you asked but before anybody could answer you, you asked Jin where the bathroom was to which he pointed out and you ran there hearing a “wait” being yelled but you didn’t care you needed to get out of there. You were being watched by everybody and that accompanied with the kiss from someone you thought you hated and assumed he hated you as well, well that was too much. Walking into the first floor bathroom you slammed the door and made your way to the sink. You looked at yourself in the mirror then looked down, bracing your hands on either side of the sink trying to calm yourself down.  You could hear the bass thumping, causing the walls to lightly vibrate. There was a loud knock on the door followed by a series of “y/n please please open the door.” Letting out a deep breath you ran your index finger along your lash line, wiping any excess makeup that had smudged during your beer pong game. Stepping towards the door you swung it open only to be greeted with your best friend flinging herself on your short frame despite the high heeled boots you donned. “Hi, I love you, and before you say it. I know you want to go home but please don’t let those people get to you. So what if Tae kissed you? Don’t even acknowledge that ass wipe, and omg you should’ve seen Navi’s face when he kissed you. She legit looked like she was going to blow up like some sort of doll filled with helium!” Layla placed her hands on either side of you, softly gripping your shoulders, her deep brown eyes staring into yours softly. “Hey, talk to me? If you really do want to go home, i’ll go with you. But I really think you shouldn’t let anything that just happened get you down. Let’s just go back to the living room and dance all these feelings away! You’ve got me, Jin, Subin and Casey and Val ‘not that i know where they are.” While she rambled on you took in your surroundings, noting the pristine glass shower situated in the corner followed by the chrome towel rack that supported plush light grey towels. The porcelain toilet stood across from it, tucked into a corner of the light grey walls that matched the towels. As she finished her speech you already knew what you had to do, you weren’t going to let this get you down. You were so fucking tired of letting people get to you, you had no control over your life growing up but you sure as hell had control over your current self. You had amazing friends, were incredibly intelligent, worked your ass off at both of your jobs and were happy with the way you looked. Quirking up the left corner of your mouth you leaned in and planted a big smooch on your besties left cheek. “Layla, you’re right” Surprise crossed your best friends face, followed by a knowing smirk. “That’s my best bitch! Let’s get our asses down there and show them what a bad bitch you are, not that you haven’t already. I mean, dude you totes slammed like 6 shots no problem and you look HOT AS HELL.”  Giggling you took her arm into yours and let her take you down the hallway into the crowded living area. The LED lights lit a soft purple hue that bounced off of the cream colored walls, further creating that fantasy look that enticed party goers to let all their inhibitions go. You noticed someone had moved the coffee table to a far corner closer to the beer pong tables, which had expanded the makeshift dance floor. The DJ was bopping his head to the current track he was mixing and the sea of bodies moving themselves to the beat was massive. You clutched Layla’s hand in yours as she pushed her way through the dancers and you all finally settled closer to one of the couches that had been pushed to a corner opposite of the tables where Jin, Subin and Hoseok had been waiting for you two. Jin placed a hand on your shoulder as if you check if you were alright and you smiled while nodding. “I’m so so sorry y/n, are you okay?” Subin asked and searched your face for an answer. Smiling at the man who had been your partner in crime for the passed hour, you nodded. “It’s all good, no need to be sorry. I do need another drink though. I think that little stint in the bathroom may have sobered be up more than i’m happy about.  Hoseok smiled and shouted a ‘Gotchu’ before he bounded back off to the kitchen mixing up some concoction you knew would be strong. “Theres seems to be a lot more dancing than before” you jutted your chin towards the sea of bodies and Jin laughed. “I think most people are in that drunks haze where dancing is all they can do since they can’t seem to stand straight.” You chucked softly as you knew all too well how dancing enticed drunk people. The brunette thrusted a clear cup into your hands, quirking an eyebrow at him he responded with a chuckle. “It’s just bourbon on the rocks” Testing the liquid in the cup you smiled confirming it was in fact bourbon and nothing gross. You spotted Nami hanging herself on Taehyung in the corner towards the tables, your eyes met as she looked back at you with what looked like rage. Leaning her body upwards she leaned in towards his right ear and appeared to be whispering something to which he shook his head while staring into his glass. This seemed to upset her, huffing she once again leaned back up and attached you pink gloss covered lip to his neck. For some reason this had annoyed you to no end. For years Nami had been al over the tall man, only to be semi rejected with her advances which had brought you an odd sense of joy and seeing her lips on his neck as he just stood there caused you to rip your gaze away fro the pair and bring your cup up to your still burgundy tinted lips as the lipstick had faded away and left you with a just bitten look. Leaning you head back you downed the contents of the glass and slammed it down on the nearby end table that was situated by the couch. “Let’s dance?” you handed Jin your purse pulling Layla to the dance floor with you, not needing an answer to your question. As you both pushed through to the middle of the grinding crowd you best friend leaned in to your ear letting you know she’d be right back. Before you could ask what she was doing you saw her watermelon headband bounding up to the DJ who nodded when she leaned in close to him. As the first notes of the beat started you couldn’t help the smirk that planted itself on your lips. You giggled as Layla shimmied her way towards you and the first lines of the song began. Letting your body sway to the music, Layla laid her hands on your hips. “That’s my best friend, she a real bad bitch. Got her own money.” You both sang as you moved your hips in her hands.  Placing both of your hands on her shoulders you turned her around and pulled her back close to your chest. Jin had been staring at your friend’s hips swaying along with yours and you decided you wanted to put on a show for him. Running your hands up her tight covered thighs up to her waist she leaned forward and gave her ass a little twerk causing you to chuckle. Turning her body around she gripped your hand in hers and spun you around, you made sure to wiggle your hips as you spun. “She been down since the jellies and the bow-bows” you shimmied your hips and saw Casey and Val bounding their way towards you two. As they got closer you noticed Caseys Peter Pan hat had gone missing and Vals pink lipstick was smudged, both girls walking hand in hand. Throwing Casey a knowing smirk she shrugged lightly and Layla wrapped her arms around both girls, creating a circle. “Where have you BEEN?” Layla yelled over the music at the two but shook her head after taking in their appearances “Nevermind I don’t want to know, wait, or do I?” wiggling her eyebrows she smoothed down Caseys wild blonde bob. Val seemed to enjoy the blush that had formed on Caseys cheek and she leaned close to place a kiss on either cheek, further fueling the crimson on her cheeks. As the intro to Bad Bitch by Bebe Rexha came into play you all raised your hands up into the air and swayed to the beat. Hoseok came into view, thrusting a shot into each of your friends hands and you all posed for his snapchat video while downing the shots of what tasted like whiskey. “Gross, I don’t know how you like liquor” Casey said, her cute face scrunching up into a sour expression and you giggled.  Leaning down you touched your toes and twerked your ass to the beat earning a “fuck it up” from Layla and Val. As you ground your hips back into your best friend you looked up catching Taehyungs burning gaze on your flushed face. Cocking an eyebrow up at him you turned around in Layla’s hold swaying your hips. “Ugh, prissy bitch incoming” Layla whispered into your ear and you followed her eyes to Nami who pulled Michelle and a bored looking Taehyung onto the dance floor. Your eyes followed Navi’s movements as they slid up and down the devils chest and Michelle settled her hands on his shoulders behind him. Your jaw tensed as Nami’s hands trailed up to his neck. Meeting his dark gaze you narrowed your eyes slightly and shook your head, turning around and grabbing Hoseoks hands pulling him closer to you. The LED lights turned a deep red hue as the opening to Streets - Silhouette remix started and Val exclaimed “Let me put this on insta, y/n your horns loom so good in this light!” Posing with your back towards Hoseoks with your head leaning onto his shoulder, the latter gripped your hips and leaned his face into your neck while Val took the picture.  As the tune changed and the beat dropped with it’s intoxicatingly slow beat you swayed your hips against Hoseoks, bending your knees and slowly sliding up and down his body. Trailing his fingers up your sides he grilled your hips and turned you around to face him. You heard Layla lean into Casey saying something along the lines of ‘oh shit’. ‘I found it hard to find someone like you’ you slid your body down the Brunettes, never leaving his gaze ‘send your location come thru’. Leaning back up you rolled your head around and he wrapped a hand into your hair, his other gripping your right hip tighter. your hands settled themself on his shoulders and you leaned towards his left, your eyes catching onto Taehyungs dark gaze, his eyes never leaving yours as Hoseok ground his hips into yours. Even as Nami wiggled her hips in front of his and trailed her hands under his blazer, his arms stayed at his sides, never touching the Angel nor the Bunny who still danced her body against his back. Hoseok knew his friend was watching and he couldn’t help but smirk, gripping your hair tighter he moved your face towards him and pulled you in until you were a few centimeters from his lips as he moved your hips along with his. ‘We belong and I can’t be without you’ Doja’s voice crooned through the speakers as Hoseok leaned in closer to your lips over the hazey cloud of smoke and tightly packed bodies. You internally debated wether or not you truly wanted him to close that gap and land his lips on yours, but the only thing you could think of was the gaze of a certain someone on yours.  Before you fully decided on if you wanted the man in front of you to kiss you, your body was pulled away from his. A strong grip was formed around your wrist and all you registered was Layla and Casey wide eyes before you were being pulled away from the dancing bodies and up the stairs. You barely registered the click of a door being opened followed by your back hitting the hard wood. “What the hell were you doing?” Taehyung rasped out staring deeply into your eyes with a mixture of what looked like want and fury. You placed your hands on his chest pushing him back slightly and jutted your chin upwards. “Excuse me? I was dancing with my friends and Hoseok, not that that’s any of you business” Taking a step towards him. “What the hell do YOU think you’re doing? dragging me up to this room and thinking you can manhandle me.” Receiving no answer you shook your head and were prepared to turn around and walk right back out of that door. “You drive me fucking insane. Seeing that Subin guys hands all over you and then you dancing like that with my best friend.” You felt yourself being pressed against the door once again with his large hands on either side of your head, his rings glinting against the soft light filtering in through the open curtains. Cocking your eyebrow up at him you stood your ground. “What? are you Jealous?” you snorted out. “Yeah, yeah I fucking am” At his surprising answer you looked up seeing nothing but want in his deep eyes with a glint of something else you couldn’t quite place. “You’re fucking insane. Don’t play with me” you rasped out, your voice hoarse from singing and dancing earlier. “I’m not playing” was all you heard before your head knocked back against the wooden frame of the door followed by a pair of plush lips crushing yours with a ferocity you suddenly craved. He tasted like cinnamon and liquor and you loved it. Something inside you both seemed to snap in that moment and you trailed one of your hands up, curling your fingers into his soft hair and tugging on the makeshift horns it was styled into. Your other hand settled itself onto his warm chest fingering the labels of his blazer. Taehyung growled out at you reciprocated the kiss and trailed his right hand down the door, settling on your hip and pulling you impossibly closer to his body. Feeling teeth nibbling at your lower lip you gasped out and he took the chance to slide his tongue into your mouth, your tongues immediately fighting for dominance. Tugging his hair harder you felt his hand that had been on your hip slide lower until it was gripping a handful of your ass cheek, followed by a grunt. You could still hear the music that was thumping downstairs but it was slowly being drowned out by the man in front of you. The plush pair of lips that was against yours slowly trailed down to your jaw, nipping at the flesh softly until they reached your neck. Nuzzling his face against your warm flesh as he littered the area with whisper soft kisses. Slipping your hand under his blazer you trailed your nails lightly along his skin earning a low hiss from his deep voice. Smirking, you dug you nails harder “You’re playing with fire babygirl” Taehyung gripped both of your hands into one of his large palms and pressed them against the door frame grinding his hips into yours. Feeling his length against your covered core you couldn’t help the soft whine that escaped your lips. Taehyung trailed his lips back to your neck and sucked on your pulse point causing you to arch your back. “Y/n i really don’t want to stop, but I need to know that you want this too” the man in front of you pulled back slightly while he waited for a response. Letting out a small ‘yes’ he leaned back down capturing you in another searing kiss. Flexing your wrists in an outwards circular motion you freed yourself from his grip and took a step forward placing your hands against his chest and effectively spinning him around so his back hit the door.  Despite the height different even with your heels you kept your palms flat on his chest with your strength, keeping him against the door. Arching a dark brow up at you Taehyung smirked. “Not going to lie, that was pretty hot” you felt him grumble against your mouth as it attached itself to his tan neck. Sucking a few bruises against his flesh you felt his need growing against your stomach and you couldn’t help your involuntary clench of your thighs. His smell was intoxicating, a mixture of fresh linen, cinnamon and musk. You felt his hands trail up the backs of your thighs and grind the flesh under your ass, signaling you to wrap your legs around his waist. Leaving one more bite against his neck you complied and jumped up latching your legs around his sturdy hips. Walking you both backwards, Taehyung leaned you downwards until your back was hitting the large bed tucked against the wall. Arching your back towards him you pulled him onto your body by his shoulder and moaned into his mouth as he captured your lips in his. Biting down on your lower lip hard, Taehyung ground his hips down against yours.  While his mouth felt incredible against yours you knew you wanted, no, needed more.“Need more” you whispered out causing his to chuckle against your lips and lean his body up. Smirking down at you he cocked his head to the side and trailed his index finger up your torso and chest. “Sorry love, I couldn’t hear you. What was that?” Rolling your eyes you reached up tugging his hair into your grip. “I said, I.Need.More” you said though gritted teeth at the knowing look in his eyes. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” before you could retort you felt his mouth latch itself on your collarbone and his hands trailing down your legs, pulling the zippers to your boots down before tossing them on the floor somewhere. Trailing his hands behind your back he began trying to undo your top. “While these straps are hot, they aren’t fucking functional for shit. How the hell do I take this off?” Taehyung practically growled out causing a chuckle to leave your lips. Leaning up slightly you helped him unhook the main portion of the top and pull the strappy harness over your neck. Tossing the item he had been fumbling with to the side he couldn’t stop admiring your breasts covered only by your black lace bra.  You shivered as he trailed his hands up your chest, his cold rings causing your nipples to perk up and a gasp to leave your mouth. Leaning his face down, Taehyung started trailing soft kisses along your chest downwards to your torso and back up. His hands were once again at your back, this time working fast successfully unhooking your bra. Looking into your eyes he hooked his fingers under the straps on your shoulder and slowly pulled down releasing your breasts from their confinement. Biting down on his lip he started at your perky nipples and full breasts. He had always loved your curves and didn’t ever think he’d get to see them this way. You felt his soft lips wrap around one of your nipples and gasped as his tongue lightly flicked against the hard pebble. Your hand in his hair pulled him closer to your chest and he smirked. He pinched your other nipple between his fingers which earned a low moan. His mouth being soft on one of your nipples and his fingers being rough on your other one caused an intoxicating juxtaposition and you couldn’t help the little whines that left your throat. Fiddling with your button and zipper, Taehyung successfully started to pull your pants down, leaning up and leaving your nipple with a loud pop of his mouth. Tugging to pull your pants off of your legs he hissed when he saw your core only covered by your thin lace panties. You heard your pants hit the floor in a loud thump and bit your lip in nervousness as you realized just how exposed you were in front of this infuriatingly beautiful man. “You’re fucking beautiful” He rasped out, trailing his eyes up your body and landing on your face. Before he could hike your legs open and upwards you spoke up “You have way too many articles of clothing on” Smirking he complied with your request and popped the single button holding his blazer together, sliding it down his shoulders and throwing it in a heap on the floor. You heard his shoes being kicked off as well before he leaned back down to resume his earlier ministrations. His large hands slid down the insides of your thighs and pulled them open to reveal your soaked panty covered core. You swore you head him let out a low whine but before you could comment on it you felt a warm pair of lips latch onto your clit through the fabric. Arching your back off of the bed you gripped his shoulder in your hand. Taehyung rubbed his index and middle finger along your slit and hooked themselves around the fabric pulling it to the side and exposing yourself to the cool air and his waiting mouth. Laying his left palm flat against your lower tummy he leaned in giving you a soft tentative lick to your slit. Biting your lip between your teeth you moaned out when he latched his mouth around your clit and sucked harshly. “F..Fuck” Hearing your moan he sucked against and gripped the flesh of your thigh with his other hand keeping your legs open. Alternating between sucking and flicking his tongue against your sensitive nub he loved the way you tasted and couldn’t get enough of it. If it was up to him he would do this all day every day.  You ground your hips up into his mouth causing him to smirk against your cunt. “Needy” he growled out and trailed his fingers that had been on your thigh down to your slit, running the tip of his middle finger around your opening before sliding itself in to the knuckle. You brought your right fist to your mouth and bit down to keep yourself from moaning out. Slowly pumping his finger in and out, he watched as your finger disappeared into your wet heat taking him in so good. “Fuck you’re wet” Looking up into your eyes he saw you biting down onto your fist and stopped his ministrations “ If you want more I need to hear you babygirl” Muffling a ‘please’ you released your fist from your mouth and wove it into his hair. Pleased with your sounds he continued sliding his finger in and out of you, adding his index finger into your heat hissing at how tight you were. “Shit you’re tight, gotta make sure you’re nice and ready for my big cock babygirl” Arching your back, you felt his press against your inner walls and curl his fingers causing you to dig your fingernails into his shoulder and tug his hair harder with your other hand. Latching his mouth back onto your clit he lightly hummed which sent vibrations through your body. Whining with need you continued grinding your hips up onto his face and rolled your eyes closed. Taehyung looked up at you watching your fucked out expression and almost choked when he heard you whining his name. Working his tongue against your click he started to harshly pump his fingers into you before slowing down and inching his middle finger into your heat. You felt your cunt burning at the stretch but the look in his eyes caused another gush of arousal to seep out and coat his fingers further. “Jesus..fuck you’re so hot and you taste so fucking delicious” As he slowly pumped his fingers in and out you felt your stomach clenching, that familiar feeling on your realize building with each flick of his tongue against your clit. “Tae.. Tae i’m going to cum if you keep doing that.” Sucking harshly he curled his fingers and pressed against your g spot “Cum babygirl, let me taste you before I slid my fat cock into your needy cunt” Rolling your eyes back you felt your legs start to shake as you gripped his hair almost painfully between your fingers. Your stomach tightened and you felt yourself clench around his fingers. Your breath becoming shallow as you let out a series of ‘oh fuck yes’ and ‘omg omg’ your hand that had been on his shoulder came up to your chest as your pinched your nipple between your feelings and felt the metaphorical dam of your orgasm approaching.   Taehyung sucked harshly before grazing his teeth lightly against your clit and your eyes shot open feeling your legs convulse and your toes curl. With a final whine you felt yourself cum all over his tongue which he licked up like a starved man. Breathing deeply you felt the sweat drip down your brow for your intense orgasm and when he stood your eyes followed down his torso gleaming with sweat and down to the prominent bulge in his pants. Biting your lip you caught him staring at your cunt that had just cum around his finger and he started to pull your beyond soaked panties down and off of your legs. Looking back up into your eyes he slipped each finger between his plums lips and licked them clean.  Groaning at the action you felt yourself clench. “Think you can take more baby?” He smirked at you and you wrapped your legs around his waist pulling him against you and ground your soaking cunt against his covered length. “You’re getting me all dirty, fuck that’s hot” He growled out and slid his fingers down unbuckling his belt. Popping the button of his pants, he pulled the zipper down with your eyes following every movement. Sliding his pants down his thighs he kicked them off and hooked him thumbs into his black briefs. You couldn’t tell if you were really drooling but once his slid his fried down and his cock sprang free you knew me heard your very audible groan followed by a clench of your thighs. Sliding his hand along his shaft, he pumped his leaking length a few times and reached to the side opening a drawer and seemingly looking for a condom. Gripping his arm you shook your head “I’m on the pill, are you clean?” His eyes widened at the possibility of what you were saying and he nodded “I haven’t had sex in a few months and when I did I wore a condom, I also get checked every month if you want to see the results I have them on my pho-“ You cut him off by leaned up and kissing him. As you layed back down against the pillows you smiled up at him an he swore he felt his heart flutter and his cock pulsate. Hooking his right index finger under your thin leather choker he pulled you up and he ground his uncovered cock against your dripping pussy. “As much as I love these, they have to come off they’re barely hanging on your head. Not knowing what he was talking abut you felt his fingers prodding at your scalp and finally run through your hair with the devil horned headband and clips in his hand. Setting them down on the beside table he leaned back piping his cock and wrapping his fingers around his thick head of his shaft. Leaning down he took your mouth against his and you felt his thick tip push against your slit. Locking your ankles around his back you ran your hands down his shoulder and gripped his back. Your walls pulsated around him as he slid in inch by inch and you threw your head back as your walls accommodated his thick size. When he finally bottomed out in your heat he stilled letting you relax as he filled you to the brim.  Sliding his tongue against your he grunted when you involuntarily clenched around him. “You're so fucking tight, you make me crazy” he growled out and settled his mouth against your neck, nipping and sucking the skin as he slowly pulled out only to ram himself back in. Moaning loudly your grip on his shoulders tightened and you knew you were leaving crescent moons on his luscious tan skin. “Crazy? you seem pretty soft to me. Why don’t you fuck me and show me just how crazy I make you” you teased. After sucking harshly on your neck he sat back up and gripped the undersides of your thighs pulling them apart from his hips. “You’re so bad, want me to ruin you? Open you up with my fat cock?” you nodded and  trailed your tongue along your lower lip preparing yourself for what he was about to do.  Ramming himself up into you again you grated your teeth and looked up into his dark eyes. His rhythm was slow and harsh, pounds into you with each thrust of his hips. Your walls enveloped him and he swore he wasn’t giving you up after this, hell he wasn’t giving you up after that first kiss on that beer pong table. He was going to make sure you knew how he felt and hopefully you felt the same way. If not, he’d respect it but at least he’d know you knew how he felt. Watching your tits bounce with each thrust he heard you mumble out a raspy ‘faster’ and he complied, pushing your thighs farther up against your chest. At this knew angle you swore you felt him in your stomach. “Oh god” you ground out and his eyes flashed even deeper if that was possible “Fuck yeah, moan for me y/n”  Sliding himself in and out of you at a fast pace, you could hear his balls slapping against your ass. The room filled with shallow breathes and curses spewing from either of your mouths.  Taehyung slid his palms under your ass and gripped your cheeks between his large hands, squeezing harshly before pulling you up so you were sitting on his lip with his cock still stuffed inside of you. As he thrusted upwards you met his thrusts by bouncing your hips and wrapping your legs around his waist. His hands held you by your ass, pushing and pulling your body on and off of his cock. Leaning towards him you sucked a bruise onto his neck and wrapped your arms around the back of his neck. Feeling his cock his that sweet spot you shuddered and clenched around him tightly. “Stop doing that before I cum” he gritted out and you pulled back from his neck smirking. “mm maybe that’s what I want” With a sharp thrust upwards into your tight cunt he splayed his right hand agains the bottom of your spine and pulled you as close as you could get. “You’re devilish, I swear. You want me to fill up your little pussy with my cum? is that what you want? to get filled?” his deep baritone voice filled your ears and you clenched impossibly tighter around his shaft. “T..Tae fill me up..I need it!” you moaned out loudly and he pushed your body back down onto the bed, pushing your ankles towards your chest he situated himself on his knees and started ramming into you to the point where your body slid against the bed. Reaching one hand down, he lightly gripped your neck. “Yeah? want me to fill you up? Then cum baby, cum all over my cock.” “Tae..Tae..I’m going t..to cum. Fuck you’re so deep” your eyes fluttered closed as he gripped your throat and you held onto his back. “Cum for me y/n, let me feel you soak my cock as I fill you to the brim” Feeling your body start to convulse you opened your eyes to see his fucked out face, sweat dripping down his cherry colored hair and down his neck. His hand flexing on your neck and his abs flexing with every thrust. His low moan of your name sent you over the edge and you clenched around him. Your thighs closed around his hips and you moaned out his name. Curling your toes your this quivered and your inner walls fluttered around his throbbing shaft. Arching off of the bed and towards him his grip on your neck loosened and he leaned down capturing your hips in his as his hips stilled and you felt his warm cum spitting inside of your waiting heat. Thrusting his cock back in and out slowly he let out a low groan as the remnants of his cum filled you.  Taking deep breath he watched your face as he slowly slipped out of you and trailed his eyes down to watch the clear and white liquid leak out of you. Letting out a deep whine he leaned forward and captured your lips between his. His lips were soft against yours, still passionate but not as fiery as they had been earlier. Pulling back his gaze studied your face. “Tae..I” before you could continue he shook his head. “Wait before you say anything, please let me get this out. I’m sorry for the way things happened tonight but I don’t regret any of it. Iv’e literally liked you since we first argued about the attributes of the human brain during psych. That one time you called me an aloof imbecile I almost pulled you out of class and kissed that pretty look off of your face. I assumed you hated me and it made me mad, instead of being a normal human being and just asking you why you hated me I decided to take it out on you. If you didn’t like me, at least I could gain your attention arguing with you.” “And tonight, seeing you with those other guys..I couldn’t help but think it would’ve been better if it was me. I needed to stop being a pussy and just fucking tell you how i felt.” He shook his head as he spoke. “ What about you and Nami? and the fact that you laughed the other day when she made fun of what I should be for halloween and my tattoos” Scrunching his face he sighed. “First of all Nami is just a friend, well more like a family friend. Iv’e known her since I was young and I guess I was just used to her being there. Nami and i have never done anything and never will. Secondly, I didn’t laugh at whatever she said. to be completely honest I drowner out her voice after she asked how you got an invite. I has laughed at a meme Jin sent me of our other friend Namjoon whos away for a semester in Paris, with a bald cap on looking like a grandpa due to his old school vibe he always has. That being said, i’m sorry I never defended you when she said anything to or about you. I really wanted to but you were always so good at defending yourself and that one time Jose defended you, you had turned around and told him you didn’t ‘need a man’ to defend you. So that combined with me thinking you hated me, I just assumed you’d end up really hated me and wouldn’t give me the time of day when we argued anymore.” Climbing off of your body Taehyung sat down next to you and studied your expression. “I don’t hate you per say, I hated that you always argued with me, I hated that you scored higher than be despite never seeming to study while I worked my ass off, I hated that you came from money, you never had to fight for what you wanted or what you deserved. I hated that you were Nami’s friend and always seemed so aloof, like you really didn’t care about anything. But I didn’t..I don’t hate you as a person” you turned towards him. “Who said I never study? My parents would kill me if I scored sub-par. Hell, the only reason I can live here with Jin is if i keep up my grades and don’t disappoint them. If i didn’t care about anything my ass would be living in on campus housing and having an RA breath down my throat while my parents called me everyday asking if I was completing the study forms they sent over. Yeah I’m well off, but that’s my parents money and they worked hard for it. They put hard work and intelligence above all else.” your eyebrows rose at his confession and you get bad. You had assumed so much about him these passed two years and none of it seemed to be right. “I think that’s why I started to like you so much, you’re so intelligent, you work so hard at everything you do and you carry yourself like such a strong person. You kind of scare me if i’m honest” his deep voice chuckled and you smiled. “You’re beautiful inside and out”  Taehyung said softly brushing his thumbs against your cheeks. You could feel the tenderness in his chest and your heart fluttered. “Maybe I liked you too, maybe that’s why I always waited for you to argue with me. I like how intelligent you are, I like that you always have something to say about whatever point I’m trying to prove.” You said softly and the corner of his mouth lifter slightly “liked? past tense” Rolling your eyes you covered your face and grumbled. “fine, LIKE. As in present tense” Taehyung stepped off of the bed and chuckled “THE y/n likes me? i’m honored. Sure its not cause I just made you cum twice?” throwing your arm off of your eye you watched his figure retreating into another door before flicking a light on. “Shut up Tae!” Chuckling he emerged from what you assumed was an ensuite bathroom with a wet cloth and situated himself between your legs. “I like when you call me Tae” he said and you blushed, feeling the cool cloth wipe gently along your folds. Sliding the cloth along your legs he finished cleaning you up and smiled up at you gently with his every so beautiful boxy smile. Returning to the bathroom to drop off the cloth you heard the water turn on and assumed he was cleaning himself off as well. Letting your gaze look around the room you noticed the bookshelf across from the bed you were currently on. On its shelf sat different picture frames, books and what looked like plushies. On the other side of the same wall sat a dark grey desk complete with a laptop, a mini plant and various knickknacks and a chair with a navy blue hoodie that you noticed to be Taehyungs hanging off of the back of the chair. Next to the bed was a nightstand that had a lamp, an iPhone charging dock and a bottle of water. The door that connected to the rest of the house was on the same wall. Against the wall to the right of the bed was a large dark grey dresser that matched the desk and what you now noticed to be the bed frame. On the dresser sat bottles of cologne, accessories and a picture frame. Next to the dresser was the door Taehyung had disappeared into and another door you assumed to be maybe a closet. Furrowing your brows you realized this was Taehyung’s room and not just another guest room. Up until his confession earlier you assumed he lived in a luxurious off campus house paid for by his parents. While this was a luxurious Townhome it still wasn’t what you had pictured. As Taehyung walked out of the ensuite he opened a drawer and dug through until he found was he was looking for. Sauntering up to the bed he handed you a t-shirt and what had seemed to be your phone that had been tossed on the floor earlier and pulled on a pair of briefs over his legs. Holding the soft cotton material in your fingers you smiled and thanked him before slipping over your smaller frame. Checking your phone you immediately noticed a series of texts from Layla starting from concerned up to a text that had a winky face telling you to ‘get it, I came upstairs to check on you but your moaning let me know you were doing just fine’. Smacking your palm against your face you blushed bright crimson. Taehyung who had looking over your shoulder when you gasped at the text was giggling and you smacked his chest. “Ow, you hit hard” He said while still giggling. “So, would you..uh stay the night and maybe grab breakfast with me in the morning? I mean know that we’ve realized we both don’t hate each other and we kind of lik-“ Pressing your lips to his you felt him smile against your lips before you pulled back. “Yes, now can we sleep?.” Nodding Taehyung pulled you against his chest and brushed a few strands away from your face as your eyes fluttered closed. Running his hand along the flowers that decorated your right arm he smiled to himself before eventually closing his eyes as well. Interesting how Misunderstandings happen, isn’t it?

