#yeah this one was a bit trickier for me to write but i think it still turned out pretty good! and im still very proud of it!!

[firefly464]

Scott | Pearl | Martyn | Cleo (You are here!)

Massive thank you to both @prismartist and @theminecraftbee for their help with cleos characterization in this, very much would not have been able to do it without them!

Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Scott Major | Smajor1995 & ZombieCleo, John Booko | BdoubleO100 & ZombieCleo, Anthony Viviano | Bigbst4tz2 & ZombieCleo, Pearl | PearlescentMoon & ZombieCleo

Characters: ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), Scott Major | Smajor1995, Anthony Viviano | Bigbst4tz2, Pearl | PearlescentMoon

Additional Tags: Character Study, POV Second Person, Canon-Typical Violence, 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series-Typical Character Death, ZombieCleo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), ZombieCleo Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Only Winners Remember the 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Suicidal Thoughts, kind of sort of not really? Its more of a "wow i wish i was red so i could go kill this guy", but im tagging it just to be safe, Cleo and their relationship with trust

Series: Part 4 of Life after Life (again and again and again)

Summary:

Anyone who says that being by themselves is the best way to survive is an idiot.

Sure, they’ll tell you that trusting others is going to get you killed, that the only person who won’t betray you is yourself, but you have a hard time believing any of it.

People are social creatures. You know this better than anyone. If someone is on their own for too long they start to doubt their own mind.

~~~

Or, an exploration of the trust and loyalty that Cleo gives to her allies over and over again.

~~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62318464

Or read it under the cut :D

~~~

Anyone who says that being by themselves is the best way to survive is an idiot. 

Sure, they’ll tell you that trusting others is going to get you killed, that the only person who won’t betray you is yourself, but you have a hard time believing any of it. 

People are social creatures. You know this better than anyone. If someone is on their own for too long they start to doubt their own mind. 

So you stick with others. You find someone, and you decide to trust him. You trust that the two of you will keep each other safe, that you’ll be able to reign each other in if things get bad. 

You do your best to protect the home that you’ve built. When someone comes and attempts to destroy it, you smile and tell him that his days are numbered. 

Your team cheers as his roof goes up in flames. 

When Bdubs goes red, you do your best to help him stay calm. You remind that the two of you need allies, that the more enemies you have, the quicker you’re going to die. 

In with anger, out with love. That’s what you tell him. It’s a joke, but it works. 

You know that being around a red life is dangerous. Trying to pretend otherwise would be foolish. You can see it in the way that he paces back and forth at night, long after he thinks you’ve gone to bed. You can see it in the way that he glances at the knives in the kitchen, his gaze lingering for a fraction too long. 

Not once do you consider leaving him behind.

~~~

You don’t expect him to outlive you. Not that you don’t trust him, far from it in fact. But he’s red, and you’re green, and once he dies you’re on your own. 

Being on your own is a death sentence. 

You make a backup plan. You find someone you trust, and you agree to stick together once your teammates are dead. 

You call it the widows alliance. It makes you both laugh. 

You pray you’ll never have to follow through with it.

You die before you’re ever given the chance. 

~~~~~

You don’t know why you decided to make a castle on the hill, but something about it feels right. It’s safe. Easy to protect. 

You build up an alliance. You find someone, and you decide to trust him. You chose to believe that the two of you will keep each other safe.

You allow him inside of your home, inside the walls the protective walls that you built from the ground up. 

When Lizzie asks to join your alliance, to create a tunnel connecting your homes, you can’t help but say yes. 

~~~

The curse chooses its next victim. You ask him if it’s settled on his shoulders, if he can feel it racing beneath his skin. 

He says no. 

You have no reason to doubt him

~~~

You’re going to kill him. You’re going to kill all of them. You had accepted them into your home— into your little castle on the hill— and this is how you’re repaid!!

He finds you when you wake up, tries to tell you how sorry he is, how he had no choice but to kill you, how the curse had forced his hand. 

Bullshit.

You tell him that he always had a choice. He could have told you the truth, could have trusted you!!

You had asked!! You had asked and he had chosen to lie!! And now he dares to look you in the eye and tell you that he had no other option!!

How dare he.

You’ll have to thank Joel for turning you red later. 

~~~

Lizzie attempts to help him. She gives him a place to stay, takes him under her wing. 

You burn the fairy fort to the ground. You look Lizzie in the eye and burn her precious ring of trees to the ground

You make sure that she knows, that everyone knows how easily this could have been avoided. 

~~~

The castle is cold that night. BigB would always complain. He would always make sure the fire stayed burning. 

The fireplace is empty now. 

~~~

Scar gives you a life. The red clouding your vision recedes. 

You’re on your own now. You’ve burned all your bridges, watched the flames grow until there was nothing but a pile of ash left. 

Being alone is a death sentence. 

You go out in search for new allies. You find people you can trust. 

You’re not sure why you trust them so much. It’s a decision that could bring you more pain and suffering. 

But you have to try. You have to try.

They ask you if you plan on doing the same to them that you did to Lizzie. 

You ask if they plan on stabbing you in the back. 

They tell you no. 

That’s the end of that. 

~~~

You watch Pearl lead a group into a trap. They all trust her, lured in by promises of safety and refuge. 

You know better than to step into the room. 

Later, after the curse has lifted itself from her skin, you will ask her if she would have pressed the button with you in the room. You will watch her hesitate and desperately try to find the right words to say before she settles on a simple “I don’t know.”

Relief will flood your system. You had seen the look in her eyes. Even if she doesn’t know, you will. 

If you had entered that room, you wouldn’t have made it out alive. 

At least Pearl has the decency to not pretend otherwise. 

~~~~~

You’re not sure how to feel about the whole ‘soulmates’ thing. On one hand, you quite like the idea of someone’s soul being tied to yours. It’s comforting, knowing that no matter what, you will always have someone to turn to, someone that will always be there if you need them. 

On the other, it would be nice if he could put a little bit of effort into keeping you both alive instead of prancing off to the nether of all places. 

It quickly becomes clear that your soulmate has no interest in finding you. You’re on your own. 

Being alone is a death sentence. 

You find someone you trust, someone equally scorned, and you decide to stick together. Chosen soulmates, that’s what you call it.

When Pearl and Martyn return from the nether, they find you both. They seem stunned when you tell them that you’ve decided to stick with each other instead of with them. 

What were they expecting? A welcome home party? After they had shown such blatant disregard for your soulbonds?

No. You’re more than happy to stick with Scott. 

At least you know that he won’t leave you behind.  

~~~

You can’t bring yourself to abandon him fully. You know that he’s an idiot, that he doesn’t care all that much about keeping the two of you alive, but the idea of leaving him completely doesn’t sit right with you. 

It’s a safety measure, you suppose. If he’s on his own, he dies. If he dies, you die. It’s not exactly an ideal scenario. 

So you continue to reach out. You continue to try. You have to try. 

~~~

It’s only the four of you left. 

This is easily the worst possible outcome. 

You desperately want to tell Scott that it’s ok, that he can kill you and take the win. But you can’t. You can’t throw away Martyn’s life like that. 

But you can’t kill Scott either. You had sworn to him that you wouldn’t. You refuse to go back on your word.

You won’t be like BigB. You can’t, you won’t—

It’s Pearl that kills you in the end. 

You can’t help but smile as you hit the ground.

~~~~~

Everyone seems to think that your alliance will fail. Grian and Scar keep shooting you skeptical looks whenever they think you’re not looking. Martyn practically laughs in your face when he learns who’s on your team. 

That’s fine. You don’t need them to believe in you. You have no intention in proving them right. 

~~~

The others have decided to bring BigB into your alliance. Well, it’s less of a decision and more something that just happened. In a world that’s so hostile to everyone in it, you can’t exactly afford to withhold information from each other. 

Later, when your stomach no longer aches from hunger and the idea of bread doesn’t make you feel sick, Scott will find you. He’ll ask you if you’re really ok with BigB joining your team. 

Your instincts will scream at the thought, horrified that you would even consider such a thing. 

You’ll think of an open wound on your back, spilling blood into the river around you. You’ll think of a castle on a hill, once warm and inviting, now cold and empty. You’ll think of the taste of smoke on your tongue. 

“I don’t trust him,” is what you will eventually say, “but I’ll work with him.”

~~~

You’re such an idiot. You should have trusted your gut why didn’t you trust your gut?

You had known something like this would happen from the moment he had dared to enter your home and you had ignored it.

You’re going to kill him. The second that you go red you’re going to kill him over and over and over until the thought of coming back is no more than a distant dream. 

You let out a yell of frustration as your axe embeds itself into the flesh of a nearby tree. 

It’s dark out. Time has long since returned to normal. You think everyone else might be asleep, but you’re not sure. You don’t particularly care. 

You pull your axe from the bark and strike again. And again. And again. 

Over and over and over until your legs give out and you collapse in a ring of fallen trees. 

There’s footsteps approaching you. You don’t bother to look and see who it is. Maybe, if you’re lucky, it’s a red name. Or even a mob. 

You’re not picky. Both bring you closer to being able to slit BigB’s throat. 

It’s Pearl's face that fills your vision. She looks worried. 

You try not to let your disappointment show.

~~~

How dare he. How dare he?! First he takes advantage of your team’s panic and confusion to get back into your good graces, then he has the nerve to taunt you about it!!

You can feel the rage threatening to boil over across your skin. You can feel it desperately clawing at the surface, doing everything in its power to break free. 

No. No, you have to stay calm. 

In with anger, out with love. 

BigB is part of the team now. You had all agreed to it. It may have been through less than honest means, but you had still given your word. 

You refuse to attack your own teammate. You refuse to be like him. 

~~~

The bots are finally gone. You have a little bit of time before the next wildcard begins. A little bit of time to catch your breath. 

You’re back in the woods, surrounded by the ring of fallen trees, trying to convert them into usable materials. If you’re going to have a mental breakdown, you might as well be productive about it. 

Besides, it's a good distraction. 

You hear Scott approaching before you see him. He’s still unsteady from his respawn, his limbs not responding exactly as they should. 

You don’t blame him. Pufferfish poison is never a fun way to die. 

“How are you feeling?” He asks. 

“Fine.” A strip of bark is cut from the log. 

He doesn’t believe you. You can tell that he doesn’t believe you. 

Another piece of bark gone. 

“Do you still trust Pearl?” 

You can tell that your question catches him off guard. He wasn’t expecting to have the conversation turned on him like this. 

“Huh?” 

“After finding out that she lied to you about Mumbo and Skizz. Do you still trust her?”

“I— yeah? Of course I do, why do you ask?” 

“No reason.” Your axe glances against the side of the log and hits the dirt. You should be more careful next time. “I was just curious.” 

[storiesfromafan]

I'm Sorry Baby - Benny x Reader

A/N: I am back! And with Part 4 of my Spitfire series. This one was fun to write...as I am throwing myself into a bit of smut 😅

Also, want to thank @strayrockette for reading and advising on my attempt at smut 😂 I appricate her opinion.

Warning: my attemtp at smut after 10+ years, which even then might not have been good. So please, go easy on me 😅 also, might be grammer and spelling mistakes.

Tag list: tagging those that previously comment, in case you were looking forward to the next part haha.

@redwitchbitch1 @bellesdreamyprofile @cherryaustin

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

A few days after his return, and you pretty much throwing him out, Benny had been staying in a motel. He had been thinking everything over, trying to work out how to get back in your good graces. So, here he was at the bar, currently sitting with Johnny. With a short glass in hand, half full of amber liquid, Benny's poison of choice. He was having a talk with the one person he could talk too. One married man to another.

“What did ya expect, kid? Her to welcome ya back with open arms?” Johnny chuckled taking a sip from his glass.

“Nuh...but I didn’t think I’d get the door shut in my face” Benny sighed.

Johnny softly laughed. “She’s hurtin’. If ya could have heard her” – a look of guilt crossed Benny’s face – “Well, ya get what I mean...”

Benny nodded, taking a sip from his glass, eyes looking off into a void.

“Look kid” Johnny began, sitting up and leaning in, “woman are tricky. Wives are trickier. In a relationship there is two of ya. Not just you, or her. The two of ya. Yeah, she told ya to leave. But it was you who made that choice”.

Again, Benny nodded his head.

“But I’m not sayin' it’s your fault. It’s both of ya's fault in some way. Why hadn’t you been goin’ home at a decent hour?”

Benny shrugged. “Dunno, I’ve always been here, I guess...”

“You guess?” Questioned the Vandal leader. “You’re crazy about the spitfire, yeah?”

“Yeah” was all Benny said.

“Then you should have been goin' home to her. The club will still be here the next day. The knuckleheads will still be knuckleheads. But your woman, she ain’t somethin’ to take for granted” Johnny pointed his finger at Benny as he said that.

And he knew Johnny was right. Benny was crazy for you, had been since he saw you. He was crazy for your sass and attitude, for your fire. But also your caring and warmness to him. You were something special, something he had taken for granted. Benny was determined to get you back, one way or another. He would fight for you, fight for your relationship.

