#we made the exact same joke at the exact same time 23 times

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

I think that's going to be the end of the watch through until this time next week. I want to spend tomorrow and Sunday getting the PrapaiSky chapter of my fic finished and posted if possible, then I head out of town to see Seventeen in Chicago TWICE!

[essentiallyleaf]

day 06. dacryphilia. with. karina.

964 words.

tags.

kinktober ‘23, idol x male reader, friends to lovers(?), dacryphilia (that’s being aroused by tears btw), deepthroating, sex toys, choking, overstimulation, tit slapping, basically unedited, boring tags.

notes.

a little bit of a shorter one today, i was planning on releasing a different fic, but didn’t like how that was coming out and had to write this last second. hope it’s not too bad. weepily, leaf.

It was the exact moment you reached the back of her throat that Jimin’s eyes started to glisten. Not the same way they did when you suggested pizza night to her, no, it was obviously a lewder, more desperate way, but somehow still as affectionate, as enthusiastic do be able to spend time with you doing something that she loves. And while it was clear since you two were best buddies in high school that she loved eating an entire burrata pizza while watching baseball with you, it took a little longer for her to find out that she loved leaving cherry lipstick marks on the base of your cock while you deepthroated her, as well.

Then Chaehyun’s house party happened. Chaehyun was one of Jimin’s best friends since before you knew her, you weren’t particularly close to her, maybe she was jealous of you, the shiny, (only relatively) new boy that just popped up in high school, and quickly became the person Jimin shares her secrets with - one time, she told you, she was trying to flirt with this girl that was in her French class, so she made a paper plane with her number written on the inside and threw it at her, but the paper plane “got caught in the wind” (“It was poorly built, just say it!” “Bro, bet that if we built one each right now, mine would fall further!” - it did) and hit the teacher’s back; fortunately he didn’t open it and just threw it in the bin thinking it was a joke in bad taste, but when at the end of the class she asked the girl out, the girl completely freaked out, telling her that she wasn’t out yet and that if her parents found out she’d be dead; they never spoke again. Or maybe she wasn’t jealous and you were just trying to demean her because you felt that this competition for being Jimin’s one and only was a real thing.

Anyway, late into Chaehyun’s house party, you and Jimin started nosing around in her upper floor, and specifically her room, and she found this purple vibrator (she said she had no idea it was there, but you knew she had been in that room before plenty of times - you’re not trying to imply anything, just, she is the type of girl who might decide to pull someone else’s sex toy out in front of you, because she knows what would happen if she did). What happened after she did was you on top of Jimin with a hand on the vibrator circling around her clit and the other around her throat, choking her. Tears were falling down each side of her face when she came.

Jimin rocks your world. It took you a while to find out all the ways in which she does (well, all the ones you know thus far), but what matters is, you got to that conclusion. And you got to that conclusion in a flash, it took one moment. It was a normal school night, it doesn’t matter when. The two of you were having sex missionary in your shared apartment - the decision to rent one together when you’d be in college came at the end of 10th grade; it was already clear by then that you’d have to deal with each other’s presence for a while. She had just had her third orgasm, some tears already shed in the first two, and her eyes were now closed in absolute bliss. You grabbed her chin: “Open up - glistening, I tell you - and look at me. Don’t close them anymore, ‘kay?”

You resumed your pumping while she was still sensitive, you heard her whining because of it. Her huge, fluffy tits were bouncing in a hypnotizing motion, begging to be touched. That’s a euphemism, you thought, as you smacked her left boob with your right hand. The yell that left her throat was the loudest of the night. What would the neighbors think? (What would they be thinking? “They’re fucking. It’s the sixth time this week.” That’s no news.)

Your eyes went back to hers. She hadn’t closed them, the good girl. And now her lips were quivering. Slap her right mound. Then back to the left. As you kept thrusting your hips into hers, Jimin started weeping.

“Look at me. I am so close. You’ll need to endure for me just a little more”

You weren’t lying, but let’s just say you didn’t take the quickest route. You detoured by going back to smacking the girl’s tits repeatedly, and now she was bawling. You took her hands and lifted her up, now basically kneeling on the bed, then wrapped your arms around her back as you pumped upwards into her pussy. She screamed her lungs out, as she probably reached her fourth, but it wasn’t her voice, it was her legs instinctively meeting on your back that spoke to you. And what they were saying was “I need it inside”. You heard her loud and clear, and deposited buckets of cum in her belly. Still completely wrapped around each other, the two of you fell back onto the bed, panting. Her entire face was wet in tears, her mascara completely ruined.

Jimin rocks your world. It’s when you look at her in the eyes that you can just tell. One moment. You were so focused on her, on keeping her happy and on not sharing her with anyone else, that you never realized how good you felt around her, how good she made you feel.

“How about I help you clean your face from your make-up?”

“I think I’ll need to clean down there, too”

Some of your cum was already flowing out of her pussy.

“Shower with me?”

-

footnotes.

i wonder if you can make a smut only describing stills and never an actual scene. experimentally, leaf.

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Date Night

PARING: Tangerine x fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 1.3k

SUMMARY: Tangerine has been away on a mission for the last week, and is back in time for date night. Missing each other like crazy, you decide to have a not-so-quiet night at home

TAGS/WARNINGS: 18+ only. mutual masturbation, lazily handjob, cowgirl, unprotected p in v, creampie, established relationship. MDNI no mentions of y/n

A/N: this is a repost, bc i accidentally deleted the original🥲

rewritten 07/12/23 - deleted big chunks (1.2k words to be exact) as badly written and adds no context, just a load of waffle

Every alternating Friday, you and Tangerine would have a date night - a special night dedicated to prioritise each other. An evening together, no distractions. 

Today was date night, your favourite day. The same day that Tangerine returns home from his ten-day-long mission in South Africa.

As you pace the living room impatiently -waiting for your husband to come home to you- you see car headlights shine through the blinds, your favourite indication that Tangerine made it back safe.

Feeling giddy at his arrival, you run to the front door, ready to greet him with a kiss and a smile. 

Keys jingle in the lock, and you rush over to him. "Ah!" you shriek, wrapping him in a tight, welcoming embrace. "God, I've missed you," you blurt out, planting quick, hurried kisses over his cheek.

He chuckles, gripping your waist, hugging you with one arm as he walks into the house. "Missed you, love," he adds, dropping his bag to the floor to wrap his now-free arm around you. "How you been?" he asks, lingering a kiss on your lips, blue eyes lit up huge.

"Good, bored. Same old, same old," you smile. "How was your business trip?" you jest, pulling away to shut the door behind him. "Get many kills? Win mvp?"

He snickers, kicking off his shoes to follow after you. "Dickhead." 

You make your way into the kitchen, but he hangs back, sifting through his away bag. He meets you at the island a moment later, a bottle of wine and a single red rose in hand, a sweet, sincere smile on his face. "For you," his grin brightens, placing the gifts on the countertop. 

"You're annoyingly sweet," you smile, placing the rose into an old wine bottle - half-filling it with water. "Puts my present to shame," you playfully frown, nodding to the gift bag on the dining table.

He rolls up his sleeves, adjusting the collar of his shirt as he makes his way over, laughing almost obnoxiously when he sees what's inside. He picks up the small bottle, turning to face you. "Lube? Really?"

"I know, I know. It's stupid," you offer an apologetic smile, scratching the side of your neck - almost embarrassed. 

"Should I be insulted?" he jokes, walking back over to you, standing on the other side of the island, resting his hands on the surface with a wide stance.

"No," you dismiss. "It's, you know... my way of telling you I missed you," you respond suggestively, leaning over the counter to kiss him. 

"Oh, yeah?" he grins cockily, eyes half-lidded as he focuses on you. 

You hum, checking the time on your phone. "We got over an hour til dinner arrives," you innocently suggest. "Want to play cards? A board game?" you tease.

"Mh-hm," he nods, playing along. "Monopoly. That will kill the time."

"Okay then, great," you grin. "Let's go play," you add, walking away - heading for the stairs.

You halt when you reach the bottom of the staircase, waiting for Tan, hand extended for him to take. You lead him upstairs, him holding onto your hand from behind, following after you like a dog on a lead. 

Walking you both through the door of your shared bedroom, guiding him to the armchair in the corner of the room, you ask him to sit. He does as asked, adjusting his groin in the chair, manspreading in the way he knew you liked - keeping his eyes fixed on you in front of him. Gaze lidded and focused as he slowly unbuttons his shirt.

You stand a mere foot away, undressing yourself of your baggy sweater to reveal a black lace bra - one you wore specially for tonight. You're close but not close enough, just out of reach, just out of his grasp. You keep your attention locked on Tangerine as you tug your pj bottoms down, revealing a matching pair of slinky underwear. 

"Fuck," he sighs, exasperated, biting on his fisted knuckle. 

You perch upon his thigh and slip your arms around his neck, leaning forward and brushing your lips over his teasingly. "Missed you," you whisper, slowly circling your hips over his spread thigh. 

You lazily drag your palm over his chest, stroking down his stomach, pausing when you reach his belt. He makes haste movements at unbuckling it, bringing his hands up to cup your cheeks the second he's free. "Fuckin' missed you," he replies, voice strained and hoarse against your mouth. 

You slip your hand into the front of his trousers, fingers leisurely trailing over his pubic bone til they reach the edge of his aching hard-on. You make a soft coo, silently instructing him to lift his hips.

A soft smile forms on your lips when you pull his thick cock out of the waistband of his boxers - tip messy and leaking, waiting impatiently to be touched. You place your thumb over his head, applying slight pressure as you swirl his precum around, lightly brushing down the side of his cock.

His grip tightens on the side of your face, cupping your cheeks firmly, groaning and mumbling into your mouth about how good you're making him feel. You make a soft hum noise - an almost moan, rolling his cock in your hand, slowly rubbing him off. Nice and gentle.

His hands fall from your face to stroke down your bare back, halting when he reaches the clasp of your bra. He undoes it with ease, dropping the flimsy piece of lingerie to the floor, letting your tits spring free, just mere inches from him.

Tangerine slides a hand between you, reaching for your underwear the way you did him. Teasing at your clit through the damp fabric, flicking his thumb over the sensitive mound as you continued to make those desperate whines he loved so much.

"Get on my dick," he instructs, voice strangled and urgent as he handles you, spreading your legs over his other thigh - making you straddle him. 

You reach between you, parting your underwear aside and grip his base, pushing his reddened head through your slick, puffy folds - rimming his head around your hole before slowly sinking onto him. Thick cock spitting your insides nicely as you lower down, ass cheeks resting on his upper thighs.

He slinks his arms around you, tightly holding around your waist as you wind your hips over him, mumbling spluttery curses when his tip kisses at the hilt. 

"Yeah, yeah. That's it," Tangerine whispers, praising you for the way your walls work over his dick - like your cunt was stroking him, tightening and releasing with every soft, little bounce.

"Really, really missed you," you whimper into his mouth, holding the sides of his face, using him as stability as he nudges up into you - meeting you halfway with clumsy, sloppy thrusts. 

The soft, sticky clicking of your pussy wrapped around his cock, and muffled moans and whispers fill the air, sounds getting progressively louder when he shimmies down the chair - hands on your waist as he fucks up into you by himself.

"God— fuck," you cry out, limbs seizing up as you cum, your body turning limp above him. Pussy clamping and jolting with your release. 

He reaches his high a moment later, a groaning and grunting mess as he spraypaints your insides with his warm, thick load, your tightening walls milking his cock in the most delicious way.

His forehead rests against yours as you catch your breath, both completely blissed out.

"Shower?" he offers, speaking suggestively, toying with your tits, rolling them with his palms.

You hum, lingering a kiss on his lips as you slowly lift yourself from his dick, cum leaking around the base. You head for the shower, nodding for him to follow, a devious smile on your face.

After your lengthy shower -and some more fooling around- you and Tangerine find yourselves on the sofa, freshly washed, tucking into your dinner as you watch tv - enjoying the rest of your special night together. 

[tinydeskwriter]

Grammy Night 23’

"I feel like I'm going to burst the seams of the dress."  Y/n commented looking at herself in the mirror as Lamby's assistant finished zipping her dress, her breasts were almost bursting out of it, a beautiful creation made of Swarovski silver crystals.

 “Darling, you are going to be the hottest woman on that carpet.”  Her husband’s stylist praised her  bringing in his hand the fishnet mask with crystals that would go over her eyes and dyed peacock feathers that went on the back of her head. “See if the crystals will get in the way of you seeing.”