————————————

Omg this was supposed to just be a drabble from the pic of red haired Tae and inso from a game of beer pong, BUT ALAS this monster was born. this is my first fit so any constructive criticism is appreciated. Any love is beyond appreciated too <3 I have some ideas for other pics but i just want to get my page situated first. Any messages are welcome too <3 i lub talking to people.

-C otherwise known as, Potitties

[a-singleboat]

Does He Know?

Word Count: 1.5k

Request: Damien Haas x Reader with the prompts 13, 33, 129 - Anon

Masterlist

You didn’t know your day could have gotten worse. Between hiding your obvious morning sickness from your oblivious boyfriend and actually doing your job, you were sure that only a gunfight could make your day any worse. You had your fingers crossed that that wouldn’t happen. You didn’t think you could mentally afford that trauma at the moment. 

As you sat in your cozy little office, you made idle gossip with your assistant, Emily, to pass the time. You organized your desk as she complained about the coffee machine on your floor not working for the thousandth time, lamenting that she had to make the trip two floors down for a decent cup. 

“Maybe you should learn how to fix the machine,” you suggested, only partially paying attention to what she was saying. Emily had moved on to her latest in-office crush, one of the techies that worked one floor up. “And I wouldn’t try it with any of the techies. They all look great, sure, but don’t do well in relationships.” 

“You don’t know that for certain,” Emily defended her crush. “Besides, not everyone can have the perfect relationship that you have with Mr. Damien Haas. Honestly, you guys are sickening.”

“Our relationship isn’t perfect,” you argued, hand falling to your stomach as if on instinct. You were barely even showing yet, part of the reason why you had been able to hide your pregnancy so well. “I mean, we still have our arguments…”

Emily narrowed her eyes at you, critical of the way your hand had immediately gone to your stomach at those words. You’d told her that you weren’t feeling the best earlier, the possibility of the stomach flu being high. That didn’t explain your switch from coffee to tea, specifically ginger tea--which she knew you hated with a passion. 

“Does he know about the baby?” Emily asked bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest. You hesitated, unsure of how to answer that. Emily was smart, you knew that. If she had managed to figure it out in less than thirty minutes, then you were sure Damien already knew. 

“No,” you lowered your voice. “He doesn’t. I was going to tell him, I swear, I just--”

“Bullshit. You weren’t going to tell him and we both know that.” Emily frowned. “God, Y/n. What were you going to do? Skip town and reappear with a child. You and Damien have been together, what? Five years?”

“Eight, actually,” you corrected. She glared at you, making you shut your mouth. 

“Eight years is no better, Y/n,” she reprimanded. “If you don’t tell him, then I will.”

“Tell him who?” 

You jumped banging your knee against the underside of your desk while Emily’s hand flew to her chest. The both of you turned to look at the office door, which had been left open. Sheepishly, Damien apologized for scaring the both of you. 

“How long have you been standing there?” you demanded, reorganizing the pens back into the pencil holder. “And what did you hear?”

Damien held his hands up in surrender. “I heard nothing. I literally just got here.”

“Good.” You exhaled. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a scene to shoot?” 

“I’m going to get a refill.” Emily snatched up her coffee mug and got up from her seat, edging around Damien on her way out of the office. She closed the door behind her, leaving the two of you in silence.

“Scene got pushed back because… well… I may have ripped my pants.” Damien turned around, revealing the rip down the middle of his pants. You tried not to laugh as he explained how it happened. “I swear I wasn’t doing anything I wasn’t supposed to. The piece of equipment had no right to go anywhere near my butt.”

“So what I’m hearing is you were standing where you weren’t supposed to and got caught on a piece of equipment, resulting in your split pants.”

“No,” Damien denied, the red of embarrassment already crawling onto his cheeks. You grinned and poked his cheek slightly, laughing as he swatted you away. 

“It’s fine,” you reassured, hands falling to his shoulders. You rubbed soothing circles into his shoulder blades, watching as he relaxed under your touch. “You’re lucky these aren’t your actual pants. Go get changed and bring these back to me, I’ll have them fixed in no time.”

“What were you and Emily talking about?” Damien stalled his exit, pulling you into his arms. You settled your head into his chest, breathing in the scent of new clothes and the detergent the two of you shared. 

“It was nothing,” you mumbled into his chest, patting his bicep. “Just work stuff. I accidentally stole Jeff’s stapler and she threatened to rat me out.”

You cringed at your lie. There was a reason you worked in costuming and not in front of the camera. You were a terrible actress and it showed. 

“Really?” Damien didn’t buy it. “Emily threatened you because you stole Jeff’s stapler? Somehow, I don’t believe it.” He held you at arm’s length, forcing you to look at him instead of the plaid fabric of his costume. “What’s actually the matter?”

Somehow, you knew it was now or never. If you didn’t tell him now, there was sure to be a train ticket with your name on it. You’d have to go into hiding, forever. You kid would grow up without their father and, most likely, an alcoholic mother because for some reason that’s how you say yourself in the future without Damien. 

And before you could stop yourself, your mouth opened and spilled your secret to the man standing in front of you. “I’m pregnant.” The two words stopped all time and movement as you watched the trainwreck that was your life unfold. 

He was silent, which was the worst reaction you could have thought of. This was it, he was going to break up with you and you would have to move cross country anyways because even being in the same state as him would be too painful. In your head, you thought of what your single-mother house would look like.

It most likely wouldn’t be a house. You’d live in a shack with an outhouse. Your baby would grow up to be a hick and you’d die of some ancient disease at the age of forty-three with no one by your kid to mourn you. 

Then, out of absolutely nowhere, Damien yelled out in… fear? No. Excitement. 

“I’m going to be a dad?” he asked, eyes widened and disbelieving. “You’re not joking, right? I’m actually going to be a father?” 

You nodded, tears you didn’t know you had dripped down onto your cheeks. The salty water sloped off your chin, landing on the carpet below you.

“Baby,” he wiped underneath your eyes with his thumb. “Why are you crying?” 

You exhaled shakily, falling into his chest as your sobs broke free. “Oh, I was so scared you were going to be mad at me.”

“Mad at you… Why would I be…?” His arms wrapped around your shoulders as you fisted his shirt in your hands. He was going to have to change before he could go back to shooting… If he went back to shooting, though you were sure Emily already told them what was going on. “I could never be mad at you for something like this.”

“But we’re not even married. Oh, God, my mom is going to beat my ass--Damien, we’re not even married!”

“Simple solution for that,” Damien said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a distinct velvet box. He dropped down on his knee in front of you, velvet box in hand. “Be my wife.”

“Damien--”

“I had this whole thing planned,” he rambled. “I was going to take you out for dinner and bring you back to where we first met…”

“You were going to bring me to the Planetarium?” you asked. You’d stopped crying tears of relief at this point, exchanging them for tears of joy. You blamed the pregnancy hormones, making you cry more than you had in the entire eight years you’d been with Damien. 

“Yeah,” he played with the box. “Was gonna propose under the night we first met too.”

“You’re a sap.”

“Yeah, but I’m your sap,” he joked, opening the box. “Y/n, these past eight years together have been, simply put, amazing. I want to be able to wake up next to you every single morning and go to sleep next to you every night. I want to be able to make pancakes with you on our days off and always have you as my plus one to family reunions. I want the constant singing in the shower and the stupid mohawk photos you send me while I’m out. I want you, and if you’ll have me… Will you marry me?” 

“Yes!” You pulled him off the floor, throwing your arms around him and kissing him deeply. He slid the ring on your finger, pulling out of the kiss so that you could admire the gem. 

“Do me a favor, leave out the fact that I proposed to you with ripped pants when you’re telling your mom this story.” 

You laughed, craning your neck around to view his underwear still very much on display. “No,” you shook your head. “That’s definitely going to be in the engagement story.”

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[muertawrites]

The Lovers of Ba Sing Se - Part 1 (Zuko x Reader) [Modern Au]

Summary: Zuko isn’t used to being around people who aren’t afraid to share their every emotion. Meeting you during his time in Ba Sing Se changes that, and changes him for the better.

Word Count: 4,000

Author’s Note: Lmao the only person I’m writing this for is myself. Sorry not sorry. I usually try really hard to keep specifics to a minimum in my self-insert works, but this time I didn’t; I wrote about myself because, honestly, this fic is my love letter to me. I relate to Zuko so much and a huge part of the reason I love him is because he reminds me of myself - this fic is about me learning to love myself again after the people I loved and trusted most betrayed me, and saying a gigantic “fuck you” everyone who ever did anything to destroy my self worth. Part 2 is when I finally live out my fantasy of curb stomping Mai - tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel. 

Also, shameless plug, but I’m about 100 followers away from 1k, and I have some really fun stuff planned for when we get there so if you like this fic or any of my others, please follow! I love doing this and my goal is to devote as much effort as possible to it as I can, and I truly wouldn’t be able to do it without your support. Thank you so much for all of it. I’m so excited for the future of this blog and everyone who makes it possible ♥

~ Muerta

Of all the things Zuko thought might kill him, falling dishware was the last thing he would have ever considered a possibility.

He was sitting in the alley behind the Jasmine Dragon, making the most of his smoke break, when a ceramic cooking pot rained onto the pavement in front of him, shattering into trillions of pieces. Startled, he jumped back, dropping his cigarette as he craned his neck upwards; he spotted a head of brightly dyed hair staring down at him from the third floor balcony above.

“Oh shit,” you cried.

Within a minute, you burst through the back door of the neighboring building, panting and looking just as terrified as the young man you'd almost killed. Zuko stared at you, mouth slightly agape.

“Oh my god I'm so sorry,” you gushed. “Are you okay?? I didn't see you standing there, oh my god, oh my fucking god please tell me you're okay.”

Zuko was taken aback, unable to do anything for a moment but gaze at you in confusion, almost wonder. People in the Fire Nation were never this publicly expressive, even when barely avoiding manslaughter - he didn't quite know what to do with you, other than mutter that he was alright.

“I'm so, so sorry,” you blurted again. “You're sure you're okay? You don't have any glass on you or anything? Or need to be treated for shock?”

“No, I'm fine,” Zuko flatly replied. He nodded towards the trash bins across the alley. “You do know your building has those, though. You don't need to throw your old stuff off your balcony.”

You blushed, smiling sheepishly.

“It wasn't old,” you confessed. “It was a birthday gift from my best friend. Well… ex-best friend.”

Zuko huffed, pulling another cigarette from the pocket of his jeans and lighting it, looking down at his hands.

“Never had a breakup, huh?” he guessed.

“Oh, I've had plenty,” you told him. “They just don't get any easier.”

Zuko looked up at you, taking a long drag from his smoke. Your eyes were cast into the middle of the alley, settled on the shards of what once had been a reasonably nice piece of cookware. The shock and terror had faded from your expression, falling into one that was pained, anger and despair shadowing your features; you may as well have roundhouse kicked him in the chest, the look on your face mirroring the ache between his ribs. You hadn't revealed anything to him, but he knew instantly that your pain was the same as his.

He slid another cigarette from the box, offering it to you. You shook your head, lowering yourself onto the back stoop of the Jasmine Dragon; he found himself doing the same without thinking.

“I'm sorry about your pot,” he said, clumsily attempting to lighten the atmosphere. “It looked nice.”

You smiled faintly, pulling your knees to your chest and letting your chin rest atop them.

“I don't cook much, so it wasn't a huge loss,” you replied. “It was kind of cathartic, actually. I feel better.”

Zuko chuckled, tapping a bit of ash onto the ground between his feet.

“Good. Maybe feeling better will keep you from accidentally killing someone.”

You laughed, covering your face in embarrassment.

“Have I mentioned I'm sorry about that?” you winced.

“Hey, no sweat,” Zuko assured you. “It's not the first time. I've had people try to kill me on purpose before.”

He stood, stubbing out his half-smoked cigarette and pocketing it. He offered a hand to help you up, which you took, finding comfort in the strength of his palm as it wrapped around your forearm.

“I've gotta get back to work,” he told you. “You don't have any other gifts from your ex-best friend laying around, do you?”

You giggled, shaking your head.

“No,” you promised, “just that one. Thank you. For not threatening to press charges.”

Zuko laughed, realizing he was doing so for the first time in what had probably been years. The light feeling in his chest got even lighter when he noticed he was still holding your arm.

“Will I see you around?” he asked, the words escaping before they were even fully formed in his head.

You nodded, finally letting go of his hand.

“Yeah,” you said. “I'll see you around …?”

“Lee,” he told you. “I'm Lee.”

You smiled.

“Cool. I'll see you around, Lee.”

You saw Lee again a few days later, but not in a way you really wanted to. You were at work, standing outside the bar on the district high street with a coworker, attempting to attract some business during the weeknight lull; Lee spotted you while on his way to the nearby market, seeing you from a block or two away but doing his best to approach you as if he was bumping into you completely by accident.

Of course, this would be perfectly normal and not at all a weird way to run into a new acquaintance, if only the bar you worked in wasn’t catered towards men with a lolita fetish. You were dressed head to toe in pink and white, corseted in a risque bustier and frocked with a poofy, frilly mini skirt that was purposely too short, revealing the bum of your equally as ruffled panties; when you turned around and came face to face with the cute guy from the tea shop next door, you hoped someone would throw a cooking pot on top of you, death seeming like a much better option than attempting to explain yourself to someone who’d already had the privilege of meeting you during an emotional breakdown.

Lee blushed as pink as your costume, smiling coyly.

“We did say we’d see each other around,” he greeted you.

You grinned, relaxing a little.

“You’re not here to have a drink, are you?” you teased him. He laughed, his face turning redder as he reached up to rub the back of his neck.

“No,” he assured you, “I’m actually on my way to get some groceries. Figured I’d say hey.”

“Oh!” you exclaimed, “My break is in about fifteen minutes! If you don’t mind waiting I could go with you? I’ll buy you dinner to make up for almost killing you the other day.”

Lee chuckled, nodding.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind that,” he agreed. “... I don’t have to wait inside though, do I?”

“I mean, my boss would like it,” you told him, “but it’s so dead in there I don’t think she’d let you leave if you did.”

“Noted,” Lee replied. “I’ll wait in the coffee shop across the street, then.”

Not long after, you tossed a hoodie and a pair of jeans over your bustier and undies, meeting him outside the cafe he was stationed at and making your way to the market. You bustled alongside each other in a fray of other people, rubbing shoulders or hips as you were jostled along with the current.

“So,” Lee blurted, attempting to break the silence between you (although it wasn’t nearly as awkward as it probably should have been), “how’d you end up working in a fetish bar?”

Your simpered, cheeks going ever so slightly rosy.

“How do you think?” you jabbed sarcastically. “I needed money and they pay really well. It’s nice knowing I’ll be able to afford rent every month. What about you? How’d you end up at the tea shop?”

“My uncle owns it,” Lee explained. “We’re the only family we have left, so… we stick together.”

You nodded, understanding and not pushing the question any further.

“It’s not so bad,” he went on. “At least I don’t have to wear pigtails to work.”

You huffed with laughter, leaning over so that your shoulder purposely, playfully shoved his.

“Honestly, my job isn’t awful,” you admitted. “My coworkers are cool, and my boss is really kind. It’s also pretty fun getting to dress up in costume every day; it's like Halloween, except I get to do it whenever I want to.”

Suddenly, you paused, gasping.

“Look!”

You grabbed hold of his arm, startling him a bit but too excited to care. You pointed towards a nearby stand, in which an elderly man was frying pieces of dough. He twisted each in an elaborate knot, every order getting a different design. They were like miniature sculptures, too ornate to even think about eating, but the smell of rich spices and molten sugar was too tempting to ignore.

“I love this stand!” you cried. “He isn't always here, but I get something every time he is. Come on, I'll get us some to split!”

With your hand still curled around his elbow, you dragged Lee through the market throng. As he watched you order, making friendly conversation with the old man, he found himself feeling perplexed; he'd never met someone so comfortable with their emotions, so willing to let every part of them be seen. He wondered how you got so fearless, or if you even had to put effort into being so candid.

He found himself thinking about Mai, how cold and empty she was. He was reminded of the chill he felt around her, the bitter sting she often left in his chest, even during tender moments. Being around you was different; even having just met you, you made him feel invigorated but at ease, the tension in his muscles loosening naturally just from the energy of your presence. It was strange, but refreshing - he found himself grinning along with you as you left the stand, finding a place to sit and enjoy your pastry.

“I got us one with curry, and one with cream filling,” you told him, ripping each serving in half to share. “This guy is an artist, I swear. You're not going to be the same person after this.”

You looked up as you took a bite of the savory half of your meal, halting when you noticed the strange look Lee was giving you.

“What?” you asked him.

He shrugged, fixing his eyes on the pastry in his hand.