“What do I have to do to get her back?” Benny asked the older Vandal.

“I’d say get on ya knees and grovel” Johnny downed the last of his drink. “A woman with her spirit, she ain’t gonna just roll over. Your gonna have to show her what she means to ya. Or pray for a miracle”.

Getting up, Johnny patted Benny on the back laughing. He knew his younger Vandal was in for a fun time. But he wished him luck, and hoped it all worked out. Benny stared at the last of the liquid in his glass, before downing it and placing the glass on the table. Now he had to think of what he could do to win you back.

Finally it was closing time at the salon. Your feet were aching, and you had a small headache from listening to client after client either gossip or complain about life. You loved your job, but women could be so catty. And then there was Benny, and his reappearance a couple days ago. How it weighed on your mind and heart.

Betty had called you last night to let you know where he’d been staying, and how he was going. Apparently she’d seen him that day and he didn’t seem himself, lost in his thoughts. And that he hadn’t gone to the bar for long. She thinks he was riding most of the night, or back in his motel room. She believes he was thinking of you, and your relationship. You thanked her for the information before ending the call.

Part of you felt guilty, and missed him like crazy. But that fire in you wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine, for him to realise what he did and learn a lesson. You helped the owner clean up while she handled the till and books. You both conversed on the day in the shop, laughing at bits of gossip you’d both learned about other clients.

“So, how are you doing?” Sophia – salon owner – asked peering over at you, as you swept.

“Yeah, I’m alright” you replied off handedly.

Sophia nodded. “I heard Benny’s back, I take it he came home?”

You nodded. “Yeah...but I didn’t let him back in. I need my space”.

With that you collected the hair and moved to the back, where you’d dispose of it. The conversation done with, for now. Sophia wasn’t blind. She’d see how the week without your husband effected you. And how closed in and shut off you’d been. But Sophia also saw how happy you’d been when you got with Benny. Compared to your ex, this relationship was much better and you were the happiest she’d seen you.

With all the end of day chores done, you and Sophia headed out the front door. You were the last, closing the door and locking it for your boss. She always struggled to get the lock secure, so you just do it, since it seemed to like you. Sometimes you’d even be the one to lock up, and gave Sophia an early mark.

“Well, that’s a sight for sore eyes” Sophia said softly.

You’d just secured the lock, before turning to the woman, that was looking to across the road. Following her gaze you were greeted to the sight of your husband, who was leant against his parked bike. It reminded you of when he’d pick you up after work, seeing him after you’d finish work. How he'd light up when seeing you coming towards him, and how you’d greet him with a sweet kiss. But now you weren’t sure what to do.

“Are you gonna go to him?” Sophia questioned, turning back to you.

You shook your head before heading to your car, Sophia followed, as her car was next to you. Once coming to the cars she stopped you, she gave you a soft, small smile.

“Look Hun, can I give you some advice?” – You nodded for her to go – “there will always be fights in a relationship. But I know how much that man means to you, and no doubt it’s the same for him. So, don’t let this fight stop you from being with him, alright?”

You let her words sink in before slowly nodding your head. “I’ll try not to Sophia...but right now, I need some time...”

She nodded. “I know, but don’t take too long. He’s too good looking to stay away from” she teased with a wink, which made you softly laugh.

You hadn’t laughed in a little while at a teasing remark about Benny. Maybe you were already beginning to get over it. But you would give it a little more time till you were completely ready to have Benny back in your house and your bed. With a see you tomorrow, you both got in your cars and left. Briefly you looked to Benny as you drove out of the car park, and headed home.

Benny had watched the whole time you left the salon, to getting to your car. He could see how you and your boss talked, and saw how the woman had looked to him first. And when you looked to him, he felt his breath catch in his chest. You didn’t look mad or upset, it was more a blank stare at him. And he understood you still needed time. But he would make sure to be close by, keeping an eye on you and looking out for you, ready for whenever you needed him. It was one way to show you he was there, and not going anywhere from now on.

The little things will show how I care, he told himself.

Benny watched you drive off, not moving to go after you, not yet anyways. Taking out a cigarette, he placed it between his lips before lighting it up. Taking a long drag, he removed the cigarette before releasing the smoke. Benny smoked the cigarette but didn’t enjoy it as much as he usually would, it was just a way to distract himself and fill time. It was you that he was craving more then the cigarette. Craved your attention, your smile, your lips, your warmth. He craved you wholly.

The following day you arrived at work just before nine, you knocked on the door and Sophia let you. With a morning to each other, you put away your bag and got ready for your day to begin. It was going to be a relative busy day, which you didn’t mind. It was yourself, Sophia and another woman named Ella. Between the three of you, you could get a good amount done.

When your first client showed up, an older woman who was a bit of a stick in the mud, you wasted no time in getting her set up in your chair. Draping the cape over her, you made pleasantries. Though you know she did not like you, just your work. She was a stuck up woman, who you knew talked about you behind your back. But you did your best work, that way she couldn't run you down on it.

It was just after ten, the salon bustling with activity, when a delivery man came into the shop, in his hand a lovely bunch of flowers. He stepped into the shop, a little shyly. You watched him in the mirror before you, thinking those flowers had to be from Sophia's husband for her.

Sophia spoke to the young man, taking the flowers before thanking him. He didn't waste time to leave the shop and move on to his next delivery. One of the clients, being nosey, asked Sophia if they were hers. She was looking at the beautiful flowers before spotting a card. A look of surprise crossed her face, before a small smile crossed her lips.

“Mrs Carpenter, I wish they were, but they're not for me" mused Sophia.

All the women in the shop looked to Sophia, then around at each other. All wondering which of them they were for. Some probably hoped their husbands had sent them flowers on a whim, to surprise and cheer them up as they got their hair done. But they’d be wrong.

With the flowers in hand Sophia stepped around from the counter. She moved across the room and came to stand beside you. She was smiling at you as she looked at you in the mirror. They were for you. You should have guessed from the various flowers that you liked, making up the arrangement.

“Seems these are yours Hun" commented Sophia, holding out the flowers for you. “Why don't you go put them in some water out the back. And read the card. I'll take over for you while you're gone".

Reluctantly you finished cutting the piece of hair you held in your fingers. “Ah, sure...” you replied, unsure and uneasy.

Taking the flowers from your boss, you slowly moved from the floor and into the back. All the time questioning who would have sent you flowers? You didn't wait, taking the card from the flowers and laying them on the counter by the sink. You held the small envelop in your hand, reading your name before turning it over. You took a moment, looking at it once more before shakily opening the seal.

Slowly you removed the card, and taking a breath before finally reading what it said:

Flower's for my girl, my wife.

I hope they brighten your day,

Just like you will always brighten mine.

Love Benny.

Your heart skipped a beat reading his words. Words that he couldn't always say. Word's he knew you needed to read. For Benny knew how your days at the salon could be. He had seen how you come home, tired and drained. How you would have good days and bad days. He would listen to you tell him about the bitchiest women, who were the worst to deal with. But also how joyous you were when you had a day of nothing but sweet, lovely women.

Benny sent you a reminder that you were the brightest thing in his life, just as he was yours. You smiled softly, clutching the card delicately in your hand. Your chest aching with thoughts of your husband, and missing him. Maybe it was time to start working on getting your relationship back on track. Yes, this was the start. But you would make sure that man knew he had some serious work to do if he wanted you back completely.

Fixing up the flowers in a make shift vase. You walked back onto the salon shop floor, silence rolling in when you came back. All eyes watching you as you placed the flowers on the front counter. They noticed the sparkle in your eyes, along with a small smile on your lips.

“Take it the contents of that card were good, huh?” Teased Sophia, various women giggling.

You rolled your eyes. “If you must know, it was...”

Sophia smiled brightly and giggled. “Guess he made a good peace offering".

“It's a start" you retorted before taking back over working on your client, leaving Sophia to go off to do what she had to do.

Locking up on your own tonight, you noticed no Benny waiting across the road today. Which surprised you. None the less you got into your car and drove home, the radio on softly and you hummed along. Your flowers were sitting on the seat next to you, every time you looked at them you would smile softly. You wondered where Benny was. Was he at the bar? Would you have to go to him? Or could he have changed his mind?

Turning onto your street, you slowly came closer to your house. Your concerns and worries died away upon seeing the person on your mind. He had parked his bike across the road, again he was resting against it. As you pulled into the drive way, you could see him watching you, cigarette between his lips.

Benny had chosen to wait for you at your shared home. He knew to wait outside rather then just waltzing inside. He didn't want to upset you, especially after sending you flowers at work. It could have got either way, in his favour or made it worse. He hadn’t long lit a cigarette and taken a few drags, before your car turned onto the street. He watched as you approached, and turned into the drive way. But Benny never moved, he was going to see if you would invite him in, back into the house and into your arms.

Getting out of the driver seat, you leant back in and grabbed the flowers. Once you were out and the door closed, you looked to Benny. Still he lent against the bike, but he straightened up once seeing the flowers in your hand. Looking to them, you brought them closer to you. After that you walked up the few stairs to the porch – the same ones Benny climbed before you slammed the door in his face – and came to the front door. You used your keys to unlock the door and pushed it open.

Crossing the threshold, you paused a moment. Then you turned around to look at your husband. You kept your face blank, but there was a calmness to it. You looked at Benny for a few minutes before closing the door, but kept it propped open. It was a way to tell him that if he wanted, he could come in. You were calm and ready to talk.

You crossed the lounge room and entered the kitchen. Placing your bag on the counter by the door way, you moved over to the sink. You placed the flowers down before fetching a glass vase. You proceeded to put some water into it, then began to undo the wrapping to the flowers.

Mean while, Benny had watched your every move from car to front door. When you stood in the door way looking to him, he was silently hoping you would call out to him to come in. When you didn't, and began to close the door, Benny thought he would have to try again tomorrow. But when the door was left open a bit, he released the breath he had been holding. Hope bubbled in him.

Benny stood up from his position against the bike, stretching out his arms as he began to walk towards the house. Taking one last drag of the cigarette, Benny removed it from his lips and flicking it away. The smoke slipping from his lips as he walked up the path to the stairs. Up he went, boots landing on the porch. He stood there for a moment, taking a deep breath before pushing the front door open slowly.

You weren't in the lounge room, but he could hear you moving around the kitchen. He closed the door before taking off his jacket and hanging it up the door. Benny crossed the room to the kitchen, stopping in the doorway. He lent against the wood frame, watching you silently.

You had most of the flowers in the vase, you were just putting the remaining in and moving them around when you felt his eyes on you. It sent a shiver down your spine. Who would speak first? How would this all go?

When you had finished, you picked up the vase and moved to place it by the window on the counter. You would figure out where to put them later, for now you had to have a conversation with your husband.

“Do you like them?” Benny softly asked, when you placed them down and stared at them.

“Yes" you replied, “I like them a lot, actually...”

He nodded, though you couldn’t see it. “Good...I remember you sayin’ how you liked those kinds of flowers...”

It was awkward, but it was something, right? To know Benny remembered what flowers you liked, it showed he had been listening. And he did, majority of the time. Slowly you turned around, choosing to lean against the counter. For the first time in days you took a good hard look at Benny.

He looked tired, maybe he hadn’t been sleeping properly. His clothes – different to what you’d last seen him in – were deeply wrinkled, most likely worn when sleeping or trying to sleep. From the way he was leaning, you could tell Benny was uneasy. Not because of you, but for what could happen between you right now. He was guarded, yet trying to keep his defences down just enough so you in turn would let yours down. You could tell he didn't want to fight, he wanted to sort this out like adults. No more running, for either of you.

“...I’m sorry for leavin' baby" Benny said, breaking the silence. “I shouldn’t have taken off like I did. Nor did I want to worry ya".

You nodded your head. “I know...”

“When I bring up leavin'...its somethin' in me that switches when a fight gets too much" Benny tried to explain. “I know its not an excuse, but I want ya to understand. But I promise I wont do it again...if I do, you can kick me out".

You chuckled. “Like I'd want you to go...” you said softly. “But Benny...you gotta know it did hurt. You just up and goin', no word of where ya were or if you were alright. I was worried sick".

Benny moved from the door frame to you, but stopped himself from pulling you to him, to hold you close and kiss away the hurt he caused. He looked at you with soft, guilty eyes. Waiting for you to give him the ok that he could touch you, hold you.

“I’m sorry for worryin' you, baby. If I could take it back, I would" Benny said softly, hands itching to rub up and down your arms.

“I know Benny...” your voice was soft, fragile. You looked at your husband with hurt eyes, only killing him more. You then looked to his hands and back to his baby blues. That was all Benny needed, for he stepped closer and pulled you to him.

Benny wrapped his arms around you, holding you closely to him for the first time in what felt like forever. Having you close felt right. You rested your head against his chest, your hands gripping his t-shirt. A few tears, that you hadn’t realised that had risen, escaped down your cheeks, they a mix of hurt but happiness.

