#whilst also giving me 2 hours to wake up in the morning

[riderofblackdragons]

You know, when I first read mdzs, I thought the lan bedtime was stupid and didn't understand it

Now that I have a job that I have to get to by 7am, I'm finding following that fucking bedtime routine is actually suiting me pretty damn nicely

[toreigh]

mornings in the dreamhouse I ken!ryan gosling x barbie!reader

summary: Based on the after math of the Barbie Movie, slight spoilers included i guess. They are living in the real world at this point. Basically just smut squint and you won’t see a plot. (I hope ya'll are as ready for Ken smut as I am.) MINORS DNI.

pairings: ken!ryan gosling x barbie!reader

word count: 758

warnings/notes: SMUT! cursing, unprotected sex, creampie, praise kink. Ken is obsessed with you, but what’s new? Also this is verrrry short, I didn't go overboard with this one.

feel free to send any requests to my inbox, if you enjoyed I would love more ideas or tropes lovelys.

You awoke in the early morning hours. The sun barley shining through your massive windows in your dream NY condo. Ken was still sleeping whilst you lay on top of him, the soft blanket draped over the both of you.

His hand under your white tank top resting on your back as he slept soundlessly. He slept with no shirt despite the cold temperatures inside the condo. You felt sleep taking over you since it was Saturday and you had no work you let it take you.

You awoke 2 hours later to Ken laying open-mouthed kisses along your back and leaving hickeys in his wake. You rolled over to look at him smiling softly as you attempted to open your eyes, the sun shining onto him from the giant window behind you.

"Hey baby, you awake finally?" My God, he thought. You looked breathtaking. The sun was shining into your hair and skin behind you and almost lighting you up from the inside. You were both laying on your sides and Ken pulled you closer to push his knee between your legs.

"Ken what- what are y'doin honey." You asked him in your sleepy state, even though you knew exactly what he was doing.

"Baby," he slipped his arm over your own that was resting against your stomach, gently pulling you closer into his warmth. A soft rut of his hips made your very aware of where he wanted things to go. "Let me have you, god let me have you just like this Barbie. So perfect." Goosebumps raised on your skin when he praised you like that, as he murmured the words into your ear. "Please."

You leaned forward to capture his mouth as an answer. He chuckled, his warm breath caressing your face, before pulling away. He watched while you straddled his waist situating your warm body with his. He leaned up to press another kiss to your forehead as his hand slipped into the curve of your waist, his thumb rubbing back and forth.

You reached inside his sweats pulling him out. You positioned yourself over him sliding him through your wet folds. Not needing any foreplay, just him. Finally sinking down on him you both whimpered as the feeling. You felt so full.

"Doing so good for me B, so good." He praised his hands finding your hips once again to help you. You moaned as the praise.

Ken pulled you closer him taking your left tit in his warm mouth. He noticed your body language, knew you were close. One hand abandoning your waist to work your clit. He watched your open mouth whimpers as your eyes closed and legs got weak. He felt you flutter around him, knowing how to push you over. His hips snapped to yours as he moved his mouth up to your ear.

"Let go for me beautiful. Perfect cunt squeezing me so good." He praised.

He felt you flutter but knew you needed more so he picked up his pace putting his toned frame to work. "Gotta let go for me B. I've got you."

This sent you over the edge. Your face twisted in pleasure with your mouth open giving him breathy moans of his name like a broken record. This almost sent him along with you clenching around him, milking him for everything he has.

But you knew what would finish him off.

"Cmon Ken doing so good for me. Those perfect abs. Fucking me so so good. So perfect." You assured. That did it for him, his praise kink was through the roof.

His hips stuttered into you as he whimpered and let go. His hands found your face pulling you in for a devastating kiss, as his hips pumped every few seconds.

"mmm," You hummed into the kiss savoring it. " wanna sleep s'more Ken. What do you say?"

"Couldn't dream of anything else, that was amazing."

And so you fell asleep full of happy thoughts, and Ken.

[jpmarvel90]

Don't let me down - Part 5

Masterlist Scarlett Masterlist

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Relationship: MamaScarlett x 16 yr old Reader

Summary: Settling in, Y/n now meets Scarlett's wider family. Whilst the Johansson/Josts go support Y/n at her first game of the season.

Word count: 6071

Y/n's POV:

"Morning kiddo. You're up early." Colin greets me whilst balancing Cosmo on his shoulder. It's current 6:30am and I've been up a lot longer than that, but I'm not about to tell him that. "Yeah, I'm quite an early riser." I share, it's not a lie, but I'm not an early riser through choice. I'd happily sleep in late if I could. But my brain still thinks if I stay in too late, I'll be caught by Mr Woodstock.

It also doesn't help that today I'm meeting Scarlett's mom and siblings. Thankfully, they're not all bringing their kids. I think that would be a little too overwhelming for me if I'm honest. "Would you like some coffee? You look like you could do with some." He offers, making me smile. "You saying I look like crap?" I ask him with a raised eyebrow.

There's a brief look of panic on his face but when I smirk at him, I can see his shoulders relax, knowing he hasn't actually offended me. "Just a little tired around the edges." He teases in return. "Then fill her up!" I say, holding a mug out towards him. Once I take my first sip, I can already feel my body starting to wake up.

"Are you nervous about today?" He asks me, making conversation whilst he tends to Cosmo. I look down to the mug in my hand, a little ashamed that I'm so nervous about this. "A little." I admit. When I do lift my head, I'm met with Colin giving me a warm, sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. They're all really excited to see you again. I can also confirm they are lovely people. I definitely got lucky with the in-laws." He reassures me.

"Meet me again?" I ask a little confused. "Yeah, they were all there when Scarlett gave birth to you. They all met you then. Melanie is especially excited to meet you. I have a feeling she'll be over earlier than the rest to get a head start." He chuckles. "Seriously though, if it becomes too much for you at any time, just let me know and I'll make up an excuse to take you out of the room." He offers and it makes me smile.

I've only been living here for a little over two weeks, but Colin has been so accepting of me. I mean, Scarlett has too, but I'm her daughter. Colin had every right to dislike me, but he is so caring and treats me like Rose and Cosmo. I really appreciate it. I can see why Scarlett likes him.

It's slowly become easier being here. Since our talk in the park, I feel closer to Scarlett which is nice. Rose went from not giving a shit about me, to me being her favourite person. Which gave me a bit of whiplash, but it's been nice spending time with her. She hasn't long started playing soccer at school, so I've been helping her to practice her skills. I must admit, she's not bad.

After my blip of questioning my annoyance to Laura, I spoke to her about it, and she spent about half an hour scolding me for ever thinking that. Our relationship is probably stronger than ever, and I know that I'm going to take the plunge soon and tell her how I feel. I know I risk losing our friendship, but I hope that even if she isn't interested, she'll stick around.

"Do you want me to take Cosmo whilst you go and get ready?" I ask Colin, who instantly nods and moves to hand Cosmo over to me. "Thanks kiddo. I'll see you in a bit." He smiles, placing a kiss to my head and rushing up the stairs. "Hi there buddy. Look at you all handsome this morning." I greet my little brother. Is it sad that my favourite person is a baby?

Wanting to do something nice for the family, I decide to start on breakfast. I find the baby sling and make sure that Cosmo is comfy before grabbing out what I need to make some pancakes. I put some music on quietly and start to dancing around a little to help comfort Cosmo, who is giggling a treat. It keeps distracting me and I find myself getting lost in his cute little smile. God he's such a cute baby!

"Ok then buddy. What shall I prepare to go with the pancakes? Bacon is always a winner." I start to talk to him, and he looks at me as if he understands every word I'm saying. "I guess we need to do fruit for Scarlett. Don't want her complaining that her trainer will be mad." I say with a scrunched up face. Fruit just ruins pancakes. "Oh, better not forget the syrup for Rosebud!" I remember, moving to the cupboard to grab out the bottle.

"Well, this is a sight I could get used to." I spin around so quickly to see the source of the voice. Scarlett is leant against the door frame, watching over us with a content smile on her face. "Your 16 year old with a baby?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "God no! No sex until you're like 30!" She quickly orders, making me laugh. "Wait. You're not, you know. There isn't someone I haven't met that you're uh doing that with?" She asks making this moment all too awkward. "Oh God, Scarlett no!" I respond, my cheeks heating up and going a dark red. "Sorry. I was just check. What I had meant was it's nice seeing my daughter being adorably cute with her brother. I love how well he's taken to you." She corrects her earlier statement and thankfully drops the sex talk.

"And thank you for being so considerate of my feelings on my trainer." She smirks at me, making me blush with embarrassment that she heard all that. "Coffee or juice." I ask her, moving on from that subject. "I'll do drinks. Thank you though sweetheart." She smiles at me, moving to the fridge to grab out a couple of cartons of juice.

I can feel her eyes on me whilst she's pouring the drinks. I take the last pancake out of the pan and turn around and meet her eyes. "Something you want to ask?" I question her, seeing the same nervous look she has in her eyes when she wants to talk about something, but isn't sure how to bring it up. "I notice you're always up early. But today you were up earlier than usual. Is everything ok?" She asks me.

I frown at her as I wasn't downstairs any earlier than I normally would be. I made sure of it. "I wasn't earlier. It was only 6:30." I lightly defend, but it only causes her frown to deepen. "I heard you up at at least 4:30." She calls me out and my gaze drops. "I think the question is why were you up that early Mrs Johansson?" I ask, trying to cover the fact she's right.

She sighs but takes a seat whilst I continue to bounce Cosmo who clearly isn't happy that I stopped dancing. "I'm nervous about you meeting the family." She admits, taking me by surprise at her honestly. "Why are you nervous?" I ask her, is she worried that they're not going to like me? I try not to let the panic overtake me and allow her to answer before I get too worked up.

"They're going to meet you and see how amazing you are and hate me even more for giving you up." She shares honestly, and it shocks me that she's being so open with me. "I guess they can't hate me more than I hate myself though." She sighs, her gaze focused on the baby in the sling. "You can't change the past Scarlett, only the future." I tell her firmly, which makes her look at me with teary eyes.

I've spent a lot of time talking with Laura about my feelings towards Scarlett. There is still a lot of anger and hidden feelings there. But what I said is right. We can't change what happened. I know she tried to get me back but couldn't. As soon as she had the chance to, she was there. It's still going to take some time for me to actually feel part of this family and not the random kid living with them. But I'm mature enough to focus on the here and now and to try and move on from the past. Eventually.

Feeling like I should repay her honesty, I decide to admit the truth also. "I was nervous too. But that they would hate me and think I'm just here to use you or something." I share and her eyes widen. "Oh sweetheart! They would never think that. In fact, I know they don't. Mom is so incredibly excited to meet you. I'm worried she might not let you go when she hugs you." She reassures me through a chuckle.

"Besides, if anyone says anything slightly negative about you, I will hand their ass to them before they can even finish their sentence." She says with a completely serious face. "Well, let's not have any violence on the first family get together." I joke, making her laugh. "No promises." She returns, walking over towards Cosmo and I, wrapping an arm around me and placing a kiss to my head.

I never used to be a hugger with people other than Laura. But I'm actually starting to enjoy them. They make me feel warm and like I'm actually safe. It's amazing how in two weeks my mindset is already seeing small glimmers of change. "I'm always here if you need to talk. I know you have Laura, but I'd like to be able to help if I can." She tells me softly. "Thanks. I appreciate that." I respond. "Now, let's eat." I instruct her.

Breakfast is nice. I'm still getting used to the five of us sitting down all together to eat our meals. Scarlett and Colin listen so intently to Rose, and you can see how happy that makes her. Conversation moves on to the fact that they are all planning to come and watch me at the first game of the season. I told them that they really don't have to, but they said they wouldn't miss it for the world.

It'll be weird to actually have someone there supporting me. I've never had that before. Laura's parents would always cheer for me too if they were watching, but it's not the same as having your parents there showing you how much they support you. I just hope I can focus on the game and not the fact that they'll be in the stands.

For the rest of the morning, I helped Scarlett and Colin prepare the food for dinner later. Everyone was planning to arrive at 2 so I had plenty of time to sit and stew in the negative thoughts going through my head.

At about half 1 the doorbell rings and Colin smirks at me. "Told you she'd come early." He gloats, moving to the hallway to greet our guest. Just like Colin had predicted, Scarlett's mom had come by early. As we walk into the hallway, she's just finishing hugging Rose. When her head lifts to look to Colin, her eyes land on me and they go wide.

She lets out a small gasp and walks slowly over to me. "Y/n?" She whispers and I nod. "Wow. You're beautiful." She compliments me, making me blush. Her eyes are glossed over with tears, and she stands in front of me. "I'm Melanie. I guess technically your grandmother." She smiles at me. "It's lovely to meet you." I respond as confidently as I can. She goes to hug me, but my stupid body flinches at the action and I'm internally cursing myself for allowing it to happen.

She looks at me worriedly and lowers her arms. I can see Scarlett looking on with concern, but I try not to focus on that. "I'm sorry. I should have asked. Can I hug you?" She asks with a kind smile, not a hint of annoyance at my respond. I nod and she carefully steps forward and wraps her arms around me. She's a similar height to Scarlett so I have to bend down a little as I melt into her hug. How can someone I've just met feel so comfortable. "I'm so glad you're home." She whispers to me, and I give her a little squeeze.

When she pulls apart, she holds my hands and looks at my face once again. "You look just like Scarlett at 16. Except for the brown hair!" She observes. I feel a little exposed under her gaze, but this was definitely a better reaction than I had been imagining in my head!

We move into the living room and Melanie sits with me, asking me lots of questions to get to know me more. She shares some embarrassing stories about Scarlett, much to her annoyance, but I very much enjoyed hearing those. Rose has been surprisingly good. I was worried that she would get annoyed that I was stealing her nana's attention, but she's been joining in the conversation and allowing us time together too.

We're all taken by surprise when the door opens and we hear a voice shouting from all the hallway. "The favourite twin has arrived!" My heart instantly starts to beat rapidly. I don't know why but I'm most nervous about meeting Hunter. Maybe it's because he's Scarlett's twin and I know how close they are. I can't help but worry about how he's going to react. I can feel my palms getting sweaty and I'm trying to count as many red things as I can to prevent a panic attack forming. This is stupid. It's just her brother! I can do this.

Scarlett's POV:

As soon as Hunter makes his presence known, I can see fear wash over Y/n. Things had been going so well with mom, after the little blip at the beginning, and I thought she was doing ok. But I couldn't be more wrong. I should have done more to make sure she was comfortable.

I quickly stand up and make my way over to her, when I see her eyes darting all over the place, sitting next to her and carefully placing my hand on her knee. Colin thankfully gets up to greet my idiot brother. "That boy will never learn to knock." I jokingly complain, hoping to provide some comfort without making her worries be the focal point. I've learnt that Y/n hates being centre of attention, and she wouldn't like it if I made a big deal about this right now. Even though it's breaking my heart to see her so scared. I just want to scoop her up and take her away so she can calm down.

Her eyes stop moving around the room and I wonder if she was counting objects. It's something that I know Lizzie does to help during her anxiety attacks. "What colour?" I ask her and she looks at me in shock. "Red." She admits shyly, so I return a smile easily. "Everything is going to be ok." I reassure her, wrapping my arm around her. "Remember, I'll throw hands regardless. I'm black widow remember." I joke, hoping to lighten the mood, and it seems to work. She let's out a genuine laugh, which makes both mine and mom's face light up. I'll never tire of hearing her laugh. I just wish I heard it more.

Colin and Hunter soon enter the living room and I notice that Hunter is calmer than he normally is. He can be a bit of a loose canon at times, but it's clear that Colin has had a word with him. Which I'm glad for. I love my brother, but I know if he goes to full Hunter mode then he is going to freak Y/n out more than she already is.

After greeting Rose and Cosmo, he walks towards us, and I can't help but laugh at the stern look mom is giving him. Y/n stands up and holds her hand out to Hunter, clearly getting a wave of confidence. "Hi, I'm Y/n. Nice to meet you, Hunter." She greets with a smile. I can see her outstretch hand is shaking and I notice that Hunter clocks it too.

He quickly steps forward and takes it. "I'm so happy that I finally get to meet you Y/n. As soon as Scarlett told us that you were moving in, I was desperate to meet you. But I was kept away, something about you need to settle." He greets in return, smirking with his last comment. "How are you settling in?" He asks, motioning for her to take her seat on the sofa again.

I take my own seat and watch over them with a smile as they easily seem to get on. I've noticed that Y/n has this really great wit. She can be hilarious and I'm sure she's even funnier, but she's scared to go too far. I can't wait to see her be unapologetically herself.

There isn't much respite though as Adrian and Vanessa turn up a few minutes later. Thankfully, they arrived together, meaning that Y/n didn't have to go through another two introductions. I watch as they both introduce themselves, smiles permanently planted on their faces. "I can't believe how much of a mini-me to Scarlett you are!" Vanessa observes and she wraps an arm around Y/n's shoulder. Another flinch wracks her body, and it breaks my heart that her reaction is still that someone is trying to hurt her. Vanessa's eyes snap to mine, and I mouth "later" to her, and she nods slowly, a frown on her face.

Everything is going well as my siblings and mom get to know Y/n more. They're being really respectful and not pushing too hard or bombarding her with questions. It's a shame my dad couldn't be here, but he's hoping to visit in the next week or so, which will be nice as the whole family will have had the chance to see her.

Happy that they're all getting on well, I head into the kitchen to start getting everything ready for dinner. I almost have a heart attack when I close the fridge door and Vanessa is stood there with an expectant look on her face. Mom stood just behind her. "Jesus Christ, you scared the crap out of me." I say, holding my hand to my chest. "Sorry, I did call after you, but you obviously didn't hear me." She apologises, moving into the kitchen to help me with the food.

"So, are you going to tell me why my niece is flinching?" She asks. It's not accusingly, but there is definitely a worried and angry tone to her voice. I look up and see mom waiting expectantly for a response as well. When I told them that she was back in my life, I had only briefly mentioned about her being in a difficult foster home. It didn't feel right to be sharing that so early on.

