#yes it’s spelled differently but it sounds pretty much the same

[enbycrip]

Oh sweet gods I’ve just found out that 17th century Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp was “affectionately” known as “Daddy Tromp” by his sailors.

I now can’t get rid of about a billion mental images all of them brain-bleachable please pour some peroxide in my ear now please and thank you.

[f1goat]

more than friends ; lando norris + part eleven

In which your best friend is going to help you to gain more sexual experience and say goodbye to your insecurities, but he's quick to discover that he never wants to share you and your new experiences with others - the only problem being, him having to confess his feelings.

masterlist - playlist

fem!y/n x lando norris

warnings: smut with a plot. minors dni! probably grammar or spelling errors due to english not being my first language.

requested: yes, based on this request: something with a driver sister that’s still a virgin & lando (her bestfriend) suggests to teach her things

part one / part two / part three / part four / part five / part six / part seven / part eight / part nine / part ten

When you wake up after another sleepless night, you let out a big sigh. Since you’re back in Monaco things feel different. You can’t sleep properly anymore, the cold bed without Lando and his warmth in it aren’t enough for you. Things have changed since you’re back here. Lando is busy with his trainings, Quadrant, friends he didn’t see for a while and everything else he’s normally busy with. Meaning that there’s not a lot of time left for you. Lando told you in advance, but you told him it would be fine. Now you realize that it’s not fine. 

You know that if you call Lando, he’ll let you join him with everything you want. There is even a chance that he’ll send you a plane ticket for only today and tomorrow. It wouldn’t be something new. He’s in England for now, spending time at the McLaren Technology Centre. Lando told you about what he was going to do, something in the line of multiple sponsor obligations and a bit of sim work. Him not being in Monaco causes you to only miss him more. 

There’s nothing more you want to do then to call Lando up and talk to him, but you don’t wait to claim him too much. What if he thinks you’re too clingy? With another soft sigh you start to scroll on your phone. Not that it helps, when you open your phone you’re confronted with a thousand notifications. Since the last race weekend the notifications haven’t stopped. Everyone thinks Lando and you are actually dating this time. It has caused your socials to overflow with reactions, some people hate you while others claim that you’re their favorite WAG already. On the flight back you talked about it with Lando. There was an option of denying it and hoping they would leave you alone again, but the two of you decided to just let it be for now. 

You want to text Lando. Or would that be to clingy? Fuck, you really miss him. When a notification shows up on your phone screen, you’re quick to look at it. 

Lando: call me?

Without giving it a second thought you call Lando on FaceTime.

“Hey babygirl,” Lando greets you with a soft smile. 

“Hey Lan,” you greet him back. 

Lando asks you about the last couple days, you feel boring when you confess to him that you didn’t do a lot. You don’t have contact with your friends anymore since that brunch and now that Lando is also gone, your days have been boring. You are quick to ask Lando about his last days as well. He tells you everything in full enthusiasm. 

“But I can’t wait to get back to,” Lando doubts, he wants to say to you but that’s probably weird, right? “To Monaco,” he eventually ends his sentence. 

“When are you coming back?” You are quick to ask. You want nothing more then Lando back in Monaco and hopefully back with you. “Tomorrow baby,” Lando answers you, “Maybe we can grab dinner together when I’m back?”

“That sounds nice,” you tell him, that’s exactly what you hoped for. 

“What are you going to do today?” Lando continues to asks you. 

“I don’t know yet,” you confess, “maybe sleep a bit more, I’m still pretty tired.”

“Did I awake you?” Lando questions. You’re quick to tell him no, mentioning that you don’t sleep well at the moment. When Lando asks you for the reason, you don’t know what to say at first. You stay silent for a bit. “I kinda have the same problem you know,” Lando eventually confesses, “Since I’m back in my own apartment without you I haven’t gotten a good night sleep.” 

“Me too,” you share, “It feels weird to sleep alone.”

“Tomorrow we can sleep together?” Lando suggests. You’re quick to say yes. “And maybe some other activities,” Lando says suggestively. 

“Oh?” You reply.

“I miss you babygirl,” Lando softly murmurs, “All of you.”

“All of me?” You ask surprised.

“Yes,” he confesses, “I miss your body next to mine in the bed, since we slept in the same bed together I’ve been addicted to it. And don’t forget how bad it became now that I know how your body feels. I miss the soft sounds you make for me when I feel you up, or the way you always look at me with those innocent eyes when I know for a fact you’re not that innocent. I miss the way you pussy clenches around my cock.”

“Fuck Lan,” you mutter softly, “I miss you too. Haven’t cum since the last time you made me.”

“What did you just say babygirl?” Lando asks you. He looks at you through the screen, it’s not hard to miss how red your cheeks are getting. “Didn’t you orgasm since our last time?” He continues to ask. You show him a small nod. “Why not?” Lando asks further.

At first you shrug, not wanting to tell Lando that you have never pleasured yourself, but Lando sees right through you. “Have you ever touched yourself?” He asks you. 