“You're just different,” he answered. “Where I'm from, people aren't open like you are. You're really… yourself. It's nice.”

You smiled, unable to help but blush. Bubbles fizzed in your chest, making you feel lightheaded and giddy.

“I think it's because so many people told me not to be when I was a kid,” you mused. “They tried to make me hide the parts of myself I really liked, so I made them show even more, just to show them that they couldn't change me. That I was stronger than their cruelty.”

Zuko felt as if he'd been hit by lightning. He didn't know what it was, but something about you terrified him - it was the same thing that made him want to latch onto you and not let go. Despite having met you just days ago, he already felt as if he'd known you a lifetime - unbeknownst to him, you felt exactly the same way.

“Do you want to hang out tomorrow night?” he asked, stuttering the words.

“Yeah,” you replied, so excited you felt like shrieking so the whole market could hear. “I have the day off tomorrow. Think your uncle would let you swing that?”

“Yeah,” Lee assured you. “I think he would.”

You finished your meal together, sharing your favorite things about the neighborhood you lived in and simply enjoying each other’s company, as comfortable as if you were old friends. Instead of parting with you, Lee walked you back to the bar at the end of your break, stating that it was no trouble going back to the market to get the groceries he skipped to spend time with you.

When he left, you hugged him, and for the first time in a long time, you felt as if you'd truly made a friend.

On your date the next day, Lee took you to the local art museum - he remembered you expressing an interest in art history, and per his uncle’s suggestion, decided it would be the perfect place to take you. He loved seeing the awe on your face when met with a piece that captivated you, was drawn in by the impassioned way you spoke about cultures and myths from ages so long passed they felt as if they came from different worlds entirely. You spent the whole day together, ending the evening crashed on your couch with a pizza and a marathon of true crime documentaries.

From that day onward, you and Lee were connected at the hip. You spent every available moment you had either in the alley behind your building with him or having a cup of tea at the Jasmine Dragon, often staying long after closing with him and his uncle, Mushi, and feeling as if you'd finally found a family in your adopted city.

You learned that Lee was a skilled martial artist, asking him to teach you a little of what he knew and amazed at just how good he really was. He moved more like a dancer than a fighter, his comfort and ability with his body and a weapon captivating you. You learned that he also had an affinity for theater and had grown up completely cut off from modern music and pop culture, spending many of your nights together at local play houses and bars, introducing him to your favorite bands and shows. He learned that you were fascinated by literature and history - anything that had significant, profound meaning and beauty - and often found himself wandering museums and historic neighborhoods with you, loving nothing more than to listen to you talk about what inspired you. You also made him laugh, your sense of humor at times dark, but set into a personality that saw the world with childlike wonder, able to find immense beauty and value in things that seemed frivolous to the naked eye. You were kind, unwavering - everything his family and past lover weren't.

Zuko loved being around you because of how free you made him feel. The unbridled way you expressed your emotions encouraged him to face his own, following your lead in being unafraid of just how intensely the heart within his chest was prone to beat. You loved being with him because he made you feel safe, never judging you for anything and understanding the trauma of your past in a way nobody else had done before. You opened up to him about how the ones you loved did you the most harm, never giving themselves as fully to you as you did them, treating you as a means to take out their own pain and insecurities and convincing you that that was just the way love worked. Eventually, he confided in you the truth about his identity, confessing the horrors he fled in coming to Ba Sing Se. You never once blamed him for anything he'd done, knowing exactly what it felt like to have to read between the lines and give everything for those who gave you little in return. You fit together easily, never having to guess what the other was thinking; for once you both felt content, secure in the safety of your heart within the other’s hands.

One of your favorite places to go with Zuko was a cat cafe a few blocks over from where you worked, spending many a slow weekday off shift with fresh lattes, croissants, and cuddles from friendly, adoptable kitties. At first, Zuko was unsure, having never spent much time with cats, but after one visit he was enamored, gushing to you every single time you went how badly he wanted a cat and spouting multiple reasons why you should adopt one together. On a free Wednesday afternoon he showed up at your apartment unannounced (as he had made a habit of doing) and suggested you go together, an invitation you were more than happy to accept.

As you left the cafe, a couple walking on the other side of the street caught your eye - the man who stood nearest to you was horrifyingly familiar. You recognized him immediately, the shock of his sudden appearance shattering and hollowing out your insides.

It was your ex boyfriend, the man who broke your heart so far beyond repair, walking hand in hand with someone else.

“Zuko,” you mumbled, not even noticing that you used his real name in public, “I want to go home.”

Zuko furrowed his brow, taking you by the shoulders and gently turning you to face him, concerned with the sudden shift in your tone.

“What's wrong?” he asked softly.

All you could do was shake your head. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder, leading you to the nearby subway station and back to your apartment.

Once safe inside the confines of your home, you changed into a baggy sweater and the softest sweatpants you owned, curling up under the kotatsu in your living room with Zuko, arms wrapped tight around his waist as you drifted in the tide of blood that poured from your newly reopened wounds. He didn't have to ask what you'd seen - he could tell from the vacant, glassy look in your eyes exactly which ghost haunted you.

“I can't believe he'd be with someone else,” you whimpered. “After everything he did to me… always giving me mixed signals and never telling me exactly how he felt… how could he be able to do it with another person? What was so wrong about me that he hid all of it from me, when all I needed was to hear it?”

You sniffed as Zuko pressed a thumb to your cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen. He hugged you tightly, pressing you close as if to remind you that he was there - he was your present, and there was nothing your past could do to harm you.

“There's nothing wrong with you,” he promised. “He's taken enough from you. Don't give him any more.”

For a long while, you sat together in silence, cradled in Zuko’s arms while he rocked you slowly back and forth, the tenderness of his touch sucking the poison from your veins. After what felt like ages, he finally spoke, giving you the piece of his past he'd been too heartbroken to offer until that moment.

“My girlfriend, Mai,” he told you, “she was like him. Everything she felt, she forced herself not to. We were together for a long time, but… I never really felt like she actually cared for me. If she did, she never let me see it. I gave her everything for nothing.”

“Why did you stay with her?” you wondered, voice meek and quivering with tears.

Zuko sighed, letting his chin fall so he could bury his face in your hair.

“Because she was the first person who ever accepted what I offered her,” he explained. “I was so used to everything I did being unwanted, it was just nice to not be pushed away for once. But she didn't love me like I needed it. I wish I was strong enough to see that and walk away, like you did.”

You propped yourself upright, leveling yourself so you could look him in the eye. You rested your hands at either side of his neck, your thumbs grazing delicately over his hot skin as you hooked your legs around his hips, your body nestled in the gap between his crossed legs.

“Zuko,” you breathed, “I love you. Those aren't even the right words to tell you how I feel about you, but it's the closest I have. You're so passionate and kind, and you love so fiercely… I truly don't know how to tell you how beautiful I think you are, or how much you mean to me. You deserve so much more than how the people you loved have treated you.”

Zuko curled his arms around your back, pressing his chest to yours and burying his face in the crook of your neck, embracing you as closely as he'd ever done. Tears soaked the collar of your sweater, and in return you cried into the exposed skin revealed by his t-shirt as you tugged on the fabric, gripping him as if letting go meant losing him forever.

“I love you, too,” Zuko murmured. “You make me feel strong enough to show it.”

When Zuko left Ba Sing Se, it crushed you. You were furious, at first unable to understand why he'd throw everything away to return to the place and the people that destroyed so much of him. Most of all, you missed him like mad - you missed how easy it was being with him, how you understood each other as if you were another part of yourselves. You missed his laughter and his warmth, the side of your mattress he often slept in feeling colder than ever without him there.

You were relieved when Mushi - who you now knew to be the infamously disgraced General Iroh - returned, showing up at your door out of the blue with tea and baked goods from the shop. You hugged him tightly, crying like a child as he settled you at your table and told you about his escape from prison, as well as his conversations with Zuko the few times he'd visited him. Your heart ached, but it finally felt clear just how lost and confused he was; you were still angry, but you knew you could forgive him.

“His heart is lost,” Iroh explained, “but because of you, he knows how to listen to it.”

For the next month and a half, you took Zuko’s place at the Jasmine Dragon, spending your days off helping Iroh wherever he needed you. He became as much a part of you as his nephew did, and started to consider you as much a daughter as he did Zuko a son. Iroh’s presence soothed the burns left on your soul not only by those you loved, but by your own ferocity towards them.

Everything changed again the morning you woke to and find that Zuko had left the Fire Nation a third time, his face plastered across the news as a missing person with a bounty on his head. You knew based on everything Iroh told you what he planned to do, and immediately set to packing your bags. Travel into and out of the Fire Nation was difficult, but a few of your coworkers had connections to smugglers in the seedier parts of the district - they’d be able to get you onto a ship or a plane that could get you where you needed to go.

Before you left, you went to the Jasmine Dragon and told Iroh of your plans, asking him to keep watch over your apartment so that you could return if need be. You expected him to try and stop you - instead he pulled you into a strong, affectionate hug, telling you to be careful and call him whenever you were able.

“Go to him,” he hummed into your ear. “He needs you.”

Later that night, you met a group of other refugees at the docks, piling into the hull of a cargo ship bound for the Fire Nation’s imperial city. For the entirety of the journey, you wore one of Zuko’s necklace’s around your neck - one of the few things he’d kept from his life before his banishment and subsequent disappearance - keeping it tucked under your shirt and pressed to your chest for good luck.

[ Part 2 ]

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[c-c-cherry]

I simply must ask... could you spare some spooky Halloween headcanons? I know it’s not quite Halloween yet but I’d love to see your spin on a jojo Halloween!

Oho....hohoho...you have no idea what kind of a beast you’ve awakened in me...

Halloween is arguably the best holiday ever because free candy, costumes, and the weather is fucking PERFECT. (also idk what’s up with the rest of y’all but Canadian thanksgiving is in the middle of October so I’m still riding the high of good thanksgiving food by the time its Halloween (AND I’m half-American so we celebrate it in November too hehehe)

But long story short I love spooky season (and autumn in general) with a burning passion and I am SO willing to go hard on jjba spooky headcanons

Thanks again to @jjadegreen for alway being my best headcanon bud!!

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Part One:

-For the sake of this, I’m making them like 13 or something, like maybe not even a year after they met

-In 19th century England, it was actually pretty typical for them to have a bonfire on Halloween!!

-Halloween costumes were popularized a few centuries ago in France so you bet our phantom blood buds were wearing costumes and shit :)

-I doubt the rich participated in such “unruly” stuff like lighting shit on fire and bearing torches and whatever (but you never know)

-Like George probably spoiled Jonathan with candy as a kid and let him dress up with his school friends and that was it lol

-Dio though OH MY GOD-

-You know based on where he grew up that all that wild shit definitely happened

-He can’t say that he misses living like that, but there’s some kind of weird nostalgia that comes with it

-...which is why Jonathan is really confused when he catches Dio sneaking out of the mansion in the middle of the night

-Begrudgingly, he tells Jojo his plan and this boy’s eyes LIGHT UP

-Instead of being a “stupid, crybaby, tattletale,” as Dio puts it, Jojo is like,,,super hyped

-“Oh! I have an idea! Why don’t we sneak out in costumes so no-one knows it’s us??”

-The sheets on their beds may have two holes in them now, but it's worth it

-They hijack a horse or some shit and skeet over to a giant bonfire

-Dio thinks it's gonna be a drag since Jonathan is there to watch his every move, but it's actually,,,really fun

-As a kid who’s barely ever left his sheltered property, Jonathan is having the time of his life and Dio never thought he would be happy to see Jonathan so happy

-It ends with the two of them sitting by the river, absolutely exhausted from the rush and Jonathan pulls out this bag of shit from his pocket and is like

-“It’s candy!! :D”

-Dio could never really afford things like sweets on Halloween growing up so he’s a bit touchy about it but OH MY GOD that shit is GOOD

-Probably one of the only times where they actually bond properly

-BUT IF THIS IS MY POCKET DIMENSION THEN I CAN SAY THAT THEY BECOME FRIENDS >:)

Part Two:

-I’m just gonna start out with the fact that Joseph is fucking OBSESSED with candy. You know those kids you knew growing up that loved it more than anything on this goddamn earth? *cough cough @jjadegreen*

-That is Joseph

-And now that he consumes that type of shit with the power of mastered Hamon at his fingertips,,,holy shit man,,,it's like a child’s sugar rush but 100x worse

-Caeasr is put in charge of Jojo to make sure he doesn’t do anything idiotic *which he definitely will trust me*

-The MOMENT he goes to the bathroom, Suzi pops in like “JOJO!!!! :) Let's go trick or treating!!!”

-He can’t say no to that, bro,,,he and Suzi are tight ;-;

-While Lisa Lisa is out to meet Speedwagon and Erina and bring them back over to where everyone else is, Joseph sneaks out with Suzi and the two of them dash off into the streets of New York

Caesar: *steps out of bathroom*

“Jojo, what the hell do you and Suzi want for dinner?”

*silence*

“...Jojo?”

*Hears the screams of of children in the distance*

“JOJO, NO—”

-So turns out Joseph’s way of trick-or-treating at such an old age is just terrorizing young children and ransacking them for candy

-Suzi Q is just totally unphased by how awful this is and just thinks its the funniest shit

-Caesar is running out into the streets of New York like ???? and spots Joseph being himself and he could probably just pretend he doesn’t know them

-But,,,Joseph may be an idiot but he’s his idiot and Suzi Q is his bimbo best friend so he goes out to drag them back home

-Erina, Lisa Lisa, and Speedwagon are already home by the time they get back and Caesar sits Joseph down and chews him out in front of everyone

-Erina is super pissed and lectures him about “Joestar values” or whatever and tells a really embarrassing story about how a kid took his candy once when he was little and he cried about it for DAYS

-Caesar is still really angry about it so he replaces all of Joseph’s gummies with sugar free ones (you goddamn know the ones I’m talking about) but he didn’t know Joseph WOULD EAT THEM ALL AT ONCE

-He is so fucking sick on November 1st

-Also off-topic but Lisa Lisa gives out dental floss or some shit on halloween

Part Three:

-Honestly all Jotaro wants to do is buy candy for himself, hole himself up in his room like he always does, and just munch and watch shitty horror movies 

-But of course he has actual friends now

-Kakyoin tackles him before he can get his ass upstairs and suggests that they go out and trick-or-treat

-To which Jotaro thinks is a joke and laughs because he’s not only 17, but also 6’5” but Kak’s face looks dead serious

-Kakyoin goes on this long, detailed ramble about how he meticulously made the best Halloween route for them to get the best candy

-Now THIS is when Polnareff abandons whatever he and Avdol are doing to join in on the stupid plan they have

-When Kakyoin comes back with a handful of white sheets, they already know what he’s thinking and its brilliant

Kakyoin’s 5-step, foolproof Halloween plan:

Step one: It’s already established that stands can hold non-stand items (like when Star Plat whipped Iggy across the desert) so what’s stopping them from being able to have sheets over their heads?

Step two: They faze a bit of their stands into the ground so that they at least resemble the height of children (plus non-stand users can’t see anything besides the sheets so it's perfect)

Step three: Polnareff pretends to be the father of these shy children who can’t speak (he looks the oldest) while Jotaro and Kakyoin hide nearby so their stands don’t de-summon

Step four: Hit up every good house in the neighbourhood

Step Five: Candy.

(Kak used to put a sheet over hierophant all the time as a kid and always got twice the amount of candy each year)

-It actually works pretty well, aside from the fact that Star would sometimes scream “ORA” in a really deep, manly, not seven years old at all voice whenever the people at the door would try to speak with him or make him say ‘trick-or-treat’

-They finally reach the richest house in the neighbourhood, where the snootiest lady lives (but she has a shit ton of candy leftover every year since no one goes there)

-Once the stands knock on the door, she starts saying stuff like “ohh, let me see your faces so I make sure you aren’t too old for this” and ducks under to look at the sheets…

-...Only to find that there’s literally nothing there

-She looks up at Polnareff like 👁👄👁 and Kakyoin seems to get the message because one of hierophant’s tentacles grabs her ankle and she SCREAMS and throws her entire candy stash at them, slamming the door behind her

-Half of them are full-sizes chocolate bars. Candy acquired.

-When they get back, Joseph is so fucking angry that they didn’t invite him out for Halloween shenanigans  >:(

-Avdol and Holy have a very nice chat, meanwhile. They answer the door while everyone's gone and are so sweet to the kids about their costumes :)

-Also Avdol is 100% the kind of person to bake pumpkin seeds and season them and shit

-Kakyoin sorts all his candy and puts it on a spreadsheet and also make a pie chart just like he does every year

-T’was a very successful halloween

Part Five:

-Giorno is probably short enough to go out if he really wanted to

-But he has maturity issues and there would be no way in hell that the Bucci Gang would catch him going out in a costume and begging for candy

-So as soon as all the daily tasks and shit are met Giorno locks himself in his room

-He honestly wants some candy and to watch spooky movies with the gang but he just feels like an outsider to all of that stuff since he never did it

-So Bruno slips a thing of dracula-themed chocolate pudding under his door and leaves him be :)

-Narancia and Mista DO go out, however

-Not only do they go out and steal shit, but they also go and hit up houses for candy just for the fun of it

-The moment the clock strikes 6 Trish is OUT of there

-Girl is hitting up as many parties as she possibly can and eventually meets up with Nara and Mista at some shitty Halloween party and end up just buying really shitty beer and going to the graveyard or something

-Fugo wants none of that shit

-He’s perfectly content sitting with the black cat that Giorno made him and watching shitty reruns of whatever’s on

-Bruno takes out his tacky Halloween apron that definitely looks something like this

-Fugo helps him make all this really good spooky-themed dessert shit and helps him sort the candy in the nut and nut-free bowls :))) (because Bruno really goes and does that)

-Abbacchio seems like the kind of person who would go really fucking hard with Halloween decorations

-Like, no explanation why, he just loves it and everyone knows not to get in his way

-The moment October 1st comes around, this man is in his ELEMENT. He’s READY.

-It’s the one month where he looks anywhere near normal compared to other people and man is ready to rock that shit

-Later that night they go to check on Giorno and find him asleep surrounded by bags of candy

-Turns out he snuck out and had a good time after all :’)

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You’re wondering why I skipped part 4, right? ↓ ↓ 

I’m sorry to disappoint y’all, but I don’t think I’m gonna be doing much for Whumptober this year! (I’m just shit at monthly challenges in general lmao) but I think y’all need a breather from all this giant dump of whumpy stuff coming this month, so I, your dear friend Cherry, have decided to write fics throughout the month that I dub SOFT HALLOWEEN :D  (with uhhh a side of whump and hurt/comfort and all that shit because I can’t help myself)

It’s gonna vary (hopefully from parts 1-5)! I didn’t add any part four headcanons in here because Jade and I are literally writing part 4 shenanigans first and we didn’t wanna spoil anything :)

SPEAKING OF SPOILERS here’s a horrifying, blurry, teaser picture that’s only gonna make sense once you read the fic:

Isn’t it beautiful?

Hope you enjoyed these!! Tell me what you want the Jojos to do on Halloween!

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Ok so apparently its not normal to sort your candy by type, count it all out and then put it into a spreadsheet which then gets made into a graph? Because I did that. EVERY. FUCKING. YEAR. Ask Jade​. She was there every goddamn time. Please I’m begging you someone else tell me you did shit like this I need to know

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Seventy Four

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

November 12th, 2000

Emile crossed his arms as he stared at Remy stubbornly. “Come on, Remy. It’s not stupid!” he defended.

Remy scoffed and Emile could feel his irritation rising. He didn’t want to snap, he definitely didn’t want to snap, but Remy certainly wasn’t making this conversation easy... “It’s cartoons, Emile. I’ve never met someone obsessed with cartoons who’s older than the age of twelve. I’ve met people who like anime, sure, but cartoons? That’s for kids!”

Emile scowled and considered bringing up how Remy liked comics, and weren’t those for kids, too? But decided against it. He wanted Remy to be his friend, he didn’t want them fighting over this all the time. “Let’s just talk about something else,” Emile suggested.

“Please,” Remy agreed.

  October 26th, 2002

Emile was trying his hardest not to laugh as Remy studied the costumes surrounding them like he was trying to read the Rosetta Stone. “Remy, this is not rocket science,” Emile said with a little laugh. “It’s picking out a costume so we can take the kids trick-or-treating Wednesday. You’re not gonna die if you pick something less-than-perfect.”

“That’s not the point, Emile,” Remy said back. “I want to pick a good costume because I might be using this for several years. I don’t want to be stuck as something I don’t like for several years.”

Emile looked around at the wall of pictures and sighed. “That might take a while, Rem. And I know it’s a Saturday, and neither of us have work, but you know the store closes at nine, right?”

“Ha. Ha ha. I can make a choice, Emile,” Remy said.

“You say that, and you’ve been staring at the same two costumes for the past fifteen minutes,” Emile said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, picking a costume isn’t easy! I can make a decision, I just need time,” Remy replied. “After all, if you’re going in that cowboy costume again, I need something besides ‘Sleep’ to go as.”

Emile caught sight of a purple and green costume at the end of the aisle and he gasped, clapping his hands over his mouth as he grinned. Remy whirled around to face Emile and Emile was shaking as he tried to hold back his laughter. “What? What did you see?” Remy asked.

“You’re gonna hate me if I point it out,” Emile said, laughing.

“No I won’t,” Remy scoffed. “What did you see?”

Emile silently pointed to the end of the aisle and Remy followed Emile’s finger, promptly rolling his eyes. “Of course,” he scoffed.

“I mean, you did call me Woody last year!” Emile reasoned.

“Sure, but do you honestly think I could pull off a Buzz Lightyear costume?!” Remy asked incredulously.

“I almost bought you one last year except I could only afford the cowboy costume comfortably,” Emile said with a shrug. “You don’t have to do it. If you really wanted, you could go dressed in drag.”

Remy paused. Emile sighed. “Okay, drag is probably an exaggeration. Fact remains, you don’t have to be Buzz Lightyear if you don’t want to be.”

“No, I like the idea, it’s cute,” Remy said. “I just don’t think I could pull it off.”

Emile hummed. “I see your point,” he conceded. “And truth be told, my cowboy costume might have been torn last time I wore it to the shelter to play with the kids. I was hoping I could repair it, but...maybe it’s just better to try something different.”

Remy nodded, before looking away and staring at something himself. “Oh. My. God. Emile, I just found the perfect costumes!”

“Oh, no,” Emile said, laughing even as dread built in his stomach. “Show me.”

Remy grabbed his wrist and dragged him to where the superhero costumes were. Emile laughed. “Rem, you’re worried about pulling off a Buzz Lightyear costume and then immediately go to the spandex section?”

“Shush,” Remy said, pushing around the costumes on the rack, before shoving a blue and red one into Emile’s arms. “This is your size. Where’s mine...”

Emile inspected the costume in his arms and made a noise of recognition as he noticed the large “S” on the front in red. “So you’re suggesting a couple’s costume, then?” he asked.

“What, you didn’t see the homoerotic tension between Batman and Superman?” Remy asked, still flipping through costumes.

“Aw, you’re not going as Lois Lane?” Emile asked.

Remy turned to Emile with a grin as he pulled a Batman costume off the rack. “Don’t tempt me.”

“You’re right, you’re right, I did just say drag might not be a good idea,” Emile conceded. “But why Batman? I thought you were more of a Marvel fan. Or at least, that you preferred indie comics over big corporations.”