I sigh, rubbing at my head. "She uh. She didn't have the easiest of upbringings." I admit, the sadness washing over me all over again as I know I could have prevented it if I made the right decision 16 years ago. "What do you mean by that?" Vanessa asks. "Her adoptive parents were abusive. Then when they died, she was moved into an abusive foster home. So, this is the first safe space that she has lived in." I tell them, making them both gasp in shock.

"My poor baby." Mom whispers, tears filling her eyes. "Its that the lingering bruise on her face? It's barely noticeable but I clocked it." Vanessa asks, a sadness across her face. "Yeah, Mr Woodstock, the shitty foster home manager, had hit her after he blamed her for being drunk in front of me and Danny." I explain, my gaze focusing on the pork in front of me.

I'm stopped in my actions when mom's hand rests on mine. "Come here honey." She instructs me. It's only then that I realise that I'm crying. "I should never have left her mom. I let her down so badly. I don't deserve to have her in my life now." I cry into her shoulder, letting it all out. Vanessa quickly walks towards us and wraps her arms around the two of us.

"Don't talk like that Scarlett. Yes, it may have been the wrong decision, but you were doing what you thought was best at the time. You never could have known she would end up in a place like that. You trusted the system to take care of your daughter. You are giving her the life she deserves now." Mom comforts me, her hand running up and down my back.

"Mom's right. Other than looking terrified of being surrounded by us Johanssons, she seems happy. There's a relief in her eyes. It's going to take time for her to fully settle and find herself again. But you are going to be there supporting her in getting back to that person. We all are going to be here for her. For both of you." Vanessa adds on, making me smile. "Now, do you have this assholes address. I'm thinking of paying a visit." She asks with a chuckle. "Country jail right now. Where he's meant to be!" I reply, grateful that he's not going to be able to get anywhere near Y/n.

After a moment to compose myself, we start back on finishing everything for dinner. I call in Colin to help take the food through whilst the others move to the dining room, sitting at the table. Rose instantly sits next to Y/n, making me smile at how much she loves her big sister already. Hunter takes the seat the other side almost as quickly, clearly deciding that she's his new favourite.

Conversation through dinner flows easily and I can see Y/n get more comfortable as the time goes on. There's lots of laughter and storytelling, mostly embarrassing ones about me, but Y/n is loving them, so I'll happily let her know them all to see her smile.

By the time it comes to everyone leaving, I'm a little sad. But I couldn't be happier with how it went. Mom's already planning to pop around in the week to have some one on one time with her after school and Y/n seemed really happy about that. As they're leaving Adrian pulls me into a tight hug. "I'm glad she's home. Take care of her. Whoever hurt her has done a number on her." He says to me quietly. I look at him shocked and he just shrugs. "She has all the signs. It wasn't hard to work out." He answers my unasked question. "I'll protect her with everything I have." I assure him and he smiles.

Hunter approaches me next with the biggest grin on his face. "I'm so happy to have a new partner in crime. Rose is great but, you know, she's only 7. With Y/n the possibilities are endless." He smirks. "Oh, I'm going to regret introducing you two aren't I." I sigh, knowing that I'm going to be on the receiving end of his pranks now. "Love you sis!" He shouts as he heads out to the car. I flip him off which only makes him laugh harder.

With the door closed I let out a deep breath, grateful that it went so well. I go to the living room and see that Y/n isn't there. I find her in the kitchen, clearing up from dinner. "Oh, you don't have to do that sweetheart." I tell her, taking the plates from her hands. "It's ok. You cooked. I'm happy to clean." She tells me, taking the plates back from me. "Fine, but I'm helping." I insist, starting to pack up the leftovers.

"Your family is lovely." Y/n breaks the comfortable silence we had. "They're your family too and they love you. So much. In fact, I'm scared that Hunter is going to try and steal you away from me." I joke making her laugh. "Yeah, he needs to work on his prank ideas. They're a bit childish." She shares. Clearly Rose was the mastermind of all their ideas!

"Seriously though Y/n. You are apart of this family. You never have to give them a label, but they love you as their granddaughter and niece, and they always will." I reassure her and I notice her eyes gloss over. "I never had more than my parents before." She shares at a whisper. I move towards her with my arms open and she falls into them. "Well, you do now and we're not going anywhere." I tell her firmly. "I love you my sweet baby." I tell her and she squeezes me that little bit tighter. "Thank you for saving me." She says it so quietly, I barely hear it. But I do and it completely breaks me.

The tears silently fall down my cheeks as I hold my daughter. I don't ever want to let her go. I want her to be safe and loved and happy and I will do everything in my power to make sure that she gets the best in life.

__________

"Come on mom! We're going to be late!" Rose shouts to me from the hallway. I head downstairs with Cosmo in my arms. "Ok ok! I'm here, I was just getting your grumpy pants brother ready." I inform her but she huffs. "We're going to be late and miss out on the good seats if we don't leave now!" She complains with a pout. "I know honey. Colin is just getting his wallet." I tell her, making sure that we have everything.

We're about to head to Y/n's school and watch their opening game of the season. I'm so excited to see her in action. She loves soccer and I'm happy that I'm finally able to share in that passion with her. Rose is beyond excited and has even made her a sign to cheer her on with.

Colin jogs down the stairs and I smile as we're all wearing blue, their home colours. Rose is very sad that you can't buy a jersey so she can match her sister, so we found the closest top that we could instead.

The whole way there, Rose is excitedly rambling about how she hopes that Y/n scores the winning goal. Then as soon as the car is in park, she's undone her own belt and jumped out, rushing us all along. I'm surprised at how many people are here to watch the game. Seems like they're popular. I let Rose lead us to where she wants to sit and we end up at the halfway line and about midway up the bleachers. "These are great seats." Rose says proudly, wiggling with excitement. The team are out warming up and my eyes roam over them to find my daughter. "There's Y/n!" Rose calls out, pointing towards her on the pitch. She looks really focused as she runs through her drills with the team.

The coach blows the whistle and the team move towards the touchline to grab water. Y/n catches a glimpse of us and looks completely shocked as we wave at her. She says something to her coach, who nods, and she makes her way up to us. "You came?" She asks as if she can't believe it. "Of course, we did. We promised we would." I reply, ignoring the sadness that she's not had this support before.

"Sissy! I made you a sign!" Rose tells her excitedly, showing what she had made. A wide smile appears on her face. "Thanks Rosebud. I love it." She returns. "I better get back down but thank you for coming." She thanks. "Good luck kiddo! Kick some ass!" Colin encourages her, making her laugh as she jogs back down to her team. "Colin that's a bad word." Rose scolds him. I hide the laugh fighting to come out as Colin looks like a naughty schoolboy.

My eyes don't leave Y/n as I watch her with her team. My pride only grows when I notice that she puts on the captain's armband. They get together as a group and put their hands in the middle before call "Panthers." We all cheer as they take their places on the pitch. My excitement is only growing as I get to see how good she is.

Turns out she's very good. She controls the ball so easily and commands her team like someone far older than she actually is. A mistake in the back line results in the opposition scoring and all of the girls' heads drop. But Y/n gets them together, clearly giving them a pep talk. They have an extra bounce in their step after that talk and they retain all the possession and pressure for the next 20 minutes.

With a beautiful bit of skill, Y/n darts around two defenders. She looks up at the goal, probably contemplating shooting. "Shoot!" Rose is shouting from beside me. But she does the opposite just as a defender approaches her, she does a low cross finding Laura, who hammers the ball in the back of the net. It's like she had a sixth sense that she was there. Her gaze wasn't even in that direction.

We all jump up from our seats cheering whilst the team celebrate. Whilst I watch them set back up, I can see why they get such a good crowd here. The team are really talented. By half time it's 1-1 but the panthers have had all the pressure and Y/n has had a couple of close calls. It feels like it's only a matter of time until they score.

Whilst they're taking on water at halftime, Y/n looks up towards us and Rose jumps up and down waving. Y/n's smile grows as she notices and waves back. "She saw me!" Rose points out triumphantly.

The second half starts with an exhausting pace. The passing technique of the girls is amazing, but their opposition has picked up their game. It's end to end and my nerves are building as the opposition striker shoots and the ball just scraps past the post for a goal kick.

Y/n calls out to the team to calm down, making the gesture with her arms at the same time. I feel like I'm seeing Y/n in her element. She is so confident and sure of herself. I hope that in time, we'll get to see this away from the soccer pitch.

The panthers get a corner and Y/n is tussling with a defender in the box. Just as the ball is about to be hit, she does a dummy move, tricking the defender and giving herself space in front of her. She jumps in the air and her head connects with the ball. It feels like it's going in slow motion as we watch the ball move through the goalkeeper's hands and into the net. "YES!" I jump up cheering, Rose following my lead. She lifts her sign in the air cheering loudly. Colin has Cosmo bouncing on his hip and it seems, watching his sister play soccer has gotten him out of his grumpy mood.

The intensity of the game doesn't drop though. If anything, the opposition pick up even more with conceding that goal. Y/n is spending a lot more time in a defensive position, showing her ability once again. She really is talented. I know I'm biased, but I truly believe it.

It looks inevitable that the opposition are going but score but Laura makes a break, but their defence manages to get back pretty quickly. She looks up and sees Y/n stood just outside the box. With a cheeky back pass, she gets the ball to Y/n and moves out the way as Y/n takes the shot as soon as the ball as at her feet. She hits it sweetly and it curls into the top right hand corner. Once again, we're jumping around in the stands.

By the looks on the team's face, none of them can believe the shot, Y/n looking more shocked than anyone. Laura runs at her, jumping in her arms. Y/n holds her easily, spinning around. I don't know if they realise it, but they are definitely having a moment. Y/n is looking at her like she's hung the moon and stars.

The rest of the team are soon joining in the celebrations, their moment over. But as they go to retake their position for the restart, Laura loops her arm around Y/n's shoulder and gives her a kiss on her cheek before running off. I chuckle to myself when I can see Y/n's cheek instantly blush. Oh, she's definitely smitten!

After a nervous last 5 minutes, the final whistle blows, and we join with the rest of the crowd to applaud the team. We wait for a few minutes as the teams shake hands and Y/n thanks the referee. Rose all the while getting more impatient. Before I know it, she's run off and is making a beeline towards Y/n.

Though my worries instantly dissipate as Y/n bends down and scoops her sister up and rests her on her hip as she listens to her little sister ramble excitedly. I slip my hand in Colin's and we walk down towards the touchline so we can congratulate her too. I watch as Y/n proudly introduces Rose to her teammates before her and Laura walk in our direction.

Laura is looking a little nervous as she approaches us. "Hi Scarlett, Colin. Little Cosmo." Y/n greets us, placing Rose on the floor and pinching at Cosmo's cheek. "I'd like you to meet my best friend, Laura." She introduces her friend. "Sorry about how I spoke to you both last time." She apologises but I instantly wave her off. "No, you were protecting Y/n. I appreciate that she's got you in her life." I reassure her and notice her shoulders instantly relax.

"You played an amazing game. Congratulations the both of you for scoring." I congratulate them. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that was one of the best games of soccer I've watched." Colin adds on, making Y/n beam. "Can you believe the goal she scored at the end. She's going to be a superstar." Laura compliments Y/n, nudging her shoulder. "Oh, shut up. It was just a fluke." She tries to play it off. "Besides, it's because I had the best partner up front." She returns, making Laura's cheeks blush too.

"Are your parents here Laura? I'd love to meet them." I ask, excited to get to know the people in Y/n's life. "No, they're both working tonight." She responds a little disappointed. "Yeah, but it's the first game they've missed in ages." Y/n comforts Laura, slipping her arm around her waist. "Yeah, you're right. It's nice to see you final have someone cheering for you. And all in matching colours too." Laura laughs. "This one wasn't happy that she couldn't buy your jersey." I share, making Rose pout. "I'll see what I can do." Y/n smiles at Rose, running her hands through her hair.

"If you're parents are out tonight. Why don't you join us for dinner." I offer, smirking internally when I see Y/n's eyes light up. "Oh, you don't need to do that. I don't want to be a bother." Laura deflects. "You will never be a bother, Laura. You're always welcome at our house." I reassure her. She looks to Y/n who's nodding like a happy puppy. "Ok, that would be lovely. Thank your Mrs Johansson." She returns. "Oh please, call me Scarlett. I'm not old yet." I joke, making the others laugh.

We wait for Y/n and Laura to change and start on the drive home. I'm excited to get to know Laura a bit more. I also want to see if my instinct is right and see if these two are as smitten with each other as they look. I hope so, because she makes Y/n incredibly happy!

Part 6

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Thoughts

So I have now watched and then rewatched part 2 of Bridgerton season 3, again like part 1, I really enjoyed these episodes and I can now says that I enjoyed the season overall. I will say that I think the second half felt a little more rushed, and there were some writing choices I wasn't a huge fan of, but as a whole it was a solid season. So here are my thoughts on part 2, as I said before my part one thoughts I have not read the books so I went into this blind and my reaction is based entirely on the show alone, also spoilers obviously.

I loved the scene were colin and penelope announced their engagement to the bridgertons. Penelope looked so nervous as they were going in, and it was clear she was worried about their reaction, so it was so sweet and moving when you see how overjoyed they are and how welcoming they are of penelope. Well everyone but Eloise but then she knows about Penelope being whistledown and so is understandably worried about colin's heart getting broken.

I also did find it kind of amusing that the featheringtons, and benedict found out throw lady whistledown and that Anthony and Kate found out right before they were about to announce that they were expecting and then realised they couldn't. On the subject...

KANTHONY BABY LETS GO! Seriously though I was so happy to find out they have a little one on the way.

Another moment I loved was when Colin called out Lady Featherington. I did think that Lady Featherington was being more than a bit hypocritical in the moment before when she accused Penelope of entrapping Colin, as if in season 1 she wasn't actively helping marina entrap Colin or any other gentleman they could and as if she herself didn't orchestrate a scenario with prudence to entrap cousin jack into marriage in season 2. So yeah I am glad Colin called her out on it and on how she has overlooked penelope all this time. But I also think Lady Feathrington's reaction to it was interesting because for the second time this season we actually see her showing guilt and actually having a conscience and reflecting on her words and actions which I just found really interesting to watch, I loved her arc this season.

The polin mirror/couch scene was 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥! No notes, perfect, loved the comunication they had throughout, making sure the other was ok with everything that was happening.

The scene between Kanthony where he is laying on her belly was just too precious. And of course seeing Newton is always a win.

Speaking of precious, John Stirling and Francesca talking about marriage whilst out walking and how after he asks if she wants to be married and she says yes but she hopes her husband doesn't hide her piano stool and he has that slip up and says he wouldn't dream of it, clearly showing he is already imagining himself as her husband. Not only that but I love that John loves Francesca for her she is, he wouldn't care if she did wake him up early hours of the morning playing her piano, he wouldn't begrudge her, because her love for piano and music is part of the reason why he loves her.

Another thing I did like was how Lady Featherington did defend Penelope to her sisters and said Featherintons support one another, but it was very telling how Prudence and Phillipa react to this, it just shows how much these women have pitted and competed against each other. I did love the whole plotline of them all coming back together again though, like Lady Featherington helping Penelope with her wedding and prudence actually saying nice things to penelope and how penelope gives money for her sister's to have the ball they want.

I could understand what Cressida's whole plan of revealing herself as lady whistledown was, and what she was hoping for, an escape from her parents and the marriage they were trying to set up for her, but this plan backfired really fast for her. The whole thing did make me feel really sorry for Cressida, obviously I was not ok with her blackmailing Penelope but I could fully understand that she was desperate and looking for a way out. She also didn't have anybody in her corner, she was completely alone really.

This might be a very unpopular opinion, and I do want to preface t by saying I do still love eloise, but that being said, there were times this season when I don't think she was a very good friend and where she rubbed me the wrong way. Namely when after she sought penelope's help with the whole cressida pretending to be Lady Whistledown thing and the result was Colin finding out and then Eloise was kind of like, not my problem about it after but also how she abandoned Cressida after she faked being Whistledown, like Eloise one, knew that Cressida wasn't really Whistledown but also two, knew what Cressida was going through with her parents trying to force her to marry, so I would have thought Eloise would have had more sympathy for her. Obviously I know this comes from how she was faced with scandal last season and wants to aviod it again and how she is still angry with penelope but I still wasn't a huge fan of her behaviour in these instances.

Speaking of Colin finding out that Penelope is Whistledown, that was a tough one to watch, I felt so bad for both of them, they were both so heartbroken. Colin's 'I will never forgive you' was harsh but I can understand why he was so angry. But I didn't like how later when she asks if he's going to call off the wedding he says he won't because they were intimate and that accuses her of entrapping him, like sir, you were the one who initiated it. Penelope was a willing participant for sure but he was the one who took her to the mirror and began to undress her etc. Again understand he was angry but still.

But their little dance in the church earlier in the episode was absolutely adorable.

Another scene that I thought was kind of sad though, was the conversation between Penelope and her mother about how Ladies don't have dreams they have husbands. It goes to show how their society puts so little worth in the Ladies of the ton, outside of marriage. They put all this pressure on them to marry and have children and yet it seems so many of them wish for more than that.

You know what though, the Polin wedding was beautiful. I was a little sad running up to it because they were both so upset and I was worried it was going to be a kind of angsty, sad affair. But the look on Colin's face when he saw Penelope in her wedding dress, you could see how in love with her he was, he was just in awe. I also loved that moment when Penelope hesitates coming down the aisle, she's looking around anxiously at all the people staring at her and you can see she's becoming overwhelmed, but then she locks eyes with Colin and he gives her that little smile and a nod and you can see her get her confidence back and she smiles back and continues down the aisle. I really appreciated that moment and how throughout the wedding they showed that these two people do genuinely love each other no matter what issues they are currently dealing with.

Also penelope looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress and I love that she was walked down the aisle by her mother, Portia looked so proud of her too, I also thought it was nice to see both Eloise and Prudence get emotional when watching Polin get married, there's this moment after Polin are announced husband and wife, where you can see prudence clapping and looking overjoyed and Eloise is crying. It was interesting to see these two in particularly being moved by the ceremony because they've both had some tension with Penelope this season, eloise because of her anger and prudence because of her jealousy. But here they look genuinely happy for her and I just loved that.