“No,” you confess softly. 

“Don’t know how to do it?” He asks.

“No.”

“Want my help babygirl?” 

“Please Lan,” you almost beg. Since he told you what he misses about you, your pussy started clenching. You feel all tensed up and want nothing more then Lando to help you with it. Lando shows you a grin. He doesn’t say anything yet, causing you to let out another few pleas. “I need your help,” you softly confess, “I can’t do it myself.”

“Place your phone on your night stand baby,” Lando instructs you. You do what he says. “Lay down on the bed, I want to see your body.” You lay down on the bed, still dressed in your pajamas. Now you look at yourself in the camera, you notice that you’re pajamas are a skimpy string and a shirt from Lando. 

“Spread your legs for me,” Lando instructs you. You do what he says again. “Keep following my instructions,” Lando says, you show him a nod. “I want you to call me sir,” Lando tells you. “Okay sir,” you try it out, the words leave your tongue without thinking about it. It feels good. You notice the way Lando lets out a soft groan while hearing you call him this. 

“Touch your boobs for me babygirl,” Lando continues to instruct you. You lay your hands on your boobs, slowly grabbing them through your shirt. “Knead one of them,” Lando says, “and softly pull on the nipple from the other one.” You act out his instructions, a soft moan leaves your lips when you softly pull on your nipple. “Continue and switch sometimes,” Lando states. You keep doing what he says. Kneading your boobs firmly and softly pulling on your nipples. You feel your stomach tighten from the feeling. It feels weird to do this to yourself, you’re glad Lando is here to instruct you. 

“Feels good, doesn’t it babygirl?” Lando asks you. 

“Yes,” you whimper.

Lando tuts at you. “Wrong babygirl,” he says, “Stop touching your boobs.” You wonder what he means, then you get it.

“Sorry sir,” you whimper, “Sorry. Can I please continue?”

“No.”

You remove your hands from your tits. A soft whine leaves your lips. Lando chuckles. “Slowly move your hands lower on your body,” he continues to instruct you, “but skip your cunt.” You do as he says. “Tease the inside of your thighs for me,” Lando instructs you, “Stroke up and down on them. Get closer to your cunt, slowly, but don’t touch it yet. Just tease yourself and imagine that your hands are mine.” You keep doing what Lando instructs you to do. “You must be so painfully wet right now,” Lando mutters.

“Move one of your hands back to your tits,” Lando goes on, “Tease them as well. Knead those tits, pinch or pull on your nipples. Keep teasing yourself.”

“Yes sir,” you softly moan while touching your breast again. 

“Gonna get you so wet before you even touch your cunt,” Lando tells you. “It’s a shame I’m not there with you, I would put my mouth on one of them. Slowly sucking your nipple inside my mouth, licking and sucking those beautiful tits.” 

“Fuck sir,” you moan.

“You like this, don’t you? You love every second of attention I give you. Don’t you wish I was there with you babygirl?”

“Fuck sir, yes, I miss you. Want you here with me.”

“Take off your clothes,” Lando instructs you further. You’re quick to do so. 

“Use one hand to keep teasing your breast,” Lando continues, “and with the other one you’re going to get real slow towards your cunt. But don’t you dare to touch it yet.” You let out a soft moan now you feel your breast and nipple without any clothing between it. Lando lets out a soft groan as well. He softly starts to grab his boner as well. Lando never did something like this before, but it feels so natural with you. He’s surprised how well it’s going, the words are flowing out of his mouth without thinking about it.

“Lay down your finger on your clit for me,” Lando tells you, “but only for two seconds. Then you move your hand back to your thighs.”

You let out a whine when your two seconds are up. “Sir please,” you whine. “Not yet baby,” Lando says, “tease your thighs a bit more.” You still do what he says. When you look at your phone screen you notice that Lando has turned over the camera. you’re not seeing him anymore, the camera is focused on his boner now. 

“Fuck sir,” you mutter, “you look so hard.”

“That’s what you do to me babygirl,” Lando replies.

“Can I see how you touch yourself, sir?”

Lando doesn’t reply verbally. He moves his hand to his boner and starts to caress it, letting out a groan while doing so. “How badly do you want to touch your beautiful cunt baby?” Lando asks you, “Tell me about it.”

“Fuck sir, want to touch it so bad,” you murmur.

“Ask me.”

“Can I please touch my pussy sir?” You ask him.

“Okay babygirl,” Lando tells you. “Slowly put your finger back on your clit again. Use your other hand to tease your entrance.” You move your hands again. Almost letting out a loud moan when you finally feel something on your clit again. “Make slow movements, really slow,” Lando instructs. “Give it a bit more pressure,” Lando continues. 

“Fuck,” you whine, “Thank you sir.” 

Lando almost feels his cock bursting out of his pants when you thank him. He removes his pants and boxers. You see his boner springing to his freedom. Lando is quick to put his hand around it and starts to stroke it. 