“I’m sorry baby" Benny whispered into your hair.

You stood there for a few minutes, just letting Benny hold you and whisper sweet things into your ear. You felt better. You felt a part of you healing. Just like it was for Benny. Reluctantly Benny pulled back, moving to look at your face. Seeing the remints your tears left, he brought a hand up and whipped them away.

“Benny, you know we need to have a long talk, right?” You questioned softly, afraid he might get spooked.

He nodded. “I know, baby. I am ready for it...”

So, with a deep breath and standing where you were, not waiting to leave his space, you began. You told him how you'd been feeling, how him staying out effected you. That you wanted him to come home more, but not to take him away from the club. Benny heard you, he agreed to it. He told you how he adored that you respected his ties with the Vandals, and not trying to entirely change him, which made you laugh. Music to his ears after so long. Benny didn't ask much of you, as you had been perfect the whole time.

“I guess Johnny was right...” muttered Benny as he moved from you, as you crossed to the kitchen door way.

“Hmm?” you asked turning back to Benny.

“Johnny...I spoke to him the other day. I asked him what to do" Benny paused, gauging your reaction, with a nod he knew to go on. “He said I should grovel, or show ya what you mean to me...”

You held in a laugh at the suggestion of grovelling. “Is that why you sent flowers?”

He nodded, “but I meant them and what I wrote, baby. As well as watchin’ out for you, I wanted you to know I wasn't goin’ anywhere".

You smiled softly, moving to stand before your man. You cupped his cheek with one hand, thumb stroking his stubbled jaw. It was rough but soothing. You enjoyed feeling of it rubbing against your skin, be it your cheek, neck, inner thighs.

You moved your hand to back of Benny's head, gripping it firmly. You stared into his eyes. “I wouldn't mind you on your knees...but not necessarily grovellin’...”

You saw realisation flash in Benny's eyes when your words sunk in. Holding his head firmly, you pulled your husbands head down. Pulling his lips to meet your own, a firm closed lip kiss. The feeling of his lips against yours feeling like home. You closed your eyes, savouring your lips reuniting.

You moved to grip his hair, pulling a little. Causing Benny to groan in the most delightful way, which you had missed. His hands moved to your hips, pulling you close as he removed his lips for just a moment. Adjusting the angle, Benny brought his lips back to your waiting ones. This time it was a feverish, slightly open mouth kiss. Over and over, short and sweet. But soon Benny went in for a longer, deeper kiss.

He didn't wait for permission, his tongue delving into your mouth, seeking out your own. Tongues colliding, caressing the other in a fast paced dance. You moaned into his mouth, which only made Benny return with his own. Stepping forward, Benny backed you up against the small table in the kitchen. The edge digging into your backside. Without breaking the kiss, Benny picked you up and set you on the tables edge.

Your other hand moving to cradle is cheek, while its partner ran threw his hair before pulling it occasionally. That only spurred Benny on further. His hands moved to your slacks, unbuttoning them and pulling down the zipper. Pulling away from the kiss, you both took a moment to get some much needed air. And in that time Benny silently instructed you to lift your hips. You did, and he removed both your slacks and underwear, leaving you sitting in bare from the waist down.

Benny wasted no time falling to his knees, as you both had mentioned. This kind of grovelling was not for forgiveness, but for your own pleasure. Benny would worship every part of you, if it would make you happy.

His rough hands moved up your calf muscles, slowly over your thighs, pushing them open wider. His eyes drinking in the sight before him, Benny placed kisses along the inside of your thighs before coming to his destination. Slowly – tongue flat – he licked at the opening of your sex. Tongue finding your hard nub, applying the right amount of pressure as he caressed it. You moaned, head tilting back, as one hand moved to Benny's hair.

Benny worshipped you with his tongue, bringing moans and praises from your lips. When he would change movements with his tongue, you would pull his hair lightly, encouraging him further. Then when he added a finger inside of you, and then a second after sometime, he had you a mess upon the table. Your free hand moved to clutch the edge of the table, trying to ground yourself. Your man knew how to worship at your alter.

“I-I need you, baby" you managed to get out, between moans.

Reluctantly, Benny moved his head back. His baby blues, now dark with desire, staring at you as he licked his lips, tongue taking in your essence that had been resting there. After a brief moment of watching you, he rose to his feet, standing between your legs. Without delay, your hands moved to Benny's jeans. Undoing the button before pulling down the zipper. You pushed his jeans and boxers down his hips.

When he was freed from its confines, you wrapped a hand around his member. Slowly moving your hand up and down the shaft. The way Benny's breath caught in his throat, before a small strangled noise came from his parted lips, such noises pleased you. He leant in and captured your lips once more, sloppily and mindlessly at your touch and ministrations.

“Baby, I want you" Benny sighed against your lips.

You hummed in approval. “I want you too".

You guided him to your sex, Benny's hands coming to hold your hips. His tip brushed against your nub, drawing out a moan. He was teasing, but you'd allow it. You brought your hands up to his neck, one resting there while its partner tangled with the hair at the base of his neck.

Finally lining himself entrance, Benny began to enter you. The way he felt, stretching you, you sighed as you gripped his hair. That action cause Benny to buck his hips, finally sheathing himself completely in you. You both moaned in satisfaction of being one again.

Benny moved in, taking your lips into a deep kiss. He drew back his hips before snapping back into you, over and over. At first a gentle pace, but with your hold on his hair and nails at his neck digging in, Benny picked up speed. Before long you were head tilted back, moaning, as your husband slammed into you. His lips upon your neck, sucking and biting, while he too made beautiful sounds.

With the rise in pleasure that Benny was giving you, and feeling, it had to come to an end. The tension rising and twisting in the pit of your stomach. You tightened around him, only adding to Benny's please, and making him move more vigorously.

“Cum for me, baby" Benny said with a groan, fingers digging into the flesh of your hips. No doubt there’d be bruises later. “Ya gotta cum for me".

You nodded your head, whimpering at his words.

Benny placed his forehead to your own, his eyes staring deeply into yours. The pressure just building inside you both. Finally he hit that spot, and you tipped over the edge. You cried out, clenching tightly around his member, while you let your release wash over you. With a few more sloppy thrusts, Benny finally found his release. Buried within you, his seed coated your insides. His hands moving to the edge of the table, while catching his breath.

You opened your eyes, which had closed at some point, to look at your husband. He looked gorgeous, breathing heavily, trying to calm down after your vigorous activity. When his baby blues found yours, the smile that graced his perfect lips, melted your heart. You smiled right back at him. You both sharing a tender moment.

Those lips met with yours once more, but this time a chaste kiss. Pulling back, Benny reluctantly removed himself from you, which made you whimper at the lose. But with a promise that he'd gladly make it up to you later, you giggled with joy.

You watched as Benny pulled his boxers and jeans back up, fastening them before turning to you. He helped you down from the table, legs a little shaky from how well he had taken care of you. With some work and help, you had your own underwear and slacks back on. You kissed Benny's cheek to say thank you.

“Remind me to thank Johnny" you said off handily.

“Why's that baby?” Benny asked, confused.

You smirked. “For givin’ you the idea to grovel" was your reply before laughing.

Benny shook his head, pulling you close to him. “Oh”.

“And Benny" you said after a moment of silence. He waited for you to go on. “Next time you leave me, and hurt me, I will castrate you". Then you chuckled.

Benny softly laughed. “But what about kid's, baby. I'm gonna need them”.

Wrapped in his arms, you pondered Benny's words. “That is true...I will just take one then. You can give me kid's with just one, after all".

“Yes ma’am” Benny said in humour.

You both roared into laughter. Though you told him, as you laughed, you were serious. And it would be smart not to test you. Benny just continued to laugh before scooping you up over his shoulder, and carrying you off to your shared bedroom. Not without a small smack to your backside at you sassing him, as he walked up the stairs.

[cephalopod-celabrator]

Something about gender I wish I'd been told

So yeah, I'm trying to write something that would have helped me to see a few years ago and might have made all this a bit easier. My target audience is basically younger me (young cis queer person) but hopefully this helps others too. So you've probably seen those posts about "you can do what you want forever" and maybe you've gone "huh, good for those people, but that doesn't apply to me." It does, dummy. You can do what you want, certainly concerning your own identity. Now pay very close attention to this next part: You can be whatever gender you want. I mean it. Maybe take a moment to ask yourself "Everything else aside, what gender do I want to be?" And really ask it. There's literally no wrong answer. "I'm not sure" or "I don't know" are both valid answers. But whatever answer you find, you can be that. Nothing can stop you. Just be it. The same goes for pronouns. Admittedly that's a bit trickier- that's a matter of presentation not just identity. But if there are pronouns that make you feel good to be called, then you can use those. You don't have to prove anything. There isn't a threshold for "Wants it enough" to be able to change your gender or pronouns. You don't have to have dysphoria. You don't have to have a gender and pronouns that "match up". You don't have to pick between just one thing, or even just two or three things. You can be whatever you want to be, no ifs ands or buts. And maybe you think I can't possibly mean you- no, I mean you. Yes, you. If this doesn't change anything for you then great, have a wonderful day. If you do have a realization but don't want to change anything or come out or whatever then that's okay, you don't have to. I hope at least one person was helped by this. Whoever you are, I love you and hope you find what version of yourself makes you happiest.

[eternalyraven]

Oh, you write?? What've you got going at the moment?? (This is your free space, go wild about anything you want :) )

- @starpirateee

Hello, thank you so much for asking.

So I mostly don’t have any energy for writing these days so my Notes app is full of writing prompts and ideas and lines that come to me but just get saved there.

However I have done some work on my novel “Eternally out of Time” and it’s possible sequels. Unfortunately I think I might have to scrap “out of time” because I can’t seem to get it far enough from its fanfic roots. So I’ll have to make one of the others the first book (though realistically I’ve been working on this for years and it will probably only be seen in parts on this site). It focuses on my immortal character Chance being brought back in by her former organization in order to lead a team of misfits into the past in order to stop someone whose trying to stop the formation of this organization. I love the characters and the world so much but I suck at dialogue. I might start posting longer bits and maybe an overview if people are interested. Everyone seemed to enjoy when I did that reblog and get a quote thing awhile back.

I’m also eyeing my play “Written in Hot Pink Lipstick and a Lady’s Tears” in order to possibly workshop it and maybe get it in next year’s Fringe.

Mostly when I have the energy to write I do my fanfic short challenge. I’ve got some great ones lined up and I’m planning on making a new section for stuff that doesn’t fit with the others. Most of the challenge drabbles are for tv shows cause my rule was that the characters involved have to have been in multiple episodes. However my latest fandom obsessions are not series so I’m going to make a category just for them. I have some Hatchetfield stuff and some SaF stuff and yeah. I’m really enjoying just being able to shoot off something really short and be able to call it a day. Some of them I’m really proud of actually. Writing short little snippets can be trickier than I thought, especially if it’s a crossover piece but I just love when I get it right.

My Challenge ficlets are here if you’re interested in taking a gander, don’t think I have anything up in any fandoms you’d be interested in yet but I’m working on some.

(Also if I get my butt in gear there is a whole folder of quotes from movie and tv villains that are begging me to use them as fanfic prompts.)

Like I said mostly I just don’t have the energy nowadays to actually write like I would like so I just write great ideas with no execution.

[lavenoon]

I’m sorry to bother you but I’m being haunted by the idea that if Robin had pets, it would’ve made the reveal happen so much faster (or maybe because I can’t shut up about my pets)

Or alternatively, the crucial detail that the thing Robin/Y/n is talking about is actually a pet and whichever boy they’re talking to gets progressively more jealous because they think it’s a person. (Personally I can just see Sun finally snapping like ‘WHO is this person??’ And y/n is just like ‘…my pet?? I’ve told you this before?’) (I also think it would make the rival pretty grumpy since I actually refer to my horse as a teammate/partner quite often. I feel like that would irk both Dusk and Dawn)

Apologies for jumping in here randomly and splurging but I had to get it out. I love your writing and your art, both bring me immense joy. I hope you’re doing well!

It's not a bother at all!! I talked about a pets a liiittle bit here, though there the focus was more on if they'd have a pet at all.

Also don't underestimate how stupid they can be, they're the idiot trio for a reason fhjdks

Definitely thinking of like. That one tweet along the lines of "My neighbor told me she overhears my arguments with my boyfriend but I've just been talking to my cat" so it's like. The neighbor being so well-meaning but assuming there's straight up another person living there. The pet has a person name to make things worse, because Y/N is a little shit and also terribly lonely and is somewhat pretending they have a social circle beyond the boys. Feels to embarrassed to admit to the truth.

Pet turns out to be a cat. Sun wants to scream. He was jealous of a cat but knowing it's a cat somehow only made things worse. Moon is questioning his life, realizing that he was grumpy over 1) Y/N liking their neighbor, who is Sun, and 2) Y/N talking about their roommate, who is a pet.

