#who also happens to be a serial killer oops

[az-roser]

“We all have our vices, dear.”

It seems I’ll never escape from Human Alastor… he’s truly got my brain held captive. (not that I mind LOL)

[bananadramaaa]

Before I start screaming about your Alastor design and end up on their broken radio again (oops, my bad)

Do you have more headcanons on his siblings and/or on his father? Because your the first that I've seen with the sibling headcanon and I want to know more of what's going on in your head. :D

In my head there's chaos :D

As I wrote earlier, Alastor grew up surrounded by sisters (it makes more sense to me for his character). There was one more child who died at an early age, so the family may have been larger.

As the majority in the fandom, I headcanon that one of the biggest threats was the father, who's basically just a loser who thinks everyone owes him something (and most likely one of those who blames his wife for the fact that they had mostly girls, their son's "soft" nature was also the wife's fault and that she turned their children against him).

I headcanon that the kids were pretty close in their childhood times. But after their mother's death (it happened when they were young adults; the youngest sister was already a teenager), each went their own way. The eldest daughter(Adelice) tried to make a career in acting. She was a part-time jazz singer at a bar, but was killed by a suitor she turned down. The second sister (Leonore) took the youngest (Bertilda) with her after their mother's death; much later they were both married and found out about Alastor's death through newspapers with headlines screaming, "The serial killer who terrorized the town for years has been shot dead".

[lokidjarin-7567]

Kinktober Day 7: Secret Relationship

Spencer Reid x you

Contents: fem!reader x Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds), oral sex fem receiving, flashbacks, ooey gooey feelings

W/C: 3.2k

Ok so I’m behind again, oops, but I’m proud of this one! Again, not the kinkiest but I got carried away with the fluff and I also got into a cipher-related rabbit hole so I hope you enjoy regardless :))

PS: This is also a love letter to pre-boyband hair season 5 Spencer, AKA my favourite hair era, as depicted below

Kinktober Masterlist | General Masterlist | AO3

“Do you want to grab some coffee?” A voice whispered beside you, a touch too close to be just colleagues. You smiled uncontrollably, heart rate picking up as his hand brushed across your back.

“Sounds good.”

That’s how you found yourself pressed against the door of the copy room, Spencer’s lips on yours, his hand up your skirt.

“We’ve got time, baby…” He practically whined between kisses, bucking his hips into yours.

“Spence! We have…“ you checked you watch absentmindedly, “5 minutes until briefing.” He grinned.

“I take that as a challenge…”

His head started to dip, moving to kneel down, but you grabbed his hair with a fake gasp of disbelief, pulling him back up to his usual height, looming over you.

“Oh honey, I don’t doubt you could, but I’m not sure these walls are soundproof.” Your fingers moved to his cheek, and he sighed into your lips, his hands returning to your waist and squeezing.

“But you left so early this morning, I didn't have time to start your day right…” You were grinning ear to ear, noses bumping into each other clumsily, and you whimpered into his mouth as his teeth grazed your bottom lip.

“I know, I know, I’ll make it up to you later, I promise…” You kissed him one last time with finality, pushing off the door and smoothing your skirt, but he was slightly less keen to leave, pressing himself against your hip as he helped straighten your hair and lip gloss. “I should probably leave first. You clearly need a minute.” He huffed behind you, but you had already slipped out of the room, heading into the bullpen as if nothing had happened.

You’d had a crush on him for a long time before anything happened. You joined the team a couple of years ago as a linguistics and code-breaking expert - something that was surprisingly helpful in the cases the BAU took on. You’d harboured years of butterflies, coy glances, occasional hand grazes… and you thought you’d done a pretty good job at hiding it. You’d known it was unrequited - he never so much as looked in your direction unless he was asking your opinion on something he was working on. It was starting to get to you. Your feelings had slowly been growing, swelling in your chest as you watched from afar, to the point where you had considered transferring departments. And then it all changed.

It was a case in California; a serial killer who was carving encrypted messages into his victims posthumously, only you had no idea what cipher he had used. You and Spencer had been working tirelessly for days to crack it while the rest of the team were searching for physical evidence, and it was a distraction you were grateful for. Even though you were working alone with him in close quarters, it was one of the few times you could briefly forget about your feelings, too consumed with your work to allow yourself to think about him.

It was night 3 of sleeping at the station. JJ had predicted it was going to happen, moving your go bags from the hotel to the precinct on the first day, and you and Spencer had been taking turns napping on the small couch whenever you physically couldn't keep your eyes open. You were sleep deprived and strung out, but you were close. You could feel it. You knew it wasn’t a shift cipher or some kind of alternate alphabet converted back and forth - you had exhausted every possibility of that days ago. You had been testing more complex ciphers, Garcia running everything imaginable through software to attempt to decipher it, but with no luck.

“What haven’t we tried?” Spencer muttered, pacing the room after a last ditch attempt at some kind of converted polybius square. Garcia was on speaker, confirming that she had tried every option available to her twice over.

“I mean, at this point, it could only be some kind of complex Vigenère cipher that somehow hasn’t been deciphered through Garcia’s software, or…” You didn’t even want to say the other option aloud - just the thought that three days work would’ve been completely wasted sent a shiver through your body.

“Or it’s a one-time pad.” Spencer said what you were too scared to, collapsing on the sofa with a sigh.

“A one-time pad? Is that the…”

“Unbreakable cipher. Yeah.” He confirmed.

“Unless…” A thought struck you, and you stood to the whiteboard you had set up in the room, scribbling down the ciphertext from the first body and converting it to numbers. “We need to think about this from the unsub’s point of view. He wouldn’t use a true OTP because if he truly wanted to hide this code, he wouldn’t carve it on his victims. But, the key might not be random.”

“Yeah, but then it would’ve been picked up on Garcia’s systems…”

“Not if each body had a different key….” You had written and converted the next two bodies’ codes while you were speaking, and you stood back briefly, showing Spencer what you had written. “We’ve been collating the messages and running them as a whole, but…do you see a pattern?” He paused, eyes scanning over the board frantically, and then he calmed visibly, a wave of realisation hitting his features. You smiled as he saw what you did, standing quickly and grabbing another pen to scrawl the keys beneath each.

“The Bible.” He whispered. “A Vigenère is hardest to break if the key is as long as the plaintext. Seven letters. Six letters. Nine letters. Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus.”

“It might work.” He nodded, brow furrowed in thought as he stared at the lettering.

“Let’s try it.” He wrote the corresponding letters as you did the sums, converting them back to the alphabet and - to your shock and relief - it was making sense.

P. L. E. A. S. E. H. …

E. L. P. M. E. I. …

C. A. N. T. S. T. O. P. J. …

“Garcia, can you read the last body please? The one we don’t have photos for yet…”

“No need.” Spencer muttered, writing it down without glancing up. You forgot how immaculate his memory was sometimes.

“Thank you.” It was seven letters. Perfect. You wrote numbers, he converted, you did the sum and muttered the letters aloud…

A. M. E. S. T. O. L.

“James. James ‘tol’? Is that a name, or the start of one?” Garcia asked over the speaker, but Spencer wasn’t listening, muttering to himself as he moved to the files quickly, flipping through them.

“No, I…” You answered for him, “I think Spence is onto something Pen…”

“Get Hotch on the line.” He barked, finding what he was looking for and bringing it to you.

“Hotch here…” A tired voice rung out in the small room just as you realised what Spencer was showing you, a gasp escaping your lips.

“It was David.” He breathed immediately, his words tumbling out at a breakneck speed. “The message on the bodies said something about James followed by T-O-L, and that reminded me of your interview…”

“David kept referring to a colleague throughout the interview, a James, that ordered him around a lot…”

“If he kills again, I bet the phrase would be completed. James told me to, maybe?” You mused, and Spencer nodded.

“Garcia, have you got his file.”

“Yes, I’m opening it now and… oh my god.”

“What is it?”

“He had a brother called James. Hung himself when David was 11.”

“And all of his victims died from strangulation.” The pieces had fallen perfectly into place.

“Address?”

The unsub’s home had been closer to the hotel, so Hotch and the rest of the team went to his listed address, leaving you and Spencer to wait nervously in the precinct. You were pacing frantically, knotting your hands as the sound of your heavy boots echoed throughout the room. Spencer cooed your name calmly, and you turned to him, blushing lightly. He was sitting on the edge of the sofa, leant forwards with his arms on his knees looking up at you with… a look you’d never seen before. Concern mixed with something else, something foreign to you. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced with a kind smile.

“Just sit for a minute. Try and relax.” You nodded weakly, perching on the edge and trying to still your racing heart, leg bouncing and hands still twisting in each other with nervous energy.

“Sorry, I… I know we’ve done our bit now but I hate not being there when the team are apprehending him…”

“I know what you mean,” he muttered. You sat in silence for a few minutes, mind racing with what might be happening. What if he was armed? What if he’d decided to shoot his way out? They could all be dead right now, and you would have no idea….

Spencer’s phone rang. He stood, answering it quickly. It was Emily, and you heard him mutter a few affirmatives, smile playing across his features.

“Did they…” You asked as soon as he hung up, and he nodded.

“Yep, it went perfectly. He’s in custody, and they’re on their way back now.” The relief you felt was palpable, a sigh falling from you as he sat back down on the sofa next to you, sinking into it and resting his head back, mirroring your position.

You hadn’t realised your leg was still bouncing until his hand fell to it. Your breath caught in your throat as he squeezed lightly, stilling you effortlessly. He was so warm, slender fingers fanned out across the space just above your knee, and it took a moment for you to compose yourself. You turned your head, and he was already gazing at you, the mysterious expression from earlier back, his dark eyes meeting yours with warmth.

“You were incredible today…” He muttered, hand still resting on his leg, and you couldn’t help but blush. He was the most intelligent person you knew, and likely would ever know, and even without your feelings being involved, a complement from him was about the highest praise a person could get in your line of work.

“Thank you, but I couldn’t have done it without you…”

“Bullshit.” He whispered, and you laughed.

“Ok, maybe I could’ve, but it would’ve taken me twice as long.” He chuckled then, eyes scanning over your face with an intensity you only saw when he was trying to analyse something. It felt as though his eyes were boring into your skin, and you had to look away, heart near beating out of your chest. His hand shifted slightly on your leg, and oh sweet Jesus you just remembered it was still there. It had a strange affect on you - like when you put a harness on a cat and they suddenly couldn’t walk. You were frozen solid, trying to breath and staring at the ceiling.

Then his hand touched your chin. It was light, delicate, just guiding your eyes back to his and it wasn’t until that moment you finally realised what that look had been, the one you couldn’t identify. It was a reflection of what you had been feeling for months. The longing, the restraint, the need that swirled up inside you every time you stole a glance at him, and now, seeing those same emotions in his soft eyes, it was sobering. He wanted you too.

He moved first, gently pulling your lips to his and kissing you, light as a feather. It was tentative and sweet, so unsure and your body took a second to process that the thing you had been imagining for years was actually happening. And then you smiled, hands moving to the base of his neck, fingers twisting into his gorgeous hair and you pulled him back to you, lips clashing in a kiss full of years of pent up desire and desperation. You felt his body relax under your touch as the kiss deepened, his hands wandering to trail your waist and hips, before tangling in your hair and holding tight, pulling you closer. You had twisted until you were practically on his lap, hands falling to his shirt and bunching it up as his tongue finally hit yours, every bone in your body turning to jelly as you tasted him. It was magnetic, everything you had wanted for a long time finally coming to fruition and you couldn’t even break away for a second of air, so lost in him that breathing was no longer important.

And then the Precinct door banged open, and you jumped away as though you had been electrocuted. You laughed, cursing quietly as you tried to smooth your hair, tousled from his hands, while he just smiled, gazing at you.

“Spencer!” You whisper-shouted at him, still grinning uncontrollably, and he finally moved, straightening his shirt and placing his jacket over his lap. You giggled like a school girl, standing and moving to the whiteboard to try and convey a more believable working situation, and to put some distance between you and him, not sure how well you’d be able to hide your smile if he was so close to you.

You still jumped when Rossi opened the door to the room, although, you were more surprised when he didn’t speak. You turned to him, confused, and he pointed at Spencer. When you followed his eye line, you realised he was pretending to sleep, head slouched to one side and mouth slightly parted. He looked beautiful.

It had been six months, and you were stronger than ever. You honestly weren't sure how you were still keeping it a secret. You had had years of practice when you were just pining after him, sure, but it was a hell of a lot harder to not give anything away when every time you looked at him, you got flashbacks to the night before. Even if the team somehow did suss out a vibe, no one said anything, which was something you were grateful for. Spence was a lot better than you at masking his feelings, so anyone who noticed something probably assumed you just had a crush on him. Which was true enough.

You had managed to avoid looking at him the entire briefing, which was honestly a miracle, but your mind was ever so slightly distracted by your rendezvous in the copy room. As JJ spoke, you heard something about male victims, and she might have mentioned Tennessee, but all you could think about was that travel meant your date night plans were cancelled. And you were always cautious in hotels - too close to your other colleagues. It was hit or miss; sometimes, the fear of it was fun, the idea that someone could knock and catch you in the act, but if you had adjoining rooms with any of your teammates… well, them hearing you scream his name might just be a bit awkward. So, naturally, all you could think about now was finishing what you started earlier. You wanted this meeting to be over, to get him somewhere private and to let him completely wreck you before the long plane ride, to get this idea out of your head so you could focus on the case at hand. And then, at last, came the magic words…

“Wheels up in 20.”

The team dispersed quickly, and you caught Spencer’s sleeve just before he left the room.

“My car?” You muttered, earning a grin.

“Change your mind, baby?”

“Shut up.” You smiled. “I’ll meet you down there…”

“What’re you doing?” You practically whimpered, as he opened the passenger door instead of joining you in the backseat. He chuckled.

“Just making space.” You were about to ask what for, when he deftly moved the seat forwards, before getting in the back. Oh. You grinned as he pressed his lips to yours with hunger, backing you into the corner and you let yourself be dwarfed by him. His fingers trailed your collarbone, to your waist, and gripping onto your thigh with urgency. You whined as his lips left yours, earning another soft laugh. He managed to fit his tall frame mostly in the footwell, pushing your skirt up to your hips as you bit your lip, admiring him. He was so beautiful, the way his hair fell over his face, his earnest eyes, almost pleading in the way he looked up at you, his long fingers that so deftly moved your panties to one side.

“Can you…” he muttered gesturing to his hair, and you giggled, hand running through the front locks and holding them away from his face. Your leg draped over his back as his head dipped, tongue going straight to your folds, lips circling your core and kissing your sensitive bud with a hum of contentment. Your body relaxed into him, moan escaping your lips. He’d always been enthusiastic about eating you out, and you’d never complained about it. He was good. Really good. And today was no different.

He was lapping you up, relishing every taste and you were getting closer to your orgasm with every circle around your clit, cunt clenching around nothing.

“Spence…” you managed to gasp out, writhing in the seat, “fingers…” He didn’t hesitate for a second, one of the hands firmly holding your thighs apart trailed down to your centre, two fingers slipping into your soaking core. Your groan was filthy as he found that spot that made your toes curl with such perfect precision it was blinding.

“Oh god Spencer…” you choked out between moans and pants… “baby I’m so close…” Your hands tightened in his hair, pulling him closer, and he groaned into you, sending a wave of pleasure through you that sent you over the edge into that searing hot pleasure you were so used to receiving from him. He held onto you as you rode it out, his tongue still circling you until you were finished, finally stopping when you started to whine and squirm from overstimulation.

“Fucking hell, Spence.” You muttered, as he gently returned your panties and carefully let your skirt fall back around you. You watched in awe as he quickly licked his fingers clean, but it was mostly pointless, as his lips and chin were covered in your slick. You giggled.

“You might have to rinse your face before you join the team.” He grinned, pressing his lips to yours with force, and you could taste yourself on his tongue, making you hum into him.

“Now you will too.”

After a quick clean-up in the parking lot toilets, you both joined the rest of the team, entrances tactically staggered. For once, you couldn’t help but look at him, stealing glances as much as possible, watching as his hands scanned pages as he read and all you could think about is what those hands were doing to you just minutes earlier.

When you started looking into the case, you would be focussed, fully invested, but… you just wanted to stay in this headspace a moment longer. A happy one. A scary one still, for sure, but a fun kind of scary. A hopeful kind of scary. It was peaceful. And peaceful moments were rare in your line of work. His eyes caught yours, sending you a soft smile, and you knew you were in for the long haul, no matter how many people you had to lie or, or how much time you had to hide it for. It was all worth it for the moments of peace with him.

