#we're all gonna get burnt out at this rate

[cloudcountry]

its so weird to me how people will see us talking about reblogs and comments and how that supports people and they ignore it??? and i've even heard people telling content creators to "get over it" and its like...bro.

you are getting content for free. someone put so much love and care into something that you read and didn't even bother supporting. likes are equivalent to "hey i saw this, good job." while reblogs are "hey, i really liked this and i want other people to see it too!!"

you wonder why fanfic authors complain about engagement? it literally fuels us. i've also heard people say that authors wanting more feedback from readers is a "red flag" and i just know those people have never written a fic in their life.

we're not holding you hostage or anything man, we just want you to talk to us. tell us what you think. have fun with fics. show them to your friends and talk to the author about them and even if they don't respond, know that they saw your feedback and are holding it close to their heart.

its a give and take. all creators want is interaction. and i hate to say it but its literally the bare minimum. i actually stopped writing for a fandom entirely because nobody would comment on any of the oneshots i posted. they just read it and left. and then when i left the fandom and stopped writing for them entirely, people were saying they'd miss me. they acted disappointed that i was leaving. like, you didn't act like you'd miss me at all when i was still making content. so why should i stay?

[tinycoffeeroom]

yes chef! | daniel ricciardo

face claim: laura harrier ♡

request: here !

pairing: daniel ricciardo x black!chef!reader

requested: hello ml !! 🫶 I stumbled upon one of your F1 smau’s and the way I swallowed your blog whole right after, I loved it all !!😭 I’d love to request a smau with Daniel Ricciardo x fem!chefreader, like maybe her studying to become a chef, or right up to her exams and graduation? It’s all good if you don’t wan’t to, have a wonderful week either way🫶 - 🍊🫒

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📍 Marriott Hotels

👤 cheflingy/n liked by cheflingy/n, maxverstappen1 and 1,827,050 others

danielricciardo one last night away before exam season for my little chefling x

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cheflingy/n thank you for taking me away my love ❤️ gonna miss seeing your stupid face 24/7 😭 ↳ danielricciardo gonna miss your stupid face too... after exams you're coming to every race with me no exceptions! ↳ cheflingy/n sure thing handsome x

fan it's not a danny ric post if he doesn't rub it in our faces that he's dating y/n and we're not ↳ fan ikr like can you share with the group please ↳ danielricciardo i don't share my food ↳ fan we were talking about y/n ↳ danielricciardo so was i ↳ cheflingy/n down boy!

fan y/n what do you rate the hotel pasta out of 10? ↳ cheflingy/n hmmm a 6? the sauce was nice but was lacking a little in the taste department... if we were at home i'd have added some chili flakes which would have bumped it to a 7! ↳ fan the hotel should be honoured to receive a 6 from chef y/n ↳ cheflingy/n chefling! not passed my exams yet!!

fan y/ns so pretty im gonna scream ♥️ danielricciardo

fan will we be getting a y/n recreates?? ↳ cheflingy/n yeppers! will work on it when i get home 🩷 ↳ fan thank u queen x

francisca.c.gomes barking at the top of my lungs ↳ cheflingy/n come give me a kiss xxx ↳ francisca.c.gomes running as fast as i can!!! ↳ danielricciardo pierregasly we should kiss too ↳ pierregasly come here big boy

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👤 danielricciardo liked by bffstagram, danielricciardo and 609,817 others

cheflingy/n y/n recreates part 15! we visited the Marriott in New York and had their spaghetti alla vodka! you might have seen in danny's comments that i rated it a 6/10 due to the little flavour in the sauce but with a few chili flakes and a little balsamic vinegar, we have a strong 9/10 on our hands! link in my bio ❤️

also swipe for my favourite 10/10 meal x

danielricciardo omg stop objectifying me 🙄 ↳ cheflingy/n you literally called me food in your last post ↳ danielricciardo ... you got me there

fan y/n being the queen of the thattoo agenda ↳ cheflingy/n i rule that shit with an iron fist ↳ fan knowing y/n gets to see the thattoos in all their glory 😔 vs knowing she'll share with the group 😀

fan y/n recreates is back!!!! looks yummy, wish apple would create a way to smell through a screen ↳ cheflingy/n it was very good!! the recipe is in the description of my youtube, you should make it with me!! ↳ fan i will do it purely bc you suggested it 💞

lilymhe can i have some too 🥺 ↳ cheflingy/n ofc lils!! i'll make you some special pasta for the next gp x ↳ lilymhe i'm in love with you

maxverstappen1 funnily enough the 3rd slide is also my favourite meal ↳ cheflingy/n you take the outside i'll take the inside ↳ maxverstappen1 divide and conquer, i like your thinking 🫡 ↳ danielricciardo it's like i'm just a piece of meat to them

fan i live for the fact y/n joins in with maxiel ↳ fan essentially a throuple at this point ↳ cheflingy/n i would rather eat my own toes than enter a throuple with max and daniel ↳ maxverstappen1 rude? ↳ cheflingy/n mf you BURNT a salad, idek how you managed that... at least danny can cook a mean steak ↳ maxverstappen1 it was too close to the stove :(((( ↳ fan im sorry he burnt a salad???? new max lore unlocked

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danielricciardo uploaded to their story

replies:

maxverstappen1 i am outside your door ↳ danielricciardo ominous? ↳ maxverstappen1 open up i want a y/n apple turnover ↳ danielricciardo sorry cant hear you over the sound of me chowing down ↳ maxverstappen1 i know how to pick locks. ↳ danielricciardo ... who taught you that? ↳ maxverstappen1 y/n :) ↳ danielricciardo she never showed me how to pick locks :( ↳ maxverstappen1 pretty privilege, sorry you wouldn't understand ↳ danielricciardo im gonna spit on your turnover ↳ maxverstappen1 kinky x

fan share with the group please ↳ danielricciardo nope!

cheflingy/n i'm glad you liked them handsome x ↳ danielricciardo when does your class end so i can give you a fat kiss? ↳ cheflingy/n i'll be home in an hour x ↳ danielricciardo yippee!! x

fan honey b 😭 she even made a cute nickname out of that whack ass nickname ↳ danielricciardo WHACK ASS??? now that's crazy, give me a reason why i shouldn't block you ↳ fan i bought enchanté merch ↳ danielricciardo you're safe for now.

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liked by danielricciardo, landonorris and 798,014 others

cheflingy/n pastry week got me feeling like... can't wait for final exams next week so y'all can start calling me chef y/n for real

danielricciardo sneak one home pls xx ↳ cheflingy/n already put one in a container x ↳ danielricciardo no one snitch on me to my trainer

landonorris does that mean we have to say yes chef to anything you say? ↳ cheflingy/n yes x ↳ landonorris ok slay ↳ cheflingy/n that gave me the ick a lil bit ↳ fan same ↳ fan same ↳ danielricciardo same ↳ oscarpiastri same ↳ landonorris ?? disrespect???

fan y/n what dessert is that it looks yummers! ↳ cheflingy/n is just a really fancy carrot cake!! will post the recipe when im home 🩷 ↳ fan i love you.

kellypiquet p would like some carrot cake too! (and her mum) ↳ cheflingy/n tell p we can have a baking session soon! miss her little face x ↳ kellypiquet and me? ↳ cheflingy/n i miss your little face too x

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chefling y/n has uploaded a new video

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👤 danielricciardo liked by danielricciardo, maxverstappen1 and 907,286 others

cheflingy/n doints in the bank so my man gets a steak xx

danielricciardo im her man 🥰🥰 ↳ cheflingy/n damn right you are!

maxverstappen1 i won the race, where's my steak? ↳ cheflingy/n kellypiquet ↳ maxverstappen1 stole my man, won't even cook me steak... what's the point of being world champ if i don't get SHIT ↳ kellypiquet big baby, she texted to say she'd bring some over when they're back from the cabin ↳ maxverstappen1 yippee!!!

fan steak, chicken AND lamb??? oh she's in LOVE love ↳ cheflingy/n he deserves it x

oscarpiastri can i get some steak too? 🥺 ↳ cheflingy/n ofc ofc!! i'll bring some to the next race 🧡 ↳ landonorris me too! ↳ cheflingy/n you can have whatever oscar leaves. ↳ landonorris what the fuck

fan ratings? ↳ danielricciardo 11/10 she never misses ↳ fan wish that was me...

fan did you get chance to watch the race??!! ↳ cheflingy/n i may have skipped a practice session to go on sunday... ↳ fan you're the reason we have doints we love you ↳ cheflingy/n it was all down to danny's driving i promise!! i just sit there and look pretty!! ↳ danielricciardo the prettiest x

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👤 bffstagram liked by bffstagram, danielricciardo and 992,716 others

cheflingy/n who up ratting their touille rn??!!

bffstagram MEMEMEMEME!!!!! ↳ cheflingy/n how's that fourth red bull treating you? ↳ bffstagram i can see sounds.

fan she's just like me fr: losing her mind during final exams ↳ cheflingy/n now who said i'm losing my mind... ↳ cheflingy/n you would be right tho my eyeballs ache from being open for so long

mercedesmgf1 we can send you some lewis hamilton monster to help you stay awake 🩵 ↳ danielricciardo this is a red bull house ONLY ↳ redbullracing iktr! y/nnie we have a special care package coming your way soon 💙 ↳ cheflingy/n i love you red bull

lilynzeimer what happens if we're not ratting our touille? ↳ cheflingy/n you gotta step your game up!

landonorris the girl in the second pic is cute, she got an @ ? ↳ cheflingy/n you stay away from her she's a good girl. ↳ landonorris c'mon, you know i'm a nice guy ↳ bffstagram unfortunately for you, i'm allergic to papaya :) ↳ bffstagram i am however, a big fan of chilis x ↳ carlossainz55 good to know 🤨 ↳ cheflingy/n get your flirting OUT of my comments

fan you got this y/n!! can't wait to call you chef y/n properly!!! 💘💖💗💞💕💗💞💝💖💓💕 ↳ cheflingy/n thank u i love u 🥺🩷

fan when's the last exam miss chefling?? ↳ cheflingy/n tomorrow!! luckily we get our results in a week so i wont be climbing the walls for too long!! ↳ fan good luck!!! you're gonna smash it!! 💘💘 ♥️ cheflingy/n

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chefling y/n has uploaded a new video

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👤 chefy/n liked by vcarb, chefly/n and 1,728,915 others

danielricciardo after 4 long years, my girls finally a graduate ❤️ chef y/n i love you and i'm so bloody proud of you x

See 104,817 other comments

chefy/n danny 🥹 thank you for the flowers and the cake and for just being there with me, i love you so so much ❤️ ↳ danielricciardo i love you more my sexy gordon ramsey

vcarb congratulations y/n!!! we may have an opening in red bull hospitality for you 😉 ↳ chefly/n love y'all but i am very happy just following dan around the paddock on race days 🤣

maxverstappen1 simp ↳ maxverstappen1 also congrats y/n! now about that meal you mentioned last week... ↳ chefy/n man can i enjoy my post grad vacay first damn 😭

alexandrasaintmleux chef y/n we love you 💜 ↳ chefy/n i love you alex 💛 ↳ charles_leclerc don't suppose you fancy sharing some of that cake? ↳ chefy/n come over, doors unlocked! (bring alex too) ↳ charles_leclerc you just want to see my girlfriend... ↳ chefy/n correct captain obvious

fan she changed her @ !! chef y/n welcome we love you!!! ↳ chefy/n i love you too!!!

bffstagram that's my favourite chef right there!! ↳ chefy/n thank you chef x ↳ bffstagram you're welcome chef x

landonorris let's go chef y/n!! you should celebrate by bringing me and osc those banging pastries in your last vid ↳ chefy/n if you run over here in time, there may be some left 🤫 ↳ oscarpiastri you should have seen his little legs it was giving scooby doo ↳ chefy/n giving? we need to get you away from that man ↳ oscarpiastri please...

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📍 Spain

liked by danielricciardo, maxverstappen1 and 893,017 others

chefy/n week away with my love ❤️ spain was so so gorgeous i couldn't resist picking up a camera and documenting danny trying to make paella, coming to youtube tomorrow x

danielricciardo i think i did a banging job ↳ chefy/n sure you did babe x

maxverstappen1 where was my invite? ↳ fan breaking up the throuple fr 😔 ↳ chefy/n you have your own plane you could have flown over ↳ maxverstappen1 WAIT that was an option? ↳ chefy/n no x ↳ maxverstappen1 that's just cruel...

fan are we getting a y/n recreates of dannys paella?? ↳ chefy/n is that something you would want?? ↳ fan YES ↳ fan YESYEYSYESYEYS PLEASE ↳ fan it's a need not a want y/n please!!!! ↳ chefy/n i hear y'all, i'll get started soon x

kellypiquet gorgeous girl x ↳ chefy/n love you kels x

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chef y/n uploaded a new video

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👤 enchante, chefy/n liked by chefy/n, enchante and 1,938,724 others

danielricciardo welcome to the Enchanté cafe. All meals provided by our resident chef 😉

See 934,018 others

fan STOP y/n making the food for the promo videos 🥺 i love them

fan and WHY were there no videos of y/n cooking? ↳ danielricciardo she didn't wanna steal my limelight ↳ chefy/n i'll be uploading a bts vid to my youtube tomorrow, you'll see me there 😉

chefy/n that food looks super yummy! ↳ danielricciardo yeah i heard the chef graduated top of her class ↳ chefy/n damn she must be good then ↳ danielricciardo the absolute best x

enchante the resident chef is never allowed to leave ↳ chefy/n i would never want to ❤️

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a/n: my first emoji anon! hi! and welcome danny ric to tinycoffeeroom! i hope you enjoy and that i did your request justice! <3 also psa i looooveeee the honey badger nickname pls dont kill me 😭

taglist: @golden-hoax

[tieronecrush]

hot & heavy

chapter two: couldn’t look away

neighbor!joel x f!reader

chapter 1 / series masterlist

series rating: E (18+ only, MDNI)

series summary: 

over the course of three summers, joel miller becomes woven into your life. the first summer is spent falling for him; nannying his daughter and sneaking around with him in a burning love affair. you know how you feel about joel, he isn’t so sure about how it all is gonna work. the second summer is brief. a month spent at home after graduation and before you move to boston for your dream job. one look at you, one time hearing your voice, and joel is hooked again. he pines over you for that month, but you think — how is long distance of over a thousand miles going to work for a single dad? the third summer, you return home burnt out and pride bruised from your post-grad life. you need time to feel at home again, like your complete self, so you’ve come back home with no return ticket booked. it’s only a matter of time before joel seeks you out, slowly spending more time with you. without an inevitable end to the summer looming over you both, what chances are you willing to take?

word count: 6k

warnings: NO OUTBREAK (don’t need to worry about the mushies), no use of y/n, age gap (joel is 30/31, reader is 22), canon-divergent (sarah is 7 y/o), nanny au, mentions of food/eating, pet name (sweetheart, darling [we're evolving]), polite southern manners (*cough* sir *cough*), feeling familial and self-pressure, masturbation (m), voyeurism, real pervy behavior from joel, descriptions of female nudity, fantasies of p in v sex, lil slightest bit of dirty talk, LATINO JOEL cause it's canon which means there's likely subpar spanish bye!!!

Wednesday morning comes by in a flash.

You’d spent the rest of the weekend after the neighborly barbecue replaying that last conversation with Joel repeatedly, your mind finding a different way to interpret his words each time.

“Well, it’s definitely gonna be somethin’, sweetheart.”

Was he excited to see you more? Was he flirting? Was he glad to have childcare? Was he annoyed about you getting involved? Was he nervous about having you around?

These questions looped in your head like a locked groove on a vinyl record — spinning around and around until someone comes to shut it up.

Which is exactly what happens as you stand on the Millers' porch after your short, polite knock at eight o’clock this morning.

Joel throws the door open in a whirl of nervous energy, his head turned towards a space further into his home. You clock his profile, hooked nose leading your eyes along the line of his face to the slightly patchy facial hair framing his jaw and his plush lips, which are moving as he projects back in the direction he’s facing.

“Got ten minutes until we’re rolling out, Bug! Better have your cereal finished and sneakers ready for me!”

Hearing his drawl, although not for you, makes your brain immediately shut up all of those musings from the last few days. The silence doesn’t last for long — your mind starts up again, but this time, your thoughts are merely consumed by a loop of “Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod…” when Joel turns to you standing outside the entrance. His lips stretch up at the corners, one side reaching a hair higher on his cheeks. Perfectly set pearly whites flash from between the two pink pillows, and your previous mantra is interrupted with the question of whether or not he had braces as a kid.

Who are you kidding? Joel definitely didn’t have braces. He has to be one of those lucky people that avoided the gawky, awkward preteen years and grew into the perfect specimen of a man that is standing in front of you.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” — that nickname again — “Thanks so much for popping by early to get the details for everything. Past few days have been a little hectic getting settled and fully unpacked, and trying to keep Sarah entertained in the meantime.”

His chocolate eyes squint subtly as the light creases next to his eyes crinkle. The amount of eye contact is verging on too much for you, your insides rumbling like an engine turning over and his presence revving your nerves.

Heat grows at the back of your neck, ready to blame any sweat sheening your skin from the rising humidity in the morning air when in reality it’s all because of him. Your throat hems as you pull on your own smile, years of debutante-like training to save face in uncomfortable situations blessing you at this moment.

“Morning, Mr. Miller. It’s really no problem at all, I’m usually an early riser so I would’ve been up anyways.”

People pleasing liar. Your alarm is usually your mom coming into your room to ask what you want for lunch.

“Please, just call me Joel. C’mon in, sweetheart. I’ve got all the camp info on the pamphlet that’s on our counter, and I figured I’d give you a quick tour of the place so you don’t get the abridged version from the seven-year-old this afternoon.”

A chuckle falls from your lips, stepping inside once Joel moves. He closes the door behind you while you take a quick inventory of the space. The front door leads into a small entryway, a table to your right, and a coat closet to your left. You follow the lead of the shoes piled up under the console table, adding your beat-up baby blue Chuck Taylors to the mix of worn work boots and sneakers, and small, sparkly sandals and velcro tennies.

The entryway opens into the living room, a large leather couch against the front window and a recliner perpendicular to it. The coffee table is an oversized rectangle, matching the sizes of the other furniture. It fits well enough into the space, but you can immediately tell that a man lives here, even without the context you’re privy to. Identical throw pillows don each corner of the sofa and the chair, some throw blankets strewn around. Remotes and DVDs lay across the coffee table haphazardly, a curated collection of Disney originals with action movies like Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade and Curtis and Viper 2. It surprises you to also see the romantic comedy The Goodbye Girl thrown on the surface, a pang of jealousy shooting through your chest at the thought that it was likely rented for a date that Joel had this weekend, or maybe right before he moved.

“This is the living room, obviously. Feel free to hang out here or watch TV or a movie if I’m ever home late. Sarah will probably beg you to watch The Little Mermaid with her at some point, it’s her favorite and I’m sure she’ll want to know your thoughts,” Joel’s hand falls to your back to guide you easily into the room, moving towards the large opening that leads into the kitchen. His touch is featherlight against the cotton of your t-shirt, a barely there pressure that is rippling energy up your back and down the back of your legs.

“It’s my favorite, too, so already got one thing in common,” you glance over at Joel, a grin tugging at your lips when his sideways smile returns, his hand pressing to rest fully against your back as he leads you into the kitchen.

“More of an Aladdin man myself, but I have been known to hum along to ‘Kiss the Girl’ every once in a while,” he confesses with a chuckle before he turns away from you, his hand leaving your back as the dining table in the breakfast nook comes into view. Sarah’s sitting engulfed in her cereal and a picture book laid out in front of her, not looking up quite yet to acknowledge your presence or her dad’s.

“Now I have to hear that sometime. And maybe you can give me a full blown rendition of ‘A Whole New World’.” 

Your smile is innocent, words coated with saccharine and a hint of flirtation. It’s a line that you feel comfortable toeing right now, testing the waters to see what exactly Joel will give back — if anything.

As Joel opens his mouth to respond, Sarah’s ears perk up at the sound of your newly familiar voice. She drops her spoon into the bowl, some milk splashing out onto the placemat underneath the dish. Tiny legs scramble to stand on the seat of her wooden chair, curls bouncing as she wiggles in a full-body wave to greet you.

“You’re here! Daddy says you’re gonna hang out with me after I get home from camp. Are you gonna wait here for me all day? I’ve got lots of fun toys you can play with if you get bored. I can show you!”

Sarah beams excitedly as she bends down to pick up her cereal bowl, her dad reacting after it seems you both have the vision of spilled milk and a drenched little girl falling to the ground as she tries to maneuver herself down from standing on the chair.

“Bug, what do I always say? Butts in seats, not feets. If you put the bowl down, you can sit and get out much easier. Don’t need to be taking you to the hospital instead of camp today, right?”