Portia finding out about Penelope being lady whistledown was interesting because as angry as she was I do think she was genuinely scared for penelope and how cressida was blackmailing her and whether that would lead to colin asking for annulment. The scene where they tell Colin and Eloise about the blackmail was this strange mix of frustrating and humour, except I don't think it was supposed to have that humorous element. But it was frustrating how both Colin and Portia were talking over Penelope and making all the decisions for her, again I do think this comes from their worry but it was still frustrating to see them not listening to Penelope. But also I can't deny it was kind of funny when Penelope revealed that she has made over 10,000 pounds through whisltedown, especially when you think back to the struggles Portia went through with them almost ending up penniless, to be fair to Penelope its not like she knew how close to penniless they were. I also found it kind of funny how colin was all I will fix this and in the end he just made it worse.

Benedict is bisexual and experiences his first throuple. Honestly this wasn't surprising to me at all. I kind of suspected he was from the moment he met that painter and went to that house party in season 1. So good for him. Although I will say that his threesome was cut and edited kind of oddly, I feel like instead of splitting it up they should have just kept it as one complete scene, because they way they cut it between different scenes kept throwing me off, everyone else's lives are falling apart and then there was Benedict having the time of his life. I think the constant shifts in tone from people having very serious conversation to Benedict having some fun, sexy times was a bit jarring, but hey maybe that was just me. `

I loved seeing Penelope and Eloise coming back together during their conversation while they were waiting for Colin, it just felt so good to see them laughing together again.

It was interesting learning more about Danbury's past and about her relationship with her brother and why she was so angry with him, that scene where they have it out, so to speak, and resolve their differences was another great moment. There were alot of moments like this in the season where people who had been at odds with each other and had broken relationships, found their way back to each other. I would say the theme of this season was very much about healing and reuniting with your loved ones.

Portia and Penelope had some great conversations this season but my favourite has to be the one right after Penelope walks in on Portia's conversation with the Solicitor and learns about Portia stealing the tons money. I think it was a very open and vulnerable conversation for them both and some very good points were made. I also love how we can see how impressed and proud Portia is of Penelope for building something that was entirely her own.

I loved Penelope's speech that she makes when she is revealed as Lady Whistledown. Not going to lie I did get a little emotional and teary eyed over it, just a 10/10 speech. I am also glad that they didn't have Penelope give up Whistledown, though I should think it'll be harder for her to get gossip now, if I were a member of the ton and I caught a glimpse of penelope nearby at a ball I would immediately stop talking about anything scandalous, but then I guess people won't care about spreading other people's gossip.

Ok so now we're at a part that I didn't like. I could be reading into this all wrong but it seemed like when Francesca met John's cousin Mikaela there was some kind of romantic energy there. Here's why I am not a fan of this. Throughout the whole season I have loved the relationship between John and Francesca and the reason why I thought it was a beautiful love story was because it was so different, it had this quietness about it, I suppose the word is, it wasn't your usual sparks fly at first sight type situation. Throughout the season we've had Violet talking about how she thinks Francesca needs someone more outgoing, someone who is kind of the opposite to her and who can pull her out of her shell, and how people in love should have this profound, passionate moment when they meet and fall in love. To me it seemed like through Francesca and her opposition of all that they were telling as that this didn't necessarily have to be true, that the loud, passionate, spark filled love is the only one way to love and sometimes you can have a more simplistic love, as Violet said their is a beauty in the slow approach. This was something I wholeheartedly agreed with and I loved that for once a tv show was exploring this option for a change. I feel like tv shows and films have tricked women all around the world into believing that if you don't have that first initial spark then that's not the person for you, when in reality love and attraction can grow over time as you get to know a person. I can not tell you the amount of times I have seen a friend pass on a perfectly nice guy with the statement of 'he's nice, there's nothing wrong with him, but there just wasn't a spark.' I blame the media industry, I really do. But anyway coming back from the tangent, they built this beautiful, simple love story where two introverted people met, understood each other and fell in love, then in the last ten minutes of the season torpedoed it, in like a couple of minutes flat. Because then Francesca meets extroverted, confident Mikaela, you know Francesca's opposite who can pull her out of her shell that she's perfectly happy being in, and sparks instantly fly and Francesca is fumbling over her words and blushing. I just feel like this one moment negates everything that came before and everything they said about the slow approach being something that can also be beautiful. It cheapens John and Francesca's relationship so much and then there was that weird look Francesca had when they kissed at their wedding, so now it looks like they are trying to say their marriage was some big mistake. I don't know maybe its because I am an introvert myself who got tired of being told I should come out of my shell more often but I just didn't like this plot point. But I guess I'll have to reserve my full judgement until I see the rest of their story in following seasons, but as it stands at the moment I was not impressed with this writing choice.

I loved the ending with them showing that Colin was now a published writer, Penelope was still successful with Whistledown and that all three sisters had babies. As I predicted Prudence and Phillipa had girls and Penelope and Colin had a little boy who will be the future Lord Featherington, but I just liked that scene with all the featherington women together and they're all happy for each other and admiring their little ones.

So that's all my thoughts on part 2, I really loved this season and Polin's relationship, I wish we had seen a bit more of Kanthony, I do find it said that it seems like once their story is told the couples from previous season's are sort of phased out, like we didn't see daphne at all this season and with them sending Anthony and Kate to India I suspect they won't be in next season, I hope they are but I am doubtful. I guess it so they can make room for the new storylines but still I miss those characters. Anyway I am going to stop rambling now.

[gayf1hoe]

Part 6

I wake up to the sound of people banging on my door, I quickly rise thinking it's an emergency but I open the door to Yuki and Pierre inviting me down to breakfast. I shoot them a heavily judgemental look for waking me up at whatever time it is. I slam the door in their faces and head back to my bead to check my phone and see that it's only 7:30 on Wednesday morning.

I spend about 20 minutes in bed just scrolling through emails and social and see that my training starts at 9:30 so I decided to drag myself away from the comfort of my bed and go and have a shower, and get dressed, I try to find my sportswear as I will be in the gym for most of the day, after making myself look semi presentable I head down to the breakfast area where Oscar waves at me to join them at the table I quickly grab some orange juice and a fruit bowl before sitting down.

Everyone is chatting away and then Oscar sparks a conversation between us and says “So did you get back alright last night?” he said with a sly smirk on  his face “Yep fine” I responded whilst showing fruit into my mouth, “Who walked you back?” he pressed on “Charles did” I said quite assertively, this soon caught the attention of Yuki, Pierre, Daniel and Max who all chime in giving each other looks like they know something I don't. I quickly dismiss the conversation and ask George what the team plan is for training. He informs me that we are in the Gym doing Physical and Reaction Training, these types of days are what make me regret being an F1 driver.

We spent the next half an hour at the breakfast table chatting away about random topics that popped up, I however remained in silence trying to gather what the looks were about earlier. Zhou comes over and starts talking to me which quickly pulls me away from my thoughts, he is also one of the people I have known for the longest. We met when I was in F3 and he was in another racing series, we had quickly become friends as we have a lot in common.

He asks if he can't talk to me in ‘private’ this of course makes me quite concerned and my initial thought is that something is wrong, however when we get to a free table he asks me point blank “Are you in love with Charles?”I sit there in shock not at the question but at how straight to the point he is, I reply with “Yes… I think I am, what makes you ask?”.

“Well M/N you never have been good at hiding your feelings and it's always the same story with you look at when you dated Mick or even Nyck, you started off hating them and ended up loving them” he says with a confident smile knowing he is completely right. I sigh in anger with myself for being so predictable and we talk for a while about how I truly feel about Charles and he helps me realise that we should try and be friends first before developing into something more.

George calls me over to signal that we have to head to the gym and start training when we arrive it's is completely empty except both of our personal trainers who are waiting for us George's takes him over to the treadmill for endurance training where as my trainer makes me do reaction tests for a whole 2 hours and by then I have had enough we take a quick break during our break me and George talk despite being remakes we haven't had much time to talk.

“So how does it feel to be in F1 and have won your first ever Grand Prix?” He asks, “Well Mr journalist it feels pretty cool and I have enjoyed every moment so far and can't wait for the next race” I respond and like every other conversation that I have the question of “so what's going on between you and Charles?” pops up and simply replies “We got off on the wrong foot but we are making efforts to be friends”, “Just friends?” He inquires I let out an exasperated giggle as say “for now”, after about 35 minutes of boycotting physical torture our trainers have had enough of us and make us get back to working out.

We reverse roles and George is now stuck doing reaction training and I'm on the treadmill doing endurance training and half the time I'm zoned out ahead of me apart from the odd time when my trainer asks me a question. Me and my trainer have been working together for years, he became my trainer when I was in F3 and then he moved up with me and worked with me simultaneously when I was in F2 and the AlphaTauri driver development program. He knows me extremely well given that he's known me since I was a teenager he's always been someone I could trust and also get away with a lot with

After about 45 minutes he can tell this really isn't my thing so he says it's OK to change up and do something else we do some weighted neck exercises to prepare for G Forces by the end of this the gym is now beginning to fill up with other drivers and other team trainers so we decode to call it a day.

I have sweat dripping down my face, and my once white shirt has become semi-clear with it attaching itself to my skin. Just as I was walking out I see him… Charles I try to pluck up the courage to ask him if he would like to spend the day with me tomorrow but he's currently talking to Max. I wait for about 10 minutes before they wrap up their conversation when I approach him. I quickly regret this when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I'm a sweaty mess but it's too late now he's acknowledged me. “Hey” I say, he swiftly replies “hey is everything OK”, “yeah everything's fine I was wondering if…… you wanted to come with me to this museum tomorrow…. It's fine if you can't I -” I am quickly cut off by him responding with “of course I would love to” I'm genuinely surprised he agreed “OK cool meet in the lobby tomorrow morning at 10” my response slight ecstatic “OK cool, oh by the way M/N loving the ‘shirt’” he said as he walked away just as well as it made me blush like mad.

I head back to my room extremely happy and I bump into Daniel who says “Who put a spring in your step?” “ oh nothing I had an energy drink so I have lots of energy” I say absolutely lying through my teeth.

Charles Pov:

After M/N walked away I could feel myself blushing for some reason. It's probably because his shirt was soaking with sweat and you could clearly see his entire torso. Daniel enters and slaps me in the back and says “What did you do to make M/N so happy?” he questions quite inquisitively I'm confused as to what he means a say “what do you mean what have I done?”, “ that man walked out of here with a smile looking like he was high on life when all day when I've walked last he's looked very miserable” his response shows how invested he really is, I smile at the fact I could be the reason he is so happy considering I was the one who pissed him off so much before I humour Daniel and decide to tell him “we are going to the museum together tomorrow” I say, “LIKE A DATE?” he says a little too loud for my liking yet no one heard "No, I don't think so, I don't know…. Does he think it's a date?” Daniel laughs at my confusion and asks “Do you think it's a date?” I reply with “I don't know” he then asks “would you like it to be a date?” This question requires more thinking than the last one and I finally fathom a response.

“Yes I would like to think it's a date”

Daniel smiles like the labrador he is satisfied with my answer, “what do you think he thinks it is?”, “I'm not sure” I reply “Well would you like me to play matchmaker and see”, “absolutely not” I rapidly reply with every worst case scenario running through my mind as to what could go wrong with Daniel handling my love life.

As I continue training over the afternoon I have one question “does he think it's a date?... Does he want it to be a date?.... Would he even go on a date with me?”

[angelst4re]

Hello dear Ash! Firstly I have to say that you are an amazing writer, like TRULY and you're such an amazing and sweet person,so kind and caring 😭❤️ilysm.

And i have a request if you don't mind. Umm so i was thinking of a maybe a demon/devil Jamie who would practically be the one sneaking up to your room at nights, talking to you, making you fall in love with the devil, doing as he says and maybe JUST MAYBE after a while things would get heated🫣and well...yk what happens. I remember seeing you post that the works you wrote were becoming routine and u wanted to spice things up so yeah😌 I'll leave all the details to you because you know what to do. LY & THANK YOU🖤🖤🥹

hello lovely!! ahh you're so sweet :') thank you so much!! i'm sobbing, that actually means so much to me, bless you <33

Dance With the Devil - Devil/Demon!Jamie x Reader

summary: in the request :)

warnings: NSFW!! contains smut!! if you're uncomfortable then please don't read, my love <3

notes: i saw this request come through last night and because i couldn't sleep i started writing... at 2am??!! so i apologise if it's quite wild...

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

You sat up in your bed, reading a chapter of a book you picked up at the library, watching the time, waiting for the clock to strike 12am. Waiting for him.

For the last 2 months you had noticed something in your life felt… different. You felt like you were being watched, you felt like you were being followed. In situations like this, you should probably feel scared, even worried, but you felt a kind of safety when he was around. He wouldn’t let anything hurt you.

You would wake up in the mornings to find your bedroom windows were slightly opened, sometimes your curtains would also be open, giving him a clear view of you whilst you slept.

You thought for a while about what to do, and by the end of the week you had a plan. You would stay awake and catch him!

You returned home from work and carried out your usual routine, knowing he was about and most likely kept a close eye on you. You ate dinner, took a shower and got ready for bed, but whilst you lied under the covers, you didn’t allow yourself to drift into sleep. You had to stay awake, you had to meet him.

For hours the only sound that filled your room was the ticking of your clock, until you hear a tap on the window. Did he know you were still awake? You didn’t move, you barely even flinched as your window was opened from the outside and he stepped inside.

You rolled over in your bed to face the window, to face him, but you kept your eyes shut.

“I know you’re awake, sweetheart.” He spoke.

You expected him to have a deep, gravelly voice, like one that should belong in a horror movie. But his voice was sweet and gentle.

Not only did he voice surprise you, but his appearance also came as a shock. You were met with black boots, the tops of them covered by fitted black trousers. He wore a black suit jacket, covering a half-buttoned-up white shirt, revealing the edges of two chest tattoos. Even in the darkness of your room you could tell his hair was dirty blonde, and the length came just past his jaw. His eyes were a shade of blue you could only describe as heavenly.

“Hello.” You whispered as you made eye contact with him.

“Hello,” he replied with a slight chuckle, “you waited for me?”

“I wanted to know who was leaving my windows open in the middle of winter,” you explained, sitting up in your bed and signalling for him to sit down with you, “who are you?”

He smirked before replying,

“Darling, I’m the Devil.”

For weeks he would visit you, sometimes you would stay up and wait for him, other times you would have fallen asleep before he arrived.

You would speak for hours, until the sun rose and he had to leave. You speak about your day, your work, but you would also talk about power, how the world’s leaders were corrupt, and he would tell you his plans to change the world. And he wanted you by his side.

You became obsessed with him, you would do anything he would ask you. You would sit and wait for him every night, regardless of other plans, whether you were tired or not, you would wait for him.

You had never been in love before, you had never dated, you have never even kissed anyone before. At school you only had two, maybe three, friends who you had lost over the years. You interacted with other people at work, but you wished you didn’t have to. You only wanted him.

You wanted to be with him all the time, but he would only appear after the sun set. You check on your phone to see when the sun would set each day, you would then rush home and wait.

You looked back up at your clock and saw it was finally time. He was on his way.

*tap tap*

*tap tap tap*

You pushed back the blankets on your bed and stumbled over to the window, opening it wide for him.

You needed to see him today, you had a shitty day and you needed someone to talk to about it, and you knew he would sit and listen.

“Hello, angel.” He smiled once he was inside.

“Hello, sir.”

He examined your face, noticing something was different. You were sad?

He placed his finger under your chin and made you look up at him. He furrowed his eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” He asked

“Oh, Jamie.” You sighed, sitting back down on your bed, “I’ve had a terrible day.”

“What happened?” He asked, following you and sitting beside you.

“I think I’m going to lose my job, my boss wants to talk to me tomorrow and I know business hasn’t been doing too well these last few weeks so-“

“Shhh,” he calmed you as you began to get overwhelmed, “sweetheart, you know that’s irrelevant, you shouldn’t have to worry about something like that. When I get my way, you and I are going to be the king and queen of this pathetic world, we’re going to be Gods to these people, and you won’t have to work another day in your life.”

You nod your head, sniffling as he wiped away the tears beneath your eyes with his thumb. You looked up at him and noticed he was looking at your lips, and you suddenly felt a bit insecure, and he seemed to notice.

“Have you ever kissed anybody, darling?”

You shook your head.

A smirk grew on his pretty lips, he knew you hadn’t kissed anyone before, he knew you were pure. You were untainted. You were perfect.

He leaned in towards you, placing his hand on your cheek as his lips pressed against yours in a perfect, gentle kiss. You felt a white hot heat consume your entire body, filling you with a desire, a want. You wanted him.

As he began to pull away, you crashed your lips back into his, wrapping your arms around his neck to stop him from moving.

You weren’t sure what to do, how to kiss, but as you kissed him you felt him take over. He placed his hands on your waist, pulling you on to his lap without breaking the kiss.

“Would you do anything for me?” He asked against your lips before he began to kiss along your jaw.

“Yes, of course!”

“Then get down on your knees, darling.”

You did exactly as he asked with no hesitation, you shuffled about on his lap so you could stand, before falling to your knees in front of him, between his legs.

You could see a bulge, a hardness in his trousers, which he was working to free. As he unbuttoned his trousers and pulled down his boxers, his cock sprung up, slapping against his clothed stomach.

It was big, you were sure it was much bigger than average. There was a vein on the underside which caused you to lick your lips. The tip was red and leaking, you were sure it must have been painful.

“What do I do?” You asked, looking up at him through your lashes.

“You can use your hand, or your mouth. I want you to show me how much you love me, show me how you would give yourself to me, show me how you worship the devil. Can you do that for me, angel?”

“Yes,” you were basically panting, your mouth watering at the sight of his cock, “I’ll show you, sir.”

“That’s my good girl.” He smiled, running his fingers through your hair as you kissed the vein on the underside of his cock.

You weren’t sure what to do, and you felt a little bit embarrassed as you took him into your hand and began pumping him, your thumb ghosting over the tip with each pump.

An almost growl escaped his throat as you continued this action. You wanted to use your mouth like he said, but you were unsure how. You didn’t want to make a fool of yourself.

“Wrap your lips around it, sweetheart, take it down your pretty little throat.” He groaned, his head thrown back as his hand grabs your hair, creating a makeshift ponytail.