“Okay, well, first of all, I like all comics, regardless of size, so jot that down,” Remy said simply. “Second of all, I don’t think I could reasonably go take kids trick-or-treating dressed as Deadpool. The sheer amount of questions I’d get asking why my Spiderman costume looks so funny...”

“Mm, you’re right, that would drive you insane,” Emile agreed. “Batman and Superman it is.”

Remy nodded definitively. “I’m going to insist we take pictures dressed up like this, fair warning,” he said.

“I would expect nothing less, my love,” Emile laughed.

Remy shot Emile a smile. “You’re not even complaining about a dorky couple’s costume. I’m not complaining, but I’m a little surprised.”

“Well, I mean, I think it’s cute,” Emile said. “And I see you get excited over comics sometimes, but definitely not as often as I geek out over cartoons. So seeing you get excited and passionate about the things you love is great to see. I’ll never complain about you showing your geek side.”

Remy laughed. “I mean, it’s a little scary, you know? Being vulnerable about the things you love. It can be intimidating to bare your soul like that. Sometimes I look back at when we first met and I cringe, because I realize how brave you were for admitting you love cartoons and being open about that, and I just...tried to tear you down for it.”

“But we’ve both grown since then, my love,” Emile pointed out, cupping Remy’s cheek as Remy glanced away. When Remy looked back, Emile continued, “You’ve learned not only how to be kind, but how to put yourself out there as well. And I’ve learned how to have a thicker skin, and not let people try to tear me down. I put up with it back then because I didn’t know any better and because I thought you were desperate for company. If someone tried to do that today, and you didn’t shout them down first, I’d explain step-by-step exactly why they shouldn’t do that until they feel like they were scolded by a disappointed dad.”

Remy laughed. “Oh, the disappointed dad talk? I can see you doing that, honestly. You’d be a good dad.”

Emile blinked. “I...what?”

“I mean, you don’t put up with crap when people try to walk all over you, but you’re also kind and offer your compassion freely,” Remy said with a shrug. “Just. I’d love having a dad like that.”

“And this has nothing to do with me donating my sperm and being ‘a catch for any lady at the sperm bank’? You just genuinely think that?”

“Duh?” Remy said. “Honestly, Emile, believe in yourself a little more. You’d be a great authority figure in any sense.”

Emile felt his heart warm and he couldn’t help but grin. “Wow, that means a lot, Rem. I didn’t expect it to, but that means a lot.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect you to cling to that either, but it’s true,” Remy said. “Should we buy these costumes and head home?”

“Yeah, I’d like to be able to cook with you for dinner tonight, if you’re willing to put up with me,” Emile said.

Remy kissed Emile’s cheek. “It’s never a matter of ‘putting up’ when it comes to you, mio amore.”

They bought the costumes and headed home, and Emile checked the time when they walked in, finding it to be early evening. “Just in time for dinner,” he said, nodding to the clock.

“It would appear so,” Remy agreed. “Do you want something savory or sweet for dinner tonight?”

“Mm...savory,” Emile decided. “What are you thinking?”

“We have eggs, and some bacon strips left over from our last attempt at cooking them. We could always make a small quiche.”

“Ooh, that sounds amazing!” Emile said, eyes lighting up. It had been forever since he had last had Remy’s quiches, but Remy was a master at making them.

Remy laughed and brought out two pans, one which was oven-safe and the other which they pretty much only used to cook bacon. “You ready to cook?”

Emile hung his costume on one of the table’s chairs and laughed. “You know it!”

They worked around each other without issue, Remy giving Emile instructions on how to cook the bacon as Remy worked on the eggs and everything else he wanted to put in the quiche. “Y’know, Rem, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this,” Emile said.

Remy glanced at him. “This being...?”

“Us. Together. Making stuff and just hanging out,” Emile said with a shrug. “I’m really glad we became roommates.”

“That makes two of us,” Remy said with a soft smile. “That piece of bacon has been in the pan for long enough, I think.”

Emile moved the piece Remy was pointing at out of the pan and gave a happy sigh. “Do you ever just take a good long look at something domestic and think, ‘I want to do that with someone one day’?”

“Kind of,” Remy said. “Except usually it’s not ‘one day,’ it’s, ‘I want to do that with Emile soon.’”

Emile turned bright red and he laughed. “Oh, come on! You’re gonna be the death of me at this rate!”

“If I kill you, true love’s kiss will bring you back to life,” Remy said definitively.

“And you’re gonna be my Prince Charming?” Emile asked. “You’d be my true love’s kiss?”

“Always,” Remy said with a little grin. “For as long as you want me to be, I will always be your Prince Charming.”

Emile grinned. “I’m super glad you say that,” he said. “It’s good to know that you’re just as much in this for the long-haul as me. I wouldn’t necessarily say more so, simply because I don’t intend on ever leaving you, but if I don’t intend on leaving you and you don’t intend on leaving me, we’re definitely at the same level.”

“Don’t be so sure about that. I will bug you in Purgatory and beyond,” Remy warned with a smirk. “I will bug you for all eternity if you don’t stop me.”

“Good,” Emile said with a grin. “And I will never stop you.”

Remy grinned and kissed Emile, and Emile giggled. “Careful, we’re by a hot stove!” he warned.

“Care to move elsewhere, then?” Remy asked with a wink.

“Let’s get dinner in the oven first,” Emile said with a little giggle.

Remy groaned and Emile laughed more. “Come on, Remy. We can get dinner in the oven in a matter of minutes and then we can have all the fun we want until the quiche is cooked!”

“Sure, but I want the fun now!” Remy whined.

Emile shook his head fondly as he moved all the bacon to the plate and turned off the stovetop. “You are such a hedonist,” Emile said.

“And, what, that’s a bad thing?” Remy asked.

“No. Just exasperating at times,” Emile replied. “You’re my hedonist, though. I’m not giving you up.”

Remy grinned and peppered Emile’s face with kisses and Emile laughed. “Remy! We have to get dinner in the oven first! I just told you that!”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t kiss you just a little,” Remy said in between kisses.

“This is not ‘just a little,’” Emile laughed, chopping up the bacon and putting it with the rest of the ingredients in the quiche. “Come on. Finish what you need to. Then we can have whatever fun you want.”

“Ooh, whatever I want?” Remy asked, eyes lighting up.

“Within reason!” Emile said, holding a finger up in a warning. “I am not letting you tie me to the bed!”

“Aw, and here I was hoping we’d get to have some fun tonight!” Remy said with an exaggerated pout and a laugh.

Emile shook his head, kissing Remy’s cheek and nuzzling into his neck. “How about this: you finish up getting the quiche in the oven, and I’ll meet you in the bedroom?”

“Mm, sounds perfect,” Remy said, kissing Emile back. “And I hope you know that one of these days? We’re going to break the bed.”

“I look forward to it,” Emile said with a laugh.

[turning-the-frigging-frogs-gay]

Underneath The Spotlight- A Sanders Sides Fic

Chapter 8- Dreaming of Dancing with You

Read chapter one here!

Read here on ao3!!

Warnings for this chapter: low self esteem, kissing

A/N: this chapter is long because it covers a lot of stuff... now that I think about it I probably should have put this into two separate chapters, but oh well! This’ll probably be the longest chapter in the whole fic, so enjoy! And buckle up, because like I said, a lot of stuff goes down in this one

Also look what I learnt how to do!!

Dance shows were somewhat of a whirlwind of glitter and makeup for Roman. It was hard to find a minute to collect his thoughts in the midst of this hurricane in which he could somehow find a rhythm. It went a little something like this: dance your heart out onstage, get changed at near impossible speed, repeat. That wasn’t to imply, however, that he didn’t love every second of it. To him, dance was far more than just a hobby. It was a passion, a part of him- every time he went up on that stage he felt like his destiny was calling him, and only by going out there, dancing to the very best of his ability and having the time of his goddamn life could he truly fulfil it. He had no doubts about the fact that a career in professional dance was the right path for him. Dance had brought him so many amazing things- priceless memories that would last a lifetime, a medium in which to express himself, a circle of friends for whom he would do just about anything, and... the chance to fall in love with the only other dancer who rivalled his technical precision. Logan Berry, Roman couldn’t think of him without swooning a little. He was head over heels for the stoic boy- Logan’s dancing was perfect on every level, and his personality had a charm that Roman could only describe as irresistible. So many times, Roman had missed his cue or forgotten steps due to being distracted by gazing at Logan. So many times, Roman had been overcome with joy at being partnered with him and looked forward to every ballroom rehearsal for the chance to waltz his adorable nerd around the studio. So many times, Roman had wanted to tell his dance partner how he truly felt, but had become too nervous at the last minute. He’d been practically heartbroken a few hours ago when Logan had confessed all those insecurities to him- how could someone so perfect think so little of himself? But Roman couldn’t afford to let his feelings distract him at a time like this. After enjoying performing the ballroom routine with Logan one last time, he had another dance swiftly afterwards and had to be ready quickly. No room to be thinking about anything else. Dance, change costume, repeat.

After the ballroom number, Logan decided to take a short break and stand outside the dressing room for a while. Waltzing with Roman on the stage, with all the lights and the music and the romantic atmosphere had made him a little emotional. Logan was not an expert in feelings but he did know that he liked Roman a whole lot. He was an amazing dancer, and charismatic enough to sweep anyone off their feet. But, for the past few years, Logan had been lucky enough for it to be him. He doubted Roman could ever feel the same- why would someone as popular and charming as Roman ever like someone as nerdy and awkward as him? He just thanked his lucky stars that he got to experience dancing with Roman, hoped that his fortune would continue, and that they’d be partnered together again, and never expected anything more to happen between them.

Just at that moment, Roman himself came stumbling out of the dressing room corridor, already wearing his next costume... or just about. Logan noticed immediately that his laces were untied. As Roman began descending the small staircase that Logan was at the bottom of, he immediately tripped over his lace and came falling down. Luckily, Logan had unnaturally quick reflexes and was able to run towards the stairs and catch his prince. Roman instinctively wrapped his arms around Logan’s back to support himself, their faces were suddenly extremely close together. Logan felt the heat rise to his as he saw Roman blush as well. He did his best not to cringe at the awkwardness.

“I- I- Ro-“ he stammered, hardly able to form words. He was carrying Roman Kingsley. Perfect, handsome, charming Roman Kingsley was in his arms, staring right into his eyes. Logan, what are you doing, kiss him you idiot! Without even thinking about it, Logan leaned in and kissed Roman on the lips. He pulled back almost immediately, what on Earth had he been thinking?! He placed the other back onto the ground, regret washing over him like a tidal wave.

“Roman, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

Roman placed a hand firmly on Logan’s shoulder.

“Logan. It’s fine. Trust me, it’s absolutely fine. In fact, it’s way more than fine...”

Logan’s breath hitched in shock.

“Wha... you... like me back?” he said, barely audible.

“You like me?!” Roman said, much louder, forgetting to control his volume in his shock.

“Would you keep your voice down?!” Logan hissed.

“Sorry...” Roman said.

“So, let us review,” said Logan. “I like you. A lot.”

“And I like you a lot too,” Roman said, looking down and smiling sheepishly.

“So... do you want to be... you know...”

Roman lovingly placed a finger on Logan’s lip, smiling that wonderful smile of his.

“I do, Logan. I really do.”

This intimate moment between them was abruptly interrupted as the door that led to backstage was flung open to reveal Mr Picani, looking panicked.

“There you are, Roman!” he almost shouted, now looking visibly relieved at the sight of the school’s best dancer. “What have you been doing?! You’re on in like twenty seconds, come on over here!”

“Oh, right!” Roman said, running to take his place in the wings.

Logan sighed fondly. “Tie your shoes before you go on stage!” he shouted after his... boyfriend?

“Thanks, Logan!” Roman shouted back. Logan could barely believe what had just happened, but he still couldn’t stop himself from staring after Roman, grinning like an idiot. Yep, he was the luckiest guy in the whole world...

Logan stayed in the same spot until Roman returned from his dance, unable to wait to talk to him again. He came back towards Logan, smiling brightly.

“How did it go?” Logan asked.

“Brilliant!” Roman said. “I honestly couldn’t stop smiling...” he admitted shyly.

Logan blushed a little as Roman took his arm.

“Shall we go?” he asked.

Logan sighed. “Dork.”

“Nerd.”

“Prep.”

“Oh, come on, you love me.”

“You’re... not exactly wrong there.”

Roman blushed furiously at hearing that for the first time. “I love you too, Logan.”

However, although they might have thought so, the shocking developments of the day were not over for Logan and Roman. As soon as they arrived in the dressing room, they saw Patton perched in Janus’ lap as the latter played with the smaller boy’s hair, both of them already in their ballet costumes. The taller boys’ mouths gaped open in surprise. It seemed they weren’t the only ones to realise their feelings for each other during the show. When they saw the other two enter, Patton and Janus both immediately sprang up.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Janus cried out.

“Ye-yeah! W-we, uh, we w-were j-just!” Patton stammered, desperately looking to Janus for help.

“Umm... I was parting Patton’s hair into position for the ballet dance?” Janus said, giving the best excuse he could think of on the spot.

“That still doesn’t explain why he was in your lap,” Logan deadpanned.

“I... um... we... uh... I...” Patton trailed off, completely at a loss for words. “Janus, I don’t think there’s any getting out of this,” he sighed.

“What? Guys, what’s going on?” Roman asked.

“Alright, alright,” Janus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re right, Pat, I don’t think there’s any way we can lie about this now. So Logan, Roman- here’s the truth. I’ve been in love with Patton for months. I kissed him and confessed my feelings after the ballroom dance earlier.”

Patton walked back towards him, leaning into his boyfriend as Janus put his arm around him. “And I told him I loved him too!” Patton said through his giggles. “Because I do... a whole lot.”

“Oh my gosh, guys, that’s so sweet,” Roman said, overwhelmingly happy and excited for his two friends. “This is just awesome news And, speaking of!” he continued, unable to wait to share his news with his two closest friends. “Logan and I... are actually dating too now!”

“Roman!” Logan spluttered, quickly turning bright red.

“Oh gosh sorry, I didn’t realise we weren’t telling people...” Roman said. “Jeez, I’m so sorry Lo...” he hid his head in his hands.

Logan sighed. “It is... alright, Roman. Although, Janus and Patton, I would appreciate it if we could keep this between us for the time being.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” Janus assured him.

“Of course. And congratulations, guys!” Patton chirped.

After the conversation subsided, Patton returned to Janus’ lap, and the other two sat down with Logan’s head resting on Roman’s shoulder. It was a good few minutes until someone spoke up again.

“Hey, where are Remus and Virgil?” Roman asked.

“Oh, they went to the foyer to get some snacks before the audience go and buy them all in the interval,” Janus stated.

“If I am correct, we were explicitly told by the teachers that we aren’t allowed to do that,” Logan said.

“Yeah, Remus knows that,” Roman said. “Not that he really cares...”

Patton looked slightly confused. “Shouldn’t they be back by-“

“What the hell is going on here?!” Remus said, as he and Virgil burst through the door of the dressing room, each carrying an armful of snacks.

“As if on cue,” Janus said sarcastically, as neither Patton nor the other two made any attempt to cover up what was going on.

“What the heck did we miss?!” Virgil said.

“Yeah!” said Remus. “We seem to have missed the memo on your random impromptu cuddle party or whatever the hell this is! I’m assuming that’s all that’s going on here...” he looked suspiciously at them.

The two couples looked at each other in silent agreement, knowing that, from now on, if they truly wanted this to be a secret, they’d have to be more careful.

“No... that’s not all that’s going on here,” Logan spoke up. “Roman and I... we’re together now.”

“And so are me and Patton,” said Janus.

“Surprise!” Roman said weakly, while doing jazz hands.

“Jeez, not quite what I expected but I can’t say I’m surprised,” Remus said. “Like Ro, I’ve known about your crush on Lo for ages even though you didn’t tell me. And Patton, how could you not have noticed the way Jan Jan looks at you?”

The four of them blushed furiously. Virgil was still unable to speak as his eyes bulged in shock at the news.

“You ok, Virge?” Patton asked, tilting his head in concern.

“Yeah, I’m good, just a little surprised I guess...”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold up a second!” Remus interrupted, sounding as if he’d just been struck by a genius idea. “So Pat and Janus are together, and you two nerds are also together... meaning me and Virge are the only two left over...” he finger-gunned towards Virgil, grinning in a way that was half-cunning, half-flirtatious.

Virgil began to laugh nervously.

“Stop right there, garbage man, I can see where this is going, and, let me tell ya, it’s not gonna-“

“Oh, come on, Virge, would it really be that bad?! I... I like you a lot, and if you want to, I’d love to give us a try...” he admitted, not caring that he was in front of everyone although going a little quiet at the end.

Virgil backed away, holding his hands up in defence, his nervous laughter intensifying.

“No, I really don’t think so,” he said, exiting the dressing room and seemingly going for a walk down the corridor.

Remus sank down into a chair, looking deflated.

“We’re sorry, Remus...” Patton said.

“Nah, it’s fine, if he didn’t want to then that’s that. I don’t even know, I suppose I liked him for a while, just never fully realised it until now,” Remus admitted- being completely open and honest about his feelings was one of his strengths.

“Sometimes love works like that,” Roman mused.

Suddenly, Virgil came stomping back into the room, keeping his gaze towards the floor. All eyes were on him as they awaited whatever he was going to say.

“... you know what, fine,” he blurted out, still refusing to meet the eyes of the others. “Remus, I like you a lot too, I got a little overwhelmed just then but I really think I do wanna try dating you, and I’m just telling you all of this now before my anxiety can try to stop me.” He finally worked up the courage to look at Remus, whose face was breaking out into a bright grin.

“Virge, I’m so happy!” he said, letting his anxious now-boyfriend lean into him as he placed his arm around Virgil, once again reassuring him that everything was okay. He sighed and pouted a little.

“Don’t make me regret this, trash man.”

For the next few minutes, before having to get properly ready for the ballet routine, all six of them sat, talked and enjoyed the moment of calm while it lasted. They counted themselves as the luckiest people in the whole world, to have the chance to dance and perform, to have met such amazing friends through what had become so much more than just a hobby, and even to each fall in love with one of their fellow dancers, and realise these feelings in one of the most romantic settings possible- waltzing together on a grand stage. Despite the hundreds of people that had been watching them, Janus and Patton, Roman and Logan, Virgil and Remus- they only had eyes for each other...

A/N: all the ships are finally sailing! Hope it was worth it

Taglist: @sophiexwrites once again thank you so much for reading this and always leaving such sweet comments!

Next chapter

[zwritestuff]

Arthur [Jaida/Jan] One-Shot

Jan and Jaida get a pet together. 

A/N: I wrote this because I’m obssesed with the dynamic of these two in the Waitress AU. Also because we could all use a little bit of fluff in our lives. :) Hope you enjoy! It’s not beta-ed, so please excuse the mistakes.

(also- I’m tagging this as Jessence because that’s now their ship name according to me, and this is the hill I’ll die on. You can join me or fight me.)

Jaida pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to remain calm and not yell at her girlfriend.

“Jan,” she begins in a warning tone. But Jan still has that pout and puppy eyes in her face that, most of the time, is enough for Jaida to give in and comply with her girlfriend’s wishes. But not this time. “We can’t have a pet, we don’t have the time to take care of one,” she says slowly so that Jan understands.

Jan is silent for a moment, an expression of pure disappointment settling in her face as Jaida pats her shoulder, thinking she won. But she jerks her head up again soon afterwards, putting on a smile again.

“We can get a low maintenance pet! Like, I dunno, maybe a hamster? Oh, or we could get a fish!” She offers with excitement. Jaida sighs, ready to say again why they can’t have a pet, but Jan proceeds before she can say anything. “Please just consider it. I grew up with all kind of pets, and I feel like that’s what been missing in our apartment, y’know? The only thing left to consider it a full home.”

Jaida purses her lips. She is very much aware of the fact that although Jan had been delighted to move in with her, there was something missing according to her. Jan had tried to shake away that feeling by buying a few indoor plants and placing them on the windows, then it was filling the empty spaces in the wall with pictures of them and their families, and after that it was remodeling the apartment.

Considering none of those things had helped her, Jaida has to admit it’s a valid point. She sighs in defeat.

“I’ll think about it,” she merely says, Jan beams and gives her girlfriend a short kiss.

At night they go to work at the restaurant like they always do, so Jaida doesn’t really have much time to think about it like she promised between taking orders, serving the costumers and enduring the daily kitchen shenanigans.

Jan kisses her on the cheek whenever she gets the chance and she’s as smiley as she always is, but after their previous conversation her happiness hits different.

The next day is their day off, so Jaida sits with Jan in their couch and they have a serious talk about owning a pet and what kind they should get if they decide to get one. There’s also a talk about commitment and how getting a pet together is a huge step for them; Jaida doesn’t dare to step into the ‘what would happen if we break up and out pet is in the middle’ conversation yet.

They both agree that first they should check with their landlord on what kind of animals are allowed, or if animals are allowed altogether.

A couple of days later they find out that small animals are allowed, and he’s willing to turn a blind eye with medium sized dog breeds.

Almost right off the bat they settle on not getting a dog or a cat; Jaida is right when she says they don’t have time to train a dog, and although cats are pretty independent beings Jan happens to be allergic to them.

They research a lot before going with the most obvious option: a hamster. They’re easy to take care of, are mostly nocturnal and don’t require any kind of training, just need to be provided with tunnels and wheels to entertain themselves. It’s perfect.

Jan insists on doing a little more research on hamsters because if she’s going to be a hamster mom, she’s going to be the best one out there — she even tries to polish her craftsmanship skills by making tiny things for their future hamster child. Jaida lets her be and joins to the craft hours sometimes, just because her girlfriend looks genuinely happy when she does and she likes seeing her happy.

Naturally, being waitresses they don’t have that much money to throw away by buying hamster stuff, so they do a budget and the math says they should save up for one to two months to afford all the stuff hamsters need.

For Jan the days go awfully slow and she does her best to serve even the grumpiest costumers with a smile if it means she’ll get better tips. Meanwhile, Jaida is only aware of the passing of the days because every day when she wakes up, aside from the usual kiss she gets from Jan while she’s doing breakfast, she says out loud the date before crossing it in the calendar.

When they have enough money they buy on Craigslist a big enough cage, tunnels, and miscellaneous things Jan insists will make their new baby happy before actually getting it, just so they can be prepared.

Though Jaida doesn’t show it nearly as much as her girlfriend, she is actually really excited, having written down a couple names she likes and all.

The day finally arrives and Jan is vibrating with happiness as they walk to the pet store.

Before she can run to the hamster cages Jaida firmly takes Jan’s hand and stares right into her eyes.

“Babe, remember all the research we did, okay? We’re just getting one. Not two, just one. Normal hamsters don’t like being housed together.”

Jan scoffs and starts to walk through the store, still hand in hand with Jaida.

“I’m not a child, Jay. You don’t need to tell me that.”

“I know, babe; you’re a grown woman capable of taking rational decisions. But you are like a human puppy, y’know,” Jaida says with a laugh and Jan gasps offended.

“I am not!” She complains, letting go her girlfriend’s hand to fold her arms. Jaida cocks a brow with an amused smile.

“Honey, if we hadn’t agreed on buying a hamster beforehand and just came into the store to buy whatever spoke to us, we’d be walking out with all of the pets available,” she points out, and Jan would fight her if she wasn’t right.