Joel’s standing behind her chair now, holding the back as he waits for her to set the dish on the table and pulls the chair away from the surface after she’s fully seated again. His hand finds the top of her head once her feet are planted on the ground, flattening the kinky spirals under it.

Sarah rushes away from her dad, crossing the room to wrap her arms around your legs. Your hand finds the same spot as Joel’s had, fingers lacing into the soft curls to push them away from her face as you look down at her with a tender grin. You squat down to be closer to her eye level, sitting on your calves and locking your fingers together in front of you.

“Well, good morning to you too, Miss Sarah! I really wish I could stay all day and wait for you and play with all your cool toys, but my dad has some chores for me to do. However, I will be eagerly waiting for you at pickup today! And then we’ll come back here and hang out and play with all the toys until your dad gets home from work!”

A giddy smile adorns Sarah’s face, her tiny frame jumping up and down excitedly as she giggles. Joel strides over, the sound of his daughter’s excitement tugging at the corner of his mouth. His large arms scoop her up effortlessly, holding her at his hip as he reaches out a hand to help you up from your squat. You take it, rough callouses from the labor of building smooth against your softer palm. A jolt of energy shocks your nerves at the contact, goosebumps pebbling on your skin.

Joel drops your hand gently, wrapping it back around Sarah as he supports her weight. He looks between you and her, a smile still stretched sweetly across his expression.

“Alright, mija, we really gotta get goin’ if we are gonna get you there on time today. Can you please go get your sneakers on for me while I make sure everything is gonna be in order for later?” Joel’s eyebrows raise in questioning, Sarah’s confident nod easing them back down. He swings her out of his arms and sends her toward the front door, eyes snapping back to yours.

“Hopefully she’ll be a bit tired when you get her later, she can be…energetic in the mornings,” he laughs softly and you do the same, following him as he circles around the island to your left.

Laid out on the granite is the camp pamphlet, with the address and pickup times, and instructions detailed inside. Next to it is a list of emergency numbers, including the landline for the site office where he’s currently working as well as Tommy’s number and a phone number labeled with the name Tiffany, scrawled in parenthesis next to it “Sarah’s Mom”. The ten digits following it send a swirl of anxiety in your gut, your mind reeling to what she could be like. He’s never mentioned her mom being in the picture, and it was silly of you to assume that she wouldn’t be. Maybe they were together still, maybe she was out of town for some reason when they moved.

As if Joel is hearing your thoughts out loud, he clears his throat and nods toward the paper.

“She, uh, she’s only got every other weekend right now…I figured I should put her down, y’know, in case I don’t answer or Tommy doesn’t either. Just for emergencies though. Please.”

You nod once at his anxious but clear directions for the phone number, eyes turning up from the list of numbers to meet Joel’s with an affable, thin smile. Joel continues at your understanding, reaching into his front pocket and fishing out his cell phone. He passes it to you with a “New Contact” page open, clearing his throat briefly before fumbling out.

“I, um, I thought we should probably exchange numbers, so I can call you — or y’know, you can give me any updates or text me or call me — if you wanna — with any questions. And I thought I could let you know when I’m on my way home if you’d like.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Miller. Whatever you’re comfortable with, I’m all good. I’m the one takin’ care of your kiddo, so you just tell me what you want me to do.”

The device sits weighted in your hands, eyes leaving Joel’s to begin punching in your information. You hand the phone back to him, your number stored under your name with “Nanny” following it in parenthesis.

You slip your own out of the back pocket of your jeans, giving it to Joel to put his own phone number in. The small brick is dwarfed in his hand, some incredibly quiet grumbles slipping from his lips as he messes up a few letters or digits from his large fingers working the small buttons. Once he’s done, your phone comes back to you with the information saved under Joel (Sarah’s Dad).

As if you really wouldn’t know who he was based on his first name alone.

You deposit your device back into your pocket, looking back at Joel and raising your eyebrows in curiosity.

“Anything else I should know, sir? Allergies, things that Sarah isn’t allowed, should I make dinner for y’all?”

Joel’s eyes fall away and his broad shoulders tense at the word ‘sir’, and part of you wonders if he’s averse to the polite title or if it’s a reaction to you speaking it towards him. Your thighs burn at the latter thought in a new way, adjusting your stance to hide the uncomfortable pressure you feel in your gut as you study him nervously fumbling around with the materials on the counter.

“No allergies, and I, um, try not to give her any sweets as a snack. She’ll ask for ‘em, but don’t feel bad puttin’ your foot down. And you most certainly don’t have to cook dinner for us, sweetheart. I promise I can take care of that once I get home. Might need it some nights when I’m late, but those times, Sarah’ll be just peachy with some mac-‘n-cheese or chicken nuggets.”

“Yes, sir,” your voice has a hint of teasing in it, the phrase rolling off your tongue flippantly and your eyes studying Joel’s reaction. He turns towards you to see the cheeky grin on your face, tension relaxing from his shoulders as he gives you a look. One that says “be careful”, a playful warning of the waters you’re merely dipping your toes in.

“Y’know, you’re real polite, but I promise you can call me just Joel, sweetheart. No need for the niceties.”

You swear you see the flecks of amber in his eyes darken in a flash, hands gathering everything to get it on the fridge to find when needed and leading you out of the kitchen.

The rest of the plans are discussed as Joel adjusts the velcro straps on Sarah’s shoes in the entryway, his back facing you as he tells you about where to find the key that’s hidden on the porch. You’re half listening and slipping on your own shoes, the other half of your cerebrum busy analyzing the way his navy blue cotton t-shirt stretches across his shoulders and rib cage as he’s kneeling down and bending over. The stretch of the material makes the hem ride up ever so slightly to reveal a thin stripe of tanned skin above the waistband of his Levi’s. The jeans are tight at his hips and the position he’s folded into shows off a sliver of the elastic of his gray boxers.

The image of him tight, taut, and bent over is reeling in your mind and intensifying that pressure you felt a few minutes before, only this time it travels from your gut to between your legs. The knowledge of the feeling in such an intimate area makes your cheeks and neck warm with anxiety, praying to whoever’s out there that Joel can’t tell what you’re thinking about him.

Once Sarah’s shoes are fixed and the straps of her Blue’s Clues backpack are slipped onto her shoulders, Joel stands up again and claps his hands together.

“C’mon, Bug. We gotta get goin’, can’t be late. Vamos, mija!”

Sarah jumps excitedly and looks up at you, stepping over to hug your legs.

“See you later!”

You fluff her curls, a soft smile finds your lips at her excitement to see you again.

“I’ll pick you up, and we can have all the fun before your dad gets home,” you send her an exaggerated wink, your eyes locking with Joel’s as Sarah’s arms pull away and she jets out of the front door that Joel is holding opening. He gestures for you to go ahead of him with a nod of his head, a crooked, closed smile donning his face.

The seven-year-old has bolted to the truck in the driveway, and you turn back to say a quick goodbye to Joel. Without realizing how close he was to you, your shoulder bumps his firm chest and his hand grabs for your waist as you stumble back. His large palm radiates warmth from its spot on your side, brown eyes fixed on yours as his fingertips dig into the flesh under your shirt. From this close distance, you get a hint of mint from his toothpaste and that familiar scent of bergamot and cedarwood from his cologne. It’s an intoxicating mix, your exhale hitching in your throat and a quick inhale following it to gather as much of his scent as possible. It feels comfortable, safe even, with his hand on you and his breath intermingling with yours. His tongue pokes out briefly to wet his lips, his hand falling to his own side when you take a step back and attempt to steady your breathing.

“You alright there, darlin’?”

Darlin’, that’s a new one.

Thuds of your pulse fill your ears while your head moves in a nod to cover up the electric shock of adrenaline that Joel has sent through your body.

“All good, thanks, Joel. Sorry for bumping into ya, didn’t realize you were right there. I was just gonna say goodbye, or really, see you later.”

“I’ll see you later, sweetheart. Have a good day, and feel free to text or call if you have any questions,” his departing words are punctuated with a gentle smile, the crinkles next to his eyes growing deeper and a dimple appearing on his right cheek.

The sight makes your pulse grow louder in your ears, washing out other morning sounds of birds chirping and cars rumbling to life in everyone’s driveways. A short nod from you ends the conversation, and your feet step back and turn to walk down the two steps from the Miller’s porch to the front walkway. Joel follows behind, his work boots much louder against the wooden stairs. He calls out to you to grab your attention before you make it out of the driveway, passing off the extra car seat he grabbed from his garage before you arrived, explaining briefly how to install it in your backseat for Sarah; you take the plastic and felt safety device and head back home to wait out the hours of the day until you see him again.

Rounding his truck, Joel moves to get his daughter into the car and glances back at you at the same moment you do. Quickly, you turn right back around, your legs speeding up to carry you across your lawn to the open garage door of your house. Risking it, you turn back over your shoulder just once more to see Joel climbing into the driver’s seat and turning the ignition. He effortlessly reverses from his driveway, and as if he can see you in his rearview mirror, he throws a hand out his open window in a short wave to you before he lurches down the street.

Pickup went smoothly, Sarah found you outside in the carpool lane and ran up to get into your SUV. Once she was buckled in securely, you drove out from the park district buildings, the adorably high-pitched voice of the seven-year-old in your backseat rambling off all of the activities that encompassed the first day of camp.

You ask her questions, hearing all about the nature explorations they went on, the other kids in her group, her counselors, and more. The conversation carried over from the car, to snacktime, and even into the scenarios that Sarah had her Barbies act out.

Hours flew past, and before you knew it, your phone buzzed shortly on the wooden coffee table. Setting the blonde Barbie in your hand to sit down with the others that Sarah was playing with, you grab your device and read the message from Joel:

On my way home — hope you two have been having fun

The message is straight to the point for the most part, but the slightest idea of him thinking about you this afternoon nests its way into your mind and your heart, igniting a kindling from inside you. Sure, he was probably nervous about your first day on the job and how Sarah would be getting along with you, but that was still a thought about you.

You hadn’t stopped thinking about him. Small mannerisms of Sarah’s reminded you of the tiny observations you had made of Joel in your limited time together. A brow furrowed into a deep crease with playful annoyance when you had veered from the story that Sarah was telling with the Barbies, the small dimple in her right cheek when she giggled at something funny you said, the soft demeanor she kept when playing with her baby dolls — clearly mirroring the care her father showed her.

It was incredibly adorable. And also incredibly frustrating, as it meant that Joel had infiltrated your mind for the whole afternoon when you were hoping your time nannying would give you a reprieve from your little schoolgirl crush on your neighbor.

Clicking the buttons quickly, you shoot a text back to him before your attention is dedicated to Sarah again, who’s found her dress-up clothes in her closet from upstairs:

We’ve had a blast, at least I have :) See you soon!

You hit send before you can overthink the wording, your phone finding its place back on the living room table as you follow Sarah to the bathroom to look for her clips to do her “princess” hair.

As you place the last rainbow-colored clip in Sarah��s hair, the front door closes with a click. Boots tumble against the tile near the entrance, the sound pulling the little girl’s attention from the mirror, a smile beaming on her face as she runs to greet her dad.

“Hi, Daddy!”

A smile finds your own face as you follow out from the downstairs bathroom, watching as Joel grabs for his daughter, swinging her up into his arms to be held like a baby. His genuine grin tugs at your heart, the wholesome vignette playing out with a rose-colored tint in your eyes.

“Well hello there, Princess!” Joel sets her tiny frame down, bowing graciously in front of her before giving her a quizzical look, “Pardon me, Princess, but have you seen my daughter? She’s about yay high, pretty curls, killer smile. Responds to the name Bug, or Sarah.”

You can’t help but laugh quietly to yourself as you lean against the wall, arms crossed over your chest as you look on. The sound pulls Joel’s eyes to meet yours briefly, a smile flashing with a wink before his faux confusion returns to his daughter in front of him.

Sarah’s giggles fill the room, her light voice informing her father between bouts of laughter, “Daddy, it’s me! I found my princess costume and we did my hair all pretty.”

A gasp from Joel cuts through the giggles, mock realization washing over his expression.

“Oh my goodness, it is you! Well, don’t you look pretty as a peach, Bug!” He presses a kiss to her forehead standing to his full height as Sarah runs into the kitchen to grab her artwork from camp that she’s been waiting to show off.

Joel’s gaze meets yours again, a warm smile raising one side of his mouth as his eyes glint with something that looks like a mix of exhaustion from work and relief to be home.

“Hope there wasn’t too much trouble with pickup or here at the house,” he pats his pockets with a concentrated look on his face, finally feeling what he was searching for and fishing it out of his dirt and sawdust-covered jeans, “I, uh, got this made on my lunch break. Figured it’s easier for you to have your own so that the emergency one can stay there. Lord knows Tommy or I need it too often for it to go missin’.”

He strides over to close the gap between the two of you, keeping about a foot and a half of space. His hand holds out the object, your smaller one extending your palm out to receive it. A gold key drops into your hand, your initials Sharpied on in his handwriting, and a rush of exhilaration tingles off of the metal and down your spine.

Joel’s fingers brush your skin as he pulls away, your stare lifting from the key to meet his. A smile pulls at your lips, your tongue swiping across your bottom lip before you speak up for the first time since he’s gotten home.

“Should I be expecting any late-night calls? Y’know, when you forget where the emergency one is or if Tommy’s lost it?”

One of his hands lifts to rub at the back of his neck, a slight cringe on his face as he chuckles.

“I have to say, I wouldn’t put it past me. But do not feel obligated to come ‘n help me, I promise I’ll survive a night sleepin’ in the truck. Wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for waking you up, darlin’, just 'cause I was bein’ a dumbass.”

“And I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for letting you have a bad night’s sleep, sir. I’d come at any time.”

Joel’s throat clears when Sarah’s rushed footsteps pad back into the room, large craft paper paintings in each of her hands.

“Here, look Daddy! I painted these today — my group leader said they were beautiful.”

Before both paintings end up in his hands, he lays a hand on your shoulder, completely enveloping it in his warmth and giving you a light squeeze. His eyes shift to the collar of your shirt and look away quickly before he nods toward the front door.

“Go on and head out, sweetheart. Don’t wanna keep you from any plans ya got. I’ve got a dinner for a Princess to whip up and museum-quality paintings to analyze.” 

You're the one to break the eye contact he’s been holding, stepping away from his touch and feeling the chill of the air on your bare shoulder. Sneakers slip back on your feet, not bothering to do up the laces when you’re merely crossing your adjacent lawns to get home. Stopping short of the front door, you turn back to see Joel already staring, Sarah passionately explaining the painting that he is holding.

“Night, Sarah. Night, Joel. See you both tomorrow!”

“Have a good night, darlin’. Sleep well, see you tomorrow.”

His words wrap you in a cozy blanket, his drawl echoing in your mind as you send him one last smile before shutting the door and exhaling deeply.

It’s gonna be a long summer.

With his daughter asleep in her bed after an hour of reading chapters to her from the latest obsession, Matilda, Joel is relieved to finally have a moment to himself. He’d spent another hour of his evening in front of the TV, attempting to watch the rerun of the latest episode of The Sopranos, before he decided to call it a night and head to bed earlier than usual. It was only about ten o’clock, but Joel is usually one to stay up until at least midnight before he can shut his brain off from all of the stress he’s under day in and day out.

Taking care of Sarah, working long and laborious hours, and keeping his brother under his thumb so he doesn’t go off the deep end. And these days, he’s added the stress of behaving around you. His first glimpse of you the day he moved in made his heart rate pump faster, and when your mom suggested you as a nanny for Sarah, it excited him to be able to see you more and get to know you. He hadn’t thought about the close proximity he would constantly be in and the way you consumed his thoughts when he was away. And he definitely — no absolutely cannot act on the desires he feels towards you, especially as, well, your employer. It would be completely inappropriate. Your parents trusted him to give you a safe summer job, and he really doesn’t want to be driven out of his new home with torches and pitchforks if they found out what he thinks about you. What he wants to do to you.

It all gets to be too much, and tonight is a night that the exhaustion has caught up to him. He wants to relax — turn his brain off for a moment to be able to succumb to sleep, which is why he finds himself dragging his heavy limbs up the stairs to his bedroom.

He shuts the door behind him softly, pulling his t-shirt over his head as he crosses the room. Once the fabric is dropped off of his arms, he’s stood in front of his window, glancing out into the dim night with the glow of street lamps illuminating the sidewalks. Pulling his gaze back up and into his room, he does a double take at what he caught a flash of.

Your bedroom window.

He hadn’t noticed that he faced your room until this moment, probably from the late nights he’s accustomed to spending downstairs on the couch until the last possible second. You must always be asleep, or at least have your lights out when he climbs into bed.

Tonight, however, he can see in. He can see you.

And he feels like a fucking creep.

You're standing unknowingly exposed to him in your open window in your bra and panties, clearly getting changed to head to sleep. He sees the full view of the soft pink bra he’d spotted earlier today when a strap peeked out from the collar of your t-shirt. He felt like a perv staring at it then, imagining what the whole thing looked like against your skin, but this was a whole new level. 

His legs are cemented in place while his brain is screaming at him to look away, to go to bed, and forget all about your baby pink bra and white lace-trimmed panties. All the while, he can feel the crotch of his jeans tightening as he watches on with wide eyes and saliva flooding his mouth as he voyeurs.

Yeah, his brain isn’t gonna win this one over his dick.

Your back is to the window now, and to him, having turned around to face the inside walls of your room, and your hands reach around to unclasp your bra. You let it slip from your shoulders, catching it at the ends of your arms and turning to the side to set it on your bed.

Warm yellow lamplight backlights you, the silhouette on display for him showing off the curves of your breasts and hips, the soft lace of your panties shining in the low light. Joel feels the strain of his jeans to the point of discomfort, and despite him feeling like a complete debauchee, he justifies his decision of what he’s about to do by telling himself that it’s a much better alternative to him succumbing to his desires to have you — it’s better to observe from afar and relieve some tension than it is to make you uncomfortable and lose his childcare for the summer.

Hands grip the back of the desk chair near him, sliding it up to the window and angling it to have a good view while being able to stay hidden. He unbuttons and unzips his jeans, pulling them down to his ankles before sitting in the chair, palming himself as he watches you move around your space without a shirt on.

He reaches into his boxers, pulling his cock out and letting it sit against his stomach as he continues to watch you. Precum dribbles onto the dark curls of his happy trail, the ache in him too strong to ignore. He spits in his hand and starts to stroke himself, a soft groan falling from his lips as he watches you move closer to the window, the night light illuminating you in a blue hue as you lean over whatever surface is in front of your window.

He watches as your breasts move from the motion, his hand speeding up as another moan slips from his mouth. He’s desperate to close his eyes and imagine you under him or on top of him, but he cannot draw himself to look away, especially when he sees a bottle of lotion in your hands.

You pump some out and start to apply it to your body, starting with your arms. He studies your hands gliding over your skin, rubbing and buffing the moisturizer in. You move back towards your bed, lifting your legs to massage the lotion in one at a time. He wishes he were there, kneeling next to you to get a view of your clothed cunt in the innocent white lace of your underwear. An image of what you could look like flashes in his head — wet, spread, and ready for him. He envisions his hands where yours are and your hand where he is working his cock, breath catching in his throat as you reach your breasts and abdomen.

Envy crawls in his chest, a growl sounding from his mouth as observes you getting to touch yourself in ways he’s been imagining since he met you. All he wants is to feel your soft skin pressed all over him, to feel either your hand, your mouth, or your sweet pussy (it has to be sweet, there’s no way it couldn’t be based on that syrupy voice of yours and those candied endearments towards everyone) wrapped around his cock instead of his own fist.

Your hands slip under the waist of your panties to moisturize the skin underneath there, and the vision of you so close to touching your own cunt sends his fist in a wild pace up and down his length, his head rolling back with a deep but restrained groan.

When you come back into view, you’ve got a t-shirt in your grip and his hand continues feverishly as he whispers, no whimpers, to himself, pleading with you to leave yourself bare for a moment longer.

“No, no, no, c’mon, darlin’. Only take a second, pretty please, baby,” his breaths come out heavy, the humidity of it adding to the sweaty stickiness across his body, “Fuck — Quiero metertela, quiero dartelo. (I want to put it in, I want to give it to you.) Gonna make me come just from lookin’ at you, you don’t even know. Such a pretty girl.”

As if you heard his begging, you drop the shirt onto the bed and climb onto it on your knees, bending over and supporting yourself with one hand as you reach for something at your nightstand that’s out of sight for him. He doesn’t even care to know what you could be preoccupied with, thankful for whatever the distraction was for making you get on (almost) all fours for him. At least, he thinks of it as for him, despite you not knowing exactly what he’s doing across the way.

The guilty thoughts of his depravity fall to the wayside as he gets closer to the edge, his mind racing with the phantom feeling of fucking into you from behind in the exact position he can see you in. The only sounds in his room are his labor breathing and the glide of him fucking his own hand, slaps of his arm hitting against his thigh repeatedly.