You do as he says, and you just about manage to fit him in your mouth. He lets out another moan as he feels the wet warmth of your mouth.

“That’s it, just like that, sweet girl.”

You try to take as much of him as you can, but as he hit the back of your throat, your gag reflex kicked in.

“Shhh, it’s okay. You can take a little more, cant you, angel? Hm?”

You nod your head and try again, and you manage to take another inch this time. He praises you, he tells you how well you’re doing for him, how he’s proud of you, and then you feel his cock twitch in your throat.

“Mm, fuck. You can stop now, darling. Let’s do something else.”

He takes your hands, which were placed on his thighs, and he helps you up before pushing you down onto your bed, your head against the pillows. You barely had time to register what was going on before his lips crashed against yours again.

You felt as his left hand began to slide down your body, it was placed on your waist with a tight grip before it began to slide down, down to the place where you ached to be touched.

His hand was placed flat on your clothed cunt, he watched you with excited eyes as you bucked your hips up, searching for some friction, anything to bring you pleasure.

Your eyes met his as he slipped his fingers beneath the material of your underwear, you were quite glad you only wore a baggy t-shirt to bed tonight, and you were sure he was also grateful.

“You’re soaked, sweetie,” he whispered, pulling away from the kiss briefly, “you really want to go further? You really want me?

“Yes, sir. I do, please!” You whined, your fingers tangling in his blonde locks as you pulled him back in for a kiss.

His thumb teased your clit gently as his finger slowly dipped into your hole, stretching you out for the first time.

“Stop teasing,” you groaned, “I can take it, I can take you.”

“I don’t want to hurt my pretty darling, though.” His voice was soft, but you could also sense a hint of teasing in the way he spoke.

“Maybe I want you to hurt me.” You whispered.

Suddenly, it was like a switch was flipped. He tore the t-shirt from your body, discarding it on the floor as he tore your underwear next, leaving you completely bare underneath him.

“You’re… beautiful.” He told you, running a hand over your breasts which were now exposed to him as you hadn’t put a bra on after your shower. “I never thought anything could be so perfect.”

His lips were back on yours within seconds and you could feel the soft head of his cock rubbing against you, and it sent shivers down your spine. It felt truly delicious.

As he began to push himself inside of you, you felt an intense stinging, it burnt like hell. You tried not to clench around him, but you couldn’t help it, everything felt so intense.

You bit down on his shoulder as the final inches slid into you, you felt so full. You never thought a feeling like this could exist. It was perfect.

As he began to move, you let out a pained gasp, to which he smirked at and continued to thrust.

He placed one hand on your waist, holding you in place as he fucked into you, and the other was beside you on your mattress, holding himself up. He looked down at the expression on your face, one he could only describe as angelic. Your lips slightly parted, your eyes squeezed shut, he knew you were starting to feel the pleasure by now.

Your pussy clenched around his cock, causing him to twitch inside of you. He wanted this moment to last longer, but he knew you would both come undone soon. You were a virgin, you felt so tight and warm around him, it was impossible to hold on any longer.

“Darling,” he panted, “are you… ready?”

“I am, I’m ready, sir.”

“Good girl, let go for me, cum for me, angel, can you do that? Cum for the devil.”

“Yes.” You whimpered, before your body was overtaken by a stronger force, something so unexplainable, you could only describe it as bliss.

“My sweet girl,” you heard him say as your vision began to blur and black spots filled your sight, “you were always so perfect.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

When your senses came back and you finally awoke, you realised you were not in your bedroom. You were not even in your home. You were somewhere else.

You looked down to see you were wearing a cream silk nightgown, and you were lying on a big white bed. Everything looked so expensive, so fancy, like it was fit for a queen.

“Ah, you’re awake!” You heard him say, a smile spreading across his face as he stood by the bottom of the bed.

“Jamie? Where am I?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he tutted, “you’re home.”

[thewitchesworkshop]

Hello there everyone- I’ve said this before but My name is Alistair.

My name is Alistair… and I need help.

I’m a survivor of domestic abuse and discrimination. May 2024 I had to leave my mother’s house out of both psychological and physical safety. I tried to stay with my father for about 2 months but i’m gonna be honest the guy is batshit crazy and doesn’t want me living with him anyhow. (I’d be honest some people may say that I just poked the crazy bear with a stick if I ever tell anymore about it but to be fair the bear had already charged at me from 50ft away and tried to eat my face off) so. I’m living on my own now- i’m trying to get through college while living on my own with multiple disabilities. And so… i’m gonna need help.

But also i’m not gonna just ask for money and hope people are kind enough to donate. I want my little song and dance to be worthwhile for you. And i’m both an artist and writer. I have this world i’ve been working on for… years atp and I think i’m ready to begin to tell it’s story. So! I’m gonna start telling you this story, and i’m gonna give some options to people in the story! Not everything of course (gotta maintain a sensible plotline) but! Newcomers could potentially and drastically change the story at hand all with a simple vote.

So; if you sit and listen to my story, i’ll give you a thrilling script of an intricate world and life and if you want to you can potentially change the story, see some cool art and writing, and if you want give a few bucks my way?

If you like sound of that… then I suppose you get cozy as I begin!

*Ahem*

————————————————

Today was the day. The final day they were there.

Xey had set their alarm for an hour earlier than usual that morning. And now the soft golden dawn began to fill up the room. Their head swam with the dream of the might before whilst xey reached out to pick up the fingerpad next to their head.

Pressing a button finally turned off the ringing alarm of digital nonsense that was sounding out and had woken Key in the first place. Stiff joints worked to turn the hologram of the device on so its owner could view any messages, mail, etc that wasn’t seen the night before.

Though not before out of the corner of xeir eyes- Key noticed something shift across the room. A small groan or perhaps snore came from the same offender, and xey looked over to the bed on the other side of the room. Key’s little sister was still asleep despite the alarm going off. Her river of garnet hair only broken up by the blanket and her slowly growing white wings. Key themself couldn’t say anything about how she practically looked buried in her own hair. Xeir own scarlet cloudlike curls usually was covered their face at the time of waking up.

But back to the matter at hand- it was 5am according to the time on the hologram. Dawn had barely even broken- which meant it was the perfect time to pack xeir car and leave. Why exactly were they even leaving?? Well… it was a long story, but Key had gotten into a university and hadn’t told a soul about it. Xey already knew their parents would be angry and would want them to work where they were living in their hilly green town of absolutely nowhere’sville and help support their siblings. It would be something that the high school graduate would’ve considered… if it weren’t for their stepfather.

Key called him Dad- that was true… but the man acted nothing like a father to them. Compared to xeir half Etherian half siblings; he didn’t seem to really like his Angeical stepchild very much. Along with that- he made it clear about the fact that he didn’t like Key. And their mom was no help. Xey were… frankly tired of it. They needed an out. Getting into an Ivy League University was that out.

And so- in secrecy from parents… they needed to get up and pack their car with xeir things. Though- before that… xey felt like they needed to at least tell their siblings and perhaps get a little help from them. Telling Ruby was a cause of concern though… xey weren’t sure if she’d understand why Key was leaving since she was so young. Xey sat up in bed and stared at the little girl asleep on the other side of the other room.

What do you think xey should do?

Pt 2

[atlantisknits]

2 - Perseverance, small steps and a new FO

Hi hello,

Honestly, I was hoping to be able to write something sooner but I have not been in the right frame of mind to do so. For a while I’ve been feeling like I’ve been trapped by my circumstances, these things had been lowering me down to somewhere I didn’t want to be until last week the string that had been dangling me snapped and I hit a real low. I was left alone with my thoughts, for a week my mind spiralled until it reached a point where my body was shaking from lack of food and the stress I was under. This went on until the week passed and I realised that I could break out of this even if it means this pain lasts a little while longer, it would be worth it just to get out of this box I’m in and to be able to reach my full potential, or to at least figure out what that potential may be. 

Before this hellish week had begun where I accomplished nothing I did at least finish something that I had been working on for a little while - my Elisabeth Blouse by the wonderful Petite Knit. One night I stayed up until the early hours of the morning and finally bound off my last sleeve in a rosé fuelled knitting marathon only to wake up hours later to sit and weave in all the loose ends whilst sat in bed watching Next in Fashion (if you have been watching please let me know your thoughts and who your winner is/was).

I had been looking forward to knitting this pattern before it was even released- it was such a beautiful basic and I didn’t have anything like it in my wardrobe. Before my yarn had even arrived I was already thinking of potential outfits. I had spent hours pondering yarn choices and colour options and crossed my fingers that I had made the right choice. I had opted for Filcolana Pernilla as this is one of the yarn options the pattern suggests and is actually also the cheapest (I’m from the UK and ordered from KNiTT). 

Admittedly, this was my first time knitting a collar which I was a little nervous about and now looking at the FO I know it could have been a little neater, but for my first attempt I don’t think it’s too bad! Something else I noticed about this project was that my gauge seemed to be a little iffy meaning my stitches didn’t look as neat as I would have preferred. However, blocking totally worked its magic and evened everything out so much. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Filcolana Pernilla blocks beautifully. It also dried so quickly, which of course is an added perk as it just meant I got to wear my Elisabeth Blouse sooner. 

Now, let’s talk about the fit. Before blocking, I had my concerns. After blocking, I was in love. The length of the sleeves and the body are just right. The cut of the neckline isn’t too low that I would be self conscious or constantly trying to move or adjust it. 

The fabric is lightweight and ideal for layering making it a great transitional piece, although I was genuinely surprised by how warm a fabric the Filcolana Pernilla made. I’m also really happy with my colour choice and think it will work all year around (perhaps not the height of summer however haha, although with British weather you never know). 

I got weirdly emotional when I did finally finish my Elisabeth Blouse and then wearing it for the first time. There had been a few points where I just felt like giving up on it- I was so up in my head about stuff that I had going on that I was struggling to find the motivation to continue. However, I pushed through and the sense of accomplishment from having done so was definitely worth it- being able to take a second to acknowledge all the time and effort I had put into creating something by hand. 

This will act as a reminder to persevere and of what I am capable of when I do so. 

Also, in between writing this I had a telephone consultation to discuss my endo symptoms and treatment and was told that I could potentially be placed on a waiting list for surgery to help treat my endo pain. I had felt like I was getting nowhere with my treatment or being taken seriously so this definitely feels like a small win and hopefully a step in the right direction. 

It might only be a small step but it’s another step forward. 

Pattern: the Elisabeth Blouse by Petite Knit

Yarn: Filcolana Pernilla in shade Chai

Images originally posted to my Instagram: atlantis.knits

[itsayaze]

Day Two - "Wait, what did we come in here for again?"

I woke up early that day. 6AM. When I wake up before I actually want to I lay there for a few minutes to see if I'm AWAKE awake. And I was. That morning, I hopped into a Discord call with my friends and just hung around with them whilst I wrote the previous day's journal.

After that, I went outside for a quick nibble. There's a Famima directly across from the hotel, so I dropped in for a drink and my trusty favourite: tuna mayo onigiri. I returned to the hotel and got ready for the day.

Later on, we made our way towards the day's destination: Akihabara.

However, there's a little detour we need to take first. So from Shinjuku, we made our way over to Ochanomizu's Hijiribashi Bridge, because we had a mission: can we get the fated triple?

We patiently waited as many trains came and went, chatting all the while about a theoretical Pokemon Snap-like for transporting, since its a fairly universal hobby. After a while, we'd assumed that it wasn't gonna happen, and just as we were getting ready to walk to Akihabara, the 3 trains (and a bonus fourth) all rocked up at the same time!

With that achievement bagged, we headed off towards Akihabara to continue the Chigyu Championship.

Now, I stayed in AKB with my partner in 2018 when we visited it last, so I'd like to say I know it pretty well. And whilst it is mostly the same, the lack of Club SEGA breaks my heart a bit. I don't WANT to get into the gaming oasis. I want to join club SEGA!

Round 2 of the CC found us at Sukiya. We ordered up, and the fabulous cheese gyudon arrived. At Sukiya, they also give you tabasco sauce, so I slathered it over and stirred. The cheese is better than that at Matsuya, and the addition of tabasco elevates the dish higher. Sukiya currently sits at top of the ranking. Next up, Yoshinoya.

Beefed up, we went to Excelsior Coffee, where I got a iced latte. It was there that my buddy showed me a sticker he'd stumbled upon in a prior visit to the city. It was a lenticular sticker of a guy driving a car, but pulling over to stop and look at you at the right angle. There was a website on it, and it's a Web 1.0 delight.

We went to go and see if the sticker was still there out of curiosity.

Curiosity satiated, and we went to start the day's mission proper.

My goal for the day was to try and find a neGcon, the weird PS1 controller made by Namco. Apparently, it's a really good way of playing Ridge Racer, so it makes sense to have one.

We went to a few places. Let's do a quick rundown:

Super Potato: Cool retro shop, but now has become so well known its basically a tourist trap.

Beep: "Super Potato but gooder" - they also carry a lot of PC-98 stuff. Recently, they published Radirgy 2?! I must remember to grab a copy... As soon as I spotted the Game CD section my quest for the neGcon went straight out the fuckin' window. I grabbed a whole bunch of Ridge Racer OSTs and a Phantasy Star Online Ep I&II arrange album.

Surugaya: I've known about Surugaya when importing stuff using OneMap. I bought quite a lot of stuff in here, mostly some nice gifts for my girlfriend.

Trader: Usually good, but way too busy today. Maybe I'll take a nose another day.

Mandarake: Was comically busy. We were both kind of hurting at that point so we turned around immediately. We're heading to Nakano Broadway soon anyway.

The hell began when we went across Akiba to Yodobashi Camera. Initially, we were going there because Dave wanted to find a fancy-ass cable for his fancy-ass phone with a weird charging standard.

Just over an hour and a half later, I've got a whole bunch of shit in my basket. As we're standing at the register to deal with the tax-free shopping process, I turn to Dave and say "Wait, what did we come in here for again?"

We headed back to the Chuo Rapid to get home to Shinjuku, completely forgetting that another one of the things we were going there for was to play the big sitdown Densha de GO!! cabinet at Taito Station.

But, not to worry, there's a Taito Station at the East Exit of Shinjuku Station! The DDG website said that on its location list, they had one, so we figured we'd drop in on the way home to right that wrong.

Whilst yes, they technically have a DDG cab, it is not the full-size model. Which makes sense, considering the real estate. Dave asked me "do you really want your first experience of the DDG cabinet to be on the small one next to a Taiko?" and on that note, we'd left.

Thanks a lot, Big Crappy!

After a soak with a strong zero to calm my leg muscles down, and a quick nap to put some more gas in the tank, we went to a Bankara Ramen for an outrageously great bowl of tonkatsu. After this, a little stop into the Game Panic. This is pretty much our home arcade since it's right next door to our hotel.

That day, we focused mostly on racing games. I'd set up my profiles for Initial D THE ARCADE and Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 6RR. (MaxiTune 6 is hilarious, we've gone from 6, to 6R, to 6RR. Sadly, 6RR+ comes out a few days after I leave Japan, and it adds the new Nissan Fairlady Z... I love that car, man.)

So many intense races, close calls and outrageous drifts. I love these games so much. After that, I played Chunithm until a staff member came over to inform us it was closing time. I grabbed some snacks and something to drink from the nearby 7-Eleven, including Coca-Cola K-Wave, which is a limited-time K-Pop flavour, and a pouch of Coolish, of which I am now a massive fan.

Time to rest up. Tomorrow is the RGG pop-up shop and potentially Nakano Broadway.

[an-evergreen-rose]

When Worlds Collide Part 5

Kate Bishop x Female Spiderwoman reader (basically has Miles powers; invisibility, electric webs)

Summary: Fury decides your fate

Warnings: a tiny bit of angst I guess

A/N: just to let you know, I have written kates and y/n first kiss, however, I'm gonna need to fill in some gaps timeline-wise before I can give it to you... soz

MASTERLIST

You were currently in his lab as the Fury thought it best that they got to know more about you before they decided on what to do with you. So far Tony had found out your DNA  was mutated with a lot of similarities to Peters, and a few extra add ons of course, you were a total of 5 feet and 3 inches tall and you did in fact like cheeseburgers. Maybe that last part was more of Tony's curiosity than Fury's list of questions. 

Kate, unfortunately, had to answer Fury's questions also, so while she was sitting in his office, Clint by her side, you were getting stabbed by tiny needles by Tony while Natasha stood guard.

“How’d you get these powers, kid?” Tony asked whilst drawing some of your blood.

“Went somewhere I shouldn’t have,” You answered vaguely, gaining an eye roll from the redhead.

Natasha lent forward in her seat, resting her elbows on the desk she and Tony were sitting on, opposite from your chair. “You’re gonna have to tell us a bit more than that if you want to see your friend again, Y/N.”

You frowned slightly at her tone, only now realising that this questioning may be more of a friendly interrogation, considering you are a high-powered, random person to them who apparently, came out of a giant portal in the sky. The last time they dealt with portals like that, was in 2012 and the aliens were not so friendly so no wonder they were slightly on edge.

 “Sorry,” You began, making sure to stay on her good side, not too sure how well it would end for you if you didn’t. “My friends and I were out tagging this new spot in the subway-”

“-What the hell is tagging?” Natasha interrupted, clearly not happy with my story already.

“Um, like spray cans and stuff, we found the spot so we put our artwork up first so other people would know we were there.”

“So… vandalism.”

“You could say that I guess.”

Natasha let out a sigh, “Carry on.” This wasn’t what she wanted to be doing on a Thursday morning.

“So, we tagged the spot, took some pictures-”

This time, it was Tony who interrupted, “Do you have the pictures?”

“They are on my phone, which I don’t bring out when I’m on patrol. Too many cracked screens and not enough money to fix them,” you tried to lighten the mood, not liking the shift in the atmosphere ever since they separated you and Kate.

“So you have no proof?”

“I guess not, no.” God, you desperately wanted to please these people but they were making it so hard to do so.

Tony scribbled something down on a piece of paper, “Carry on.”

“When we were cleaning up our stuff I felt this sting on my hand and I saw this weird-looking spider had bitten me.”

“Weird how? Can you describe it?” Tony asked.

“It kinda glowed an ominous, mutated-looking green colour.” I watched as Tony underlined his scribbles, obviously wanting to know more.