Once they know it's a pet I think they'd be chill with any terms - just don't use the same for them, maybe hfjdsk like a horse can be a partner but don't call them partner right after, when the horse association is still there!

There's also the issue of the vague large city setting, that'd make some pets trickier n some you just. can't hide. A dog needs to be walked, there'd be dog toys in the lawn, many animals are loud or leave some sort of evidence of their existence - so yeah, if Y/N had a pet there'd be a whole new variable to consider!

(It also would really throw a wrench into the "ohh we are so good for long term missions you want to not fire us so bad" argument that keeps them all employed after Nacreous Cloud)

Lots of potential for hilarity, lots of shenanigans, and some complications I am glad to have dodged in canon - but always fun to think about hehe!

[random-introverted-blog]

I intended to write a reply way sooner. Anywho here it is! YouTube complication videos bout BG3 are so useful for fanfics and more! I bet you’ve seen the ones about Astarion’s assist voice lines (Shadowheart has her own video too).

They deserve just playful banter & casual flirting. The entire group seems pretty shippable with each other because of the similarities & differences they all have. That’s such an interesting & angsty idea, SH just escaping a life of shadows then Astarion being doomed to one. 

Ascended!Astarion & DarkJusticiar!Shadowheart being together just contractually for power & playing a game together but accidentally falling for each other would be so interesting. Neither of them want to lose the game. 

Both of them were used to causal flirting at meant nothing since they start from the time they met.  It had been one comforting inconsequential constant & just for fun + didn’t mean anything but this. This was terrible. It’d muck up the simplicity. It’d be ridiculous. Why now? What’s so great about that person anyway? I don’t relate to them! Me in love with that diva? What?! That’s preposterous. Just a rival-ally I happen to be contractually marr- ahem…with. Why would you suggest that? Away with you.

(^Them Tsundereing. Impromptu dialogue. You just inspired me I suppose! They’d both amp up the pressure and flirting (probs the possessiveness and jealousy too) but would still try to make it look effortless and like they don’t give a damn any more than the usual act)

Exactly, it could happen or could work.

I have so many thoughts about them. They’re both my favourite characters & I just ship em too after I thought about them.

I read some of your writing and it is phenomenal. Hopefully you have had fun. You seem on a roll since you wrote so much. As a fellow writer, I applaud you and congratulate you. 

I’ll dub myself Bloodmoon anon I guess? 

What’d you like to be called? 

-Bloodmoon/ 🩸🌕 anon 

Hello, Bloodmoon anon! Missed you, darling. I've spent a long while thinking about this, went back and studied YouTube videos, took notes and boy do I have a wall of text for you lol.

Yes, I have seen those assist lines and I'm a tad sad we don't have many snarky or genuine "kiss you better" like lines from Shadowheart. She's the cleric, come on 😭.

All the companions deserve playful banter and casual flirting! Personally, I think the two most shippable are Wyll and Karlach.

But Astarion and Shadowheart fostering a relationship only for her to have to choose between living in darkness again or living with Astarion would be very angsty. I feel like that idea is better written post game though. Maybe they had inkling of feelings throughout but for one reason or another failed to pursue. There IS a line you can get with Shadowheart where you can ask her "We started a romance earlier but didn't follow up" and she basically says "yeah, maybe in another life" like way to tell me to reload my playthrough Shadow-waifu... That aside, this could be the way you pave into a SHxAst relationship post game.

So an Ascended and Dark Justiciar relationship... A little bit trickier to see with the Sharran Shadowheart ending I saw but we can bend things around, for sure! Part of the fun of fanfic is bending canon, after all. SPOILERS FOR THE EPILOGUE FOR SHARRAN!SHADOWHEART AND ASCENDED!ASTARION FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T SEEN IT YET BEYOND THIS POINT

Shadowheart canonically becomes mother superior of the Baldur's Gate cloister, and if asked will tell you she actually sympathizes with Viconia now. And though she'll practically clamber onto the dining table and preach "Lady of Loss, now only $19.99 plus shipping and handling, call now and get two Lady of Losses for the price of one" at the start of the dialogue, clearly wants Shar to give her a way out. She's feeling overwhelmed. If you tell her you're living a quiet life, she'll admit to being a little jealous of you because "a little calm and solitude would be a tonic". When you ask her how's life being mother superior she will go off on a rant about how exhausting it is and that she misses the comparative simplicity of "your little group against the odds". And if you romanced her and she left you, you can hit her with the "You're not the same woman I fell for" and she basically gives you a tough girl "nor are you the same person who fell for me..." before segwaying into "👉👈 but I'm sure there's still plenty for you to like and indulge in for tonight 😏".

Astarion, if you break up with him, will admit that he has missed you and there's something lonely about all the power he has. And I have no doubt if the opportunity were presented to rekindle something, that he'd happily take you back. He'd be a total asshole about it, that I'm almost sure, but he'd still welcome you back. He seems reasonably calm and not like the fanfics have written him to be. But I do get a mild sense that he is still obsessed even if just a teensy bit.

END OF SPOILERS THANKS FOR STILL READING

All that said, you can certainly swing their stories toward "two lonely souls seeking carnal/physical solace in each other but end up way more entangled than either of them wanted/expected". And once they do realize they're catching feelings, then the toxic tsundere power plays start rolling in. Then they're just trying to out yandere each other and that could be scary, hot and hilarious all at once.

Aww, thank you! It means the world to me that people enjoy my work! Without that, I'd have no reason to post. Much less pressure to write privately for myself, but knowing there are people like you out there that my writing can make happy or boost your mood is what I really write for.

What would I like to be called? Not sure! You and anyone else can call me what you'd like, within reason of course. Could call me by my ao3 username, could call me an abbreviated name of this blog... Doesn't matter, as long as it's not malicious or bullying.

[aresmarked]

kanamafu anon again! thank you for the lovely response! here’s an imo trickier niigo question: what do you think of ena’s dad?

i often see fans blow his shittiness out of proportion, like making him a physical abuser to the whole family or acting like he’s always been unsupportive when the text itself says he was supportive of ena’s art when she was a little kid. i agree that he’s shitty, but part of me thinks that… his relationship with ena can be salvaged, somehow? i know other fans wont forgive him even if he and ena get closure, which is fine, but i dont really feel that way? i keep trying to ask myself what sets him apart from, say, mafuyu’s mom in my mind, when they both say harsh things to their kids in an attempt to “protect” them. it’s like my brain’s really clinging to that part about how he wasn’t always like this, unlike mafuyu’s mom who has always used guilt tripping to control mafuyu. but maybe that’s silly of me, dunno. part of me thinks he’s just an emotionally stunted old man who is piss poor at phrasing things and that he just has some serious growing to do to salvage this, but then again maybe he shouldntve been a parent before that point and he still sucks because, again, he at least had the sense to not say “this art is shit” to, like, a seven year old so maybe it IS his fault? i do consider myself a fan of his character so i ponder this a lot. given your insight about mafuyu’s mom, though, i was just curious as to what you thought!

...Hfhfhf, almost right out of the gate with the essay questions. Hm.

I'd break my thoughts up about him into a few main points, but TL;DR if I knew a parent like this I'd go out of the way to make sure the kid gets some positive feedback from me, but he's a character/parent i could see improving in time.

He's one of those guys who's good at his craft but terrible at teaching. (You see these sorts a decent amount, for better or worse). While he had valid points, the way he chose to 'advise' isn't great. if a parent said something like that around me about one of their kids i'd have a Hard time reining it in.

As remarked upon in the game itself, he didn't talk to Ena as his daughter, but more as another artist, and moreover, I'd say, an adult artist. A few additional words would've made a huge difference in how Ena walked away from that conversation. like 'right now'. or advice on, y'know. what to actually work on. see point one again.

The major difference between him and Mafumom is that he does consider Ena's wishes, not hindering her from going into the arts, and not inserting himself where he's very much not wanted. He does respect what Ena wants to do.

Doesn't stop him having done a wrong and needing to repair that, to move forward. People are full of faults and strengths and I appreciate PSekai actually writing people with those. parents with those. it makes us feel even more strongly for ena cause yeah, a parent's mistake hurts a Lot! It makes a better tale cause it's real!

That said, while I think it's possible for Ena and her dad to potentially mend their relationship, as you say, such a mending will take time to believable and acceptable I think, not just to readers but to Ena. She's got no real interest in mending their familial relationship right now. and a 'forgive your parents' plotline when said parent hasn't taken real steps to actually mend the familial relationship would just be. so tired. that grounds been trod a thousand times. 'You'll understand when you're older'. i hate those plots where the kid forgives their parents without the parents really doing anything to reflect on their actions. the fact it's still a bit of a revolution when a parent does admit they've done wrong speaks mountains.

[basementcreation]

1 2 and 21 for your personal fav oc

OURURFHGHHH THANK YOU…. (STARTS FLAILING AROUND LIKE A REALLY EXCITED WORM)

my personal favourite oc is a (previously lobotomy corp oc but now in my own universe) character named Rostya ( ´ ▽ ` )b (this got kind of long, so most of it is under the cut)

does your oc have any motifs?

(cw for imagery of death/rot) yeah!! sorry, this section will be a little long, i have a lot of thoughts about themes and stuff. possibly a little generic but it's fine hehe.

most commonly, i relate him to crows/dead birds. i like the imagery of a dead bird swarming with maggots for him - it relates to his feelings of emptiness. his main struggles are depression and lack of control of his life; basically, things keep getting worse for him and he's almost given up. like, y'know, a dead animal being consumed by rot. also, crows are typically associated with death - something his character arc is related to (i mean. he does die at the end of it. so). could also relate to independence (he pushes away other people) and freedom (is struggling to free himself from his mental health struggles and the pressure/manipulation of his mother, even if he isn't in contact with her anymore).

the second thing i've related to him (although, this one is a bit new, so it's not too well thought out just yet) are apples! they're commonly used to represent temptation and sin (eg death note, the bible (yes i thought of death note first, what of it)) but i like it as a metaphor for life. this sort of stems from a scene i thought up with him and his (future partner, but at the time) enemy, who threatens rostya by crushing an apple in his hand. apples are hard on the outside but are pretty easy to cut up with a knife - the fact he crushes it with his bare hand shows the power he has over rostya's life. i'd love to go on more about this, but i think i need to mull this theme over some more first.

ALSO okok i can't believe i nearly forgot about this but. black ink. goop. nothing much to say about this one he's just a goopy guy. actually, no, disregard that, i have thoughts. so there's two versions of the universe he's from, and he has a (spoilers) madoka magica witch transformation moment in both of them. both of these times his other form is made up of black ink. it's basically just a metaphor for his despair. like, depression can feel like it's totally consuming you and dragging you down, right? that's his whole thing.

okay i promise pinky style that this is the last one but. masks. he's constantly masking his real thoughts and feelings. maybe a little heavy-handed, but it fits (he even has a dark shadow, like a mask, cast across his face when i draw him. look at the art below to see). he also wears a mask in both of his transformations - it's sort of similar to a theatre one, look at it below.

fuck i feel like gambling is also a motif for him. my brain is sort of short circuiting now because of all the writing (i know it's not that much. i am tired) but just. trust me. there's stuff there. and sorry for breaking my pinky promise. i'll repent.

2. describe your character's voice. do they have a voice claim?

this one's a little trickier - i generally don't have voice claims for my ocs, and just come up with them in my head, so i'll also talk a bit about the way he speaks. he has a fairly deep voice, probably about average for a guy. he's russian, but moved to england at a young age, so i don't think his accent is very prominent. he doesn't really speak unless spoken to, and tends to use shorter sentences. he can also be very snappy, mostly when people are trying to be nice to him (⍪_⍪) for context - he's a quiet person, but will put up a front of hostility when people try and get too close, which is. kind of anything past small talk for him (vulnerability scares him because of his past). although, after a while, he does calm down a bit with his antagonism.