As if on cue, you sit back on your knees to give him a full view of your form again as he comes, your name rolling off of his lips. Short ropes of white spend coat his fingers as he slows through his orgasm, whimpering while his eyes screwed shut tightly. When they open again, he watches you slip the t-shirt over your head and shut your lamp off, leaving Joel sitting in the dark with only the streetlights casting enough illumination for him to see the mess he’s made of himself while being a Peeping Tom.

It’s gonna be a long summer.

series taglist: @beskarandblasters @undrthelights @swiftispunk @joelsversion @clingontolife @elizabeth01585 @wandaandellie @asirenbyanyothername @ellenmunn @ja-ehyun @livinxdeadxgrl @sw33tp1xie @starsandsaints07 @marisemonteiroo @brunetteeras @whydontyoysaynodoja @beee-haw @shmaptainshmerica07 @jenna-mcgraw19 @whore-4-pedro @spursgirl14-blog @katifefe @joelmillerswifu @itsgiorgiaz @soph55 @grapejuicesny @wild-hearts-runfree @youcancallmeelle @lisa-ru @jupitren @ziggy-star @miaispunk @oneofutoo @starkovli @thatgeminigirlx @marchai @bunnyskisses @houseofballoonsth @casual-obsessions @pedro-pascal-lvr @bimbodolls-world @burningnerdchild @tuquoquebrute @mrsvedder12 @estelivi28 @helllsent @bongsrconfusing @addictedtotlou @brittmb115 @angie2274 @owod3 @pedrostories @pedroholicx @theelishad @johnwatsn @sunakochansama43 @elissaaa @felicityofbakerstreet @atinylittlepain cont'd in comments

[sugar-omi]

Alright all your Cove and Baxter anguish has me FUCKED UP and I need some adorable Cove fluff to recover. How about a little about Cove and M/C as newlyweds coming home after the honeymoon?

at first i didnt know what to write but then i start thinking n.... pls i love this sm i hope it heals your broken heart <3333

tags : Fluff, cove loves you sm, sharing money (cove shares his money/bank acc w you), he's just in love w you theres nothing else to say

synopsis : how cove acts after your come back from your honeymoon

he's bringing you flowers everyday

at first he brings you a couple bouquets but you've run out of places for them so he just brings you one and add them to your collection.

none of them are the same either

so you have sunflowers, lilies, roses, tulips, peonies, orchids, and many many flowers all in one vase

is it a little ugly? probably. definitely. the colors and sizes n shapes all clash but it's the thought that counts

if you don't like flowers, are allergic, or you get tired of him bring so many...

he brings you food <3

I think one of cove's love languages is food

he brings home sweets like cheese cake or marbled cake

or fudge, or chocolates

or if you aren't into sweets like that, then he'll bring lunch/dinner instead

he's a decent cook, and even if you're bad at cooking he wants you to help him

lots of kissing n half burnt food (he takes whatever portion is burnt so you don't have to eat it)

and he tries to always bring u lunch

if he can't bring you lunch for whatever reason, he either packs one for you or sends you money for lunch

COVE: hi bby, have you eaten yet YOU: im ordering food rn COVE: i sent u 50 is that enough YOU: ?!*!&!(!? YOU: that's too much 😭😭 cove pls YOU: ill send the rest back COVE: keep ot COVE: it* COVE: my money is your money

he does this all the time now, in fact he'll even had you his card

which he's always done before your marriage, but now ge even gets you a card connected to his bank account too

he doesn't even care if you share your money w him too, he just wants to give you everything he has

like if you asked for his shirt in the middle of the store I think he'd ask why n then just give it to you

as if he was gonna say no in the first place 🙄💀💀

he just becomes so much more obsessed w you after you're married

always cuddling or touching u

if you're around your mom's they're always cracking jokes....

especially if you want kids they're all "we're gonna be grandparents soon at this rate lol" (even if u want to adopt or dont wanna birth/can't have kids bc you're amab or infertile or smth)

they just think they're so hilarious 🙄🙄🙄

does he blush bright enough there's steam coming off him? maybe

does he stop? nope!!!

loves you so much, he just needs to be close to you

HAS A PICTURE OF U IN HIS WALLET

omg....

prbly has 2 actually

one is of the two of you bc sometimes he can't believe you're married n he just needs to make sure life is real

n one is of just you in your wedding attire

will talk abt you to anyone who asks or makes a comment

this mf would prbly get a shirt that says "y/n's husband" on the front

even tho it's in small print on the front it's embarrassing.... like pls we get it you're in LOVE

he'd get you both jewelry w your wedding date on it

will hold you up at the door if you try to leave without kissing him

you've always gave him a peck before leaving but now it's WORSE

once he even stopped you in the driveway before you pulled off...

man's ran out of the fucking house in socks and unicorn print sweatpants

you roll down the window "what? what's wrong?!" cove, leaning thru the window and pouting. "kiss."

you look at him in shock n disbelief before you just laugh and kiss him

he taxes you two extra kisses for the trouble, he got his socks wet from running out here!!!

you have to push him off otherwise you're gonna be late to work bc you were too busy making out in your driveway

your single/divorced neighbors hate you

the teens idolize what yall have n their standards got so fucking high after yall moved in

n the old ppl laugh bc they've been there when they married and/or they find it amazing how obsessed cove is w you

if it wasn't such a bad omen or if you didn't disapprove, he'd get your wedding date or your initials tatted on his ankle.

maybe it seems extreme all of this bc I think cove just realizes how amazing you are sometimes n all his love overflows in this way <3333

no matter how old you get he's always gonna run out in the rain, snow, or sunshine n get a kiss if you forget

pfx by the time he's 80 he can't move as fast but he's hustling down the path before you can escape

if you do get away before he can get a kiss though, he is pouting when you come back

[inaris-mage-of-storms]

}{ Part One }{ Part Two }{

"All right, boys, we're almost done!" Skizz locked the door behind the last customer. "Need any help in there, buddy?"

"All good here," called Jimmy from the kitchen, already scrubbing burnt cheese from a pan. "Won't take me long."

"That's my superstar," praised Skizz, grinning at the red ears and bright smile he caught a glimpse of before Jimmy ducked his head shyly. "Tango, you want paperwork today, maybe get off your feet for a minute after all those hours absolutely killing it?"

"Killing our customer rating, more like!" Jimmy glanced back over, the tightness of Tango's voice catching his attention. He was grinning, and the way his pitch rose wasn't unusual, but something about his demeanor felt...off.

"You handle the paperwork," continued Tango, glancing around the dining tables. "I'll take care of the absolute disaster zone in here. Just gonna step out for a minute first if that's okay."

Skizz sensed something off too, from the way he studied Tango's face before nodding and grabbing a clipboard. "You got it, Top. Anything I need to order, Jim?"

He scribbled down the items Jimmy called out to him while the register printed off its daily report, and Tango slipped out the back door.

"Is he okay?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"Aw, he's fine! Just needs a minute or two to decompress after that crazy day, that's all."

Skizz sounded cheerful enough, but Jimmy picked up on the no, but I don't want to worry you behind his words anyway, and frowned. He wanted to follow Tango, but there were still dishes to wash, a microwave to scrub, and counters to wipe down. Besides, Skizz had known Tango far longer than Jimmy had, and if he said Tango just needed a moment to himself, then Jimmy trusted his judgement.

He fell back into his post-shift rhythm, humming along to the radio. Tango would be fine. He might have been a little harder on himself than usual today, and their recent increase in customers would have stressed out the most experienced of waiters, but Tango was resilient! Jimmy loved how smart and supportive and sunshine-bright he -

It was muffled through the brick walls and closed door, but Jimmy and Skizz both heard the frustrated shout and clatter of trashcans against the pavement. Jimmy dropped the scrub brush into the dishwater, startled by the sudden noise that interrupted his thoughts.

"I've got him," he said immediately as Skizz poked his head out of the office with a concerned look. He untied his apron and tossed it onto a counter, not caring as it hit the edge and slid to the floor; he was already halfway to the door, anxious to comfort his rancher.

Two of their trashcans were turned over, contents spilled across the pavement and a new dent in the side of one of them that Jimmy suspected came from an angry kick. Tango was harder to spot, but Jimmy found him anyway, sitting against the wall with his knees drawn up and head buried in his arms.

He sat next to him, pressing their shoulders together but not saying anything. He could hear Tango forcing himself to breathe - in, out, in, out, shakily at first, slowing down bit by bit. Jimmy glanced at Tango's clenched fists and coaxed his arm away from his face. He massaged Tango's wrist with his fingertips, then the ball of his thumb, then his palm. Jimmy slowly worked his way up as Tango's fist relaxed, until he was able to lace their fingers together.

"Sorry."

Tango's mutter was so quiet that Jimmy felt more than heard it. "For what? Pretty sure you're not supposed to apologize for being amazing."

"Good thing I'm not amazing then! I'm the worst waiter. Every customer that left angry today - probably every one this week - was all my fault! I'm awful and we're going to get shut down any day and it's going to be because of me and all of your and Skizz's hard work will go to waste!"

With one hand captive, Tango's face was partially visible now, and his jaw was clenched so tightly Jimmy wondered if he was going to have a headache later. A hundred rebuttals swarmed in Jimmy's mind, but he suspected none of them would be believed.

"Okay, well, one, have you seen our profit margin lately? We could shut the doors for good tonight and it wouldn't be a waste," he said finally. "And two, what does that make me?"

A moment of silence, then Tango lifted his head to give Jimmy a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you're awful, then I must be the worst employee in the history of ever and then some. No, hear me out," he added as Tango opened his mouth to argue. "Look at how long you and Skizz have been doing this before I came along. Look at everything you've accomplished. You do so much for us. And you've got the hardest job handling customers! If I'm slow to get food out or Skizz falls behind on dishes, you get all the flak for it. Meanwhile I'm just the new guy who managed to set multiple microwaves on fire. Microwaves, Tango. If anyone's awful here, it's me."

"Don't do that." Tango's expression was pained. "Don't put yourself down trying to make me feel better."

"Then don't do it first," countered Jimmy. "Tell you what. I'll work on being kinder to myself if you promise to do the same. Because you are amazing, Tango, and I hate seeing someone I love be so hard on themselves. Especially when it's not deserved."

"...Okay. But you'd better keep up your end of the bargain. Because if anyone's amazing here, it's you." His despondent look slid into a smug smirk. "Someone you love, huh?"

Jimmy reddened and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Shut up. I love all of my friends."

"Yeah?" He could hear Tango's grin grow even wider. "You sit on the ground and hold hands with all your friends, too?" He squeezed Jimmy's hand lightly, but neither of them made any move to break apart.

"Unbelievable. I come out here to make sure you're all right and you start teasing me? Betrayal, utter betrayal," said Jimmy dramatically. "After all we've been through - "

The teasing was worth it, thought Jimmy with a smile. If it meant Tango never stopped laughing like that, it was all worth it.

[i-am-so-normal-about-radiostatic]

Some Radiostatic incorrect quotes

Vox: I was arrested for being too cool. Alastor: The charges were dropped due to a lack of supporting evidence.

Alastor: In light of what you did for me, you can hug me for four to five seconds. Vox: FORTY FIVE SECONDS?!? Alastor: No! Four to five seconds! Vox: Too late!!!

Vox: Is letting someone win at chess sapiosexual bottoming Alastor: Does anyone in this godforsaken group ever think before they speak

Vox: Do you have any skeletons in your closet? Alastor: You mean literally or figuratively? Vox: Honestly, the fact that I have to specify...

Vox: I’m gonna need a human skull and I can't have you ask any questions why. Alastor: Only if you also don't ask why Alastor: Pulls out 7 pristine human skulls Take your pick. Vox: Alastor: Vox: This one is fine

Vox: What is your biggest weakness? Alastor: I can be uncooperative. Vox: Okay, can you give me an example? Alastor: No.

Vox: So what do you do? Alastor: I work in genetic research, and I'm currently trying to eliminate all Cancers. Vox: Wow, impressive. Alastor: Then I'll move on to Leos.

Alastor: Vox... Vox: Oh no, 'Vox' in b-flat. Vox: You're disappointed.

Alastor: Oh just so you know, it's very muggy outside Vox: Vox: Alastor, I swear, if I step outside and all of our mugs are on the front lawn... Alastor: Sips coffee from bowl

Vox: Bad things keep happening to me, like I have bad luck or something. Alastor: Vox, you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass.

Vox: Please, I'm begging you go to a doctor. Alastor: I'm sorry is this OUR stab wound? Stay out of it.

Vox: A theif. Alastor: Thief? Vox: Theif. Alastor: I before E, except after C. Vox: Thceif. Alastor: No.

Vox: You're the love of my life and my best friend, I would do anything for you. Alastor: I want you to eat three meals a day and have a decent sleep schedule. Vox: Absolutely not.

(This is their relationship fr ^^^)

Alastor, watching the news: Someone tried to fight a squid at the aquarium today! Vox: walks in covered with ink, shark fin and tail out Well, maybe the squid was being a dick.

Vox, tending to Alastor's wounds: How would you rate your pain? Alastor: Zero stars. Would NOT recommend.

Vox: How many kids do you have? Alastor: Biologically, emotionally, or legally?

(He's the dad friend. He's adopted Charlie, Vaggie and Niffty so far)

Vox: Must be hard not being able to laugh Alastor: I do have a sense of humor you know Vox: I’ve never heard you laugh before Alastor: I’ve never heard you say anything funny

Alastor: So what’s for dinner? Vox, staring at the food he just burnt: Regret.

Vox: Alastor was banned from the chicken shack, so we had to go out of town to get some. Alastor: Well, they shouldn’t say “all you can eat” if they don’t mean it. Vox: Alastor, you ate the employee.

Vox: Three words. Say them and I'm yours. Alastor: Three words. Vox:

Vox: What’s the straightest thing you’ve ever done? Alastor: sighs Alastor: I killed a man.

Alastor: I’m never donating blood ever again. Alastor: The second you walk through the door, it’s just one invasive question after another! Alastor: ‘Where did you get it?’ 'Why is it in a bucket?’ I mean, do you want it or not?

Vox: Goodnight to the love of my life, Alastor, and fuck the rest of y'all.

Alastor: Our relationship is strictly professional. Vox, sitting on Alastor’s lap: Absolutely. Only on business.

Vox: I'm not a morning person. I'm barely even a person.

Vox: Did you ever have like a pet run away and find it or anything? Alastor: I had a lizard that I burnt.

Vox, dramatically: They called me a fool. Alastor, sick of Vox's shit: They weren’t wrong.

Alastor: Two brooooos! Vox: Chillin' in a hot tub! Alastor: Five feet apart 'cause we're not gay! Vox: Alastor: Vox: tearing up Alastor: Babe, c'mon… Vox: AND HERE YOU REALLY HAD ME THINKING WE HAD SOMETHING. Alastor: Babe…

Alastor: You look mentally ill. Vox: I am. Let’s go.

Alastor: Just a minute. I need to go take out the trash. Vox: Oh. We're going out? Alastor: Wh…

Vox: Cause you're pretty and you're smart, and you're ignoring me so you're obviously my type. Alastor, who was distracted: I'm sorry- what were you saying? Vox: Perfect.

Alastor: Do you want to explain the text you sent me last night? Vox: It was autocorrect. Alastor: Autocorrect wrote "You're so hot. Please step on me."? Vox: Yes.

Vox: I want to kiss you. Alastor, not paying attention: What? Vox: I said if you die, I wont miss you.

Vox: Are you an F5 key? Because that ass is refreshing. Alastor: Are you a software update? because not right now.

Vox: Come to dinner tonight. I can’t cook, but I’ll bring plenty of free wine. Alastor: Marry me.

Vox: You are the love of my life and I would do anything within reason to make you happy. Alastor: I would be happy if you ate, stayed hydrated and got a reasonable amount of sleep. Vox: I said within reason, Alastor. How about I murder that guy? Alastor: So murder is in reason but proper self care isn't? Vox: Well, duh. What kind of question is that?

Alastor: Are you trying to seduce me? Vox: Why, are you seducible?

Vox: Alastor is playing hard to get. Vox: Little do they know, I'm a master at playing hard to get rid of.

Alastor: Vox and I are no longer dating. Vox: Alastor, that’s a horrible way of telling people we’re married.

Alastor: Hey, about that love letter you sent me- Vox: blushes What are your thoughts? Alastor: The fourth sentence- Vox: Yeah, that’s where I got really emotional and I- Alastor: It’s “you’re” not “your”.

Vox: Two bros! Vox: Chillin' in a hot tub! Vox: Zero feet apart 'cause we're GAY AS FUCK!

Vox: We have a problem. Alastor: No, YOU have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps making them.

Vox: You have to apologize to them Alastor. Alastor: Fine! But I must warn you that this might make me a better, nicer person and that is NOT the person you fell in love with!

Vox: Do you want to know your gay name? Alastor: My… my gay name? Vox: Yeah, it's your first name- Alastor: Haha. Very funny Vox- Vox: gets down on one knee And my last name. Alastor: Oh- oh my god.

Vox: Stop doing that. Alastor: Stop doing what? Vox: Saying things that make me wanna kiss the hell out of you.

Vox: My hands are cold. Alastor: Here, let me hold them. Vox: My lips are cold too. Alastor: covers Vox's mouth with their hand

Vox: I think I'm falling for you. Alastor: Then get up.

Vox: I’m in love with you. Alastor: We called off the prank war last night at midnight, dork. Vox: I know. Alastor: Ah. Okay. Um. Cool. Neat. Very cool. Cool. Cool. Coolcoolcool-

Vox: You got a date yet Alastor? Alastor: No… Vox: Well you do now! Get your ass up and hold my hand!

Vox and Alastor are in Paris. Vox: I'm…moved. I…I don't know what it is I'm feeling right now. I feel…destiny? Alastor: But… Vox: I don't know what it is. I feel like… I just never thought I'd see it with my own two eyes. And here it is. It's just there. It's right in front of me, and… Alastor: This is what you wanted to see? The bridge from Inception? Vox: Yeah. Alastor: But the Eiffel Tower is behind us, babe. Vox: Yeah, but this is the bridge FROM INCEPTION. Alastor: Okay, alright.

Vox: The first time I saw you, you stole my heart. Alastor: But I'm a kleptomaniac, so that doesn't mean anything.

Vox, talking about Alastor: WHAT THE FUCK I WAS ARGUING WITH THEM AND I SAID “OOH YOU WANNA KISS ME SO BAD” AND GUESS WHAT? THEY DID. THEY KISSED ME. WHAT THE FUCK WHAT DO I DO.

Alastor: Is something burning? Vox, leaning seductively on the counter: Just my desire for you. Alastor: Vox, the toaster is literally on fire.

Alastor: Okay, but if you're not gay then why are you always holding my hand and kissing me and telling me I’m your boyfriend? Vox: Dude- Its satire! Alastor: THAT'S NOT WHAT SATIRE MEANS!

Vox: Alastor is playing hard to get. Vox: Little does he know, I'm a master at playing hard to get rid of.

Vox: We’re getting married, bitches! Alastor: And we're about to make it everybody else's problem.

[triplesilverstar]

Rating: G

Pairing: Vash X F!Reader

CW: Mentions of pregnancy

Word count: Roughly 1K

A/N: Well, have the first of my Dad!Vash blurbs/Drabbles for the holidays with his cute little boy Rei making some cookies. Just some nice fluff to start off the holidays right.

The sound of cheerfulness could be heard around the small kitchen as the pair laughed, Vash with his chuckles bouncing around the space, and the high-pitched squeals of Rei as he stood on his stool to be level with the counter. His smaller hands wrapped around the rolling pin handles, which were, in turn, engulfed in his father's grip as the duo worked on rolling out the dough in front of them. “Just a bit more pressure Rei, you don’t want your cookies to burn do you?”

“Burnt cookies are gross Papa. You can eat them.” The toddler retorted at him and Vash tried to keep the dough level. Well, more Vash trying to keep the dough from being too thin or thick, chuckling again at the matter-of-fact tone of his son.

“What if I don’t like burnt cookies either? Are you going to feed them to Mama?” Teasing as the pin made a few clicking noises as it spun across the sugary mass.

“No! To you Papa!” Another squeal from Rei and Vash just chuckled more, enjoying the feel of the smaller hands under his.

“Well, I guess we just can’t make them too thin to burn right?”

“Right.” It warmed his heart to hear his son speaking, just a few months ago his little sprout had still been making noises and gurgles. He’d come a long way in such a short time and Vash felt his heart swell whenever Rei spoke. A constant reminder of his new life, a life he never thought he’d have but you had changed all that. With the addition of Rei, Vash felt like every day was a new adventure even with the learning curve that came with being a new parent.