“Then what happened?” he asked.

“I got sick. Fevers, headaches, cramps. They lasted about 3 days, I was basically bedbound and then I just slept for like 2 days straight. My roommate had to wake me up to eat and drink and stuff and then I woke up and I just felt different.”

This time, Natasha asked the question, “different how?”

“Stronger, more aware, and just like I had the power inside me,” I spoke, unconsciously using my hands to elaborate, “Eventually I figured it out, and then my roommate and I decided we could use it to help. We don’t have the avengers where I’m from, so it was kinda up to me to save the city.”

You continued to answer their questions, hoping that if you just complied, you would get to see Kate again. After about an hour, you were finally let out of the room, finding your raven-haired archer sitting on the floor outside Tony’s lab, her back resting against the wall and an incredibly bored look on her face.

“Jeeze, how many questions did you ask her?” Kate huffed whilst standing up.

“Enough to know she's not a threat,” Natasha answered, standing beside you with her arms crossed, her eyebrow raised watching the archer get up. “I’ll go speak to Fury and see what he wants to do, don’t go too far.”

—

“So, Miss Y/N Y/LN, 19 years old, biologically enhanced with spider-like powers along with bio-electricity and invisibility, fell from the sky and landed in our universe,” Fury began, sitting in his chair whilst you and kate sat on the other side, Clint and Natasha stood behind you. “With no way home.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at his words. In all the chaos that has happened you only now just realised the severity of it all. Everyone you left behind. Everyone you didn’t get to say goodbye to. You don’t know how you got here and you sure as hell have no idea how to get back. Kate noticed your shift in the mood but her chair was too far away for her to lend a comforting hand. Instead, she watched with a heavy heart as your eyes glassed over at Fury’s words.

“Tony has run some tests regarding last night's portal and has surprisingly accepted defeat in his ability to create another one to get you back home… I’m afraid you’re stuck with us.”

“She can stay with me,” Kate began, a hint of eagerness in her voice which didn’t go unnoticed by the red-headed assassin and her friend.

“That's very kind of Miss Bishop, however, I would like to keep a close eye on our new spider-friend, so she will be staying in the compound until I say so. I would like to understand more of her capabilities before I let her roam around the streets of New York with a rookie avenger.”

“But, Natasha said I wasn’t a threat?” You interrupted.

Fury looked at you with his good eye, and you regretted speaking immediately, “I find that actions speak louder than words, Miss Y/LN. Just because you answered some questions does not mean I trust you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. Sorry.” Even Kate knew not to break the silence that had consumed the room, only Natasha dared to speak up.

“You will start training with Wanda and Peter tomorrow morning,” she began, walking over to Fury’s desk to stand by his chair, directing her words at you. “I will be supervising, and relaying daily reports back to Fury on your progress and abilities.”

“Once we know more about you, perhaps you could make yourself useful and join us?” Fury added, his eyebrows raised with hope.

“And if I don’t?”

Fury let out a small chuckle, “Let's just say the U.S government don’t like enhanced personnel living unsupervised.”

“You’ll be put behind bars, kid,” Clint spoke up from behind you, “If you’re not with us, you’re a potential threat to us. The big boys don’t take threats too lightly, not when it comes to the enhanced.”

You sat silently for a moment, life as an avenger, or life behind bars. Not really much to think about really.

“I guess I’ll join your band then.”

---------

almosttoogay2function luminaaz thelonewriter24 redkaddict angel09172000 kassies-take girlssnrosess mxrvellouspidey belltako wandaroman0ff tu-mama727 7smexy7diva justhereformemes12345-blog lammy07 eonrioromanova me-uglypretty pinneapplequeenn puathepig lenalesbian kacka84 urmultifandomfan sheneonromanoff maximuscofi mxrvellouspidey livinginafanfic rooooooe

[knewyouwereaweirdo]

I know I already submitted one but maybe 'worst things done by the teens whilst drunk?' If you are busy that is totally understandable and pls take care of yourself ❤

thank you so much! :D altho i do have school and APs and SATs to juggle, a bit of wack headcanons would never hurt anybody (even me)! here we go:

theatre teens headcanons (drunk edition)

- buster is the one who has to be the one looking for these five when they're all drunk together and they can't handle each other.

buster: *finds all five of them sitting in the wet grass eating pizza* what are you guys doing here, it's 3 a.m., i've been looking for you kids for hours!

nooshy: shHHhHhHHh—

johnny: *in a hushed voice* be quiet!

buster: wait, why? are you hiding from someone?

ash: *completely serious* we're having a seance.

buster: ... with pizza?

meena: shHhH, it's our spirit food.

- (since they're all music progidies) of course they all go do karaoke together and they refuse to give their microphones to anyone else.

- but they do put on one hell of an impromptu show.

__________________________________________

johnny:

- johnny, when drunk, is one of the quiet-until-provoked types.

- he'll sit at the table for at least an hour without a word staring long and serious at something really random like a pen cap.

nooshy: hey, big guy—you alrigh'?

johnny: *has been sitting at the piano for over two hours* ... just peachy.

also johnny: *starts playing a flawless, intense version of rush e*

- meena went out into the kitchen to find johnny sitting on the kitchen floor trying to open up a can of tomato sauce with a screwdriver and hammer.

- there's not a single johnny-drunk night that the other four open the fridge and not find his converses sitting inside.

- "johnny, how many times have I told you, this is not a shoe rack—"

- johnny once decided it would be a good idea to chug an entire bottle of red gatorade after drinking.

- he threw up later on and everyone panicked and started crying and almost called the ambulance thinking he was puking blood or something—

- johnny wakes up in his bed one morning, having been drunk the previous night.

- he sees a glass of water on his bedside table with a post-it saying "for hungover me".

- he drinks it and realizes that it's not water but vodka.

- "drunk me is an idiot"

february 11th, 2022 - 2:53 p.m.

ash: lmaoo you were so drunk last night

johnny: no i wasn't??

ash: you ran up to this big hippo guy with a beard and hugged him and cried out "hagrid!! ur real!!"

johnny: oh no what did he do

ash: he hugged you back :)

johnny: ohhh so that's why my jacket smells like smoke

- johnny would drunkenly drone on and on about how his relationship between him and his dad grew over the years.

- honestly it's pretty wholesome to hear, and especially porsha could sit beside him and listen to him talk about it for hours.

- “and then i opened up the box and found a bunch of records and vinyls and posters of every single singer or band i’ve ever loved—my dad had gotten all tha’ for me for the birthday gifts that he hadn’t been able to give me for the past seven years—”

- porsha: *sob* that’s so beautiful—

- more and more welsh. more of his cockney accent. i will not stop mentioning this. i can not stress this one enough.

- johnny is a drunken piano-playing prodigy, he plays better than when he's sober and six flats or sharps will not stop him.

- when he plays he becomes as dramatic as hecc, and sometimes he sings his soul out (drunkenly but of course he never misses a note or beat).

__________________________________________

ash:

- she would drink, like, ten beers or five glasses of scotch and she'd be only a lil' bit tipsy, nothing else.

- but just because she's just a lil' tipsy doesn't mean she can't make a fool out of herself.

- once she decided to have a "couple" drinks while the other four had left the condo to do some grocery shopping—they came back to see the couch on fire.

- ash was standing on the coffee table headbanging while playing a sick riff on her guitar while the others began to run around panicking.

- she has a habit of waking up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep and gets a few cans of beer from the fridge (the crew had them stocked as soon as they were all finally of age to drink).

february 11th, 2022 - 3:38 a.m.

ash: hey johnny

johnny: yea?

ash: i gotta tell you somethin

johnny: ash it's past 3am.....

ash: this is really important

ash: take it seriously

johnny: okay

ash: i am the batman

johnny: goodnight

- the swear words just tumble out of her mouth like a goddamn waterfall.

- she wouldn't hesitate to call out a passerby or pedestrian for their "shitty sorry fuckin' excuse of an outfit".

- ash gives out more hugs than she gives out when she's sober.

- *sob* "ughhhh, i love you guys so much—"

- ash goes ahead and steals salt/pepper shakers from diners because she thinks they'd make good doorknobs.

- ash tried to set an alarm for the next day while she was drunk.

- it didn't go off for some reason, and then she checked and realized that she had just entered "9.45" into the phone calculator.

- ash tried to park johnny's truck (although he had desperately begged her not to) and parked it in the middle of a swimming pool.

ash: hey where r u

ash: no i'm in the living room where did u go??

ash: hold up i'll go find u

ash: okay i'm next to the inflatable flamingo

ash: bro that's where i am :/

ash: well i don't see u

__________________________________________

nooshy:

- takes her quite a while for her to get drunk.

- she hops up onto the table and starts breakdancing—cups and glasses fly everywhere.

- nooshy does the hardest dance moves she's ever managed while drunk, has trouble doing them sober.

nooshy: *finishes headspin* see, johnny? fuckin' sick— *pukes*

johnny: yea, sick is right.

- she would come back from the grocery store and reveal that she had bought every single microwave pizza from the freezer.

- "whaaat? it has tons of nutrition!"

- also gives out more hugs than she usually does.

- but nooshy also punches more than she usually does as well.

nooshy: i'm gonna punch you.

johnny: you wouldn't.

nooshy: *proceeds to sock johnny in the gut*

- nooshy becomes very frank yet blunt when she's had a little too much to drink.

- "i hate you for being so perfect in literally every way, it makes me feel bad about myself."

- ash: uhhh, okay—

- "but i also love you."

- ash: nice to know ig—

__________________________________________

porsha:

- very lightweight! do not give her anything more than one glass of beer, a warning here.

- gets very emotional over everything.

- drunk porsha would start crying while watching a comedy movie.

- vice versa, she'd start laughing while watching a sad movie/horror movie.

- it's not just a laugh, it's literally laughing hysterically with tears.

- she would also start crying if someone asked her if she needed anything or if any of her friends offered her a ride home.

- drunk porsha is the best at giving out the lung-squeezing hugs.

- she will cuddle anyone to death if she sees them looking sad.

- starts uploading the most random tweets and stories on her social media.

- "what if you cracked your knuckles and your fingers started to glow like glowsticks #glowsticks #fingers"

- "i hate it when i'm on a flight and i wake up on the plane and find a water bottle next to me, because i then think 'oh now i gotta be responsible for this water bottle' #hml"

- i take it back i love my life <3 see y'all in the north pole when i'm hungover"

- when she's sober she sees these tweets and stories, laughs at herself—and she just leaves them there.

- is capable of sleeping literally anywhere (it's usually underneath a table or a bed or a car).

porsha: *comes out to see the living room destroyed* what happened?!

meena: *calmly watches tv* we all played Scrabble together.

johnny: *calmly reads and drinks tea* you trashed the place when we wouldn't count "XQZ" as a word.

__________________________________________

meena:

- meena barely drinks and doesn't try to drink, but when she does she's just a complete opposite of what she usually is.

- she surprisingly can take a lot of alcohol before becoming fully drunk.

- decides to call alfonso and doesn't stop talking nonsense.

meena: and then i said to the guy, "no thank you!" AHHAHHAHAHA—

alfonso: heh, uh, listen, i gotta go take an order—

meena: *takes a sip from her vodka* —i really want myself to be loved by other people but i build emotional walls.

- she has literally no shame in being loud in public whatsoever.

- drunk meena would snort and laugh seeing someone fall or knock themselves over.

february 12th, 2022 - 6:29 p.m.

meena: hey ash

ash: whats up

meena: where did u go?

ash: im sitting right next to you :)

meena: then why are you texting me

ash: you texted me first u dum dum

- gets unnecessarily honest about everything.

- "i sometimes feel too insecure to do anything, i never know if i'm good enough and even though everyone tells me i'm good enough, i still feel safer just staying hidden without anyone letting me see my true self."

- "anyway, about that llama in the hat i saw—"

[thedandelion-writer]

❝sleeping habbits, mondstadt edition❞

Pairings: Diluc x reader, Mona x reader, Kaeya x reader, Jean x reader

A/N: There we go, part 2! Also a modern au :)

<- Liyue edition

Diluc hardly ever sleeps deeply

Some days, he'd even wake at the slightest sound

He feels the most vulnerable when asleep, thus the hyperawareness

You snort and thinks it's funny. Relax Diluc, no one's going to murder you in your sleep!

Right..?

On the days where you would come into bed after he was already turned in, you had to tiptoe around as if you were afraid of disturbing a baby. Even your breathing was silent.

The amount of sound that would wake him up varied. But you weren't sure if today was especially bad, as in footsteps could wake him up bad, or if it was mild, as in even the rustling of the covers would be okay.

It was all going well so far. You've slipped into sleepwear and was just about to settle in, mentally congratulating yourself. But maybe you thought you were in the clear too soon, because as soon as your weight hit the bed, it creaked.

You cringed inwardly, slapping a hand over your eyes as Diluc stirred.

"Don't wake up, love," you skirted over. "It's really late."

"It is really late." Was that an accusing tone you heard?

"Hehe...I was just finishing up some work." You quickly slipped underneath the sheets, body instantly enveloped in warmth. "I'm sorry for waking you."

Diluc shook his head before pulling you in closer.

"It's better with you here," he said. "I wouldn't mind staying up all night to wait."

Or maybe it wasn't the so called assassins who might come to him in the night that he feared. Maybe it was because he was afraid that he wouldn't see you again the next time he awoke.

Diluc doesn't really have a set time in which he'd go to bed

But he goes in relatively early because he also wakes up, relatively early

He was used to sleeping alone for the longest time, but now you've come and spoiled him

It just doesn't feel the same without you next to him anymore

Mona is the type of person who'd keep all her astrology books, trinkets, etc on her bed

Just splayed out and messy because she fell asleep whilst using them last night. And the night before...and the night before that

Never bothered to cleaning it up because it'll end up messy again anyway!

Sometimes you'd roll onto your back and ouch--there'd be a mini telescope or something

"Oww," you groaned, a pain stabbing at your side.

The culprit? It was unsurprisingly yet another one of Mona's astrologer's stuff. What the heck was this even called?

After plucking out the round, metal offender to place on the windowsill, you look over to your sleeping lover.

"Well at least someone's getting a good night sleep," you grumbled.

Somehow Mona always found a way to avoid all the nonsense she laid scattered on your shared bed. You always supported her passions, but this is getting out of hand.

As if sensing someone was talking (or in this case, thinking) about her, Mona stretched a little and curled up tighter into herself. You sighed softly to yourself, not being able to be annoyed for long.

You cleaned up the best you could (even though you already did that before turning in), and laid back down beside her. You'd have to make sure Mona would pay you for the troubles she's caused you tonight. And you only accept payment in cuddles!

The bed has to be beside a window. Always.

If the skies are clear and starry you best believe she'd be staring at them, talking about the things she loved most (other than you of course- ) until the both of you drift off

The girl's a night owl so you have to be able to put up with late night tinkering

Also--awful awful bedhead

But don't ever say it to her face, you will get hit by a pillow (or worse!!)

The guy has absolutely no regard for how freaking cold he keeps his room

It's an eternal winter in there, even when it's blazing hot outside

Worst part? He doesn't even have a proper blanket. That, sir, is a rectangular piece of cloth

If you like the cold? Then sure, let him keep it that way. If not, you would have to make some changes around here.

"You should've told me you lived in a fridge??" You said, half jokingly through chattered teeth.

"You don't like it sweetheart?" He faked hurt, sauntering up behind you to grasp your shoulders as if you were newlyweds inspecting a new house to move into.

"Uhh well, there's literal frost on the edges of your window. And it's not even winter, Kaeya, clearly I'll be a popsicle by morning!"

It was your first night staying with him. And in your head, it was going to be all romantic like you've seen in the novels and shows. Warm cuddles, kisses underneath the blankets (oh my gods that blanket is paper thin), legs and arms entwined and you'd wake up like that.

But archons be damned, this was not what you had imagined.

"You'd make a very good looking popsicle then, love," he had the nerve to laugh so you elbowed him in the ribs.

"Alright alright, I'll make it warmer for you, how does that sound?"

"And I want a new blanket."

"Consider it done," he ruffled your hair to press a kiss onto the crown of your head.

Anything to please his darling.

He also sleep talks

And it's the funniest shit you'll ever hear if you're awake to hear it

One time you recorded it and now you use it as blackmail, threatening to send it to Diluc every time he'd get too cheeky

Her sleeping schedule is messed. up.

Jean would never admit it, but she loses a lot of rest time due to her work

You keep telling her to please get more than 2 and a half hours of shut-eye per day, but she is stubborn as she is lovely

Which worries you a heck of a lot, obviously

Doesn't help the fact that this woman can sleep anywhere. On a chair sitting down, face on a desk, on the bus, against you, the list goes on

Sometimes, when she's worked herself to the limit, you'll find her asleep at the most bizarre of places

Funny story! One time, Jean fell asleep on the train on the way home and missed all her stops

You had to find her in the middle of nowhere

"Darling-" you hurried to embrace your tired looking lover as she ambled her way out of the station.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry you had to come get me in the middle of the night," Jean murmured into the crook of your neck. "I must have worried you too...I apologise."

You held your tongue at all the things you piled up to say on the drive here, but the scolding could wait until tomorrow. Right now, looking at her exhausted complexion, you couldn't bring yourself to tell her anything other than everything's alright, she can rest now.

Jean looked at you with eyes full of appreciation and affection, eyes that never failed to melt you like ice cream on the summer pavement.

Aside from that, she likes to keep the bedroom very neat

If she does sleep in the bed, Jean would constantly put your comfort over hers

You need some warm milk in the middle of the night? She's on it!!

Your pillows feel uncomfortable? Take hers!!

Oh dear you've accidentally rolled too much into her side? It's no problem, she can just move over to yours

Good morning kisses are her thing

But usually she gives it to you because she's almost always out of it first

[mountswhore]

Jesse lingard x reader - reader decides to celebrate Christmas after not wanting to for 2 years and Jesse makes it special moment for her 🥺🤍

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 — jesse lingard

summary: you hadn't celebrated christmas due to personal reasons, for a long time. and when you decide to finally join in with the festivities, jesse goes above and beyond to make it the best christmas ever.

notes: requests are OPEN.