Taglist 🩵 - @emma-e-a

[jeffthekillerzblog]

a major plot point or like the entire thing about my au is just the creeps moving on and having their own character arcs throughout the years and finally heal from their past trauma

(rest is me rambling about my au...u don't have to read if u don't wanna its pretty long)

Jeff's arc is big on him finding his brother and coming to terms with what really happened. jeff is so incredibly stubborn and a big (very) egotistical. he finds it hard to open up and after what happened he feels that there's no point opening up anyway bc he's literally a famous asshole serial killer who's messed up SO many people's lives. another big thing about his arc is just owning up to his actions and apologizing to the people he's hurt. for example, nina. he led her on, treated her terribly for no reason, and was overall just an asshole. after they get into an argument he'll eventually apologize bc like he didn't HATE nina, he's was and prob still is in a terrible mindset and copes in such unhealthy ways. IDK OK I'm rambling but my point is he does eventually apologize to nina not because he needs her or like wants to use her again. he apologizes because he genuinely misses her and BOOM they become besties again after jeff properly apologizes and ya. BUT basically jeff's arc is him finally finding liu after all these years and yeah he apologizes to all the people he hurt (or the IMPORTANT ones) like nina, liu, and EVENTUALLY... jane. but that's WAY into the future (besides nina) he's way too full of himself to apologize now.

Nina's arc is her getting over JEFF. her love for Jeff began when she met him. she already admired him, but he turned into a full on crush. he did lead her on, and it hurt her a lot. shed spent tons of nights alone when jeff was supposed to be sleeping next to her, and she just felt so lonely, especially since jeff was so neglectful. She talks to clockwork about it and they help her realize her self worth and comforts her (she's terrible at it). Nina starts hanging out with Nat and toby more often, and it makes her feel SO much better about herself. Eventually she does get fed up of jeffs bs and they get into an argument and nina decides to leave. she kicks him out of her apartment and she doesn't let him come back. (she does....when he apologizes.....) She eventually learns to love herself and realize she doesn't need a stinky man's validation. Theres also a bit of her coming to terms with her own trauma, but I haven't fully fleshed that part out yet.

BEN's arc is probably my favorite. he's lost all his memories of his past life, and now after he accidentally found out he's NOT just a computer AI program, he decides to take it on himself to find out who his family was, how his life was, and how he died. I wont say as much bc I want to keep it a surprise, but in summary it fucks him up LMAO

ok that's it. OBVIOUSLY the rest of the creeps are healing as well BUT I have not fleshed out their stories yet...oops. so its just three for now. Except MUCH more stuff about the trio bc I love them with my all.. if u have any questions feel free to ask :3

[junipers-archive]

hey idk how your requests for fics/oneshots work but i thought of this idea! could you do a reader who gets injured a lot(bruises, scratches, burns) and doesnt seem to notice why shes in pain and spencer is always super worried, or points them out and asks if their ok and they are just genuinely like "huh??" like no clue they were actually hurt. i love protective spence. (this is totally self indulgent i spent 3 hours reading in the sun and didnt realize i was burnt until someone noticed ngl)

"Ow!" Suprisingly its not you who screeches, but Spencer who has been watching you like a hawk the entire case.

He had just witnessed you trying to retrace the steps of the serial killer you were tracking and cut yourself on the nearby wire fencing. Walking over to you, you notice his expression, eyebrows scrunched and mouth downturned.

"How does that not hurt?! It hurts me just to look at it!"

You're about to ask what he's talking about but you notice his pointed stare and follow his gaze to the slash down your upper right forearm. Its bleeding, which you would've realized if you hadn't been busy staring at him.

He looks over to hotch and gets a nod of understanding. And you realize you've done it again.

"oh. oops." Its all you can say, all you can come up with because it doesn't hurt, and also he's standing really close to you, too close, you can smell his cologne, which is clean but sweet and perfect and-

"How-how does this even happen to you?" He snaps you out of your daze, now guiding you to the car, popping the trunk to get the med kit out. He supposedly started it 'for the safety of the team members should something happen'.

Though everyone knows the only team member who needed it was you. You're 99% sure the only reason Hotch agreed to the carry on was because he was tired of having to ask for band aids at every police station you had to cooporate with.

Once you take a seat in the trunk he begins cleaning you up, which to your embarrassment, happens almost every case. But it was hardly ever your fault, your body just rarely experienced the sensation of pain.

Even when it meant you walked around with paper cuts on your fingers all day and only noticed the blood while doing paperwork.

"Sorry..." You mumble, lips twisting into a grimace at your childishness, you can't even take care of yourself, your coworker has to keep an eye on you. "You should be focused on the case, not worried about if I'll break my arm and not feel it.."

You cringe at his slight smile, expecting to be made fun of. "I-Its fine, Y/n I like taking care of you."

Rolling your eyes at his sweetness you tilt your head, "You really like having to keep your eyes on me 24/7, making sure I haven't gone and cut off a finger or fell and broken a bone, you want to keep your eyes on me?"

"Yes, I quite like it actually." And he's grinning Spencer Reid is grinning up at you like he's won the lottery, like looking after you is some prize he's won.

"What-Whatdoyoumean-" you begin quickly but he interrupts you,

"All done!" And he's walking away, he's really just walking away like he just didn't do what he just did.

"Spence! Spencer you come back here right now!" And now you have everyone looking at you like a lunatic. But by god you will find out exactly what he meant.

[javierpena-inatacvest]

Chapter 3: I Wanna Be With You Everywhere

Summary: Javi drives you home after a backyard barbecue. You invite him up so your time together doesn't have to end, but lucky for you, your night is just beginning.

Warnings: IT'S HAPPENING! Smut (18+), protected P in V sex, oral (f and m receiving), vaginal fingering, praise, multiple orgasms, dirty talk, kissing, language, mentions of food, Javi being the biggest, sweetest, softie (bc he is head over heels for you) but also GODDAMN (this man knows how to make you feel GOOD and wants to do it over and over)

Word Count: 8.1K (oops, sorry)

A/N: These two have no self control LOL. This chapter was very fun to write. Killing myself slowly with how cute these two lovebirds are because they are both the biggest assholes and the biggest softies.

Series Masterlist Next Chapter Previous Chapter

“You ready?” 

Javi sat himself down in the driver’s seat and turned his gaze towards you.  

“I think so, I didn’t find anything in the truck that indicated any sort of serial killer tendencies, so I’m feeling a little more confident I’ll live to see another day after you take me home.” 

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Javi placed the keys in the ignition and started up the truck. The radio softly played in the background as you very thoroughly explained the directions on your 3 minute drive back to your apartment. As you reached the end of Maria’s street, you began pointing, “Okay, so you’re gonna take a left at the stop sign, and then-“ 

“Cariño,” Javi replied, gripping the wrist of your pointed finger and pulling it back down into your lap. “I promise I didn’t forget your very detailed directions from 30 seconds ago. Left at the stop sign, turn right on 3rd Street and then another right just past the car wash.” His hand shifted to interlace his fingers with yours and gave your hand a slight squeeze, as if to reassure you that he really did remember. Although you sat quietly for the next two minutes, feeling a little embarrassed by excessive need for control, Javi’s hand never left yours. 

Finally, you pulled into the parking lot of your apartment as Javi turned to look at you. “See? Promise I told you I’d get you back.” You hand unlocked with his to undo your seatbelt and give him a playful shove, causing both of you to smile. 

“Do you wanna come up?” 

The words had come out of your mouth before your brain even had time to think about it. Shit, shit, shit. Was that way too eager? 

“Sorry, I just meant-“ 

“Yeah, I’d love to, if uh, if that’s okay.” You looked at each other with looks of relief. “Plus it would make me feel better knowing that you made it into your apartment okay. Don’t want you falling asleep in the stairwell because your leg gave out on you.” 

“If I do, it’s coming back on you. You’re the one who cleared me to walk, remember?” 

Javi opened up the driver’s side door, hopped out, and made his way around the truck. You did the same, opening the passenger side, but before you could get yourself out of the car, Javi was standing in front of you, holding out his hand to help you down. 

“You know I can-“ 

“I know you can get out of the car yourself. I also know you can get up the stairs by yourself. Believe me, you have proven that if there’s anything that you want to do, I’m sure you’d figure out a way to do it. It won’t kill you to let someone help you, Osita. Please?” He motioned back down to his extended hand. 

You knew he was right. You hated to admit it, but he was. Growing up, you had spent your childhood proving to your brothers you were tough enough to fit in. In school, you were determined to get good grades and get into a good college. Your whole career was centered around giving every piece of yourself to help teach your students without giving a second thought to yourself. Hell, you wasted 3 years of your life with Paul trying to prove to yourself that you were worthy of being loved by someone who couldn’t have given a shit about you. You were the helper. The doer. The fixer. Never once had you considered the fact that there would be someone who would do the same for you. 

“Okay. Thank you.” You replied sheepishly, barley raising your voice above a whisper. Your hand extended to meet his as he gently guided you out of the truck. You started walking towards the apartment stairs, Javi trailing closely behind you. 

“I’ve started to pick up on some Spanish since being here, and I’m trying my best to learn more. I’ve heard hermosa and cariño, but I’ve never heard Osita before. What does that one mean, big pain in my ass?” You turned back to look at Javi, giving him a mischievous look as he started to smirk. 

“Osita means little bear. Someone who’s sweet, funny, maybe a little bit stubborn-“ 

Half way up your next step, you stopped to turn the entirety of your body around to face Javi in shock. “Are you serious?” 

“Would you have rather me called you a pain in my ass?” He responded laughing, even though there was a slight tinge of panic in his face, thinking you were upset with the nickname.

“No it’s just, I, really? It really means little bear?” You stared at him in disbelief. 

“Uh, yeah?” Javi now looked even more confused. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. My family’s nickname for me as long as I can remember has been bear cub. Growing up, my favorite animal was bears because I was obsessed with the Chicago Cubs, and my parents agreed that the obsession matched what they lovingly deemed my tenacious personality.” 

“I’ve got you read like a book, Osita.” Javi rested his hands on his hips, tilted his head and winked at you. 

“Oh shut up.” You scoffed and rolled your eyes as you turned your back to Javi to continue walking up the stairs to your apartment. “You haven’t even read the first chapter.” 

“Well, then I can’t wait to read the rest of it.” 

Knowing Javi was behind you, only able to see your backside, you bit down on your lip and let a grin spread wide enough across your face to make your cheeks hurt. 

Finally reaching your door, you shuffled through your bag to pull out your keys and unlock your door, revealing the interior of your apartment. You set your keys and bag down in the dish that sat on the table at the entrance of your doorway. Javi followed, letting the door shut behind him, watching as you neatly set away your belongings. 

“Welcome!” You said, giving a Vanna White like gesture to the inside of your home. I’m really sorry, I really have to go to the bathroom, but make yourself at home and I can give you a tour in just a second. There’s beer in the fridge if you want any!” You made your way through your living room and down the hallway, peeking your head out around the corner. “Don’t get lost in here.” 

Javi looked around as he heard the bathroom door click shut behind you. Waking through the dining area of the kitchen near the door, he was surprised how warm and homey your apartment felt, despite having only been there a few months. He wandered into the living room, resting his hands against the back of your couch, covered in pillows and neatly folded blankets. In front of the couch was a TV, sitting on top of a stand filled with various CD’s and VHS tapes organized in color order. On the top shelf was your music collection, Javi noting your extensive collection of CD’s from Queen and The Beatles. Underneath, your movie collection was stashed, containing both an entire Indiana Jones and Star Wars box set, along with what looked to be like a few animated movies and several other classics. 

A picture of you and your family at the beach sat on top of a bookshelf next to the TV. Javi picked it up to get a closer look, taking a little extra time to stare at how good you looked in the yellow bikini top you had on. He roamed closer to the hallway at the end of the living room, peeking down to see another doorway that he assumed was the bedroom. The bathroom door was still closed, and with a burst of confidence and curiosity, Javi quickly snuck down the hallway to try and take a peek before you came back out. 

Your bed faced the doorway, covered in a light yellow comforter and cream colored sheets. Hidden among the pillows was a very worn and tattered stuffed bear, flopped over due to its lack of stuffing. Taking a few more steps through the doorway, Javi noticed a dresser across the room with a mirror on top to the right of the bed, scattered with a few more photos and accessories, all carefully organized. Across from that was a closet left wide open, with an uncharacteristic pile of clothes sitting at the bottom of it. 

“Find what you were looking for?” 

Javi just about jumped out of his skin as he turned around to see you with your arms crossed, standing in the doorway. 

“Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me.” 

“Ya know, for a former DEA agent, you are not very sneaky.”

“No sorry, I wasn’t trying to… shit, I’m sorry I-”

“Javi, it’s okay.” You could tell he was clearly flustered. “I really don’t care at all, I trust you. Really it’s okay. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. You sure you don’t need the bathroom next because I’m pretty sure you were about to shit your pants.” You sat down on the edge of your bed, laughing to yourself as you watched Javi regain his composure. With each breath he took to calm himself, the air in your bedroom grew thicker with tension. His eyes looked you up and down, tongue darting out between his lips. 

“Well, the only thing I did find that surprised me was the pile of clothes on the floor, considering everything else in your apartment looks like it’s set up to be a model home.” He began to move closer, his gaze fixed on you.  

Your eyes mirrored his, soaking up every detail of the broad handsome body in front of you. “Well I was trying to pick out something to wear today, and I ended up going through more than a few outfit changes” 

He was now standing in front of you, his deep brown eyes piercing yours. “Yeah? And why’s that?” 

“Because I, um, I-”

“Why, hermosa?” 

“I’d been thinking about you all week. I wanted to look good when I saw you today.” 

You stood up from the edge of the bed, your bodies now inches away from each other. 

“Osita, fuck, you looked gorgeous today. I couldn’t take my eyes off you from the moment I saw you.” 

His big hands slowly slid down the length of your body. 

“You would have looked amazing in anything you wore…” 

His hands stopped at your hips, reaching around your frame to grab under the curve of your ass, leaning his body into yours, placing a kiss on your neck. He left a few more on the way up towards your ear. 

“… but I bet you’ll look even better when you have nothing on.” 

Your arms wrapped around his neck, as he swiftly lifted you up, causing you to wrap your legs around the small of his back. This kiss was different from the one you had shared just hours before. Your mouths met one another’s in an intense passion, crashing together as you ran your hands through the curls of Javi’s hair, pulling him closer into you. You let out a moan, just long enough for Javi’s tongue to enter between your lips. Walking towards the bed, Javi laid you down and began planting a trail of wet kisses down your body. He reached your breasts, pulling the fabric of your dress down to expose them, noting you weren’t wearing a bra as they freed from your dress. “Jesus, no bra? Fucking gorgeous tits.” He hissed. His kisses then continued, stopping at your nipples, sucking and flicking each one with his tongue, making a “pop” sound after each time his mouth left your tits. 

The throbbing between your legs was intensifying, causing breathy moans to escape from your mouth. Javi was sitting on his knees at the edge of the bed, his hands and kisses trailing down your stomach, coming closer and closer to your entrance. 

“Javi,” you moaned. “Please touch me.” 

Javi paused his trail of kisses and looked up with a devilish grin. “Patience, Osita.” He slowly pushed up the hem of your dress, his hands grazing your thighs. Hooking his fingers around the edges of your drenched panties, he pulled them down, leaving them hanging around your ankles. 

“Hermosa, fuck, you’re so wet for me.” You could feel the throb of your pussy as your wetness pooled around your heat. 

“You want me to touch you, baby?” You nodded rapidly, letting out nothing but a whine at how badly you needed him to ease the ache between your legs. 

“Words, Hermosa.” 

“Please, Javi, please touch me.” 

His fingers teased around your entrance, gathering the slick and bringing it up to circle around your clit. He circled slowly, watching you gasp  as his fingers traced through your folds. Finally, he sunk one digit inside you, making you whine as you threw your head back in pleasure. 

“Such a pretty fucking pussy.” Javi mewled as he began to pump his finger in and out as his thumb traced around your clit. Slowly, he slipped in a second finger causing you to grasp at fist fulls of your bed sheets. His fingers felt so deep inside you, deliciously curved to hit that spot inside you that made you squirm in delight. You could feel the pleasure building in you. With the pressure on your clit and the rhythm he had pumping in you, you could feel yourself tightening around his fingers. Your moans of his name became louder, a trail of “fuck, Javi” trailed from your lips as he hit the perfect spot inside of you. 

“You’re so fucking wet, do you feel how wet you are for me?” Javi’s voice rasped. 

“Yes, Javi,” you whimpered. “Fuck, you feel so good.” You could feel the pressure beginning to build in you, causing you to clench down harder around Javi’s fingers, edging closer and closer towards your release.

“I know you’re close, Osita. It’s okay, you can let go. Come for me, baby.” 

That sent you over the edge. You felt yourself gush around Javi’s fingers, screaming his name as your cunt throbbed in delight. You breathed heavily, panting as you came down from your high, Javi’s finger’s still slowly pulsing inside of you as you rode out your orgasm. 

“Did so good for me, Osita. Been thinking about this all day. Wanted to make you feel good.” You whined as Javi’s fingers left you, making his way back up to engulf your moans as he kissed you. You could feel the bulge of his hard cock in his jeans rub against you as he pulled your mouth closer to his. 

Javier Peña had arguably just given you the best orgasam of your life, yet you craved more. The feeling of him hard, pressed against you had you reeling. After what he had done to you with just his hands, you had no doubt this man could make you feel things you had never felt before. Except there was one problem. 

“Javi?” 

“Yes, Osita?” 