“Honey Baby, how do I look?” Y/n turned to see her husband walking into the room, she knew what he would wear, she had seen the sketches but it was another thing to see the final result.  Harry looked hot as hell, the colorful crystal patchwork jumpsuit couldn't be more perfect on him, it showed his chiseled body, the tattoos,  the fantastic chest his fans—and wife—are crazy about, all the hair, the lonely curl... Harry just smiled, the answer to his question was clear in the way his wife stared at him.  "See people, that's why we have three kids."  He joked pointing to his wife,  causing their team to laugh.  “You are a vision Honey.” He said pecking her on the lips, hands going to her waist. “My favorite MILF.” He whispers, kissing her neck.

“Says the man who half the internet calls ‘’Daddy’” She teases.

“Having my kids did good to you.”  He jokes staring at his wife's cleavage. 

Y/n just rolls her eyes, a smile still in her face. 

“Darling, Sue, sorry to interrupt your dirty talk,  but it’s frosting time, and then you guys are good to go.” Lambert came their way with a jewelry tray.  

Before Lamby could start helping Y/n with the pieces of jewelry they'd selected at Tiffany's in NYC the week before, H interrupted him, pulling a chain from his pocket.  

“You don't have to wear it today, I bought it as a push present and also celebrate my Grammy nominations, I wouldn't be here today without you, My Love.”  The chain was white gold, delicate with colored stones, and a teardrop diamond the same color as her engagement ring held by a fig.

The woman was speechless, looking from the necklace to her lover of more than a decade.  It was a substantial gift, but Harry had always been generous, and he enjoyed spoiling her since they’re teens and couldn’t afford diamonds. She just turned around, allowing him to fasten the jewel around her neck.  She ran her hand over the diamond, it was the exact same color as her engagement ring—a fancy green diamond almost the same color of her husbands eyes—.

“My Love… this is beautiful, thank you so much.” She turned around, taking his face between her hands and kissing him passionately, trying to express through the kiss all her love for him.

Harry smiled into the kiss, his hands tightening on her hips.

Jeff came in at that exact moment to inform them that the car was already waiting to take them from the Chateau to the Crypto.com Arena. 

Lambert and his assistant quickly help Y/n put on all the jewelry Tiffany had borrowed them, the Edwardian choker, which complemented the necklace Harry had given her, a mishmash of earrings—a massive chandelier, followed by a dainty stud, and diamond hoops—in all of her ear piercings, a beautiful Art Deco bracelet mixed with the colorful collection of  tennis bracelets Y/n wore to mark every Mother's Day since the birth of her eldest son. 

On her fingers she preferred to go with her usual rings. 

 Her engagement ring and wedding band were the only rings on her left hand.  While on the right she wore the same 'S' as H on her little finger, a delicate 'H' in colored diamonds, infinity bands of different stones, and a vintage solitaire on her index finger—a Christmas present the kids had picked out with Grandma Anne —.

Lambert's assistant helped her on with her shoes—high-heeled Mary Janes from Gucci—while she was held by both Harrys to keep her balance.

As they were rushed to the car by Jeff, Y/n remembered to turn around and ask someone to remember to pack her breast pump along with the rest of their outfits.

In the car, to try and ease Harry's anxiety, they video-phoned the children—who were being watched by Gemma and Anne—Primrose answered their grandmother's cell phone, dressed in a bear onesies that made her look like a teddy bear, showing the TV room to her parents and the snacks gran-gran made, auntie Gemma sitting in the couch  with a sleeping  baby Bluebell, the three months old dressed just like her big sister.  Otto was in the bathroom according to Prim who was chattering non-stop making Harry smile more relaxed.

It always warmed Y/n’s heart that nothing could make H as happy and relaxed as their babies. 

They said goodbye to their daughter when the car stopped in front of the arena, Y/n handing over the phone to Jeff to keep. Harry get out of the car first and waits in the doorway to help his wife out and supports her from behind as they make the slightly uneven path between the car and the carpet, his right hand firmly on her right while his left hand was firmly on her hip, and she held his wrist for more balance.  The couple made their way under the screams of fans and the flash of cameras.

It was only when they were already at a certain point on the carpet that Harry placed himself next to his wife and the two started to walk hand in hand.  They stops for photos along the way, but don't do any interviews, heading straight for the cocktail area. The couple interacted with acquaintances and friends, especially those they hadn't seen in a while. The last two and a half years have been crazy, Fine Line, Covid 19, quarantine with two young children, Pleasing, Harry filming and premieres, Harry’s House, Love on Tour and a new baby.  They were busy and it seemed like they rarely had time for their friends, as all their free time was being spent with the little  family they had created together. 

Both changed clothes in Harry's designated dressing room before heading to their seats—crystal outfits were cute but impractical when you have to sit for hours, Harry donned a Gucci suit costume made for him, while Y/n wore a silver sequin  Markarian gown matching Harry's shirt. The couple certainly looks gorgeous, always matching theirs outfits in subtle ways.

They have their hands clasped together, she holding his hands so he wouldn’t pick on his cuticles, Harry is quieter than usual allowing Y/n to take the lead and interact with other people—which, having been married to him for nearly eight years, and knowing him since she was born, she could tell it was a sign of nervousness. 

She whispered to him how amazing the album was and that he didn't need the validation that it was a little golden gramophone for the world to know that.

Nervousness turns to euphoria when Harry becomes the first winner of the night, taking the award for best pop album. 

Y/n didn't even hear Jennifer Lopez's introductory speech, her eyes focused on Harry's handsome profile.  

Y/n is the first to his feet when he hears Harry's name being screamed by J.Lo, applauding his husband energetically, the smile on Harry's face is blinding, he takes his wife's face between his hands and kisses her, before continuing to be hugged and greeted by people around the table and nearby. She has tears in her eyes, which the cameras make a point of showing when they zoom in on her at the exact moment when Harry on stage dedicates the award to his wife for being his muse and inspiration.

One of the highlights of the night for the couple was without a doubt the fact that Y/n had been invited to present the performance of 'As It Was'.  

In a gold-metal mesh top and long skirt, showing off her midriff, the woman who had become famous at fifteen as Harry Styles' 'best friend' took the stage flanked by her two eldest children, seven-year-old Otto, dressed in a pink suit and beige turtleneck by Gucci and a crochet daisy bucket hat covering his curls, and adorable four-year-old Primrose, twining with her brother in a blue Gucci suit, her curls adorned by a huge crystal bow.

“Many of you fell in love with the next artist to perform here tonight in 2011 when he became one of the members of one of the biggest boy bands in history, he has been delivering hits ever since, amassing fans around the world, and delighting hearts with his music, he is an icon, a sex symbol, and one of the greatest musicians of our time, but for us he is simply the greatest husband and father, it is with immense pleasure that I am here tonight, with our two eldest children, to introduce one of the most authentic, generous, kind artists on the planet, the love of my existence, here, to delight us with his Grammy-nominated song 'As It Was', my husband and father of my children,” She lowered the microphone, allowing the two children to squeal excitedly into the device, “Harry Styles!”  

And for the first time in a live performance Primrose was present to say the already famous: ‘Come on Daddy! We wanna say good night to you!' driving the audience crazy.

Y/n and the kids made their way to their table dancing to her husband’s song, the mother of three splitting her attention between walking in her heels and looking where the kids were going, Otto made a short stop dancing with Taylor Swift, and saying something to her that made the singer throw her head back laughing. Y/n greeted Taylor with kisses on the cheek before redirecting her son to their table.  

An extra chair was brought over for Otto—who was at the next table greeting Lizzo and Adele.

Prim sat in Harry's chair waiting for daddy, and Y/n wouldn't even insist that the little girl sit on her lap, as she knew she couldn't compete with her husband when it came to their children. When they least expected it, Harry was back, in his Gucci suit—and not in what Otto was referring to as ‘daddy bedazzled Chewbacca costume’.

"Surprise!"  Y/n sings to her husband as he lifts their daughter up, making the little girl giggle, and sat with her on his lap, kissing their daughter's cheek, and fist bumping their son.

It was a surprise she had been planning for over a week, at times she was afraid someone would let it out, especially Prim, who was known in the family for not being able to keep secrets—just like her daddy.

“Thank you, Honey Baby.” He thanked his wife with a peck, his whole face lit up with the appearance of the children. “You look godly.” Harry  complimented her, eyes roaming all over the outfit, he knew what a big step it was for his wife to wear something so daring after three pregnancies, despite her beautiful body—especially in his eyes—Y/n was insecure about her stretch marks.

“Thank you, my life.” She pulled his hand to hers and kissed the back of his hand. 

They watched the awards half-heartedly, at every turn Otto and Prim brought their parents' attention to them with funny anecdotes, and Y/n was having to keep a hand on their son's shoulder to make sure the boy didn't wander off. The family of four cheered when Lizzo was announced as the winner of Song of the Year, Otto ran with open arms to the honorary auntie congratulating her for the award, he didn't even care that 'daddy' had lost, auntie Lizzo had won! 

With every moment that passed, anxiety rose, Y/n was confident in her husband’s album—the album she had inspired—, while Harry was sure Album of the Year was between Beyonce and Bad Bunny. 

She shook Harry's hand as Noah Trevor took the stage to announce the final awards of the night, asking fans of the nominees to join him, when the comedian asked Harry's fan to read the name on the envelope, Harry broke down with gratefulness, disbelieve, joy…

 Prim clung to her father's neck screaming that he had won. 

 Y/n stood up applauding her husband, Otto hugging his mother's hips showing his father’s  twin smile, dimples and all. 

 Harry got to his feet after composing himself, smiling Primrose hanging on his neck with  her legs curled around his hips. 

Harry kissed his wife with a huge smile, ruffled his son's curls, hugged Jeff, Tyler and Tom, Lizzo, who filmed everything excited.  The singer took the stage with his children and their two producers, he put Prim on the floor so he could hug his fan and accept his award, Primrose and Otto hugging him on either side.

“Shit…well, shit.”  He looked at his children. “Sorry kids.”

H was speechless, Y/n could see it from a distance.

Jeff wrapped a arm around her when she started to tear up. 

Harry was so humbled and grateful, and this was such a huge moment in his career, and she was so proud of the man she had married.  The boy from Holmes Chapel who worked in a bakery and always came to pick her up with cupcakes in his hands and flowers he had picked from the neighbor's garden. Her husband was a three times Grammy Award winner, and he had just owned the biggest award of the night.  

The woman frowned as she heard people in the audience yelling negativity at her husband, how Beyonce should have won and some yelling at him to get off the stage. 

 This was his moment, it wasn't his choice to win, two thousand of his peers had voted and chosen him, chosen Harry's House as the best Album. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you don't have to be an asshole. 

 Treat People With Kindness. 

 She was happy to see Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Shania, Lizzo, H.E.R and Adele giving him a standing ovation, and hearing his shaken speech.  

He once again dedicated it to her and their kids, calling them ‘his home’. Y/n quickly joined her husband backstage, arms going around Harrys’s neck, as his hands found her hips. The couple smiled at each other before kissing passionately, his team applauding the moment. 

“I’am so proud of you, My Life.” She held his face in her hands. “You did it! You put out an amazing album, delivered a killer tour, 2022 was your year, and you deserved that Album of the Year award!” She states brushing his nose with hers, a huge smile on her face before kissing him again.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

My IRL ex who lives abroad now is dating my online friend who also lives there and I am deceiving them, AITA?

All of us are Asian, 29. Fake names are used.

My ex (Fred) was my childhood best friend, we grew up together in the same conservative society, people expected to see us marry since we were kids, all that jazz. At 18, we both moved away and kept up LDR. Moving meant big changes of course, I was in a huge city and I had internet access for the first time. I became a BTS fan in 2013, I started creating and reading a lot. I joined tumblr, made friends from all over the world. I was being radicalized rapidly, and I figured out I was bi too. My world was suddenly a million times bigger.

He however, didn't change much. He was scientific minded unlike most people here and his friends were all STEM kids but they were still functionally right leaning. He was racist when it came to BTS or East Asians in general. He was ignorant and happy to ignore queer existence, he used to say things like queer people needed to be shown the right path. We were turning out to be quite the opposites. Eventually we broke up. He was heartbroken, he tried to drag me back in many times and I avoided him like plague. I managed to ditch him completely when we were about 23. He left for USA to study.

Around the same time I befriended one of my closest online friends, Daphne. We lived in the same state but she was always traveling so we never got to meet. We're both hellsite veterans and keep our identities under lock & key so we don't know our real names or exact place of work, but we know each other's deepest kinks and childhood traumas, and stories about our exes. We both had the same kind of interests, politics, and fandoms, we're both bisexual. I've also come out as a trans man a few years ago and I go by a masculine name online, can't transition IRL. Daphne's known me since my girl era. Daphne left for USA last year for her Masters.

Now the wild part, by some twist of fate, Daphne met Fred who's also working on his Masters in an adjacent field. It is by no means a niche subject and USA is the fourth largest country, they still found each other. He sang in our first language at some party, he's very hot, and... he's into BTS like her. Wild. So they're now dating.