Stopping the motion of the pin and pulling his and Rei’s hand away Vash hummed as he looked at the pale confection spread before the two. “I think that’s as good as it’s gonna get without burnt cookies.” An eww following his words as Rei made a face of clear unhappiness at the thought of such a tragedy. “Wanna pick out the shapes we're gonna use?” He asked reaching up into the high spaces of the cabinet and pulling the little box that held the cookie cutters you had acquired that Vash simply no longer questioned. Sure it wasn’t a huge selection with just seven pieces but for the weekly cookies you baked for the three of you as treats, it more than served the intended purpose.

“All of them Papa” Rei declared as Vash jingled the box in front of the small blond.

Letting out a hum as if in thought. “If we use them all, we need to wash all of them Rei.” An attempt to get his little boy to change his mind since Vash knew there was enough dough for maybe a dozen cookies and Rei already showed disdain for dishes. Looking down as Rei’s little nose twitched on his face and his cheeks puffed up in a frown before he pointed out two of them.

“The star and moon Papa.” A wistful smile grew on Vash’s face at the selection, the memory of when you had come home and first made cookies while trying to find things to keep you occupied that weren’t intensive while pregnant with Rei. Something he found exhausting with how active you were around your little household and trying to keep you off your feet as he’d been ordered by the doctors on the ship. 

“Because you light up my night just as much as my day Sunshine.” A tooth-filled grin on your face as you sat at the kitchen table covered in flour making your hair white, one of his favorite memories of you. It tickled something inside of him that Rei tended to pick those two cutters wondering if maybe his little sprout was aware of the sentiment his parent placed on them.

“A great pick.” Plucking the two from the container before sliding it back into its place higher in the cabinet before letting Rei start to push them into the dough and make the outline of his cookies. 

Working together it doesn’t take long for Vash and Rei and get the raw cookies placed on the cookie sheet and roll the dough out a second time with a firm. “Not too thin Papa!” Rei chided his father until a little lump that didn’t fit any of the molds was left.

“That’s for Pookie Papa.” An authoritative statement from Rei with his hands on his hips and Vash had no intentions of arguing with the boy, if he wanted to give Vash’s Tomas a cookie so be it.

“Ok Rei, I bet she’ll be extra happy when you give it to her.” Tossing the cutters into the sink with the rest of their used tools that they would wash while the cookies baked. “Now back up buddy so I can get these in the oven.”

“Can I do it, Papa?” His blue eyes twinkled as he sent his father his best puppy dog look, one Vash often caved to. Yet as the tray tilted in his hands Vash sighed, watching those big eyes grow glassy trying to win him over. 

“Not this time. Once you get bigger.” Sending him a wink as both you and Vash had learned to not say when you’re older to Rei, since he responded the first time five minutes later with how he was older. The idea of the boy trying to load the cookie sheet in the hot oven was just too much of a risk for him at this point but with the way he was growing Vash wouldn’t be surprised if in another three or four months he’d be big enough to do so.

Hours later, with a little plate of cookies, Vash was sitting on the couch with a tuckered-out Rei curled into his side having a nap. One arm wrapped around the boy's shoulders as he snuggled up against Vash, a soft smile on his face as he watched the boy sleep. A feeling of contentment settled over him as he heard the front door open. 

 Stepping in from the outside and pausing to slip your boots off you could smell something sweet, your nose in the air sniffing as you made your way down the hallway and caught sight of the pair on the couch. “I see my boys managed to stay out of trouble today.”

“Barely” Vash laughed before holding up the plate with an eyebrow raised. “Want a sweet treat Mayfly?” Shaking your head at his playful tone well aware he didn’t actually mean one of the cookies as you swept closer to the pair with a growing grin making your cheeks hurt. 

“Always my love.” 

Enjoy!

[mondaychildsworld]

I know the end

Previous chapter / Next chapter

Part Six / ?

Rating: E

Word Count: 4.3k

Chapter summary: As you're captured, locked up and get severely hurt, Joel and Ellie is closing in on your tracks. There's thin line between life and death, but somehow the unimaginable happens and you can soon put this behind you. (happy end I promise)

Warnings: This is my worst chapter I've written. So if you don't vibe with any kind of violence, torture, blood and being treated very badly this is you que to skip this chapter. TW: violence, threats, getting burnt, blood, slight insinuation of SA (we're good tho), just straight up torture.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY for this chapter. I feel HORRIBLE for putting my character through this much pain. But she will be ok. It will be ok in the end. I would never end this story on a bad note. But this world is not a nice place to live in either, so it would be hard to write a dystopian story with just fluff and happiness because that's not realistic. But I promiiiiiise you some feelings and smut in the next one very soon to make it up to you. Like... in a couple of days 🤭

And here’s my tiny taglist: @boofy1998 @orcasoul

December 5th, 2023

It’s cold. And hard. Your fingertips trace the surface you’re laying on before you open your eyes. When there’s a big snort in the distance. The sound is not human. You open your eyes in panic. The first thing you see is the ceiling. You quickly sit up and look around. You’re in a stable. 

You stand and peek through the bars surrounding the top part of the stall. Opposite of you are kind eyes and the soft nose of a horse. You relax. 

“Hi there buddy.” you say and you try to open the stall door. Locked. “We’re both locked up in here I guess?”

The horse keeps staring at you, their new neighbor. On the door to his stall is a nameplate, someone had carved “Tucker” in the wood. After greeting your companion and having a look around your stall you try to kick the door open, to see if you can break the lock. 

You sigh when the lock doesn’t give up and start circling around the small room. You got captured, hit in the head and locked up. Great. Now you need to figure out how to get the hell out of here. 

The horse suddenly gives off a fussy neigh. He draws his ears back at the exact moment a door down the hallway bursts open. You curl up in the corner of the stall and hope that they’re not here for you. You hear footsteps approaching and stop right outside your stall.

“Well, well, well…” you hear the man’s voice say. “Look who’s awake.”

You hear a laugh. There must be two men. You nervously glance up and see two faces outside of the metallic bars. You recognize them from before.

“I told you I didn’t want to disturb you” you try, but you can see on their faces that they won’t accept your weak attempts of talking your way out of this. 

“I didn’t want to disturb you” the guy to the left, the one with a dark blue beanie mimics you. He clearly wants to make fun of you and the other one laughs. 

“Tell us why the fuck you’re out here sneaking up on us and where your group of people are.”

“I’m alone, I don’t have anyone.” you try. It is true. You were alone. But it still feels like you’re lying. 

“Yeah, no one’s gonna believe that.” the one to the right tells you. He was the one to slam the butt of the rifle in your head. He’s blonde and has a long beard. “You better give us better answers or you’ll soon regret not cooperating with us.”

“I’m telling you the truth, I got here alone.”

“Bullshit.”

“A pretty girl like you wouldn’t make it out there all by yourself.”

You frown and feel nauseous at the fact that he called you that, it certainly was not meant as a compliment.

“Alright, I’m gonna tell you…” you start, and you do gain their attention because they’re suddenly listening carefully to what you have to say. “To… go fuck yourselves.”

Their hopeful expression falters. The guy with the beanie kicks the wooden door of the stall. You’re kind of happy that you got them like that, but you’re scared at the same time. You try your best not to show it.

“If you wanna play with us, pretty girl, let’s play.” the bearded man says and they leave the stable. 

You still hear them talking outside for a while. There’s a crackling noise, footsteps, and a clunking noise of metal. You hug your legs even tighter to your chest. You can’t help but shake, from the cold or from fear, you can’t tell. 

When you hear the men walking down the hallway of the stable again it’s like you can sense that something's wrong. It’s something in the breeze of winter air flowing inside of the building, like it’s trying to warn you. A chill goes down your spine. 

There’s more men this time. The one from before, the guy with the blue beanie unlocks your stall and walks inside. He’s closely followed by two other men you don’t immediately recognise. They roughly tug you away from your safe corner and pin you to the ground. 

You try to fight yourself free but they’re three, and strong. Way stronger than you. 

“Pretty girl, are you cold?” the guy with the blonde beard appears by the stall door. 

“Fuck you!” you yell at him and squirm. You caught yourself thinking if this is what you think is about to happen you’d rather be dead but when you see the item in your hand, and you’re filled with an even bigger fear. 

When he takes a step into the stall you see the glowing iron in his hand. It’s an old forging tool, all bent and broken, but glowing hot. 

“You have a choice, tell me the truth about why you were sneaking around our farm or… you’ll get a little bit hot.” he smirks down at you. 

“I was j-just passing b-by.” you cry out. “I was just l-looking for a hiding s-spot for the night.” 

You’re hyperventilating by now. The tears are streaming down your face. 

“Hiding from what, sweet thing?” he asks again. 

You don’t know what to answer. You didn’t hide from anything specific. Maybe Joel and Ellie, maybe from raiders and infected, but maybe just as much from yourself. From whatever future you had. By the looks of it now, that future seemed incredibly short. 

“N-nothing.” you sob. 

”Not the right answer!” he yells at you and nods towards one of his men. He reached over you and tore your shirt open. The buttons rip off and you hear them fall to the ground.

“Let’s see how pretty you are after this” the blonde man says and leans down towards you, with the glowing iron in hand. 

You squeeze your eyes shut and brace yourself for what is about to come.

Afterwards, they had left you all alone on the ground with burn marks covering your upper body. You were still in shock. You did your best not to look, but cried while you tried to button up your shirt again. It was ruined. You were ruined. It was all about survival now. 

As soon as you gained some sort of normal awareness back you started planning your escape. By sunrise you were ready. You were hurting too much to sleep anyway.

There was a small window at the top of the wall, close to the ceiling. The metallic bars were too high to climb and squeeze over, but you could maybe fit through the window.

Your problem was to get yourself up there. But you had time to think and look around. There was a bridle on a hook on the door to the horse’s stall, and a broom standing close to yours. If you could reach the broom, you might be able to reach the bridle, throw it up to the old handle on the window, drag yourself up and push the window out. After that you’d get back inside, take Tucker and leave on horseback. 

You set your plan to work and you were determined to get out of this hell hole. The pain was almost unbearable, as you had to put your arm between the bars, shove yourself closer and lean all your weight onto your upper body to reach the broom. 

You gasped loudly as your fingers brushed the broomstick. The movement hurt too much. You had to pause and recollect yourself a couple of times before you successfully reached the broom.

“Yes!” you mumbled to yourself. 

A couple of minutes of trying to wind down and you were ready. You stuck the broom out from your stall, holding the brush part. Tucker jerked back when you reached the broom towards his stall. He nervously stamped around and let out a dull neigh. 

“Sssh sweet boy.” you hushed the horse. “Don’t you worry Tucker, I’m getting you out of here.”

You catched the bridle with the broomstick and sighed in relief. Tucker neighed once more, louder this time. You flinched and hushed him again. You don’t want to get caught, so you’d need to hurry. 

You threw the bridle up high towards the knob at the window frame. You had to throw it a few times before it stuck. 

You took the brindle and put your foot inside of the loop. After a deep breath you braced yourself and pushed yourself up. There was a shooting pain in your whole body from the strain of the movement. 

Just as you pushed the window open Tucker neighed once more and reared. 

“No, no, no, Tucker!” You try to calm him. 

Meanwhile you had your leg swung up and almost outside of the window, the door bursts open and you hear rushed steps. You hurriedly try to crawl out from the window.

“She’s escaping!” someone yells. 

A couple of seconds later, when you’re halfway through the window someone takes a forceful grip on your pants and shoves you back down on the floor. Your ankle is stuck in the bridle. You feel your foot twist and there’s a sudden pain in your ankle. As you hit the floor with your head first there's also a sharp pain in your jaw. It makes you dizzy. 

A painful gasp escapes from your mouth and when you look up, the stall is filled with men once again. You don’t really see who is who, it’s more like dark shadows towering over you. But when your eyes can focus you see one thing, the blonde beard that belongs to the man who burned you. 

“If you only cooperated from the beginning you could’ve had a nice life you know.”

He continues. You spit blood. 

“It’s too late now. If you were a good girl I might’ve decided to keep you.” he says and laughs in your face. “But now, no man alive would even want to touch you with a ten foot pole, not that you’ll leave this stable alive anyway.”

“Mmh…” You sigh, and try again. “Mmhf, f-fuck you.”

“You fucking whore.” He said furiously. That’s the last thing you hear until you feel the harsh pain of a kick in your stomach. Right at your burns. You can almost recall thinking, this is the end, as you once again drift off to unconsciousness. 

“She can’t have gotten too far on foot, right?” Ellie asks. Joel just hums in response. He hasn’t been feeling up to be chatty with Ellie since you left. There is just a dreary cloud hanging over him these last couple of days.

“Why did she leave, anyway?” Ellie asks again. He decides not to respond at all. “Or like, would you guess why?”

He sighs.

“I just hoped she would’ve said goodbye.” she says and looks out through the car window.

“Me too kid.” he mutters.

When he noticed that you had left he had packed up all the things in the truck and went out to look for you. Ellie had found traces in the snow, and they guessed you followed the road up north. So they stopped every few times to check abandoned buildings for any sign of you. 

They figured you didn’t stay too far off from the road, because they did find evidence of someone staying in sheds, caves in the forest or other buildings they found along the way. You had hidden the tracks after yourself pretty well. But Joel was experienced. He didn’t know much about your time before the QZ, but he had lived out there as a raider. So he did know a thing or two.

And you definitely had left a thing or two behind. You were good, he had to admit. But there were remains of a fire you didn’t have time to put out, for whatever reason. In one of the buildings he found an empty can of food you had brought with you. He knew, because the can wasn’t covered by dust and he was the one who found that specific brand the last time they stocked up. 

It was getting late, and it was time for their last stop for the day. He parked the car close to the road, but well hidden just in case anyone drove by. They hadn’t met even one person or infected for a long time, but he didn’t want to risk it.

“Cabin over there?” Ellie points it out through the trees and raises her eyebrows at him. He just nods and they start walking towards the little timber building.

Someone definitely had been there and left in a hurry. There’s signs of a fire someone tried to put out, very sloppily. As they quickly had to get up and leave. Beside the fire lies the insides of a small animal, rabbit, he guesses. 

He has a bad feeling about this, but enters the cabin anyway, You could be inside of there, hiding. He swings the door open, rifle ready to shoot anyone who isn’t you. But it’s quiet and still. The room is a big mess, practically trashed. He lowers the gun and sighs. Fuck. He hopes this trouble isn’t your trouble, in that case the hope of finding you okay just drastically declined. 

“Woah, look at this Joel!” Ellie exclaims from above. He confusedly looks around and finds her on the edge of a loft. He completely missed it. And he completely missed her climbing up there.

“Who told you to go up there?” he snaps at her.

“It’s her,” she just says and lifts her hand up. She holds a blue book. “She was here.”

She tosses the book down to Joel, and he catches it. Quickly he flips through the pages. It’s a notebook. A diary, dated from before the outbreak. Soon he reaches the last written page, dated to this year. He starts to read.

You had signed off with your name. This was proof. You had been in this very cabin, very recently. You can’t be too far away now.

December 6th, 2023

Maybe this is what it’s like to be dead. You always thought life after death would be like floating on a warm, soft cloud. Content. Calm. Together with your loved ones that you lost. With Julie. But this is cold, and hard. Your face feels wrong. Swollen. Misplaced. So maybe you weren’t dead just yet?

Your eyes flutter open and you see the ceiling. The same damn ceiling you saw last time. 

There’s a disappointed knot forming in your stomach. You were severely beaten and went unconscious once again. The concept of time is long lost. It’s hard, not having the energy or will to move your body. 

After some time of drifting in and out of consciousness, you can’t tell for how long, there’s a sound of light footsteps on the other side of the wall. Right outside, the snow crunches slowly. Is this real or a hallucination? Once again, you can’t tell. All you can do is lay in your own pool of blood and wait for the end. Every muscle in your body hurts.

When Tucker lets out a curious snort, you slightly open your eyes. If you convinced yourself you might be alive before, this definitely makes you consider the opposite. There’s a face peeking through the metal bars, a small face belonging to a girl. 

“Ellie?” you mumble and feel the world spinning.

“Oh my…” she looks outright shocked. 

“Are you in heaven?” you quietly ask her. Maybe, just maybe, some sort of higher power sent her here to guide you? So you soon could be reunited with Julie, floating on the softest clouds there could ever be. You don’t believe in god, you never did, but you don’t know how to explain what’s happening to you any other way. 

Ellie’s face disappears for a minute or two, but you can hear her. You just blink up at the ceiling trying the grasp what the fuck is happening right now. The door slides open and Ellie is quickly by your side. She drops the heavy padlock to the floor. 

“Stay with me.” she shakes you carefully. You open your eyes even more and try your best to look directly at her. “Let’s get out of here.”

She carefully pulls you up to your feet, quickly slides and arm around your waist and starts walking. You limp. As you leave the stall you glance back, and see a pool of blood on the floor and immediately feel nauseous. 

When the both of you are outside you’re blinded by the sharp light. The white snow burns in your eyes. A couple of steps later you find Joel in the hallway of the main building. The door is open and you see him holding a man down to the floor. There’s something wrong with your vision, it’s doubled and it’s hard to focus. There’s blotches of red in the snow, on the floor, on his hands. 

“Where is she!!!” he yells a few inches away from the man's face as he shakes the guy beneath him. He holds the man’s collar with an iron fist. The whole world spins around, you’re dizzy, but you know what you see. It’s him, it’s Joel. 

Ellie shouts after him but he doesn’t hear her immediately. He punches the man in the face a few times before he jerks his head up and locks eyes with you. He leaves the man on the floor and rushes up to you. He pulls you in tightly, but you don’t have the energy to respond to his embrace. Your entire body is limp. There’s no strength left.

“What the fuck did they do to you?” He mumbles as he breaks away for the embrace to look you over. Your shirt is ripped open in some places, burn marks peeking through the tears of fabric. Your face… however it did look like now -  probably just as horrible as it felt.

You try to speak, but your brain and your tongue aren't cooperating. You try to answer him, but all you get out of your mouth is an incoherent mumble. He looks back down with worried eyes, looking straight into yours. You try to hold his gaze but it’s impossible. 

It feels like someone dims the sun down, like the sun is an old light bulb that flickers out into darkness. You’re exhausted. There’s arms firmly grabbing you, holding you up. You blink a few times and feel that you’re being lifted up as you’re drifting off into the quiet darkness. 

December 8th, 2023

When you wake up you’re surprised you find yourself in a bed, and not on the cold floor of the stable. You’re covered with blankets, not by dirt in the pool of your own blood. You smack your mouth a couple of times. It’s still dry. 

“He-hello?” you manage so get out. The room is dark. You find a source of light, and try to focus your eyes. The light comes from a gap in the door. 

You slowly sit up a bit so you’re leaning back your weight on your elbows. You clear your throat.

“Hello?” you croak, a little bit louder this time. 

You hear footsteps right outside. The door creaks open and you see the silhouette of a girl. You blink a few times and fall back into the pillow. It’s Ellie.

“Hi, you’re awake?” she asks. 

“Mhm, could you…” you need to pause to cough. “Water, please.”

“Sure, of course.” she leaves the room and soon comes back with a bottle of water. She screws the cap open and helps you take a sip. 

Water has never tasted this good. Ellie sits down on the edge of the bed and helps you dry off the drop of water that escaped down your chin. 

”Sorry.” you mumble. ”What time is it?”

“I don’t know, late.” she just looks at you, like you’re fragile. 

“Where… where are we?” the last memory you have is a blurry mix of snow, blood covered knuckles and large arms carrying you away from the stable. “Where’s Joel?”

“He’s out, he keeps guard of the house. We’re safe but you know, he’s stubborn like that.” she nods and you roll your eyes. You know. 

“We’re at this house, I think this place is called Cora. I found it on the map.” she presses her lips together before she continues. “It’s late, you should sleep.”

You don’t know where Cora is, and you don’t get the chance to ask. She puts the bottle down on the little nightstand next to the bed. She leaves the room and shuts the door, but leaves a small gap. 

“I’m right outside, just tell me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

You can’t sleep. You lay there bright awake until the sun comes up. If you could, you’d heave your legs over the bed, put on your shoes and sneak right past Ellie and find Joel. But your body hurts too much, so you stay. 

It feels weird being safely tucked in on a real bed. Guarded by the people you left. You’re safe, out of harm’s reach. There’s a pang of guilt in your chest. You don’t deserve this. You really thought that stall in the stable would be the last thing you’d see. That you’d soon be reunited with Julie when you saw the pool of your own blood grow beneath you. You tear up a bit at the thought. This wasn’t how it was going to end. You have mixed feelings about it all. 

After a few sleepless hours on your own you hear mumbling on the other side of the door. After a minute or two, Ellie enters the room. She brought soup. 

“Oh wow, this is way too fancy for me.” you joke a bit and heave yourself up to a sitting position in the bed. You try to accept the tin can but Ellie insists on helping you eat. Classic chicken noodle soup. It tastes delicious. 