“I… fuck-”

“Osita, are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” Javi had immediately pulled away from you, sensing the change in your demeanor. 

“No! Oh my god, no Javi! You just made me come harder than I ever have in my entire life. It’s just that… Oh my god this is so stupid.” You buried your face in both your hands to try and hide your embarrassment. 

Javi pulled your hands off your face, brushed a piece of hair out of your face and slid his hand down to cup the side of your face. “Whatever you have to tell me isn’t stupid. Please, tell me. It’s okay.” 

You took a deep breath. “I like you, Javi. Like, a lot. I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but you are the most handsome man I have ever met and you’re sweet and caring and I really like spending time with you.” You paused. Javi looked at you, curious as to how what you were saying was stupid. He nodded at you, knowing you had more to say. “I just, ugh, I just, I really want to see you again and spend more time with you, and believe me, I REALLY want to have sex with you, I just don’t want you to think I’m a terrible person for wanting to fuck before we’ve even gone on like, a date. I haven’t had sex in a long time and I don’t know, I promise I’m not normally this type of person and I-“ 

Before you could finish, Javi’s mouth was back on yours, swallowing the rest of your sentence with a tender kiss. You had only spent a few hours together, yet it had felt like you had known each other for years. He had watched you laugh and smile and she listened intently to what he had to say. You radiated a genuine warmth and compassion, patience and understanding as Javi opened up a brief glimpse about his past. You were the first person who had looked at him and hadn’t seen the broken, tired man he had written himself off to be. Now here you were, trying to apologize for seeming like you may not be enough for him? You were something special, and Javier Peña knew at that moment he would spend as long as he needed to try to prove that to you. 

“That’s it?” Javi asked you laughing. 

“What do you mean, that’s it?” It was now your turn to look confused, surprised at how nonchalant Javier was about what you had just said.

“That’s what you were so worried about telling me?” You nodded your head and looked away. Javi grasped under your chin to pull your gaze back to meet his. “Osita, I meant what I said earlier when I told you that this was the best day I’ve had in a really long time. You’re gorgeous and smart and funny as hell. I would be an absolute idiot to say I didn’t want to see you again.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes, really. Believe me, I want to fuck you so bad too, and I definitely don’t think any less of you because of it. It’s been a while for me too, and if you don’t want to do anything else right now, I totally understand. I’ll wait until you’re ready, Osita.” 

You could feel your heart bursting out of your chest. You were so relieved you could cry. This man was really too good to be true. Grabbing Javi’s face, you rolled yourself on top of him and kissed him with intensity. You could feel both of your smiles as your mouths met. Javi ran his fingers through your hair as you pulled up to look at him. 

“You promise?” 

“I promise, Osita.” 

“Okay, good, because I’m pretty sure if I go any longer without having your dick inside me, I will spontaneously combust.” 

You both laughed as Javi rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’re fucking ridiculous, Osita.” 

“I’m being serious. No man has ever made me come that hard and you expect me to go about my day not wondering what else you have to offer?” 

Javi sat up, pulling you into his lap so that you were straddling him as his hands wrapped around your hips. “Never, huh?” His voice now at a low whisper, sending shivers down your spine. You could feel the heat between your legs as you gently pushed yourself harder into Javi’s lap. 

“Scout’s honor.” You winked as you ran your fingers through the dark curls of his hair, bringing your breasts closer to his face. He moved his hands from your hips to knead the soft mounds, sucking each one before moving his mouth down to lick at your pebbled nipples. 

You could feel how hard his dick was straining against the zipper of his jeans. Your hands began to roam down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt, exposing the soft, tanned skin underneath. Once the buttons were undone, he shed the shirt behind him on the bed, then prompting you to lift up your arms and take off your dress, leaving you completely naked sitting in his lap. 

“Fuck, hermosa. You’re so fucking beautiful.” He said, almost half whispering to himself. He ran his hands up and down your body, reaching down between your legs to draw lazy circles around your clit. 

Flinging you off his lap and throwing you back down onto the bed, he kneeled at the edge, face to face with your dripping heat. Propped up on your elbows, you watched as he dove in like a man starved. He wrapped his arms under your thighs as he licked a long strip, making you gasp. He slowly worked his way around your folds, sucking and pressing into in a way that had you bucking your hips into his face. Seeing how worked up you were, Javi slowly slipped a finger inside, easing some of the emptiness you were so desperate to have filled. You moaned his name as he worked around your sensitive nub, licking and sucking like his life depended on it. Again, you found yourself on the brink of pleasure, feeling it build in your stomach as Javi continued to work you up. You ran your hands through his hair, pulling gently on his curls as you reached your breaking point, moans filling the walls of your room.

“You taste so fucking good, hermosa.” Javi looking up at you grinning, his mustache covered in your slick. “Anyone ever made you come like that before? Taken care of you like that?” 

Still blissed out and panting, you shook your head. This man was a menace. 

“You still want me to fuck you, Osita?” 

“Please, Javi. Please, holy shit I want you so bad.” 

“Needy girl. I’ll take care of you baby, don’t worry.” 

Standing up and looking over you, Javi undid his belt, the clanging of the buckle slowly followed by the dropping of his pants, leaving him in his underwear. You sat up to palm his boxer briefs, his bulge hard and heavy in your hands. Kissing his stomach, you hooked your fingers underneath the waistband and shimmied them down off his hips. 

Oh, fuck. 

What revealed itself was Javi’s dick, bobbing after being freed, hard and leaking with precum from its tip. After feeling him rub against you and cupping him from outside his underwear you had a suspicion he was bigger than normal, and boy, were you right. Holy shit, his dick was big and it was gorgeous. The thought of it filling you made your pussy throb. 

You reached over to your nightstand and opened the drawer to pull out the box of condoms pushed in the back corner. Javi took them from you, opening the wrapper with his teeth and tossing it off to the floor on the side of the bed. He rolled the condom down his length before lining up with your entrance. He leaned down into you as he ran his cock through your wet folds. 

“You ready for me, cariño?” 

You nodded and both of you gasped as you felt the sweet stretch of Javi inside you. Javi had already made you come twice- any wetter and you might as well have been a faucet. Even then, the feeling of him pushing his length into you filled you up in a way you couldn’t have even imagined. After slowly making his way all the way in, you whimpered as you felt him bottom out. 

“Javi, holy fuck.” 

“I know baby, I know. Such a good girl, Osita. Taking me so fucking well.” 

He began to slowly increase his pace, letting you adjust to his size. Your jaw was slack as he continued to thrust into you, filling you up in a way you had never felt before. You moaned breathlessly as Javi brought his hand up to your mouth, bringing his thumb in between your lips and swirling your tongue around it. He took out his thumb and brought it down to your clit, circling it as he continued to pound into you. At this point, the sounds coming from you were absolutely obscene as pleasure radiated through your body. 

“Doing so good for me, baby. Fuck, you’re so tight and wet.” He grabbed behind your knees and pushed them up towards your chest. The new angle hit in a sweet spot that made you whimper his name as his hands dug into your hips. 

“You feel so good, Javi. Oh my god. Fuck.” 

You looked up at him, sweat glistening on his forehead, making his dark curls stick to him. His grunts were accompanied by a devilish grin, loving how you were coming unraveled for him. You could feel the pressure building in your belly once again, expletives falling from your mouth. Javi leaned down into you, biting at your neck and whispering in your ear. 

“I’m not gonna last much longer, Hermosa. You feel too fucking good. Need you to come again. Think you can be a good girl and soak my dick when you come?” His filthy words were simultaneously accompanied by his thrusts hitting deeper into you and his thumb rubbing faster against your clit. You nodded and moaned, completely at a loss for words with how good you felt. You were so close to the edge, his cock stretching you out in a way that had you seeing stars as he hit that sweet spot in you over and over again. Your legs shifted to wrap around his back, wanting to pull him as close into you as possible. “That’s it. Give me one more, baby. Come for me.” 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Javi, I’m gonna-” 

You snapped, your orgasm flooding your body as you screamed his name. Pleasure waved through you as you could feel yourself gushing down around his cock. You felt like your soul had left your body as you rode your high, breathless and blissed out. 

Javi’s thrusts became faster and sloppier, knowing you had reached your end, now chasing his own. After only a few more pumps, he pushed deep into you one last time, and came with a loud moan, spilling into the condom. He slumped into you as you both breathed heavily, needing to catch your breath before either of you spoke. He slowly pulled himself out, causing you to shutter at the loss inside of you. He took off the condom and threw it in the trash next to your nightstand before crawling back up in bed to kiss you, your breathing still shaky and heavy. You laid your head on his tanned chest and looked up at his sweet, brown eyes staring back at you. 

“What the fuck…” you laughed to yourself, euphoria running through your veins from the magic you had just experienced. 

“You okay, Osita?” 

“Javi, I am more than okay. I don’t think I have ever been more okay. My only complaint is that I’m about to look like Bambi when I try to get up because I’m not sure if my legs are gonna work.” 

Javi chuckled to himself as he ran his fingers through your hair. “Well I appreciate the compliment, cariño. If I wasn’t such an old fuckin’ man, I’d be ready for round 2 right now, just gimme a few.” 

You shot up, now propped up on your elbows. You cocked your head slightly. “I’m sorry, did you just say round 2? Are you trying to tell me that there’s more of this that’s about to happen?” 

Javi stared back at you smirking, but a little bit confused. “Is that okay with you?” 

You dramatically flopped back down onto your back, giggling and covering your face. “Is that okay with me? Is the sky blue? Is the grass green? You’re joking, right?”

“Not unless you want me to be, Osita."  

“Well, I am not mad about it one bit.” You scooted over to him, now laying your naked body on top of his, cupping his face and kissing him. He ran his hands along your back, reaching down to grab a handful of your ass, kneading the soft flesh in his palms. Suddenly, you felt a gurgle underneath you, realizing that Javi’s stomach was grumbling. You pulled away from your kiss, laughing. 

“Sorry…” Javi mumbled.

“Are you hungry?” 

“No it’s fine, just ignore it.” 

His stomach rumbled again, this time louder than the first. You sat up, trying to contain your giggles. “Javi, you can tell me if you’re hungry.” 

“Okay, maybe I am a little hungry.” 

“Good, because I am too. Something was a little too distracting to keep me from eating at Maria’s.” You leaned in to kiss him once more, then nibbled at his ear to whisper “The distraction was well worth not eating.”

Your words sent shivers down your spine, as he let out a low grunt. “Osita, fuck, you sure we have to eat?” His stomach grumbled again. 

“Your stomach says otherwise. Don’t worry, I’ll make it worth the wait” you winked, and shuffled yourself out of your bed. You reached down besides your bed, where all of your clothes had fallen off during your… activities. You shuffled your panties back on and reached down for one more item. “Can I put this on?” You said, holding up his unbuttoned shirt. 

Javi nodded, the primal part of his brain igniting as he watched you slip on his shirt, leaving it completely unbuttoned. The image of you in nothing but his clothing left him speechless, his brain short circuiting. You. In his shirt. The thought of you walking around your apartment wearing his clothes had him half hard already. He wanted nothing more than to rip it right off you and pull you back into bed, but you were right, he really did need to eat. 

He shuffled out of bed to join you, only putting back on his underwear and following you into the kitchen. You began shuffling through your fridge and your pantry, muttering under your breath, embarrassed by the lack of food you had.

“Okay, I don’t have a ton of choices. I’m really sorry, tomorrow is normally my grocery shopping day and with it being the last 2 weeks of school, there’s been a lot more take out than I’d like to admit. So let’s see…” you opened up the pantry and fridge again, pulling out items you deemed acceptable enough. 

“I have…. Pasta, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, 3 eggs, an apple that probably needed to get thrown out a week ago and Mac and Cheese. I promise I don’t always eat like an 8 year old. I actually am a decent cook, next time you’re here I promise I’ll have better food” 

Javi leaned his hip against the kitchen counter, smiling at the thought of “next time.” 

“I couldn’t tell you the last time I had Mac and Cheese. Honestly, sounds delicious.” 

“Alright, one box of my finest Mac and Cheese coming right up!” 

You reached down into a cabinet to pull out a pot and fill it up with water and set it on the stove. As you turned around to set it down on the burner, you felt Javi’s chest press up against your back and his hands snake around your front. He leaned over and rested his chin on your shoulder after placing a quick kiss there first. “Do you need any help?” 

“Yeah this stuff is REALLY hard to make. It’s gonna be HOURS before we eat because of all the prep time.” Still gripping you around your front, Javi playfully shook you, knowing there was really nothing he could do. 

“Just wanted to offer. I feel bad not helping.” 

You twisted your body around so that it was now facing him, feeling tiny drowning in his broadness. You snuck your hands around his waist to match his. 

“It’s Mac and Cheese, no big deal at all. I’m sorry I don’t have better food. I’d love to actually cook for you sometime, to prove I’m more than just an out of the box Kraft Mac and cheese kind of girl.” 

“I’d love that. Sure there’s nothing I can help with?”

“Hmmmm actually, I’ll give you the most important job. Do you want to pick out music? There’s a bunch of CD’s under the TV. We don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I like having it on in the background.” 

“Absolutely, Osita.” He pulled you in to kiss the top of your head before making his way over to your music collection. He scanned through the disks, pulling out a few he thought looked good. Towards the end of the line were a few burned CD’s in mismatched cases. The first one he pulled out had a good collection of songs, but read “David’s Mix” at the top. Wasn’t your ex’s name Paul? Who was David? 

“David’s got good taste in music.” Javi tried to state as neutrally as possible. 

“Oh yes that’s a good one!” You shouted from across the kitchen. “Don’t worry, David’s one of my brothers.” You responded, knowing Javi was probably curious as to who had given you the CD. 

Javi plopped the CD into the player and turned up the volume before making his way back to the kitchen. “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac began playing as you finished dumping the noodles into the boiling water on the stove. “Very good choice. Queen is my favorite band of all time, but Fleetwood Mac is a very close 2nd.” 

“One of my favorites too. This song might be my favorite one by them.” 

The intro picked up its tempo as you picked up the spoon you were using to sing the first verse, holding it up as your microphone in between stirs. 

“Ohhhhh woahhhhhhh, I wanna be with you everywhere!” 

You continued to sing and stir, dancing and playfully nudging into Javi with your hip as the song continued. He smiled and bit down on his lip, enamored by the sight in front of him. The simple domesticity of the moment had his stomach swirling with a feeling he wasn’t sure he had ever felt before. You, in his clothes, cooking together, playing music and laughing with one another. He racked his brain trying to think of a moment that had ever come close to this one he was experiencing right now, but there was none. Javi had written off ever finding something like this- it was everything he had ever wanted, and felt like he never deserved. 

“Hey, you okay?” 

Javi was completely lost in his train of thought as you reeled him back down to earth. 

“I’m great, Hermosa. You’re cute when you dance like that.” 

You hadn’t realized you were still swaying and nodding your head to the beat of the song as Javi was talking to you, becoming a little embarrassed. There was something about Javi that had made you let your guard down so quickly. Everything felt so easy with him, so natural. You had never felt this comfortable around anyone, let alone someone you had known less for a week. Just finish this damn mac and cheese, and don’t get too ahead of yourself, you thought, trying to reign yourself back in. 

“It’s a great song, what can I say? You have good taste, Javier Peña. Speaking of good taste…” You held up the pot full of mac and cheese, now completed. “Food is ready!” 

While you really liked your apartment, its one downside was its kitchen cabinets. You weren’t the tallest, and everything seemed to be about a foot too high for you. With limited space, your bowls ended up having to go in a higher up shelf, meaning every time you wanted one, you either got a chair from your kitchen table, or just climbed up the counter to grab them. Too stubborn and unwilling to ask for help, you started to scoot your way up to the kitchen counter to get what you needed. 

“I uh, don’t want to be rude, but can I ask what the hell you’re doing?” Javi said, barely containing his laughter of watching you scale your cabinets like a little kid. 

“Well I’m not very tall and we need bowls, and they’re all the way up there. Unless I decide to magically grow another few inches, this is the easiest way to get them.” 

With ease, Javi stepped behind you, reached over your head and grabbed the bowls. You sat with your legs dangling off the counter, arms crossed as he set the bowls down and looked back at you. “Okay, we get it. You're tall and handsome and get bowls from the top shelf. Sorry we aren’t all perfect like you.” You rolled your eyes sarcastically. 

“All you have to do is ask, Osita. As entertaining as it was watching you try to get up there, I don’t need you getting hurt again on my watch.” 

You found yourselves in the same position as you were not long ago in Maria’s bathroom. He leaned in, hands planted on the counter around your hips, standing between your legs hanging down. 

“Wouldn’t be the worst thing. You did a very good job healing me.” Gesturing down to your leg. “Besides, you’re the hottest doctor I’ve ever had. It all really would work out in my favor.” 

Javi leaned in to kiss your neck, peppering kisses down your body as his hands ran up and down your thighs. Suddenly, you found him crouched between your legs, one of his hands palming the outside of your panties, once again drenched. 

“Javi…” you breathed heavily, trying to stay focused. “I’m pretty sure my neighbors can hear your stomach, you need to eat.” There was no way you were really going to try and stop him from whatever he had planned, but it was worth a shot. 