They started following each other on twitter and he followed a bunch of her friends including Me! We have exchanged pleasantries and while on his account he has his real name and location, mine is a mixed bag account with my fake name and my (sfw) queer creations all over it.

I know who He is but he doesn't know who I am, he thinks I'm just one of Daphne's dudes, and Daphne doesn't know that she's dating my ex who she had promised to drop into the Challenger's Deep (joke). My reasoning for hiding the truth is-- It's still not safe for me to be out IRL and he can mess it up. I remember his bigotry, I hate him, I have every right to avoid him and here that means not revealing my identity. But it's been years so maybe he has changed, and Daphne is my friend. So, I feel like a massive ahole for not telling her at least. At the same time she really did hate my racist homophobic right leaning ex a lot, so knowing the truth will make things awkward and I don't want to lose my friend.

So, there you have it. AITA?

BTW, no I'm not into BTS ships or reader insert fantasies, that's not what I create. I know someone would ask about it so there. I'm also Not attracted to Daphne, if I was I'd have asked her out straight away, I don't play around about my crushes.

What are these acronyms?

[beemers-hell]

eb could solve the kira case AND figure out the death note...and yet you joke all the time about eb being stupid as bricks 🤨 what is the truth you're hiding from us!!

ok ok LISTENNN i joke about eb being a dumbass a lot but that's a bit hyperbolic, she's not dumb as bricks or anything. She's not very academically smart, she IS socially/street smart though. Like, her main gig is literally being an untraceable killer, you can't be stupid and make mistakes when you're doing some shit like that yknow? So she's definitely got The Brains but her brains are more hardwired towards being a sneaky ass son of a bitch and conniving little shit! She's very good at making things go her way and most of the time that's a direct result of her meddling with either people/the circumstances she's been dealt, so she at least has to be brainy enough to socially engineer that kinda thing.

Anyway anyway, I explained this to my friends when we were making the tierlist last night, but basically my reasoning for "she can solve the kira case" is that she would absolutely be able to make it through each stage of the initial investigation into kira bc, like, yanno, it takes a criminal to know how a criminal operates right. And also, you know the crazy mind games bullshit L plays with Light and eventually Higuchi? Eb can totally do some bullshit like that, That's usually how she gets in her target's heads and tricks them into admitting their crimes before she kills them. So I think once they progress far enough into the investigation where it's mainly just L pulling his mind game bullshit tactics Eb could do that shit easy peasy, and eventually trap Kira into revealing themself

Now, the "could figure out the Deathnote" part comes purely bc Eb has that autism superpower™ of being able to read vibes and accurately vibe check people, so I think if she just goes off vibes she'd be able to intuit the mechanics of the death note the same way L's autistic ass intuits his justification for why he correctly identified Light as Kira and held onto it despite him having no real actual tangible evidence for it ykwim. Like it would absolutely make sense for Eb to be pulling the same bullshit but correct leaps of logic as L does bc that's just Normal for her, so her just knowing how Kira kills and then seeing that moment in ep 23 when Higuchi is caught on surveillance using the deathnote to try and kill Matsuda bc hes fallen for the sting operation trap, she'd immediately be like "oh its that thats the murder tool" lmao

also hey did you know i made an entire 20 minute video ranting about that exact scene bc it pisses me off so much LMAO

[countrymusiclover]

23 - The Bonds of Family

Part 24

Gemini Runaway

Tag list ask to be added @dragonixfrye @secretdreamlandmentality

Fingers running through my hair was what made me start to wake up. Rubbing my eyes it was morning now and everything started coming back to me in my mind where a huge smile masks my face without even needing to look over at the man laying beside me. "Now I wonder who's bringing such a look to those lips."

Rolling on my side to face him I see he's mirroring the exact same smirk. The sunlight brightens his knotted blonde hair when he wraps his arms around my bare back tugging me forward so I'm pressed to his bare chest. "I didn't hurt you too bad last night did I, Rae?"

"It was more than I thought it would be but no you didn't hurt me at all. Although I can only imagine Caroline will be insisting on knowing whether or not we slept together. But I don't really have any interest in leaving this bed for a while. Considering we both escaped death and all." Leaning forward I kiss him suddenly and he flips me onto my back making me gasp. He smirked, kissing me slowly, my fingers knotting themselves into his hair making him moan against me.

The blankets started to fall until the bedroom door burst open by Rebekah. "Don't start that again. Kol and I can't take your annoyance!" I shriek burying my body under the covers blushing deeply when I peaked over the covers.

Klaus falls back on his side of the bed with a scowl on his face. "Dear sister, whatever made you so mad this morning. I'm only trying to spend time with my love."

Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest wanting to wipe the smirk off her brother's face. "Nik I understand and love Raelyn. But did the two of you have to make such a ruckus last night!"

She throws her arms up raising her voice to which Nik jokes. "So you're upset about us but everyone in Mystic Falls is free to hear you're shouting."

I smack his chest with my right hand blushing as I remember the events of last night. "Sorry Bex...I'm just...that was my first time with anyone."

Klaus leans forward nuzzling his head in the crook of my neck. "I don't mind making love to you, my dear Rae."

Seconds later Kol vamps inside our bedroom leaning on the bed and I clutched the blankets up over my chest. "Raelyn darling, could you please not cry my brother's name. I thought I'd have to bang on the wall with my baseball bat."

Klaus sits up aiming his finger towards the door not wanting to talk anymore. "Can you two leave now. Before I threaten to dagger you." His eyes glowed gold watching Rebekah leave, closing the door.

Kol remained in his spot seeing my brother's necklace around my neck reminding me of something we first talked about. "Have you turned that necklace into a tailsment yet. Word on the streets is that you have consumed more of my mothers magic and it is slowly killing you."

"But now she's linked to me. A ring that keeps her alive, now leave brother before I kick you out of my house!" He threatened him with a deep growl in his throat until I intertwined our hands together.

Running a hand through my hair I spoke towards the younger Mikaelson brother. "No I haven't. I'm not quite sure there is an object on earth that can handle all that power. I mean that's why there are black veins on my arms for a reason."

"We won't know unless we try and since you are bond to my brother as you say then you shouldn't die during the transfer. I'm free today if you'd like to give it a shot." Kol suggested getting up to his feet leaving the room closing the door behind him. "Use protection, Nik."

"Now where are we, little siphon queen?" He rolls over hovering above me smirking. He pressed his lips deeply to mine and I moaned, feeling his freehand run up my spine.

"Nik, we can't...you heard them..." He flips us over so I'm laying on top of him my hair tousled everywhere.

"I don't care, Rae. I love you and I want everyone to know it." He smiled lovingly, twirling pieces of my hair between his fingers.

Biting my lip I tilt my head smirking until I pull his head back down to mine, running my fingers through his already messy locks until I whisper in his ear.. "You know Nik, I think you're right. The reality is....They are jealous of how much fun we're having."

Klaus traces his fingers up and down my back, smirking. "That's my queen ." Wrapping my arms around his neck I pressed my lips hungrily to his and he kissed back making the bed move.

"I will separate you two if you don't stop!" Rebekah hollers from the living room making us chuckle finally getting dressed so Kol could help me with magic.

Throwing my hair up into a ponytail I found Kol sitting in one of the living rooms on the couch. On the table he had the white oak stake laying at his feet where Klaus and I paused in our steps, surprised to see that weapon. "Where on the bloody earth did you find that, brother?"

"It's the one from Alaric I found abandoned in a warehouse. I decided we needed to keep it tucked away and so I brought it here." He explained getting to his feet holding it out to me.

"How exactly is this supposed to help me deal with the dark magic inside me?" I asked him, eyeing the weapon.

Kol lowered his hand twirling it in his hands walking up to me smirking lightly. "Simple. You are a siphoner witch. You took the dark magic and now you can just transfer it into this stake. Then Nik can bury the weapon wherever he sees fit."

"And what about my necklace. Does the same thing apply there. I mean I am all new to this sort of magic." I shrugged my shoulders wrapping my arms around myself wearing one of Nik's Henleys and some blue jeans.

Klaus nodded leaning in the doorway with his hands behind his back together. "We aren't doing any spell on a hope and pray, Kol. Is what I would have said before we managed to link ourselves together. Now we have a better shot, Raelyn."

Nodding my head I opened my palm waiting for the stake. "Give me the stake then." He placed it in my hands where I held it in both of my hands, wincing the second by the amount of power inside of the stake.

"Raelyn.." Klaus vamped forward seeing me cry a little.

Gasping through the pain I bared my teeth down focusing on the spell. "Don't...I'm fine. There's just a lot more magic in here than I think is in my veins." The veins on my arms begin to move further up my arms with my heart skipping a fast beat.

"Siphon me before it kills you." He held out his hand but I shook my head. I fought knowing that if it infected him it would kick him and we would both be dead.

Tightly gripping the stake in my fingers I huffed chanting under my breath feeling both  Mikaelson's watching me as I did so. "Magia tollux de terras......Magia tollux de terras. Magia tollux de terras......Magia tollux de terras - ahhh!" I dropped the stake on the ground feeling something racing towards my heart.

"Rae, what happened. Tell us what happened, darling." Klaus grabbed my shoulders putting one hand on my lower back tracing circles until I calmed down.

Slowly regaining my breath I lowered myself to my knees and he followed me until we were sitting on the wooden floor. "I can't transfer it. The magic inside of it. It's...it's too much. It burns to hold the stake even. I'm sorry, Nik."

"Hey, hey, it's not your fault love. It's not your fault. We will find another way. I promise you and I together will figure this out." He declares where our eyes met feeling him run his fingers through my hair.

Shaking my head I sniff grasping his hand in mine. "How are we gonna do that, Nik. I mean what if there is no solution or what if my uncle comes and discovers that I am a threat and puts me in a prison world like my cousin Jo's brother?"

"Hush Raelyn." He placed a finger to my lips, cutting me off. "Only one of us needs to be paranoid all the time and it most certainly shouldn't be you. Now you are the strongest person I have ever seen so let's put your magic inside your necklace. As a way to honor your brother Jacob. Then we will find a solution for another day."

Nodding my head Kol extends his hand to help me up. "You can Channel my energy for the transfer spell, Raelyn."

"Alright here it goes I guess." Reaching behind my neck I unclasped the lock holding the chain in my hands staring at the necklace longingly. The blue jewelry getting brighter when the light hit it just right when I recalled the night I actually gave it to him.

Thunder roared against our house while I could hear Jaocb tossing and turning in his bed with us only being the age of ten. Holding myself up on my right elbow I called his name. "J, are you scared?"

"Yeah but I can't tell mom. She doesn't like it when we wake her up in the middle of the night." He mumbled when our mother was asleep at night it took her hours before she could sleep and even when she was awake I could still see that her fears controlled her.

Tossing my cover off I walked across the room climbing into his bed reaching into my pocket pulling out two separate jewels that I had found by the river near our house that had magical powers inside them. "If you're scared then you just wear this and know that I will always be there for you." Closing my hand around the gems I opened my palm again and it was formed into a necklace.

"But you don't have one." He said, hugging his knees to his chest underneath the blanket.

Shaking my head I siphoned the magic and mumbled the transfer spell placing some of my magic inside. "I don't need one. You have some of my magic there in case you need it. So I will always be with you."

"Thanks Rae." He smiled where we both snuggled up against each other listening to the storm rage outside.

Shaking my head I sniffed through tears taking Kol's hand in mine where he winced a little when I siphon closing my eyes beginning the chant. "Magia tollux de terras......Magia tollux de terras." The necklace was dangling in my other hand beginning to glow brighter transforming my magic into a physical object.

"It seems you are quite skilled with your magical tongue." Kol compliments me with a grin. "Wouldn't have figured you would fall in love with a witch, Nik."

He shrugged his head tilting it to the side watching me clip my necklace back around my neck relieved that at least one of the spells had worked today. "I may have my tiffs with all other witches that conspire against me but I will never see such betrayal in her."

The rest of the day was pretty boring before we ended up heading upstairs to go to bed. Slipping a tea shirt over my head I crawled into the bed feeling Klaus lay down beside me. He reaches up and begins to twirl the linking ring on my hand. "So I was thinking about something earlier when Kol helped me with my necklace. Maybe I should take a look into your mothers grimoire."

"Why would you do that, dear. The last time you handled them you almost burnt the pages." He asked laying on his side with my laying my head over his heart even though it wasn't really beating inside his chest since he was immortal.

Lifting my head to meet his gaze I hit my nose against his. "If I can control all your mothers darkness then there's a chance that I could save Josette, Luke, Olvia and dare I say it my parents. There could be a spell or maybe I can make one thing rescue them from being bound to my lifespan."

"Pace yourself, Raelyn. We don't have to solve all the world's problems in a day. In fact we should finally take that trip we talked about to New Orleans." Klaus suggested leaning forward kissing me gently threading his fingers through my hair tugging the hair tie off causing my hair to flow down my shoulders.