Sometimes Jaida thinks her girlfriend’s heart is too big; otherwise she can’t come up with an explanation as to how one human can have so much love to give.

They study all of the hamsters in the store for a solid ten minutes before Jan finally narrows it down to two buddies that she has absolutely fallen in love with.

“They’re both so cute, I really can’t decide,” Jan says in an apologetic tone, but her girlfriend gives her a soft kiss in the cheek, looking at the ones Jan is pointing at.

“The one with the caramel fur and white spots is cute,” she simply says, and Jan gives her a toothy smile before wandering off to search for an employee.

On their way home they discuss about what will they name their son —well, according to the employee it’s a boy, but you never know—, though it’s more like Jaida is throwing names and Jan is peeking through the holes in the box every other second and not paying much attention to Jaida. She lets her be because, what the hell, she’d do the same if she was holding the box. Besides, Jan looks really cute like that.

When they get home Jan decides his name is Arthur. Jaida inquires her why with an amused smile, barely holding back a laugh when Jan starts showing him around the apartment.

“Well, it’s the name of a king, and he’s my king now,” she explains as she looks at the hamster as if it’s the most precious thing in the whole earth. “I think you should hold our son too.”

Jaida cups her hands and Jan gently leaves Arthur in them. Jaida brings him closer to her body and if Jan later says she cried a little when Arthur pressed his tiny nose against her chest she’ll say she has no proof.  

[ladyreapermc]

Fic: This isn’t a rom-com (Keanu x OFC) 3/?

Author’s notes: once again, thank you for the feedback on previous chapters. Onto chapter 3.

Wordcount: 2845

Warnings: fluff and oblivious idiots.

Part 1  Part 2  Part 4   Part 5

Lilah bit her thumb as she stared at her phone until Keanu’s name and message on the screen became blurry. She should be reviewing her paper so she could send it to her advisor. Instead, here she was, ignoring her laptop in favor of rereading his text for the tenth time:

I’m glad you like it and I want to know what you thought of it. Coffee today? I’ll be done at five. K.

Lilah didn’t know why she was getting so caught up on it. What else she expected after letting him know she finished reading his book? After all, Keanu had said he would like to get some coffee and talk about it when she was done with it.

And Lilah wanted to do it; she wanted to talk books with him. She wanted to talk about anything with him because he was so nice and cool and funny. But also, he was freaking Keanu Reeves. She was brought back from her musings by a hand snatching her cellphone away before Jean plopped on the chair in front of her.

“You’ve been staring at your phone for the last five minutes,” she said, glancing at the screen, her lips twitching into a smirk. “Ha! I knew he wanted in your pants!”

“One: don’t be crass,” Lilah complained, taking her phone back. “Two: it’s not like that. It’s just coffee.”

Lilah could see that Jean was about to argue, as usual. So, she just sent the other woman a warning look, because this wasn’t up to debate. If Lilah accepted his invitation, she couldn’t think of it as a date.

For one, she was in her final year of grad school. There was a lot at stake and Lilah couldn’t afford distractions. Not even one as amazing as Keanu Reeves. And besides, it would be crazy to think he was even interested. Not that Lilah thought she wasn’t hopeless or anything like that. She did pretty well dating-wise.

She was just being realistic. Keanu probably had people throwing themselves at him all the time and she sure as hell wasn’t going to be one of those people. Despite her stupid no-filter mouth best attempts of making it look otherwise.

“Ok, but you’re gonna go, right? For “just coffee”?” Jean asked, eyebrows raised and Lilah could actually hear the air quotes over the words just coffee.

“Yeah,” Lilah agreed, unlocking her phone screen and typing a quick reply. Her heart did a small acrobatic flip in her chest as she hit send. “There. Done.”

Jean’s face opened into a satisfied, victorious smirk and Lilah couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Lilah asked, setting her phone aside and closing her laptop lid. Because who was she kidding? She wasn’t going to get any work done before heading to class. Might as well stop pretending.

“Can’t I just drop by and say hi to my favorite person?” Jean’s smile was wide and bright and so innocent. Lilah didn’t buy it for a second.

“Alright, spill. What do you want?” Lilah asked with an eye-roll.

“Ok,” Jean started with a sigh. “Novelsy isn’t doing all that well financially and if I don’t find a way to attract more customers, I’m gonna have to close doors by the end of the year.”

“Shit!”

Worry settled on the pit of her stomach like lead, because Lilah loved Novelsy. The bookstore was initially owned by Jean’s aunt, but once the older woman passed away, Jean took over, much to her parents’ horror, since they expected her to handle the multimillion family business.

Lilah knew Novelsy started as a way of Jean rebelling against her parents, but it became her pride and dream. The last thing Lilah wanted was to see it closed, but at the same time, Lilah could only imagine how hard must it be for a small place like this to compete with chain stores and internet commerce.

“Any ideas that don’t involve me begging my parents for money?” Jean asked.

“We could start building the store’s media presence? Like a blog, social media, that sort of thing?” Lilah suggested with a shrug. “You’re the one with an MBA.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too,” Jean drummed her nails on the wooden surface of the table. “I guess I can dust off my camera, working on a few pictures, but we’re gonna need some quality content to go along with them…”

“Ah. Ambush,” Lilah joked, narrowing her eyes at Jean, who just gave her a sheepish smile. “You already considered all that and you’re just buttering me up to ask me to write for it, right?”

“Well, you are always going on and on about everything you read and watch. I just thought…” Jean shrugged, before giving Lilah a look that could only be considered puppy dog eyes. “I know you have a lot of stuff going on, but could you? Please? Just like a weekly thing would be enough.”

“Yeah, sure,” she agreed with an indulgent smile. It wasn’t like she would ever be able to deny Jean anything. “Just give some deadlines so I can fit it in my schedule.”

“Perfect! Thank you!” Jean declared, throwing her arms around Lilah for an awkward hug over the table. “You’re the best, Lih.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she rolled her eyes and started to pack her things. “You still need some short term action, you know? Because social media takes time to build.”

“I know and I decided to get some stage so we could have some bands and poetry soirées, you know, all that artsy crap.” Lilah laughed at Jean’s eye-roll, but couldn’t deny it was a good idea.

“Plus, Halloween is coming. You could host a costume contest,” she suggested standing up and shouldering her satchel bag.

“You’re just looking for an excuse to dress up,” Jean teased with a smile. She wasn’t exactly wrong on that assessment.

“Ok. Gotta go! Bye, hon!” She pressed a quick peck on Jean’s cheek.

“One last thing,” Jean called before Lilah moved too far. “You should totally wear that cute green tartan print dress for your date!”

Lilah just rolled her eyes at Jean’s smirking face and took off, because sometimes, arguing with Jean was the most pointless thing.

She stopped by their apartment above the bookstore long enough to put away the stuff she wouldn’t need for class. And after another moment of deliberation, she exchanged her jeans and t-shirt for the dress, pairing it with dark leggings, a black cardigan, and her favorite scarf. Just because it wasn’t a date, didn’t mean Lilah couldn’t look nice.  

She grabbed her bag, Keanu’s book and after a moment of deliberation, Lilah reached on her bookshelf and picked up one of her books. He had lent her one of his. It would be only fair to return the favor, right?

Lilah put on her headphones and hurried off since and she was already dangerously close to missing her train. Fortunately, the subway station was only a couple of blocks away from Novelsy and Lilah always enjoyed the walk. It gave her a chance of enjoying the city had fallen in love with and had been calling home for the last six years.

It had been the best decision of her life to move away from Florida for grad school. Not only it gave Lilah the freedom of being her own person away from her family, but there was also just something magical about New York that she hadn’t found anywhere else. Then again, Lilah barely ever traveled. She had lived most of her life in Florida and could barely remember her home country anymore.

It was one of the things Lilah wanted the most for her life. To travel the world, visit all the places books and movies had shown her. She always wondered what would be like to work with something that could take you all over the world. It must really be amazing.

After teaching her class, Lilah headed to the psychology Ph.D. offices to concentrate on her paper instead of daydreaming about traveling the world or her not-a-date with Keanu. She managed to do all the alterations her advisor suggested and added a new analysis based on an article she read last week, before sending it to her.

Once she finally left NYU, Lilah fidgeted all the way to Central Park, unable to suppress her nerves, even if she kept mentally chanting to herself that this wasn’t a date. When Lilah stepped out the station and found Keanu was waiting for her on the sidewalk, her heart felt like it was trying to bust out of her chest

He looked so handsome in jeans, a grey tee with a motorcycle company logo and a dark leather jacket. He was holding two cups in a carry tray and waving her over with the other. So as Lilah crossed the street, she willed her heart to slow down, because she could barely breathe as she walked up to him.

“Hi!” he greeted her with a bright smile. “I’m glad you could make it in such short notice.”

“It’s fine. My night was free,” Lilah replied, smiling too. It was technically true, but she was supposed to be writing her dissertation.

“I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so I just got it black and brought everything else aside,” Keanu said, handing her one of the cups before pulled out from his pocket packs of sugar, sweetener, and cream.

That was so thoughtful of him that Lilah couldn’t bring herself to admit that she didn’t drink American coffee. Not even Novelsy. Instead, she took one of the cups and dumped cream and sugar in it and took a sip.

“Thank you,” she said covering her grimace, by turning to the park. “Shall we?”

“Sure,” Keanu nodded as they started on the path. “So, tell me your thoughts on the book.”

As they walked, Lilah told him about how she felt with Neruda’s poetry, a big grin playing on her lips. She always thought fall was the best season to take a walk in Central Park. The foliage had faded from their usual green in warm hues of orange, red and purple, making them look straight out of a painting. And under the late afternoon sun, everything sort of had a soft yellowish glow, as if they had been set on fire.

As she spoke, Lilah kept sneaking a few glances at Keanu, always finding him watching her with a thoughtful expression that quickly shifted into a smile whenever he caught her looking.

When they reached the fountain, Keanu led them away from the rest of the visitors and tourists snapping pictures. Lilah wondered if he noticed a few of them snapping photos of him. Fortunately, no one came over to bother them. She wouldn’t know how to react if they had.

Keanu stopped by this huge oak tree and handed Lilah his cup so he could spread his jacket on the ground, before plopping on it and gesturing her to take a seat. She chuckled and followed, handing back the wrong cup.

“You barely touched it,” he pointed out with an arched eyebrow, looking more amused than offended. “You could’ve just told me you didn’t like coffee.”

“I like coffee,” she replied with a sheepish smile. “But that’s not coffee, that American chafé.”

“Sorry, what?” he asked with a confused frown.

“Chafé,” Lilah repeated chuckling at how adorable he looked mouthing out the word. “It just means it watered down and it tastes more like tea than actual coffee.”

“Ahhh, so you’re a coffee snob,” Keanu teased, making Lilah laugh.

“No!” she shoved him playfully on the shoulder, feeling solid muscle under her hand. “Just used to it been brewed differently. My father always says that there are two things you should never argue about with Latinos: telenovela and coffee.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Keanu chuckled, leaning back on his elbows.

“Seriously, I’ll brew it for you sometime and you’ll see.”

The offer escaped her lips before she could even register it and Lilah wanted to kick herself. Why couldn’t she actually pay attention to what she was saying?

“I’ll hold you to it,” he said with a small smile as he watched her. “And I thought I caught a hint of an accent.”

“Really?” she smiled wide at him. “You got a great ear. Most people don’t notice. I’ve moved here when I was three. My stepdad’s American.”

Lilah told him a little bit about her family, mostly just silly stories of her brother, which he reciprocated with stories about his sisters. It was nice and comfortable and time seemed to fly by. Every once in a while, Lilah caught herself staring at him, admiring how the setting sun behind Keanu gave him an almost supernatural glow or how his smile lit up his face and his brown eyes danced with mirth as he recalled some of his teenage shenanigans.

“What?” he asked, bumping his foot again hers.

“Nothing,” Lilah replied with a small smile, lowering her eyes.  

Keanu bumped his foot against hers again and she sneaked a glance his way with a frown, wondering if that was an accident. But then he did it again. And again. Was he playing footsie? She gave him a soft kick in retaliation and Keanu grinned, trapping her foot between his ankles. Lilah laughed, shaking her head.

“You’re such a dork, oh my God!” she commented with a grin, and he chuckled.

“Got you to smile, did I?” he replied with a grin of his own and once again Lilah’s chest felt like was about to burst like several butterflies were trapped inside and trying to scape.

They stayed like that talking and laughing together until the sun set completely and the temperature dropped. Lilah kept rubbing her hands together to keep them warm since she had forgotten her gloves. It helped some, but there wasn’t much she could do about her legs. Her leggings were a flimsy barrier against the cold.

“Do you want to take off?” Keanu offered as he sat up, rubbing his hands together and covering hers, offering his own warmth.

Lilah realized how big his hands were compared to hers. As a matter of fact, Keanu was a very big guy. Not only he was tall, but his broad shoulders and strong frame made him look kind of imposing, but in a good way. She realized he could probably pick her up on his arms very easily and that made her swallow hard and her breath pick up speed.

“No, it’s fine,” Lilah managed to reply after a moment.

She wasn’t ready for this thing to be over just yet, but a gush of wind blew past them again and she couldn’t suppress a shudder, earning a knowing look from Keanu.

“Ok, yes.”

Keanu helped her up and they started to make their way back. Moving usually helped to warm her up a little, but they were walking against the wind and Lilah was shivering.

“Do you want my jacket?” Keanu asked when he noticed.

“Won’t you be cold?” Lilah wondered and Keanu snorted, already unzipping it.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He held it up so she could put it on.

“Thanks,” she replied, pulling it closer around herself since it was still warm from his body. And if she sneaked a few sniffs at the collar, no one needed to know.

Keanu walked her all the way to the subway station where he had been waiting for her. Lilah handed the jacket back to him and watched as he shrugged on.

“I had fun,” he said with a smile. “I’ve been so focused on this movie, hadn’t been able to go out and just talked about anything except work, so thank you.”

“I know the feeling.” Lilah smiled too and pulled out from her bag his book along with her copy of Life as it is and handing both to him.

“You lent me one, so I thought…” she explained when Keanu gave her a confused look.

“What is it about?” he asked, checking out the blurb on the back cover.

“It’s a collection of short stories, written in the fifties. Rodrigues was really acidic and insightful so they’re really fun,” she said. “If you want to give it a go... we could hang out again and talk about it?” Lilah offered hesitantly.

“Sure,” Keanu replied with a frown and Lilah winced. Did she push too far?

“We don’t have to…” she hurried to say. A second ago Keanu was all smiles and now he almost looked disappointed.

“No, I want to,” he said. “Really.”

“Ok then,” she replied sighing. It wasn’t like she could just grab the book from his hand and run away. “So, give me a call when you’re done?”

“I will. Goodnight.”

After a moment of hesitation, Lilah nodded and headed home, wondering all the way what just happened.

tbc

Go to Part 4

Taglist (give me a shout if you want to added or if you want to be removed)

@poisonedjoinery @ringa-starr @curly-minnie @i-cant-remember-my-old-login

@caryled @beyond-antares @kathorax @krazycags01 @meetmeinthematinee

@red-pill-blue-pill @baphometwolf666 @soarocks @imagine-the-fanfics @moonlit-raven-haven @cumberbatchbaps @coolbreezeinkeanureeves

[etherealwaifgoddess]

A Twenty-First Century Halloween

Main Characters: Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes

Summary: Bucky learns what Halloween is all about in the twenty-first century. Steve & Bucky have very different ideas on what festive Halloween treats are. And Steve thinks he has a perfect costume but learns he didn’t think it all the way through. 

Warnings/ Content: Light swearing but mostly just our sweet Brooklyn boys being complete and utter dorks. 

Word Count: 2773

Author’s Note: As I was daydreaming of Halloween this morning (it’s my favorite day of the year), it dawned on me that back in the 20′s and 30′s they didn’t have trick or treating like we do now. It wasn’t a thing until the 50′s at which point Steve was in the ice and Bucky was in and out of Cryo. This lead me down a rabbit hole of thinking about what Bucky would think of a modern Halloween and blindly ignoring MCU cannon while I writing this fic. I hope you all enjoy this little bit of fluff in honor of the upcoming holiday. 

XOXO - Ash

A Twenty-First Century Halloween

“But why?” Bucky asks a third time, still confused.

Steve groans, scrubbing a hand over his face in exasperation. “Because it makes people happy, Buck. Look, you don’t have to participate. I know crowds can be a little hard on you. You can just hang out upstairs until I’m done.” 

Bucky thinks hard for a few beats, considering his options. Trick or treating wasn’t a thing when they were growing up. There were parades and parties, sometimes kids would get apples or small things from their neighbors, but it was never kids dressed up in elaborate costumes getting mass quantities of candy from every available house. 

It’s the costume that really seals the deal. Bucky considers if he dresses up as someone else he’s less likely to scare anyone, and it would be nice to get smiles from people for a change instead of the concerned, or blatantly afraid, looks he’s been getting since he arrived. He thinks he could even find one that disguises his metal arm, even further hiding his identity. “Okay, I’m in.” he tells Steve who had gone back to reading his newspaper. Steve looks up with his warm, proud smile and Bucky ducks his head, nodding once. It’s hard to accept that level of emotion from anyone, let alone his best friend, but he tries to at least acknowledge it. It doesn’t help that Steve has been giving him that look for everything lately; from when he remembered the neighbor lady’s name from their tennatment back in 1934, to when he decided he liked pizza with pepperoni on it the best. 

Steve was serious when he told Bucky that Halloween was one of his favorite days. It’s not even two hours later that Steve is handing Bucky the Starkpad for him to look up costume ideas. “We only have a week, Buck. You need to order something soon so it gets here in time.” he tells him with a hopeful expression. Bucky knows Steve isn’t trying to be pushy, he’s just genuinely excited to share the holiday with him. It takes some time and a lot of Pinterest searches but he finally decides on Buck Rogers. He loved the comics back in the day and it’s a pretty simple outfit. He doesn’t expect anyone will recognize it but that doesn’t matter to him, he mainly just wants to look like someone who isn’t the winter soldier for a day. The irony of the name makes him secretly pleased as well and he can’t wait to see Steve’s reaction. 

Bucky finds a costume on Etsy with ease and though the price gives him a momentary heart attack, he reminds himself that money isn’t an issue anymore. He checks his email confirmation and lets Steve know his costume will arrive two days before Halloween. This seems to appease him, though he looks disappointed when Bucky won’t tell him what costumed he picked. Steve already had his costume picked out and it is set to arrive over the weekend. He’s going as Paul Bunyan and will be all kitted out with flannel and an axe. Bucky thinks it’s just another excuse to not shave the beard he’d grown but has to admit the costume is a good fit for Steve. 

Bucky can’t put his boots on fast enough when Steve tells him they are going shopping for Halloween candy. He has an incomparable sweet tooth and has been dreaming of endless bags of sugary goodness for Halloween with no judgement from Steve - eat your vegetables - Rogers. Bucky is sorely disappointed by Steve’s interpretation of Halloween candy when they get to Whole Foods. 

“This isn’t the point of the holiday!” Bucky whines as Steve loads yet another flat of mini water bottles to their cart. 

“You…. you didn’t even know what the holiday was about until three days ago!” Steve sputters back in protest. 

“But now I do, and water bottles and gluten free pretzels are NOT it.” Bucky points at the cart like it’s a rabid animal and Steve just rolls his eyes.

“Kids get thirsty and so do the parents, so yes, water bottles are needed. The gluten free pretzels are for the kids with allergies because they should be included too. I even got the pumpkin shaped ones so they’re festive! And I have the fruit leathers so they get something sweet too. I just want to give the kids something good instead of the crap they can get everywhere else. Besides, we can afford to give out better things; so we should.” 

“But you said we would get Halloween candy.” Bucky is unabashedly pouting, it doesn’t matter he is a grown man in the middle of Whole Foods; he wants brightly wrapped, sugar laden, twenty first century Halloween candy, damnit. 

Steve pinches the bridge of nose, clearly exasperated. “I said we’d get Halloween treats, Buck. I never promised you candy. Now, do you need anything while we’re here? They might have that cheese you liked a few weeks ago back in stock.” 

Bucky sighs heavily, “Yes, of course I want the cheese. Let’s go to look.” his voice is heavy with defeat which Steve pointedly ignores. But he should have known Bucky doesn’t give up that easily.

They are barely out of the Whole Foods parking lot when Bucky holds up his phone to show Steve a shopping list, “Damn. I forgot to get more hand soap.”

“Just use the bottle from the guest bathroom. We can pick some up next time we’re out.” Steve tells him as he navigates their way onto the main highway. 

Bucky shakes his head, “No, because then we’ll forget and then what happens when we have guests? There’s a Target on our way back, stop there and I can get the good kind we both like.” 

Steve wants to protest, he really does. But then Bucky plays the only card he has left. “Please? I’m having a really good brain-day and I want to stop while I know I’ll be okay.” he looks so earnest and pleading that even Captain America doesn’t stand a chance against him.

“Okay, we’ll stop. I’m glad you’re doing good today. I’m proud of you, pal.” 

Bucky grins and tries not bounce in his seat in anticipation. He knows full well what he is doing and it has been far too long since he’s gotten one over on Steve. The car is barely in park when Bucky is jumping out of his seat. “It’s okay, I’ll be quick. Don’t worry about me.” He calls over his shoulder as he bolts.

Steve makes a small huff of agreement but Bucky is already off. As he sits waiting in the car he realizes Bucky had been a little too excited at the prospect of buying hand soap. It’s rare for him to venture into a store solo, too. Steve is trying to figure out what he is missing when a mother strolls past with a small cart filled with candy and three smiling kids in tow. It clicks into place;  Bucky doesn’t want soap, he wants candy. 

The Halloween shop is in the very back corner of the store, far from the soap aisle and not somewhere Bucky could easily wander into by mistake. But that’s where Steve finds him. The former deadly assassin is hastily scooping value sized bags of candy into a shopping cart, his eyes lit up with excitement. 

“I didn’t know they made Twix scented soap.” Steve deadpans. 

Bucky drops a bag and lets out a very small squeak in surprise. “Uh…” he stammers, desperately thinking of an excuse, “It’s new?” 

Steve laughs, loud and deep. He can’t be mad at Bucky for this. It’s his first Halloween in modern times and he should be enjoying it. Steve’s therapist had talked to him at length about letting Bucky decide who he is now and not imposing his own ideas on him. This, Steve supposes, is one of those times. 

Steve crosses the aisle and takes a bag of mixed lollipops out of the cart, placing it back on the shelf in its designated spot. Bucky watches, frozen in place, as Steve picks up a bag of Reese’s pumpkins and drops them in the cart instead. “Jeez, Buck, at least get the good stuff.” he says giving Bucky the same shitty little grin that hasn’t changed since 1925.

It’s Bucky’s turn to laugh and he pulls Steve in for a long hug as he calms. Together they finished raiding the Halloween candy, getting Bucky everything he could possibly want to try. They even remember to stop by the soap aisle on the way to the registers, Bucky insisting they really do need soap. 

In the three days leading up to Halloween Bucky spends an inordinate amount of time sampling the wide array of candy from Target. Steve isn’t sure which stresses him out more, the sheer quantity of sugar and processed junk Bucky is inhaling, or the never ending trail of tiny candy wrappers he finds all over the house. He takes both in stride, letting Bucky get this candy exploration out of his system. It’s only a few days of the year and Bucky does seem to be in better spirits with something to celebrate on the horizon. He even goes to the local farmers market to pick up pumpkins for them to carve (a complete disaster) and handmade crafts to decorate the house (actually pretty cute). 