Christmas had always been a horrible time for you. Your family was nothing if not dysfunctional, and it was safe to say they'd ruined the holiday entirely for you. So you stopped celebrating it completely. You told your manager you could work Christmas eve, Christmas day, Boxing day, which was a plus for them. And it also meant you were distracted during the holidays.

When Jesse met you, he couldn't imagine not celebrating Christmas. He was baffled as to how you treated it like any other day, the whole of his December meant he was full on Christmas mode. But he respected it, even as you began to date. He would always offer to have you over, even to have a relaxed day with casual gifts and a lovely roast, a very nonchalant Christmas. But you refused.

You'd gotten used to not celebrating it, waking up to see your timeline filled with 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy Holidays', all whilst you were getting ready to do some work. Jesse would post his daughter on his story, seeing her so happy about the presents he'd gotten her, and you'd often smile at your phone as you watched it. She looked so giddy playing with her toys, even after Christmas when you visited again.

But it had slowly become boring. You hadn't spoken to your family in years, none of them reaching out either. You'd gotten used to it being December 25th rather than Christmas day. You loved how happy this holiday made Jesse, and Hope, but you felt like the Grinch. You felt so downcast on these days where people were at their happiest, all because your family had ruined it for you. Christmas used to be a holiday of arguments, crying, watching your dad storm out of the house for the next few days, but now, it was a holiday of loneliness, watching other people enjoy their family, food, and presents.

It was December 20th, and you'd had enough. You'd woken up one day with a completely new mindset. You wanted to feel the happiness everyone else felt this year, you wanted to enjoy Christmas. Immediately, you booked the following days off, and decided your first plan of action was to call Jesse.

Jesse was aware of why you didn't celebrate Christmas. You'd told him all about your past experiences and he never forced or pleaded with you, but he'd always make sure the invite was there. And whilst waking up to a call from you was expected, there was no way he would expect it to be about you wanting to celebrate Christmas.

"Good morning, darling." He croaked, giving his legs a stretch before leaving his room, and he could practically hear your smile through the phone.

"Good morning, indeed. I have some news." You spoke casually, but he could hear the undertone of excitement in your voice. "I know that on Christmas Eve Eve, you will send me a text inviting me to yours for Christmas, and I always say no. But this year, I think I'll take that invite."

Jesse choked on his breath, his legs almost failed him as he walked down the stairs. "Really?"

"Yeah, I've decided I don't want this time of year to be dark for me. I want to be as happy as everyone else this time of year," you mentioned, and your mind couldn't help but reminisce on past Christmases, where all sorts of arguments and things happened, "would that be okay?"

"More than okay, I'm so much more excited for Christmas now." Jesse cheered, and you could imagine the smile on his face right now, it melted your heart, "get yourself dressed, I'll be there within two hours."

You did as you were told, and you were sitting pretty on your couch as Jesse walked through the door. Still sporting the smile you'd put on his face this morning, it hadn't left his face at all. Even as he hugged you, his eyes closed, he took you in completely, and yet he still had a goofy smile on his face.

"Where are we going?" You asked from the passenger seat, clutching Jesse's hand in yours as he drove. But he kept it a secret, he'd planned the next six days out within a span of half an hour, and couldn't wait to celebrate Christmas with you for the first time.

Jesse had taken you to a store, selling a range of Christmas decor, and he was slowly filling the trolley with your help, all for your home. It was a fun experience, you'd never celebrated Christmas as an adult, so buying gifts and decorations was fun.

"So, today until the 24th, we will be doing Christmassy things," Jesse mentioned in the car ride back to yours, his backseat full of bags of decorations, "Christmas Eve is technically my Christmas day with Hope, so we will open her gifts, have a nice meal, and then Christmas day will be the two of us," Jesse continued, and as much as it was overwhelming, you knew it'd be nothing like Christmas with your family, "we will open our gifts to each other, eat dinner together, and Boxing Day, my family will be round."

You just nodded along, a smile on your face as you listened to your busy week ahead of you. Jesse saw the slight concern on your face, and squeezed your hand a little tighter.

"If my family being over scares you, we don't have to do it. I want this to be the best Christmas ever for you," Jesse spoke quietly, despite it only being the two of you in the car, "I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with."

"You don't have to try hard for it to be the best Christmas I've had," you stated, and the fact was rather saddening for Jesse. Which is exactly why he wanted this to be special.

The next few days had been busy, but fun. You decorated your home, put a small tree up, visited the Christmas market, and made some sweet treats for Christmas. Finally, on the night of the 23rd, Hope had been dropped off and was more than ecstatic for her Christmas with her daddy. Hope loved you, anyone could see that, and after hearing that you'd be with them for Christmas, she was over the moon.

"You're staying for Christmas?" She asked you as you lifted her into your arms, and you admired the cute candy cane bow in her curly hair. Nodding at her, she squealed in excitement and held you tighter.

"I bought you some gifts, which we can open tomorrow morning," you mentioned to her, "I'll be here for dinner, too." She giggled loudly as you put her down, and she'd run over to the tree hoarding all of her presents. Jesse had his arm around you, holding you close to him. It would be your first Christmas together, and nothing felt more special to him.

Hope had woken the two of you up early, and the pair of you sat on the sofa like zombies as she ripped open her gifts, cheering as she looked at them all. But Jesse would pay thousands to frame the smile on your face, watching his daughter open the gifts you'd bought her, it was a moment he wanted to keep forever.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day were all busy, festivity filled, and full of love. Spending Christmas with Jesse and his family was the best decision you'd ever made, it helped you find your way back to the love you had for Christmas as a child. And you couldn't wait for next year.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Something in the woods is stealing peoples’ Souls;

Merlin learns the hard way that he's a little more... fragmented, than normal people when he tries to solve the issue himself.

Part 2 (final part)

All of the Physicians in the town are being overrun.

Bodies keep showing up, still breathing, still perfectly functional, all seemingly unharmed... but they won’t wake up.

None of them will even twitch, as if, whilst the physical bodies were in perfect condition, there was something lacking somewhere, stopping any sort of higher brain function.

The King, his Knights, and even the Court Physician and his (newly titled) Co-Worker (as opposed to Apprentice), were baffled.

Medically, they had nothing to go on, all they could do was keep the bodies alive as best they could, and hope that some sort of solution could come about after some good old fashioned detective work.

Thankfully, it only took five days, and twelve comatose patients, for The King’s best Knights to realise that all of the... victims(?) had been found in a specific area of the woods just outside the city limits.

With such a distinct, and unexplainable issue, it was assumed (rightfully) that magic was involved somehow; whether it be some sort of creature, or yet another evil sorcerer hell-bent on revenge.

Which of course led to Merlin, one of the Court Physicians, and also (Secretly)TheMostPowerfulWarlockEver™, putting on his warmest clothes and sneaking out in the dead of night under the worried gaze of Gaius.

He did not come back.

Not that anyone but Gaius knew.

~

Early the next morning, King Arthur gathered his best Knights, Sirs Leon, Lancelot, Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan, to go and hunt down whatever it was that was rendering his people permanently unconscious.

Gaius and Merlin had explained the previous day, when these plans were conceived, that Merlin would have to stay behind; Camelot’s Physicians were so overwhelmed with not only normal patients, but now twelve comatose bodies as well; they needed every pair of hands they could get. For once, Arthur was happy to leave his manservant behind. 

The man cared greatly for his people, and whilst he would love nothing more than to have Merlin at his side all day, every day, he knew that he was safer, and more needed, in the city.

It was meant to just be in case Merlin got injured and had to hide it, but Gaius did well to hide his worry when he waved them off, and didn’t mention that Merlin wasn’t even in the city, that they could be finding Merlin’s comatose body next.

It took the Gang barely half a day to get there, and they had supplies to last them a few days in the woods, if that’s what it came to, but they were all still tense.

They hadn't seen anything like this before. They had no idea what they were up against; there were no physical injuries to assess, no eye-witness accounts, nothing found in their blood or on their person. Just unconscious bodies that showed no sign of waking.

Thankfully, they found no more bodies as they methodically searched the forest, but they also found no sign of what was wrong.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary: nothing attacked them, there was no blood, no destroyed areas, not even a scrap of evidence that something had even happened.

They finally stopped to make camp at sundown, dejected. Their mood definitely worsening with Elyan’s terrible cooking.

Gwaine was, of course, the most talkative:

“I know he’s needed or whatever, but are we sure we can’t go back and get Merlin? I’ve eaten a lot of gross shit over the years, but I’m not sure if I can take this for four more days.”

Elyan grumbles in embarrassment as the others snort, amused, and he throws a twig at Gwaine. It snaps in two across the knight’s face with a satisfying crack.

Arthur ignores the childish behaviour (something he can’t believe he has to do in the first place), shaking his head as he replies:

“No. The health of the people comes before your stomach. If Gaius says he’s needed in the city, then he stays in the city. Though I was surprised that he wasn’t there to wave us off.”

Gwaine smirks knowingly, and Percival puts a warning hand on his shoulder, but it does nothing to deter the knight as he waggles his eyebrows at The King.

Arthur flushes slightly, but he covers it quickly, not having time to retort before Gwaine opens his mouth again:

“Missing him, are you? Perhaps next time you should request that he stand on the battlements in a dress, and wave a handkerchief at us as we heroically ride out?”

Arthur throws a much larger twig (it’s more of a branch, really) in Gwaine’s direction, and this one knocks him off his seat, but before anyone can even snigger at him, Arthur loudly announces the watches and tells everyone to get some sleep.

~

The next day went much the same. 

That is, until late-afternoon.

The Knights were continuing their methodical search of the woods, once again finding themselves somehow tense and bored, when they came across a clearing that had clearly seen a gruesome battle.

Trees were uprooted, the ground was covered in deep holes and scorches, and there were even the occasional splashes of blood.

Which honestly raised more questions that it answered.

After thorough searching, they were hopeful. It looked like it had been some sort of fight between a sorcerer, and something... not human, some sort of creature. BUT, going by the tracks, the sorcerer had survived, and wandered off.

Was the sorcerer injured, or was the creature injured? If the sorcerer had walked off, injured or otherwise, where was the creature? Surely they should find the body of one or the other?

Another question that no one really wanted to ask: was this even related to the bodies?? Or had the Knights just stumbled onto something completely unrelated that they would inevitably get dragged into dealing with anyway?

Either way, they couldn’t ignore it, and with new-found motivation, they followed the tracks deeper into the woods, instead of setting up camp, like they had intended.

Whoever it was seemed to be wandering aimlessly. The blood trail slowly came to a stop, and it seemed that every step was stronger; as if whoever it were was gaining more energy from walking, as opposed to becoming more tired.

Still, whoever they found at the end of the tracks would be able to provide some sort of answer.

Eventually, after around two hours of diligently following the footsteps through the woods, Arthur signalled everyone to stop.

He wordlessly dismounts his horse, and gestures everyone to quietly do the same, before silently pointing ahead.

The knights look carefully to where he gestures, to see a man stood in the centre of a clearing, facing away from them.

They, still silent, draw their swords and sneak closer, but the man doesn’t move, doesn’t even twitch, and if it weren’t for the fact that he was stood upright, they would think him dead.

Arthur steps into the clearing, about twenty feet from the man, and furrows his brow. That looks like.... no... it can’t be, can it? He shakes the thoughts from his head, convinced that he’s just imagining things, but before he can make his presence known, the man turns around, as if he sensed them stood there.

All of them gasp and take a step back, immediately recognising Merlin.

But he’s... different.

He stands scarily still, unusual for a man who was constantly fidgeting or on the move.

His face is blank, and if he hadn’t been staring straight at them they would think he hadn’t noticed them at all, and whilst he stood as if uninjured, his tunic is ripped and blood-soaked.

But what draws everyone’s attention, was the bright golden glow of his eyes, highlighted especially by the quickly descending darkness of the evening.

Arthur brings his sword up slowly, taking a cautious step forward as he calls Merlin’s name.

Merlin simply tilts his head slightly, otherwise staying still, before stutteringly beginning to speak:

“Mer... lin... Merlin....... Merlin is... Merlin is...... Merlin is gone.”

It’s clear that something is deeply wrong with the manservant, but the way he spoke, as if he knew how but had never actually done it before, like he was still figuring it out, creeped the hell out of everyone.

His words as well, “Merlin is gone” do nothing but fill them with dread.

Lancelot steps forward quickly, moving to stand in front of Arthur, sword unsheathed but pointing at the ground. He was unsurprisingly less fearful of the golden irises, and recovered the quickest:

“What do you mean, “Merlin is gone”, gone where? Who are you?”

Merlin... or... not!Merlin, tilts his head further:

“Merlin is... gone. I... I... I want him... back.”

Lancelot gulps but before he can reply, Arthur breaks out of his stupor, and growls:

“What have you done with him?! Whatever you are, give him back!”

Merlin moves his gaze from Lancelot to Arthur, and takes a step forward, before bowing his head slightly, as if out of respect:

“You are... The Once and Future King... I want him back... you... you... you need him... back.”

The rest of the knights are fully freaked out now, but they hide it well, and gather slowly around Arthur. Lancelot scowls at them, holding a placating hand out. He really doesn’t want any of them to get jumpy and skewer Merlin. He takes another step towards the golden-eyed man:

“We all want Merlin back. The bodies, the same thing happened to you? Happened to Merlin?”

Not!Merlin nods slowly once again, looking back to Lancelot:

“It... took him... from me. I... I... I want him back.”

Lancelot returns his nod, letting out a deep breath:

“And who are you? What are you doing in Merlin’s body?”

Not!Merlin frowns slightly, as if confused, the first actual expression he’s pulled this whole time. It takes him a few moments to respond, and Lancelot is getting desperate; he can feel the knights behind him getting more and more jumpy, especially Arthur:

“I am... I... I have always been here... I am... I am... I am me. I am Merlin’s... and he is... mine... I want him... back. He is... mine.”

Lancelot tenses slightly. He has a feeling he knows what’s going on. Merlin talks about his magic sometimes, talks about it as if it’s... sentient. Described the way it’s always desperate to reach out to Arthur and the Knights and Gaius and Gwen, how it sometimes does things without his permission.

Lancelot gulps. This is bad. Merlin’s magic is walking around in his body without him there to control it. They were going to struggle to explain this away, as much as Merlin claimed Arthur was an idiot, it wasn’t completely true. Lancelot bit his lip, glancing back at the others as he re-sheaths his sword.

He knows there’s no way to get them to relax... unless... this might backfire terribly, but it also might be the only way to get them to calm down a little.

Lancelot frowns thoughtfully, and just before Arthur works up the nerve to say something else, he turns back to Not!Merlin:

“Do you mean us any harm?”

Not!Merlin once again tilts his head and frowns as if in confusion:

“No... Merlin is... Merlin is fond of... you. I.. I was made for... for The Once and Future King. I am... unable to hurt him.”

Lancelot nods, before saying slowly:

“Do you have any reason to lie to us?

The golden-eyed man shakes his head slowly, the glow seeming brighter as he replies:

“Why would I... I... lie? I could kill... you without a... second... second thought. I want Merlin... back.”

The knight nods one final time, looking back to the others to gauge their reactions. Their swords are still unsheathed, but lowered, their faces tense and concerned, but not angry. Lancelot supposes that’s the best he’s going to get at this point.

He lets out a rough sigh, running a hand through his hair as he looks back at the Warlock:

“You’re not Merlin. What do we call you, until we can get him back?”

Not!Merlin lets his gaze wonder to the knights, before finally landing on Arthur. His speech had been getting better with use, but he speaks slowly and keeps his stare on The King, as if curious to his reaction:

“I am... I am... I am part of him. I don’t... have a name. Call me... me... Emrys.”

Lancelot grits his teeth, and his eyes whip to Arthur, to see if he recognises the name.

With The King’s gasp, and widening eyes, Lancelot knows that he does recognise the name.

“You... you’re Emrys?? I thought Emrys was some all-powerful sorcerer, what are you doing in Merlin?”

Arthur is too distracted to notice Lancelot’s panic, but Leon, ever the observant one, is not, and frowns at the sudden fear on his fellow knight’s face.

Mer-... Emrys had already admitted that he wouldn’t lie, if Arthur keeps asking questions, he’ll figure it out. But before Lancelot can think of a solution, Emrys replies:

“Emrys is... is... our other... name. But I am not... Merlin. Not on my own. I want... want him back.”

Arthur looks taken aback, but before he can ask another question, Gwaine steps forward, giving Lancelot an unreadable look before:

“Right, well that’s all fine and dandy, but we need to set camp up and figure out what we’re going to do about... this.”

He gestures vaguely to Merlin’s body after sheathing his sword.

Arthur looks about ready to argue, but with another pointed look from Gwaine, Lancelot jumps into action:

“Gwaine’s right, we need to gather the horses and set up for the night. Here is probably alright, then we can come up with a plan to get Merlin back, and presumably, all of those other people.-”

He turns to Arthur, a sufficiently subservient expression on his face:

“-If you think that’s best, Sire?”

Gwaine rolls his eyes and scoffs at that, heading back to gather the horses from where they’d been left without further prompting. Arthur’s argumentative expression drops after a moment, and with one more mistrustful glance to Emrys, he nods, instructing the others to gather wood and get started on dinner.

Lancelot lets out a breath, but flushes slightly and tenses his jaw when he sees Leon giving him an inscrutable look. He turns away after a moment, under the pretence of helping Gwaine.

The moment Lancelot reaches Gwaine, a few metres into the treeline, the other knight quickly turns around and grabs his shoulders. He glances desperately back towards the clearing, and when he establishes that they’re the only two within earshot, roughly whispers:

“Please tell me you figured it out?? Because I’m not sure how the hell I’m going to keep Arthur from finding out on my own.”

Lancelot’s eyes widen, but his shock keeps him silent for only a few moments before Gwaine shakes his shoulders. He blinks away his surprise, whispering his response:

“You know?? Does Merlin know that you know?”

Gwaine shakes his head, finally letting go of Lance’s shoulders:

“No. I worked it out like twenty seconds ago, I’m sort of hoping that Arthur isn’t as quick as me. How long have you known?”