21. hobbies your OC enjoys?

he really loves music! before he pawned them off, he would collect records. he enjoys singing a lot (in an au he's an opera singer) and secretly wishes he could make a career out of it - which, he totally could. he's a great singer. in the past he played the violin, and he still has some love for it, but as an adult he has too many bad feelings associated with it.

he also LOVES trains. he would love to save up enough money to collect miniature model trains, but can't manage it. at some point he and his coworkers have to go on a luxury train to investigate something and the whole time he is freaking out about it.

thanks so much for the ask!!! rostya is so fun to talk about. as a bonus, here's some art of him!!

the hair strand across the face is essential!

rostya ponytown... think i might remake this soon.

mock cover for the chapter where he dies! <3 this isn't what his transformation looks like, but the mask is the one he has.

one of my first drawings of him... his design has changed a little. and my art has changed a lot

this isn't rostya. i forgot why i drew this

[arqdyke]

OH WOW you're still awake hiii!! one more then while i have the chance. also so honored to have an entire tag now. that has to be an accomplishment. and!!! 👀 what niche rarepair pls i will bite at anything 👀👀

i cannot remember what else i was going to say so i'll just follow that too. op is sooooo friendly to multiship and rare ships because all of the characters no matter how minor are so interesting. it's fun to fling two people together as a concept and figure out how they would interact. (even not romantically even!! just two dudes would they be mortal enemies would they be chill? would they be besties for life??)

case in point! i got into op already knowing of a law ship, and after i read dressrosa, that ship solidified in my mind. but!! i caught up to op during zou :) which, in my mind, was the height of sabo/law popularity. so my first ship for sabo was actually with law! crazy how things work out. so much time has passed that i don't hardly even think about them anymore.

ohhh wait i know what i wanted to say now. favorite aus for fic?? any you would love to see in acesabo fic? if i know of any, i'll grab one for you ;)

hi!! i am in fact awake!!! i wanted to write more for my exchange fic bc ive just started recovering from been sick the past few days and havent rlly had the chance. but i ended up putting it off until like 12am LOL. under the cut again i talk . a lot.

its fun you mentioned sabolaw because. the 'pair' in question for the au is actually ichiji/sabo/law. no i dont know why my brain latched onto this. yes im still kind of obsessed with it. the social media aspect of my shipfic is a lot about ichiji & the transition from being a child star (alongside his siblings) to a more casual internet ministardom. theres court drama bullshit. theres fangirl law. all three of them are transfem. its really special to me.

also YEAH EXACTLY!!! to your rarepair thoughts. in every fandom im in im a huge sucker for rarepairs that seem like complete nonsense. throw those characters whove never met into a room and LOCK IT! not always romantically yeah but honestly its a lot easier to like . find content of niche pairs through ship names than just trying to sift through a million posts in their maintags. tumblr wise, at least. i actually have a sideblog thats been since sort of abandoned dedicated to finding as much niche rarepair content for two characters (not always with each other, just those two in general).

a fun thought exercise ive done a few times also is getting a nice randomizer of characters im familiar with for a fandom and using it to pick out a few ships to figure out how theyd interact/if i could make a shipfic out of them. sometimes they click sometimes they dont but its a fun way to explore characters imo

whats ur fav lawship nowadays if you dont mind :3? i like a looot for him ill admit but im not particularly committed to any. as with the multishipper way. and thats fair (on the sabolaw bit)... first ships dont always last super long. they sure are fun to think back too tho ^_^

my favorite aus for fic... oh god thats a tough one. i already mentioned modern aus and this ones sort of a tangent off niche topic focus's BUT. fics that are set in a specific career (especially doctor aus & lawyer aus but genuinely i just rlly like looking at niche little details of someones career.) see also hobby focused aus! like uhh. gymnastics. ice skating. just stuff like that idk. and aus that are focused around like.. movie tropes/genres. crime noir detective aus, slasher horror aus.. especially fun when theres a spin on the original tropes but when you can see how much love someone has for the og concept is when it rlly shines.

none of those are super specific tho. um. i have a soft spot for superhero aus even when theyre really bad. fantasy aus are trickier but when they hit they hit rlly nice. (trying really hard to think ummm) thats about all i can think of rn? but it is pretty late so im for sure forgetting some.

NOW. as for acesabo specifically.. first off if you have any fic ud especially recommend id love to read them regardless of the tropes/ships/whatever. but. acesabo aus.. ohhhgh. i dont know!! ive read a lot of really cute modern aus with them. and im not USUALLY into soulmate aus flat out but i could really love a good acesabo soulmate au. it just suits them. theyre both characters i enjoy seeing as cute girls quite a bit. its kind of unfortunate im not really a fan of either of them as trans guys bc there is SO MUCH transmasc ace stuff out there. sorry my guy you have my name i cant live like that. all respects to people who do like that tho! i like them nonbinary multigendering it up . sometimes transfem sometimes just.. trans. sorry this is not the point.

aus... aus... shakes my head around. OH i would LOVE to see a roleswap with them. ive thought abt that before and its kinda beautiful. i do also love a good polyship with them both! what elseeee. oh i didnt mention it earlier when we were talking tropes but political drama bullshit is soooo fucking good. for acesabo also! but im pickier with them with it bc i feel like it tends to get too whumpy/focused on misery. which isnt rlly my thing personally. gotta be a careful balance. i like aus where theyre both in the same 'group'; being both revolutionaries or both pirates or whatever.

i hope this actually answers your question lol i realize i went on a bit... but yeah. have a nice night if youre headed offline urself ^_^! ill be on for a while longer likely but i take so long to write these asks it might be pointless

[trickster-shi]

Trickster’s Fanfic Update

Hey guys *waves*. So, I have the time and a little extra brainpower today and wanted to give you an update on how the fics are coming along. Due to changes at work and just life in general, I haven’t had the energy or creativity to finish part three of Rabbit Come Home, episode two of Into the Black, or the final epilogue story for Home Across the Universe. I haven’t even had the wherewithal to reply to all the wonderful comments that have been left on the stories, and I really hate that.

But! There is hope on the horizon and no, I have not given up on any of the stories, they may just take a little longer to get finished and posted than they used to. Read below for specifics about what I’m working on.

The first update you’ll get will likely be the third and final part of Rabbit Come Home since it’s the most put together. At present, the third installment is sitting at 14,500 words and I have the remaining scenes outlined, so I’m hoping to finish it by the end of next month. It will probably end up being around 20k-30k long. I got stuck with that one for a while but I figured out why and fixed it, so the writing has been coming along easier lately for it.

Episode Two of Into The Black is being rewritten. I lost the first draft and most of my notes for it, I’ll have to rebuild it from memory. So that’s been slow going and is on the back burner for now because I’m tired and irritated with it. Not enough to abandon it, though. I’m still excited for what I wanted to do with it.

The epilogue story for Home Across the Universe is a bit trickier. I’ve written around four half drafts for it and none worked, which has been supremely irritating. This one will require some in depth brainstorming and I’ll be able to tackle it better once Rabbit Come Home is finished. No idea how fast I’ll be able to get it on track. I think the main problem is that I have a bunch of different scenes I want to write but nothing that interconnects them at the moment. I am also on the fence about adding an antagonist/villain or keeping it as a fluffy slice of life and letting that poor version of Stiles enjoy his well earned happy ending. What would you guys like to see?

Beyond that, my central priority is getting the first draft of an original story I’m currently writing for July’s Camp NaNo that I hope to publish by the end of the year. So. Yeah, that’s a lot of pressure and the brain energy situation has not been helping with that. Also, having fics left unfinished nags at me like nothing else, so it’s been difficult to juggle everything.

I’m thinking I may try to do more regular updates like this on my fics if I can, including the original ones I intend to publish, brain energy willing. So keep an eye out for those. I figure, maybe once a week? Or more, if it happens to be a good brain week? I dunno, we’ll see.

[jackienautism]

hi again!! no worries at all :) take your time replying lol, i know these updates are usually like. long. and your replies are so detailed! so i get it.

as for my initial confusion with the support system, it was kind of... everything? that i didn't really get at first? it was easier to find a system with byleth where i was getting supports quickly once i figured everything out, vs getting supports with the other characters was a little trickier.

dorothea and sylvain's supports were.... actually pretty good imo? i enjoyed their a support. their paired ending wasn't awful either, but idk. i think i'd just rather pair them with different people. as for ingrid, YEAH, i intentionally didn't get her to a support with anyone besides byleth bc i'm pretty sure the only characters she had paired endings with who i had recruited were felix and sylvain. and i was not doing that.

ferdie and hubert are good!! and MAN caspar and petra's supports..... SO good definitely recommend getting those. i liked their ending fine, but the supports were definitely a highlight and idk if i could do a playthrough without getting them. so interesting. next playthrough (where i'm planning on getting the dorothea and petra paired ending) i'm probably gonna get these two to a support again as well.

and YAYY i love supports between the girls they're sooo good it makes me so mad that so many of them only go to b support!! at least the ones i was getting last playthrough. but i'm v excited to see petra's and dorothea's. and YAY petra in a tree. i love that.

YEAH i thinkk my "recruit everyone possible" route is gonna be. CF. because in that route you can spare hilda and claude, who i like, and if i have to pick between killing dedue and dimitri or killing edie and hubert.... well. i like dedue but it's an easy choice.

yeah i played through marianne's paralogue!! definitely enjoyed it and it very much elevated her to my favorite non-eagle character last playthrough lol. i'm soo excited to see more of her!!

and ty for the class thoughts!! yeah increased mobility is good, i think i'll probably try putting at least more of my units on mounts this time around, but who knows. i like coming at battles and leveling from a character perspective, sometimes to the detriment of actual strategy, but it's fun at least, so. we'll see!

so. i've given little update on my playthrough because i. haven't really played that much. instead, i missed the eagles sooo bad that i convinced my brother to play and hoped he would pick the eagles (he did) so now i've been watching him play (and in true older sibling fashion. sometimes taking the remote and playing for him. just a little bit. it is my switch.) anyway! i now understand how you felt a little because i'm sooo worried he's not gonna side with edie. i've been subtly sprinkling in anti-church of seiros comments to influence his choices LMAOO. im also sooo sad he doesn't really like bernie or hubert </33 his favorites right now are petra and edie though which is good taste. and he also likes caspar and dorothea a lot.

i'm finding on a replay that i am so much more fond of ferdinand than i was my first time around. i didn't realize just how much he had grown on me until i was back at the start and everytime he speaks im like. omg that's my friend ferdinand von aegir. LMAO. still not gonna recruit him on my VW playthrough but it is absolutely gonna murder me not to lol.

anyway! i do plan on playing more VW today. i'm very excited about claude LOL. and i feel a little less distraught about betraying my eagle besties when i'm simultaneously watching a playthrough where that (hopefully) won't happen.

have a good one :)

HIII oh im glad then, i appreciate you saying that! and i love how long your updates are, it rly shows to me how much you care and thats so epic 2 me... thank YOU for taking the time to write these out for me!!!!

mm i see i see. i guess it makes sense that it was easier to get supports w/ byleth since that's like. the main character. and you basically get support points (????) from doing basically.... everything. like the instructing characters individually and even just choosing the correct dialogue choice during explore? it gets you support points or whatever so i can def see that being easier than getting stuff between 2 other characters. its esp annoying since w/ the others you mainly gotta do thw whole like... these characters must be in range of the same enemy unit to get the lil hearts (support points) during battle. and that can get tedious and like i said. annoying. and besides that... you have to eat a meal w/ them or do choir practice to boost support between the 2. which. can only occur so many times per explore. and that also requires you TO explore during free days. which also can only occur so often per month. hopefully that makes sense? dfknf i dont rly know where I was going w/ this. but anyway glad you understand what's going on w/ the supports a bit more now! good luck getting the endings you want this time around!!!! AND THE TEA TIMES TOO.... I TOTALLY FORGOT ABT THOSE.... butyeah youre right theres def a lot more that can be done to get byleth supports w/ the characters

well thats good! i still have yet to see them... gonna try and get all the supports between the black eagles this crimson flower run then do another where i get the supports between the BE and other characters! if that makes sense. and yeah fair enough, do you have any preferences for who you pair them with btw :o? DFJNGDFG YEAH OKAY SO IT WAS PROB INGRID WHO I WAS THINKING OF... its like. this girl has a legitimate fear over only marrying someone just to have kids . just to further her crest's bloodline . or maybe im just making that up. BUT ANYWAY I DONT FEEL RIGHT PAIRING HER OFF W/ ANY GUY BC OF IT TBH!!!!! i rly like dher supports w/ ashe though... i thought they were rly cute, esp their A support. i dont understand why we can't A support her w/ any girl though. its so dumb !!!!! but in relation to her supports w/ felix, regarding their B support, if ANYONE, i dont care how long ive known them, told me to get married and have children or fucking whatever felix told ingrid i would SLAUGHTER someone. i get felix has a problem w/ the way she and other characters view being a knight and therefore the "knight mentality" but jesus christ............