The day of Halloween, Steve has everything lined up in their foyer and ready to hand out well before dinner. It’s tradition for him to get everything ready mid afternoon so he isn’t rushing through dinner and trying to hand out candy at the same time. Bucky is amused by the seriousness in which Steve takes his preparation but helps out as much as Steve lets him. Satisfied everything is in place, Steve places an order for Tex-Mex delivery and heads upstairs to get changed into his costume. Bucky doesn’t need much prep time but follows in Steve’s footsteps, figuring he might as well do the same.

The all white costume is a little uncomfortable but it will only be on for a few hours and Bucky figures it could be worse. He straps the multi-colored band around his bicep and attaches the faux futuristic weapons to his silver belt. The overall effect is pretty spot on, though Bucky muses if he still had his pre-war hairstyle it would be even better. He doesn’t let it bother him too much as he pulls his shoulder length hair back into a low bun. He’s become too attached to his longer hair to ever get it cut short again. It had grown out a little while he was living in Romania, and he found he enjoyed caring for it as well as the gentle weight of it laying on his shoulders. It serves as another reminder that he is a person now, no longer just a weapon. 

Bucky stops a few steps shy of the bottom of the stairs when he catches sight of Steve standing in their living room in his costume. He’s wearing a red and black flannel shirt with a pair of blue jeans and tan work boots. It’s perfect, even down to the prop axe he’s holding loosely at his side. There’s a nagging feeling in Bucky’s mind though and he thinks he’s missing something. He’s almost got it when Steve calls out and distracts him from his thoughts.

“Look at you, Buck!” Steve exclaims as he joins him in the living room, “Didn’t want to change your name even for a night, huh?” 

“Yeah, I couldn’t resist.” Bucky says with a laugh.

“You look great. You sure you’re ready for this, though?”

“Yes ma. It’s just a bunch of kids, I’m gonna be fine, promise.” 

Steve claps a large hand on Bucky’s shoulder. He looks like he wants to say more but is interrupted by a pinging sound from his phone, announcing the arrival of their dinner delivery.

The first set of trick or treaters arrive just as the sun is starting to set and Steve is absolutely gushing at the two little girls in bumblebee costumes. They can’t be more than a year and a half, and they both wobble on their little legs while Steve places treats in their plastic pumpkins. Bucky smiles and greets the parents while Steve fawns over the kids, handing them each a water bottle and offering them granola bars from the adult snack bowl. They fall into an easy pattern after a few rounds of families come through; Steve being completely over the top to the kids about their costumes (“You’re the scariest Zombie ever!” and also, “Are you a princess in real life?”), and Bucky making small talk with the parents. It isn’t until two women crack up at the sight of Steve that Bucky finally realizes what he was missing earlier. Steve’s costume might have intended to be Paul Bunyan but there was another famous woodsman he failed to consider when putting his costume together.

“Ohmygawd you’re the Brawny Man!” the one woman shrieks in between giggles. 

Bucky wants to facepalm, of course that’s where he’s seen the flannel/jeans/boots combo before! It’s on the wrapper of the paper towel rolls that he walks past almost daily in their pantry. Bucky snorts before he can help himself but he stifles his laughter the best he can and leans away from Steve when he fails. 

Steve blushes as brightly as only a pale skinned Irishman can and plasters on his formal Captain America smile. “Paul Bunyan, actually, but thanks.” he tells the women. 

Both women apologize profusely through more giggles and Bucky finally gets himself under wraps by the time they leave. Steve shoots him a glare, still blushing fiercely, and Bucky just shrugs innocently at his best friend. 

The tips of Steve’s ears are still tinged crimson when the next person giggles over his “Brawny Man” costume. Bucky fails even more at stifling his laughter and covers it, although transparently, with a coughing fit. 

Steve might be a hundred years old but he is sulking like he did when he was a teenager after a dozen people mis-guess his costume. Bucky tries to rally Steve’s spirits but only gets a long suffering eye roll in response. 

The trick or treaters steadily flow through until a little after nine and then things trickled down to a full stop by nine thirty. They are almost out of snacks and water bottles so it’s good timing that it stopped when it did. Steve turns off their porch light and locks the door behind him before leaning against it, yawning deeply. 

“You okay there, Brawny Man?” Bucky teases as he grabs two water bottles from the bucket. 

Steve catches the water bottle Bucky tosses to him and groans at the joke, “Not you too.”

“You have to admit, it does kind of look like him.”

“I will do no such thing. But at least people had heard of Paul Bunyan.”

“Hey, one person recognized my costume. That was better than I expected.”

“She was ninety three years old. Your costume is only relevant to the aged. Mine is still a beloved children’s story.”

“Or a useful household cleaning item.”

Steve huffs and throws his bottle at Bucky’s head but Bucky snatches it mid-air and sticks his tongue out at Steve defiantly. “Next year I’m gonna dress up as robot, I think. It might be fun to make the rest of me match the arm instead of trying to make it blend in. I saw a robot makeup tutorial on Pinterest and I think I could pull it off. What do you think?”

Steve smiles, shaking his head. “You really enjoyed this, huh?”

“Hell yes, I did. We did a good thing tonight for the neighborhood kids. And it was a lot of fun too.”

“Yeah, we did. I’m glad you enjoyed this as much as I do.” 

“And next year we’re gonna hand out some real candy too.”

“Buck, no.”

“Buck, yes.” Bucky grins broadly and Steve can’t help but laugh at his antics. 

“We’ll talk about it in exactly 358 days.” He assures him.

Bucky points a finger at Steve, “I’m holding you to that, Rogers.”

The pair finish cleaning up the buckets of leftover treats in the foyer, and Bucky even talks Steve into a single Reese’s pumpkin while they watch “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”. It was a perfect first Halloween for Bucky and he already can’t wait for next October. 

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 201

Last episode, Gohan started attending high school in Satan City, but Satan City is riddled with crime, and Gohan’s afraid if he beats up too many criminals with his super powers, it’ll make his social life awkward.   I really don’t understand why he’s so worried.    Everyone thinks Mr. Satan has super powers, and he seems to do all right.  

Anyway, he goes to Capsule Corp. to consult Bulma on the problem, and she mulls it over while smoking a cigarette.    This is one of those little details that you don’t really think about much, but it’s something that you just don’t see in modern anime.    I’m pretty sure Bulma’s only smoking here as a callback to her father, Dr. Brief, who often smoked and had a similar hairstyle back in the day.    I mean, he still does, it’s not like he died or anything.   My point is that you never see Bulma smoking in the 2010′s, even though those episodes and movies are set only a few years after this one. 

I’m pretty sure that’s because Japanese television adopted stricter rules between 1993 and 2010.  Did this scene make it into Dragon Ball Kai?   I bet it didn’t.   The only recent example of a smoking anime character is Jotaro Kujo from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and they obscured it with shadow every time he lit up.   Then again, Lisa Lisa smoked in full view, so maybe it’s just because Jotaro was a minor?    Nonetheless, I feel like smoking has been heavily de-emphasized in media throughout my lifetime.   It used to be commonplace, and now it seems like creators will avoid smoking altogether.    I don’t know if it’s because they just don’t want to use it, or if there’s external pressure to avoid it.    It’s a good thing, either way.     I remember watching an “I Love Lucy” episode once where the four main characters all just sort of stopped talking so they could light up and get their cigarettes started, like that was a perfectly acceptable use of airtime.  

Bulma’s solution is to make Gohan a disguise that he can change into at the push of a button.    Gohan is amazed that such a thing is even possible, but she says she can knock it out in two hours.  

While she works on that, Gohan goes to hang out with Trunks.   Not the one from the future, but the baby we last saw in Episode 193.

Trunks just started training with Vegeta, who feels he’s old enough to learn from him.  So naturally he puts in an appearance and chastises Gohan for losing his edge in peacetime.   

This episode was a big deal to me when I first watched it in 2001.   By then, I was invested enough in DBZ that I couldn’t wait for Cartoon Network to air the post-Cell Games stuff, so I started buying the tapes.   I think this episode would have been on the third one I got, and it serves as our first look at the cast seven years after the Cell Games.   Until now, all we’ve seen are Chi-Chi, Gohan, and Mr. Satan.   

Also, I was genuinely fascinated to see what Vegeta would say or do in a scene like this.    He and Gohan never interacted much in the first place, and he was a huge dick during most of that time, and the last time we saw Vegeta, he seemed to be at a crossroads.    He declared that he’d never fight again, but what would he do instead?  In this episode, we finally get a semblance of an answer.    He’s been living here, with Bulma, training the whole time, and now he’s planning to train Trunks.    As far as Gohan is concerned, he seems to regard him with a certain degree of respect, warning him that he can’t afford to get flabby.   

Later, Bulma finishes Gohan’s super-suit, which includes gloves and boots from Vegeta’s wardrobe. 

Gohan’s thrilled with it, but Trunks isn’t.   Earlier, he asked if Bulma could make him a costume, but now he’s taking it back.   

On his way home, Gohan passes through Satan City again and decides to give the outfit a test run when he spots a reckless driver.     Look, if I had a muscle-car that was bright yellow and the number 69 on it, I’d drive like a madman too.    This is why I’m not cut out to be a judge.   

The guys ask Gohan who he is, since his ridiculous outfit doesn’t tell them anything, and he pauses to consider what his superhero name should be.   At last he settles on “The Great Saiyaman,” and he does this elaborate pose to emphasize it.    

Hearing this, the two men laugh hysterically, until Gohan gets upset and stomps the roadhard enough to break the pavement.    They quickly apologize and promise to drive safely.  Score one for justice.    

Gohan returns home and Chi-Chi hates his outfit.    Is it really that much different from what anyone else in this show has worn so far?   I mean, Chi-Chi used to wear a cape and a helmet herself.    Does she just think Gohan’s suit doesn’t show enough bare skin?

But Goten loves the Great Saiyaman outfit, so that’s something.    Wait, who?

As Gohan flies to school the next day, the narrator fills us in.    Basically Goku got Chi-Chi pregnant right before he went off to fight Cell, so nine months later she gave birth to this kid and named him Goten.    Of course, if you’re only watching the anime, you would have already seen the boy by now, because he’s all over the new opening credits.  

With his new costume, Gohan can just fly to school under his own power, land on the roof, and  change back to his normal outfit with the touch of a button on his watch.   He says this will save him from having to use Kinto’un to make his commute, but why was he ever using it in the first place?  It’s not like he could let people see that either, right?   Or did Gohan think Kinto’un wouldn’t be that big a deal?

In class, a couple of students are already talking about the new superhero, although they get his name wrong.   I guess “Tireman” does sound a lot like “Saiyaman” if you pronounce it “SIGH-a-man”, like they do in Japanese.    I don’t know why the dub changed it from “SIGH-an” to “SAY-an,” but whatever.   

Anyway, Gohan angrily corrects them on the proper name, and then he has to make up some story to explain how he would know this.    The story here is that Gohan’s so wrapped up in playing a superhero that he keeps forgetting why he wanted the secret identity in the first place.    What does he care if people get the name wrong?     As long as they’re not calling him “Son Gohan”, it works.  

Later, Videl gets a call on her wristwatch, because everyone has a magic watch, apparently.     There’s a hostage situation on a tour bus, so she has to excuse herself from class to go deal with it.   

Gohan doesn’t understand, so Sharpner explains that Videl assists the authorities in crises like these.    She’s basically following in the footsteps of her father, Mr. Satan, and Sharpner assures Gohan that she’s about as strong as her dad is, so she’s more than capable of handling these situations.  

But Gohan doesn’t buy that, because the last time he saw Mr. Satan, he got beat by Cell in one hit.   Okay, yeah, but Perfect Cell is a long way from a gang of busjackers, you know.   I’m not sure Gohan fully appreciates that distinction, though the irony still shines through.   It seemed harmless at the time to allow Mr. Satan to take credit for defeating Cell.   Gohan clearly never waned the accolade.   He’s worried about people finding out he foiled that bank robbery in the last episode.  But Mr. Satan’s faux heroism has now inspired Videl to try to become an actual hero, and she might not be as lucky as her father.   

So Gohan excuses himself to go to the restroom and decides to back up Videl as Great Saiyaman........ except he doesn’t know where the bus terminal is.   

Meanwhile, at the bus terminal... HAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT IS WITH THIS GUY?    Why is he covering his entire face with his bandit mask?    How does he see what he’s doing?    What’s with the chicken hat?   This is insane, and it’s great.  

The bus they’ve taken over is full of old people, who seem unconcerned about being used as hostages.    I think the deal here is that these guys just got done robbing a bank, then fled to this bus when the cops came after them, and now they’re hoping to use the bus to escape.   

I feel like this is some sort of anime trope, with senior citizen tourists being completely unworried about what’s going on around them.    I’m mostly thinking of that episode of Hellsing Ultmate where Alucard and Father Anderson were about to throw down in a museum until Seras led a tour group between them to defuse the situation.    

Anyway, this lackadaisical attitude irritates the crooks, but they still pose for a photo when asked.   

Then Videl arrives in the air vehicle she uses for these situations.  

So basically, Videl doesn’t have super powers OR a costume, and she just flies into a situation and starts whooping ass whenever she gets a call on her watch.  What exactly is she doing that the cops couldn’t have done?    I mean, at least they had guns.   

So Videl jumps on the bus and crashes through the wndow and starts opening up a can of whoop-ass on these guys.    She’s basically Batman without the suit, which is pretty awesome.   

Then one of the old people takes a photo of her, and she blushes.    Awwww. 

Unfortunately, Videl was so busy kicking butt that she failed to notice no one was driving the bus as it rolled off a cliff.     But Gohan’s here in time to catch it, and everything’s okay.   

And I guess this puts Videl’s character into perspective.    A lot of critics point out that she never really got any development as a fighter.   When she appears in video games, they usually have Gohan or Great Saiyaman show up to help her as part of her finishing move.   I think a lot of fans, especially female ones, wanted to see Videl train until she got strong enough to hang with the Z-Fighters, and it just never happened.  

But, I mean, this is her second appearance, and the debut of the idea of Videl as a crimefighting heroine, and she’s already gotten in over her head.    She’s not nearly as goofy as Mr. Satan, but she’s more like him than the audience might care to admit.    As impressive as she was on that bus, she nearly got herself killed.

Gohan introduces himself as the Great Saiyaman and she’s as put off by his costume and poses as everyone else so far.    Then Gohan addresses her by name and flies off.   

Videl’s all like “How does he know my name?”    But doesn’t everyone in town know Videl?    The people on the bus recognized her.   The crooks recognized her, which was why they opened fire as soon as she landed on the bus.   Why wouldn’t a new superhero know her?  

So Gohan’s pretty pleased with himself, and the narrator assures us that Gohan’s secret won’t be exposed, right?     Right?    You’re shaking your head, why is that?

[fernwehbookworm]

Woke the F*ck Up- Chapter 20

March 19th, 2018

“I think I am getting pretty good at this.” Lena puffs out in between punches. She and Kara continued to work together and had moved on to Kara wearing these padded gloves for Lena to hit, occasionally swiping at Lena’s head for her to doge.

“Yeah, you think?”

“You don’t?” Lena raises an eyebrow before releasing a quick combo.

“Use your hips more. Yes, you are, you may even be able to take on Ruby now.” Kara jokes. Lena had told her how much Ruby had taken to her Karate classes and advanced quickly to her green belt. She was already bugging her mom about mixed martial arts when she hit high school.

“Ha, ha, ha. I could maybe even land a hit on you.” Lena jokes back. Or she tries, but there is a spark of determination in Kara’s eyes.

“You could not.” Kara swipes at Lena’s head, just a little faster then she had been but Lena still dodges it, sticking for Kara’s chest, only to be blocked by the blonde’s own glove.

“Bet I could.” Lena fires back.

“What are you willing to put on the line then?”

“Wait, are you serious?” Lena drops her gloves slightly and Kara just shrugs.

“Sure. You get a hit on me and you win. You don’t, then I win. If I win, then you have to… you have to write and produce a song using a… banjo.”

“A banjo? How am I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one who’s going to lose the bet.” Kara smirks.

“One hit?”

“One hit,” Kara confirms.

“And if I win then you have to… visit the Luthor Children’s Hospital in your costume. Don’t worry about the police, I’ll make sure it doesn't get out until you’re gone.”

“Alright. Deal. Ready?” Kara asks.

“Ready.”

Kara strikes out at Lena’s head like a viper, Lena stumbling backward and almost losing her footing. She quickly sinks back into the boxer’s stance Kara had drilled into her over the past couple of days. They circle each other before Lena inches in to strike with a jab. Kara knocks it away with ease. Lena tries for a cross only to be blocked again. She tries everything Kara has been showing her and none of it was working. Kara was too fast. She wasn’t even countering, all Kara was doing was blocking each attempt Lena made. Kara knocks aside one last wild swing and Lena overextends herself, losing balance, and then finding herself laying on her back and staring up at the bright lights of Kara’s personal ring in the basement.

“Do you concede?” Kara asks, Lena can practically hear her smirk over her ragged breathing.

“Yes...fine...you win...stupid banjo.” Lena puffs out. Kara stands over Lena to help pull her to her feet.

“I’m not entirely sure you don’t have super speed.” Lena mumbles.

“I wish. But no. Just years of training. It’s like gambling, everyone has a tell. The eyes, the direction of your feet or hips, when you take a breath. But it takes experience to be able to process that information fast and be able to react to it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Experience. Which I have none of with the banjo.”

“I’m confident you can figure it out. You, Lena, are very smart.”

Lena blushes and turns away to take off her boxing gloves. She hears Kara doing the same before grabbing them both water. Lena takes one when she joins Kara with Winn. They were speaking about any alerts that had come in overnight. Lena could tell Kara was getting frustrated at the lack of leads for Cadmus. Or her mother. She was trying to hide it but Lena could tell. Before it could too tense it was time to go. Lena’s rental was already out front and packed with all the stuff Jess had sent her since her kidnapping, or Sam brought with her, or Lena purchased. She had booked a six o’clock flight in hopes of being able to sleep on her way to London. Kara volunteered to drive her and then drop off the rental car at the company. It wasn’t necessary but Lena knew Kara just wanted to spend more time with her, and Lena couldn’t deny that she felt the same.

The ride to the airport consisted of little conversation. Kara was singing along to the radio and Lena was just enjoying her soft melodies. She wouldn’t tell Kara, but that stupid bet was already giving her ideas for a new song. Kara pulls up to the unloading section and puts the car in park. She gets out and Lena follows her lead. Quietly, they pull out Lena’s two suitcases and her carry-on. On the sidewalk, Lena turns to face Kara.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. I’m glad you stayed. I had fun. I think Winn was more excited to find out about MIT.” Lena laughed at that, remembering Winn immediately slipping into scientific lingo that she barely understood.

“Except it's been years since I even thought about that and I think that disappointed him even more. It was like trying to remember a language you spoke as a child but hadn’t even heard since you were five. It made my head hurt. I’m glad he gave up trying to get through to me.” Kara laughed along with Lena. Winn couldn’t help himself and Lena tried to let him down gently that she definitely wasn’t as book smart as she used to be.

“I still think you made a friend for life,” Kara said.

“Yeah, I think I have,” Lena says softly, she looks toward the doors leading in.

“I should go. Security takes forever here.” Lena adds.

“Can we..?” Kara gestures with her arms, indicating she wants to hug.

Lena nods and steps towards her. Kara wraps her arms tightly around Lena’s shoulders and Lena hugs back just as tight. It feels so safe and familiar. It lasts longer than it should but it's so hard for Lena to pull away. When she does she picks up the handles to her suitcases and heads inside, Kara calling one last goodbye that Lena turns and smiles at before she's lost in the rush of people trying to get to their own destinations.

**

March 20th, 2018

Lena opened the door quietly as the sun rose behind her. She wasn’t sure if the two occupants were up yet but Ruby did have school to get ready for. Then she heard Sam’s morning playlist in the kitchen and smelled the breakfast sausage. Lena smiled, she was home. Such a foreign word for most of her life but that's what washes over her as the door swings shut behind her.

“Sam! Ruby! I’m home!” Lena kicks off her shoes and abandons her luggage at the door.

“Lena!” She hears Ruby call out before rushing to meet her in the entrance hall. Lena is almost bowled over in her excitement but enthusiastically accepts the hug. Sam joins them and takes her turn hugging Lena. They head into the kitchen, laughing and chatting. Lena tells Ruby about Kara teaching her to box and Ruby is beyond excited, already asking her mom for equipment to train at home together. Soon it was time for Ruby to head off to school and Lena helped Sam clean up the kitchen.

“How was it really? After we left.”

“Fine. Then not so fine. I almost came home after the second night. I told Kara I was going to leave and she came over. We had a good talk. Then the next morning she took me to her gym and we started working out. It helped a lot, I think.”

“Whoa, the next morning? Did you..?”

“Oh no. No, no, no. It was late and I didn’t really want to be alone. She slept on the pull-out couch. Then she woke me up at an ungodly hour and dragged me with her.”

“So what does it mean then? It seems you spent a lot of quality time together then.”

“I don’t know. But it feels like this major roadblock is gone. We were laughing together again. Like really laughing. We even made this stupid bet and… oh, wait, I have to buy a banjo and find someone to teach me it.”

“I’m sorry. Did you say banjo?”

“Yup. I lost. Now I have to write a song with a banjo.”

“You realize as your producer I cannot recommend you do that.” Sam raises an eyebrow at her as she sips her cooling coffee. Dishes were done but now Sam was watching Lena carefully.

“You’ll change your mind when you hear it. I hope. I just have to learn the banjo first.” Sam sighs as she sees the gears turning behind Lena’s eyes. She wasn’t going to be talked out of this.

“Okay. Well, I have to go to work. Go get some sleep. I’ll see you tonight.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Lena, you haven't been in the studio for weeks. And you just got off an eleven-hour flight.”

“But… Okay fine, I’ll see you tonight.” Lena wanted to protest but her eyes were already stinging. She was restless on the plane and didn’t sleep at all. Now that she thought about it, being in her own bed again sounded so good she could cry. Sam pulled on her blazer and grabbed her keys.

“Sleep. I’ll look into, and I can’t believe I am saying this, buying you a banjo and hiring a teacher. Now I have other less important people to tell what to do, and they actually listen to me.” Sam puts an arm around Lena and squeezes her in to kiss her forehead.

“It’s good to have you home again,” Sam says softly.

“It’s good to be home.” Lena whispers back.

**

“Good news. I just finished my taxes, your taxes, and the gyms taxes, and I think we can afford to hire a crew to remodel the top two floors into apartments. And according to my projections, we can afford another location in two years time.” Winn says, not looking up from his tablet as he plops himself on the front desk of the gym. Kara was currently manning it since it was the middle of a weekday and hardly anyone was there.

“That’s great. That extra revenue will really help both of us.” Kara says as she swipes in the woman that just came in.

“Morning Anna, glad to see you today. Jeff is getting the equipment ready for your personal training.”

“Thanks, Coach K. See you later.”

“Is there enough in the budget to start getting estimates?”

“For sure. I say we could start construction by June given the slight uptick in memberships.”

“And did you pay yourself for the hours you put into my bookkeeping?” Kara asks.

“Ah… yes?” Winn says, clearly lying.

“Winn, come on. I know we are friends but at least pay yourself for doing the stuff for the business.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll take out a very small accounting fee.”

“Good. Anything new in your database yet?” Kara asks.