Wrapping my arms around his neck I pushed him back onto the pillow, never breaking the kiss until my hands moved down to the bottom of his shit about to shrug it over his head until I felt sick to my stomach breaking the kiss. "Aggg." Rushing towards the bathroom I hacked up what was in my stomach feeling light headed.

"Rae, here I've got ya." He vamped into the bathroom grabbing my hair in his hands holding it back while I kept puking into the toilet.

Pulling my head up I wiped my mouth with my arm coughing when I stumbled sitting down on the cold floor hugging my knees to my chest trembling. Klaus bent down on his knees rubbing my back softly. "It's getting worse, Klaus."

"Unfortunately I must agree with you, love. I will scour the earth until we find a witch to help us. Because you are my heart." He peaked a look into what I had thrown up seeing that it was in fact blood.

With a shaky hand I grasped his right in my left I laid my head on his chest where he wrapped his arm around my body. "Was it worth it to become immortal?"

"Yes." He immediately responded back, causing me to lift my head up quickly and take back that he didn't waste a moment. "Because it gave me the opportunity to find love with you, Raelyn Lane. Mark my word I will never force you to become what I am. Not unless you wish it to be so."

Wrapping my arms around his neck burying my face into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me holding me close. Blinking through tears I saw the ghost of a figure I had seen before holding a bag of pork rinds in his hand smirking at me evilly. "That may be arranged if I ever get out of here and see you again, Siphon Girl. Sleep tight."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[raisindave]

[Chapter 23] Seeing the World Through Ballistic-Tinted Glasses

Streaming daylight cast wandering light beams across your dark bedroom, an unwelcome intrusion to your crash landing site. Commotion in your peripheral dragged your sleeping mind into this new dimension, turning your aching neck to see your phone screen alight with an incoming call. For a brief moment, you lived in blissful ignorance of what had happened only hours ago. However, that moment had since slipped through your fingertips, shooting a twinge of spite and horror through your foggy mind. 

“Hello?” your voice came out as a husky groan. A searing headache surged through your mind like crashing waves. 

“Cricket, open the door, we’re outside.” That unforgettable Scottish accent sounded through the speaker. 

For fuck’s sake, Soap, today’s not the day. The last thing you wanted to see was any reminder of your likely forfeit role in the armed services. He’s probably here to let you down easy and hand over your files. He must have heard your hesitation and opted to pursue it, knowing you’re always the type to be easily swayed. 

“Today, y’old bat.” He added, hearing Gaz in the background bark a laugh. 

“Fine.”

The mirror that passed your line of sight on your way down the stairs would have elicited some sense of shock or shame if you had any remaining self-respect left in you. Phantoms of dark eye makeup left heavy rings under your eyes and wild hair pulled into a presentable, though far from perfect, ponytail. How did they even find your house address? The record you were given had all geographic ties redacted. That’s a thought better muddled under less urgent circumstances. One last check over yourself to ensure you have the major clothing groups in check and the doorknob was creaking under your palm. A sudden surge of intruding sunlight made your face contort into a cringe as you gathered the faces of two of your comrades on your doorstep.

“Heeeey Cricket,” Soap cheered, pulling you into a side-faced hug as Gaz raised his hand in a polite wave. “We wanted to bring you over a birthday gift before we ship out again.”

“Ship out without me? I’m hurt.” You joked, though subtly prodding for additional information about your questionable employment. 

“Nah, it’s just tactical training,” Gaz piped up, “I think it’s water rescue this time.”

“They chuck us in a fuck-off-cold pool, and we have to drag these mannequins onto a helicopter ladder,” Soap groaned, coming entirely into view to show an armful of flowers with the exact wrapping they sold at the convenience store down the street. 

You accepted the armful of slightly withered assorted flowers, sharing a kind thank you with the group. It’s impossible to tell if those two pairs of eyes staring back at you were those of genuine companions looking to share a birthday gift or the gaze of two colleagues who saw what you did in the dark. Your mouth pressed into a thin line, awkwardly patting your fingertips on the doorframe and sucking a sigh in through your teeth.

“Well… will you come in for tea?” Your voice was stern and calm, but every muscle behind your carefully constructed smile begged them to decline. Ever the oblivious ones, they happily accepted your invitation. 

Despite having an equally inebriated night out, probably out later than you, too, they had the nerve to look absolutely peachy. No dark circles, uncouth hair or waxy skin, just neatly pressed SAS tee shirts and those same lazy grins. Catching a nosey but curious side-eyed gaze from your neighbour as you ushered these living weapons inside your home, reluctantly. 

Be it from time spent away from home for so long or a genuine indifference toward hot drinks, you were shamefully unequipped to serve tea to two Brits. What kind of tea do they drink anyway? It definitely wouldn’t be this Christmas Sugar Cookie tea mix. A more significant concern overtook you, as your typically tidy and organized living space looked like the wreckage of an airstrike. A single thong that you had no idea where it had come from was quickly whisked between a couch cushion just in time for them to lazily stroll into your open kitchen. 

“I can’t help but notice you’re down one,” you asked, probing about Ghost’s whereabouts, hopefully at the bottom of a river. 

“LT was up before both of us. He went for a jog around the area and said he’d meet us at the tarmac.” Soap responded plainly, casually strolling through your living space as if it’s a fine art museum and he’s on a field trip that had been begrudgingly dragged into the exhibits.

“We missed you last night. Plan A of your birthday gift was to buy you a drink.” Gaz spoke up eagerly, resting his hands politely in his pockets, unlike Soap, who was plucking polaroids off your fridge. 

“That’s still on the table, y’know,” Soap corrected, eliciting a theatrical winge from you that made him chuckle.  

“Ehh, I don’t tend to stay out too late on my nights out,” You sighed, shovelling armfuls of empty cans and bottles into the sink, flurrying fingers whipping the filled kettle onto its base. 

The two were exploring your space, completely unabashed by your frantic cleaning. There wasn’t a knick-knack or picture frame that wasn’t astutely studied, flipping through music records haphazardly, making you silently cringe. Soap had the nerve to flip over one of the half dozen empty chocolate boxes, presenting it to Gaz triumphantly with a bewildered grin.

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Gaz inquired, picking up a framed photo in a lacquered frame. 

"Is she hot?" Soap interjected, half-joking, or so you hoped. 

“She’s dead.”

“Ah, apologies,” Gaz apologized awkwardly, cautiously setting the frame in its original place.

“This must be the man of the house!” Soap hollered from behind you, taking bounding steps to press his nose to the glass of your goldfish’s tank. 

“Chupacabra!” Gaz concurred, stepping beside Soap to watch the thoughtless creature meander around its tank.

Having these men running loose in your house was like herding cats. They’re obsessively curious and are too courageous, or stupid, to have any sense of self-censorship. It was the last thing you could have wished for in the morning after a night out. On the bright side, at least their asshole friend did you the courtesy of knowing he wouldn’t be welcome. Still, it is pretty entertaining to see these supersoldiers gush over a literal goldfish. Days ago, these two were dropping out of a helicopter to raid a cartel yacht off the coast of Mexico and shooting down their armed guards with pinpoint accuracy. 

“I swear to God he just winked at me,” he howled, pressing a fingertip into the glass. 

“Soap, that’s impossible. They don’t even have eyelids.” You grumbled in response, pouring the steaming water into a trilogy of mugs. 

“Sure they do, how do you think the fucker just winked at me. I saw it clear as day,” he pressed.

“Don’t call my fish a fucker,” you huffed, stifling a bubbling laugh.

It’s always been so hard to stay mad at these guys. They’re kind, moderately considerate, and damn good storytellers. They could have easily stayed for hours, tolerating your tea, and you tolerating them fumbling over one another to share gut-wrenching horror stories of missions gone haywire. They weren’t bashful about eating up all the food in your fridge, too, eating up everything in sight. Before you knew it, the two soldiers were back out the door, and you found yourself not as weary as when they first arrived. 

Days slurred along, leaving you ample opportunity to spend time alone with your soul-crushing thoughts. It gave you time to digest the bile and hatred that churned in your intestines, chewing over every word that you could recall. Having those two lunatics eat up all your food was more of a blessing in disguise, as it forced you to come out of hiding and face the sunlight that didn’t come from your fenced backyard. Rattling carts and swinging fluorescent lights overhead, you found yourself oddly triumphant in buying more short-term shelflife foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Now that you’re becoming increasingly confident in not being called into work any time soon, you can finally explore your cooking abilities again. Self-heating MREs and vacuum-sealed granola for months on end have a way of eroding your tastebuds, something you refuse to let the military strip from your soul. The exotic and flavourful dishes, for one, were still marred with a sense of dread, knowing these flavours were only the consequence of crossing an uncrossable barrier. 

Wrath translated into apathy, which dabbled into deep, agonizing sadness on your longest nights. The nagging thirst for knowledge and research is the only thing stopping you from clocking into a psych ward. Now that your first attempt to control your circumstances went so spectacularly wrong, the days just blur by. Stark white pages of case studies printed on the backs of your eyelids when you fall asleep. Coffee doesn’t taste the same since hopelessness and simmering wrath are forever lingering on your tongue.

Another afternoon spent with your legs dangling in the murky pool in your backyard, green waters a torrent of sticks and leaves, and you couldn’t help but mourn. It had been just over three months since your last notification from Laswell- from anyone. You weren’t even sure if you had a job anymore, and maybe your paperwork was lost in the mail. Being left in the dark is agonizing. Uncertainty seems to be the name of the game when it comes to the special forces. Birds had the gall to sing as sweetly as ever, mismatched to your vicious internal monologue, staring daggers through their white underbellies from the dingy poolside. 

Thoughts lingered on Chupacabra. The strange little glimmer of hope in your life. After all, he’s so happy to swim around his bowl, ecstatic to explore the same plastic leaves and ceramic cave. The fish is so excited to gulp up every food flake and carry on with gleeful optimism. If only you could find that same optimism. Ultimately, your first attempt to take control of yourself failed spectacularly, and maybe that was the universe’s way to slap your wrist. Having a pet is just no longer suited for your life. In the best-case scenario, you’re back at work, and the fish will be shipped to the next best owner for a few weeks. In the worst case, you’re looking for a new job, and the gleeful little fish will constantly remind you of the life you’re just never set to be content with. No matter how much of a rock that thoughtless little bundle of cells might be, that's no way to leave a pet.

Luckily for Chupa, the neighbour’s daughter was more than happy to take on the new fish, and the lingering frown couldn’t help but be overshadowed with triumph. If nothing else, that’s one good decision that’s come out of the last few months. Before you knew it, the weeks that passed had since dissolved your disgust in your inability to care for a literal fucking goldfish. That sweet boy deserves better than what you had to offer.

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Master List

[chibivesicle]

Hey there!

I just read a couple of your reviews and analyses of Trigun Stampede and OMG we both have the almost exact same gripes and problems with it! Like the pacing is so weird, there’s no breathing room for the characters to develop and most of the interactions between the characters feel like either ham-fisted exposition or shallow lip-service and as messy and crowded as it feels so far it also feels so empty, and I’m not getting any of the emotional nuance or anything that made the original so compelling, among everything else, like almost completely getting rid of the spaghetti western aesthetic that makes Trigun such a unique beast, turning Meryl into a generic uwu seasonal waifu that actively fawns over Vash, how Vash’s design goes against everything that’s encoded into his original design, this Roberto guy that sucks the joy out of every scene he’s in and constantly bullies Meryl, the lack of meaningful emotional connections between each character and by extension the audience, among many other things that we both have problems with. And even Vash’s character feels…off, like an empty imitation, and I don’t know why, but it feels empty.

All in all it’s so far little more than a flashy, style over substance sci fi action anime at best, an utter mess at worst, and it’s nice to see someone who’s familiar with both the 98 anime and the manga can actually see and analyse the glaring flaws in a thoughtful, insightful way and can see past the glitzy animation, which at this point makes me think that Studio Orange were more concerned with showing off their fancy CGI tech than anything. I also feel like they’ve leant much more into the sci-fi part and made such drastic changes to characters like Meryl to appeal more to the Japanese audience as well as modern anime audiences in general and in the process sacrificed ALOT, what do you think?

Hello hello,

Sorry for the slow reply, I'm trying to crank though a few before the work week starts tomorrow and I have another busy week work ahead.

I'm sort of relieved that other people are really noticing other things with Stampede that are why they aren't really liking or enjoying it. It took me a few metas to really begin to get past the initial reaction of something bothering me and getting annoyed about it but not being able to articulate it in the first few episodes. The original manga and anime were the product of its time and referred back to other forms of media that someone born after 2000 likely would not have seen. It truly was a unique beast that was destined for niche fans in Japan and I don't think they predicted how huge it would get outside of the country. It is pretty much a form of media that Gen-X or Millennials would watch and get a lot of the references. The part that I miss the most was the spaghetti western aspect of it - I freakkin' loved those as a kid growing up and watched My Name is Nobody a lot on VHS. They are a weird period slice of media and if you were familiar with them it translated over so well to Trigun.