“You’re right, Hermosa, I am starving.” His teeth grabbed the top of your underwear and dragged them down your thighs, leaving you exposed, slick dripping down you. “Just gonna have to eat a little extra first.” 

Without an attempt to protest, Javi’s head was between your thighs, your legs resting over his shoulders. Taking long, broad strokes of his flat tongue against your clit make your hips buck toward his face. Flicking his tongue against your sensitive bundle of nerves, you let out low breathy moans, followed by his name. 

“Fuck, Javi. Fuck, it feels so good.”  You reached down to grab his hair, giving yourself something else besides the edge of the counter to grip on to. His tongue danced across your heat, making you squirm in pleasure. Two callused fingers plunged into you, curled and stroking the spot that intensified your moans. With his fingers curved in just the right way, and his tongue sucking over your clit, it didn’t take long for you to once again find yourself reaching your peak. Your body pulsated with your orgasm, while Javi slowed down his pace as you came down from your high. Once you finally came back down to earth, you watched as Javi took the two fingers that were just inside you to his mouth, licking your release off of them. 

“Taste so fucking sweet, Hermosa.” 

“Jesus, Javi. You’re gonna kill me. Holy shit.” Your breathy laughter escaping you as Javi smiled back up at you, his mustache glistening with your slick. He grabbed you by the hips and slid you off the counter top. Kissing up your thigh, he pulled your panties back into place. He grabbed a handful of your ass and pulled you in to kiss you, his mouth still tasting like the sweet and salty combination of you. 

“You ready to eat?” 

Javi’s stomach didn’t lie. That man was hungry. You had filled his bowl first and brought it to him at your kitchen table. By the time you had filled up your bowl and went to go sit down, you were pretty sure his entire bowl was already empty. After he quickly finished seconds, (which was pretty much the rest of the pot) you had found yourselves talking, not even realizing how much time had gone by. The Mac and Cheese had brought you back to memories of your childhoods, sharing sweet and embarrassing stories of your lives long before yours had crossed paths. After playfully arguing that this truly did happen, you both had only gotten up to go back to your room to find your 1st grade school picture, proving to Javi you did in fact, draw a mustache on yourself with Sharpie to win a bet with your brothers. 

“Told you. My mom was definitely not happy about this one. Although I will say, my mustache almost looks as good as yours.” You both snickered at the ridiculous image of you with a wide, toothy grin and haphazard sharpie smeared across your upper lip. 

“Well, besides the mustache, you were a pretty cute kid.” Javi swallowed. In a flash, his brain had flashed forward. The strange feeling crept over him once again. A life with you. Together. Kids who looked like spitting images of you, running through your home. Was that something you wanted? Holy shit, was that something he wanted? Trying to do anything to shake the uneasiness and unable to form anything close to words, Javi leaned in, cupping both sides of your face for a long, tender kiss. You leaned into him, pushing his back on to the bed, his head resting against your pillows, as you rolled across his lap, straddling him. 

“My sexy, sharpie mustache really turned you on, huh?” 

Javi, still reeling with the feeling swirling inside of him, didn’t even pick up on your joke. “You’re so beautiful. So fucking sexy. Everything about you.” The thoughts in his brain now exiting his mouth just above a whisper. 

You bit down on your tongue still in your mouth to try and contain your grin. You weren’t sure if Javi had meant for you to hear his whispers, but it didn’t matter. Without saying another word, you leaned down into him, kissing you way down his chest, grinding into the bulge you could feel growing in his boxers. Your hand palmed the outside of the fabric before tugging at his waistband, freeing his already painfully hard cock. “You gonna finally let me take care of you?” you began kissing around his thighs, causing Javi to let out a raspy moan. Your kisses ventured closer and closer, until you had reached his dick, licking your way up its length and wrapping your lips around the tip. 

“Fuckkk, Hermosa.” 

You released your mouth to lick down your palm, wrapping your fingers around the base of Javi’s length to satisfy what you knew you weren’t going to be able to fit in your mouth. Leaning back down, you worked your mouth around his girth, hollowing your cheeks, taking him further and further down your throat. Your head bobbed up and down, with Javi’s hand holding a fist full of your hair, guiding your head gently as you filled your mouth full of him. You could feel tears running down your cheeks as his cock hit the back of your throat. Your pace began to intensify, Javi’s grunts and expletives coming only turning you on more. All of a sudden, you felt Javi’s grasp gently pull you up, your mouth leaving him. 

“Is everything okay? Sorry, was it not good?” Your voice still raspy from him being down your throat. 

“No, fuck, it’s fucking amazing. I just don’t want to come yet, I want to be inside you. Can I?” 

Frantically nodding, Javi reached back into your nightstand to pull out the condom box, ripping it, and rolling it down over his throbbing dick. Still straddling over his thighs, you worked your way up, sliding yourself down over his cock, slowly taking him inch by inch. With him being so big, it should have been a problem taking him without him opening you up first, but you were already so turned on from sucking his dick that you slid down his length with ease. He noticed it too. 

“Fuck baby, already so wet for me. Sucking my dick really turn you on that much?” 

“Yes, Javi.” Now slowly bouncing yourself up and down over his lap. “Your dick tastes so good. I want to taste all of you. Have you cum down my throat.” 

The thought sent shivers down his spine. “Dirty fuckin��� girl. Soon, Osita. First I wanna have you come all over me. You look so pretty when you ride it.” 

You rolled your hips back and forth, his cock filling you even deeper than it did before. Each thrust rubbed against the sweet spot inside you that felt so good. You threw your head back as you rested your hands against his pecs, whining in pleasure. With each movement, your clit brushed against his hair at his base. Javi noticing, he reached down to rub your already sensitive nub, sending shockwaves of pleasure through you. 

“Fuck, Javi, you fill me up so good. It feels so good inside me.” 

Your thrusts intensified, Javi’s dick punching into the spot that made you see stars. He began to rub your clit faster, realizing you were close. 

“Come for me, baby. I fucking know your close. Can feel how tight you are around me.” 

You felt yourself clench as every inch of him filled you. It wasn’t long until you reached your peak, gushing around him and screaming out his name, your pussy throbbing. While you still sat on top of him, he began to thrust up in to you, filling you even deeper. Only a few more strokes and he was close behind you. His low grunts were followed by a panting moan as his release pulsed into the condom. Breathless, you pulled yourself off of him, collapsing on to the bed as he rolled over to dispose of the condom. The smell of sex and sweat filled your room, your bedsheets tangled between you as you laid your head against the sheen of his chest. 

“Okay, I will drop the alleged serial killer or secret family allegations that I put on you not that long ago. I am convinced you are a wizard because your dick is magic”  

Javi snorted as he ran his hand through his hair before wrapping it over your shoulder. “I don’t know where the hell you come up with these things, Osita.” 

“It’s true! Like I said, I think you’re trying to kill me, and my gravestone is about to read “death by Javier Peña’s dick.” Guess it’s not a terrible way to go.” 

You both laughed again, as Javi rubbed his thumb back and forth over your shoulder. Silence filled the room in the most comfortable way, your bodies perfectly nestled into one another. You laid for a few more minutes before Javi noticed the alarm clock on your nightstand 

12:46 AM

He didn’t want to leave, but didn’t want to assume that you wanted him to stay. Reluctantly, he spoke. “Shit, I didn’t realize it was this late. Sorry, I can go if you want-” 

“No. Stay.” You didn’t mean for your words to come out like such a demand, but the thought of him leaving flooded your body with sadness. “I mean, um, you’re more than welcome to stay. I want you to stay.” 

“Okay.” 

Relieved at the lack of convincing, you nestled your head closer to his chest, pulling the sheets over your naked bodies. You felt so comfortable and at peace being wrapped up in his embrace. His hand migrated its way through the tangled ends of your hair. Content, you felt the weight of your eyelids grow heavy, promising yourself you would only close them for a minute, not wanting to miss out on any time with Javi. It wasn’t long until you were fast asleep, your bodies intertwined as one. 

“Today was really one of the best days I’ve had in a long time. Thank you, Osita.” 

No response. He repeated it once more, thinking maybe you didn’t hear him. Again, no response. He lifted his head up to your lids closed tight and your mouth half open as you let out a gentle snore. It had only been minutes and you were out cold. He laughed quietly to himself as he kissed the top of your head. “Dulces sueños, Osita.” (Sweet dreams, little bear). He laid his head into yours, closing his eyes and smiling. That night was the best night’s sleep Javier Peña had in years. 

[hellosweetart]

Oh! Regarding that one scenario you came up with for the serial killer Francis being Francis' reaction to Nacha's killing, I have an idea on a continuation to that ending:

After hiding the corpse into her car trunk, Nacha, now overwhelmed with guilt and fear, called Francis and confessed everything to him. Francis, even if he just got home from a shift and it was quite late outside, would waste no time coming over with some tools too.

Francis would then do what he does best: manipulate the crime scene so that the murder looked like a doppelganger's work and changed to a clean outfit with no blood. He then proceed to dispose of his bloody uniforms and his weapon, and then took Nacha back into the car, and drove both of them back home.

For anyone else witnessing what Francis had done, they would definitely feel that Francis was a... questionable figure, like why did it feel like disposing body and framing doppelganger for murder were old news to Francis, and why did he look so... unfazed during his work? Normally, Nacha would also have noticed all this and feel alarmed, but with her mental distress, all she could felt and think of were guilt and fear and even gratitude for Francis as he covered for her.

But there was one more person aside from Nacha and Francis who knew about the disastrous night (minus the dead guy): Ana. Ana was staying way pass her bed time reading whatever she liked when she heard the door open. She swiftly turned off the only source of light in the room being the the dim lamp on the bedside table and pretend to be asleep (Since her door was closed, no matter how quick was Francis, he would not have caught the light being switched off). However, upon hearing sobs from her mother, Ana decided to sneak as close as possible to the door.

On Francis and Nacha's side, the milkman decided to sit Nacha down onto the couch to comfort her. Ana, still hiding behind the door, knew all about what happened after her mother's shift. At first, Ana sympathized with her mom and felt the bastard somewhat deserved his fate for his harrasment and gross comment regarding a child. But then, while still sobbing and emotionally uncomposed, Nacha asked:

"W-what if the police saw through the crime scene and knew it all? What if they know I was the murderer?"

To which Francis just replied with a small laugh:

"Don't worry, dear. They'll never know. The corpse was torn to shreds with some parts missing. It looked too much like a doppelganger's work. I think my work is flawless in this one. We even got rid of all the evidence!"

Nacha was still too out of it to realize how wrong some of the thing Francis said, but Ana did. She questioned: why did he sound rather... proud of his work, and not shaken at all? Why did he sound like that was not his first time?

At that time, the authorities just decided to blame the murder onto the doppels to avoid any other unneccessary work for them. However, there was still a popular conspiracy theory going around that there was a human murderer among those kills. While Ana was not one to subscribe to these theory, and sometimes she even saw them as ridiculous statements, after hearing her father words, she feared for the worst.

Ana returned to bed way too late at night when her mother's sobbing ceased, but she was unable to sleep.

On another note, even if Nacha was composed enough to see that Francis looked like a professional in the disposing corpse field and decided to confront him about that, he already knew her to-be biggest secret that she would take to her grave: she killed a man. This means that he can use this information to his advantage and blackmail her as he please and may even have her help him in his future murders as an accomplice. Nacha would have no choice but to agree to his terms, as if she hadn't, high chances thay she would have gone to jail, meaning that Francis would be in charge of Ana, leaving Nacha worried to no end.

(oops this got too long)

This is what I would have imagined

I love it when anon send me this type of asks. I love reading long ones lol

[hils79]

Hils Watches Lovely Runner - Ep 8

I knew he dug up the time capsule before they got rid of the tree!

Look at him rehearsing how to look chill. I love him

OH SHIIIIII! The serial killer is out of jail! Wait, how is he out of jail? And why is no one keeping tabs on him to make sure he doesn't go after Im Sol again?

Sometimes I forget that Korea is a very conservative country until a woman freaks out at the prospect of being alone in a hotel with a man. Can't possibly have sex when we're not married or even dating!

LMAO she gave this whole big speech that she has nothing against people who have casual sex but she has more traditional values and he let say all that and was like 'we're just going to the bar to have a drink'. I love them they are both so ridiculous.

So much for those conservative values 😂

I mean how bad can a gift from a gaming company be?

HAHA! I mean it could definitely be worse than a carboard cutout sexy video game girl

NOOOO! Don't hide it in your bed! Hide it under the bed! Or in the closet! Dude! This is not going to end well for you I can see it coming.

He thought it was funny when she was very insistent that she didn't want to have sex with him. Now he thinks she wants to and he's scandalised. Shoe's on the other foot now :D

Sunjae. Sunjae, that magazine you are pretending to casually read is upside down. Sunjae...

I'm not an idol who has to watch their weight so I'll just eat in front of you

Now he thinks she has legit prophetic dreams because when they were at school she told him she had a dream he got hurt and couldn't swim anymore, which then happened.

How did she manage to spill this much ramen all over her sweater and jeans. The bowl was pretty much empty when they showed it a couple of minutes ago

She is a tiny girl and you are a very tall man. I think it will definitely be too big

Not sure why he let her change in his bedroom after they made a big fuss about how it wasn't appropriate for her to be in a man's bedroom earlier. But also, LMAO, the time capsule he denied going to get because he was trying to be cool is right there on the table.

I AM WHEEZING! Dude, why did you use your entire duvet to cover the time capsule? Like what was the plan after that? Anyway, now his secret video game girl fetish has been exposed. They are both such disasters I love them so much.

I am such a sucker for 'accidentally falling on top of each other'. Even more if they accidentally fall into a kiss. It's so stupid but I never get tired of seeing it.

Oops. Busted.

Ah, so that's why she stopped seeing him. I totally get it she went through something incredibly traumatic. It's just sad that the person she loves and who loves her reminds her of that time.

Come on you need to tell him that you went too. You just arrived a bit late and missed him.

YAY!

YAY!

I legit keep forgetting about this dude

This is very random but it's nice to see someone working in a well lit office. So many kdramas have people working with just a tiny little desk lamp to see by and all the main lights are off for no reason

I'm assuming the sasaeng that Im Sol got mistaken for is going to become plot relevant at some point. God, is she going to try and kill Im Sol? Like she doesn't have enough problems with a serial killer already after her

Wait, am I supposed to know who this is? Im Sol looked really shocked when she saw her face

Why have you taken her out for dinner instead of calling the cops? Is it just because of how young she is?

OH SHIT!!

OMG was he after Sunjae this whole time?

[ask-spooky-manor]

Common Fear Headcanons

What common fear/phobia each manor resident has and why

(Leaving it under a Read More cause it got long oops)

Trigger Warning: There are hints to child abuse in Sally’s and Tim’s parts so read with caution

Toby: The Dark

- Toby has a really bad anxiety disorder that only worsens if he’s left in the dark. Not being able to see anything leads to his mind coming up with more and more horrid scenarios that leave him at best: extremely on edge and at worst: having a full blown panic attack.

Tim: Spiders (and some bugs)

- Not every foster home was kind to Tim. A lot of then were outright cruel. One of them would lock Tim in a dark basement for hours on end where he constantly felt spiders crawl on his skin. Even when he was let out, he could still feel the phantom touch of the spiders. It lead to him developing a really bad case of arachnophobia as the sight of a spider takes him back to a time where he felt so hopeless.

Brian: Heights

- Brian is considered to be very fearless, but the idea of being somewhere high up will have him frozen in place. He fell once, technically died, and he fears of it happening again without being given a third chance at life.

Jeff: Heights

- This one is less personal and more having the general fear of falling to his death. He also deals with that phenomenon where once you’re high up, you have the urge to throw yourself off. It really unnerves him.

Ben: The Ocean

- …okay well sometimes the obvious choice is the best one! Drowning is said to be one of the worst and most painful ways to die. With Ben having been killed that way, they’re not exactly ready to jump into a pool anytime soon. Ghosts are mostly numbed to a lot of sensations but even then, Ben never wants to experience drowning ever again.

EJ: Forests

- The fear is completely ironic, but Jack has lived alone in the woods, freshly blind, for enough years to realize that a lot of freaky shit happens there. From ghosts haunting an area to creatures lurking behind the trees to even inhuman acts happening where no one in society can judge. It spooked Jack to the point where he dislikes having to go into the woods to hunt. Again, it’s ironic when he himself is a man eating demon, but you gotta remember that he still has his humanity unlike most forest creatures (and serial killers).

Natalie: Tight Spaces

- She has a classic case of claustrophobia. Generally speaking the feeling of being trapped makes her slowly lose her shit the longer she’s stuck there. It’s even worse if she can’t move her body. It subconsciously reminds her of the time she was made to stay in a poorly funded mental hospital against her will.

Jane: Mirrors

- It’s also an ironic kind of fear. On one hand, Jane very much adores looking at herself in the mirror. She’s gorgeous, she knows she’s gorgeous, she likes being able to see how gorgeous she is. On the other hand if she stares at it for too long, she starts to dissociate, see shadows lurk behind her, swear the person looking back isn’t her. She hates walking by them more than anything, fearing she’ll catch a monster following her if she glances over to the mirror.