“This is all we have for today,” she says apologetically. “Sorry… you must be hungry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” you say and while you give her half a smile someone leans their shoulder against the doorframe, arms crossed. You look up and see Joel. You stiffen a bit and your eyes lock with his. 

“Hi” you say, voice raspy. 

“Hi” he sighs back, worriedly. 

There’s silence for a couple of seconds. There’s so much tension in the air that Ellie has to sense that something must be wrong if you two stay quiet for longer. So you’re the one to speak up, when he doesn’t. 

“I’m fine, I’m okay” you tell him, you don’t know who you’re trying to convince. Joel or yourself. He’s not convinced, the worried look stays on his face.

“Sure” he looks at you straight faced. He doesn’t believe a word you say. You see it in the way his brows furrow and that line between them becomes even more visible. So you opt for a different take.

“How did you know I was there?” you ask. Ellie is quick to answer, and explains that they traced your tracks in the snow and found some of your belongings scattered in the forest. They knew no animal or infected could be behind all that. 

“I told her to stay back but apparently someone doesn’t listen to orders.” He shoots Ellie an accusing glare. He’s not entirely happy with her. 

“Will you please remind me again, who found her?” Ellie argues back. “Who got her out? Without causing any trouble?”

She was right. She was the one who picked the lock and quietly got you out while Joel was outside creating chaos. But Joel doesn’t seem to be too impressed with Ellie’s rescue mission.

“Hey, what if you were hurt?” he’s visibly upset. “What would I tell Marlene then? Oh, yeah, ‘that girl you told me to drag over half the country got herself killed’?”

Ellie gives him a glare and a second later, storms out muttering something you can’t hear. 

“Not too far!” Joel yells after her. He gets an annoyed ‘I know’ back. 

So you’re back to silence. You sit in your bed, fiddling with the hem of the blanket, nervously biting the inside of your cheek. After a minute of Joel just standing there looking at you worriedly, he finally sits down on the bed next to your legs. 

“Did you kill them?” you ask after a while and nervously look up at him. He keeps his gaze down towards the floor. 

He doesn’t answer straight away. He hesitates for a couple of seconds before he clears his throat and finally speaks to you. 

“That’s not important.”

“Did you or did you not?”

“I did.” He's now facing you, instead of studying the flecks of dirt on his shoes. “I don’t know about them all, but I would be surprised if more than one or two got out of there in one piece.”

“I’m sorry if that bothers you.” he adds after a couple of seconds of silence. 

“It doesn’t.” you answer quickly. You think for a second and then add, “I’m glad.”

He just looks at you, a bit oddly and squints a bit. Like he doesn’t believe you. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” he just says calmly, back to his usual stone face expression and gets up from the bed and leaves the room.When he comes back he has brought some warm water and a cloth. He cleans your burns and dabs your swollen face with the damp cloth. The piece of fabric is stained red. You flinch at every touch. But you will be okay.

[stormxpadme]

for the wip ask game, i can’t pick. so just tell me something about one of them that you’re really proud of

WIP tag game

I can always rely on some people on my dash to cheer me up <3. All the X-Men stuff I'm currently working on is still in early stages and I tend to be more proud of works in their entirety, so I think I'd like to talk a bit about my She-Ra project, not least because once I'm done with Weathered II, I think I want to go back to that, and some people on my dash (looking at you @kintatsujo :D) have been interested in it occasionally.

Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with the Netflix Princesses of Power show since I hate it. Not gonna elaborate on that. I've dealt with anti hate for that fact before so anyone reads this and feels like pissing me off in my inbox: You're 4 years too late, move on.

Nah, what I'm doing with “Terra Exit” is basically translate the original She-Ra series into an adult setting and try to finish that series and Adora's story in that old Filmation verse. I'm starting with the events of “The Secret of the Sword” and write myself along the actual series episodes (not writing them but adding missing scenes and quickly brush over/mention what's happening in them), and after the last franchise episode, I move the series on to what the creators could never get around to do. Meaning, writing out the Rebellion's last stand against the Horde. That's a monster project where we're easily talking a million words once more, so depending on how burnt out I am by the point I get there, I'll have to see how to go from there. The vague idea is to get Adora home to Eternia then where she belongs finally, give her a bit of soft time before Horde Prime moves the war there and He-Man and her have to work together to defeat him once and for all. So that would be de definite ending of that huge project. I'll see in 10 years or so if I ever got there, I guess :D.

What motivates me for this is that She-Ra has been my childhood heroine, saving my life in years of bullying in school, that the series was my first anchor when I got on the internet and learned how to handle online life and got my first friends in oversee fandoms, and the wish to translate one of my favorite childhood series into a mature setting. For a child's series, this franchise has some surprisingly, chilling themes like child soldiers, separation, making the hard choice between family and duty, fighting fascism, defecting from the army, brainwashing etc. This whole franchise has great potential to be a gripping, gritty sci fi/fantasy stories for adults when translated into a mature style, so that's what I want to do (In a way, the more recent He-Man comics did this in some alternate universe already when they pulled She-Ra in, with Adora being a still brainwashed killing machine, so I'm not far off the mark or original here). I'm not pulling any punches here; this is going full drama and Explicit rated in terms of violence and a little bit of romance. And honestly, whenever I think about it, I am very excited and have to stifle back all that impatience to remember, one big project at a time. But I definitely never get tired talking about it :D.

That said, here's a little snippet (no rating) from the current series part where I stopped writing before diving back into Tolkien and X-Men. Takes place at the end of the canon episode "Bow's Farewell".

***

"Thank you." It wasn't until she remembered how to breathe again that she realized she'd slumped down on the floor, on her knees, Swift Wind's soft nose reassuringly nudging her back. "I'm okay. I'd better fly to Bright Moon Castle right away."

 "Everything's fine there. Just a few ruined walls, half-collapsed ceilings, and overturned furniture. No one has been seriously hurt. No casualties," Light Hope ridded her off her worst concern. "Stay for a moment. I can sense you're upset."

 She-Ra did, mostly because she remembered Light Hope's request to spend time here as often as possible, even if she didn't need anything. To spend time with him. That way, she didn't have to face the next interrogation right away, either. "I'll be fine. There hasn't been much time to rest recently. And even less to be with the ones I love. No wonder everyone thinks I need therapy when they hardly see me."

 "Don't be angry with your brother and friends for worrying about you, She-Ra." Of course, she didn't need to reveal the details of her anger to Light Hope first. It would have surprised her if he hadn't known exactly what this was about.

 At least that gave her a chance to ask him something she hadn't been able to get out of her mind since that conversation not exactly overheard by accident. "Is Adam right, Light Hope? Do I need to remember?"

 "I can't make that decision for you, She-Ra." Light Hope's form melted back into its usual shape, that massive column, as if he wanted to pull back from her a bit. "Your soul would be shaken to the core, that much is for sure."

 "So you know what happened back then," she found, wearily rubbing over her elbow where a slight twinge had started to throb, something she usually only felt when the weather changed. Something she had always blamed on some old muscle damage until now, from her constant training battles in the Fright Zone. Except that her medical records on Eternia knew better. Everyone seemed to know better than she did, which particularly bad encounter in her youth had left her with multiple broken bones, and apparently something even worse. Only nobody wanted to talk to her about it. And still She-Ra didn't know if that wasn't for the best.

 "I wish I didn't, believe me. But there aren't many secrets you can keep from me," Light Hope explained with a distinctly sad tone. "Very little of this planet's past or present is hidden from me in general. That is my curse, as yours is the brokenness of your heart. The future, however, I can only predict extremely vaguely. All I know is that Hordak wants to hurt Adora very badly, and that you must take care of yourself."

 She-Ra nodded briefly. "To know that, I don't need to remember something that my subconsciousness has obviously decided I'm better off without. I'll wait and see. For now."

 "If you change your mind, I'm here for you." Light Hope said goodbye with the usual respectful flicker in his silhouette before retreating back into his pool.

- Terra Exit: SHOW THE WIND HOW TO FLY (#5)

[poisonouspastels]

'keep it to yourself' *immediately refuses to keep their own dogshit crybaby bullying to themselves* absolutely insane. anyway i think your work is gorgeous and the multitude of mediums you have such skill in is very inspiring. you're just cool in general!! hope u and ur gf have a swag night

FOR REAL. How can anyone legitimately say to someone with a straight face that they are not allowed to voice opinions about anything ever. They must be VERY fun at parties.

Also thank you for the compliments <3 I take a lot of pride in my work, and getting back into 3D stuff again has been a lot of fun. Hopefully I feel less burnt out on 2D stuff soon so I can do more of it again too! Honestly I have no idea when Riley is even gonna be awake at this rate LOL I think her alarm goes off in like an hour or so? She has a lot of morning classes this semester + on top of the fact that we're an hour timezone apart it makes things hard to dictate sometimes. I really need to ask her for a copy of her schedules again bc I keep forgetting. I am proud of her for sticking through with college as far as she has though, on top of all the self-discovery she's done lately. I know I could never, so the fact that she's been so resilient is something I admire a lot. She's certainly enjoying her classes much more than she did the first year, which I'm very thankful I don't have to see her so miserable over anymore. After this summer break, only two more years till she's done!

Also u are very cool too anon, stay ice cold <3

[countrymusiclover]

8 - Grady Parenting

Part 9

Hybrid Trainer

I can't wait for Dominion to come out so I'm posting a chapter for this now. 💖

A few weeks after island fall

"Ahh. No, get off me Hoskins!" I thrashed in the bedsheets punching the air until someone grabs my wrists where I try to knee the person but they pin my arms above my head calling out to me. "Y/n, it's me. It's Owen!" Owen's voice sounds horse as he hovered above me in the bed. My heart rate slows down as he stares down at me deeply. He slowly rolled back over onto his back holding himself by laying on his left elbow, closely watching me. Forcing myself to sit up I bend my head down into the blankets, running my hands through my messy hair. This isn't the first time and probably won't be the last time he'll have to wake me up in the middle of the night.

"I need some air..." Tossing the covers aside I pull on my jacket pulling some boots on exiting the van. He made plans to build a cabin but we haven't gotten very far just yet. Slowly sitting down on the step I run my fingers through my hair trying to not get to upset. Because there have been incidents where I turned into my raptor form, nearly clawing Owen in his sleep. Foosteps approached where I felt his arm drape over my shoulder laying my head on his shoulder. "That a girl...You're alright." Lifting my head slightly up to his I sniffed snuggling into his embrace. He rests his chin ontop of my forehead wrapping his other arm around me. "What if I can't control my turning anymore, Owen?" He pulls his head back staring down at me with those green eyes. "You're a badass, baby. As long as we're together. You can do anything."

Jewel is finally down for a nap when I plopped down on the porch swing seeing Maisie running up to me filled with excitement. Owen and I had signed the papers to call her our daughter legally. She sits down beside me bouncing her legs meaning she wants to talk about my dinosaur form. "What is it this time, Mais?" I asked turning to face her. She tucks her hair behind her ear wondering. "Can you really communicate with Blue?" Tapping my chin in thought I wasn't really sure if it was a simple answer. I had only done it the one time at the Lockwood mansion. "I suppose so. It's not an exact answer. All I know is I can understand Owen when I'm in that form too." She nodded playing with Delta's old claw necklace that I gave her when we first got home. A truck engine can be heard in the distance where we see Owen's truck pulling up and stopping. The driver door opened for him to holler closing the door. "Claire's cooking dinner, girls!" Claire closed the back door carrying bags and I nudged Maisie to go help her which she gladly does.

He strolled up to me resting his hands on my hips when I throw my arms around his neck smiling. "I thought you were a chivalrous man hmm. Why is she cooking dinner?" He throws his head back chuckling remembering that he told her that once. "Because the last time I tried to cook I nearly sat the cabin on fire." I snorted out a laugh picturing her angry face at the burnt meatloaf. We started walking back to the cabin porch until I nudged his arm. "Or how about the time we got drunk one night and left a huge mess of beer bottles and a fussy Jewel for her the next morning." He chuckled throwing his arm over my shoulder pulling me into his hip. "I thought she was gonna throw a frying pan at our heads." Once we're inside he tugs me down the small hallway and into our room shutting the door. He leans down kissing me softly tugging at the hem of my shirt but I mumbled between kisses. "Owen...we should go help..." He shakes his head no shrugging his jacket off with a smirk. "I think Claire would prefer I stay away from the stove. Besides it's been awhile since I held you in my arms like this."

Tilting my head to him I glared grabbing the front of his shirt kissing him slowly. He immediately kissed me back having me jump wrapping my legs around his waist until we fell backwards onto the bed. "It's too difficult to ignore you, Grady." He smiled playing with my hair lazily then pressing his lips to mine again. "Well I'm a lucky man to have a raptor fiancée." He pulls my shirt over my head giving me the chance to crash my lips to his. He rolled us over so he was laying on his back never breaking the kiss. My fingers knotted themselves in his hair tugging it but we suddenly break apart hearing Claire hollering from the kitchen. "Y/n, Owen, Jewel turned again and is tearing apart the steaks. Somebody help!" I started to get up feeling him grab my wrist holding me. "Owen we have to go get her." I warned feeling bad for our friend. But he smirked again tugging me backwards onto the bed, trapping me in between his arms. "She begged to be her aunt. What's she gonna do when we have our honeymoon..." I hit his chest pouting up at him where he rolled his eyes getting up until I ran pulling him backwards. He gasped getting cut off guard by me feeling me quickly kiss him whispering under my breath. "We can skip to the end of date night later." He smiled kissing me longer then running to catch our crazy child.

Not exactly sure where I was going with this part. But here it is. Should the reader have more scenes with Claire or Maisie?

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[dangerousstrawberryshark]

Love in a Hopeless World

A/N: Hello, my 🍓Little Strawberries🍓! I’m back with another fic for you! This was one of the options given to me.

Pairing: Chris Redfield x Male reader

Requested: @evansphnx12

Rating: Mature

Warnings: NSFW, smut, bottom male reader, sir kink, degradation, creampie, size kink, Choking kink, breeding kink, masturbation, and all characters are above the age of 18+

Word Count: 2355

Summary: Its turns out there weren't that many supplies in the old abandoned campus. So, you and Chris have to go deeper into the city to find more but during the little scavenge, Chris began to dirty thoughts...

I hope you enjoy it! Sorry if it’s bad! And sorry for any errors that are found!

If you like what I write, how about check out my masterlist?

Keys:

M/n: Male name.

«••••••••••••••»

[1]

[2] YOU ARE HERE

DISCLAIMER!: I never played or watched any gameplay of the resident evil series. And this doesn’t follow any of the resident evil timelines, it’s on its own.

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MINORS DNI. FEMALE READERS… I’LL ALLOW YOU TO READ MY FICS BUT DO NOT FETISHIZE ANY OF MY STORIES

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Previously...

Then y'all had another round of hot steamy sex. And the others at the base had a hard time sleeping that night.

«••••••••••••••»

Your eyes twitch at the unpleasant light hitting it directly. 'It's morning already?' you moved around only to feel wet sheets. 'What happened last night?'

Then you felt a body move and a muscular arm grab you, pulling you closer. You could feel the warmth, and muscular chest pushed against your back.

'Oh! That's right!' now you remembered why you were all sticky and sleeping against Chris. 'I had sex with my superior! But he felt the same.'

Then you felt Chris move around and waking up. "Hey, baby boy," Chris said with a raspy and deep voice. "Morning." you pressed your lips against his.

"If you continue, we may have to repeat what we did last night, baby," Chris growled as pulled back, gripping your waist. You smirked before getting up.

"Come one, we have to get ready. We have important business," you said. "Ugh, can't we just sleep in and have some... Fun?" Chris complained.

"I know you haven't had sex in 5 years but we need to go get those people. We'll have fun at the end of the day," you said stressing your muscles and popping your back.

The bed creaked meaning he finally got off his ass to get ready. "We need to go get those survivors. And scavenge for more supplies," you said putting your armor on and fixing it up.

After you both got your gear and weapons, you both walked into the main area with all the others.

Everybody looked at you both and immediately looked at way. There was awkwardness in the room. 'They must have heard me last night!' Hell! maybe the whole city heard it is quiet

"Uh,- sir... We have a situation." one of the soldiers said. "shot." Chris said. "Well... it turns out there weren't that many supplies found on the campus. We need more supplies if weren't gonna go get those survivors." the soldier said

You heard listening but your mind began to wonder. You still couldn't let go of the past, you remembered one of your siblings was accepted into MIT. This was 3 months after the Raccoon City Incident.

You would see on the news- Raccoon City survivors being discriminated against by the American people. "Hey, what do I keep saying?" Chris said next to you. His conversation was done.

"Stop thinking about the past, it's long gone," you replied, mimicking his voice. Chris laughed, "Okay, baby. But we need to go get those people."

You nodded but kind of chuckled at the fact that he didn't want to do anything today but now wants to do business.

"Come on, M/n! We have to get going. EVERYONE, protect the base at all cost." Chris commanded. "YES SIR!" they all said at the same time.

You, Chris, and a few others left the confines of the base. Even though it was morning, the sky still had a grey color to it. You open the door to the back seat and closed it.

"We should be there in 20 minutes or less." the driver said starting the engine up. "Alright, let's go." the armored car pulled out before driving down the messy road.

It wasn't long before you reached the waterfront. You could see the skyline perfectly, most buildings were on the verge of collapsing. Others were burnt to where the wall showed the skeleton.

Up ahead, you saw a bridge leading into Cambridge was destroyed. 'Longfellow Bridge.' You have been to Boston before and got to explore everything before the world went hell.

The ride continued for a while. There was nothing or anyone in sight. You could see the freeway ahead but like all other ways leading into Cambridge was destroyed.

"We're closing in on Bunker Hill. They said they are taking refuge by the monument." one of them said.

And wouldn't you know it? In the distance, you could see the tall granite obelisk peaking out. It kind of looked like the one down in D.C. but this one is still standing.

What you meant by "This one is still standing" is because the capital was hit by a nuclear warhead, along with other cities across the US.

The President and other government officials were evacuated and the countries important documents were evacuated as well. So, the legacy of the US would still live.

That means the President is still alive and is in some remote area devoid of zombie life.

"I see some people! They appear to be walking around." one of the soldiers said. And the people seem to notice us because they were waving at us.

"Stop the car," Chris said, the car stopped. He and others got out. Two of the survivors looked familiar? Like you have seen them before. They both were tall and had beards.

They walked up to y'all. "Please, are you here to rescue us?" one of them pleaded. "Yes, we're here to take you to our temporary base," Chris said.

They all smiled and some hugged each other. Chris ordered the soldiers to help some things and you approached the two survivors. "Why do you two look familiar?"

One of them laughed and smiled. "Well...- are you fan of Captain America and Thor?"

Your jaw dropped and your eyes widen. "No. Way. You're Chris Evans and Hemsworth!" you were lost at speech. "I thought y'all was dead! I- how-"

"Well, we survived! I'm not too sure about the others though..." Chris H said with that thick Australian accent. You both were just talking, unknown to Chris R was glaring holes into your head.

After y'all returned to MIT Dorms, you still talked with Chris E and H. You didn't even acknowledge Chris R's glares.

He was getting more and more jealous. 'I hate those two!' Chris yelled in his mind. They were taking your attention from him.

"We have to go M/n! We need to find supplies." Chris yelled at you. 'What's wrong with him?' you thought to yourself. "Bye guys!" You waved at the two Chris.

"He was fun to talk to." Chris H said and Chris E agreed.

«••••••••••••••»

TIMESKIP (To Supermarket)

«••••••••••••••»

You and Chris arrived at the market. There were some abandoned cars in the parking lot. "Come on." You both walked to the doors and opened them.

The place was absolutely trashed. Lights flickering, aisles tipped over, some cans on the floor - also money, which was useless-, and the roof caved in on the left side.

"Look for non-perishables. Canned food would be good and find any water- if there is any that is." you nodded your head before going down one of the aisles.

There were some canned foods but no water. The smell of a rotting corpse filled the air, you could hear flies buzzing. "Ugh." you covered your nose and looked at the rotting corpse. "Poor bastard..."

Meanwhile, Chris was looking for the same stuff, but he was still bitter about you talking to those guys. And completely ignoring him. He could already imagine your punishment.

He could imagine you begging for more, feeling the tightness of your ass wrapped around his cock. 'Shit.' Chris was getting hard. His cock was feeling restricted by the tight pants.

"Hurry up, M/n!" Chris yelled from the other side of the store. "Okay!" you finished gathering anything you could find. 'Why are we leaving early? We have few more places to loot/raid.'

You left the aisles and made your way to the front doors. "Come on, we have to go." you both we made went to the vehicle and drove back to base.

You had found some supplies. 15 canned foods, and some water as well. It wasn't much, but it's something.