“Lena’s information connected me to a few obscure keywords that I’m still trying to figure out how it connects to Cadmus and Lillian. The algorithm has flagged some stuff that I am not sure what it is, strings of numbers, names to companies that don’t actually exist, stuff like that.” Winn says quietly, though no one is near them right now.

“Okay, well it’s a step in the right direction. A baby step, but still a step.”

“Okay.” Kara nods. They sit in silence for a bit as Kara scrolls through her computer and Winn messes on his laptop.

“Oh… that might not be good.” Winn says.

“What?” Panic shoots through Kara. Winn silently hands her the tablet.

Is Lena Luthor back with Kara Danvers?!

Kara scans the article, it’s a gossip piece, that is for sure. But there are multiple pictures of Kara and Lena outside the gym from the different days they had gone. “The pair were seen entering and leaving The Power House multiple times.” Kara scans further, there isn’t much besides the sparse facts about their break up that Lena had stated already about “distance and scheduling issues.” Kara sighs out in relief.

“Wow, okay. Well I guess this was bound to happen. I’m just going to…” Kara points to her office.

“Go, I got this. Go call Lena.”

Kara grins and quickly runs to her office. Winn plops in the rolling, letting out a cry as he almost tips backward but catches himself just in time. Kara sits behind her desk and dials Lena’s phone number. She almost thinks Lena won’t pick up but right before it switches to voice mail, Lena picks up.

“Hey, Kara!” Lena says through some laughter, it makes Kara smile.

“Hey, Lee! You sound like your having fun.”

“Sam and I were just making dinner and listening to music. Did you need something? I thought you were working today.”

“Well, that does sound fun. Look, I don’t want to beat around the bush but do you happen to see gossip about yourself?”

“I try to avoid it. Why? What happened? Sam give me your phone.” Kara hears a muffled question that she assumes is Sam.

“Well, it seems someone saw you coming and leaving the gym while you here. It’s not really anything but I figured I should let you know.” Kara tells her, then she hears laughter.

“Lee?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just a horrible title. No flare or anything. All it does is quote one interview with some slightly blurry photos. No surprise it wasn’t even on my publicist radar yet. How did you find it?”

“Winn. He gets notifications whenever anything about the gym or me is published online.”

“Well thank you for calling me. I… I miss you.”

“I miss you too Lee. I had fun this past week. How was your flight?”

“Me too. It was fine. I slept most the day to catch back up on sleep. Now we are just waiting for Ruby to get home from her boxing lesson.”

“I’m glad you got home safe. I just wanted to make sure you knew about that article. Enjoy your dinner with Sam and Ruby.”

“Thanks, Kara. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

“Bye!”

Kara hangs up and takes a deep breath. Friends. They were friends. Her brain knew that but her body apparently didn’t. The flutters in her stomach at Lena’s laughter and the smile hurting her cheeks were a dead giveaway of her body’s betrayal. Kara sighed and went back out to sit at the front desk. She may trust Winn with the technology stuff but the people stuff is not something he is very good at.

**

March 27th, 2018

Lena was tired but she was almost finished. She rubbed her eyes with her bandaged fingers. Learning to play the banjo was harder than the guitar, the strings dug into her fingers different and caused them to bleed, even with her guitar calluses. A headache was beginning to throb behind her eyes but she could almost taste the finished song and she refused to stop now, if only she could figure out the transition. She blinked, or she tried, her eyes were refusing to open. Her head jerked up at a knocking on her window. Through the haze of lack of sleep, it takes her a moment to realize what she is seeing. Hanging upside down, wearing red and blue, blonde tresses falling around her masked face, was Kara.

“Kara?” Lena asks, frozen on her bed. Kara grins and nods. Lena stands and crosses the room to open the window. Kara gracefully turns herself right-side up and sits casually on the window sill of the third floor. In London. Fully suited up. Kara props one foot up on the sill while the other plants itself inside the room.

“Hey!”

“Umm… hi. What the hell are you doing here?” Lena asks. Kara’s face falls slightly.

“I was in the neighborhood.” Kara shrugs, smiling immediately again to cover up her disappointment.

“Kara, don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see you. But this isn’t exactly an ‘in the neighborhood’ situation.”

“We used some of that information you gave Winn to track down some bank accounts here in London, as well as shipments. But Winn couldn’t access the stuff remotely so I had to get him direct access.”

“Direct access? How..?” Lena starts to ask but Kara shrugs.

“A little B and E never hurt anyone, especially shady people,” Kara says nonchalantly. Lena is shocked but laughs after a moment. Lena sits on her desk next to the window so she can face Kara.

“So are you closer to finding her?” Lena asks.

“We think so. She’s running out of funds so she isn’t as mobile, it’s just finding her. We can't even tell if she's here or in the states.” Kara says. Lena sighs.

“Okay.” Lena runs her hand through her hair, stopped by Kara snatching her hand and pulling it into the moonlight.

“Lee! What happened?”

“The stupid banjo.” Lena mumbles. Kara cackles, leaning so far back that Lena panics that she might fall out of the window, especially when she lets go of Lena’s hand.

“You really didn’t have to do that. It was just some stupid bet.”

“You know I had to. You would have kept up your side of the deal. I’m keeping mine. Plus, I may have gotten a good idea for a song.”

“Really! Can I hear it?”

“No, it’s not done yet.”

“But you used to… Never mind. Okay, but I want to hear it when it’s done.” Kara tries to hide her disappointment with a smile. Lena leans forward and grabs Kara’s hand again.

“I know I used to play my songs for you. But, Kara, my songs, they are like a little piece of my heart until I put them on an album. A page of my diary almost. And I’m just not ready yet to give something like that to you.”

“Yet?” Lena can see Kara raise an eyebrow behind her mask.

“Yet.” Lena nods, she weaves her fingers between Kara’s. They let their hands dangle between them as the silence of the night settles over them.

“How long are you here?” Lena asks quietly.

“My flight back is at eleven. Quick in and out.”

“Isn’t that dangerous, what if someone puts two and two together. You know, someone flying in and out in twenty-four hours and then finding out they were hacked.”

“Well first, I’d be impressed if they figured out Winn hacked them. And secondly, Winn may have forged a passport as well. Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Laurel Grand.” Kara teases. Lena laughs.

“I’d hate to think what would happen if Winn used his brain for evil.” Kara laughs this time before silence falls over them again.

“I’ve missed you,” Kara whispers.

“I’ve missed you too. It would be nice if I could see your whole face though.” Lena teases.

“Oh sorry.” Kara pulls off her mask and sticks it in her pocket.

“I wasn’t actually planning on seeing anyone, but I couldn’t come all the way to London and not see you.”

“It’s late-”

“Right, yes, I’ll just go and-” Kara moves to climb out the window.

“Kara, It’s late. Why don’t you sleep here for a few hours? Where else were you going to sleep?”

“Ahh... one of those pay by the hour hotels near the airport?” Lena blanches at the suggestion.

“Come inside. You will get more sleep here.” Lena pulls Kara off the sill. Kara enters willingly.

Lena stacks her music sheets and notebooks and moves them off the bed. Kara unzips her jacket, leaving her in a tank top, and unbuckles her utility belt. She hangs them both on Lena’s desk chair. She sits in the chair to start unlacing her boots.

“Thank you, Lee. Just toss me an extra blanket and pillow and I’ll be good. It’s only a couple of hours.” Lena rolls her eyes and throws a pillow at Kara.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We can share the bed.”

“Lee-”

“You sleep on top of the sheet.” Lena raises her eyebrow at Kara.

“Y-yes. Of course. Makes sense. Yup. Okay.” Kara sputters, picking up the fallen pillow. Lena slides under the sheets and Kara climbs in next to her, pulling the comforter up over both of them. Kara is careful to stay as far from Lena as she can. She feels Lena shift to turn off the bedside lamp and Kara sets her phone on the nightstand after setting an alarm.

“Breath Kara. We have shared a bed before. You can’t do anything in your sleep that I don’t know about already.” Lena says. Kara looks over at her, Lena’s back is turned and she is as far away from Kara as the bed allows.

“I know. It’s just… it’s all different now.”

“I know. But sleep. I’m sure you are exhausted.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Lee.” Kara rolls over and feels her eyelids fall shut.

Kara wakes to the soft buzzing of her alarm along with an instrumental song. Kara tries to roll over to turn it off but finds both her arms trapped. One is under a dark mass of hair, the other hand gripped in Lena’s fingers. Lena is pressed tight against her front, the two gravitating towards each other in their sleep. Kara tries again to roll away, only to have Lena tighten her grip and mumble.

“Five more minutes.” Kara hears.

“Lee, I have to go,” she whispers.

“Ugh, fine.” Lena sighs out. She turns and faces Kara. She takes a sharp breath at the familiar sight of blue eyes in the early morning light.

“Be safe. It worries me, you doing all these illegal things.”

“I will. Honestly, when this is all over. When your mother is caught, I may be done with all this.” Kara extracts herself from the bed and the warmth of Lena to put back on her shoes and equipment.

“Really? But you love it.” Lena sits up, rubbing at her eyes to clear the sleep from them.

“I do. But, it takes me away from so much. And we are going to be expanding the gym soon. The whole reason I started this was because of Cadmus, and when that is gone, then what?” Kara zips up the jacket and pulls the hood up.

“Your gym must be doing well if you can expand so soon.”

“Well, it helps that memberships are up. Seems some people think they have a chance at seeing a certain celebrity there now.” Kara winks at Lena before fixing her mask in place. Lena just rolls her eyes.

“Boy, they will soon find out that isn’t true.”

“But will they? I mean, are you not planning on coming back?” Kara asks. Lena thinks about it a moment.

“I may make an appearance again.”

“Good.” Kara grins, now redressed as Power Girl.

“Are you wearing that to the airport?” Lena gestures to Kara’s outfit.

“No, I have some clothes stashed near the airport. I just have to get there.”

“Okay. Be safe. Please.”

“I will.”

Kara pulls Lena into a tight hug and Lena hugs back just as tight. Then Kara is out the window, rising out of sight to the rooftop. Lena hears a faint few thuds and then she is gone. The sun was just beginning to peak over the rooftops across the street. It sparked an idea that Lena wrote down before she forgot, but it definitely did not solve her current song problem.

[kelsmister]

SacAnime Summer 2019 Artist Alley Review

June 7-9, 2019 Sacramento Convention Center/Sheraton =============== So after doing the winter show back in January I decided to try my hand again at SacAnime, but this time their second show in June. Already familiar with the airport and area it wasn’t as bad. That is until I got moved to the furthest row. Back in winter I had a middle-ish row and did really, I mean really well, but this time, oh boy. Well here’s the rundown. Airport wasn’t a big deal. Downside the con’s hotel do not offer shuttle services. Meaning my friend and I had to fork over money for an uber. Wasn’t too bad, around $20. Downside lady’s car reeked of cigarettes and she was a chatter box. Yap yap yap. She also took a wrong turn at one point. There’s a major homeless problem in Sacramento, which we past by driving along to the hotel. Tent city, with a soup kitchen not to far away from where we’d be sleeping. Lovely. Oh, and the homeless did creep upon the attendees outside the convention center doors. One lady shouted lovely profanities for anyone who ignored her, which everyone did. Crowds were present, oh boy were they. A sea of heads and costumes as far as the eye could see simba, but alast these people are what we refer to as ‘lookers’. You see they look, but have nothing to pay with, so they treat you with kind words like “Oh lovely” and “I’ll take a card” or the classic “Sorry I’m broke!” Yes, I heard quite a few phrases of this variety throughout the show. While I do appreciate the compliments, those don’t exactly pay my cell bill, or the huge bill I owe for my hard drive fiasco. A few did remember me from the winter show, which while fascinating you recall me but doesn’t help me in the present, esp if you bought something then. Not like that $1 purchase lasts me a year, or in this case 5 months. I wasn’t the only one suffering the cash crunch. Online many were saying the same. Kids just weren’t buying. From what I’ve gathered the problem lies in the dates this con happened. 2 weeks prior was a big con, Fanime. While I have never been, couldn’t attend it as I was at another show back home, I hear it’s a big one for the otakus here. Likewise in a month is AnimeExpo one of the biggest shows. So if kids went broke from Fanime they certainly wouldn’t have recovered enough to buy much stuff two weeks later, let alone if they wanted to save up for their big event later on. So the inexpensive items were what sold, and were the only items I didn’t bring. I normally pack my clearance prints and broken button bins for my Arizona shows, now I regret not bringing said items. Not to mention my neighbors had towering displays all around me. Aisles behind the tables were at bare minimum. Everyone brought photo backdrops, which made the tiny aisles nearly impassible. With someone like me caught in the middle it made bathroom breaks an Indiana Jones style adventure. Hotel was also ho-hum. Their buffet breakfast was super expensive, even with their generous 15% discount with badges, it still came out to $20 a person. Buffet had horrible pancakes, ok bacon, and just meh fruit (which had to be covered with napkins because gnats!). Our room’s tv also had audio problems, it would cut out every other word. Made watching it sort of difficult. Wifi was another issue. Luckily I used my friend’s hotspot, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to take any card sales. With the inexpensive angle again people asked if they could buy $1 items with card. So here’s the take way! PROS: Table is affordable (like $150) 2 Badges per table Decent sized crowds Loyal fans Reasonable walking distance to food areas 7-Eleven across the street very busy Weather is nice A/C inside building (though it is under construction at moment) CONS: Made HALF of winter show 2 weeks after Fanime, kids were broke Bring cheap stuff -$20 prints will NOT sell well- Over saturation of cons in Summer Months (pick another one seriously) Tables side by side, no exits Tiny aisles behind No height restrictions, some displays are massive No water fountains inside alley area No food trucks Center food closed super early, like 3pm Wifi still a problem People were broke after bigger shows This con IS moving for over a year!! -could make or break it!- My suggestion is dropping the summer sac show, unless you’re local. Hotel and airfare alone will kill you, esp since this show IS moving to a completely new area.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #230

“this is where i wanna grow old, so i’m just praying i don’t make parole.”

Has a movie ever made you cry? Yeup. Do you smile open-mouthed or closed-mouthed? Usually open. I look higher with my mouth closed, lol. What gaming systems do you own? A PS2, Wii, gaming laptop, DS Lite, and a GameBoy Advance. Do you know anyone else with your last name other than family? Not off the top of my head. Is your favorite band still together? Yeah. Any movies your looking forward to seeing? I want to see both Joker and IT: Chapter II. Where do you see most of your concerts? Only been to one, which was in Raleigh. Have you ever had escargot? No, I NEVER will. Do you like chocolate popsicles? Hell yeah. Do you save seats for your friends in class? I don't have real friends at college yet, just like a couple acquaintances. Back in high school and younger, I did occasionally with my purse or something. Depended on where we were. How many people do you know with red hair? I don't care enough to count, honestly. Three off the very top of my head. Have you ever wondered what you look like when you’re sleeping? Yeah. Are your parents proud of you? I mean they say so, but I doubt it a lot. Would you ever be your schools mascot who wears that costume? NO. Those sound so gross and hot. Have you ever had a pet fish? Multiple. What age did you start staying home alone? Idr. Would you rather see the Great Wall of China or Big Ben? Big Ben appeals to me more, but the Great Wall would probably impress me more. Can you do a handstand? Nope. What’s a brand of shoe you like, but wouldn’t buy a pair? I like studded and spiked high heels like, A LOT. Are you reading any books right now? Not currently. Sara sent me the first Wings of Fire book because I'm interested in reading it, I just normally read at school when I have no work to do, and for a looooong while now I have always been busy doing schoolwork while I wait in the library for Mom to finish her classes. Any plans for tomorrow? No. Who did you last take a picture with? My kitty. How do you like your chicken? Breaded, typically. Like as nuggets and such. What’s your favorite fast food restaurant? Sonic. What song are you listening to? I've been binging the "I Don't Wanna Be Free" song from AHWM since it came out man. It's not even biased, Mark's voice has just gotten so fucking GOOD and I'm so proud and in love- Do you have any bruises? No. What’s the last thing you googled? How to make a rounded border of a square in Photoshop bc I forgot while making stuff for Sara. How often do you use a real dictionary? Never. They're pretty much obsolete. When you were little did your mom ever sing to you? Yeah. What’s the reason you last laughed really hard? Um idr. Who do you sit with at lunch? I don't go to the school cafe, so. How long have your parents been together? They were together like... I wanna say 18 years? Somewhere around 20. What’s your favorite kind of Gatorade? EW none. Out of all your friends, whose house have you stayed at the most? I really don't have any current friends whose houses I've gone to. So Sara, if you count her. Who is one person you couldn’t imagine life without? My mom. The idea of her dying is fucking terrifying beyond possible words for me. What’s your favorite Disney movie? The Lion King. Are you camera shy? Yes bc I hate my body. Just let me be behind it. Are you politically correct? It really depends on what the subject is. We've become too politically "correct" if you ask me. I'd honestly say I'm mostly not. Eh, idk. Again, it depends. Speaking of politics, do they tend to overexcite you? Quite the opposite, they bore the hell out of me. Are your parents Democratic, Republican, or neither? I'm quite sure Dad is a Republican, but I'm really not sure; Mom, meanwhile, I think she leans more towards Democrat, but fits the "Independent" title well. My stepmother is ANNOYINGLY far-right. I almost regret adding her on FB. What’s the worst household chore? When you don't have a dishwasher, hand-washing dishes. I fucking hate it. Do you get along better with boys or girls, and why? I only say girls because I'm afraid of men. I can befriend a man perfectly fine, just I am going to be VERY paranoid and anxious in the early stages of knowing him. Do you love dreaming? Honestly, I'd almost prefer not to dream, I think. I barely remember mine anyways, and I like the feeling of waking up after a DEEP sleep. Maaaany of my dreams/nightmares involve Jason anyway, so I'd just rather not deal with 'em. Do you have any conditions that you need medication for? I refuse to come off my bipolarity medications. They're the reason I'm not a suicidal tragedy anymore. I could survive without my anxiety meds, but I'd sure prefer not to. What’s a recurring theme in dreams? (I often dream about rollercoasters.) Most of my nightmares/terrors involve me getting into an altercation of some sort, and I'm always unable to defend myself. Should everybody have affordable health insurance? Fuck yes they should. You shouldn't have to go fucking bankrupt to stay alive, goddamn. This subject gets me heated as hell. Creation or evolution? Evolution. Do you have terrible memory? My memory is so incredibly bad I've had borderline anxiety attacks that I have early-onset dementia lmfao. What do you think is the most peaceful religion? I'm not knowledgeable enough on this, but off the top of my head, Buddhism? If you’re feeling frightened, what thoughts tend to comfort you? I am such a baby. It helps me in a lot of situations if my mom is with me. What year were you born in? 1996. What is the best decade for music? '80s, maybe. Or 2000s. Are you prejudiced against anybody? (Other races, gays, etc.) No. Are you a licensed driver? No, but I have my permit. I'm too scared and inexperienced to get my license because I'm too hesitant to drive enough. Do you have any regrets? Yeah. Is there anything you wish you could say to someone right now? I'm going to wish I could tell Jason I'm sorry 'til the day I die, probably. There's things I wanna tell Megan, Hannia... a few people. What time do you normally wake up? If I don't have my 8 AM class, it can range from like, 6-9 AM. Is there anyone not in life anymore, that you wish still was? Plenty of people. What’s your favorite type of bird? Barn owls. How many friends do you have on Facebook? 112. Have you ever gotten back together with an ex? No. How far away is the closest store to your house and what is it? Uhhhh. The actual town-town I live in is like three minutes away or so, so there's a large amount. I guess the closest is... a dollar store, probably? When was the last time you made out with somebody? A long time ago. What TV show(s) have you been watching currently? None. How many apps do you have on your phone? Just six, but I can't even update one because my phone has such little memory. What pet names do you use with your significant other? Besides the normal ones like "hunny" and stuff, "pretty woman" and then (THEY'RE JOKES/REFERENCES OK) "Bubblebutt" and "Candyass" lmfao. Do you have to wear a name badge where you work? N/A Do you have a dress code or have to wear a uniform where you work? N/A Have you ever dated a smoker? If not, would you? For less than a day. I wouldn't date one now, no. What is your mother’s first name? Donna. Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? More like I share it with every white female on Earth. Have there ever been any bushfires/wildfires in your area? Small ones. How would you label your sexual orientation? Bisexual. Have you ever been a member in a band? No. What’s your favorite kind of accent? English. Do you have separate emails for personal and business? No. Well, I have a separate school email. Have you ever missed a flight? Yes. None of us anticipated the airport would take so long. Are you someone who always needs a coffee before you can function? No. Have you ever seen a lunar eclipse? Yes!! Do you know your significant other’s passwords? No, and I don't need to. I have a respect for privacy. What’s your favorite type of salad? Just lettuce with dressing, really. Cucumbers in there is okay, though. Lobster dip or crab dip? Ew. Do you shop at Goodwill? No. Do you make grocery lists? I don't do the grocery shopping, so. When is your next doctor’s appointment? I see my psychiatrist uhhh next week I think, then my main doctor is referring me to a dietitian per my request as of a couple days ago. Do you own a pair of feather earrings? No. Elephants or lions? Visually, lions, but as animals themselves, elephants. What color do you want to dye your hair next? Silver. Do you decorate for Easter? Not anymore, really. We don't decorate for almost anything at this point. Do you have a car? I don't have a license, so why even. Are you the same size you were ten years ago? Bitch I fuckin WISH. Do people mistake you for a teenager? No. Do you know what you want to do for your next birthday? Get a tattoo and have that gd heavenly drink Sara's dad made me once that Changed My Life. Do you know anyone who’s started a business and been successful? I have an old real photographer friend. Strawberry or watermelon? Strawberries. I'm actually not a big fan of watermelon; it's typically too bland to me. If it's sweet, then hell yeah. What new hobby are you thinking of starting? What's a "hobby." Were you ever a team captain of anything? No. Something I find boring is… TV, usually. If I could give my mother an award it would be for… Her dedication and hard work that's probably unmatched. The most memorable costume I’ve worn is… Idr. My personal hero is… Mark. M-A-R-K. Mark. Markiplier. Fischfuck. Have you heard of Mark Fischbach? An author whose work changed my life is… None. Are you happy with yourself on the outside? (explain) No, but just because I'm overweight. Otherwise, I guess I'd be. Are you happy with yourself on the inside? (explain) Mostly, at least. There're things I hate, things I want to change, all that. Do you take responsibility for your actions? Yes. Do you treat yourself well? Eh. Is there something nobody knows about you (& what)? Yeah, and I'd prefer for it to stay that way. If in a relationship, do you feel you could "do better"? No. Feel like I don't deserve her half the time. Do you have any mental disorders? lol Have you ever stolen from a friend or family member? Wow, no. Money or love? Love. Have you done anything to make someone dislike you (& what)? Not on purpose. Multiple things. Mostly making ridiculous opinions I've had in the past known. Would/did you cheat on someone for revenge? Or if they wouldn’t find out? No and no. Would you rather be remembered for something bad or forgotten? Forgotten. Do you boss around your friends, or give in to what they want to do? The latter by far. Do you donate or volunteer as much as you could? I don't have money to donate. I don't have transportation or time for volunteering. Do you believe in a god (& why or why not)? Yeah, 'cuz the Big Bang Theory just doesn't make sense to me. Compacted nothing exploding into everything. But by this point in my life, I really don't care if there is or isn't. Are you spoiled? No. How do you ease anxiety? Deep breathing, music, talking to Mom or Sara... Do you avoid physically unattractive people, even before knowing them? Oh my god. Does your family have a secret? No. If single, would you knowingly be who someone cheats on someone else with? NO. NO. THE GUILT WOULD BE FUCKING ASTRONOMICAL. Choose one living person you’d like to meet. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm oh y'know I don't have a clue it's not like I love one (1) male homosapien- Are you over-protective of anyone? Maybe Sara. I'm not sure if it reaches the "over" level. What do you think of the name Xiomara (zeo-marah)? Cool as hell, man. Who did you receive your latest notification from? On Facebook? Uhhhhh *checks* my childhood babysitter liked something. How do you know the last person you were in a car with? I came out of her lmao so I mean- Do you support PETA? They are WAY too extreme. Do you honestly hate anyone? My old doctor that fucking destroyed my body. Do you go to church? No. Have you ever been depressed? I've had chronic depression since the 7th grade, so- Or are you a generally happy person? I'm usually just content. Do you think you are a good friend? Yeah. Usually. What is your usual username on sites? "Ozzkat" (rarely with a "0" if it's somehow taken) almost everywhere. Celeb crush? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Non celeb crush? My girlfriend. /v\ Bad habit you are trying to fix? Procrastinating on homework las;djfa;weiraweawer Would you rather go to school or have a job? I'd rather have a goddamn job that I can actually do and enjoy. What is your major? Organismal biology. Favorite cookie? Chocolate chip. Favorite flavor? Strawberry, chocolate... depends on what we're talkin' about. Candles or incense? INCENSE. Would you ever have an abortion? Probably if I was raped. Idk. What do you want for your birthday from your bf or gf? It'd be amazing if she could be here. Favorite flavor of milk? Chocolate. Something you like to do alone? Watch YouTube, draw, write. Something you like doing with friends? Vidya games, go out to see a movie or bowl or something, just hang out and chat. Thick or thin blanket? T H I C C Do you walk around barefoot in your house? Who wears shoes in their house????? tf??????????? u ok?????????????? Do you have a ring on your ring finger? No. Do you know how to type home row? Yeah, that's how I type.