I've watched a ton of anime over the years and I'm still shocked that I'm this disappointed about a series that I loved over twenty years ago. The original was an odd duck when it came out but I think that was its special sauce; it was a beautiful onion that unpeeled to a deeply emotional series that really forced you to examine your morals and society. You cried in episode 23. Hard.

I'm with you - I feel this version of Vash feels empty. Yet, even six episodes in, I can't nail down why. He says similar things, he's shown to be able to do things but the best I can come up with is how he faces situations. In the original, he did run away from his problems, I mean he was doing it for over 100 years. But, he wasn't always running and would do his best to discretely do his part and have a less deadly outcome. Even if it meant getting gum stuck in a barrel or being tied up. He was incredibly friendly with people and joked around when possible and never stopped trying to look on the sunny side even when things were bleak. Manga Vash isn't as chipper, but when he helps out Livio pointing out that there is nothing better than eating food and being alive . . . he was a more supportive character. Meryl is a disappointment and no Milly - sighs. I can look back now and says that I clearly liked the original since it was an anime from the 90s that had TWO female characters who both brought things to the table, were competent and fed into the overall character growth of the entire core group. I 100% agree that the nuance and flavor of the original were completely sacrificed in the name of a 'serious' yet digestible sci fi action series. Yes, Meryl was indeed uwu-ized for a domestic audience and likely for international fans who like that type of character as well. Milly was cut because - well how do you explain Milly to a current anime audience? I'm trying to think of a contemporary character who is like her. Or a series she could be in? Gintama maybe? The series has good female characters but she's still too tall and not cute enough.

Actually, there is one series where I know she could work ~ but that cast of characters is already huge and if my theory is correct, both she and Meryl got gender swapped to male characters with slightly different flavors. And neither of them are reading the newspaper in this manga color panel.

Stay tuned for a longer meta by me about how the shounen/diverse cast/bonkers humor aspect of Trigun lives on in Blood Blockade Battlefront.

Studio Orange wants Stampede to be pretty, sci fi and dazzle everyone. With my episode six review done, I've really added to that even more. Whatever the final product will be, it will lack all the elements of the original sources. It isn't about if the '98 anime was better or the manga, they are both good for different reasons and that's fine. But they answered the same core questions, asked the same moral dilemmas and brought in the same themes. They just got there in two different ways. I'd like Studio Orange to be successful, but I'm not keen on their choices and it will be interesting to see the result.

Either people will go and look up the original and if they aren't used to the 90s animation style go - ick - and not get further or hopefully, they will see that the 90s anime and manga went some very interesting directions narratively and it pays off to sit back, watch/read and then cry along the way. And realize that original OST for Trigun was a killer gem of the late '90s along with Escaflowne. I just sigh as if Studio Orange wanted it to have a more visual impact, they should have kept the more 90s chara designs to catch the attention in our saturated landscape. In the 90s it would have been harder to notice with similar styles but now, that spiky blond hair! Would have worked better!

[astr-worlds]

DAD STATZ - Heights

Aka the series no one asked for at all!

I’ve been listening to this podcast for a really long time (on like my 60th relisten), and I love everything about it! I wanted to 

So the actual physical descriptions of the dads and teens can get..a little vague, which is great! Because that leaves space for a lot of fan interpretation! However, I thought it might be fun to try and gather a master source for actual stats and “prove” them in canon. This is all just for fun and not trying to ruin anybodies headcanons or anything! I love seeing different versions of the dads!

Ron is the easiest (and shortest).

The first mention we get for his height is from Episode 3: The Lord of Chaos. Beth says this “Um, I’m maybe 5’ 4” and 120-ish pounds.” This height stays constant for the rest of the pod, there isn’t any other height ever listed for Ron Stampler! Which makes Beth my favorite for this part!! Go Beth!! 

As for the rest of the dads.. Well. 

Darryl isn’t too difficult, we get a few different mentions of his height throughout the show. 

In Episode 25: Mummy Issues we get this line when they are trying to decide how tall of a body they need for the ride:

“All right, Darryl's six. So we’ll say,”

Interestingly he gets taller in Season 2! In episodes 23 and 24 (Alright and Spider-boyz: homecoming) we get two mentions of Darryl being 6’3:

“So he's like 6'3 now and he is like 140, fucking built—”

“And I gain… two— I gain one inch! I go from 6'2 to 6'3.”

With anything improvised I try to stick to the most recent information or the information that is repeated the most. Given that the sn 2 just came out, we’ll stick with Darryl at 6’3!

Now, onto the less than forthcoming dads. Henry and Glenn get a couple of mentions of their height throughout the show, nothing I could find where their characters actually mention their heights though. Going strictly off of my own character design brain, it makes sense to have them serve as the middle ground between our two extremes (Darryl and Ron), so I want to put them around 5’8-5’10. Canon mentions do seem to support this as well! 

In episode 25: Mummy Issues this is said:

“Henry's probably like, 5’8”.”

“Glenn's probably like a good average 5’8”.”

So they are both around 5’8! I considered just bumping one of them up to 5’9 for some difference, but it’s kind of silly if they are the exact same height!

EDIT: in episode 62: Sonscreen, Henry shrinks to 2'11, which is described as half of his height, so he is 5'10.

Last but not least We have Jodi Foster. Jodi wins worst dad for this week because he has ZERO canon mentions of his height! In Episode 49: Contact, we get this brief description of him 

“And next to him is a pretty handsome, pretty beefy guy who is laughing uproariously at a joke that he has seemingly just told to the young boy.”

And thats fucking it, we learn later he has a tummy, but nothing on how tall he is. 

Personally I think he is just a little taller than Glenn, mostly because it’s funny. I know a lot of people want him and Glenn to be the same height, but given that Henry and Glenn are already the same, it felt like too many 5’8 bitches. Given that Athony made them officially brothers with Episode 23 (rip closefoster shippers, if you existed?) it would make sense that they would be closer in physical appearance, but not exactly the same (they aren’t twins im pretty sure).

And that concludes dad statz! I have no idea why I spent like three hours on this at all

Ending statz

Ron: 5’4

Darryl: 6’3

Henry:5’10

Glenn:5’8

Jodi:5’10

(shoutout to my sister @purenssteele for helping me)

[televinita]

TV Shows Watched in 2023: Jan-June

(a.k.a. “how am I doing on the 23 in ‘23 list? not great, bob!)

Arranged by category w/ a quick summary of my thoughts, because the log I’ve been keeping by month is a mess. You have probably seen me mention all of these at some point, but now it’s all in one place, for my convenience. Albeit overly rambly.

PART 1: SAMPLED & QUIT

Animal Control: crass and crude even by broadcast network standards + no likeable characters = not even animals could get me to come back for second episode

The Terror: gave it two episodes, but it’s just too slow

Quantum Leap (2022): one for guest star Sofia Pernas & done, what a dull mess

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

PART 2: SAMPLED, WILL CONTINUE SOMEDAY

The Ranch: After binge-watching a bunch of That 70s Show in January, this was exactly the additional content I needed. I don’t love the language but that’s the only real issue with this. That said, two episodes was enough for the time being; I’ll leave this tucked in my back pocket for when I really want more of these actors as brothers.

Trinkets: every day I curse myself for not grabbing the dollar store copy of the book when I saw it, long before the show was announced, because I think that might have gotten me more invested? That said, I really like all 3 of these characters and you know how I am with the voyeuristic love of shoplifting stories. It pings the same part of my brain as thrift-shopping. I just don’t want it right at this exact moment ,while I’m focused on cleaning and decluttering.

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

PART 3: SCRIPTED SERIES

Abbott Elementary, S2: watched w/ husband, one of the lights and joys of my weekly-viewing life. every character is amazing AND it’s funny. do you know how hard that is to manage?

Ghosts (CBS), S2: the other light and joy of my life, which I have to save up and watch in spurts because one a week or less is NOT enough. I don’t love all of these characters as strongly as the above, but as an ensemble they are awesome, and it’s actually a tad bit funnier. And of course, the set design is unmatched.

Night Court (2023): the other one I was watching with husband, based on his love of the original which I’ve never seen. This is a very comfort-food kind of sitcom. Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette are carrying it for sure, because they’re the only ones who feel like real people as opposed to cartoonish joke machines, but the cartoonish joke machines still make me laugh and I like all of them. I have a particular fondness for Olivia, whose opinions are correct always.

That 90s Show: we were doing so well but we still haven’t watched the last 2 episodes oops. I simply cannot care about these children other than Gwen, I can't do it!! Even Leia is only relevant to me in the company of her relatives. That said, I do love every bit with Red & Kitty, and it’s still fun to watch as a whole.

Poker Face: another one husband brought me to. This was slow to grow on me, but there’s something about Charlie you just can’t help but like, so we kept going until I was well and truly delighted by it and I look forward to another season.

Daisy Jones & The Six: this is such an uphill climb, because screw Daisy, that my progress has slowed to a crawl. I just finished episode six yesterday (after starting in March). I swear it’s still a good adaptation, because I truly am loving EVERYTHING else about it, it’s just... Her. Her only useful purpose is to model the most amazing wardrobe (that only a select few women could pull off) you’ve ever seen.

Alaska Daily: I am 0% sad this got canceled because while I loved the setting and the missing-women throughline, I never got attached to any of the characters, and the pacing was slow and often made it felt like a chore...but a chore I could not quit because the mystery was just this side of intriguing. At least they solved it by the end of the season.

Big Sky, S2: by contrast, this is my current watch -- just finished season 2, taking a brief break to collect my feelings before starting S3 -- and I LOVE it just as much as season 1. Every man on this show except Lindor and Cassie’s dad sucks but the women are amazing, and it’s absolutely addictive. I feel like I should be grateful it got as many seasons as it did, but I’m also mad about it being canceled.

Loki: Pretty sure we all know about this one by now. :)

The Essex Serpent: technically I have not finished this because I got 4/6 episodes in and was like, I cannot stand this agony, just give me all the Will/Stella/Cora scenes that remain and skip over the rest, but I’d like to finish it off for real at some point.

Return to Cranford: I’ve been vaguely meaning to watch Cranford ever since Pam mentioned it on The Office, but never did. Did that stop me from diving into this essentially-a-long-movie follow-up when I saw it on Hiddleston’s resume? Absolutely not.

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

PART 4: REALITY/GAME SHOWS

Survivor, S44: Carolyn Wiger, Hometown Hero ftw! (*not actually my hometown. but pretty close) Matt/Frannie OTP! IDK what else happened because everyone was so boring and most of the interesting women were bounced in the first 4 episodes.

The Chase, S3: guaranteed fun. This is the only trivia show besides Jeopardy that moves fast enough for me, and it’s also the only one where I like listening to the hosts and don’t mind hearing from the contestants.

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team: season 15:

I hadn’t seen this one before because it wasn’t part of the syndication package, but Paramount+ had it! Honestly, my love affair with the show has waned, and I don’t enjoy the newer seasons as much anyway, but The Covid Season was definitely not a highlight.

Cook at All Costs: the unexpected, fast-paced and mystery-box-inclusive DELIGHT! Twelve more seasons please.

Snack vs. Chef: me trying to replicate the fun of CAAC, part 1 (not as good; I like watching people work at their little kitchen stations but this seemed way too hard)

Best Leftovers Ever: me trying to replicate the fun of CAAC, part 2 (even less good, and why was there a weird unfair “advance to the next episode until you lose” aspect to the structure?)

The Amazing Race, S32: Waiting for a new season, decided I might as well watch the newest one I haven’t seen, despite its legendary terribleness.

The Traitors (U.S.): I only came for QUEEN CIRIE (after husband asked if we could watch it), but I stayed for the amazing Scottish castle and its grounds, a surprising number of the cast, the missions, the whole-hearted commitment to absurd theatricality; even the discussions and strategy talk during their downtime got interesting by episode 2 or 3. I look forward to more! Actually cursing that I can’t watch the Portuguese version hosted by my beloved Daniela Ruah.

PART 5: RANDOM RERUNS I’VE BEEN WATCHING

Seinfeld

Community

30 Rock (only a few because husband had it on, but it’s incredible how much funnier this is when you’re not being annoyed by everyone fawning about how Great! And Smart! it is in real time)

The Simpsons (2nd only to Loki as the greatest value of Disney+ tbh)

+ Survivor: Gabon (S17): because mid-way through the current/crap season, I got a hankering to rewatch a good one.