FERDIE AND HUBIE ARE SO GOOD!!!!! i esp love the whole like tea / coffee thing... that was cute iirc. and okay boss !!!! ill def get caspar and petras supports! im def more interested in them now that you mentioned them :] do you plan to recruit caspar and petra durinf your VW playthrough? or do you still plan to do one BE and one BL? regardless have fun w/ them!!! and have fun w/ dorothea and petra's paired ending next run through<3

YEAAAAH THE GIRLS<3333 AND RIGHT???? ITS SO ANNOYING..... LIKE I GET THAT SOME ENDINGS ARENT EXPLICITLY ROMANTIC (like lysithea and raphael's iirc) BUT THE FACT WE CANT EVEN GET TO /SEE/ AN A SUPPORT IS SO ????????? PLEASE... NINTENDO AND INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS PLEASE TELL ME YOU CHANGED THAT IN ENGAGE...... i just want to see my bestie girl friends interact w/ each other without there being a guy involved is that too much to ask. which supports were you getting between girls last playthrough (eyeballs)? bc like... in previous games all characters w/ supports got to go up to A support.... just some (the ones between same sex characters :/) didnt have an S . which, im glad three houses changed that, in terms of same sex characters actually getting endings together, but sometinmes only having TWO supports between characters is sad

WOOOO CRIMSON FLOWER!!!!! but yeah makes sense.... i was gonna say that in azure moon you can recruit hilda but yeah id well rather not kill hubert and edie.... also did you have to fight dedue in his demonic beast form in CF? bc im pretty sure if you defeat him before he transforms, its left ambiguous whether he dies or not. or not. i cant remember much tbh. i jsut remembering getting a cutscene w/ a black screen of him talking to dimitri. BUT YEAH. ANYWAY. HAVE FUN DOING THAT RUN!!!!!! its nice to have all the best friends on your side

MARIANNE<3 oh inm so glad that you did her paralogue and whatnot! its going to be fun to see her interact more w/ her classmates. she's still mainly quiet during group discussions but she does talk every once in awhile! or maybe she speaks every tijme? i can't remember so dont take my word for it sorry. AND IM FGLAD TOHEAR THAT SHE WAS YOUR FAVE NON BLACK EAGLE FROM LAST PLAYTHROUGH!!! a win for marianne fans

and of course! im not an expert by any means but. thats just what ive experienced while playing and stuff. and by the coming at battles and leveling from a character perspectivve, you mean like. going down a route that you think best fits them right? if not, please let me know what you mean fdgjfg sorry. but either way, makes sense! obv go w/ whatever makes you the happiest :] bc thats what matters msot in games like this.... esp whe n theres jusr SO much you can do and accomplish

AND OHHHB THATS SO AWESOME DFKGDFGG the same actually happened w/ me!!!! thats so fuunny and cool! i got my brother to play after he watched me play a bit and gosh its so fun to watch someone else play. esp when they have the same general opinions as you (he also chose the black eagles and edie as his first route, but thats prob bc of my propaganda LOL) and ssame w/ the older sibling fashion,.... he makes me do all the class bullshit, and sometimes battling, but he's gotten a lot better as he played more! we've been meaning to play together again... hopefully soon! happy that you're getting to experience the same!!!! and FJDGNGF SPRINKLE IN THOSE ANTI CHURCH OF SEIROS COMMENTS YEAAAHH i totally approve of that, ill be over here hoping that he sides w/ edie too. NO BERNIE OR HUBIE????? WELL. HOPEFULLY THAT CHANGES WHEEN HE GETS TO THE TIMESKIP..... (assumign he chooses to side w/ edie, which he BETTER) ouuugh petra and edie<3 good choices for sure. hopefully that means hes more likely to go down crimson flower than silver snow! caspar and dorothea are absolutely good side faves yes yes

FERDIE NAND<33 OH IM SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT DKFGNDGF your friend ferdinand von aegir ))): thats so true.... and i feel that..... have fun not recruiting him and therefore having to face him later in battle i assume <////3 i will be hoping for the Best

YESS CLAUDE IS SO AWESOME,.... I WONT SAY MUCH BUT I LOVE HIS CHARACTER AND HIMM SO VERY MUCH...... since you enjoy edie and her route, im sure youre going to enjoy him as well! and thats good!!!! it must be nice to be able to see them in action again through your brother.... ONCE AGAIN HOPING REAL HARD THAT HE CHOOSES TO SIDE W/ EDIE. I WILL ALSO BE VERY DISTRAUGHT IF HE DOESNT

hope you have a great one too my friend<33333 thank u again for sending these in :D

[kiatheinsomniac]

I just came across your page and I’m obsessed!!! Your writing has me in a chokehold 😩 I was thinking, could you do headcanons for castlevania boys (hector and alucard specifically) with an Arab S/O, west Asia specifically (So countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Syria)? It’s ROUGH out here in pretty much every fandom as an Arab girl.

☾ ⋆ﾟ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 / 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: okok I had an anon (not sure if it was you or someone else) give me some advice so I've looked into what they showed me about facial tattooing and I looked into some old Arabian martial arts (specifically equestrian-involved styles of fighting bc it was easier to find sources and it's so cool omg) but finding fashion was trickier?? For some reason I can only find ottoman stuff but some of the places you've asked for like Syria weren't under ottoman rule until AFTER the Castlevania timeline sobs, I hope I did alright despite the research being difficult for the late 15th century. I'm very open to any constructive criticism, you deserve rep and you deserve good rep!!

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: alucard, hector

｡･:*˚:✧｡adrian 'alucard' tepes

♡ The first thing that catches Alucard's attention about you is your clothes and the tattoos at your chin and brow. He can tell you're not from Wallachia and it reminds him of his mother's talk of travels. He can only imagine how far away you've come from and he watches as a merchant at the stall you're standing at tries to take advantage of you clearly not being local.

♡ Being the gentleman he is, he steps in and sets the merchant straight with his silver tongue before joining you in wherever you're heading next. As you're only passing through the city, in search of something which you have yet to share with him, he helps you to find an inn the stay in for the night and even pays for your meal that evening.

♡ By the time you've told him that you're chasing rumours of the last Belmont being alive to learn how to fight from him, your city having been plagued by night creatures at the command of a local, powerful vampire, Alucard's invested in helping you on your quest and offers to bring you to the Belmont hold. You're exactly the sort of person that his village is looking to find! Someone who is in need of all the secrets that the combined Hold and Castle have!

♡ After seeing your weapons on you, Alucard had been curious about your fighting skills and they were certainly put to the test when you happened across two night creatures on the road. Never dismounting from your horse, Alucard had hardly reached for his sword by the time you had charged forwards, shooting one with a bow before running through the second with the spear you had been carrying around. Yeah, he definitely just fell in love with you a bit.

♡ By the time you're a guest in the castle and Alucard's helping you to learn about how to defeat the night creatures, you're teaching him about your equestrian martial arts that are very common where you're from, down to the breeding of your beloved horse companion and the importance it holds.

♡ He's tried offering you some wine at one point, wanting to be polite, but he's very respectful should he find out that your religion does not allow you to have alcohol - the same goes for any other dietary aspects (he's actually comes to love the tea you make so you can share a drink together, he's even learned how to make it from watching you so many times).

♡ Alucard Is immortal and he knows the long life and many opportunities he has ahead of him but he's still young and has yet to leave Wallachia: he's enamoured with all the stories you can share of your homeland. His mother believed in travelling to discover the world and explore humanity and he has every intention of leaving Wallachia once he can assure the Castle, Hold and village will all remain safe.

｡･:*˚:✧｡hector

♡ Your first meeting with Hector was quite a mess. When someone who was so clearly from far away knocked on his door, armed with weapons, he had thought you were there to kill him for having helped Dracula in his attempted genocide. So, he was very pleasantly surprised to find that you were not there to kill him but to learn from him. He was no stranger to having people will ill intentions knocking on his door so he was relieved to find that you weren't there as an enemy.

♡ He invited you in and listened to your story of how a local vampire had taken advantage of Dracula's death by raising their own army to try and conquer the land and all the people who were being slain by vampires and night creatures in the process. You had come here to learn how to fight fire with fire: you wanted to become a forge master and raise your own army to protect your fellow people. He warns you that forge mastery is not an easy art and will take time to practice but you came here to give your people and fighting chance and that's exactly what you'll do.

♡ In the time that you stay with Hector, he's watched you train o horseback, shooting at targets in the field beside his garden and it has him in awe every time how you can aim with such accuracy without slowing down or dismounting.

♡ While explaining all the required alchemical symbols in forge mastery, you catch on quick and explain that even the symbols in your facial tattoos have meaning. Hector had noticed them, of course, but had assumed it was simply a form of fashion where you're from and it led to a long conversation about other little cultural things. Hector had watched you speak with such close attention and you couldn't help but find him quite adorable with the way he was leaning forward in his chair, listening to you as you both took a break that was much longer than intended as you happily spoke about your homeland.

♡ He's come to love the type of coffee that you make, having come back from the market one day nearly bouncing in excitement after finding some from a travelling merchant at the market in the nearby city. It became regular for you two to take coffee breaks between your training where you would make the coffee and Hector would clean everything up afterwards.

♡ When the time comes for you to return home and build your battalion of night creatures, Hector decides to go with you. He's grown so fond of you in the time you've spent together and there are too many people in Wallachia who want his head so he decides to join in your fight to defend your people and hope that he can atone for all the deaths he caused in the meantime.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐈: I hope I did alright and, again, I'm very open to constructive criticism! I quite enjoyed researching ab equestrian martial arts, facial tattoos, Arabic coffee and henna (tho I couldn't find a chance for appropriate use of henna with the story idea that I had for the headcanons).

☾ ⋆ﾟlike my work? why not: 

∘ buy me a coffee? ∘ join my taglist ∘ consider following/reblogging

🏷️@involuntaryspasms @welcometomordor @writing-noah @signyvenetia

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Ukiki

Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

It is time for monkey business! Have you had your state-recommended dose of monkey business for the day? If you haven’t, don’t fret, because today’s post is about Ukiki!

We’re doing another anonymous request today, and I’d like to thank you all again for sending them, because they really have gotten me motivated to write about things I otherwise wouldn’t! There are still some requests I’ve yet to get to, but sit tight cause I promise I’ll deliver someday! I just gotta be in the right headspace!

Anyway, Ukiki! I don’t need to tell you this is a monkey, because oh, it is such a monkey! It’s a very particular kind of Generic Cartoon Monkey, a little brown creature with big ears and a long curly tail, like you see pop up here and there. Whether they’re rolling in balls or hanging out in a clock, this is the world’s most  beloved image of a little primate! They don’t seem to be any particular kind of monkey, rather taking common monkey traits from all sorts of species, I guess!

We first meet these little scamps in Yoshi’s Island, and true to the Cheek of a Monkey, they are some of the trickier enemies in the game, as in they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves! Some of them will just run and jump around, others will climb vines, some will even drop bombs and Needlenoses, as you can see in the art at the top! The Player’s Guide named these variants Short Fuses and Seedy Sallies respectively, and I don’t think they really needed unique names but I respect it! Quite a few of them are totally harmless, so they might not even be enemies: just rascals! Weird Mario rascals!

Oh, and they’re called Grinders in this game. Why? I have no idea! What do monkeys have to do with grinding? Do they grind their teeth? Do they love to frequent gay dating apps? What does it mean! 

In Tetris Attack, they are a team with Poochy, and wow, what a wonderful team this is! Unfortunately they have been brainwashed by Kamek and Bowser, which is just kind of funny to me! Bowser sure has his priorities straight by choosing to brainwash an immortal dog and also a random monkey who happened to be alongside it. Ukikis aren’t even normally allied to Yoshi! Is this one Yoshi’s friend, or is it just a neutral entity, as most monkeys are? 

And then, bizarrely, they next appeared in... Super Mario 64! How funny is that? A Yoshi series original enemy, making its way to the big M (Mario series)! Although they look a little bit different here, with a smaller mouth and a rounder head... since this is such a generic monkey design, one has to wonder if they were even meant to be the same enemy... But hey, why not right? It’s more fun this way!

This is the first time they’re called Ukikis... or Ukkikis, as I guess they spell it in this game! And yeah, I prefer this name: “uki”, “ki ki”, or even “uki ki” are the Japanese sounds for a monkey, a bit like how they’d say “ook ook” or “oo oo” around here! It might even be the sound for a cool, special type of sunglasses monkey that makes you hit an offbeat! 

Oh, and in this game it tries to steal your hat. So rude! Mario needs that! It’s his life energy! 

In the next few years, Ukiki receives the same fate of most B-list Mario enemies during the Gamecube years: being kept singlehandedly on life-support by half a dozen Mario Party games! This is a funny artwork of Peach and her new child that she gave birth to! Welcome to the world, little monkey!

No, I’m only kidding! This is from a minigame Chimp Chase, where you need to reunite baby Ukikis with their parents of the same colour! Wait, there are different coloured Ukikis? And the adult ones are huge! Does this mean every Ukiki we’ve met so far is a juvenile, and the average Ukiki grows to an enormous size? Probably not, because this is a random minigame from Mario Party 5! 

There are also golden Ukikis who you can hand over to any adult, and I just like the implication of that. They don’t care if it’s their child or not- they’re rich!

Speaking of funny Ukiki artwork, I really like this one, from Mario Party 6′s Snow Brawl! It is so dramatic! Mario throwing a snowball with such force and rage, the Ukiki covered in snow cowering behind him... this one picture represents the horrors of war better than any war movie I’ve ever seen!

In Mario Party Advance, we meet a certain young tomboyish Ukiki named Akiki- and you know she’s a tomboy, because she’s a Womoid who doesn’t even wear a bow! So scandalous! Unfortunately, her uncle Ukiki has left her a note saying he’s being kidnapped, with the only clue being a message that reads “bIg teAM cAT THElf bLAKE.” And she needs YOUR help to find him!