«••••••••••••••»

TIMESKIP (Arrival at the base.)

«••••••••••••••»

You and Chris arrived at MIT. You were gonna go talk with Chris E and H, but Chris R wasn't having it.

"Hey-" Chris grabbed your hand and began to rush to the room. Everyone knew what was gonna happen. 'Ah, shit- there gonna go at it again.'

At the room, Chris pinned you against the wall and latched his lips onto yours. The kiss rough, his much larger body pushed against yours shows the difference in size.

His tongue pushed against your teeth telling you to open them. You slowly pushed your mouth, Chris immediately pushed his tongue and invaded your mouth.

"Mmm-" you moaned into the kiss as Chris began to grip your ass. "Up." He growled into your ear. You wrapped your legs around his waist and continued to make out.

He lifted you and carried you to the bed. He slammed you onto your back before pulling away and attacking your neck. "A-ah!" Chris found your sweet spot.

"You belong to me, M/n! I claimed you that night we had sex last night!" Chris growled. "Strip." he quickly removed his clothes, leaving him in his boxers.

You could see the outline thick meaty cock. "You got hard from just kissing me?" you laughed. "You don't talk me like that! You're the slut here." Chris growled as he gripped and slapped your thighs.

You whimpered under the touch. "Look at you, whimpering under me. And your pathetic cock got hard from me hitting you. But let's see what this ass has to say." Chris said as he put your legs on his shoulders

You then felt his thick slicked fingers at your entrance. One finger slips in, your muscles immediately clenched at the invader. "M-mm." you gripped the sheets as his finger pushed deeper.

Then a second finger went in. You clench even more as it did a scissor motion. "Aagh!" you felt his fingers touch the bundle of pleasure. "You're ready."

Chris pulled his fingers out to see your hole doing a grabbing motion. 'Fuck... that's hot.' Chris threw his head back while jerking his cock. "Can't wait to pound this slutty boipussy."

You felt his fat tip push past your tight ring. "Mmm... C-Chris!-"

Smack

"YOU DON'T CALL ME THAT! You didn't learn from last time? You. Call. Me. Sir. You got that?" Chris growled/yelled. "Y-yes, Sir... It's just that... You're so big..." You whimpered.

Then with one Thrust, Chris pushed his entire cock inside. "See? You're taking all 12 inches of me! Fuck, so tight..." Chris groaned. His cock was touching your prostate.

His thick meaty cock filled your insides perfectly. Like you were made for each other. "Y-you're... splitting m-me... in two!" you moaned as you felt it throb and twitch.

"P-please... fuck me... make me your slut." you begged. Chris smirked before snapping his hips.

He began pounding into you. His big cum-filled balls smacked against your ass as he thrusts harder. "S-sir! Y-you feel... s-so good!" You moaned as you threw your head back and gripped the sheets tighter.

"You think those guys can fuck you like I do?! Only I can give you this pleasure, only me!" Chris growled as he thrust harder, hitting your prostate repeatedly.

You used the last of your strength to get up and wrapped your arms around Chris's neck. You clawed his back as he thrust more, you were sure those were gonna leave marks.

"Maybe those guys can give me more pleasure," you smirked at your fake statement. You heard a deep growl as Chris dropped you on the bed and flipped you onto your stomach.

"You fucking slut! Only I can give you this much pleasure! Those guys don't deserve you. Bet their cocks aren't as big as mines." Chris growled as he gripped your hips.

Sounds of skin-slapping and balls slapping against your ass filled the room and the others in the building had to hear it. The walls weren't soundproof.

Your cock was twitching, ready to release a load. "You're about to cum without me touching you! Well, I'm -FUCK- about to cum too." Chris groaned as you tighten around him.

"P-please... give me... y-your load!" You moaned as you arched your back to give Chris more access. "Want me to fill this slutty ass with my cum? Gonna... cum... soon!"

After 5 more thrusts, Chris reached his breaking point, and so did you.

"FUCK! I'M CUMMING! CUM WITH ME!" Chris groaned, he wrapped his hand around cock stroking it before you released it all over his hand. That was enough for him.

"FUCK!" you felt his cock twitch before pumping his hot load inside, filling you up to the brim.

*Breathing intensifies*

Chris collapses onto the bed right next to you with his cock still inside. You felt him pull out with his cum leaking out. "I'll never leave you for those two. My heart only beats for you," you said sincerely turning over to face him.

"I'll never leave you too. We'll be together until our time runs out." Chris said pulling you into a kiss filled with passion and love.

'There is still Love in a Hopeless World.'

THE END.

«••••••••••••••»

A/N: Finally this is done! I hoped you enjoy this, by 🍓Little Strawberries🍓!

[arahxdjarin]

A Vacation Sounds Nice

The Rebel and The Mandalorian, Chapter 7

Rating: Mature (minors DNI, I've had to block 3 minor accounts in the past week, please respect my boundaries.)

Pairing: Din Djarin x fem!reader

Word Count: 6.8k

Tags: angst, violence, basically my rewrite of Mando s2e5

Notes: I'm gonna be slowing down posting updates, we're almost caught up to what I have written and I'll try to be writing as much as possible but no promises on when I'll be able to actually get chapters out, I'd realistically like to have the series done by the end of January though! So that's kind of my goal! Anyways, here's chapter seven, again no smut but I promise chapter 8 makes up for it :)) ily all and enjoy!!!

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The journey to Corvus is spent in complete silence. You keep the child close to your side and every moment together your connection through the force grows stronger. He’s able to communicate more complex emotions and thoughts with you, but most of them present as pictures or memories. You try your best to communicate your own feelings to him by showing him parts of your past, and memories of your Master.

You want to help him form a positive connection with his powers but all his emotions around them are scared and resentful. Mando pilots the ship the rest of the way and you have a suspicion he may not trust you with the Crest after your Dantooine stunt. You and the child are staring into each other’s eyes, deep in a conversation of memories when Mando’s voice snaps you both to reality. You look up to see him with his amban rifle across his back and the messenger bag in his hand.

“We’re here. I noticed a town as I was putting the Crest down. We should check it out, see if anyone has seen this Jedi.”  You nod your head, and stand up, grabbing the messenger bag from him. His hand lingers on top of yours for a moment and your heart clenches when he finally drops it to his side. You wear the bag across your body and set the child inside of it. You pull on a cloak to hide both the kid and the lightsabers that hang from the belt. You keep the blaster sitting snugly in the holster against your thigh. You pull out a small knife from your bag. It's from that thug on Canto Bight. You had kept it as a trophy. You look over it once, and adjust it firmly in your boot before standing up right. You notice Mando’s helmet looking over your body, he scans you more than once. Heat flushes your neck once his helmet finally settles on your face.

“I like that you keep a lot of weapons on you.” More flames lick up your body at his unexpected compliment.

“Uh, thank you. You can never be too prepared.” Mando gives a small nod and turns to exit the Crest, and you follow closely behind him.

The walk to the city is short, and you notice the burnt trees and large blaster marks that mark the plants and ground. Your eyes scan the large wall, a few guards sit perched on the top of it, weapons trained on Mando and you. You push the cloak tighter around your waist, ensuring your lightsabers are hidden from view. Mando turns his head to look at you but your eyes are looking at a charred tree that’s obviously been cut in half. You raise the hood of the cloak and try to hide your face from view. Mando stops in front of the large gate built into the wall and reaches an arm out, grabbing onto your side. He pushes you and the kid further behind him, trying to protect both of you from the view of the men on the wall. The child coos curiously from your side, and you place your hand on his head trying to keep him silent.

“State your business,” a man covered in armor demands from the top of the wall.

“We’re tracking. We're hoping to stay over.” Mando shifts his weight, his arm never removing itself from your side and you can feel the warmth of his fingers even through all the layers.

“Nice armor, so you’re a hunter then?” The man's face turns to stare at you and you hold his gaze, refusing to be the first to break eye contact.

“That’s right.” Mando’s voice is short, he seems irritated. The man asks a few more questions but you aren’t paying attention; you feel a shift in the force. The child moves against you, and a pang of pain and suffering pricks the back of your neck like a needle. The gate drops and you’re forced from your mind, walking forward to move with Mando into the town. Your hand twitches over the material of the cloak where your lightsabers are still hidden. The town is desolate and the faces of the people who pass you are scared, they refuse to meet your eyes. Mando stops to talk to a few villagers but they all move away quickly.

“You there-- I need information.” Mando turns to another villager who is talking to two smaller children. The man turns and looks at you for a second before moving to speak to Mando.

“Please don’t talk to them or to any of us.” The villager and the children run away quickly, and a deep gravelly voice comes from behind the both of you.

“The Magistrate wants to see you.” Mando and you turn to walk with the guards and they lead you into the middle of town where another wall and gate stands, blocking the view to a palace that hides behind them. Multiple people are caged along the walkway to the gate, trapped inside electroshock devices. A prisoner moves too close to the metal and you watch him get shocked into an upright position again. Another pang of suffering hits you as you lock eyes with the man in the cage, his face gaunt and his eyes seem vacant.

“Help us!” Another shock rings through his body, he whimpers and groans from the pain. You turn your eyes away in horror, the feeling of suffering refusing to pass. You stare directly at Mando, whose visor is also looking at the prisoners. The door into the palace opens and allows the two of you to walk into a serene water garden.

“Come forward.” The Magistrate speaks, her eyes gazing down at the water, and both of you begin to walk towards her.

“Just the Mandalorian. You are a Mandalorian, correct?” Her hand raises, you still and take a step back, pressing your back firmly against the stone wall. Your breath catches in your throat as you watch Mando continue to walk forward. Your hand twitches over your blaster and your eyes roam the palace courtyard, looking for threats. There are guards on the wall, watching Mando step forward, their blasters raised to take him out if they need to. Your jaw clenches, and even though you just got here, you know that you fucking hate this place. This Magistrate is obviously abusing these people, and you have to dig your fingertips into your palms to stop yourself from launching forward and cutting off her head.

“Yes.” Mando says as he stops half way between you and the Magistrate, he positions his body to shield you from her. The small motion isn’t lost on you and your chest tightens thinking about how he’ll go through such great lengths to keep you safe, even after your betrayal.

“I have a proposition for you.” Her voice echoes through the courtyard and you bite your tongue to keep from causing a scene. You try to focus on Mando to prevent your anger from taking over, watching him speak as his body language seems so calm and relaxed, the complete opposite of how you feel right now. You know that in past conversations he has stressed that keeping a calm demeanor is important, especially in a place like this and Mando somehow does such a good job of it, his tone never falters. Yet you’re tensed against the wall, forcing yourself to stay still to not make matters worse.

“My price is high.” Mando shifts his weight and your eyes pick up the way his hand slightly twitches over his blaster. The Magistrate finally turns her head to look at Mando. She has a smug look on her face as she continues their conversation.

“This target is priceless. A Jedi plagues me. I want you to kill her.” Your entire body stiffens at her words, your minute reaction somehow catches her eye as you watch them drift from Mando to you and you lower your head, hoping she doesn’t see your expression. The Jedi here is obviously trying to help free these people, and you decide at that moment when you find the Jedi you’re going to ask to help. These people deserve better than this.

“That’s a difficult task.” Mando keeps the conversation going and you applaud him for it, considering you would have already ripped the Magistrate to shreds, so you tune out the rest of the conversation instead to keep your sanity. Another deep feeling of suffering washes over you and your knees almost buckle under you. You can feel the pain and hardships of the people in those torture devices, their anguish causing such a visceral reaction that blood rushes to your ears, a loud, distant ringing sound piercing through your skull drowning out everything else. The child whimpers at your side and you know he can feel the pain of these villagers as well. You take a deep breath and try to get your mind to focus on the conversation again, anything to pull you out of this constant wave of pain and torture. A droid hands the Magistrate a spear, but your ears are still ringing, and you can’t make out any of the words they’re saying. You take another deep breath, sucking down as much air as your lungs can hold, you press your fingertips into your palm and focus on the slight pain, your pain, not others. Their words finally come through your ears, the ringing fading away into an unpleasant but tolerable sound. Mando holds the spear and hits it against his forearm armor. Another ring fills your ears but this time it's the sound of metal hitting metal.

“Pure beskar, like your armor. Kill the Jedi and it's yours.” The Magistrate’s irritating voice fills the air again, and Mando walks toward the Magistrate to hand her back the spear.

“Where do we find this Jedi?” The Magistrate looks to you again before smiling. She waves her hand and the guards come to move you out of the palace.

The man from on top of the wall walks you both through town, and out the gate. Mando’s close by your side, and you can feel his arm hovering behind you protectively. His eyes continue to watch the guards as you walk out of the gates and venture deeper into the sharp wooded area. Once you’re in the safety of the foliage, you drop the hood of your cloak.

“We have to help those townspeople! The fear and suffering they are enduring is mind-boggling.” Your voice wavers as you speak, you can still feel the torturous pain searing your brain. Mando turns his head over his shoulder to look at you as he continues to walk.

“Let’s find the Jedi first.” His tone is soft and he reaches an arm back, motioning for you to place your hand in his. He squeezes your hand reassuringly before dropping it. You move the cloak to place your hands on your lightsabers. The three of you move through the dense woods quickly but time passes strangely on this planet, the thick foggy air hugs your skin and suffocates you. Your head whips around as a disturbance of energy courses through you.

“Well, these are the coordinates. Keep your eyes open, we must be close.” You move a short distance up a small hill and scan the scenery around you. Another pulse of energy hits you, causing your knees to buckle very slightly. You grip your lightsabers and keep them in your hands. A crackling of twigs echoes through the trees and both of your heads snap to the direction it came from.

“You hear that? I’ll take a look to see what it is.” Mando turns to look at you before grabbing a scope and taking a closer look. He sighs through the modulator

“False alarm.” As Mando speaks a flash of light drops from a tree and the familiar sounds of lightsabers igniting causes you to move quickly from your spot. White lasers hit Mando’s vambrace and you ignite your own lightsabers, sprinting to him. You sneak your way underneath his arms and hold up your sabers, placing them against the assailants. The glow of her sabers illuminates her face and she uses your surprised reaction to push down. The force of it causes you to stumble back a few feet before catching your footing. She moves away from you to strike Mando again but before she can, he releases a familiar metal rope that wraps around her. She flips over a tree causing Mando to fly off the ground, but he quickly hits a button and the rope disconnects from his armor. Her lightsabers pierce through the metal easily and she makes a move to attack Mando again, but you lurch in front of him and hold your lightsabers in a defensive position.

“Ahsoka Tano! Bo-Katan sent me! We need to talk!” Mando yells behind you, his breathing ragged. Ahsoka holds eye contact with you and after a few minutes she extinguishes her sabers, putting them at her waist. You do the same and stand tall, your eyes never looking away from hers.

“I’m guessing it's about this Jedi and the youngling you brought.” She moves closer to you. The cloak having fallen away from your shoulders at some point, fully exposing the small green child at your side.

***

Mando paces a short distance away from where Ahsoka, the child and you sit. It’s been a few hours and none of you have spoken a word. Mando could tell how nervous you were when Ahsoka had picked up the small child from the bag at your side hours earlier, but he had no choice but to continue to wait for whatever Jedi conversation you all were having without him to be over.

He wants to help in some way, to do something, but he is utterly useless. His hands wring together in front of him as he waits for you to say something. He looks up again for the hundredth time, all of your faces are illuminated by the glow of a lantern, yours and Ahsoka’s attention is on the child while he’s staring intently at Ahsoka’s face. You have a worried look on your face, that much he can tell, your teeth are definitely chewing on your bottom lip and your eyes are silently moving from the child to Ahsoka. This has been going on for hours and Mando lets out a frustrated sigh, ready to walk up there and demand some answers. As he turns to walk up the small hill, Ahsoka stands from the position she’s been in for hours. He watches as she grabs the child and walks towards Mando. You move behind her and come to stand by his side, and he moves his arm out to grab you before quickly dropping it. He always feels calmer when he’s holding onto you but he isn’t sure if it’s appropriate in front of the Jedi.

“Is he speaking? Do you understand him?” Mando’s voice comes out with more concern than he wanted to show. Ahsoka smiles and moves her eyes between the child and you.

“In a way, yes. The way Grogu presents his thoughts to me is different, but we can hear each other.” All the questions, all the concern in Mando’s mind came to a halt. Grogu? She just called him Grogu?  He turns his face to look at you and he catches you smiling happily at the small child.

“Grogu?” Mando says the name slowly, the child cooing in response as he turns to look at him. You nod your head, tears forming in your eye as you meet Mando’s gaze. You have a smile on your face but Mando flexes his hand at his side. He wants to reach up and wipe the tears from your cheek, but he restrains himself.

“That’s his name,” Ahsoka says as she smiles at the small child.

“Grogu.” Mando repeats the name and watches as the child turns his head again, his ears twitching as he trains his attention on Mando’s helmet.

“Grogu showed us his past; he’s been showing me snippets and short memories for a few weeks now but I finally have a timeline of his life.” Your eyes never move off the child as you speak. Mando’s eyebrows pinch together, a small frown spreads across his face under the helmet as he processes your words. You’ve been communicating with the child for weeks? Mando can’t help the pang of hurt and anger that radiates through his chest but he pushes them again quickly, realizing that he doesn’t have the right to be upset at you.

“Yes, he was raised at the Temple on Coruscant. Many masters taught him over the years, and he was hidden at the end of the Clone Wars by someone who took him from the Temple.” Ahsoka turns to look at you and Mando watches your smile crumple, you pull your lip into your mouth again.

“His memories after that are dark; he seemed lost and alone.” Your words bring another jolt of emotion through Mando, wishing that he could have been there to protect you both.

He knows it wasn’t logical or possible for him to protect both of you from the torture you’ve faced in your past but you’re his, the kid and you- you’re all he has. He swears to protect both of you from harm from here on out. As long as he’s with you, both of you will always be safe.

Mando moves to kneel next to Grogu and his small hand wraps around one of his gloved fingers. Mando hangs onto every word that you and Ahsoka speak. He finally has a story and name for the child he’s been protecting.

“Can he still wield the force?” Ahsoka directs her question to you and you give a slight nod of your head.

“To wield the force it takes a great deal of discipline, and training.” Her eyes never move from your face, and you look to the ground to shield your eyes from Ahsoka’s harsh stare. Mando can tell there’s something the both of you are keeping from him.

“My task was to bring him to a Jedi.” As Mando says the words, Ahsoka looks away from you, her jaw tightens and her eyes move back to Mando’s helmet.

“The Jedi order fell long ago.” Mando is getting angry, he can tell there’s something more that needs to be said. He clenches his own jaw and stands, he tries to keep his anger from seeping into his words.

“So did the Empire, but it still hunts him, and it still captured her.” His finger points to you but your eyes are staring on a tree in the distance. Mando knows you’ve mentally checked out of the conversation to keep yourself from panicking but he can still hear your heavy breathing from where he stands.

“I can not train him.” Ahsoka drops her eyes from his helmet, and stares at her hands in front of her. Mando’s anger bubbles higher, and he can feel himself losing control of his patience. His entire journey has brought him here, to a Jedi- well, another Jedi. Another one telling him that they won’t train the child, Mando’s jaw tightens to the point of pain. His eyes move from your shielded face, to Ahsoka doing the same thing. Both of you refuse to meet his gaze.

“What is going on? There is something you aren’t telling me.” Mando’s voice is louder than he wants it to be, the anger very obvious in his tone. He takes another step closer to Ahsoka and she stands defensively. You finally move from your spot and put a hand on his pauldron, his helmet turning to look into your eyes. He sees how scared you are, but there’s something else there as well that he can’t place.

“I can not train him, because his attachments to both of you are too strong. He’s already picked a Master. He wouldn’t listen to me... he needs you to train him.” Ahsoka’s eyes meet yours. You tighten your jaw and your fingers move from Mando’s pauldron to his forearm. Your touch helps calm him a bit, his tense muscles relaxing under it.

“I- what does that mean?” Mando’s anger melts into confusion, his head whipping between your face and Ahsoka’s a few times.

“It means. he’s chosen who he’s willing to learn the force from, and he’s too fearful to learn from anyone else. He’ll only learn from her.” Ahsoka’s head nods in your direction as she crosses her arms in front of her.

“Our connection through the force has only strengthened. He knows we’ve gone through similar hardships, and I knew that his mind was made up back on Danootine but I can’t train him, Ahsoka, you’ve seen his anger... you’ve seen my anger. It isn’t safe.” Your head shakes and you pick up the sleeping child. Mando watches your body relax once he’s in your arms.

“We can continue this in the morning. He needs a restful sleep.” Your tone is final and you walk away from Mando and Ahsoka. His eyes stay on you as you walk a bit away and find a large stump. You sit down and lean against it, holding Grogu’s sleeping body close to your chest. Mando turns his attention back to Ahsoka.

“Do you think she can train him?” Ahsoka moves a bit, and shifts on her feet before answering.