Nina: Being Alone

- She is the kind of person who needs to be with someone else at all times. Being left alone will lead to her thoughts racing faster than it should. Her paranoia worsens, and she starts to feel like she’s losing her mind. The anxious thoughts and scenarios she has scares her to no end.

Sally: People

- After what happened to her, Sally unfortunately is someone who was forced to realize that there are terrible people out there. People who want to hurt others for no good reason. She may seem fine living in a manor with a bunch of people now, but truth is that it took a loooong time for her to get used to it. Each time a new person is brought in, Sally needs to take a good while to see whether or not they’d ever hurt her. Luckily no one in the manor ever would, and if they did they’d be swiftly dealt with.

Slender: The Outside

- Slender is borderline agoraphobic. He can’t really leave the dimension he created because if he did, his Curse of Misfortune would take affect. Anyone he’s near is doomed to face great misfortune to a life ruining degree. For this reason, Slender has grown a fear of leaving the manor knowing simply being out there will lead to people getting hurt. It makes him nauseous to step out there even if the portal to the real world opens up in some secluded place.

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : see you later, vivi! (20)

one piece x male reader

if he's a serial killer,

then what's the worst thing that can happen to a girl,

who's already hurt?

i’m already hurt.

if he’s as bad as they say,

then i guess i’m cursed.

looking into his eyes, i think he’s already hurt.

he’s already hurt. ​​​

『 prev 』

[name] was flying. that was the last thing he remembered, as well as the bright sky above his head. but when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a dark ceiling.

then he began hearing the snores around him.

he blinked slowly, wondering where he was. but when he looked to the corner of his eyes and saw luffy’s tuft of black hair, he didn’t think twice in closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

he smiled to himself, reminding himself to apologize to vivi when he woke up. after all, he didn’t get to kill the warlord like he had promised her. instead he left that to luffy.

vivi had herself sitting in between [name] and luffy the whole time they were sleeping. the others had gotten up the next day. and after the treatment chopper and vivi had done for them, they were feeling much better.

it took [name] two days to wake up with enough energy. the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was chopper.

“ah, what a cute mascot we have!” [name] smiled, sleep still in his system.

at the sound of his voice, chopper whipped his head around to look at him and jumped on him immediately.

“[name]!!! you’re awake!” the doctor cried, suffocating [name] with his plush body completely covering [name]’s face. “i was so worried!!” just as [name] was going to comfort the worried chopper, the doctor’s personality did a complete switch. and instead of being worried, he was angry at [name], “there was a bullet lodged right in your stomach, asshole, why didn’t you say anything! you were running around with an open wound, you could've died of blood loss!

“not to mention — if pell hadn't caught you do you realize you'd be dead?! falling from such a height!! not to mention that you weren't completely immune to the explosion either! you're lucky you have no scorch marks!!”

“what's another scar on my body, anyway?” [name] pouted, crossing his arms and looking down at his bandages in interest, “oops, i think i opened the stitches by accident…” the blood was beginning to leak to the surface which made him hum in confirmation, “yep, i surely did!”

“the scars aren't the point! and bastard!!! i’ll kill you for re-opening your wounds!” chopper said, charging at [name] with more wraps of white bandages, “just stay still and listen to doctor's orders!”

“ah, tony-kun, i think we should ease up on the yelling…[name], might not be completely-”

“vivi!!” [name] shouted, outstretching his hands to grab her wrist. chopper jumped aside, huffing with his entire chest in annoyance at [name] who was ignoring his screams.

the rough pull to her wrist made her stumble forward and into [name]’s bandaged, and bleeding, chest.

“sorry, vivi,” he apologized immediately, holding her tight as his chin rested on top of her head, “i wasn’t able to take care of crocodile like i promised. do you think any lowly of me because of that?”

there was silence and soon the only sound in the room was vivi’s whimpers and cries. [name] said nothing and kept smiling at the girl in his arms, squeezing her tight to comfort her.

“[name], thank you,” she cried, lifting her head to show her teary eyes and trembling expression, “if it weren’t for you, pell and this entire country would have been done for!! thank you so much!!”

[name] laughed at her gratitude, the sound of his laughter only sending her into a deeper crying state. chopper sighed, shaking his head at [name]’s manners before leaving the room to grab vivi a glass of water.

“so pell is alright?” [name] asked, scooting backwards on the bed so he could rest his back against the frame. it also made more space for vivi to sit. but instead, she stood up and took ahold of one of the bandage wrappings chopper left behind.

“he’s alright, he’s quite angry with you though, last i checked,” she chuckled, flinching when she felt [name]’s hands wipe the tears away from her cheek.

“and you’re okay?” he asked her gently, holding her face in his palm, “there anything else i need to do to make sure your job as princess is easier?”

vivi shook her head.

the strawhat crew were never going to be forgotten, she’d assure that.

he chuckled at her actions, lightly tapping her cheek with his palm before letting his arm fall.

”i never met any princess before, vivi, but no matter who i meet i doubt they’ll be a better person than you,” he complimented sincerely, resting his hand on top of hers, “your courage is honorable. you’ve saved this country just as much as luffy has,”

she bit her lip, scolding herself for wanting to cry again. [name] noticed it too, laughing to himself, “but you sure are a professional at worrying! c’mon, princess, the people can’t have a leader as emotionally driven as you!!” he teased, obviously joking.

she rolled her eyes, unwrapping the sullied bandages off of his chest. she frowned seeing the scar from where he was shot. it was on his lower abdomen and currently seeping with blood. she disinfected the area quickly, [name] not even flinching at the alcohol being put to his wound, and then wrapped it once more. the entire time she worked she tried to ignore [name]’s e/c eyes watching her.

then she lifted her hand to flick him on the forehead. seeing as she couldn't "harm" any other part of his body without the risk of worsening his injuries.

his injuries…it seemed that it was the only thing she could see. she didn't lift her head once to look into his eyes.

when he noticed a pained look on her face, he moved his fingers to be underneath her chin and made her look at him.

“what’s wrong, vivi?”

she shook her head, lip quivering as she denied to speak her thoughts. [name] didn’t push for answers, instead holding her once more and rubbing up and down her back to comfort her.

“i just think…you’d make a great knight, [name],” she broke the silence, burying her head into his chest. [name] didn’t reply, only looking down at her in confusion. “you've been protecting me since we've met and you've protected this country. despite my attitude to you in the beginning, you've been nothing but kind. thank you so much,”

the two laid there in silence and [name] thought vivi had possibly fallen asleep. but when he moved to lift her up and put her in the bed beside him, so she could be most comfortable, she had stopped him.

”let’s just rest,” she breathed out, falling limp in his arms.

and he wasn’t going to deny her of sleep, so he moved her to be next to him and pulled the blanket over them. he fell back asleep rather easily, his breathing evening out in a matter of minutes.

when chopper came back into the room, he sighed at the two. as a doctor, he was really worried for [name]’s health. but as his friend, he was even more scared. [name]’s condition when pell flew  him to them, they really thought he was done for.

his body was bleeding from almost every crevice and chopper knew blood transfusions were out of the question for [name]. how [name] sufficed such tremendous and dangerous wounds and survived was a mystery. perhaps it had to do with his blood, but genuinely, chopper had no idea. there could be numerous theories he could come up with, but the only real answer would be from [name] himself. 

or...[name] could have a case of recovering freakishly quickly for no apparent reason, something both zoro and luffy both had as well. 

either way, it was something that intrigued and confused chopper at the same time. but if [name] was going to start getting into life threatening situations then it’d be a real cause for concern instead.

he shook his head multiple times, ridding himself of those depressive thoughts and simply climbed up to the foot of the bed. he was planning on just monitoring [name]’s condition, but he soon felt himself getting sleepy too.

then all the bodies laying on the bed were sleeping, luffy resting in the bed next to them.

after another night of recovery, luffy finally woke up. this called for celebration from everyone. a feast was to be had later that night. the moment [name] saw that luffy was up and healthy, he went over to his bedside and immediately smothered him.

luffy grinned, “[name]!! i haven’t seen you in so long,”

“yeah, yeah,” [name] said, nuzzling his face into luffy’s shoulder, “but y’know…i’m angry at you,”

“angry?! why? what’d i do?!” luffy asked with a pout and a whine in his voice.

“you didn’t let me land a single hit on crocodile, you asshole!” [name] shouted before biting into luffy’s rubbery shoulder.

a yowl was released immediately at the action, “hey, hey, hey!!! that hurts, knock it off, bastard!” [name]’s teeth were still digging into the flesh. he pulled his head back, making the skin of luffy’s shoulder stretch. “that hurts a lot! stop it!!”

[name] only grunted in response, not letting his jaw relax.

the rest of the crew watched with deadpan expressions as [name] attached himself onto luffy like a backpack as their captain ran around the room, begging for mercy.

“[name]! quit it!” luffy shouted in frustration, grabbing and slapping [name]’s face in annoyance, “it’s not my fault you couldn’t take care of him yourself! bleh!!” luffy’s tongue stuck out in a taunting manner at [name], which the man didn’t appreciate at all.

“i’ll kill you luffy!” [name] rung his hands around luffy’s neck, shaking him back and forth as he cut off the rubber man’s air supply.

”both of you, enough!!” chopper said, turning into his large form and wrangling [name] off of luffy, holding the two apart as if they were two cats fighting and clawing at each other. the two still tried attacking each other, kicking and punching the air, with sharp teeth barred at each other.

the rest of the crew only sweat dropped at their behavior, internally sighing in relief to see that neither of them had changed after their life-threatening injuries.

the room stayed as chaotic as it could be with an energetic luffy and [name] practically bouncing off of the walls. and it stayed like that until they were called down for their celebration feast.

the crew looked at each other in fear the moment they stepped into the room, hearing the hungry stomachs of luffy and [name] bubbling in anticipation. after seconds of sitting down, the food was presented to them.

[name] and luffy were the main ones who were eating as if their lives depended on it. the captain would use his devil fruit to his advantage, continuously stretching and stealing food off of other people’s plates then shoving it into his mouth before they’d be able to fight back.

[name] on the other hand was consuming things the moment they were set down on the table, not giving the others a single chance to take a piece. sometimes he’d haphazardly throw meat onto one of their plates, but that’d be because he’d take the rest of the food off of the dish and swallow it whole.

“we’ve got a lot, so-” vivi was cut off when [name] shoved noodles into her mouth and grinned as he ate from the same dish.

“ish sho good, ife neba hat noodwes like fis!!” he said, as if anybody could understand what he was saying. he swallowed his noodles, eyes glowing with stars, “wait! wait! wait! let me try your alabasta coffee! it’s gotta be good, huh?! get me coffee, please!” he shouted at no one in particular.

after a couple of minutes of waiting, a freshly brewed cup of hot, black coffee was placed in front of him. he ate a handful more dishes, to give it some time to cool off, before chugging it all down in one go.

tears filled his eyes as he cried for a refill, “it’s all so yummy!”

soon, the entire dining room was filled with laughter. the guards around them couldn’t hold back cackling at their rambunctious behavior and the strawhats themselves were laughing as chopper and usopp both got onto the table and started dancing.

it took a while for them to finish eating, mainly because of luffy and [name], but when they were done eating the most lavish meal of their lives — they were escorted to the bathing house.

[name] had a small towel wrapped around his waist, taking in a deep breath of the relaxing scent that was all around them. then his grin turned devilish as he grabbed ahold of luffy and usopp by their necks.

“hey, hey! no running, we’re gonna crash!” usopp shouted, slapping at [name]’s arm that was practically choking him. luffy didn’t complain though, clapping his hands and cheering as [name] ran.

“let’s go for a swim!!” [name] shouted, throwing the two of them forward and into a deep pool of water that was coming from the grand fountain. when he saw luffy and usopp crash in, he threw off his waist towel and followed soon after. he created a huge splash that soaked almost everyone near them.

“idiot! act more mature!” sanji shouted from the sidelines, his face now drenched with water, “also you guys are disgusting! this is a bath, not a pool!”

“sanji, come on, join us,” [name] said, resting his cheek on his palm. he was propped up against the marble wall that encased the pool of water they were in, a smirk on his lips. “or should i come over there and make you?”

sanji’s eye twitched at the invite, “don’t use that tone with me, shit for brai-”

he couldn’t finish his sentence as [name] was already jumping out of the water and running over to him. sanji’s eye locked in on [name]’s and he visibly cringed as he realized he couldn’t run. and in seconds, he was thrown into the pool of water that usopp and luffy were swimming in.

“zoro!!” [name] shouted, running to his next victim.

“hey, you can’t! i’m washing chopper, so-”

“zoro and chopper!!” [name] corrected, not stopping in his pursuit of collecting the two. he ran over with impeccable speed, throwing the duo in with the rest of the crew. chopper sputtered out water as he reached the surface and zoro simply leaned on his elbows, his hands planted on the bottom of the bath, and spat out a fountain of water from his mouth, a disgruntled look on his face.

[name] grinned, properly joining all of them and grabbing ahold of some of the shampoo and conditioner, “who’s going first?” he invited, showing his lathered hands.

”me! me! me!” luffy shouted, splashing his way over to [name] and sitting in front of him, presenting his hair to be washed.

[name] grinned, leaning down and pressing a chaste kiss on luffy’s cheek before going to wash his hair. luffy giggled at the action, closing his eyes in bliss.

he made sure to massage his scalp, to relax him further. and it worked seeing as luffy completely folded into [name]’s torso in a matter of seconds. after washing out the shampoo and conditioner from luffy’s head, [name] worked on scrubbing his back.

he’d prod and poke at luffy’s flesh every now and then to tickle him, making the captain whine and then laugh.

“alright, you’re all done! who’s next?” [name] invited once more. luffy shot up from his spot in front of [name] and took a position standing behind him. when [name] looked at him in confusion, the ravenette only grinned as he too now had shampoo lathered in his hands.

“i’ll wash your hair, [name]!” luffy proudly declared, making [name] smile in thanks. usopp took a seat in front of [name] and soon a train of washing hair had started. the sniper didn’t hide how vocal he was about the pleasant sensation of [name]’s hands washing his head, making [name] laugh.

“damn, [name]! you’re really good!!” usopp said with a look on his face that screamed pure relaxation, “we gotta take more baths together, i think i’d sleep like a baby every night if i got this treatment on merry,” he drawled on, his eyes shut as if he were about to go to sleep.

[name] worked his hair through usopp’s curls for a little while longer, moving onto conditioning, before announcing that the man was done and clean. usopp shouted his thanks, a pure smile on his face. [name] brought water up to his hair to wash out the product, sighing in delight at the relaxing temperature of the water. 

after luffy and usopp were finished, [name] went over to zoro and roughly took ahold of the short green hair.

“i’m plenty capable of washing myself, no thanks!” zoro rejected, going to move from [name] and to somewhere more secluded, but [name]’s hands firmly planted themselves on his shoulders.

“nope, not taking that as an answer,” [name] grinned, already working his hands through zoro’s short hair, “come on, i’ll give you a massage too,”

zoro groaned, his bottom lip jutting out as his eyes squinted in annoyance. first he was annoyed that [name] insisted on washing him, but now he was annoyed at how good it felt. [name]’s fingers gently washed his hair and massaged his scalp. and then when it finally came to washing down his back, his touch turned firm and completely relaxed his strained muscles.

not to mention, the warm water around them almost made him knock out into a deep sleep right then and there. [name] had his tongue pocking out in concentration, digging his fingers into a particular knot in zoro’s back.

he was humming to himself without realizing it and that’s when zoro really thought he’d fall asleep by accident. the low hum of [name]’s voice, the strong hands massaging his back, and the warm body heat that they were radiating off of each other.

the only reason why he didn’t knock out right then and there was because there was a sudden loud crash coming from behind the two. both him and [name] looked over and saw that half of them were laying down flat on their face. sanji even had a stream of blood coming from his nose.

[name] sighed, putting two and two together, reminding himself to lecture them later for peaking in on the girls. he was too busy scrubbing into zoro’s back that he couldn’t be bothered with it right now.

when the perverts of the bath house finally collected themselves, [name] was sitting in front of zoro and the swordsman was roughly washing him now.

“gentle, zoro, how many times have i told you i’m a sensitive man?!” [name] scolded, slapping zoro’s arm with his towel.

“shut up, i’m not even scrubbing that hard!” zoro shouted in return, but he did let up a very little bit. his eyes scanned over [name]’s muscular back, taking in the sight of [name]’s tattoo. the man in front of him had a very objectively nice figure. his shoulders were wide and his waist was slim. the tattoo on his back only seemed to pronounce these two features. 

zoro coughed at the sight, averting his eyes and quietly telling [name] he was done. [name] sighed in thanks, turning around and leaning on the marble walling of the bath. the two were now facing each other, [name] with a pleasant smile on his lips whilst zoro did anything but look at the said grinning man.