Can YOU figure out where Ukiki is?

That’s right, the capital letters spell out “I AM AT THE LAKE”, and lo, he is at the lake! He actually wasn’t kidnapped at all, and was just playing a prank on his niece. But that’s... a really unfunny prank! There isn’t any joke here at all! A hoax like this can be a serious crime in some places, you know! That’s very irresponsible!

...But I guess monkeys are above the law.

Now you may have noticed that these past few appearances are all based on their look in Super Mario 64... but that would soon change!

It is of course, the second coming of Mario enemy redesigns, Super Mario 64 DS! This game redesigned Ukiki, or I guess re-redesigned them to look like the original art for Yoshi’s Island, with a big old mouth! Which look is your favorite? I think the N64 Ukiki has its own charm as a cute little monkey, but the newer (older?) one is more unique and definitely fits better as a Mario character, I think! 

Hey wait, Mario Party Advance came out after 64 DS? That doesn’t seem right! I guess the two eras of Ukikis aren’t totally clear-cut, after all!

The rest of our Ukiki appearances aren’t really that interesting, since they’re mostly just the modern Yoshi games, and I don’t feel like talking about those! It’d be boring! Instead, I have a funny little Ukiki in a sailor hat for you. 

Hee hee! So funny!

[sunjaesol]

because your kiss is on my list

alternatively: four times juke snuck up on each other for affection and the one time they didn’t have to | based on the achingly beautiful fanart by @lovelyrugbee

1. 

Luke was being manic again. And not in a cute: “Oh my God, he’s so passionate about music!”-way, but in a: “He might actually tear his eyes out from these infuriating lyrics that aren’t working”-way. Every once in a while, songs didn’t flow out as easily as they usually did. The topic was a bit trickier, or the instrumentals didn’t mesh, or something was just off. Julie wasn’t too stressed about it. They had plenty of time to rework and fix things before the gig in two weeks. 

Unfortunately, Luke didn’t have the same mindset. 

He has been holed up in the studio all day, cramped on the windowsill to the point of submitting himself to a hernia and scrapping writing scrapping scrapping scrapping. The sound was infuriating, Alex being the first to poof out and Reggie following soon after when Ray became far more interesting than a guitarist going haywire. Which was sad, cause her dad was just unloading groceries. 

Alright. She had to do something. Standing at the doors of studio with a somewhat amused expression, she took in as her boyfriend was oblivious to the world and her. In any other situation, he’d notice and compliment the orange dress she was wearing. She thought about calling his name, maybe singing or jamming her fingers on the piano, but then a better idea came. A fun one.

Quietly slipping closer, a mischievous grin crawled on her lips. Thank God she was barefoot, or else her sneakers would’ve squeaked against the cement floors. He still hasn’t noticed her, the pinch between his brow so deep and lost in thought. 

Three, two, one... 

“Ah!”, she cried out like a warrior, snapping her arms around him from behind and snatching the damned songbook from his grasp. Before he could react, she smacked a wet kiss on his cheek and added a “Mwah!” for good measure. 

The startled Luke began chuckling, trying to get his book back, her peppering more kisses on his cheek in retaliation. He had to get out of this funk! Breathe a little! Turning his cheek to look at her, he smirked. “Sneaking kisses now, Jules?”

Julie hummed against his skin, eyes sparkling. Whispering in his ear, she said: “Stop breaking your head over these lyrics and relax. We have time.” 

His smile softened, gaze tracking the way she hugged him and then- “I like the dress you’re wearing.”

Ah, yes. There he was. 

2. 

Julie Molina truly made the afterlife less boring and a whole lot more bearable. Which became really apparent whenever she had an avalanche of homework and couldn’t hang out. Luke loved his boys, but damn did he miss his girlfriend a lot now. If the situation were different (you know, had he not been head over heels in love with her), he’d poof up to her room and annoy her until she came to the studio. Alas, he respected his girlfriend and her interest in getting good grades, so he had to deal with it. 

Bleh. “Dealing with it” was like a curse word to him. 

He hasn’t seen her all day though. She left early for school and didn’t pass by the studio when she got back. All he needed was a quick look and talk and maybe a hug and then he wouldn’t be so antsy. 

(What he’d give to wrestle her into cuddling right now. He was honestly blessed he found a girl who saw all of his need for affection and then gladly gave triple the amount.)

Yup. Screw homework. He had to see her. Without telling the boys, he stood up with a huff and poofed out. The offended “hey!” from Alex he ignored. 

Dropping into Julie’s room, a smile instantly bloomed on his face at the sight of her. She was on her bed, textbooks and notes splayed out in front of her while her curls danced with each breath she took. Even when tired, his girlfriend was pretty as hell. 

“Hey,” he grinned.

She didn’t look up and mumbled: “Hey.” A page turned. “What’re you doing here?”

Luke sat down on the edge of her bed, far enough so her pens wouldn’t roll away. “Haven’t seen you today. I missed you.”

This time she did look up, her weary eyes softening and smiling. “I missed you too. I have homework though, so...” The implication was there: please leave so I can finish. His hope for a hug quickly dwindled.

“Yeah,” he muttered, not ready to go back and get slapped by Alex. “Uh...” His eyes fell on her right hand, slightly more outstretched then the other. It just... laid there. Teasing him. Freaking tantalising him when he knew how good it felt whenever those fingers brushed his cheeks or raked his hair. 

It happened before he thought about it. Crawling onto the mattress, he snatched her hand and pressed soft kisses on the knuckles. Julie caught his gaze again, that smile he loved so much melting into an adoring puff - like she couldn’t believe this idiot was her boyfriend.

He didn’t mind being her idiot.  

3.

Sometimes, Julie was just that more adorable. Like now, with her hair spread around her shoulders and that small smile stuck on her lips and her eyes that seemed impossibly soft today. All for him, only for him. 

Sure, it was probably because they were working on one of their personal songs, but the fact remained that his girlfriend still left him rendered speechless months into dating.

“What if we try it in a lower key?”, Julie proposed, nodding at his guitar. 

The song in question was a song about them. It wasn’t so lovey-dovey that it would turn the guys off, but it was still blatant. Only they would write about ‘the sea glass green of his eyes’ and ‘the smile that put Mona Lisa to shame’. 

He did what she asked, her singing the same verse again. It held more depth now, soulful and lively. The rasp in her tone made it playful and egged him on to join, like it was truly banter between lovers put to music. It was them. It was her. It was-

Luke abruptly stopped playing, pushed his guitar aside and grabbed onto her. She hardly had time to chuckle as he pressed his lips onto her forehead and held her as tight as possible. Warmth filled his chest, that strange sensation of being loved and loving back twice as hard, as she clutched his body. He almost got choked up. Here he was, in the sundrenched studio with the girl he adored playing the music they created together and she was singing it in such a quintessentially ‘them’ way. No one but them would ever truly understand the magic they conjured. How it was only explained through grins melting on skin and the giddy skip in his heartbeat. 

“What’s that for?”, she smiled. 

His hand trailed from her back to her cheeks with an elated shrug. How could he explain to her her ‘Julie-ness’ was dialled up to two hundred without sounding insane? Caressing the skin, he murmured instead: “I guess you’re just irresistible today.”   

Her eyes squeezed shut at his words, like she was embarrassed how much delight it brought her, and pressed her face back in his shoulder. 

Letting that giddy skip in his chest kiss her again, he gently pulled away to sent her a wink. “Let’s finish ‘Wicked Love’, yeah?”

4.

“So, Flynn’s been thinking-”

“Mh-hm.”

“-about a new poster for the gig we’re playing. The old one is a little amateur and she made some new concepts. Wanna see?” Julie held her phone at his face, his hand leaving the strings of his guitar to gently push it back. Falling back on the bed, she frowned. 

“Maybe later, I’m figuring out this progression...” His back bend over his guitar again, only giving her a view of the black muscle tee. 

When Luke told her he wanted to hang out that Saturday afternoon, she had hoped it would be a bit more ‘Julie and Luke’ and not ‘Luke and His Guitar’ - alas, the girlfriend was competing with a piece of wood and some metal. While texting Flynn about graphic design was fun, it was time for Luke to start doing what he promised her.

Then again, she was a sucker for music talk. “Why don’t you try switching up the chords? Start with G instead of C.”

He tried it out, a grin crawling on his cheeks. “Yeah... yeah, that works. Thanks, Jules.”

“So?”, she sang. 

“Hm?”

With a sigh, she grabbed onto the strap of his guitar and gave it a tug. Luke’s neck rolled backwards in surprise, catching her playful smile.  

Chastely pecking his forehead, she said: “Your head is in the clouds.”

The teasing look of his matched hers. “You’re kissing my head right now.”

“Mh-hm,” she mumbled, loving the way his hair had that perpetual scent of apple and something inherently Luke. Kissing the locks, she added: “And you’ll be getting a lot more if you actually start hanging out with me.”

His book and instrument slid off his body just like that as he speared her into hug. Luke collapsed onto her body with the cutest grin and she knew she caught him. Their laughs chimed throughout the house for the rest of the day. 

+5.

Luke poofed onto her bed with a grin, his girlfriend automatically snuggling into his side and finding each other’s lips with ease. For a beat, they’re cherished the quiet passion shared between them. They didn’t need to do a lot to feel loved by the other. 

He pressed his nose into her curls. “How was school?”

“Good,” Julie whispered against his neck. “How was the studio?”

“Chill. Reggie scared a spider.”

She giggled, the sound making his grin widen and hide his face so she wouldn’t see how ridiculously giddy she made him. Turning her head so she’d see him anyway, her nose scrunched. “I know you’re smiling.”

“That’s my line, Molina,” he huffed, the teasing glint shimmering in his eyes. 

A signature brow quirked. “You got that on paper?”

He didn’t miss a second. “I love you.” He didn’t need to ponder or linger or rewrite or scrap or workshop the thought. It wasn’t even a thought. It was a truth and he’d repeat that truth over and over again until the universe knew it too and kept it in their books for centuries to come. He loved her, he loved her, he loved her. 

The smile that came was worth the truth, how her love for him broke through without a moment of hesitation. Now she’d say the same, over and over and over again, so the universe knew they were talking about each other and would always keep their names together in said books. 

Julie kissed him again, long and sweet and as easy as breathing. Her utters were barely audible, but his heart caught it. “I love you too.”

Locked in their embrace, they shared earphones listening to their favourite music until they fell asleep. (How Luke could fall asleep, but only when in her loving touch, he wouldn’t question. Some oddities of the universe were best unsaid.) 

@blush-and-books @unsaid-emily @bluefirewrites @willexx @ourstarscollided @alexjulies

[musette22]

Please give me some TommyRockstar! Seb and big cuddly Chris headcanons. I am having a crap week and I just need that big soft lumberjack to comfort his emo boyfriend. He is so tiny now, does he feel cold even more often now that he got so skinny? Pls, some hurt comfort please 😭😔😞😭

Hi darling! Aahh I’m really sorry to hear you’re not feeling great, and I’m sorry for not replying to your messages sooner. The thing is, I absolutely love love love the idea of skinny Seb and big cuddly Chris and I think about them all the time, but I’ve been so busy and honestly a bit exhausted lately that it’s a bit trickier to actually write down the thoughts. But I just had a chat with @rainbowsandcoconut about this and she had some wonderful thoughts, so how about these? Not really hurt comfort, but definitely lots of comfort! 🥰

So as you said, we know Sebastian has always been prone to feeling chilly and likes to layer up, but now that he’s skinnier, he gets cold even easier. As soon as Chris realizes this, he designates himself to be Seb's personal space heater when they're at home. But because he doesn't want to coddle his bf, he tries to be subtle about it - only subtlety, as we all know, isn’t one of Chris’s strong suits. What he actually does is he basically tries to bear hug Seb constantly, and act as his human blanket whenever possible. Sebastian loves it of course, not just because hugs from Chris are just about his favorite thing in the world, but also because he knows how tactile Chris is, and that Chris needs to know that he’s taking care of Sebastian somehow. So Seb never pushes him off – even when he isn’t even all that cold, even when he can’t even see the TV anymore because Chris turned spooning into fully lying on top of him, trying to surround him like some sort of big, buff koala bear.