The other knight nods his head understandingly:

“About as long as I’ve known him, but I’ll explain later. This whole thing is... terrible. I don’t think our odds are good. Mer- Emrys won’t lie, and we won’t be able to stop Arthur from asking questions. He’s probably asking them now. We need to get the horses and get back.”

Gwaine nods roughly, and without another word, the two of them gather the reins of their six horses, and quickly make their way back to the clearing.

They had only been gone a few minutes, and in that time, firewood had been gathered and arranged. Elyan pulls a flint out of his pocket, and Lancelot widens his eyes as he sees Emrys tilt his head (still stood in the same place), moments before waving his hand casually.

The wood bursts into a roaring flame, and Emrys suddenly has four swords on him. Lancelot and Gwaine rush forward, standing in between Emrys and the other knights, holding their hands out as if in surrender. Gwaine speaks first:

“Hey! You might be freaked out by all of this, but that’s still Merlin’s body, and he needs it, so lets not poke holes in him, alright??”

Everyone bar Arthur lowers their swords, but before Gwaine can growl something out, Lancelot turns back to Emrys:

“Look, they’re all a little... unnerved, by magic, so maybe stop using it for now, yeah?”

Emrys tilts his head and furrows his brows again, and everyone stares at him in shock as he replies, not quite knowing what to make of his response:

“But I am magic. I am magic... incarnate. If I stop... I... I cease to exist. And Merlin... Merlin needs me. He needs me like... like... like humans need to breath. I can not just... stop. He would... would... we would die.”

Lancelot tightly shuts his eyes. There is officially NO way to explain this one away. Gods, Merlin is going to be so scared when he finds out.

After a few moments of shocked silence, Arthur finally squeaks out a:

“What??”

Gwaine quickly responds, before Emrys can reveal anymore:

“No. It's cruel to take Merlin’s secrets from him when he isn’t even here. We find Merlin, then you can ask your questions.-”

Arthur looks angry, like he wants to argue, but Gwaine takes a threatening step towards him, resting his hand on his sword at his hip as Lancelot and the other knights look on the scene with panic in their eyes. Gwaine growls out:

“-I said no, Princess. Everyone here knows I’m more loyal to Merlin than you, and that doesn’t stop just because he’s not here and you’re about to throw a temper tantrum.”

Arthur huffs, but lowers his sword as Gwaine glares at him, and Lancelot lets out a breath. The other knights follows The King’s lead, sheathing their swords and settling tensely around the fire.

Lancelot goes back to the horses, tying them down and removing saddlebags, with Leon’s help (and constant stare, which was an odd mix of concern and suspicion).

Gwaine points Emrys to a spot on the floor, and tells him to sit. The knight settles next to him protectively, his sword across his lap as he glares at Arthur on the other side of the fire.

The evening passes awkwardly, food being cooked and eaten in silence, no one quite sure what to say.

Arthur spends the whole time with a pinched look of frustration on his face, but the knights look to him as he takes a deep breath, his expression morphing into an odd mix of concern and accusation in the blink of an eye:

“How do we even know that the... Merlin, part of... part of you is alive? What happened to hi- to you? How do we get him back?”

Lancelot wants to be annoyed at his tone, but he poses valid questions. They still had no idea what actually happened or why or how they fixed it.

Emrys tilts his head, aiming his golden stare at Arthur:

“It is one of... of the Manducan, or The Eating Ones. They... are very rare, they steal... steal souls. Bodies can survive a short while.... a short while without them. Hence your... comatose patients. I am... we are, a little more... fragmented... than most. I contain too... too much power, so The Manducan took... only the human... human part.”

Everyone looks extremely worried at that, but Arthur’s face turns desperate as he rushes out:

“What do you mean, human?? What are you??”

They all stare at the raven-haired man as he speaks, his eyes focused on the King:

“We do not... know. Some call us a Lord, or a King. Others call us... call us... a God. In moments... of power, we... we hear prayers. It can be... disconcerting.”

The camp is silent for a while after that, everyone processing what had been said. Merlin heard people praying to him... not even Lancelot knew that, Merlin had never told him.

After around half a candle-mark, Leon breaks the silence to ask the questions that had been pushed to that back of their minds:

“How do we kill this creature, and what happens if we do? Can we get the souls back, undamaged?”

Emrys turns his golden gaze to the curly-haired knight as he replies:

“It is already... weakened. The Forever King needs to... strike... strike it with Excalibur. They hibernate for.... for centuries... and only return to this plane of existence to... collect food. If you... if you... if you kill it before it leaves, the souls will... will return...naturally.”

The knights all let out breaths of relief, but Arthur looks at his sword oddly, before muttering:

“What’s so special about my sword? And why do you keep calling me strange titles?”

Lancelot gulps, and Emrys tilts his head:

“You know of Emrys, but not of the... the prophecies?”

Arthur nods his head slowly, but Lancelot interrupts before Emrys can start the complicated process of explaining his and Arthur’s destinies:

“Perhaps that’s a... story, for when we have Merlin back in one piece. How do we track the creature?”

Arthur gives him a glare, before lowly saying:

“Do not think I do not notice you avoiding the subject, Sir Lancelot. You know of these prophecies?”

Lancelot grits his teeth, but gives a slow nod:

“Bits and pieces. Merlin isn’t fond of talking about it.-”

He raises a challenging eyebrow, still staring Arthur in the face, and everyone is take aback. Lancelot was never anything but respectful and polite to his King; this defiant look shocked them all:

“-You see, he’s spent his entire life in Camelot absolutely terrified that someone will overhear him, and have him burnt.”

Arthur took in a deep breath, hiding his guilt behind a blank façade, but before anyone can say anything, their gazes are drawn back to Emrys, who looks almost... mournful?

He nods his head slightly, and the sad look on his... on Merlin’s face, looks so out of place for someone so normally upbeat:

“He is... we, are constantly frightened. It is exhausting. I try to... to reassure us but... Merlin is... is... is always so scared, despite our power. We used to... to love flames, fire. Now it is... terrifying to us.”

Lancelot had kept his gaze on Arthur, and when The King looks back at him, his despair badly hidden, the knight simply shrugs one shoulder and nods slightly.

Arthur lets out a breath, and looks to his lap, whispering so quietly that the group barely hears him:

“He’s scared of... of me.”

Gwaine growls out an “Of course he is, you’re a Pen-.”, but he’s interrupted by Emrys:

“No. He would allow you to... to kill us. But we couldn’t bear to... to lose you.-”

He finishes his statement quietly, and Arthur looks up at him, tears in his eyes:

“-We don’t want to be sent away. Camelot is... is... is frightening. But it is also our... home.”

“I would never send you away. When we get Merlin back, you... you tell him that. Tell him he’s safe with me, with us, and always will be.”

Emrys tilts his head yet again:

“And my people? Will we be an... exception? Will you make us watch you... continue to persecute our people, whom we... we... we should be protecting? Merlin does... does not want to make a... hypocrite out of you.”

The knights look at him expectantly, and he blanches slightly as he looks away. The King gulps, before taking a deep breath and looking back, straightening his spine and looking confident:

“The laws will change. Crimes committed with magic will be judged the same as crimes committed without; it’s about time I faced the cruelties of my father.”

The corner of Emrys’ mouth tilts up briefly as he nods, but says nothing. Gwaine smirks, Leon and Lancelot give The King proud smiles, and Percival and Elyan look taken aback, before they relax into fond smiles of their own.

The evening had passed quickly, and with all of them exhausted, it’s decided that any further discussion on how to track this... Manducan, would happen in the morning.

All of the knights fall asleep quickly, finding the protective golden glow of Emrys’ unsleeping eyes both comforting and unsettling.

~

They all woke the next morning oddly refreshed, but the relaxed atmosphere didn’t last long when, one by one, the knights noticed Emrys sat unnervingly still, in the exact same spot as last night.

Only the occasional blink and shallow breathing proved that he was in fact alive, and not some sort of incredibly life-like statue.

Food was eaten, and camp broken quickly; the golden eyed not-quite-a-servant staying in his spot the whole time. 

Despite Emrys saying that the souls would be fine as long as they got there in time, they were still full of nervous energy, and wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible. Not least of all because they had a lot, and I mean a LOT, of questions for Merlin... or... all of Merlin.

Emrys was pointed to Lancelot’s horse, and once he mounted in front of the knight, everyone looked at him expectantly. He simply tilted his head, and Arthur huffed:

“Well? How do we find this... creature? Can’t you-”

He waves his hand vaguely, and Leon is the only knight able to hide his snort at The King’s impression of magic.

Emrys nods in understanding, and extends his hand in front of him. A thin stream of light, like a glowing string floating in the air, extends from his palm, snaking through the trees.

He nods, this time in the direction of the light, and the knights urge their horses to begin a quick paced journey.

Conversation is sparse, but eventually the question on all of their minds is asked by Percival:

“If you could do that the whole time, track the Manducan I mean, why didn’t you?”

Emrys doesn’t look towards him, but the horses noticeably slow as everyone bunches together, curious about his answer:

“They are of a different... different plane. Magic can harm them but... but... but not kill. I was waiting for The Once and Future King to bring... bring Excalibur.”

Percival nods in understanding, but Leon frowns:

“Well... what about us? Will we not be able to harm it with our swords?”

Everyone copies his frown at that. They’re valid questions, and Arthur is silently grateful that Leon had the tactical mind to think of them:

“No. It will be safer for... for... for you to... wait. I can distract and injure it further until... The Once and Future King can... kill it.”

The knights looks worried at that, but Elyan is the first one to pipe up:

“We’re meant to just stand back and watch? Can’t we set a trap, or help distract it?”

Emrys shakes his head:

“It can not be trapped. Being too close would... would have adverse effects on... on... on your souls.”

Arthur looks back from his position at the head of the group with a frown on his face:

“Well what about my soul? I’m presumably going to have to get close to it in order to stab it?”

Emrys fixes his golden stare on The King, and tilts his head slightly in confusion:

“Your soul was forged through magic, it is marginally... immune. It will take a little... longer for... for... for your soul to react badly.”

Arthur nods, looking back to the front, muttering something about “having a time limit before my soul implodes or whatever. Great.”

Once the knights finish snickering at Arthur, Gwaine asks:

“Wait wait, if Excalibur is the only thing able to kill it, what are you doing out here?”

Emrys tilts his head, looking back to the knights:

“We were... unaware of that at the... the time. We only figured out what... it was, when we fought it.”

Everyone nods, all of them wondering just how many times Merlin had snuck out to take care of something, with none of them knowing about it. The list of questions they had for when Merlin was back in one piece was getting longer and longer, and no part of this conversation was helping the anxiety swirling in Lancelot’s stomach.

After another hour or so of silence, Elyan pipes up:

“I’m surprised no one has asked yet but... what does this thing look like? I know we’re following a trail or whatever, but what are we actually going to find at the end of it?”

“They shift sizes, though they always take... the form of a thick-”

Emrys is interrupted by Arthur pulling his horse to a sudden stop, and pointing through the trees ahead of his, harshly whispering:

“Black shadow??”

Everyone stops behind him and their gazes dart quickly to where Arthur gestures. Through the trees they see a large mass of deep black smoke.

The black tendrils seem to writhe in the air, and the knights can see vague impressions of limbs tipped with impossibly sharp claws darting out occasionally before retreating back into the fog.

The creature looks like evil in semi-corporeal form, and the usually strong-willed warriors take in stuttering breaths at the overwhelming instincts of “Unnatural, run run RUN!” screaming at them with every passing second.

The shadow doesn’t seem to have any front or back; being in a constantly shifting state, sometimes seeming to freeze, sometimes darting through the trees in a blur.

The knights have lost all colour in their faces, and their breath comes shallowly and quickly. Arthur gulps, tightening his grip on his sword as he whispers:

“Horse, or on foot?”

The sound of Emrys’ feet softly thudding on the undergrowth gives The King his answer, and he dismounts his horse slowly, trying to stop the shaking in his hands and legs.

He takes a deep breath as Emrys moves to stand behind him. His voice is shaking and desperate, as if he were a child reaching for help after a nightmare:

“How do I... what do I do, Merlin?”

Emrys tilts his head, but doesn’t say anything of the The King’s mistake:

“You need only get close enough to... deeply slice it. It is fragile in this... this realm. Cover your eyes when you... you do so, the light will be blinding. Do not let it... touch you. I am reluctant to admit that, after what it did to... to... to our soul, I do not know what it will... do to yours.”

Arthur takes another deep breath, and clears his throat slightly as he gives a firm nod. Time to be brave now, for his people, for Merlin.

The King can hear his knights dismount behind him and tie up the horses, ready to jump in and help at a moment’s notice, in spite of... whatever will happen to their souls. None of them are really sure they want to know, so none of them ask for details, and Arthur is unendingly grateful for their silent loyalty and bravery.

Emrys walks forward, past Arthur, and towards the creature. The King gulps before silently slipping off to the side; he doesn’t know how the creature sees (not having a head, or even eyes, as far as he can tell), but Emrys said he would distract it so... splitting up makes the most sense? 

The knights can tell the exact moment the creature notices Emrys walking towards it.

The tendrils of shadow seem to writhe even more frantically, and the fog bulges and retreats again, somehow giving the impression of anger, fear.

Emrys plants his feet strongly and raises a hand, summoning vines and roots from the ground with nought but a gesture; Arthur only gives himself a second to be distracted by the sight of Merlin so effortlessly doing magic before focussing back on the creature.

Everyone bar Emrys winces, and covers their ears as the beast lets out an ear piercing screech, moving judderingly towards the Warlock. The trees shake with the noise, and a few of Emrys’ magical attacks disintegrate into the air. He summons more, and snarls in concentration as the beast whips towards him.

Emrys rushes forward to meet the beast, and they clash in a burst of golden light and black shadow, each trying to take over the other. The shadows try to sneak around the Warlock, reaching towards the knights behind him, but they’re quickly halted in their tracks as cracks open in the ground, swallowing the fog before it can do any damage.

The golden light emanating from Emrys pulses brightly, and the creature is pushed back, the edges of its smoke disintegrating slowly into the air. It lets out another high pitched screech, and Arthur takes that as his cue; rushing silently forward, on the opposite side of the creature to Emrys, and swiping down precisely with Excalibur.

The knights see his attack coming, and step even further back, heeding Emrys’ warning and covering their eyes, Arthur doing so with his free hand as he brings the sword down. 

Excalibur cuts through the shadow with no resistance; the screech getting impossibly louder as the blade leaves a blindingly golden trail in it’s wake.

Emrys simply stands back to watch, but the pitch of the beast’s screech forces the knights to the floor, eyes tightly shut, and hands clamped over their ears.

Suddenly, the noise stops, and the shadows of the creature seem to disintegrate into nothing as the golden light of the wound takes over. The light recedes in on itself, before exploding outwards and fragmenting into pieces. The bulk of the fragments fly in the direction of Camelot, golden blurs through the trees, but one, the smallest and dullest (due to being only part of a soul, they assume) flies with speed straight towards Emrys.

The knights and their King finally look up, feeling oddly exhausted, to see Emrys take a staggered step back and grimace in pain as the light forces it’s way down his throat.

He falls to the floor, and the knights rush towards him as his muscles spasm and he begins to scream. His eyes are shut tightly and Lancelot quickly lunges forward to grab his wrists as his hands go to yank at his hair.

Everyone gathers around him, Lancelot yelling for them to hold him so he doesn’t hurt himself. They can only hope that Merlin is an exception, and this isn’t happening to the other victims back in Camelot. Lancelot keeps a hold of his wrists, and Arthur discards Excalibur in favour of holding down Merlin’s shoulders, whilst Elyan, Leon, and Gwaine hold down his hips and legs, and Percival wordlessly stands guard.

Merlin’s screaming dies down, and he stops thrashing so much (but stays tense), but the knights don’t let go just yet. He opens his bleary eyes, and whispers, so faintly they barely hear it:

“... Lance?”

The knight lets go of Merlin’s now limp wrists gently, and strokes a hand through the man’s raven hair:

“Yeah, I’m here Merlin. All back in once piece?

Merlin closes his eyes again, and goes fully slack as the others let go of him fully, nodding slowly as he gulps before groaning:

“Yeah, that fucking... hurt.”

Lancelot huffs out a gentle laugh, but before he can reply, Merlin gasps and quickly sits up. When his wide, panicked eyes land on the rest of the knights huddled around him, his breath deepens and he scrambles back frantically, only to run into Arthur, who grabs his shoulders.

Merlin whips his head around and rips himself from The King’s grip, stumbling to his feet and rushing back, away from the knights and into a tree.

His ears are deaf to everyone’s gentle reassurances that he was safe, and his eyes are blind to the hands held up in soft surrender. He sinks to the floor as his breathing gets even more frenzied and tears gather in his eyes, but before he can process that he was safe, the mix of memories triggers a blinding pain behind his eyes.

He gives a pained yelp and shuts his eyes tightly, bringing his hands to grip the sides of his head as he curls up on the floor. Merlin begins to groan again, and Lancelot desperately gestures for everyone to stay back as he kneels by Merlin’s side, pulling his hands away from his head again:

“You’re safe Merlin, no one’s going to hurt you, do you remember? We said that to the bit of you that was left.-”

Merlin doesn’t seem to hear him, but squeezes Lancelot’s hands painfully tight as he continues to groan, arching his spine:

“-Ok, ok, what’s wrong Merlin? Your head? We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s wrong. Is it your... your soul?”

Merlin shakes his head slightly, groaning dying down, but still struggling to draw breath, still gripping Lance’s hands:

“Your magic?”

Another shake of the head has Lancelot beginning to panic a little; none of them have dealt with anything like this before, and he doesn’t know what’s wrong with his friend. He continues to try and comfort Merlin as he struggles to think of what else it could be, when Merlin begins forcing himself to take deep breaths, and stuttering out:

“Mem... memories.”

Lancelot takes a fortifying breath, and the others crowd a little closer, panicking for their friend:

“Memories? Ok, which ones? Memories from the bit of you that was wandering around, or memories from the bit of you that was in the creature?”

Thankfully, Merlin’s pain seems to be dying down slightly. His breath comes easier, but his eyes stay tightly shut and his muscles still spasm periodically as he grinds out:

“Both. Two sets of memories from... from the same time. Hurts. My. Brain.”