“thank you,” were the king’s words to break the silence. everyone looked at him, eyes widening just a tad when they saw him begin bowing his head down at them, “thank you for saving this country,”

“hey, hey, is it okay…for a king to do such a thing…?” zoro asked slowly, looking at the king who was still bowing down to them.

“this is a serious incident, king cobra! a king should never bow their head to anybody,” igaram said, the blonde looking worried at the king’s actions.

“igaram, authority is something you wear over your clothes. but we’re in the bath, there isn’t such a thing as a naked king,” [name] chuckled at the metaphor, looking at the king in interest. “i’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart, as a father and as a resident of this land. thank you very much, i really appreciate it.”

luffy laughed his trademark laugh, eyes turning into crescent moons as his pearly whites were on display. the rest of the bath was turned peaceful, a drastic difference from when they first entered.

[name] was mellowed out, having a towel rest on top of his eyes and forehead to cool himself off. he almost fell asleep if it weren't for luffy bouncing over and jumping onto his chest.

“let’s go, [name]! we've been in here for too long! we gotta get dressed snd go now!” he said cheerfully, hugging himself deep into [name]’s torso. [name], used to the man’s close contact, nodded his head in understanding and stood the both of them up.

he had his hands resting underneath luffy’s thighs, carrying him as if he were a baby. the captain at least had some decency to put a towel on over his waist. shamelessly, though, he grinning like a kid who just won candy.  it was obvious luffy had no problem latching onto [name]’s figure and using him as a personal transport.

trusting that the grip luffy had around his waist and neck would be enough to keep him upright, [name] removed his hands from luffy's thighs to tie his own towel around his waist. they met up with the others in the changing room. [name] put on a black set of robes that were set out for them.

luffy got dressed in his own attire as well, but jumped right back onto [name]’s back once they were both wearing clothing. they returned back to the grand room where they were settled down for a conversation on when to leave. luffy rested his chin on top of [name]’s head, legs around his torso to prop himself up to that height. 

“we should be ready to leave by tonight,” nami said first, looking around the room for reactions. [name] agreed, for the most part everyone else did too.

“alright, let’s leave after we eat some more delicious food!” luffy said, completely missing the point. [name] slapped his cheek harshly, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

”no, we leave tonight, right now,” usopp shouted.

“yeah, if we have no other reason to be here, it’s best to leave as soon as possible,” zoro chimed in.

[name] carefully watched vivi’s expression, frowning when he saw her lip quivering as if she were about to start crying. just as he was about to say something to her, a royal guard entered the room and was carrying a den-den mushi for them.

“someone named bon-chan wants to speak with you,” he said to the straw hats, hesitance in his voice.

“who the hell is bon-chan?” the crew echoed in confusion, not recalling anybody with a name like that.

“but he insists he’s your friend, so…” the guard continued, holding the transponder snail out to them.

sanji was the one who got up, picking up the receiving end and immediately an irritating voice filled the room, “hello? hi there!”

and then their line of the transponder snail was immediately slammed down to hang up. the ones who had interacted with the caller all cringed in distaste. it only started ringing again the moment the call ended, earning angry glares from sanji and [name].

luffy stretched and took the snail, picking it up and speaking in a defiant tone, “huh, it’s you! what do you want from us?!”

[name] looking at the snail that mimicked the caller’s expression, grimacing as he could imagine the man spinning around in his pretty ballerina costume as he spoke into the den-den mushi.

“oh? that voice! it must be straw hat-chan! you really surprised me, y’know? you’re so strong!” the voice complimented, making [name]’s look of disgust only deepen.

“what do you want from us, mr. 2?” [name] asked in a deathly serious tone, glaring at the snail.

“no! no! don’t call me mr. 2, yeow!” the voice cried out, panic evident in his voice, “if this signal is caught by the navy, we’ll be in trouble!”

“what do you want from us.” [name] repeated, more stern this time to get to the point.

“oh, i took your ship!”

“that’s not funny!!” zoro, nami, and chopper cried out in unison.

“you bastard! this isn’t a joking matter! tell us where you are right now!” usopp said, pointing a finger at the snail in anger. like the other three, his teeth were barred and sharp as well.

“on your ship!”

“don’t fuck around right now, bon-chan,” [name] spoke in a taunting tone, “we both know what i’ll do to you if you lay a hand on merry!”

“no, no! it’s not like that, geez!” bon clay cried out, “we’re friends, right? i’m waiting for you guys at the upper reaches of the sandora river! but you have to hurry, i don’t know how long i can be here for before the navy finds it!!”

[name] grit his teeth, hanging up the snail and looking at the rest of the crew.

“now, what?”

they all looked conflicted, eyebrows furrowed in thought. they all decided that it’d be better if they left right away, not wanting to leave merry in the care of a past enemy as well as the fact the navy could find it at any second.

the crew began moving, [name] equipping himself with his sword and making sure that the cloth around his wrist was securely tightened.

”everyone…” vivi lowered her head as they all stared at her, waiting for her to continue, “what…should i do?” she softly asked, tone wavering.

a silence passed over all of them before nami spoke up, “listen well, vivi. we’ll give you 12 hours. once we take our ship back at the sandora river, we’ll draw the ship near the eastern harbor just once at exactly noon tomorrow. we probably won’t be able to anchor. if you want to continue traveling with us, that moment is the only chance to come aboard. if that happens, we’ll welcome you…though you’ll become a pirate!”

vivi blinked several times at the invitation, nodding her head in understanding.

“since you’re the princess of a country, this is the best we can do to invite you,” sanji sighed, looking somewhat troubled in having to leave behind vivi.

“come, vivi! definitely come! let’s go right now!”

[name] smacked his hand on luffy’s head, apologetically smiling at vivi. usopp began dragging luffy away and [name] was left to be the last one to scale out of the window.

he walked over to vivi, grinning down at her as he ruffled her blue locks, “this isn’t goodbye, even if you don’t end up coming. i’ll make sure to see you in the future, vivi! all of us!”

she nodded her head, pushing herself forward and crashing into [name]’s chest. the grip she had on his waist was tight, as if she didn’t want to let go. but after a gentle tap on her shoulders from [name], she released him from her hug.

“this was from pell,” she breathed out, handing him a crumpled up letter with his name neatly written on the front. he grinned, recognizing the lettering — thinking back to his impromtu lesson he received from the princess herself on the going merry. it seems even the guards got proper education on higher learning, “i assume it’s his thanks all written out. he was really bashful when he handed it to me,”

“then i’ll read it on merry,” [name] grinned, “vivi, you’re an amazing princess — you’ll make an even stronger queen one day!”

and then he was gone, just like that. he jumped form the window, using the rope to touch ground with the rest of his crew. and vivi was standing there, a blush on her cheeks at his sudden compliment.

but like [name] said, she'd trust they'd see each other again. whenever that time was.

the journey to the ship wasn’t super long, but it left them enough time to think. nami looked particularly forlorn, causing worry for the other crewmates. but when they realized she only looked like that because of beri, they all threw their worries out the window.

[name] had to physically stop himself from beating bon clay to a pulp when they reached merry, choosing to silently walk around the ballerina as they carried all their goods onto the ship.

the ship sailed on once everything was brought on board, bon clay still lingering on their deck. he seemed to bat his eyes whenever [name] walked by, but the man he was trying to woo would only shove his face away with his hand and a grimace.

by the time the sun came up on their journey, they were surrounded entirely by the marines.

[name] grit his teeth in annoyance, holding onto the railing as iron bars were lodged into merry’s wood. he concentrated on one of the ships that was targetting them, waving his hand in the air and causing it to capsize with a humongous wave.

“yes! [name]! keep doing that, whatever that is! keep it up!”

“it takes a lot of energy! i won’t be able to do it for all of them!” [name] bit back then beginning to breathe heavily. he noticed that they were beginning to get surrounded by 8 navy ships now.

“well, do as much as you can anyway! we can’t keep taking hits like that!” nami said, worry etched onto her features.

thankfully, usopp was able to land a cannonball into one of the ships. that bought them more time, but they weren’t going to move from their place. this is where they needed to be. vivi was going to meet them there.

thinking of the princess coming to the harbor and not seeing their ship, it made him infuriated. these marines had to ruin everything!

he turned around, waving his hand once more and causing two more of the ships to crash down.

bon clay began to beg for them to leave, but all of them refused. once luffy mentioned they were waiting for their friend, it seemed to woo the man in acting as a decoy for them.

and as bon clay got the formation to break apart, the strawhats were able to successfully move deeper into the harbor and closer to shore. and the only thing they could do was wait.

vivi’s voice began to ring in the air, making [name]’s face brighten up. he ran to the railing, to search for her at the shore. but gradually, the smile on his face began falling as he saw that she was nowhere to be seen.

she was giving a speech, but not for them. she wasn’t at the shore, which means her choice was obvious.

it did sting a little bit, [name] giving a bitter sweet smile to the country. he wished vivi could have joined them. she felt too close as a crewmate to be anything else, too. a selfish part of him wanted her to choose them over her country, but he knew that that was unreasonable.

“let’s go, luffy,” [name] said softly, patting the strawhat of his captain, “she’s made her choice,”

“but-”

“no, we have to accept it and sail onward,” [name] said, shaking his head at luffy, who was pouting in sadness.

just as [name] was going to turn his back on the shore, sighing in defeat, he heard her call out, “everyone!!”

he turned around in an instant and grinned ear to ear, waving at her. the others began rejoicing, perhaps too soon. since the next words that left her lips made all of them still, “i came to say goodbye,”

“huh? what did she say?” luffy said, the wide grin on his face turning into a flat line.

“i can’t…go with you! thank you so much for everything! i’d like to go on more adventures, but there’s no ignoring that i love this country! so i can’t go!! i…i…i will remain here! but if we ever meet again some day, will you call me your friend again?!”

[name] chuckled at her crying expression, looking at the rest of the crew with a sad smile.

“you’ll forever be our-”

nami and [name] acted in sync, slapping luffy’s mouth shut and onto the deck with grim expressions.

“you can’t! the navy has noticed vivi! if they see us making contact with her, they’ll assume the worst!”

“she’ll become a criminal!” nami added in, tears glistening in her eyes, “let’s part without saying anything!”

[name] pursed his lips, a grin of mischief on his face. he quickly ran to the back of the ship, a smile on his face that he hoped the princess could see. silently, he turned his back to her. he untied the black cloth around his left wrist and stuck it up in the air.

the straw hats joined him by his side, all showing their marks of friendship with pride. despite the cannons that were being shot at them, the rocking of their ship, and the chaos around them — they all stayed still and showed off the black ‘x’ on their left arm.

“set sail!!!”

BONUS : pell’s letter to [name]

[name],

as i am writing this, you are currently in an unconscious state and have been in one since yesterday. it is troubling to think that someone like yourself has been the one protecting princess vivi recently. to think that someone who makes such reckless decision was keeping her safe…it’s most certainly unsettling.

but she’s told me about you — your adventures together and how much you have sacrified for her, plus this instance in which you saved this country and my life, as well as every civilian’s life. i’ve learned from her debt to you, one that she has said she can never repay properly. and i do agree with her.

i could never repay you or properly put into words how thankful i am to you and your captain for keeping princess vivi safe and saving this country from the evil clutches of crocodile. to us, the strawhat pirates will never be forgotten.

the reason why i could not face you in person and instead opted to write you this letter is because of the utter shame i feel in making you be the one to hold the burden of saving the country on your shoulders. if i were more competent, then we would have both been able to save everyone, but instead i proved to still have a ways to go before i can be the perfect guardian for princess vivi and this country.

the princess had told me that my shames and worries were silly, then further reinforced that idea by saying that you were a rather laid back individual who would care for nothing of this sort. but, i can’t push aside my shames at this moment, but i also cannot stay silent in your actions and not show my genuine gratitude.

from one guardian to another, i thank you very humbly in everything you have done — but especially everything you have done for the princess. her smile reaches her eyes now and her shoulders are no longer slouched in stress and in worry of saving her country. but besides that point, i think you alone have saved her as well. saved her from walking down a dark path of loneliness and abandonment.

thank you for not giving up on princess vivi and pushing her forward in returning back home.

take this letter as a means of holding me accountable in the future. if we ever cross paths again, which i think the princess would like very much, then please utilize me as a proper guardian this time and trust in my abilities to prove myself to you. you have done me a great fortune i could never think of properly repaying, but allow me to at least try and hold a candle to the bright flame you have ignited when you saved this country.

yours,

pell.

additionally — i am glad i was at least the one to bring you the joy of flying. hopefully, when we meet in the future, we can go on the same flight together once again.

-

[  .ᐟ ] alabasta arc ends 🥹gonna miss vivi fr i need the straw hats and vivi to reunite in the manga ughhh like rnnnn + i finally caught up w the manga guys!!! i know everything thats going onnn (i had to reread from wci-present) concerningly enouhh i think it took a week?? definitely more than three days...i think

-

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taglist (lmk if u want to be tagged ! <3 :

@skullr0se , @strawberrii-tea, @triangulartriangles, @anotherlovefool, @haratatsu , @sinmp, @3v37773, @taru-nami, @disc0dild0s, @boredwithlifeatthispoint, @kaulitzer, @notplutos, @cheetosins

[oneknightstand-if]

FAQ

(That I just made up because there's no time for questions yet)

600,000+ words for the first chapter?!?

(Damn, Tumblr insists on blowing up even small gifs into full size, huh)

I know, I know... that's not going to be sustainable unless we're aiming for the first 6 million word release in history. I'll be streamlining things more from this point onwards.

Is this a standalone or the first book of a series?

It's a series. The first book One Knight Stand will keep going until we finally complete that Lesser Circle of Seven (or die trying) but the apocalypse won't be over yet.

What is with all these wikipedia links in the game?

So I was going to have tooltips that popped up and explained things such as 'greaves' and whatnot like Twine games do… but oops, Choicescript doesn't have that capability. The closest I could do is include a link to a website that explained it.

I decided that wikipedia had the best chance of still being available years from now and have handy explanations to most things I was referencing (so I wouldn't have to chase after broken links when sites go down forevermore).

And then I just started running amok and linking to anything that the player might not know offhand. If you already understand the reference or have no further interest in it, please feel free to just ignore them.

How can I see the code for the game?

You can view the game code on my site the same way you do on Dashingdon just add /scenes to the end of the URL.

Do I need to know anything about King Arthur, Camelot, or random arthurian lore to play this game?

No, you don't need to know anything about it.

You can spend the whole game going "Who is Arthur? What's a Camels-a-lot? What am I even doing here?" as a legit strategy. (You can even play that way if you actually do know stuff about arthuriana.)

If you choose to be an in-game lore expert, it just means your MC is as likely to give an explanation as one of the other characters. However, anything important that the player needs to know will come up in the game itself.

You can also ask the other characters for info dumps on Camelot... and boy, will some of them give you (completely skippable) lore dumps all right.

Hey, this stuff that Merlin's saying about Camelot doesn't jive with what I know!

Maybe that's the difference between what canonically happened in One Knight Stand's backstory. Or maybe Merlin is just gaslighting you.

What's going on with Merlin's pronouns?

If Merlin's pronouns don't fit with the gender that you've chosen for them within the MC's speech or internal narrative, then that's a coding error (please report it).

If another character (say a little girl who's convinced that Merlin is Elsa) is using different pronouns for Merlin than what's expected, then that's simply how that other character is currently perceiving Merlin.

But what pronouns does Merlin prefer?

Merlin doesn't care what human pronouns you use for them. Out-of-universe I'll be using they/them for simplicity's sake (same reason I'll be using 'incubus' instead of typing incubus/succubus the entire time).

What's up with all of Merlin's kaomoji in their text messages and e-mails?

They're a fifth-century mage who's been sealed away for 1500 years... they're *trying*.

 m(✿￣ｰ￣)m plz understand

Why are there so many Merlin questions in this FAQ?

I don't know, it just ended up that way. Probably because they show up in Chapter 1 and have a rather... complex... situation that needs warnings attached to it.

(✿≖ᴗ≖ )ゞ "Naturally, I'm simply the most intriguing member of this party."

Are all RO's available to all MC's?

Your MC won't be blocked from a romance due to gender or sexuality. At most you'll get a passing mention if you're not the gender that the RO usually dates.

There are certain *other* mitigating factors, however... for example not all RO's are going to be kosher with the Serial Killer MC (especially if said MC won't knock off with all the killings).

Also there is one modern day RO that is incompatible with a certain Camelot MC background.

Is there a lock-in point for romances?

No, there will be several points where you can initiate and break-off relationships with the various RO's (and know that the RO's can take take those on and off-ramps just the same as the MC).

You can also romance another character after breaking up with your current RO... but that's going to get tougher and tougher the more you do that.

Can we start a romance in Book 1?

Romances will proceed at a different pace depending on who your MC is romancing (and also on your MC themselves). For example Adrian will be friendzoning you through most of Book 1 for... reasons. Meanwhile, potential sex scene with Merlin in Chapter 3 if you're feeling particularly horny.

Do I need to romance someone to take part in their personal subplot?

No, you just need to be "close" to someone, either platonically, romantically, or otherwise to take part in their subplot. You'll also need to actually be physically present (which will not always be possible for everyone at the same time).