Also, even though Chris absolutely loves Sebastian’s skinnier look and adores the fact that he can pick him up more easily now (to put him on the counter and kiss him, to toss him around a little in bed, to carry him bridal style to their bedroom when Sebastian has fallen asleep watching TV), Chris can’t help but motherhen a little. He’s always trying to make sure Sebastian eats enough, so he takes to leaving parts of his dinner (the bits that he knows Seb likes best) while loudly insisting he’s full and Sebastian should eat it because it’d be a shame to let is go to waste. Chris also makes sure there’s always a supply of peanut butter and chocolate for when Sebastian feels like having a snack late at night, and when he tries to cook Sebastian’s favorite dish one day, he forgets he can’t actually cook, meaning that Seb comes home from a long day on set to the fire alarm going off, Dodger barking like mad, and the house smelling like smoke and burnt… something. They end up ordering pizza instead, and Chris orders the truffle one Seb likes so much without even having to check <3

Chris has known for a long time that he loves seeing Sebastian in his clothes of course, and Sebastian is aware of this (plus he likes wearing Chris's clothes too), so he’s used to grabbing whatever T-shirt of Chris’s happens to be lying around. Only now that Seb gets cold more easily, Chris is even more vocal about being all "I like you in my clothes", and he makes sure that his wardrobe is filled with plenty of big sweaters and warm sweatpants. The fact that they swamp Seb’s smaller frame now and make him look absolutely adorable and cuddleable is just an added bonus <3

And finally, Chris cannot stop touching Sebastian’s longer hair. He already knew he loves it when Seb grows out his hair from their time working together on Marvel sets, so he’s thrilled that the longer hair is back and he takes every opportunity to comb his fingers through it and grab handfuls of it whenever they’re making out. He can’t get enough of how thick and soft it feels, and he loves it when Sebastian lets him wash it when they’re in the shower or bath together. Not just because he loves the feel of Sebastian’s hair, but also because Sebastian goes completely lax and blissed out whenever Chris washes it, massaging his scalp and pulling on the strands just enough to make Seb let out those needy little sighs that Chris hears in his dreams whenever they're apart. Needless to say, they have a lot of shower sex these days.

So yeah, Chris is kind of crazy about this look of Seb’s and he’ll miss it when it’s gone, but then again he’s literally loved every single look of Sebastian has had so far, and he already knows he'll love every single look he's yet to have. He just loves Seb. 💘

[nerdzzone]

Only For A Moment: September

Summary: A series of shorter one shots from Chris and Whitney’s life together throughout the pandemic. Some happy times, some harder times, some fluff and some things a little more sexy - they work through it all as they try to get settled in their new and blossoming relationship.

Chris Evans x OFC

Part of the Once Bitten/More Hearts series

Only For A Moment: August

Note: I really liked writing this part so please let me know your thoughts!

-----

September 2020

Before the pandemic hit, we'd planned to send Grayson to preschool in the fall after he turned three. However, with the state of the world when the time arrived, it became a more complicated decision. We knew the benefits - we knew it would give him the opportunity to make friends and jumpstart his learning - but after many long, anxiety filled discussions, we decided to keep him home for another year. We didn't need it for childcare as neither of us had any work on the horizon and he still had another year before kindergarten so he wouldn't be missing out on preschool education completely. The risks just seemed to outweigh the benefits at that point in time given the case numbers in our area.

But not everyone had such an easy choice to make. People with older children had to educate them somehow - whether that be in person or online. In person classes had a much higher risk of exposure to the virus, but online classes were harder for children to focus on and required much more participation from the parents.

Carly had made the difficult choice to keep her kids at home and continue their online education, but it was proving to be harder than she'd anticipated. The kids were tired of learning through a computer and they missed their friends. Despite the risk of in person learning, they wanted to go back to school and were dragging their heels when it came to doing their work at home.

They started in August and by the middle of September, Carly was quickly losing her patience with all three of her children and, after a tearful phone call from his sister, Chris and I agreed to take them for an afternoon. They had some homework that we had to make sure they did, but Chris' goal was more related to sending them home with a renewed appreciation for their parents and a promise to keep working hard.

He'd picked them up just after lunch and given them a stern - but understanding - talking to on the way over to our place, but once they arrived he was back to being fun Uncle Chris and started their afternoon of school with gym class in the form of a soccer game. He ran them around the yard for over an hour before they wrapped up the game and came in for a snack. Then, the real school work started.

"So," Chris clapped. "What homework does everyone have?"

"Math..."

Ethan wrinkled his nose in disgust as he answered and his siblings nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, it's your lucky day!" Chris grinned. "Whitney happens to be a math whiz! She went to university to be an accountant."

It was hard not to laugh at the disgust on their faces and I was tempted to inform them of the fact that I had dropped out just to retain my status as their uncle's 'cool' girlfriend. I thought that information might not help inspire them to work though so I kept it to myself.

"Why did you do that?" Miles questioned. "That's so boring!"

"It doesn't have to be," I insisted. "Chris, why don't you take Gray to do a puzzle or something and we'll get this work out of the way?"

"Sure," Chris nodded, plucking Grayson off the stool he was sitting on and throwing the giggling child over his shoulder. "And remember, the faster the homework gets done, the faster we can get back to doing fun stuff!"

I waited until Chris had left the room before shooting a smile at the little students that I was left with.

"Okay, now that he's gone, I can show you the secret to making math fun," I told them, stretching up to grab a big jar of jelly beans from the top shelf of a cupboard. It was Chris' secret stash, but I was sure he wouldn't be too mad if I borrowed it. "You just need to find some motivation."

The kid's eyes went wide.

"Are those Uncle Chris'?" Ethan asked, a hint of wonder in his voice.

"Yep," I smiled. "So, let's hurry and get to work before he comes back and catches us."

I shot them a wink and they all scurried off to get their notebooks.

-

It was easier to incorporate the candy into Miles and Stella's math homework as in the younger grades, they were mostly doing addition and subtraction. I helped them use the jelly beans as counters and let them eat them after every few questions. For Ethan, it was a bit trickier. In sixth grade, he was getting more into the start of algebra and some harder level fractions which jelly beans were less useful in. Instead, we used them as motivation and he got to eat a couple of jelly beans for every row of questions he finished.

We almost got away with our jelly bean thievery, but just as the kids were packing up their books, I heard a gasp come from the doorway.

"Are those my jelly beans?!"

The kids all burst out laughing as I shot Chris a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry. They needed some encouragement..."

Chris shook his head, but the smile on his face told me that he wasn't really that upset.

"I trusted you," he scolded me. "Now I'll have to find a new hiding spot and you won't be informed of its whereabouts."

I pouted at that as Grayson scrambled up onto the stool beside me to get his hands in the candy before it was moved.

"You could just be nice and share," I pointed out. "Making them forbidden just makes them more tempting."

"Yeah, Uncle Chris," Ethan nodded in agreement. "Plus, you're always telling us that we have to share stuff."

"You're getting too smart, kid," Chris smiled at him. "But unfortunately for you, I'm still in charge which means you have to do as I say, not as I do."

Ethan rolled his eyes at that as Stella frowned.

"That's not fair!"

"That's life," Chris shrugged. "Now, who's going to help me make some dinner?"

Grayson and Stella threw their hands up in the air as I popped another jelly bean into my mouth.

"What are we having?"

"Pasketti!" Grayson enthusiastically informed me, earning a laugh from Chris as he ruffled his hair.

"Spaghetti," he clarified. "With Ma's recipe for the sauce."

"Ooh, yum!"

I stole one last jelly bean before putting the lid back on the jar. The kids all whined in protest, but if Chris was making dinner then I knew it was time for me to stop stuffing them with sugar.

We all stayed in the kitchen as Chris started getting things ready, giving the kids simple jobs to do like opening jars and the occasional stirring. Dinner was about halfway ready when Miles got a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Uncle Chris?" He questioned, getting Chris' attention. "Aren't you going to sing the spaghetti song?"

That piqued my interest and I raised an eyebrow at Chris whose cheeks were slightly pinker than they'd been moments before.

"What's the spaghetti song?"

"On Top of Spaghetti," Chris informed me as if I should know what he was talking about. I didn't and my face must have shown him that. "C'mon! You have to know it!"

"I can't say that I do," I shrugged. "You'll have to enlighten me."

"Daddy sings it every time we have pasketti!" Grayson informed me, still mispronouncing the word.

"Well, I think I need to learn it then," I smiled. "Go on, Chris. Let's hear it."

The kids all agreed with me, hassling him to start the song.

"Alright, alright," he agreed after a moment of resistance. His cheeks were still looking a little rosy with embarrassment as he took a deep breath and then began. "On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese. I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed..."

I watched - filled with an almost overwhelming sense of affection for him - as he sang through all the verses of the song. The kids joined in where they could and all of them were giggling by the time he was done.

"Again, again!"

Grayson started the chant, but they all joined in and with a smirk, I did too.

"Yes, Chris! Again, again!" I teased. "So I can film it for Instagram!"

"Ha-ha," Chris laughed sarcastically. "You're so funny, Whitney. There will be no filming of this performance."

"But just think how much your fans would love it," I smiled. "You'd melt the hearts of women all over the world."

Chris let out a laugh at that comment, but didn't have time to respond before the kids took over again, demanding another performance. Once he was sure that my phone was safely out of reach, he launched into another round of song.

-

By the time dinner was done and the kids were all settled in front of the TV watching a movie, my heart was feeling rather full. Seeing Chris with all the children and enjoying the afternoon of a house full of their joy and laughter had me feeling things I hadn't been entirely sure I was ready to contemplate yet.

As I sat at the island in the kitchen, sipping my second glass of wine as Chris finished loading the dishwasher, I broached the subject.

"Today has been really nice," I told him, my voice catching his attention in the quiet room. "Having a house full of kids."

That thought clearly gripped his interest as he spun around to face me, still drying his hands.

"Yeah?" The excitement in his voice was palpable. "We haven't talked about that, have we? Do you want more kids?"

"I do," I smiled at his overzealous reaction. "At least one more. I'd like Grayson to have a sibling. It seems lonely to make him grow up all alone."

"It does," he agreed. "I can't imagine growing up without siblings."

"What about you?" I asked. "I mean, I know you've mentioned in interviews that you want a big family, but is that real? Or just for the family man image that your fans love so much?"

Chris chuckled and shrugged, but there was something sheepish about the way he was looking at me.

"Honestly?" He paused as if waiting for a response, but it seemed unnecessary. We both knew I wouldn't want anything other than the truth in a moment like this. "I want at least two more, maybe even three. Hell, I'd have another one right now if you were willing."

I almost choked on the wine I was sipping as those words left his mouth, but as I placed my glass safely back on the counter, the coughing shifted into laughter.

"We can't have another one now," I protested. "We've only been together for like four months!"

"Five," he corrected with a soft smile. "And we were only together for one night before we had Gray and I think he's turned out alright."

He was right about that and I would have been lying if I said that the thought of another little baby didn't stir something inside me, but the more rational side of me came through.

"We can't just rush into another baby," I insisted. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but that's a big decision."

"I know it is," Chris assured me. "I'm half-kidding. I know it's not something we can rush into, but another part of me thinks it would be nice to have one now while we've got nothing else going on."

"That's true, but this pandemic won't last forever," I pointed out. "Even if you got me pregnant right now, you'll hopefully be working again before it would even be born. I'm not sure I could deal with Grayson and a newborn all by myself."

"Yeah, but some experts think this mess is gonna last for a few years still which would make this the perfect time to have a baby."

I shot him a look and he shrugged with a smirk.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I warned him. "Let's just see how this whole pandemic situation goes for a bit longer before we make any massive life plans."

"Alright, alright," Chris chuckled, coming around to my side of the island. He rested his chin on my shoulder and slid his arms around my waist, placing his hands on my stomach. "It would be nice though, wouldn't it? Having another little baby around. Another little mix of the two of us."

I could feel his breath on my neck as his voice was low in my ear and I had to admit that he was right. I was one of the lucky women who actually loved being pregnant and, despite how exhausting and stressful the newborn phase was, I did miss having a little baby around.

But my worries about our ability to co-parent if we split up were still lingering in my mind. They'd been eased slightly by how solid our relationship had been so far, but if it all fell apart, I was still worried about how we would cope. Adding another baby to that so soon seemed like a foolish thing to do.

"It would be nice," I agreed, letting my hands rest on top of his. "It will be nice, one day."

"Well, whenever you're ready," Chris paused to place a kiss on my neck. "Just let me know."

I smiled at his eagerness and turned my head to kiss his cheek.

"I will," I assured him. "And maybe, once the kids have gone home and Grayson's in bed, we could practice. Just so we know what we're doing when the time comes..."

"Oh, I know what I'm doing," Chris practically growled, his grip tightening around me to pull me closer against him. "Don't you worry about that."

I giggled at his confidence before wiggling out of his grasp and standing up from the stool I'd been sitting on.

"I'm not worried, but practice makes perfect, right?"

With a wink, I grabbed my wine and turned to leave the room and check on the kids. Our conversation had given me plenty to think about, but it was comforting as well. I had no doubts that one day I wanted to expand our little family and even if I wasn't quite ready yet, it was nice to know that Chris was on board.

The man was born to be a father, he excelled in every aspect of parenting, and I was grateful that I was the one who got to help him find that role and that I got to share the experience with him.

-

October + November [part one]

Tags:  @maggotzombie @moonlacebeam @mizzzpink @zaylaugh @flowery-mess @flowerjewels @njrronaldo7 @hockeychick10 @partypoison00 @theladybiers @sidepieces @firoozehmoon @patzammit @sparkledfirecracker @mytbel0st @chvntelle-99