[tumblunni]

OH FUCK U GUYS SHOULD I BUY ALL THE KINDGOM HEARTS IN A ONCENESS???

Holy jesus i knew they did hd ps4 ports of the playstation games but they ALSO added all the final mix content that engkishspeaking fans never got during my childhood? And they ALSO remade chain of memories entireky in 3d with Very Animated Ice Dad?? And they ALSO remade BBS despite it not needing it nearly as much as the old games and thet ALSO remade friggin dream drop distance which came out on a goddamn current gen console?? Like they seriously just made a non portable version?? Now all the spinoffs are on the same console at last?? Why did you not just do this in the first place?? I mean the psp and 3ds games were basically ps2 equivelant graphics and disc space anyway...

Oh and fuckin ALLLLSOOOOO

Also the final mixes of all of those! Also a movie version of the plot of khux! And also Coded and Days, which is a really big shame cos Coded is indeed sparse enough on content to deserve it but Days was my FAVOURITE GAME and it sucks its the only one that didnt get remade! I mean its in the same spinoff category as bbs and com, its not a cheapo mess like coded. Nothing else in the series deserves to be shoved in the Coded bin, even khux at least has better plot even if the backtracking and lootbox shit makes it harder to get to it...

Anyway ALSO a random new sidestory with Aqua going thru like one dungeon or somethin?? I dunno?? Its like a glorified tech demo for kh3, its just 'hey fuckin look what we can do visually on a proper ps4 game' and wow how have i never fuckin heard of this it looks so pretty!! I mean i dont know if its even more than 5 hours or somethin but.. Pretty!! And apparantly you get unlockable costumes for her or somethin? I hope they keep that feature in kh3! Itd rock if it wasnt just the main character too, and we could dress up riku and kairi and goofy and donald and roxas and axel and every the friends :3 new secret to how they defeat xehanort: slap a bow on his damn head

ALSO ALSO

All of this is available in one big bundle pack for £90 which ALSO contains literally kh3. THIS IS HOW THEYRE HANDLING PREORDERS?? THATS SUCH A GOOD WAY TO HANDLE PREORDERS!! Get a discounted price on this new game but while youre waiting for it you get to enjoy an (also discounted) giant fuckin 300 hours memory lane compilation of every damn thing from the last 15 years in one beautiful updated package. Holy fuck its like they made this for ME SPECIFICALLY!this is the perfect way to get people back into the franchise who dropped off in The Great KH3 Wait cos they couldnt afford all the damn million portables needed to gather that Dank Lore. God fuckin hell it cost more than the price of this bundle just to play any one of those games individually on some stupid retro machine i bought exclusively for that one damn game. THAT PSP STILL ROTS IN MY KITCHEN CUPBOARD YO

So

So so so so so

Guys

Please give me permission to buy this

Or like please convince me not to waste my money if you think i'd waste my money??

I really just DONT KNOW! ive been out of the fandom for so long and my last experience was really hatting BBS and feeling horribly out of place as everyone else raved about it being the best thing ever. And i know NOTHING about what kh3 is gonna be or whether its even possible for me to get back into the fandom and like.. Care about it at all again. I just got fuckin fatigued with it and my teenage years were like me clinging on to the edge of a cliff by my fingernails begging everyone to believe me that Its Still Good, Honestly, Its Worth It while square enix is up there all LONG LIVE THE KING and they push me off. Into a stampede of PSPs. Somehow.

And then aaargh i know i literally only came back to the fandom because organization xiii fuckin eternally holds my heart in their lil grabby hands. It was indeed a good nostalgic moment remembering how i loved them! And getting a new appreciation for Vexen and being blown away by how much he should have been my favourite but i just never got to play COM as a kid and then when i played it as an adult all the way after bbs i ended up quitting before even getting to meet half the org cos this one stupid 'defeat 99 shadows jn 99 seconds' mission kicked my ass. I'M JUST NOT GOOD AT ACTION RPGS OKAY!

Aaaagh thats another Big Worry, yknow? Like asa kid i was Bad, as an adult i'm Barely Better , and as a both i never enjoyed beat em up thingies of any kind at all. And on top of that i was never big into disney, i never saw them as any sort of 'childhood magic' but just some naff cliche shit retelling public domain fairy tales in the safest way possible with a bunch of obnoxious celebrity cameos. Also lion king and snow white terrified me as a kid. Also i associated robin hood with my dead grandma. Also as a kid i couldnt appreciate good artistic ability or voiceacting, i was all about the story, yknow? And most of kh's adaptations are really rushed and barebones versions of an already shoddy story, without any of the visual splendor. ALSO i never saw any of the darker or more emotionally focused stuff like Hunchback and Beauty and the Beast until way after i quit playing kingdom hearts, oddly enough. Wtf beauty and thebeast is actually real good and looks so far beyond its time!! Wtf hunchback has my goddamn evil dad in it!! Why did i miss the only good didneys!! Why did snow white traumatize me and those didnt!!

ANYWAY the point im getting at is that im not inherantly predisposed to like.. Any of kingdom hearts's appeal at all. I didnt know half the disneys and i didnt have any hype for the others. None of my fave final fantasy games made it into it until the sequel and then never again after that. CMON I CANT JUST DEAL WITH ONE VIVI CAMEO Y'ALL! And i haaaate the genre and its an uphill struggle to play a game like that with my stupid inelegant sausage hands. So i just came for the story and then everything after the first game has been conspiring to ruin it for me, sheesh! I felt so much for that short concise self contained first episode and then i fall more and more out of love as they establish this status quo of everything being retconnable so dont bother get attatched to it. Blablabla the entire worldbuilding is different now and everyone was secretly someone else and please memorize a bunch of shit from fifty fuckin spinoffs and also time travel and cloning suddenly exist and ALSO Grandpa Onlyblackmanintheworld is generic motiveless evil and everything was him even of it looked like it was actually a sympathetic villain. *insert dio meme face*

So yeah now im just.. In it for the characters?? And the cute art style and monsters and lovely animations and big fanfic oc potentials stuff. But man even tho i had Big Feel for those things i was able to completely drop it all and forget about the series for years, that was just HOW BAD the kh3 drought was. Steven universe hiatus eat your heart out...

So ffff i dont even KNOW if i'll be able to get feels'd for these characters again or if they actually hold up to modern bunni standards of huggable. And i know all the ones i want to hug the most got like zero sympathy and all died horribly and were also retroactively revealed to be clone oldmanvirus somethingy and aaaaaagh. But also something something people say they all came back and got cured?? And this is why?? I am here?? Again?? And buying?? The thing??

Like man fuck i am already building it up so much in my head aaaa what if i dont actually love axel as much as i used to love axel and i dont love Grumply Science as much as i always love That Character Archetype seriously MAN how was he like THE ONLY ONE I DIDNT GET TO SEE AS A KID

Aaauuuuaggh gahhh like maybe this will reignite my passion for the series or maybe i'll just be all critical and dumb and waste all my moneys

Guys... What do??

[roxxdafoxx]

Why I stopped celebrating the holidays...

for me holidays were always a disappointment the decision to not celebrate the holidays can save you money and  your sanity its definitely a “rich mans holiday” my grandmother always made it a point to make sure i felt valued she always got me a gift and a birthday cake My great grandmother an I shared the same birth date and having a birthday with my great grandmother was the best now with the exception of a few cousins and my children now that my entire family is dead and after spending every holiday in the hospital ive had a lot of time spent in isolation to learn and get to know myself and God on a more intimate and deeper level not being with family always being depressed during the holidays made me realize why am i allowing these holidays cause me anxiety get me all upset about being able to afford gifts for everyone especially when u have a big heart and the desire to give to everyone id give to almost everyone in the entire world if i could but feeling that way during holidays never sat right with me it would ruin my mood my self esteem/self worth i would feel i had no value like i was never good enough no matter hat i did or gave would never be good enough i would find myself damn near balled up in a corner crying on a day that was supposed to be happy my birthday being so close to christmas put my birthday in the my mind in the  “you dont matter box” lol im sure most can relate if their birthday is during that time when most people are getting ready for the holidays while everyone else gets both a birthday present and a christmas present for christmas babies your lucky if you even get a gift in general trying to throw a party around that time is equally as difficult people are just too busy the holiday its supposed to be about Jesus and his birth and birthday although its not even the day he was born a lot of people aint even really thinking about Jesus at all some celebrate christmas and dont even believe in God its just tradition for them and a reason to celebrate and get gifts and its origins have nothing to do with God!!! The origin of Christmas is completely opposite of what most think theyre celebrating and most are in denial that they continue to celebrate a lie with a dark origin they say halloween is a devils holiday but Christmas is too!! the reason the birth of Jesus is not listed in the bible is because God never planned or commanded us to celebrate his birth because he doesnt have a birthdate he has always existed the bible even calls it foolishness (Jer 10) this is the reason people cant wait for the holiday cram to be over with because theyre busy trying to please everyone except God being selflessly selfish and putting themselves into debt is that really the correct way to show people that you care?  When u travel a bit when u go through some things when u see people struggle just to have a roof over their head are homeless or living in a shelter or if you think of people in other countries who are just grateful for a pair of old worn out shoes you realize how vain the holidays really are the bible even calls it “vanity” when you look at all the beautiful decorations all the money spent on trees and lights etc u start to see it for what it really is its all “vanity” please believe im not being judgemental i celebrated this holiday before i somewhat celebrated it even tho i was in the hospital i mean you really cant avoid the celebration because the majority is celebrating and it will trickle its way on down to you in one way or another for instance i no longer celebrate and this is my first year deciding not to the nurses bought me gifts along with a santa claus hat that ive been wearing because i love hats its warm im into costumes and fashion but even fashion can be considered vanity we have put ourselves in a place and position that we forgot where we came from and what our ancestors went through.. I loved planning birthdays and surprises for friends, but when it came to me, the favor was never returned. That's when I realized that planning my own birthday or holidays or others birthdays that it was too much pressure trying to please others. it still makes you feel inadequate and terrible. nobody cares  Let's be real Everyone is already in debt. Your birthday just became another errand on their daily to-do list. If you invite a lot of people they dont show up or might not bring anything some folks just really are there for the food and a party could care less about you but its just something to do it could mean you have false friendships/relationships in general and you're just there hoping for gifts even fake friends buy gifts too u just never know .... the dark origins is really what made me give up on holidays valentines day is supposed to be about love but i never felt more unloved than on that day halloween aka “the devils day” you get more gifts of candy from strangers than any other holiday ironically and its like the  day where being scared is supposed to be fun the bible clearly states fear is not of God a lot of people like that stuff and like the feeling of being afraid until its a real situation then its not so fun.. i can barely watch horror films i honestly dont know how people come up with these crazy scary movies how do they film them write them and play these characters i mean acting is most def a talent...If you’ve never researched where our Christmas traditions come from, if interested in the truth look into it. I started to share them here, but it would take me FOR.EV.ER. to go through all of the names, dates, traditions, etc. But look into where Dec. 25th came from.  the Yule log, the Christmas tree and its ornaments and lights, holly, mistletoe, wreaths, the Christmas ham… look up Winter Solstice and Saturnalia. If you are really interested in knowing where your traditions come from and what they mean… do some studying.Suffice it to say, what we are doing when we partake of the traditions of Christmas is nothing more than imitating the pagan’s worship of the sun god. And i no longer can stand to have any part of spitting in the face of God. (Sorry, I know that sounds harsh, but this is how it makes me feel.)For a long time I tried to rationalize that it was okay to continue enjoying the festivities. After all, we weren’t doing it to worship a sun god, we were honoring the birth of Christ! Right? Well, after much prayer and studying God’s word, one day the Lord revealed this analogy to me.Let’s just say that your spouse has cheated on you. After all, the Lord does call his people an “adulterous bride” after they went chasing pagan gods.Let’s say that your cheating spouse has come back to you, and asked your forgiveness. All has been made right again.Now, let’s say it’s your birthday. And your spouse wants to honor you on this day. (Although, in an appropriate analogy the celebration wouldn’t even be on your actual birthday!its on the other womans/guys birthday)But instead of giving you gifts that you have clearly expressed a desire for, your spouse gives you things that his lover enjoyed! He made his/her favorite foods, wanted to enjoy his/her favorite activities with you, lavished you with things that would have delighted him/her! Now, would this honor you? Would you feel loved and esteemed in this situation? Of course not!!! You’d be Livid!!! Is this not what we do to Christ, when we say that we are honoring Him by means of pagan traditions!? Being me,.. I wanted to find something in Scripture to solidify my convictions. Would God see the intentions of my heart, and understand that I’m just trying to please Him? Or would He be angry as I know I would be in that situation?...YHWH brought me to Exodus 32, the story of the Golden Calf. Remember that one? Moses had gone up onto the mountain to speak with God (and bring down the 10 commandments), but he took so long in coming that the people began to wonder what had happened to him. They asked Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship, and he did so. But I thought this was fascinating, in verse 5 of that same chapter Scripture says, “And when Aaron saw it (the golden calf), he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.”Do you see what he was doing? The people had fallen back into pagan practices, and were worshiping an idol, yet saying it was to honor God!!  The next verse goes on to say,“And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”Wow. Sounds like they were having a very fun celebration, huh?! Did the Lord look at the rejoicing of their hearts and feel honored? Let’s find out…In verses 7-9, YHWH speaks to Moses and tells him what the people are doing. He says that they have “corrupted themselves”, and “turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them”.Then in verse 10, YHWH says, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them…”.He was SO ANGRY! He was ready to destroy them all! Evidently, He was not pleased at the way they were trying to honor Him… mixing worship with pagan traditions. Mixing the holy with the unholy. water oil Vinegar type mix Just. Like. Christmas.....As I continued to study, I also came to 1 Samuel 15…This is where King Saul went out to destroy the Amalekites. But the Lord specifically told him (through Samuel) that he was to “utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” (verse 3)But if you read on, you’ll find in verse 21 that they did not do as the Lord had commanded, and had in fact brought back with them the best of the sheep and oxen instead of killing them. Of course, when Samuel confronts him about it, Saul rationalizes that they did it “to sacrifice unto the LORD”.Here again, man is disobeying the Lord’s commands, yet saying he is doing so to try to please God. What does the Lord say? Verse 22-23, “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to “OBEY” is better than sacrifice”!!!, .For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”God didn’t want the sacrifices. He wanted obedience!!!.Here’s another in Deuteronomy 12:29-31; He is speaking to the Israelites before they go into the promised land,“When Yahweh your Elohim cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, `How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’You shall not worship Yahweh your Elohim in that way; for every abomination to Yahweh which He hates they have done to their gods…”We are specifically told NOT to worship God with the ways of the pagans!! Jesus himself said in Matthew 15:7-9, “Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”I don’t want to worship in vain, forsaking the commandments of God and clinging to the traditions of men. (also in Matt. 15:3)I don’t want to have anything to do with the unholy.Ephesians 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”In fact, the recurring theme all throughout Scripture is for God’s people to NOT follow the way of the pagans (in other words, go along with what the rest of the unbelieving world does), but to be set apart as holy, and to honor YHWH by obeying His commandments!If we profess to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, then we cannot ignore the very character of God as repeated to us throughout Scripture. He is a loving God, yes, but He is also a jealous God. He will not share His people with idols.“For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14 But let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that Christmas traditions don’t really have pagan roots. Let’s just pretend that’s a bunch of baloney.Even still, nowhere in Scripture is it commanded to remember the birth of Christ. In fact, what we are commanded to celebrate are the Biblical Feasts of the Lord (given in Lev. 23), including Passover in remembrance of Christ’s death. Yet, far too many Christians have never even heard of the seven Feasts of the Lord, or they think they are “Jewish” celebrations. Scripture doesn’t call these holy days (not holidays) “Jewish feasts”, but the LORD’s Feasts. And everyone who calls himself a child of Elohim is to keep them. Forever.And so, we have chosen to give the Lord the gifts He has specifically requested, and honor Him through celebrating and remembering the Feasts of the lord.Loved ones, I know that Christmas is a special time of year, and that people get very caught up in its traditions and festivities. But our hearts yearn to honor the Lord… above all else. And this is something that i feel is non-negotiable.So, im  saying “No”: to the holiday rush, and fighting over the latest toys for my kids, and inflatable yard decorations, and the lies of a bearded man who claims to have the powers of God (all seeing, all knowing, all present), and the Great Big Toys “R” Us Book, and “Yuletide” carols, and guilt induced credit card spending, and drunken company Christmas parties, and everything else that the world gets so wrapped up in during this time of year.For me, it really only comes down to one thing:“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 And I think I’ve laid out pretty clearly what i believe the Lord expects from us.  one holiday i like which is the 4th of july because it summer and there’s fireworks in the sky and bbq but what is the true origin of 4th of july? i wish we didn’t have to have wars i wish people could just live and let live without hurting anyone why steal why not just learn from each other share a world without greed would be beautiful but also when u have nothing really left and after you have gotten rid of all the fake people in your life u find no real reason to celebrate if you have no one to celebrate with with my family all passing away the money has been short after being  locked up in an institution it puts a damper on things i feel like these holidays are made up just to make the rich get rich yes we all want to have fun and have a good time but id rather celebrate with the right people for the right reason without any ulterior motives that battle against principalities ans spiritual wickedness against rulers of darkness evil spirits in high places the fowl of the air id much rather sell things to people who do celebrate these holidays because at least it can help with bills instead of be a hindrance and burden in my life i’m not judging anyone who celebrates holidays i use to celebrate them too i’m just sharing why i have chosen not to  honestly i celebrate everyday i buy gifts throughout the year why celebrate when the government wants us to? so they can capitalize on the citizens have us participate in their hellenistic rituals that we aren’t even  made aware of until we do the homework and learn about them for ourselves these traditions were forced on us we weren’t given a choice and to think we were told that by celebrating these days we are honoring God and all along we arent we are honoring other gods celebrating holidays that have origins of other gods and not the true God the bible doesn’t encourage us to entertain these practices why even celebrate anything that has the potential to be a set  up for disappointment by not celebrating it eliminates any expectation of having a day that you really only see in the movies on the hallmark channel i’ve also noticed people dread and just cant wait for it to be over like a funeral and its supposed to be a joyful prosperous time its even programmed to be called the most wonderful time of the year i tell ya satan is a sly trickster i chose life and freedom from the imprisonment that i feel when it comes to the holidays so while everyone else is celebrating i decided to be happy and enjoy myself in my own company with God the real comforter snuggled up to him in worship and gratefulness as an introvert id rather spend the days away from all of that i enjoy being an introvert i enjoy being in my own company creating with the creator holding me down and uplifting me and perhaps the holidays have turned me into  a “scroogey your highness grinch” because i view things differently now but with that comes the freedom of me not having to do what everyone else is doing setting myself apart from the masses (mass level of destruction lol insider) i’m living my life by my rules by my preferences and spending time with God my best friend God never asked for anything but for us to live right and be holy because he is holy this is something to be celebrated always everyday everyday is our unbirthday one day out of the year is a day we were born on and we shouldn’t feel pressured or disappointed because someone didn’t get us a gift or acknowledge the fact that we are here another year and alive if anything we should spend our birthday alone with God because for sure its facts that you’ll feel value and loved in the arms of God i feel we should do something special for ourselves no one will ever love us like God can no one will ever love us like the self love we give ourselves truth be told people will always fail u people will not always be there for you people die there are no guarantees in life except the existence of God and his everlasting word anything else is temporary everything we see will one day no longer be  so i make it a point not to depend on external happiness internal happiness is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves  always do you stay true to yourself get rid of old habits that dont benefit your soul and be happy do what makes you happy there’s always room to learn more and to improve in certain areas in your life in all areas a friend once told me and it will forever stick with me and that is we aren’t perfect we are not all knowing we are forever learning and correcting things we are all a work in progress give to others keep yourself in alignment with the word of God by giving to others its like youre giving to God and it will be given back to you within the same measure you gave with so just be a happy cheerful giver give from you’re entire heart good things will happen just dont give and expect something back giving to receive doesn’t work like that...another thing  don’t wait for their birthday or a man made holiday to do things for people some might not even live to see another birthday this kinda follows the saying don’t wait till i’m dead to buy me flowers or wait till im gone to finally miss me invite someone to dinner just because why wait until thanksgiving to feast and be thankful around your loved ones thanksgiving a day where we are actually celebrating stealing the land from the people who were already here thats like allowing someone to move in with you you teach them how to grow food and make a living for themselves and then they rob you and kick you out of your own home and force you to pay them to live in the street and first and foremost last but most assuredley not least never allow the holidays to validate you your value doesnt depend on gifts u get or didnt get or the people around you i like small numbers i think God prefers small numbers too because quality is and always will be better than quantity id rather have 1 real friend than a thousand fake friends even if my only friend is myself i remember in elementary school they would give out secret candies on valentines day some student s would recieve like 30 gifts because either they were that much admired and popular or they bought themselves gifts and made it look like someone else did it for them to make themselves appear to be better but i wonder if fake love makes them feel better its kinda like today how they buy followers do me a favor be happy keep the fake stuff to the side seek to be happy internally so nothing or no one can take that from u people and material things are all external things theyre all temporary the things money cant buy the things we cant see are the more permanent things our bodies are also temporary but these souls of ours are gonna be with us a lot longer so make sure you take good care of it and of you real love is internal and eternal and its the best gift we can give to ourselves signed #EternallyYours #EternalLove