Lancelot huffs out another gentle laugh, rubbing his thumbs softly over the back of Merlin’s hands, and the others relax at the sight of Merlin’s pain lessening. Gwaine kneels down next to Lancelot, and quietly announces himself before beginning to run a gentle hand through Merlin’s hair.

This goes on for a few more minutes; the servant’s pain dwindling and his breathing evening out as his mind sorts the two sets of clashing memories and stitches the two pieces of his soul back together, Lancelot and Gwaine not stopping their soft ministrations for even a moment.

He finally relaxes fully, opening his eyes but not moving from his position on the floor as he gazes tiredly up at Arthur’s worried face, over Lancelot’s shoulder. His words comes out timidly, and Arthur has to stop himself flinching at the hint of fear in his voice:

“Did you mean it? Am I... safe?”

Arthur forces a soft smile on his face, hiding his worry, and gives Merlin a firm nod:

“I promise Merlin, you’re safe. None of us will hurt you.-”

Merlin smiles back at him, before nodding, and closing his eyes, drained from the ordeals of the last few days:

“-though you need to make sure your head is on straight at your earliest convenience, I’ll need your help to write that repeal.”

Arthur says it with a weak, teary grin, and Merlin chuckles slightly, nodding softly once more before drifting into a deep sleep, exhausted.

Lancelot mutters that he’s asleep, and the smile drops from Arthur’s face, his brow furrowing in worry as he crouches between his two knights, putting a hand to Merlin’s forehead:

“Will he be alright?”

Lancelot shrugs, biting his lip, and sporting a similar expression to The King as he replies:

“I’ve no clue. His soul was split in two, his magic was pushed to the limit in that fight, and his body didn’t rest at all or eat much for at least a day; he’s probably just exhausted, but we should get him back to Gaius.”

Elyan, Leon, and Percival move back to gather the horses without prompting, and within minutes the gang is racing back towards the city, Merlin’s unconscious form being held protectively in front of Arthur (his excuse being that Lancelot’s horse had already held the extra weight for half a day, and he’s The King, so he can do what he wants).

~

Thankfully, the creature had been between their camp and the city, so it only takes them around a day to get back. They took few breaks, and ate whilst they rode to save time. Despite not waking up the entire journey, Merlin’s breathing stayed alright, and he occasionally mumbled nonsense to himself, so the knights weren’t panicking too much.

They didn’t stop when night fell, and so finally pulled into the castle courtyard at around midnight. A guard was immediately sent to wake Gaius, and Percival wordlessly took Merlin from Arthur’s horse, only after The King had given him a short nod of approvable.

They got to the Physician’s chambers to see Gaius wide awake and bustling around the room, clearing a cot and gathering various potions and ingredients.

Percival gently set the manservant on the cot, and Gaius firmly demands that they all leave the room to give him space to work, choosing to ignore the fact that he had told them that Merlin was in the city, and that they definitely shouldn’t have come back with his exhausted, unconscious body.

Arthur notes that Gaius doesn’t react at all when Lancelot stays behind, but has to temper his frustration (and jealousy) when the Physician shoots the knight a concerned look when Arthur himself also refuses to leave.

Lancelot sighs, but gives Gaius a reassuring smile:

“It’s fine, Gaius, they all know about Merlin’s magic, he’s safe. We said we’d explain when we got Merlin back in one piece.”

Gaius sends The King a curious look, hiding his concern well before he seems to catch up on what Lancelot said:

“Back in one piece?”

Arthur moves closer as Lancelot nods and begins to speak, content to let the knight explain as long as he got to stand near Merlin:

“He said it was Manducan?-”

Gaius widens his eyes in surprise, but nods, continuing to mix together various herbs as he listens:

“-Apparently, Merlin’s power was too much for it to handle, so it took the non-magical part of his soul. We found Merlin’s body being controlled by his magic. It was... odd. He was still Merlin, you could hear it in the way he spoke, or the words he chose, but it wasn’t... all of him. Just the magic part. He wouldn’t lie to us, and was desperate to get the “Merlin” part of his soul back. Unless we spoke to him he just... sat there, blankly.”

Gaius hums thoughtfully, and he and Lancelot politely pretend not to notice Arthur reaching out to gently grab Merlin’s hand.

Finally, the physician finishes mixing his potion, and gently pours it into Merlin’s mouth, holding his nose shut and massaging his throat so it goes down properly. He sits back on his chair, glancing at Arthur quickly, before looking back to Lancelot:

“The other victims began to wake just under a day ago, so I’m assuming that the creature was... dealt with?-”

At Lancelot’s nod, he continues:

“-Did Merlin wake at all when his soul came together?”

Lancelot nods again, speaking quietly, feeling oddly like he doesn’t want to disturb Arthur softly rubbing his thumb over Merlin’s hand:

“Hmm. Briefly. He screamed for a while, whilst his soul... I don’t know, stitched itself back together? Then he panicked, because he knew his magic had been outed, then he was in pain again. He said having two sets of memories from the same time hurt. Then he was just exhausted, he passed out a few moments after the pain stopped.”

Gaius nods, and Arthur finally looks up, knowing that the explanation was over, and a conversation was about to happen. The Physician speaks:

“Humans are not made for that, it would have been painful for his mind to try to comprehend and organise two separate sets of simultaneous memories.”

Arthur speaks, his voice quiet, but obviously worried:

“Will he be alright? How long until he wakes?”

Gaius looks to him once more, giving The King an assessing gaze. When he spies no anger or deception in Arthur’s face, he relaxes his shoulders slightly, and sighs:

“He will be alright, he just needs rest. Both his body and his soul have been through a great deal, it will take a few days to a week for him to fully recover physically, though I can’t speak for his mental state.”

Arthur looks panicked, and Lancelot worries his lip between his teeth as Arthur asks:

“His mental state??”

Gaius finds himself sighing yet again as he asks:

“How lucid was he, between the bouts of pain?”

Lancelot rushes to answer:

“Very. He understood what I was saying, I think, he asked a question and understood our answer. He just seemed tired.”

Gaius gives the two men an exhausted smile, before softly saying:

“Then I imagine he will be fine. Go and get some rest, I will send for you if anything changes, though it’s unlikely that he’ll wake up at any point in the next two days or so.”

Lancelot nods, and moves towards the door, but Arthur stays put. Gaius raises an eyebrow, but moves forward and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder:

“He will be fine, Sire. And... everything he has done, every lie he has told, has been to keep you safe. He couldn’t bare to lose you.”

Arthur nods absentmindedly, before looking up to the Physician, and whispering:

“I couldn’t bare to lose him either. You... you promise he’ll be alright?”

Gaius nods and smiles, noting with relief the tearful desperation on The King’s face:

“I promise.”

Lancelot smiles fondly from his place stood at the door, but wipes it from his face as Arthur turns towards him. The two men leave out of the room, Gaius’ assessing eyes following them all the way.

The door shuts behind them softly, and Gaius lets out a breath he hadn’t even realised he had been holding, before running a hand gently through Merlin’s hair, and moving to settle in his own cot.

Of all the ways Arthur could find out about Merlin’s magic, out of Merlin’s control, Gaius never saw this coming, and though the pain Merlin felt was regretful, The Physician is grateful, that it went so well.

~

End of Part 1!!

Part two is already almost finished. It’s much shorter than this, and will be out at some point in the next few days!! Sorry this took so long lads, I’ve been really busy atm.

EDIT: I’ve actually just finished writing part 2!! It’s queued to be published at 12:30PM GMT tomorrow (09/05/21)

EDIT 2.0: PART 2 IS UP!!

Also I couldn’t find any mythical creatures that fit what I wanted, so I straight up just made one up ✌️

Head over to This List to let me know what you want me to work on next! :)

[ellebi-studies]

Hi guys,

After these months of intense studying, I thought about how important it is to have an effective study plan. It helps me deal with the anxiety and keep control of the material.

Here is an explanation of how I usually make my study plan.

Tip 1: organise the material.

Before the beginning of the lessons, I look at the course outline. Then, I break the syllabus into pieces. I write a Word document making a list of all the things I have to do.

I create a sort of index of the topics, specifying the source (books, notes, slides, etc.).

It gives me an idea of what I will have to insert into my study plan without leaving anything behind.

Anyways, remember that it should be flexible. During the classes, you will necessarily have to modify the schedule.

Tip 2: look at the data of the exams.

Sometimes exam's rounds are inconvenient, so you should consider this point before scheduling your study.

Also, try to understand which subject is better to study first. For example, you should consider taking the histology exam before the anatomy one. Indeed, microscopical anatomy is required to understand the macroscopical.

Tip 3: insert some days off.

You are likely to have some setback, especially when making a long-term plan. Also, you have to remember you need to relax to be more productive.

If you do not need these days, you can take advantage of these days to make forward with your work, make up for the work you have back, or sleep a couple of hours more. Trust me: you will be grateful for these days.

Plus, always organise your plan so that you will finish some days ahead of schedule. You might use these days to study something you had left behind.

Furthermore, do not work the day before the exam. I always highlight this point in my posts: you have to arrive at the exam with certainties while rehearsing at the last minute will increase your doubts. You will unavoidably experience the "I do not know anything" feeling, which is terrible for your anxiety and will affect your performance. Whilst, use the previous day only for the last check of most irksome topics but then relax.

Tip 4: progress with your work.

When making the schedule, make yourself already forward. The first days of studying are always the hardest because you do not have the rhythm yet. Knowing that you are ahead will make you less anxious and more confident.

Tip 5: during lessons, make weekly plans.

It is not easy to make a long term daily schedule because you do not know the appointments you will have.

Also, during classes, days are different. Some days you will have 8 hours of classes, while some others only 2. Plus, some lessons are more tiring than others, but you can not know this a priori.

It is why you may consider setting weekly goals. Then, you will split your goals week by week.

Tip 6: during the exam session, do not overload your schedule

I know the exam session is a stressful period. You may feel guilty if you do not spend all your day studying. Anyhow, force yourself to take some time for yourself.

Before the pandemic, when curfew did not exist, I went out with my friends in the evening. We were not up late: we had an aperitif or a pizza. But it lifted me, and it gave me motivation for the following day. Some days I was tempted by telling them I would have stayed home, but I knew it would not have been productive.

Studying for too many hours would affect your concentration, and you will fall into grief for not having been able to work.

Tip 7: make two plans.

Make a long-term plan previously, and then make a daily schedule.

Every day is different, so you may decide you want to sleep an hour more and study a little more in the evening, or the opposite. Also, you will have to organise your work and the other activities, which may vary day by day.

I enjoy making the daily plan the evening before. In this way, I wake up having a precise idea of what I had to do.

Tip 8: if you have more subjects, create a routine.

When preparing for multiple exams, prioritise them.

Identify the moments of your day in which you are more focused. Use these moments to study for the more difficult exam you have.

For example, I am more concentrated in the morning. So I always schedule the more complex subject for the first part of the day, while I dedicate the afternoon to an easier exam.

Tip 9: colour code your plan.

I always use a different colour for every subject. It immediately gives an idea of the subjects I have to study.

(Also, it is pretty and photogenic 😇).

Tip 10: do not be scared of changing the plan.

It is hard to make a perfect schedule at the first attempt.

While studying, you will notice that you are faster than expected at some topics, while you are slower at some others. Also, you may realise you need some days more for rehearsing, or you will become aware of a better routine.

Do not be scared of making the plan again as many time as you need. Only, be careful of not forgetting some topics while making the new schedule.

These are my hints for making an effective plan. Let me know if you have some more tips! I hope you enjoyed the post 😘

[jupitersmiles]

haikyuu boys as

little things i think they’d do with you

a/n: this is pure chaos and was built off of a single intrusive thought that has extended into something bigger (yeah it was the one about screaming HAGASH) i love all of these. and yes, one of tadashis was inspired off of strawberry mentos !!

also this is my first time making one of these and im not too confident with it so if you have any feed-back for the kitchen, let me know !!

KARASUNO

─ kōshi sugawara

◟ gives up his seat on the bus for you <3 

◟ lets you ramble on for hours. you’re rambling and sometimes you hesitate because you’re scared you’re talking too much, but he just smiles at you and tells you “go on, im listening.”

◟ plays the tambourine for you during karaoke, occasionally joining in to sing the lyrics with you

◟ buys you lunch when you don’t have one

( bonus: if you forgot yours, he’ll share his with you. he does not care if you say no, hes sharing and thats it. he’d also bring you lunch if you were in a different club/place as him, if possible )

─ asahi azumane

◟ he !!! he plays with your hair when you get anxious !!!

◟ also absent-mindedly fiddles with your hand/fingers :,)

◟ he likes to compare hand sizes with you

◟ lets you sleep on his shoulder on the bus !!

( bonus: one time, after practice, he and you sat beside eachother on the bus. you were both exhausted, and before you knew it, your head was on his shoulder, and his head was atop of yours. sugawara took a photo of it and teased asahi for it HAHA asahi still asked for it and made it his background on his phone )

◟ sometimes you catch him staring at you and he just quietly mutters, “can i kiss you?”

◟ sometimes the both of you wake up at dawn just to scream at the sunrise. when he’s frustrated and doesnt know what to do or how to express it, he just goes to his roof top and just... screams. the both of you thought of it as therapeutic and honestly, it felt rejuvenating

─ yū nishinoya

◟ SCREAMS song lyrics with you

◟ the type to go on 7-eleven runs at 1am to get slushies and go on spontaneous road trips to the city with you

◟ also the type to run over to your house when its pouring rain and you’re sad. he’ll stand outside and wait for you to unlock the door for him.

( bonus: one time he and you got into an argument-- it was over something dumb, and it spiraled out of control. to apologize to you, he ran over to your house, held a boom-box up, and started playing stupid romance music whilst screaming “im sorry” and, “i love you” at the top of his lungs. you ended up forgiving him LMAOIASU )

◟ makes you laugh at 2:30 in the morning because you were feeling anxious </3

─ tobio kageyama

◟ teases you for small things but ends up apologizing a million times when you act upset

◟ gets really annoyed when he has to untangle his headphones so he has you untangle them for him

he’s baffled by how easily you disentangle them. appreciates it way more than he should, its gotten to the point where he just wordlessly hands them to you and waits HAGJHSA

◟ bashfully holds your hand

hes so awkward about it sometimes :(( he tries to reach for your hand, hesitates, goes for it again......

◟ gives you blunt compliments all of the time LMAO

─ kei tsukishima

◟ rests his head on top of yours just to make fun of your height

◟ pokes fun at you when you’re mad at a videogame

◟ he covers your eyes and gives you forehead kisses

he’s kind of embarrassed to let you see him do it directly LMAO

◟ he holds your hand in crowded places because he’s scared of losing you to the mass of bodies he wont admit to this even though you know it

◟ sometimes he claims he doesnt know what you’re talking about just to watch you struggle to explain it even further. he always knows what you’re talking about, he just thinks its cute when you’re a bit exasperated and pouty

─ tadashi yamaguchi

◟ always scared to kiss you because he doesnt want to fuck it up

◟ takes you out for ice cream at ungodly hours of the night because you asked. he’s always tired in the morning, but he doesn’t mind

◟ he likes to eat your favorite candy so when you kiss, it tastes like them

◟ takes you to on silly and cute dates !! 

◟ stands on the edge of the sidewalk so you’re not in danger 

◟ gives you giggly kisses !!

FUKURŌDANI

─ kōtarō bokuto

◟ absent-minded touches <33 he doesnt mean to startle you, but he just wants to feel you there beside him. whether it be brushing his hand against yours, holding your hand, playing with your fingers... baby just loves to know you’re right there beside him

◟ stays up late until you fall asleep because he just wants to talk to you

◟ reciprocates your rambles !! when you get going on a topic, he will happily listen and/or provide his own opinions

◟ will talk to you about animals for hours

◟ takes you to the zoo specifically to pet the goats 

◟ holds your hand on rollercoasters, especially if and when he gets scared of the tall drops

◟ spontaneous facetime calls at any hour !! 

◟ lets you ride in the shopping cart and he pushes you around, vice versa !! 

he’s crashed into things more times than you can remember, but neither of you mind !! the employees, however....

─ keiji akaashi

◟ insists on buying you that one thing you loved even if you say you dont want or need it that much 

◟ HE READS !! YOU !! TO !! SLEEP !!

◟ answers your 4am calls and listens to you when you’ve had a nightmare :(

◟ takes you on picnic dates. he’ll pick you up and he’s already packed snacks and lunches !! 

◟ gives you wrist kisses <3

INARIZAKI 

─ astumu miya

◟ plays footsies with you while on a date LMAOSHAK

◟ looking at you with suppressed laughter when hearing a reference to a private joke. one of you always ends up busting out with laughter whilst others remain confused as to what was so funny

◟ watches movies with you, even if he doesn't like them

◟ plays games with you COMPETITIVELY. sometimes he shoves you to get an advantage when hes losing like the cheater he is

◟ has playful arguments with you about board game rules. he often says that you “rigged the game” because you were winning, or vice versa. 

you always accuse him back, though, given he has tried to make you fail numerous times

◟ he takes you on late night drives all of the time. sometimes, the two of you will park on the side of the road, headlights on and the radio playing your favorite song. he’ll drag you out of the car and dances with you, albeit sloppily, but the both of you are laughing and having fun :,)

─ osamu miya

◟ makes you homemade breakfast, lunch, or dinner

◟ he slow dances with you in the kitchen when its way too early in the morning. you’re both just lazily swaying back and forth, but it doesnt make it any less special

◟ has you taste test food for him <3 

◟ loves to cook with you. sometimes in the morning when he wakes up after you, he’ll find you in the kitchen, bed head and all, making something for breakfast. he wordlessly joins you, slack in his own pajamas, and you both exchange sleepy “good mornings” and tired smiles as you work your way in the kitchen

BONUS

─ takanobu aone

◟ wordlessly ties your shoes for you when he notices they’re untied

◟ loves to listen to you ramble. he isnt much of a talker, but when he hears you going on about something you love, see’s the way you’re glowing with passion... he swears he falls even more in love every time

◟ COMPARES HAND SIZES ALL. OF. THE. TIME. SOMETIMES HE DOESNT EVEN MEAN TO BUT IT BRINGS HIM SO MUCH JOY

◟ also loves to absent-mindedly hold your hand <3