“I’ve seen what anger like theirs can do to a fully trained Jedi, but she’s different. Darkness clouds her, but her path remains clear. Her future isn’t clouded, but I’m not sure if she will allow herself to train him; only time can tell.” Ahsoka walks away from Mando and leaves him to reflect on everything that has happened today. He walks across the forest floor to be next to you and the kid, he sits down close enough that your shoulder brushes against his own. He turns his helmet to focus on you.

“Grogu wants you as his Master... he sees something in you that you don’t see in yourself, and Ahsoka sees it too. I don’t understand any of this Jedi stuff, but it must be pretty incredible if your dead Master says something.” Mando sighs and wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer to his side. You crumple against him. He feels your body shake as you let out a few sobs, his arm tightening around you to try to comfort you even though he has absolutely no idea how to.

“I won't be the reason he falls from the light... I’d never forgive myself.” Your face is filled with pain and another emotion Mando can’t place.

“Get some rest. We can talk more in the morning.” Mando mumbles the words as he rubs small circles into your arm.

He isn’t sure if you actually fell asleep but your eyes did close, and they remain closed until daylight starts to peek through the sharp and pointed trees. You stir beside him and the child also sits awake in your lap. You place Grogu into his lap and stand up to stretch. Ahsoka approaches from afar.

“I must get back to the village.” Ahsoka stands before you, her cloak back on her shoulders.

“The one with the prisoners?” Your back straightens, your tone is icy. Ahsoka nods as her head cocks to the side in a questioning manner.

“Yes, the Magistrate there has information.” Mando stands and holds the kid to his side.

“She sent me to kill you.” Mando interjects into the conversation, and you turn and shoot Mando a look as Ahsoka’s eyes narrow.

“How can we help? Those villagers don’t deserve to suffer any longer.” You place the messenger bag across your body and adjust the cloak on your shoulders.

“If you and Mando could deal with the guards, I'd be able to get to her.” Ahsoka turns to assess Mando, he gives a curt nod and slings his rifle across his back. He hands you the child and places his hand on the side of your neck, your eyes close for a moment and he feels your muscles relax under him slightly.

“Well, let’s get moving.” You open your eyes and move away from him as you say the words.

***

The walk to the town is filled with talk about the plan but your thoughts roam to last night. You think about your conversation with Ahsoka: you know the child will only seek guidance from you, and you know about all the horrific things he’s gone through, which only makes it easier for you to say no to being his Master. You’ve closed yourself off from the force, and you can not take on a padawan learner. It’d be unsafe.

“Even with both of your laser swords combined it wouldn’t be enough for all that firepower.” Mando’s absurd statement brings you out of your thoughts. Ahsoka shoots you a small look, a smirk pulls at her lips. You sigh and roll your eyes. Mando has never met a Jedi before and he isn’t aware of the power one holds, let alone two.

“True, but don’t underestimate the Magistrate either.” Ahsoka turns her eyes back to Mando. You tune out again and move your hand to the small child at your waist. Your hand moves over his head to soothe him.

“A Mandalorian and a Jedi... they’ll never see it coming.” You think Mando is trying to lighten the atmosphere when he speaks and you laugh because you aren’t used to him being the one trying to break the tension; he’s usually the one causing it. You push past him to survey the land in front of you.

“I’ll free the prisoners. You two deal with the guards.” As you say the words, your eyes move between Mando and Ahsoka. You shift the child on your hip and grab your sabers, preparing yourself for a fight. Both of them give a small nod of acknowledgement.

You watch as Ahsoka moves silently through the fog and jumps onto the wall. Her sabers ignite and the glow of them cuts through the fog. Mando takes this as his cue to move into position. You break away from him and take your position at the east wall, but he grabs your wrist before you walk too far away.

“Be careful,” he says as he squeezes your hand before dropping it and moving towards the gate. You move silently through the fog and use the force to propel you up the wall. You land with a soft thud on your foot and knee. You place a hand on Grogu’s head to make sure he’s okay, and he lets out an excited noise from all your movement. Your eyes scan the town from your crouched position, and you see that a lot of guards have filled the town and all of their weapons are pointed at Ahsoka. Your eyes scan the area for Mando’s helmet, but you find it easily and see he’s already looking at you. He’s on top of a roof. You turn your eyes and watch as Ahsoka drops Mando’s pauldron to the ground. Your hands tighten on your sabers and watch blaster fire rain down on Ahsoka, but her sabers deflect every hit. She pulls the guards away from prisoners and you jump from your spot on the wall, igniting your sabers and running straight to the guards who are too focused on the prisoners to notice you in enough time.

Mando drops from his spot on the roof and fires at one guard as your saber meets the chest of another. You slash through the gun of one and kick him back, piercing your saber through his abdomen. Mando shoots one behind you. You look around and notice the villager from yesterday, his eyes looking at both of you. You release another prisoner from their hold while Mando and the villager help the others. You catch one of the men as he falls from the cage. He whispers a small thanks to you before collapsing to his knees. You get all of the prisoners out of the cages and Mando commands them and the villager to get inside, and the villager helps herd them into the safety of a building. The armored man from the wall, the one who ushered you and Mando out of the town and gave you Ahsoka’s coordinates, runs into the town square to face you and Mando. He raises a blaster and points it at the Mandalorian.

“Not only are you helping a Jedi, but you’re traveling with another.” His tone is humorous but your hands tighten around your sabers and your head turns to see Ahsoka jump over the palace wall.

“Looks that way.” Mando’s monotone voice fills the silence. You position your body to place your side that Grogu sits on further away from the man who holds a blaster in front of you, trying to protect him. Mando flexes his hand like he wants to push you behind him but you’re too far to his left. You stare down at the man, and plant your feet firmly in the ground. The man moves his blaster to point at you, and you reignite your sabers, holding them in front of your body. Mando moves slightly but his blaster is still holstered. The faint sounds of a lightsaber hitting metal come from behind you. The man moves again, his blaster going back to point at Mando.

“Who do you think is going to win? Could be your side, could be my side.” The man says the words as he takes a step closer. Mando’s hand twitches over his holster and you move your body into an attack position. Mando’s hand moves a quarter of an inch and you know he’s telling you to stay still.

“I got no quarrel with you, Mandalorian.” Mando’s head snaps to the man as he takes another step forward after speaking.

“That’s far enough.” Mando’s voice doesn’t falter but his hand twitches over the holster again. Your jaw tightens as the faint sounds behind you grow louder.

“We’re a lot alike; willing to lay our lives down for the right cause.” The man continues to draw on, a loud noise comes from behind the palace walls the sound of lightsabers dim. “Sounds like you win,” the man says as he moves to lay his blaster down. You swivel the lightsabers in your hands, spinning them, the tips of them scorch the ground. You know the man will never lay down his weapon- it’s just a ploy, but Mando knows that too. It comes down to a game of cat and mouse now, and whoever has the quickest draw- your money is on the Mandalorian standing to your right. The man's head moves the slightest bit in your direction and he lays the large blaster down against the ground. You smirk as he un-holsters a smaller blaster at his side and turns to aim at you. You raise your sabers to deflect, but you were right, Mando has the quicker draw and he shoots the man before he even has a chance to fire. The man falls to the ground unceremoniously.

Mando turns his attention to you and you smile at him, before turning your head to the roof, where your smile falters. You run past him and leap onto the roof, willing the force to power your movements. You flip through the air, cross your sabers and swing your arms. You land on your feet on top of the roof, a HK-87 droid falling to two pieces behind you. You spin around and look down at the droid, sparks flying from the large slash marks in its metal. You look up to find Mando but meet the eyes of the villager who helped earlier. You jump from the roof and extinguish your sabers, moving closer to the villager and Mando.

“‘No Droids,’ I know.” You pat his armor and smile at your own joke as the villager speaks up.

“T-thank you.” You smile at the villager and reach out to introduce yourself and Mando.

You, Mando, and Ahsoka leave the village some hours later and you work your way through the trees back to where the Crest is. Ahsoka passes the beskar spear to Mando.

“This belongs to a Mandalorian.” Mando wraps his hands around the spear. Ahsoka’s eyes turn to you once you reach the Crest. She smiles but it feels like she’s staring straight through your soul.

“I remember your Master, she was a wise Jedi Master. She trained you well. You’ve faced many hardships and trials in your life, and many have brought you close to darkness but you’ve never allowed yourself to be consumed by it. I believe only you can train this child. He will learn wisely from your past. You can shape him into a strong, brave Jedi. And I think Grogu can help you heal from some of your own past, too.” She says the last sentence with a wink, and she pauses for a second to sigh before she continues to speak. “But if you must seek the help of someone else, take him to the planet of Tython, and place him upon the seeing stone of the ruins of an ancient Jedi Temple. There he'll be able to reach out.” Ahsoka places a hand on your shoulder. You tilt your chin out to hold her gaze.

“There is much light in you.” Ahsoka adds in the last sentence, and a warm emotion blossoms in your chest as she squeezes your shoulder befores dropping her hand back to her side.

“Thank you Ahsoka, for the guidance. I’m grateful to know a force user like you.” She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Your hand moves to the now sleeping child at your side and you laugh quietly to yourself, only he can fall asleep during a fight like this.

“You mean everything to him, you all take care of each other. May the force be with you.” You know Ahsoka isn’t talking about the child as her eyes glance to the Mandalorian at your side while she says her goodbyes. You smile and wave to her before all three of you board the ship, the ramp closing quickly and cutting off your view of the Jedi. Mando works his way to the cockpit, but you stand and stare at the ramp for some time before dropping your cloak and ascending the ladder with Grogu. You place him in the pram and stare into his eyes before sighing.

“I’ll do it.” You say the words as you drop into the co-pilot’s chair. Mando shifts his seat, and turns his head to look at you.

“I’ll try to train Grogu, but when I fail, we’ll take him to Tython to find a better teacher.” Your hand smooths over Grogu’s head. His emotions hit you like a brick wall, happiness and excitement washing over you, and you can’t help the smallest giggle that leaves your lips. Your head turns back to Mando, and his head slowly nods in acknowledgement.

“You won't fail... you said when. You won’t,” he states matter-of-factly before turning around and pulling off of Corvus’s surface. The second you clear the atmosphere, Mando immediately makes the jump to hyperspace. You settle into the chair further and pull your legs to your chest.

“You don’t know that.” You let out a big sigh as you speak, and you don’t want Mando to get his hopes up. It’s entirely possible you won’t be able to do this at all. You hardly even had formal training. Your Master was great and did what she could but there were no Jedi temples you could easily access. No Jedi libraries or archives left to sift through. Kanan and Ezra helped but you were with them for such a short time before you formally joined the rebellion. Training Grogu is going to be hard, probably the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do. You let your legs fall to the floor and your hand grasps one of your lightsabers, turning it in your hand. Your thumb roams over the hilt, brushing over the small inscription at the base of it.

‘Skip. Pilot. Jedi. Resident saber badass.’ You smile at the rough etching and remember when your Master had shown you how to make your sabers. You were hardly 14, terrified of the weapon and the thought of harming another. Your Master helped you work through those emotions, and you practiced every day for multiple hours to become comfortable with the weapon in your hand. Tarim had taken them from you one day after you had been practicing for close to 9 hours. He took them and refused to give them back and when he finally did, this rough etching had been forever carved into it. Your Master was upset at first, worried that Tarim could have hurt himself but she immediately saw that the phrase pushed you to be better, a saying to live up to.

Mando’s hand pulls you from the memories, and he hesitantly grabs the lightsaber, his gloved hand moving along the curved hilt. His helmet turns slightly at the small saying. He pulls the saber back in your hand and his hand lingers on your wrist, sliding his hand down your forearm and squeezing slightly before pulling his hand back to his lap. You shudder as you place them back on your belt. Mando’s touch always elicits these emotions and reactions from you. He reaches his hand out again to touch the side of your face, the warm leather making your eyes flutter close for a moment. You press your cheek further into his hand as his thumb rubs gentle circles into your skin.

“Mando, I don’t even know where to start with training.” You’re so nervous. You could very well be ruining Grogu’s life, the reason he falls to the darkside, and the thought makes your stomach churn. Mando runs his hand along the side of your jaw, and it moves to wrap around the back of your neck, bringing your head forward to lean against his helmet. The simple action calms you and you lift your hand to grab his forearm, your eyes closing to enjoy the moment of closeness.

“You‘ll figure it out. What planet do you want to head to?” Mando pulls his helmet away from your forehead and your eyebrows knit together. You haven’t really thought about it, seeing as you weren’t entirely sure what you thought was going to happen after Corvus. You assumed he’d take the Crest back to Nevarro to get more bounty pucks, leaving you behind on some planet to fend for yourself. Your eyes turn to Grogu, he’s awake now and listening intently from the pram. You reach out to his mind to see if he has any thoughts or suggestions, but he doesn’t. He’s only thinking about broth, and frogs.

“Let’s go to Naboo. I think we all deserve the calm, peaceful scenery Naboo can offer.” You turn your head back to Mando as you say the words. He’s already typing the coordinates into the Nav Deck. The Crest shifts a bit, changing course while in hyperspace.

“Where did you have it set to?” You cock your head to the side and bring your legs up to sit on them.

“Nevarro, it's just the nav's home system.” He says as he turns around in the chair again to watch you

“You don’t want to go back there to get more jobs?” Your tone is curious, he doesn't seem like the kind of bounty hunter who takes time off. Mando shakes his head.

“No, I want to spend time with you and the kid. A vacation sounds nice.” You laugh at his words, but your stomach flutters at the thought of spending time with him.

“It may be a vacation for you, Mando, but it’ll be hard work for us.” You laugh more and his hand comes down to hold yours, his posture stiffens a bit.

“Din. Call me Din again, please.” His tone is apologetic and you nod your head. You’ve only been calling him Mando because he said you didn’t have the right to call him by his name anymore and you didn’t want to push it with him, considering that less than a week ago he wanted nothing to do with you. You frown at the thought, knowing that things still feel a little tense, and you know he’s still hurt or angry. He probably will be for the rest of your life, but you know he wants you. He’s told you he wants you around and you’ll stay for however long he wants you. You’ll stay for your entire life if he’ll have you.

Taglist:@lavxndr-lilies @anaaaispunk @morenhoe @bbyanarchist @afootnoteinyourhappiness @littlemisspascal @elinedjarin @alibaba1021 @buckybarneshairpullingkink

[ratcandy]

Subcon Forest Analysis

Hi everyone I'm here to spill my aggressive overflowing thoughts on Subcon Forest and what it represents because it's been driving me insane since I finished the Sleepy Subcon time rift. Okay let's go. Obvious spoilers for AHIT ahead so proceed with caution.

This is also very, very long.

Disclaimer/warning: I will be discussing abusive/unhealthy relationships in this analysis. I mean. Vanessa. Come on. Also, there is a section on the nooses, and that delves, of course, into mentions of suicide. It will be sectioned off and easily skipped, but if you'd rather be safe and skip the entire post, that's completely understandable! Please stay safe. <3

Alright. Main point to be had here:

Subcon Forest is a giant extended metaphor for Snatcher's mind and character.

You all get to now listen to me spout nonsense about metaphors and symbolism because I'm a sucker for analysis and I'm given an opportunity to go ham. So perish.

The Ice

Let's start with the most obvious and most glaring thing in Subcon. The ice. It's everywhere. Not just outside Vanessa's manor, either; no, it's throughout the village, too. Shows up in the well and in random locations sprinkled about. When it comes to literal plot, we know that ice is just what lingers after Vanessa's wintery curse on Subcon. But going deeper and analyzing the meaning behind it?

Well, let's look at this from the perspective I've suggested. Subcon Forest being an extended metaphor for Snatcher's mind and character. A symbol for Vanessa then litters his mind, enough where it's certainly noticeable at first but blends in more easily once more of Subcon is unlocked to Hat Kid. This is clearly meant to be his lingering trauma, whether or not he wants to acknowledge it. Which he doesn't, as he never mentions it directly in his forest (that I can recall). Her influence plagues him, as to be expected with the traumatic experiences he went through with her. Breaking the ice is something Hat Kid must do in order to fulfill the wishes of the Fire Spirits (another subject I'll get into shortly), which, if self-indulgently playing with the found family idea, could mean that Hat Kid is helping him heal; if indirectly. Even if fulfilling the Fire Spirits' wish to die is... counterproductive, in that measure, which I'm now getting ahead of myself so hold on a sec!!

Vanessa. Ice. Everywhere. Traces of it all over his forest. That's the effects of an abusive relationship! Especially in a worst-case scenario where... yknow! One party in the relationship dies! So of course ice would be everywhere.

In and of itself, ice is a common symbol in literature and other forms of media. In this case, it's presented as an antagonistic force; emphasis is placed upon freezing and the harm that comes with it. The cold is unwelcoming, threatening, merciless. Snow can act as an insulating force, at least, but ice cannot. It can only make things colder.

A slight stretch: Seeing as this game deals a lot with time shenaniganry, I'm not sure if it'd be too out of left field to connect "freezing" with the theme of time. Yknow. Frozen in time. Both parties here, Snatcher and Vanessa, would be in this frozen state. One largely repressing it and never fully moving on, and the other doomed to her isolation ever since the event in question. They never moved past that moment after the Prince and florist's interaction.

The Fire Spirits (& the Portraits)

I'll put a slight warning here for suicidal ideation, if only because... it's the Fire Spirits we're talking about. It's not as grossly in-detail as the noose discussion will be, though, so make of that what you will.

To me, the Fire Spirits are a very interesting case. After all, they're fire. They're a direct contrast to the ice, thus being the only thing we're shown that could potentially melt it. The Fire Spirits, in my opinion, represent hope or a strength to continue. A strength to move on after troubles of the past.

...And that hope wants to die.

The Fire Spirits wish to burn out, to leave this mortal coil and abandon the forest to the cold. They make no effort to melt the ice, they simply dance, blissfully ignorant towards their surroundings. This being a metaphor for Snatcher's own hope for moving on is made all the more obvious by the fact he wants them gone. The first contract is to kill the Fire Spirits, to kill the hope. Perhaps he believes that sort of thing to be fruitless or naïve, so it only clutters his mind or has him foolishly optimistic at points. So, get rid of it. And the hope is happy to oblige.

(That, or their willingness to leave the forest to its own suffering and not aid in the ice's thaw angers him. Besides the whole "bark bark growl I can't get to parts of my forest because of them!!" which... also could represent a naïve hope clouding his judgement, not allowing him to see a bigger picture. But hope can't all be lost if one wants to move forward...)

A little side-tangent now on the portraits! And it's another slight stretch but the idea is in my head and I can't let it go. Portraits are another common symbol, usually being a physical representation of a memory or idea. For our purposes, let's say they're memories. I know in canon they appear to just hold souls captive or something but for now we're just Ignoring That(tm). The Fire Spirits have to burn the portraits to disappear. See where I'm going with this, maybe?

Instead of handling bad memories (or perhaps memories of the past in general) in any healthy manner, Snatcher chooses to forget/repress them, which just allows his hope to progressively die out.

I'm really hoping this is making sense because it makes a lot of sense to me but I might be insane rn

The Fact that this is a Forest

Forest symbolism breakdown! What's a forest usually mean in literature? "Traditionally, the forest has come to represent being lost, exploration and potential danger as well as mystery and 'other worldliness'." Okay. Yeah. Fair enough. That certainly works with the whole aesthetic we've got going on. Wood usually is life, growth and strength. But the trees of subcon are all dead. So what about that? It stands for death, big whoop, very spooky, we know Snatcher's dead and so are the children, yadda yadda wowie wowie. But. :) The trees in Subcon look a lot like trees that were scorched in a forest fire. Don't believe me?

(You could also argue they're just regular marsh/swamp trees bUT SSHHSUUHSH HANG ON HEAR ME OUT LOOK LOOK,)

What I believe to have happened was a controlled fire to rid the forest of the majority of its ice and snow. Likely done by Snatcher. It leaves behind a very desolate, depressing, barren scene... but. What else do dead/burnt trees symbolize? Rebirth. After all, controlled fires happen to make way for new trees to take the place of old ones. Some trees only drop seeds in fires/hot temperatures, so new ones take root and begin anew. Weird. It's almost like... I dunno. Snatcher was given some sorta second chance, given he's not just a corpse in Vanessa's cellar. So were the subconites. Another life given then by Snatcher. All connected I tell ya!!

Generally, aside from that, forests have many connotations. Mystery, isolation, claustrophobia; a place to dwell on regrets, or the past; to worry over one's future; to seek escape from or escape inside of... hmgmrnmm!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- T / W -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Nooses

The t/w is given at the top and another cut-off point will follow the bottom of this, for those that would like to skip. This will delve into talk of suicide and abusive tactics used by abusers. Please don't read if it will upset you or make you feel unsafe!!!