Is there any poly?

In the series, yes, but not in the first book One Knight Stand, as forming the triad will require developing a certain level of trust and loyalty between all three members. And right now everyone is too busy side-eying each other in suspicion at this point.

Thus, since the poly options won't appear until Book 2, saying who is involved would be a *spoiler* since it indicates who'll actually still be available for romance later in the series.

In general, there are three triads that will be available... one is male/male/MC, one is female/female/MC, and one is male/female/MC. Note that there is some overlap in the characters potentially involved in various triads since only a couple of the ROs are interested in this sort of thing.

What about options for flings and friends with benefits--

*points to Merlin*

So... Merlin the incubus as an RO. Can they be romanced monogamously? Can they be romanced asexually?

You can indeed romance Merlin and have them be emotionally monogamous to you as the partner they will always return to while everyone else is a (literal) snack.

But they can't be physically monogamous with the MC. They need to eat and being Merlin's sole food source would literally kill the MC in two weeks or less.

In fact, romanced Merlin is even more likely to seek out other food sources just to make certain that the MC is safe with them and that they won't get too hungry and accidentally eat your soul.

Merlin's nature as an incubus means their sexuality is highly integral to them, and while they will reflect back what their partner wants/needs from them, they are not naturally romantic. Basically if you're not having sex with them, then a high affinity MC is defaulting back to platonic friends.

These are things that are definitely going to be brought up in-game if you try to initiate a long-term romance with Merlin.

Will any other RO have problems with an asexual romance?

Nope, sex can be entirely avoided with all the other RO's, just choose the snuggle options instead of the sex options.

How explicit are we talking here regarding sex scenes?

You'll have the choice between fade to black and something rather more explicit but not full-blown porn. If anything rated higher than that gets included as a DLC option (not part of the base game) will depend upon how much (if any) interest there is in that sort of thing.

Can I romance the saboteur?

You can certainly *think* you are! (Note: This is not recommended for your MC's longevity)

Can I romance the 404 Error?

You can certainly *try*. (You actually have a better chance here than with the actual saboteur.)

Can I romance the dude in the elevator, that random paramedic, or some stranger walking down the street?

( ⓪ ᴗ ⓪ )

So there's only one traitor, right?

There may actually potentially be more than one depending on the MC's actions. But there's always that one particular saboteur present despite whatever else the MC may do.

Will the gender of my past Camelot reincarnation be the same as the one I've chosen in game?

No, there's no connection between your MC's current and past gender (or really their current and past *anything* since they're basically an entirely different person now).

There are four different backgrounds available for the Camelot reincarnation, 2 male and 2 female, so if you end up with a past incarnation you don't like at the end of the game, you can replay for one more suitable to your tastes.

How is the MC's past Camelot Incarnation determined?

Mostly through your choices during the Camelot flashback sequences. Mostly.

Who are the potential past incarnations of the MC?

That's for you to find out! (No really, this is one of the major subplots of the game).

What is with all these grayed-out options?

Options will be grayed out if they conflict with a previous choice the player made if you haven't fulfilled the prerequisites for unlocking them.

An example would be the "I'm lying about my amnesia" option not being selectable if you didn't chose to have amnesia in the first place. (The exception right now is the fencing & book club choices... I just haven't written those routes yet).

If nearly *all* the options have been grayed out, then usually that's triggered by your fear or vice kicking in or because your MC is literally possessed (Congratulations!). You may want to work on that.

I'm here for the story and not for the trauma… what background choices are least likely to spectacularly blow up in my face later?

In that case, I'd suggest the Lab Technician job, the Imposter secret, Abandoned or Abused as your childhood, Lust as your vice if you're not planning to pursue a long-term relationship with a RO (Sloth if you are), either Heights, Snakes, Spiders, or Closed Spaces as your phobia, avoiding Luck as your talent & avoiding the Internet as your addiction, and finally having Adrian as your close friend.

Not saying that you can't make other choices during the game that'll set you on the path to Hard Mode, but these background choices have the mildest potential repercussions.

I want the full spectacular clusterf*ck experience here! What background should I choose?

The Wrath (Vice), Accident (Childhood), and Serial Killer (Secret) combo is always f̴u̸n̷. The "Lying about my amnesia" secret is also it's own brand of mindtrip as well.

Also, some other options include starting off as a Security Guard as your career, with Fear Itself as your phobia (blood or death are also 'good' options), Luck as your talent, the Internet as your addiction, and of course Adrian as your stalker because obviously we don't need any good relationships to fall back on when playing Among Us.

What is going on with the "lying about your amnesia" option?

What indeed.

If you don't like meta fourth wall breaks or otherwise heavily self insert, you might not want to choose that as your secret.

My MC's skin is pretty dark, is that demonic-bruise thing actually going to be seeable?

Since the bruise being perceivable is an important plot point, then no matter how dark your MC's skin is, that bruise is darker still even if has to become the abiding abyss of a black hole to do so. (I even described it as a black hole in some routes to cover my posterior.)

My MC is intrigued by this agenda of demonic conquest & people-eating and would like to subscribe to their newsletter. Can I join the other side?

Well... there's certainly some Dead Ends where you can do that!

Screw all these people and this forced quest! My MC wants to leave the group and this plot behind.

You can certainly do that. You'll die (since your MC is currently on the top of several different 'Kill on sight' lists), but you can do it.

At some point the MC will be strong enough that they can split from the group and frolic off into their own nonstandard ending adventures in the apocalyptic world while everyone else deals with the whole apocalypse plot thing. But you're nowhere near that point yet.

So the MC can die prematurely here, huh.

Yep, this game is horror-adjacent and you're being given a hundred save slots for a reason. I'll be inputting checkpoints as well once we come to that part. Hopefully Choice of Games will start allowing normal save points in the near future.

Also, please note that all the Dead Ends include clues towards the truth of what's going on here that may otherwise not be knowable, so they're not complete wastes of time. Also, they all give Achievements.

What is a Cloudcuckoolander etc?

Please see this post for all your cloudcuckoolander needs.

What is going on with the Changeling MC?

Please see this post for all your changeling needs.

OMG, what the hell is this monstrosity that is Merlin's Guide to Arthurian Lore?

We're playing Among Us/Werewolf/Mafia/etc here. You aren't getting any word-of-god lore directly from me. That'd be too easy.

All info about the One Knight Stand world will be filtered through the natural biases (and lies) of the characters involved in the game. Hence, Merlin's Guide to Arthurian Lore.

Feel free to read or ignore, as you like. (Also feel free to text Merlin back and tell them exactly what you think of that doorstop.)

So Why 'Among Us' in the description?

Obviously, it can't be officially marketed like that, but I thought that would be the most popularly recognized description for this type of situation.

I also considered using the OG Mafia or Werewolf instead, but I thought that might've confused people into thinking that there are actual gangsters and werewolves present in the game.

About those werewolves...

No comment.

Are there any guides available?

Here's a link to various guides & info posts available on the Choice of Games thread.

Escaping the Monster Under the Bed

Getting Excalibur Shards

Gaining/Avoiding Corruption

Gaining/Avoiding Fear

Gaining Magic Points | Ver. 2

Gaining Charisma Points

Mini Guide to Gaining Will Points

Full Guide to Gaining Will Points

Gaining Cloudcuckoolander Points

Potential Past Incarnations

Saving & Getting Pippa Killed | Version 2

Saving Zain

Potential Camelot Incarnations

Camelot Family Trees

Quick Guide to Sparring with Lancelot

My save slots keep getting stuck in the Status Menu! (or any of the submenus associated with it such as Messages/Inventory/etc)

Unfortunately, that's a common problem with Dashingdon games or any games that use the smPlugin.js save system (like One Knight Stand). You can't save the game directly after checking the stats menu (or any of the submenus associated with the stats menu such as Messages, Inventory, menu). If you do, that save will be permanently stuck in the stats menu for good.

So you either have to...

Save the game before checking the stats menu

After checking the stats menu move the game forward by at least one screen before saving. That means picking an option, hitting the 'Next' button or whatever is currently available in that particular game.

I keep getting an error in the game.

Before reporting any errors, please clear your browser's cache (just the cache, not the cookies, localStorage, or any other browser data) and refresh the page.

Then, if you're loading an old save slot, check the Status Menu to make certain that your stats haven't been reset back to default (which can be caused by the data in the save slot corruption). If the Status Menu variables have reset back to their original values, you'll have to load another Save or restart from the beginning of the game).

If you're still getting an error message after trying these steps, please feel free to send in a bug report.

When will the Book Club Route be done?

When it's done. There's no set date at this point and considering the time investment (3-4 months for 150,000-175,000 words) and how burnt out I currently am with Chapter 1, it won't be anytime soon.

I will also no longer be responding to any update requests regarding the book club.

What the hell is going on with Gawain in Merlin's Guide to Arthurian Lore?

So, while I was plotting out One Knight Stand and deciding which version of Arthurian lore would be taken as the "truth" of the OKS world, I looked at Gawain and his five million wives and lovers (because if you were going to create a female OC back then, high probability she's shacking up with Gawain) and then I decided, yes, I'm going to make all of them canon.

The yandere. The other yandere. The one who dosed him with aphrodisiacs. That one who died of heartbreak because he couldn't figure out how to get back to her castle. The cursed baba yaga.

Merlin's cursed ex-lover. [insert Merlin screeching in the background about not having done any such thing] The fairy daughter of Morgana... and that other fairy... and this fairy too.

All of them.

Good luck, Gawain.

[az-roser]

“Be careful who you give your heart to, my dear.”

OH HELLO…. It’s been a minute since I’ve posted.

And even longer since I’ve fed the children with some Human Alastor 🖤🔪

View/Follow Me on Twitter!

[breserker]

i've been thinking hard on why the post-Team Silent SH games just feel like they don't fucking work at all and I genuinely believe it's because they gravely misinterpret what the multiple endings are supposed to do.

With the exception of the total joke endings which you must go out of your way for sometimes in convoluted ways, the alternate Silent Hill endings do not fundamentally change the story. Harry still finds out what happened to his daughter, James still goes through the same journey as does everyone around him, Heather still kills God as a final boss, Henry still confronts Walter after finding out what he intended to do to apartment 302. The endings just change the outcome, the epilogue, the "what happens next" question.

Meanwhile, because in writing this sh4 fic I realized I had never finished Origins, i look up what's the deal with Travis and...he could either be a totally normal guy OR A FUCKING SERIAL KILLER, and while there are things you do in the game to get one or the other there's like. no way that just doesn't fundamentally change the story being told. And since the games were developed with some semblance of a canon throughline in mind, one ending becomes infinitely clunkier than the other and in its worst cases (Downpour, for example) spits in the player's face for wanting to engage with a complete, coherent story. (Murph totally killed his son! Oops no he totally didn't. Well it doesn't matter because other people think he did. but wait, if you did this one thing, then yeah nevermind it was all true/false all along)

I think this paired with the immensely dionysian approach to writing human beings (while I'm usually an advocate for the dionysian, the post Team-Silent games do not do this well and I mean it derogatorily) makes for what feels like an edgelord experience that thrives on what's the most shocking/wild pulls we can have a player do instead of telling an actual story.

And I think this really messy approach to storytelling by mixing it up with the freedom of video games is why so much of the games just didn't resonate with people on the deeper level that the Team Silent games had. I really wanted to like Murphy but I can't tell you a damn thing about him in confidence because depending on what you do he becomes just a totally different person; he could either be a mourning dad who cut his own losses to imprison himself to avenge his son and the rest of his life be damned, or he could be his son's fucking murderer and it was all a convoluted ploy to incriminate someone else for his son's murder. Who's Murphy Pendleton, then?? His anger in one scene can be totally unchanged from run to run but the contextual interpretation varies so greatly that his anger could come off as a hurt father who lost his son to like. Sinister killer.

The fact that a lot of these games came out during the rise of mystery box style storytelling in the west isn't lost on me either. It's just such a shame because so many of these games have...fine frameworks? Some of them fuck them up more than others (Alex as a veteran being a total lie was..............A Choice) and I didn't include Shattered Memories because while that also bungles its own narratives over and over like Downpour, at least it said that on the tin and was kind of openly experimental in that regard.

PostScript: I know I wanted to bring up Travis's backstory as an example of weird dionysian human beings, and contrast that to Walter's weird ass backstory, and trying to figure out why one succeeds at its grotesque weirdness where the other feels like that Edgelord approach of ohhhh yeah you're just. Puttin' anything on the wall to get a reaction. But I can't figure out where to fit it in here and I think the multiple ending fuckup is a less subjective issue.

[slayerzach]

Hey there! Do you believe the Mikaelson's deserved their "happy ending." This ask is a bit sporadic btw.

I mean, what does that mean for their victims? What does justice look like in the vampire diaries universe. Literally all the suoernaturals were serial killers or knew serial killers.

Camille and Elijah had this anger searing within them. You could see it in Elijah's annoying sassy speaches. Camille understood Klaus, a serial killer. That's awful. And we see how she became after a vampire. I'm not saying this show is awfully written, i'm just saying their characters are interesting because their awful.

Unpopular oppinion but Elijah's type was ass. He found the worst of the worst with an attitude beyond his and called it a day.

I also heavily hated how they treated Marcel, Elijah and Hayley get to go to peace for that too. You said something that stuck to me and still does- you said the problem with the Mikaelson's is that "they don't try not to hurt eachother" which I could literally see in real life too. They were awful to each other yet got together in the after life. I mean jackson and Hayley too were toxic. Is the after life some parallel to the real world. I mean if their isn't any hell, how the heck does malivore work.

I could argue all supernaturals are bad and they kinda all went to "hell" together- Were-wolfs kill, just not at the caliber of Vampires. But their still a pack of serial killers camping with each other. Marcel did a good job of keeping control of the mass murder, he ruled the city with a keen eye to allow feeding and less death. Witches use blood to fule their magic too and are also awful.

I mean, do you think that the supernaturals killing each other would be better for the community of new orleans?

Just a bunch of questions, sorry !

About time I finally got to this after almost a month. My apologies!

So, I don't really know how controversial this take is, but I don't feel they did enough to deserve a fully happy ending, but I do believe they deserve some credit for trying to change for the better at certain points. However, I feel there was so little redemption done that all I can think is where they were GOING to go. We don't really know. I feel a lot of the redemption happened in the last season of TO, and then they all died, so how much of a happy ending do they really deserve? Or do they deserve it based on who they were going to become? Or WERE they gonna become even better people? I DON'T KNOW!! That's the problem, nobody knows where their direction was going. That's why I personally think if they knew the actors for these characters didn't want to stick around long, they shouldn't have even started huge character arcs for characters that didn't want to continue on into Legacies.

You make a great point with the whole "hell" questioning, I mean where did they really go? That's some lazy writing if I've ever seen it. That's a pretty huge story detail to just go "oops sorry didn't write that in hehe".

If they are in the afterlife together, I hope they're all arguing just like they did in life. I think that's the biggest punishment and hell they can ever have;being stuck together forever.

As for your last question, I do think it's possible that it could be beneficial depending on who died and such. I mean, there probably are some supernaturals who don't want to fight or anything, but the bad ones, I mean sure? Honestly that's a tough question.

Thanks for the questions, this was really interesting and thought provoking!

[bibliophileiz]

2023 in Books, Part 2

(posting a day late, oops)

This was a pretty great literary year for me. Even the books at the end of this list I enjoyed reading. I left out an anthology I read for class (Peach Pit is ... interesting) and a book of poetry written by someone I know, just because I don't know anything about poetry and don't want my personal feelings about the poet (she's great) to muddle it even further. I also already posted a separate list ranking the six children's/YA books I read. That still leaves thirty-one books to rank, though.

As usual, this is based entirely on personal preference/enjoyment and not necessarily on quality of writing or story. I reserve the right to change my mind about this ranking as soon as I post it because I am fickle like that. (Although I don't think I'm going to change my mind about my number 1 choice.) Here ya go.

31. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling Dates Read: Dec. 12-13 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: A witch accidentally curses her ex-boyfriend, and by extension her small magical Georgia town. She and her ex have to lift the curse without falling in love (which of course they do anyway). One-sentence review: (directly from my GR review) Cute and witchy, just the thing to get you through finals week.

30. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld Dates Read: April 28-May 7 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: A musician and comedy writer seem to hit it off when the musician guest stars on the comedy writer’s late-night show, only for the writer to blow it by assuming the musician is a shallow womanizer. A few years later, they rekindle their connection during pandemic lockdowns. One-sentence review: I liked the characters, but as usual Sittenfeld is more interested in commenting on whatever she saw on Twitter while she was writing this then she was on, like, writing a dramatic plot.

29. The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray Dates Read: Aug. 19-27 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: All of Jane Austen’s beloved couples (except the Tilneys), plus the Darcys’ son and the Tilneys’ daughter, attend a house party at the Knightleys’ where Mr. Wickham turns up and is immediately murdered. One-sentence review: This is what P.D. James’ Death Comes to Pemberley SHOULD have been.

28. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Dates Read: May 24-27 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: It’s the 1960s, and chemist Elizabeth Zott was kicked out of her Ph.D. program for reporting her supervisor for rape, and then loses her job after she becomes pregnant outside wedlock, and ends up starting her own STEM cooking show and some other stuff happens, look, I know you already read the reviews of this one. One-sentence review: It was fine, I just thought it was overrated.

27. The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull Dates Read: Aug. 23-Sept. 7 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Two women immersed in the French art world in the 1930s and ‘40s defy their German occupiers by hiding, documenting, and sometimes copying “degenerate” art to keep it from the hands of high-ranking Nazi officials and sympathizers, or to keep it from being destroyed. One-sentence review:  The main characters were great and I really like the focus on protecting art and culture from extermination, but the constant time jumps drove me nuts.

26. Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dates Read: April 3-5 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Less than two weeks into her marriage, a young woman is widowed and only meets her mother-in-law at the hospital. The two strangers find a way to navigate their grief together. One-sentence review: While the grief could be gut-wrenching due to Reid’s fantastic writing, the characters were nothing spectacular.

25. Hell’s Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, America’s First Serial Killer Family by Susan Jonusas Dates Read: Jan. 29-31 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: The Benders were a creepy family in late 19th Century Kansas who murdered people who stayed at their boarding house and then disappeared before they could be arrested. One-sentence review: I’m not super into true crime—it has to be historical for me to even start it--but I did like the look at life in the Midwest.

24. Galatea by Madeline Miller Dates Read: Jan. 6 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Madeline Miller retells the Pygmalion myth in a way that doesn’t suck. One-sentence review: Miller smartly skips the gender misery by making this a short story and then delivers an extremely satisfying ending.

23. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Dates Read: July 26 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Korede and Ayoola are sisters who fall for the same man. Ayoola is hot and a serial killer, and Korede is getting pretty tired of covering for her. One-sentence review: Despite (or perhaps because) all the characters are awful, this book STAYS with you, and I feel like it would be a blast to talk about in a drunken book club. Note: I listened to the audiobook and want to give narrator Adepero Oduye a shout out.

22. The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec Dates Read: July 24-Aug. 17 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Three friends in Medieval Scandinavia find themselves in the middle of a Game of Thrones-esque rivalry for the crown and a deadly battle between supernatural forces. One-sentence review: Good story and I liked the characters, but it moved too slowly sometimes.

21. The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan Dates Read: May 7-10 GoodReads Rating: Four stars (I was feeling more generous about Grace marrying Hugh than I am right now) Summary: A sewing circle in a small English village in the 1940s decide to pool their talents and resources to help English brides wear the perfect white gown to their weddings, clothing rations be damned. One-sentence review: Ryan excels at writing about women and civilians in wartime, and I would have ranked this so much higher if it hadn’t ended with the best character marrying the worst one.

20. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dates Read: Jan. 31-Feb. 8 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Aging actress Evelyn Hugo (who is not Elizabeth Taylor, by which I mean she absolutely is Elizabeth Taylor) invites a young journalist to write her life story. One-sentence review: The plot was engaging and thought-provoking, but I never could decide how I felt about Evelyn.

19. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher Dates Read: Oct. 28-Nov. 1 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: An archaeologist visits her mother at the family home in North Carolina only to find that her grandmother’s ghost is haunting it. But how do you banish a ghost once you learn it’s keeping something far worse at bay? One-sentence review: Of all the haunted house books I read this year, this one was the worst, and yet it was still great.

19. To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters (That’s right, I ranked a trashy Regency romance above both Romantic Comedy AND Lessons in Chemistry) Dates Read: May 17-24 GoodReads Rating: Four stars (Objectively, this was too many, but I also don’t care.) Summary: When Viscount Penvale’s uncle promises to sell him back the family estate for a steal if Penvale marries his uncle’s ward Jane, Penvale reluctantly agrees. He and Jane make an agreement to leave each other alone, but Penvale didn’t expect to fall in love with her. Nor did he expect his family house to be haunted. One-sentence review: The Regency Vows series just keeps getting better, honestly.

17. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson Dates Read: Aug. 31-Oct. 13 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Humor writer Bill Bryson and his on-again-off-again friend Katz decide to hike the Appalachian Trail, and Bryson tells you all about its history and natural resources along the way. There are moose, but no (confirmed) bears. One-sentence review: This book got me really into nature and hiking again.

16. The Shining by Stephen King Dates Read: Dec. 1-4 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: I know you know what this book’s about. One-sentence review: Super tense, riveting look into the mind of a toxic, self-absorbed abuser who doesn’t need to be anywhere near blizzards, haunted houses, or children.

15. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dates Read: July 12-23 GoodReads Rating: Five stars (Objectively, this book probably deserves that. Subjectively, I like Regency romances and journalists better than sports stars.) Summary: A retired tennis star full of rage and ambition makes a comeback to keep a younger player from breaking her record. One-sentence review: An absorbing, balanced take on the pressures women athletes face, plus a heart-warming father-daughter story, with some romance and female friendships to round it out.

14. Swamp Story by Dave Barry Dates Read: Dec. 30 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: There is actually too much going on to summarize this book, but suffice to say it involves a desperate single mom, her shirtless fame-hounding ex-boyfriend, a failed journalist with a drinking problem, and a lot of people in the Florida Everglades looking for a cryptid OR Confederate gold OR pythons. One-sentence review: Dave Barry writes about Florida like it’s a drunk, eccentric relative who everyone hangs around at the family reunion even though he smells bad, because he has the best stories.

13. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas Dates Read: Oct. 15-28 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: During the Mexican-American War, a Wuthering Heights-esque couple learn their homeland is being stalked by vampires. One-sentence review: You root for the couple, you root for the Mexicans, you even root for the vampires once or twice, but you never root for the Texas Rangers. Note: The couple is Wuthering Heights-esque in the sense that he is poor, she is rich, they were childhood sweethearts, and then they were separated—not in the toxic incest way.

12. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall Dates Read: July 12-23 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: A trans woman believed to be dead at the Battle of Waterloo reinvents herself and returns home to England, only to find that her best friend has been consumed by grief over her death. As she helps him heal—and he slowly falls for her—she battles with whether to tell him who she really is. One-sentence review: I'm a sucker for love stories in which the couple are torn asunder, believe they will never see each other again, and then are reunited unexpectedly. Note: This actually would have ranked a lot higher if all the main couple’s angst wasn’t basically resolved in the first half. The second half is fine but not as good.

11. The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Dates Read: Dec. 26 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: A young woman must choose between two potential “lovers” who come from the woods in this dark fairy tale novella. One-sentence review: Finally, a good werewolf book.

10. The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak Dates Read: April 4-14 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Puhak writes about the feud between rival Merovingian queens Fredegund and Brunhild in sixth century western Europe. One-sentence review: It’s like Game of Thrones, but real, shorter, and with more women and less sexual assault.

9. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Dates Read: Dec. 14-25 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Vowell writes Lafayette’s biography, focusing on his and the larger French role in the American Revolution, all while musing on our country’s inability to agree on anything. One-sentence review: Vowell’s irreverent essay style is just the tone needed to tackle the oft-romanticized American Revolution.

8. The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas Dates Read: July 23-26 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: In the aftermath of the Mexican War for Independence, a young bride moves to her landed husband’s country estate, only to find that the house is super haunted and her new in-laws super racist. One-sentence review: Your standard haunted house story, except the ghost is colonialism.

7. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune Dates Read: Oct. 29-31 GoodReads Rating: Five stars (was probably generous, but the ending had just made me cry, so) Summary: When workaholic Wallace dies, his spirit is sent to a teashop for transition to the afterlife. But after a few weeks of hanging around teashop owner and “ferryman” Hugo, his reaper, and the ghosts of Hugo’s dog and grandfather, Wallace realizes he doesn’t want to leave what he’s coming to think of as his family. One-sentence review: A lovely mixture of funny and sad, this book is a nuanced look at death and found family.

6. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Dates Read: Nov. 1-6 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: A debutante from Mexico City visits her cousin’s haunted house in the countryside where she’s pulled into a mystery surrounding her cousin’s eugenics-obsessed in-laws. One-sentence review: Noemi is a fantastic character, and the plot is engrossing, which is good because you will hate all the other characters.

5. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Dates Read: Aug. 9-29 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: In 1996, Outside magazine sent Jon Krakauer to cover the burgeoning commercialization of Mount Everest. When Krakauer climbed the mountain himself, he and his team got caught in a freak snowstorm that resulted in what was then the worst disaster in the history of the mountain. One-sentence review: Apart from being a really tense and riveting account of a brutal natural disaster in an already brutal environment, Krakauer’s account of the 1996 storm on Everest raises questions about who should be on the world’s highest mountain and whether money and fame have blinded guides and climbers to the risks of tackling the summit.

4. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty Dates Read: Nov. 20-30 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Amina al-Sirafi, a retired smuggler and single mom on the Arabian peninsula, has to get her old band crew back together for the promise of more money than they’ve ever dreamed of when wealthy grandmother hires Amina to rescue her kidnapped granddaughter. But things go awry when the crew learns the girl is with an evil crusader with plans to unleash dark magic and monsters on the world. Inspired by the rich mythology, religions, and history of the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean. One-sentence review:  I have not had so much fun reading a fantasy novel since I was a kid reading Harry Potter and I can’t wait for the sequel.

3. Lone Women by Victor LaValle Dates Read: Oct. 5-12 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: In the early 1900s, a woman burns her parents’ mangled bodies in their California farmhouse and flees to Montana with a secret locked in a heavy trunk. One-sentence review: Frankenstein meets Calamity Jane in this horror Western about race and female friendships.

2. We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian Dates Read: Oct. 28-Nov. 9 GoodReads Rating: Five stars Summary: Two men reporting for a progressive newspaper in 1950s New York fall in love. One-sentence review: I mean, it’s journalists in love in the 1950s, and one of them is investigating police corruption and the other covered a Civil Rights meeting in DC, so of course I loved this book.

1. The Correspondents: Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II by Judith Mackrell Dates Read: Nov. 27-Dec. 26 (during finals and holidays with family—I don’t think I could have finished the book if it wasn’t so good) GoodReads Rating: Five stars Summary: Mackrell covers the WWII careers of six journalists—a correspondent in Berlin who ingratiated herself in the Nazi Party to tell America about Hitler’s plans for world domination; a photojournalist for Vogue who took pictures from the Blitz to Dachau; a young American whose coverage of both sides of the Spanish Civil War catapulted her to journalistic stardom; Martha Gellhorn whose fury at her husband (you’ve heard of him) compelled her to illegally stow away on board a hospital ship and cover the invasion of Normandy from Omaha Beach while helping wounded soldiers; a rogue freelancer who broke the story of the invasion of Poland and whose thrill-chasing career took her from there to Greece to North Africa and beyond; and Helen Kirkpatrick, who covered the liberation of Paris while Hemingway was getting plastered at the Ritz.

Review: There is too much to say about this book. Mackrell did an incredible job. These journalists’ triumphs and tragedies play out alongside the triumphs and tragedies of the world’s biggest conflict. Each woman had different motivations and goals, from thrill-seeking to career-making, from spite to idealism to simply a love of journalism and dogged search for the truth. While Sigrid Schultz’s Chicago editor applauded Hitler’s control of Germany, Sigrid warned his readers of Hitler’s ambition. When the world turned a blind eye to Hitler’s military build-up and annexation of half of Europe, Virginia Cowles and Helen Kirkpatrick wrote furiously against Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement. And while the rest of the world celebrated the end of the war in Europe, Lee Miller swept through Dachau taking pictures and refusing to ignore the human cost of fascism and war.

All of this was at great personal risk. The Nazis tapped Sigrid’s phone and searched her house until she was finally forced to flee to America in the early 1940s (where her editor promptly benched her for three and a half years). Virginia dodged bombs in Madrid, and Helen dodged bullets in Paris. And Lee Miller defiantly washed off the stink of Dachau in Hitler’s own bath, which was immortalized in a photo her equally defiant boyfriend took in the days after the Fuhrer’s death. Mackrell’s prose also gets into the nitty gritty of correspondent life, how the reporters all camped out in hotels and spent their days chasing stories and their nights drinking whiskey. She discusses the friendships and rivalries—Marth and Virginia became great friends in Spain and eventually wrote a play together satirizing the misogyny they faced during the war. And while the stars are the six I mentioned above, cameos include Mary Welch (Hemingway’s wife after Martha), Dorothy Thompson, Vogue editor Audrey Withers, and “Maggie the indestructible” who convinced an American commander to let her go on a bombing mission over North Africa, paving the way for other women correspondents on the front line after the US entered the war. Plus there are appearances from Picasso, both Randolph and Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, David Lloyd George, the Duke of Windsor after he abdicated, Hemingway of course, and half the Nazi high command. Mackrell uses the women’s own words to describe the bombing of Madrid, the mass evacuation from Paris, the refugee crises in Eastern Europe, and the Night of Long Knives in Germany. Every moment is riveting as Mackrell and the women she writes about pull you into Europe of the 1940s.

[praecurokat]

Ted Lasso Finale Thoughts- So Long, Farewell... (I do not know what to think!)

this episode being an hour and 15 minutes..after being released at midnight... that's just cruel.. my brain cannot operate properly under such conditions..

congrats Tedbecca shippers! oop watched more.. sorry Tedbecca shippers...

most normal Beard and Jane appearance in the series at Rebecca’s house in the beginning

writers were bringing the dramatic flair in this episode! first that thing with Isaac dressed as a judge in the beginning, and then a musical number! idk how i feel about that..

speaking of the musical number, i must regretfully inform the masses that idk what the song is from.. pls lmk in the comments.. i see that it relates to the episode title

ah yes Jane acting totally normal by shredding Beard's passport.. total ✨ marriage material ✨

Trent's shirt says sat 17 may.. could this be significant?? everything in this show is..

"You know, that might be a tasty little treat for the diamond dogs.” “No. No. No. No!”-Roy, soon to become a Diamond Dog in a moment of desperation

wait did Trent name his manuscript the lasso way awww

“I only got into this to ruin Rupert's life, and he seems to be doing a pretty good job of that himself.”- Rebecca

So. Many. Throwbacks. Keeley saying “Is everybody decent?”, Jamie using lots of axe body spray like S1, the cleaner walking in on everyone, and way more i can’t think of

the complicated web that is royjamiekeeley is still being spun.. in the last episode..

“Must be awful for them, lying awake at night, haunted by how fucking easy they’ve had it!”- Mae, to Rebecca’s mom

Trent watching Ted read his book.. heart eyes emoji

the way Ted looks at him.. i meannn is this even subtext anymore?

“So you do laugh, but you don't do it until page.. 43?! And it wasn't even a big laugh!”- Trent, while Ted is reading his manuscript

"Whatever happens on Sunday, I want you to know I’m proud of you. All the work you’ve put in this year."- Roy to Jamie, before proceeding to fistfight with him later

Both Roy and Jamie seem very contemplative this ep. What are they thinking??

i am so concerned about the current royjamie feud over Keeley... what is gonna happen here???

“Would you please stay?” and “I know, I just had to try.”- Rebecca, about Ted

lmao Keeley kicking both Roy and Jamie out after they asked her to choose

“You stay put, Trenthouse magazine. You’re part of the squad now.”- Ted, to Trent

“Yeah. Someone better. Can people change?”- Roy, also this is a central tenet of this damn show

“I don’t think we change per se, as much as we just learn to accept who we’ve always been, you know?” -Trent’s most beautiful quote thus far

aww Nate finally got his diamond dogs reaction to Jade

George being Rupert’s coach sent me.. like you Really couldn’t find anyone else?

I hate Rupert but I love his dramatic slay coat swish moments.. again reminds me of Uther’s drama queen antics

“I prefer rugby, there’s just more grown men throwing other grown men into the air like children. And blood. Which is nice." - Barbara

Bloodthirsty and mysterious? Barbara is a serial killer or vampire confirmed.

“Never forget, I am always inside you.” -Zava’s note, which also came with a giant avocado

Zorro has truly entered his superhero arc and Dani Rojas is his genius creator

the fourth thing has to be 'Believe'.. aand it was? Right?

AFC Richmond Women’s club.. i sense a spinoff show opportunity…. or they could just do a show about Trent

George has begun a redemption arc!! (Telling Rupert to fuck off)

Rupert's desperation and misery at the end is not entirely unreminiscent of Rebecca at the start of S1

yesss Colin got his kiss on the pitch!!

haha the same? person from S1E1 taking pics w Ted in the airport

damn so Beard’s going home too, thought Jane would've locked him away in a safe or smth… nvm

omg Amsterdam man has a child.. hmmm Rebecca’s prophecy may still be fulfilled

Roy becoming manager feels natural

Ofc Trent renamed his book ‘The Richmond Way’… never let them know your next move

that montage at the end…so much to process....

beardjane wedding marking the end of the series.. good or bad omen for the future? i think bad

seems very fitting the series ending the opposite of how it began.. Rupert's life ruined, Rebecca in love and not owner of the club, Roy and Jamie healing and bonding w others around them, and Ted back in America with family.