[chrysanthemumpink]

Idk, I just feel like he's not moving forward. And when we used to argue, id wonder if we could just get through it with love or whatever. But now, I don't know if there's even enough to get through. It feels like I'm slowly out growing him. Which is way worse than falling out of love with him.

Like we had this conversation about a "million dollar home." And maybe he thought we were just joking and maybe we were. But after some superficial google researchers, if we both made 6 figures, it would be possible. Nothing too crazy. I make 100,000k and he does too, we can have/own this thing. Between the two of us, there's literally 7 professional degrees. It's hard, really hard, but not impossible.

But he's barely done anything. To be perfectly honest, he hasn't grown much since the first day we met. That was 6 years ago. And I'm not saying, I've done a lot. But I'm not at square one anymore. Ever since that conversation, I've been working towards a relatively stable future.

And he's not lazy. He's really not. He doesn't do anything that makes him unhappy or uncomfortable. He prioritizes what makes him happy in the moment, never long term. And it's almost like he's incapable of invisioning something and actually working towards it.

I don't bring it up because that's the exact thing he's very very self conscious about. Like he says he hates Instagram because it makes him very jealous and resentful. He feels like he hasn't accomplished anything. He's 35.

And I think he does genuinely want more for himself. But won't do anything that will make him grow bc he keeps landing in things that keep him comfortable in one place. I've watched him turn down jobs and not seek opportunities because he doesn't like them. But he doesn't even try. He might like it if he did

Off topic, but there were times, maybe a year ago when there'd just be messages and pictures from girls. But these girls were like 21-25. Just reflecting on things, I guess, but I know 35 year old women his age would never give him the time of day. Heck, I'm 27. And I'm getting to my wits end.

And I have tried. I have tried to make him interrogate why he's willing to even entertain girls that young. Like the fact that you can have conversations with these people in their early 20s is a huge problem.

Then theres other times when he says he keeps me around because it's getting harder and harder to find a woman with no kids.

I don't know what I'm saying anymore. But he took this job overseas, without telling anyone. And yes, it's an amazing opportunity and yes it's fun to travel. But it's not an excuse to do yet another thing that absolves him from any responsibility. And it sure doesn't pay any kind of salary

There is no nice way to say this. But I wish he'd get a job. And actually do the things that wouldn't leave him jealous of his friends Instagram posts. Money isn't everything. It really isn't. And this isn't about money at all. It's just that he's living life as if he were a college student. We met as grad students so I lived the same way too. But when Im with him, its like we're still college kids.

And I don't want to be a college student anymore. I want a grown up. And I want a grown up partner.

There's just genuinely no way to bring that up nicely or while avoiding the insecurities that already exist. But if we break up and he dates another 23 year old, I can't say I didn't warn him

[average-tennis-ball-enthusiast]

recent happenings

tw: rant

so i just kinda realized something huge about what's been happening in my life. i was in a group at my school with 7 or 8 people, most of whom in the same grade as me. and throughout the latter part of 2021 through basically all of 2022, i was friends with them, and would do things with them. after i built up my trust with them, i would start hanging out with them outside school, and we all had a good time. now here's the thing: most of them are neurotypical. which meant, as an asexual nd cisgender guy, i never really got some of what they would do. but i would do my best to listen and to understand. everything was all good and dandy until around mid-to-late october. now granted, i was in a bit of a downward mental health spiral then, considering a handful of hard things happening then, but i would reach out to them and offer to take them places, and they would accept, right? i took a group of myself and 3 others to mcdonald's, and paid for everyone (which was about $23), and i didn't get much in return. i let it go because it was my treat. i took one of them to wendy's to get food because he was hungry before band practice, didn't get ANYTHING back. i also took him to walmart, stopping at dutch bros along the way, my treat. only paid for my drink because thankfully dutch bros is awesome and makes drinks for both people if only one can pay, and only makes them pay for the one drink. but at the same time, i was using my own car, my own gas, and my own money to do these things. i wanted to wait to tell the entire group that i was beginning to expect some form of compensation in return, but i felt like that time never came. i mentioned it to the same dude i took to walmart and wendy's and mcdonald's, and i'm like 98% sure that he told the rest of the group WITHOUT letting me know, and there it began. people would start picking at me, mostly those associated with the same guy i told, for a variety of things. first i'm venting without warning into the group chat (which is understandable, it can't always be dealt with), but meanwhile someone else is doing SCOT-FREE. then i'm told i can't make gay jokes around them (even though previously they appeared fine with it, and joked along with me). THEN i'm told i'm just being disrespectful, because i felt like i've just had to walk on eggshells around them because i didnt want to set them off again. then one of them had the absolute AUDACITY TO SAY THAT I DONT CARE. AFTER I ASKED THEM FOR SUPPORT, BECAUSE I WAS SCARED OF LOSING THE OTHERS' TRUST. at that point, i lost my trust in 2 of those folks, and things appeared to carry on as normal with everything else. then, new years eve, the final straw for me. about 9pm that time, it was time for the bereal, where everyone would show what they were doing. 2 of them posted AT THE EXACT SAME HOUSE OF ONE OF MY OTHER FRIENDS, AND THEY WERE HANGING OUT WITH SEVERAL OTHERS IN THE GROUP, AND DID NOT TELL ME ANYTHING. i had always had a feeling since they first started picking on me that they were conspiring against me, someway somehow. that the final fucking straw. i just up and decided to leave the group a couple days later. i no longer trusted them. i had been complacent with their shitty behavior for far too long. there was nothing left for me to salvage out of it. now it's been a week since i left the group chat, and nobody has said anything. from the glimpses of them sitting together at lunch, they seem to be carrying on just fine without me. and frankly, i couldn't give a shit anymore. part of me still wants to remain optimistic that someone would own up and apologize or at least say something, but honestly i'm losing hope of that too. i pieced it all together, and i concluded that i have been manipulated, used, and made to believe i'm a bad friend. i've wanted to just lash out at them in anger for everything, but i won't, despite me wanting to so fucking bad. i want retribution for what i've had to go through. and now i'm in the process of trying to find another group, and i really don't want to trust people anymore. it's just too tiring.

[piesofcherry]

I thought I was done being catcalled because men are gross and catcall girls in backpacks. I got catcalled in high school right? Like they want young ones? It’s common internet discourse for women to realize as they have aged that the catcalling stopped and it’s cause men are gross. That’s what I thought happened. And it really could still be the case…

I am reluctantly closer to thirty than I care to admit, but I still get confused as a high schooler. I got my nails done on Monday, President’s Day here in the United States, a day schools and a decent amount of work places (white collar) get the day off. The lady doing my nails when she started said “Oh no school for you today?” And I was like “Uh… no”. It is technically true. But no school for me at all right now by choice. And I mentioned that the middle school down the street from me had the whole week off and she was like “So, you’re in high school” and I was like “Nope” and she was like “oh college then” and I was like “Nope” and then she was like “oh okay (probably thinking I was like 18/19 then) what are you doing for work?” And I had to be like “Nothing…” We didn’t talk much the rest of the time except about nail colors and such.

But that isn’t the only occurrence. Around the holidays, twice in a row I was mistaken as a high schooler. And when I went wine tasting the lady who didn’t I.D. my friend and I thought I was like 22 and my friend was 23. (Then roasted my friend alive when we said are real ages and the lady said that made sense for my friend but I looked younger than my age… I also think the lady who had been talking to us for a minute knew we had some wine knowledge so we had to be over 21 and decided to go based off how old she thought I was from that). If I’m not with my partner, people seem to think I am. He ages me (people think he is older than he is. It bums him out). We once had a grocery store cashier joke that his ‘daughter’ would need to show I.D. for the alcohol. My partner and I were in the same grade in school and born the same year. He also has height going against him. He doesn’t believe me when I say people equate height with age. But I am the exact average height of an American woman. I tower over my female relatives on my dad’s side of my family and the men have maybe 2/3 inches on me tops. I am legitimately the tallest female on my dad’s side of the family (a fun fact I share sometimes). My mom’s side is complicated and I don’t know their heights… so it’s not like I’m particularly short and that’s why people think I’m younger. If I was under 5 feet like some of my cousins and when they get it, I would understand a bit more.

It’s not even like I follow today’s trends in fashion or anything like that.

So I wonder if people will still catcall me when I’m thinner but I start to look like an older age?

I’m really happy with the weight I’ve lost in the last year. I feel more confident, some of my old clothes fit me again, I can sit in some of my favorite positions again, etc. So many positives.

But man, I hate that I’m being perceived by the world again. I was just whistled at and I was just walking from my car to my house. I’ve been catcalled in my own garage. Target trips have men trying to interact with me. Even with a ring on my left ring finger, people *cough men cough* still feel compelled to say something. Like bro, just let me live.

I don’t know when I shed the invisibility cloak, but I kind of miss it sometimes. Just out in the world and no one paid any attention to me. Now I’m being seen.

As someone who has lost a significant amount of weight now more than once in their life, it is completely true. People treat you different when you are smaller. No doubt about it. The weight I’ve lost this time isn’t even as much as last time (yet, we will see) but people interact with you so differently in general. It’s not in your head.

[deanstead]

Somebody’s Watching

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Request by danipearl16: Request- Jay has a girlfriend that nobody knows about and then they get a case where she’s being stalked and her stalker is killings women that seem to remind him of her and it turns out to be her ex-boyfriend from high school and Jay starts going downhill a little bit because he’s worried about her. Also his girlfriend is more on the younger than his side by 7 years

Word Count: 4,365

Warnings: cursing, mention of sexual assault/misconduct (non-graphic), mention of non-con touching, stalking, minor OC death, mention of injury, angst, fluff

A/N: Please beware of the triggers before you continue reading! I changed some parts to fit into the storyline but I still hope you like what I did with it! I’m pretty excited about this fic so I really really hope yall will like it! It’s my first time writing such a detailed case in so I hope it turned out well? Please hit me up and let me know what you think! Love yall!

---

You looked up from where you were sprawled on the couch, fiddling with your phone. Jay was sitting at the table, a small frown across his face as he pored over case notes.

Jay usually didn’t bring his work home with him but they’d just closed a big case and he had spent a whole week in the district. So instead of spending more time there to finish the paperwork, Jay had opted to bring it home instead.

You smiled to yourself just as Jay looked up. “Sorry babe.” He said, making a little face at the papers strewn across the table.

Chuckling, you climbed off the couch and moved towards him. You stood behind him, looping your arms around his shoulders, resting your chin on his shoulder. “I missed you.” You whispered.

Jay turned slightly, tugging you so that you now landed in his lap.

“Missed you too.” He whispered, smiling as one of his arms snaked around your waist, holding you securely to him, another hand reaching up to cup your cheek. “Sorry I’ve been busy.”

You shook your head, smiling.

You’d been dating for a while but no one else knew. Both of you had agreed to keep it on the down low, partly because of your age difference. Even though you had agreed you’d keep it quiet at least for the first few months, it had been a lot more than that and it had been going so well that you didn’t really want to purposefully invite anyone into this world that Jay and you had created for yourselves. Rather than keeping it a secret, you guys just hadn’t made the effort to tell anyone or publicize it to the world. This also meant that when he was stuck at the district, you didn’t get to see him but on such days, Jay was always mindful about checking in.

“What’s on your mind?” Jay asked.

“Just thinking I’m lucky to have you.” You responded, leaning in to try to give him a hug. Instead, Jay stroked your cheek and pressed his lips to yours. “Now, I really need to finish this.”

You laughed. “Go forth.”

---

Jay had taken a few well-deserved days of furlough, which he had mostly spent curled up with you. You didn’t have any complaints, it had been just what you both needed.

But Intelligence couldn’t catch a break. It was Jay’s first day back and now, he was already walking up to a crime scene.

Jay pushed the yellow crime scene tape upwards, letting Hailey walk through ahead of him before following behind her.

“What do we have?” Jay asked, approaching the spot where Adam and Kim were standing.

Kim turned. “Kate Whitewood, 22, stabbed multiple times.”

“She’s not in the system. No priors, nothing.” Adam added.

“No belongings on her?” Voight asked, looking around.

Adam shook his head. Jay frowned. “There’s barely any blood here.”

Kevin nodded, jogging forward to join them. “This is probably just the dump site. She must have been killed elsewhere.”

Hailey stood from where she had bent to examine the body. “She has defensive wounds on her. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find skin under her fingernails.”

Jay bent forward slightly. “What are those? Marks around her neck? We need to get her to the ME to get the exact cause of death.”

“Kim, bag her hands and get forensics to run a deluxe.” Voight said, as Kim nodded.

“My CI works this street, let me see what I can find out.” Jay said, turning away.

---

“So Kate was last seen at this bar right in town.” Hailey said, walking in and sticking a screenshot onto the board, which showed a camera view of the street outside the bar.