Personally, I cannot stand the nooses, but that's just due to my own triggers. Were there a way to hide those from the game or replace the damned talking ones with anything else. I would take it. In a heartbeat. But I can still appreciate the potential analysis to be had with them. So now i'm gonna talk about it despite how uncomfortable it will make me to do so. yEa

So, what about 'em? There are three types of nooses seen in Subcon. At least that I remember but I didn't really go looking for them. Empty ones, ones containing empty subconites, and the talking ones.

Nooses in general obviously can hint towards suicidal thoughts or behaviors of the characters that interact with them. If saying Subcon is Snatcher's mind, it could suggest that he suffered from some sort of suicidal thoughts in life (or currently, if second death is possible... or if he never truly died... or maybe he's trying to figure that out...which has given me... a separate idea...uh oh). But. And hear me out. Different perspective.

A talking noose. I hate them with a fiery passion that is unmatched. But think of the packed symbolism of a noose that talks. And think more about what it says. "I wouldn't mind being strapped around a cute neck like yours." "Be careful now, I don't want to see you meet a miserable end anywhere, but with me." Oddly, a lot of what the noose says seems almost... endearing? One could argue it's a way of luring someone to put it around their necks, which in and of itself is a whole lot to unpack when it comes to suicidal thoughts beckoning one forward; painting itself as something romantic, almost. But. Here's a wild idea, now. What if the nooses, at least the talking ones, are another symbol for Vanessa?

They're tinted blue, after all. While Vanessa's scheme is more red, one could argue two things: One, ice. Blue. Ice. yeah. Or two, the fact that Snatcher's scheme is more purple. Blue and red... make... purple. So, for all we know, Snatcher's current state was a compound effort between suicidal thoughts and Vanessa's treatment of him. Perhaps he even found a way to put himself out of his misery before freezing/starving to death. (I know he has dialogue that argues against that, but... are we certain Snatcher would be the kind to admit suicide over freezing to death?... I don't think so.)

At any rate, a common threat by those in "control" of an abusive relationship is that of killing themselves should the other person not do as they desire. It's a cruel form of emotional manipulation to get their way, worse off if the other party is an empathetic individual. As a person who has been the empathetic individual in relationships like this... I would know. I've been here, unfortunately So, it's not completely out of the question to say Vanessa could've used some tactic like that, even before the whole... cellar ordeal. Did she? I dunno. I'm tossing ideas around. But if she did, the threats of such would sit around in the Prince's mind easily. Even if she has a reputation of not going through with it. It doesn't matter. That shit sticks with you forever, that scare, the potential of it ever being true, is horrifying and it ruins you. I'm projecting, Squirtle.

Still. A noose cannot hang itself. It has to have a victim.

...yea.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- T / W PASSED -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Misc. Ideas

- The spiders: Aside from the usual things spiders can be chalked up to symbolizing - toxicity, alluring danger, just... general pain - I like the potential wordplay that can happen here. Yknow. A black widow. Say the Prince and Vanessa were married when one died. What would that leave Vanessa? A widow. ...She's red and black, too. Yknow. Like a black widow. HA wordplay is fun isn't it?

- Snatcher's tree: Love this place, love sitting in here. But not the point! The inside of Snatcher's tree is such a harsh juxtaposition to the rest of Subcon that it kinda throws ya off guard. After all, the dark, purples and blues then contrasted with the bright warm colors of the inside. Even the music switches over. The thorns outside aren't present indoors. Ohh yeah this is gonna be on the nose as hell but the Tree(tm) is 100% representing Snatcher's appearance/put-on personality vs. his truer nature. Spooky outside with thorns, foreboding, unwelcoming. Then the more comfortable interior. VULnerable. Have I even mentioned that the tree is HOLLOW I mean COME ON. The sturdiness of that tree? Nonexistent. He's not a sturdy guy at all no matter how he fronts

- Intrusions are unwelcome: Snatcher does not like the fact that Hat Kid sticks around in his forest. His personal space. His mind. In fact he tries desperately to get rid of her after their fight, not wanting her presence in his forest at all. He has no problem providing more contracts later on with the Death Wish thing, and he finds great entertainment in messing around with Hat Kid, so it's not just a weird sudden hatred he has for her; it's the fact that. After she's finished being useful, he no longer wants her around, lest she find some things she shouldn't find. Now he's just uncomfortable with her in his personal boundaries. Could just be a denial that she's helped him heal (breaking ice, stealing from Vanessa, being something interesting for his kids to interact with) or just not really wanting a child to get wrapped up in. All that. Most likely the former. Considering the amount of joke-hints he drops regarding his background during his Death Wish dialogue. I see you funny man, making jokes out of your trauma as a coping mechanism. Punts him

Annnd I think that's all I got, for now! I'll make an update post if I get any more sporadic ideas. If you read this whole thing, thank you!! and also!! Wow that was a lot!! Hell world. Please feel free to elaborate on any of my points or debate with me on em!! I'm always open to other ideas, just be aware that if I disagree I am not shy when it comes to debate hehehe, tho I won't be aggressive to any extent I prommy!!

Alrighty. goes to sleep goodnight

[beautifulterriblequeen]

The Thief and the Tinker, Part 4: Circles and Cycles

part 3

Part 4

Viren: *smirks and plinks Runaan's coin to Ethari*

Ethari, furious: You throw another Moonshadow at me and I'm gonna lose it.

Circles and Cycles

Angst rating: 8/10

Back to Ethari, because we're not done with him yet. Ethari is soft, but he isn't weak. He won't be a willing pawn for Viren. He loves Runaan to the point of invention, and his devotion is more constant than the moon itself. He'll agree to do what Viren says, and he'll be Very Sad. But his spirit is in no way broken. Viren bribing him with the coins containing his family will only have the opposite effect. It'll give Ethari something to fight for.

We could get Focused Chaos Ethari. We could get Angery Trickster Ethari. We could get Rules, What Rules? Ethari. Let him try to steal the coins, try to break them, try to kill Viren, and be stymied at every turn, until he settles and seems cowed. And then all he does is craft his way out of the problem.

What if we are gifted with Iron Man Elf Ethari, who pretends to build a fake Key for Viren, but meanwhile he's really building a coinbuster with whatever he can get his hands on - primal stones, magically imbued gemstones, stolen artifacts, his own arcanum, his own reputation as the Master Craftsman of the Silvergrove. He'll use almost - almost - anything, to stop Viren and free his family.

Ethari may have to choose between those two things, though. And he's a hero, deep down, just like his family, just like his daughter. If he has to choose, he'll choose to stop Viren and save Xadia. He'll pay the same price as his family has if he must.

He'd let Viren think he was motivated purely by wanting his family back, but Ethari is far too steeped in the illusion and sacrifice for that to be all there is to his motives. It's a so-close-and-yet-so-far thing, how he and Viren almost embody the same ideals. Almost. Ethari would take one look at Viren, who just burnt down his whole Forest, he'd see the biggest threat in Xadia, and he'd say anything to get a chance to stop this juggernaut of destruction from getting his hands on whatever that ultimate power really is, locked behind that missing key. If he has to abandon his people and bawl his eyes out to convince Viren he's in, then he will.

And Viren wouldn't make it easy for him. He knows clever when he sees it. He went through all this trouble to persuade Ethari to work with him. He would need to keep Ethari as off-balance as possible to ensure that he keeps working as he should.

Angsty jewelry, anyone?

Viren giving Ethari his husband in pendant form to remind him what he's working for, when Viren and Ethari both know full well that only dark magic can open the hellcoins. Ethari wearing another pendant of his love, except it's not a metaphor this time. It's literally his love, in a coin around his neck.

Viren would love making Ethari stay close to him of his own free will if he ever hoped to free Runaan. Making people bind themselves to you is a big power flex. Remember that TDP stream future-season teaser note about Bait being in a creepy restraint in a future season?

This card is written on in all-caps, so that really could be "Bait" or "bait," or--knowing this show--both. Viren's been using Runaan as bait for Ethari all along. Putting his coin in a dark magic pendant casing for Ethari to wear would be a great parallel for that. Oh god. Oh man.

Maybe he'll stab the coin's scary casing right through that circle on Ethari's chest, right over his heart, make that Iron Man reference really obvious. Ethari also losing his shirt at some point, for angsty Viren-related reasons? It's more likely than you think. I mean... Ethari is literally involved in both forms of forging at this point. Shirt's gotta come off for uhhhh work reasons. And because he's hot. Because of all the forging. Mmhmm. I mean how else are we finally going to discover what his markings look like this is research I swear

I mentioned that I liked god-tier villains, right? Yeah, this is amazing. I haven't wanted to die and ascend over an idea for quite a while, but Ethari vs Viren in a drawn-out battle of wills would kill me in the best way. Especially since, while it looks like they're essentially fighting for who gets Runaan, they're truly fighting a much larger battle with much higher stakes. They're fighting for the future itself. It's an epic struggle between the Narrative of Strength and the Narrative of Love. And we've seen what happens, over and over, when the Narrative of Strength gets to call the shots.

On a meta note: If Ruthari's story arc isn't a love letter from one trauma survivor to another, and on a broader scope to all survivors who see it, I don't know what is. Sometimes life just chews us up and spits us out and we can't stop it and it breaks us. But sometimes we can reach out and grasp the chance to help each other, even after that, even when it hurts a lot, because we know what it means to be loved, and to love, and to want a safer future for each other and for people we'll never meet. The future is worth standing together for, helping each other back up for, fighting side by side for, even if you can't see how it'll end, or even how to begin. We are stronger together, and sometimes we need to fight for our "together" before we can fight for anything else. And that's worth it, every time.

This is glorious, it's beautiful, it's tragic, it's amazing, it makes me want to dance, it makes me want to scream into the void, it makes me want to slap someone with a semi truck. No, someone specific, don't worry, and he super deserves it.

Because Ethari is going to win. He was always going to win. He's soft, and he's clever, and he hasn't forgotten what love means. It's what he's fighting for. Not power, not control. Love. He doesn't want to dictate Runaan's future or anyone else's. He just wants his husband--and everyone else--to have one at all.

So he's going to win.

What thwarting Viren looks like, I couldn't possibly guess. TDP is no stranger to angst, so there will probably be a high cost involved in outwitting the dark mage. Maybe not everyone can be rescued from the coins. Maybe Ethari will lose his life, or his soul, or his vision, or something else really angsty. Viren could even kill him and resurrect him as a smoky craftsman, or a zombie craftsman, or something equally biddable but horrible. The only thing I'm sure of is that Ethari would never willingly make a working Key of Aaravos Ethari as long as there's a chance Viren could possess it. But I do believe that if he gets the right opportunity while he's busy saving the world from Viren's dark intentions, he'll break his husband's hellcoin open somehow and set him free, even if he has to smile at the devil to do it.

Ethari understands the difference between "you can" and "therefore you should." He might sacrifice his own world to save his husband, but he'd never sacrifice someone else's world. That's one of the Moonshadow cultural limits I've noticed: they accept boundaries when it comes to other people's autonomous rights, especially regarding life and death.

These limits could get pushed. Ethari will be under great duress and emotional strain if he goes through this kind of interaction with Viren. And maybe he will choose some dark things. Everyone else has. But I'm placing all my eggs in the basket labeled "Saved By Love." Either I'm right, or I'll get the best angst omelets in the universe. And I do love omelets. A villain invented them, you know. ;)

Another support for Ethari not making the key for Viren: the real Key exists!

Callum has it right now. The plot doesn't need Ethari's key (yet? ever?), but it does need Ethari to learn what he's made of, to stand up for something, or against something, or both at once. And once he learns what he will and won't do and the universe has rewarded his discovery with the return of his beloved husband then Ethari will be ready to take on whatever else the plot has in mind for him.

Depending on the plan, all of these events could happen in S4, as a setup for even bigger things to follow. Viren's wishes can be thwarted here and the show's overall tension will only continue to rise. It would let Ethari flex yes pls his skills so we know who he is, it would show how driven Viren can be for a long-term goal, it would let Claudia saunter further downwards, it would reveal some human/Moonshadow history, and it would resolve the seasons-long tension regarding Runaan's fate, allowing for the cycle of speculation, feels, angst, and Ruthari fanart to begin again. ;) Viren would need to find another way to pursue his long-term goal. And Callum's Key will get a little more clarity on just how important it is to the fate of the world - which will make everything he does, and everyone he talks to, and anyone who knows what he's carrying, intensely important.

Nyx is gonna steal it isn't she, omg chaos birb

To Viren, Ethari was a main course, meant to be devoured and consumed in his lifelong quest for something that will finally satisfy. But to Ethari, Viren was just empty calories to be passed over in favor of ordering his perennial favorite dish, one more time.

Once Ethari escapes Viren's clutches with as much of his family as he can rescue, Viren may turn back to looking for the real Key, especially if someone's seen it recently. Hunting a kid probably seems easier than hunting a full-grown Moonshadow craftsman who just outsmarted him. okay so maybe Nyx stealing it would be a good thing and save Callum's life

Ethari could go on to help repair the Sunforge, or rebuild the Moonhenge, or work on constructing Moonshadow villages in Katolis if he hasn't been ghosted for abandoning everyone after the forest fire. He might build magical devices for any number of reasons, to help all kinds of characters. Hopefully, wherever he goes, he'll have Runaan with him, in some way, for at least a little while. Cycles be like, and I feel like Runaan will not want to remain still for long, for whatever reason. Does he need revenge, atonement, justice, a new body, to find Rayla, to find Ezran? He'll be back in action as soon as he can, I think.

Okay, but, I'm so soft at the thought of a scene where Runaan and Ethari come before King Ezran. The husbands tried to save their people Runaan's way, the old way, and it only continued to endanger them. Following the cycle, as Moonshadows do, was the wrong move. But the son of the last human Runaan killed reached out with mercy and broke a thousand years of suffering and sorrow and hatred. Ezran did what Runaan couldn't: he saved the Moonshadow elves from total destruction. And that, more than anything else in the world, could soften one very broody assassin's heart toward humans again.

What would Runaan do, if his heart truly changed toward humans? What would he say to Ezran? I could see him struggling for a long moment before dropping to one knee to pledge his heart as he once had to do before the Dragon Throne. He doesn't know any other way but to serve. Ezran, reading the whole room and everyone's feelings before he tells Runaan that No, we don't do that here. That he's free, and free means free. No chains, no oaths. Just trust and friendship. He should get to make his own decisions for a change, even though that can be hard and scary sometimes. Runaan being genuinely scared, because that's too much freedom. But he's not alone. He has Ethari, and Ezran, and Rayla, and Callum, and their people, and their allies. And no matter what else happens, the people of Katolis - elven and human - will find a way forward. Together.

part 5

[rebelrebels]

chapter four of everdramalore: coney island/liability.

if i can't relate to you anymore, then who am i related to? / and i'm sitting on a bench in coney island wondering where did my baby go — he don't wanna know me, said he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm

you're laid down on your back on the couch, throwing a red ball up and down at the ceiling mindlessly.

"y/n, you're driving me crazy. go outside and play with your friends or go get high or whatever the fuck you do." your mom chops a carrot, knife clacking against the wooden cutting board loudly.

you roll off the couch and get up from the carpet floor with a soft oof without another sound or word.

you sneak a pack of your mom's cigarettes from the nightstand near the front door into one of your cardigan's pockets. she doesn't notice so you walk out the door coolly, hands in pockets.

you always kept a lighter in one of your pockets. you wore the same cardigan day after day after day.

but today, you wore a white one instead of black. timothée noticed even from afar.

you went to the park and sat on one of the swings in the swingset. you light a cigarette and smoke in silence. you close your eyes.

"i like you, y/n! stop pushing me away!"

"sabrina, i told you, i don't like you back! please just leave me alone! i've told you a million times!" you attempt to close the door but she puts her foot in between.

"sabrina. it's like you're a stalker and it's getting annoying and somewhat creepy. i've tried telling you in the nicest way possible but this...has gotten kind of, no very, out of control. so, please leave."

you open your eyes.

you sigh when you realize you're still sitting on a swing in the cold, windy weather with clumps of snow scattered around the ground and a half burnt out cigarette in your hand.

you throw it on the floor and stomp on it, putting it out.

you close your eyes again.

"dad!"

"y/n..."

you try to unbuckle your seatbelt but it's jammed. you start screaming for help, but the screams are too weak. you look out the smashed window and see the car that hit your dad's was similar to your older brother's.

"dad! are you okay?"

there's no answer.

blood trickles down the side of your head. you close your eyes when you hear sirens approaching. you can't hear your breathing or your dad's breathing anymore. or your heart rate. you're finally at peace.

the next memory comes into focus.

you see your mom pouring out wine for herself and crying silently at the kitchen counter. you don't remember the last time your mom ever drank or smoked. you just tuck yourself into bed and turn off the light.

you open your eyes and see you're under your covers in your bed inside your home.

you're confused. how did you get here? you were at the park. but you don't read into it too much.

you leave home again. you guess your mom is probably at work.

you see timothée sitting on the sidewalk with a glass bottle of amber liquid at his side. you sit next to him.

"i didn't know you drink."

he scoffs. "i didn't."

"well, whiskey won't make you feel better." you deadpan.

"it already has."

comfortable silence follows shortly after.

"did you break into my house and tuck me into bed?"

"when you put it that way, no. but it was hard to ignore you passed out on a swing and crying." he offers you some whiskey.

"no thanks. and did you say passed out on a swing and crying?"

he nods.

you hesitate before finally saying, "i should go."

"wait." he stands up, his legs wobbling lightly.

he stretches out his arm. his palm has a messily drawn-on smiley face. you glance at the drawing and then his face with a raised eyebrow momentarily before sliding your hand into his.

and then he starts walking, leaving the bottle of whiskey on the sidewalk, which makes you turn around questionably. you turn back to him, your eyes glued to the back of his head and your hand in his.

"where are we going?"

"you'll see."

he stops and lets go of your hand. you try to sneak a peek at whatever's in front of him but he makes you cover your eyes.

after a few minutes you excitedly say, "can i look yet?"

you cover your eyes with your hands and sneak a peek through a hole and see a floppy ear, trying to hide your smile when you figure out what it is. you hear a loud whine and shuffling before he allows you to open your eyes.

you uncover them, squealing when you see a puppy in his arms. he hands it to you awkwardly, dusting some dirt off of his pants. you sit down on the ground and play with it.

"thank you, tim," you say softly.

"what are you gonna name him?"

"hmm...i haven't really thought about that." you pause before saying, "i'm gonna name him tim. or timothy."

his cheeks turn visibly red at this. "after me?"

"mm-hm."

"we should go." he shifts stiffly and holds the box the puppy was in in his arms.

you hold tim the puppy in your arms as you walk back home with timothée.

you unlock your front door with your keys with difficulty and let the puppy run into your house. "bye, tim." you wave to him before going inside.

he waves back shyly, watching you go. you look out your window and still see him standing under that street light across from your house.

"hey, timothée!"

he turns around, not expecting to be punched in the face by the one and only leo.

"what the fuck, leo?!" timothée wipes at his nose, which is now dripping blood.

you're running out of your house after seeing this and struggling to separate leo from timothée. leo manages to land another punch near his eye.

"fuck off, leo!" you push leo, which makes him curse under his breath. "you better have a good fucking reason why you're hurting tim."

"you like timothée! and sabrina, my ex-girlfriend, kissed you and now she's depressed and broke up with me! all because of you and timothée!"

"you like me?" timothée turns to you, still cupping his nose.

"i- i- well- i don't know! it's complicated, okay?!" you grab timothée's hand (not before giving leo the middle finger) and walk angrily back home.

you mop up the blood on timothée's face. "i can't do anything about your black eye."

"it's okay."

"on the other hand, you do look really cool." you give him a clean tissue for his nose.

"it hurts a lot. i've personally never been beat up before."

you smile at this while dabbing on alcohol with a cotton ball on his cuts. "hold still." you lean in to dab on a small cut near his left eye.

he stops breathing altogether and tries a little too hard to stay still. he sighs in relief when you finally finish and clean everything up.

"tim!"

timothée looks up immediately but goes back on his phone when he sees tim the puppy running towards you.

"tim, you should rest. you did get beat up by leo, who's at least ten times bigger than you. just saying."

he huffs and puts his phone away before sliding onto your couch. you turn off the living room lights but you still stand at the kitchen counter, busying yourself with feeding tim the puppy.

"hey, y/n."

"hm?"

"we're friends, right?"

"best friends."

"you'd tell me if you wanted to be more than friends?"

you pause in confusion. "yea."

"promise?"

"promise."

"go to sleep already." you walk to the couch, picking up a pillow and throw it at him playfully, which lands on his face.

"goodnight, y/n." his voice muffles from underneath the pillow.

"goodnight." you pick up tim the puppy and turn off the lights. he sees you close your bedroom door.

he closes his eyes and goes to sleep.

@yeriville @canycn @truly-insatiable