Kate could be seen on the image, her head turned slightly as she waved to someone, a man standing by her side. Hailey tapped the image.

“We can’t find this guy. His face is always turned away from the camera, facial recognition is out.”

Voight nodded. “Jay, have you heard from your CI?”

Jay nodded, resting slightly against Hailey’s desk, his arms crossed in front of him. “My guy says there haven’t been any deals going down. I think we can rule out drugs or gangs. Streets have been quiet ever since that big bust we did last month.”

“It was 28 degrees out last night, ME couldn’t find the exact time of death. But there were signs she was raped, signs of asphyxiation and five penetration wounds from a knife.” Kevin said, opening the file he had gotten from the medical examiner earlier.

Voight turned to Kim. “Who was she?”

Kim sighed. “Kate was a hard worker, she had just started her job as a receptionist at a dentist’s office in South Loop. Dad’s MIA, Mum’s remarried and relocated to New York so she’s living on her own.”

“Have we found who she was with last night?”

Adam nodded. “I’ve gone through her phone. Looks like she was meeting her friend Grace at the club last night.”

“We need to talk to her. I want to know about the last day of Kate’s life. Timeline. Check all sex offenders in the area. Comb her social media. Let’s go.” Voight instructed.

---

Jay knocked on the main door, glancing sideways at Hailey. The door swung open.

“Grace Archer? I’m Detective Upton, this is Detective Halstead, can we come in?” Hailey asked.

She furrowed her brows. “What’s this about?”

“You’re friends with Kate Whitewood?” Hailey asked, without directly answering her question. She nodded and without missing a beat, Hailey continued, “We need to ask you a few questions about last night.”

Grace stepped back to let them in, her face falling as she led them to the sitting room.

“I heard from her parents. The whole thing’s horrible.” Grace whispered, wrapping her hands around herself.

“Can you tell us what you remember?” Jay asked.

Grace looked up. “Kate’s boyfriend had broken up with her a few months ago, so I took her out. She needed to get out again.”

“Were you approached by anyone?” Hailey asked.

“Several.” She answered.

“Anyone that stood out?”

Grace paused, trying to recall. “Kate didn’t even really want to go. She barely looked at the guys… except…”

Hailey sat up a little. “There must have been something about this guy that she left with, something unique. We have a photo of him on the surveillance tape. Flashy?”

Grace nodded, “Yeah, he had this like... attitude… like he was hitting on us but he was making a joke of it at the same time.” She paused. “The last thing she told me was that she had a great time… I shouldn’t have forced her to come out.”

“This isn’t your fault.” Hailey leaned over and patted Grace comfortingly on the arm. “Thanks for talking to us. Please call us if you think of anything else.”

As Jay walked out of Grace’s house with Hailey, he looked at his partner. “This guy’s confident, he’s smooth and it doesn’t look like he knew Kate or Grace.”

---

For the rest of the day, the team had almost combed through the whole of Kate’s whereabouts before she had disappeared and all they had was a big fat nothing.

Jay typed a quick text to you to let you know that he wasn’t going to be able to come over tonight.

You read the text, smiling a little. Jay was busy but it was cute that he always kept you informed. You stopped walking, typing back a reply to tell him it was okay and to do what he had to do, before you kept her phone back into your pocket.

You walked along the street, the same street you walked on every night, frowning a little. You turned around, scanning the street behind you.

You could swear that it was like someone was watching you, or following you. But the street was empty. This wasn’t the first time you had had this feeling - like the little hairs on the back of your neck were standing but you had nothing to back up this feeling you had.

Holding your bag tighter against you, you pushed yourself forward, quickening your footsteps, only letting up as you passed the safety of your apartment building’s front door.

As you passed the threshold of your apartment and closed the door behind you, you pulled out your phone, staring at it for a while. Part of you wanted to call Jay, to hear his voice and have him tell you that you were just tired, imagining things. But the rational part of your brain convinced yourself that everything was okay, reminding you that Jay was so busy and deep in a case, he really shouldn’t have to worry about you.

Ultimately, you put your phone on the counter, chuckling at yourself. Maybe you really were too tired.

---

By the next morning, another body had turned up, not two streets away from the first dump site.

Jay felt an uneasy feeling spread in the pit of his stomach as he stared at the photo of the new victim that was already up on the board. They had a serial killer in Chicago and this guy’s victim type had physical characteristics that were scarily similar to you.

“Jay.” Hailey broke Jay out of his thoughts. “Emma Green, 23, strangulation marks, six stab wounds.”

Jay turned to his partner and nodded. “Did they go to the same club?”

Hailey handed Jay a file. “No, but look at what we picked up on the surveillance camera.” Jay opened the file, studying the photo.

“This is our guy isn’t it?” He pointed at a male figure who was standing next to their second victim, his face still hidden from the camera, wearing a plain cap.

“Hey guys, I might have found a link.” Kim said, walking in. “I checked the employee records and there’s a bartender that works in both clubs and he was on shift on each day our victims went missing. He’s got a prior for aggravated assault and harassment.”

“We’ll take it.” Jay said, grabbing his jacket and heading out of the district.

Hailey fell into step next to him, glancing at him. “Jay, you okay?”

Jay nodded. “Let’s just get this son of a bitch.”

They travelled the rest of the way in silence. Hailey seemed to pick up that this case was affecting Jay differently but she didn’t press further, allowing Jay to lead the way into the closed club.

“Ben Carlton?”

The bartender looked up from where he was, his eyes falling onto the police badge that was hung around Jay’s neck.

In a sudden motion, he ducked out and ran.

“Hey, stop!” Jay yelled, as both he and Hailey launched themselves after him, Hailey shooting out the front door to try to head him off.

“5021 George, I have a suspect fleeing on foot.” Jay called into his radio, sprinting after the bartender.

The bartender barely made it onto the next street before Hailey flung herself at him around the corner, rolling onto the ground as Jay pulled out his gun. “Don’t move!” He yelled, as Hailey pulled the bartender to his feet.

“Let’s go.” Jay snarled.

---

“It wasn’t me!” Ben yelled as he sat in the interrogation room, facing Jay and Hailey.

Jay sighed internally, watching Ben’s reactions and the way he was answering the questions Hailey was shooting at him.

“Those were mistakes, I didn’t do this!” He yelled again.

Jay pushed himself upright, getting up from where he was leaning against the wall and pushing the photos of the victims onto the table. “This. Look at this. We can place these girls at the bars you worked at just before they died.”

“Look.” Ben said, looking up at Jay. “I saw them but they left before I even finished my shift.”

Jay glanced at Hailey. “Who did they leave with?” Hailey asked.

Ben looked from Hailey to Jay. “Look, I don’t know the guy, he’s not a regular. But he’s white, about their age. I noticed him because he headed for them the moment that he walked in. Like he knew they were there.”

Before Jay or Hailey moved, a knock came from the door.

“You guys gotta see this.” Adam said, sticking his head in.

“Sit tight.” Jay said to Ben, following Adam outside, where Kevin was waiting as well.

Kevin handed the file to Jay. “We got another one.” Jay flipped open the file, which told him what he already feared. Another victim, of a physical type that not only matched the first two victims but also you.

Jay looked up. “His cooling off period is getting shorter. We need to get this son of a bitch.”

---

The feeling was getting a little stronger that someone had been watching you.

You glanced over your shoulder but as usual the street was empty. Maybe you needed to stop staying late.

You turned back towards the front. There were sounds of footsteps but you swallowed the lump in your throat, quickening your pace as discreetly as you could.

It definitely felt like someone was following you now. You were almost running by the time you rounded the corner, colliding with someone.

You gave a yelp of surprise.

“Y/N!”

You had collided with Jay.

You let out a breath, spinning around to look over your shoulder.

“What’s going on? You okay?” Jay’s eyes snapped from you to the empty street behind you.

You turned back to look at Jay. Now that he was standing in front of you, it didn’t seem that scary anymore - maybe you had imagined the whole thing.

You shook your head, taking one last glance behind you. “What are you doing here? You finished the case?”

Jay smiled but the smile didn’t really reach his eyes. “Just wanted to check in on you. I have to go back soon.”

You reached for his hand without saying anything and that’s how the both of you walked back to your apartment, your hand clenched securely in his, almost like the both of you had a tight bubble around you.

You could tell Jay’s mind was far away, and it was even more unlike him to come see you in the middle of a case. You knew there was something troubling him but you weren’t one to press. Jay would tell you when he felt he could or he wanted to.

Instead, you just squeezed his hand.

Almost as if you were prying him from his thoughts, Jay looked at you and smiled. He pulled you closer to him, tucking you under his arm.

“You’re okay, right?” You asked, without looking up at him, just as he escorted you to your door.

Jay turned to look at you and nodded. “I will be, once this case is over.” He leaned forward to give you a kiss. “If anything happens, you call me, okay? No matter what.”

You raised an eyebrow but nodded at him, watching him disappear into the elevator before you retreated back into your apartment.

---

Intelligence had been tirelessly chasing down leads but they now had four bodies and Voight was getting pressure to solve this quickly as well. They needed a break in this case and fast.

“Okay, let’s regroup, what do we have so far?” Voight barked.

“All four victims were raped and found with multiple stab wounds. We know he picks up his victims from bars and appears non-threatening enough that his victims are willing to leave with him.” Jay said, getting up.

Hailey headed to the board, frowning. “We dumped their phones but we weren’t able to find any connection between the victims other than their physical type.” Hailey cast a look at Jay, which Voight didn’t miss. “I think he’s working his way up to something.”

“Hey guys?” Kim spoke up as she walked back in, flipping open the file sitting on her desk. “I went back over the first murder to see if we missed anything. Look at this.”

Kim pulled in her chair, zooming into the photo. “This badge here on his jacket, it’s barely visible so we missed it the first few times. I sent it to the lab to see if they could enhance the image and this is what I got.”

Kim clicked and up popped the crest of a high school. “Look, it’s not just a general badge. Look at the year.”

“Okay, that is the crest for Lincoln High. It’s a jacket given to those who graduated that year.” Kevin said, frowning at it.

“I’ll run the list of students who graduated in that year.” Jay barked, heading straight for his desk, his fingers flying across his keyboard.

Cross-checking was the worst job ever but the moment Jay’s eyes landed on your name on the list of graduates, he pulled it together, eliminating the women, men who had moved out of state or country, until finally he only had three names on the list.

“Okay, I have a Steven Miller, Charles Shoemaker and John Marlin.” Jay finally spoke up as everyone looked up. “But only Steven Miller has priors.”

“For harassment, sexual misconduct, and attempted assault. Sarge, this has to be our guy.” Jay looked up at Voight.

“Do we have an LKA?” Voight asked.

“Already on it.” Adam said.

“Go pick him up.” Adam nodded, motioning to Kevin as they headed out.

Something was bugging Jay. Steven Miller. That name was…

Fuck.

Jay pushed back his chair, entering Voight’s office without knocking and closing the door behind him.

“Sarge.”

Voight looked up, frowning a little at the look on Jay’s face. He put down his pen and leaned back in his chair, looking up at Jay.

“I’ve heard Miller’s name before. It was bugging me, but I remember now.”

Voight sat up straighter.

“I’m seeing his ex-girlfriend.” The words slipped past Jay’s lips. “Sarge, everything makes sense now. The physical type, the way he’s building up because his actual target…” Jay trailed off.

You had told Jay about Steven just once. You hadn’t gone into detail but you had told Jay about the short period that you had been together with Steven – his need for control over all aspects of your life, how he had always been a little rough, how he hadn’t taken any form of rejection well, and how you’d ended it the day he struck you.

“Take Hailey.”

Jay was already halfway to the door.

---

You had left early today.

It had been a while since you had done such an early shift but you’d been feeling more and more uneasy while walking home at night and the news coverage on the murders that were happening at the moment didn’t help.

You didn’t need Jay to tell you that you looked exactly like those girls who had been murdered. It was clear as day.

You fiddled with the key in the lock, opening the door.

You felt your heart drop into your stomach as you registered the person standing in front of you. In your house.

“Steven.” You muttered, your voice trembling, barely registering the butt of a gun heading towards your temple before it went dark.

---

Hailey hadn’t said anything but she knew something was off.

“Jay, what’s going on?” She asked. “How do you know this girl’s the target?”

Jay didn’t answer but pressed harder on the accelerator, gripping the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles were white. The ringing tone going off through his bluetooth speaker in the car making him feel even worse.

“Jay.” Hailey said again. “I’m your partner.”

Jay glanced at her now. “She’s my girlfriend.”

Hailey’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”

Jay let a beat of silence passed. “Miller’s her ex. I should have seen the signs, the physical type, everything, I…”

“Jay. She’ll be fine. Come on.” Hailey reassured him, as he turned his truck onto the familiar street.

“She’s still not answering.” Jay said, through gritted teeth. He’d been trying to call you since he had left the station.

Without hesitation, Jay bounded up the stairs, Hailey right behind him. From down the corridor, Jay could already tell your door was slightly ajar.

“Hang back.” Jay whispered, pulling out his service weapon.

Jay quietly approached the door. “Y/N?” He opened the door with his foot, freezing as his eyes landed on you, sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, your eyes frantic as Steven held a knife to your throat from where he stood behind you.

Jay gritted his teeth, using his foot to slam the door shut, knowing that Hailey would know what to do.

“Step away from her.” Jay growled, pointing his gun directly at Steven.

Steven smiled. “I was wondering when you’d arrive. Put that down.”

Jay grinded his teeth but didn’t move. You felt the cold blade of the knife press against your skin and inhaled sharply.

“Put. It. Down.” Steven repeated.

“Okay, okay.” Jay said, glancing at you before putting his hands above his head, disarming his gun and putting it down onto the floor.

Steven smiled again, tucking a stray hair behind your ear.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Jay growled.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to tell me what to do.” Steven answered.

“Jay, I’m sorry.” You whispered.

Jay looked straight at you. “It’s going to be okay. You focus on me, you hear me? I’m right here.”

“We broke up a long time ago, what the hell are you doing?” You asked. You were afraid, hell you were trembling, but this was crazy and you had to help Jay to find a way out of this.

“We wouldn’t be broken up if he hadn’t come between us.” Steven snarled, moving closer towards you, his lips almost touching your ear.

Jay growled. “Leave her alone.”

Steven looked back up at Jay again.

“What, you mean don’t do this?” Steven asked, crushing his lips against yours.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Jay yelled. “Is that what you did? How you forced yourself on all the other girls? What do you want, Steven? What are you trying to accomplish?”

“All I wanted was to be with Y/N! But you took her.” He spat.

“So you decided to go on a rampage?” Jay asked. You saw him twitch like he was looking for something so you started talking, as much as it made you want to gag.

“Steven, why didn’t you just talk to me?” You asked, trying to distract him.

“Talk? All you care about is him!” He yelled, lifting the knife and pointing it at Jay.

It happened in a split second.

The moment he lifted the knife, Jay yelled, “Now, Y/N!”

You threw yourself forward, covering your head with your hands as you heard the gunshots go off, just two. You weren’t sure who was shooting but you didn’t move until you heard Jay’s voice again.

“Y/N, it’s okay, it’s over.” Jay whispered.

You looked up, Jay’s face hovering above you.

“Jay…”

Jay nodded, “It’s okay, come here.”

Jay pulled his arms around you.

“He…” Jay shook his head, shielding your view of Steven’s now motionless body. “Don’t look back, come on.”

Jay tried to lead you out of the apartment, barely making it to the main door before his teammates appeared. “Jay!” Kevin called, as he spotted both of you.

Jay nodded. “Thanks.” Kevin nodded, his eyes lingering on the way Jay was holding you close to his side before making way for Jay to lead you back down to the ground floor where the ambulances were waiting.

Jay led you all the way to the waiting paramedics, not even leaving your side to get himself checked.

You weren’t hurt, not really. There was a little open cut from where Steven had pressed the blade a little too hard when he had been agitated but other than that you were fine. Well, that, and that disgusting feeling that came with remembering how Steven had pressed his lips against yours.

Voight approached you and Jay. Jay squeezed your hand. “I’ll be right back.” You smiled and nodded.

Jay and Voight talked in low voices until Voight turned to look at you. “And she’s okay?”

Jay nodded. “Yeah, she is. I just need to…”

“Do what you need to do. We’ll finish up here.” Voight said, nodding and clapping Jay on the back.

---

The paramedics had dressed the wound on the scene before Jay had brought you back to his apartment.

After getting you into a clean change of clothes and some warm food in you, you had ended up back in your favourite place in the world – on Jay’s couch, in Jay’s apartment, encircled in Jay’s arms.

You lay your head on Jay’s chest.

“So this was all because of me?” You asked in a low voice.

Jay sat up, looking at you. “What?”

“He killed all those women… because of me. I got them killed.” You whispered.

“No, no, baby.” Jay propped himself up, but didn’t let you go. “This is not your fault. Steven he… he did this, not you.”

You looked up at him. “He even… in front of you… he…” You could feel tears welling up in your eyes, you felt disgusting. He’d kissed you, he’d done it in front of Jay and he’d ruined everything.

You hadn’t said that much but Jay just tilted your chin upwards and kissed you. “Jay…”

“I’ll take it all away.” Jay whispered. “I’m sorry, I should have been there sooner.”

You shook your head, swiping away the tears that had slid down your cheeks.

Jay cupped your cheek again, pulling you into his chest. You balled your hand around his shirt, gripping at Jay.

“It’s okay, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Jay whispered.

“I’ll never let anyone touch you ever again.” He half snarled, still caressing you gently.

You leaned into his embrace, closing your eyes as the sound of Jay’s heartbeat gently lulled you back into the feeling of safety and security.

[familyfriendlyweed]

late night snaps (quackity x reader)

a/n : before we get into the story, i wanted to thank you all for such support on my first post - i only posted it yesterday, and got a hell lot of likes and reblogs and even gained 23 followers, which is insane for me (or maybe i just don’t know how tumblr works, haha)! anyhow, i’m really happy you guys enjoyed it <3 

 it was 02:37 and you were editing your newest video. you had no idea it would take so long, though! even if you were used to staying up very late, you knew you have to put away your laptop and go get some sleep. 

 saving the video as a draft and shutting your computer off, you started to blindly search for your phone, since your eyes didn’t get used to the darkness yet. finally finding it, you turned it on to set an alarm for the next morning when you suddenly saw a snapchat notification from ten minutes ago. it was from Alex. you curiously unlocked your phone and tapped the little notification to be led straight to snapchat.

idiota : hello mamacita

 your face instantly lit up in a childish smile. you started to type your response eagerly like it wasn’t 2 am and you didn’t have online classes tomorrow. 

 you : why hello there, el señor

 you saw Alex’s silly bitmoji pop up as he started to type.  

 idiota : what is my chica bella doing up so late?

 you giggled, getting comfortable in your bed - this meant a long chatting session on its way.

 you : YOUR chica bella? when did that happen?

 idiota : ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!! >:((((

 you : fine you big baby, i was finishing editing a new video

 idiota : hmm i see, i see

 you : what about you though? u should get some sleep!!! :(((

 Alex’s bitmoji started typing, then stopped for some reason. you lifted your eyebrow at that. then he continued, but it took a while for him to finish.

 idiota : why, i just couldn’t fall asleep when you were on my mind all the time, mi amor

 your cheeks grew red in an instant. you knew you could handle jokes pretty well, but this was quite too much. Alex never got so far as to actually flirt with you.

 you : eh??? what drugs are u on

 idiota : the only drug for me is you mamacita

 you snorted. you had no idea if he was being serious or not, even if the second option was more likely.

 you : literally go to sleep wtf

 idiota : i’d sleep better if you were by my side ;)

 this was enough for you - you felt as if you got one more message like this from him, you’d die from the hotness in your cheeks. setting your phone down, you made your way to the bathroom before bed.

 you came back five minutes later, only to see your phone full of notifications from Alex. your heart was thumping really hard, you weren’t used to this, but you opened snapchat anyway.

 idiota : mamacita?

 idiota : ....

 idiota : mamacita, don’t joke w me like that

 idiota : did you really just leave me on read wtf

 idiota : i’m sad come back :(((

 and at last, there was a snap from him. you were quite scared at this point. with a shaking hand, you opened it.

 you laughed so hard that you seriously thought you’ll have a seizure. still laughing, you snapped a selfie with a cute filter on (you really thought you looked horrible at the moment), captioned it with “your chica bella had to take a piss u simp” and sent it to Alex.

 he opened the snap almost imediatelly and started typing afterwards :

 idiota : mamacita!!!! you look hermosa!!!!

 you : that’s because i have a filter on lmaoo

 idiota : mamacita don’t let yourself down, you are so beautiful :((

 you started to text a sarcastic reply, but stopped. for some reason, Alex seemed like he was being truthful. he wasn’t joking around when he called you beautiful, that was too affectionate.

 you : ...really?

 idiota : si, si! <3

 you tugged at your lip in a thinking manner. true, you had feelings for Alex, but you never thought he had something similar to you. or maybe... maybe he was just supporting you as a friend. figuring that was probably it, you texted :

 you : thank you quacker B]] ur also v handsome

 idiota : mamacita likes me!!!!!😍😍😍

 you smiled sadly. Alex was definitely playing around. you got lost in thought for a few moments, thinking about how would he act if he was actually in love with someone. would he, perhaps, be more mature? that would be very weird to look at.

 finally coming back to planet Earth, you looked at your phone only to see that Alex has written a shit ton of messages again :

 idiota : i want to see you, mamacita

 idiota : it’s fine if u don’t want to, you’re probably going to sleep anyway...

 idiota : but maybe let’s meet tomorrow?

 idiota : mamacita?

 idiota : ....

 idiota : i’m coming over <3

 your heart gave a leap of embarassment and surprise. why would he even say that?

 you : wait what

 you : wdym “i’m coming over”

 you : no tf ur not

 you : go to sleep

 idiota : doesn’t mamacita want to see muah???

 you : no, that would be awesome, but you should go to sleep, really :(

 idiota : y/n, i already told you, i can’t sleep when you’re on my mind

 you froze in spot, staring at your screen for what felt like an eternity. did he just call you by your name? you knew he only says it in serious situations. deciding to change your tactic, you started texting seriously :

 you : are you like... for real now?

 you : because i know you call me by my name in serious situations, but maybe it’s only a prank, so just answer me truthfully, okay?

 Alex started typing, it took even longer that before, but at last you saw his message, this time without caps, spammed question/exclamation marks, nothing silly at all :

 idiota : i am serious, y/n. believe me, this is not a prank. i just really wanna see you. 

 your heart skipped a beat or two, your face renewed its redness. you felt as if you were dreaming.

 you : okay... i’m really glad. come over, please

 idiota : thank you so much

 you started pondering in your head - how did this happen? how did this silly conversation turn out like this? 

 but what if Alex texted you because he wanted to come over in the first place? after all, he knew how shitty your sleep schedule was. that would be awesome, you thought, a small smile dancing on your lips.

 you checked the snap map only to see Alex about 100 meters from you. wait... what? 100 METERS??? was Alex near your place the moment he texted you for the first time?

 you jumped up, starting to tidy up your messy room up, only to remember you look like poop at the moment - hair messy, face tired, clothes scrunched. 

 exhaling heavily, you tried to change your appearance quickly - you ran into the bathroom, brushing your hair panickily. then you wrenched the makeup bag open and started to rummage through it trying to find some mascara or something...

 ding ding! 

 you froze, your eyes widened. he was already here, what the hell?!

 you quickly put on some mascara, ran into the hallway while brushing your face with your hands from stress (completely forgetting you have mascara on, somehow) and unlocked the door.

 Alex’s figure was dark, since the lightbulb in the corridor wasn’t working, and it almost gave you a fright. but as soon as he engulfed you in a warm hug, the tension in the pit of your stomach vanished. you hugged him back almost unsurely, but smiling.

 “hello, mamacita”

 you giggled. for some reason, you got the strongest urge to cry. probably from happiness, but it still was confusing to you. nevertheless, tears started running down your cheeks, mixing with mascara, probably making you look like you were going to a halloween dress up party. 

 “hey, why are you crying?” Alex asked, brushing a strand of hair from your face.

 “i look horrible.” you laughed, wiping your tears away.

 “nooo, why won’t you listen to me? i already told you you’re beautiful.” he said with a cute pout. 

 “alright, alright, i’m very beautiful, let me down now.” you said, noticing that he was still holding you in his arms tightly. 

 “whatever the chica bella says.”

 he put you down.

 “aren’t you going to turn on some light? i feel like i’ve gone blind!” Alex exclaimed jokingly and you giggled.

 “i’m like a bat, i hate much light, sorry. buuuut i could turn on this little lamp.” you said, making your way to your desk and turning on a cute little lamp the shade of warm pink.

 “perfect.” Alex said, eyeing you in light now. you thought he’ll make a comment about your awful mascara-stained face, but he said nothing, just smiling and looking at you in awe, like you were some princess in a ball dress instead of a tired college student in messy shorts, an oversized t-shirt and two different socks, because you couldn’t find a pair of the same ones.

 “perfect.” he repeated, shrugging with a smile on his face, like seeing you was everything he needed.

 you laughed and hugged him, muttering a “thanks for coming”. Alex didn’t hesitate and also hugged you, holding you as close as possible, as if he let go of you, he’d drown and would never come back to be by your side again. 

 little did you know, he felt the exact same way.