“Oh babygirl,” Lando mutters, “the things you do with me. Continue to add pressure to your clit baby and slowly move one of your fingers inside you.” 

You spread your legs a bit more then before, causing Lando to let out a soft moan while seeing your cunt better then before. He strokes his own dick. Slowly you let one of your fingers enter your pussy. “Imagine that was my cock,” Lando teases you, “How much better would that fill you up baby?” 

“A lot better sir,” you answer, “There’s nothing better then your cock.”

Lando keeps getting amazed by you. “Such a good girl for me,” he tells you, “my good little..” He doubts a bit if he’s going to say it, but eventually takes the risk. “My good little slut,” he calls you. 

“Only for you sir,” you reply softly, “only for you.”

“Fuck babygirl,” Lando groans, “What did I do to deserve you?” 

In the mean time Lando increases his own pace. He tells you to do the same. You let out a couple moans while fingering yourself. “I’m getting close,” you softly confess, “can I cum sir?” 

“Not yet baby,” Lando tells you stern, “wait a bit longer.”

You’re turning into a moaning mess. You can’t even reply to Lando anymore. It’s getting too much for you. After not having felt anything like this for a week or so, the pleasure is getting to your head. Your stomach is as tight as it can be, your pussy is already clenching around your finger and the only sound coming out of your mouth are moans. 

“Add another finger babygirl,” Lando instructs you. You’re quick to act out his instruction. “Increase the pace but don’t let yourself cum yet. Imagine it’s my cock that’s inside you right now.”

“Fuck sir,” you mutter, “I’m so painfully close.”

“Beg for it.”

“Sir please,” you start to beg. You can’t even form normal sentences, words are coming out of your mouth but you don’t even realize which ones. “So close.” “Please sir.” “Fuck sir, it feels so good.” “Need you with me sir.” “Please.”

“You deserve it babygirl. Let it go,” Lando softly tells you, “Cum for me.”

You feel your body spasm. “Fuck,” you moan while you come undone. It amazes you that you just did this for yourself. While coming down from your orgasm, you look at the phone screen on your night stand. Lando is pumping his boner with a fast pace. While looking at it you feel yourself getting horny all over again. Then he comes undone as well with a loud moan. 

“Fuck babygirl,” Lando grunts, “That was amazing.”

“You’re amazing,” you softly reply, “It’s insane what you’re doing to me while not even being here.”

“You better wait for when I’m back,” Lando states, “because I can’t wait to feel you around my dick again.”

“Tomorrow right?” You ask teasingly. 

“Tomorrow you’re mine.”

+++

The day is passing by slowly. Lando texted you this morning that he will pick you up for dinner tonight. Since then you haven’t heard anything from him. You miss him. You can’t wait for him to show up here and take you with him. Only the idea of sleeping next to Lando again tonight, makes you feel all happy and bubbly. 

You’re looking at yourself in the mirror. The dress you’re wearing is a new one. After your FaceTime call with Lando from yesterday, you went out shopping. It felt weird at first to shop alone, but you aren’t in touch with your friends anymore after the last time where they didn’t stop insulting you. It’s for the better, but shopping alone is something else to get used to. Eventually you did find a beautiful dress for tonight. Now you’re wearing it you feel a bit of doubt kicking in. You usually don’t wear stuff like this. The dress is on the shorter side, almost revealing your ass. Maybe it’s too much for only dinner? You doubt about changing, but before you can decide you already hear the door bell. Can that be Lando? 

When you open the door, you’re greeted by Lando. He is quick to pull you into a hug before getting inside your apartment. “Hey babygirl,” he greets you with a soft voice. He puts a small kiss on your cheek. When he pulls back from the hug and walks inside with you, Lando is quick to take a good look at you. 

Lando can’t take his eyes off you. Fuck, since when do you own dresses like this? Do you really expect him to have dinner with you while you’re dressed like this? He can’t focus on dinner or anything else when you look this beautiful. Fuck. The dress barely covers your ass and Lando can’t stop looking at it, certainly when you walk towards the kitchen to get him something to drink. 

“Fucking hell babygirl,” Lando sighs eventually, “since when do you own dresses like this?” 

“It’s too much isn’t it?” You ask a bit unsure. Lando hasn’t stopped looking at you since he’s inside. 

“No,” Lando quickly states, “it’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.” Lando doubts for a couple seconds before speaking up again. “But I do think I can’t focus on anything else then you in this dress and fucking you.”

“What’s stopping you?” 

In no time Lando has himself pressed up against your body. You don’t know how Lando got you here like this, but you’re pressed up against the wall. His mouth is attacking yours. You feel his hands all over your body. As fast as he can manage Lando pulls up your dress. When he feels your string and the way it’s already dampened by your cunt, he grins. 

“So wet already baby,” Lando mutters. You grab his boner through his pant. “And so eager,” Lando continues. You play with Lando his belt, trying to get if off but you can’t reach it properly. A soft annoyed grunt leaves your lips. Lando grins and removes his belt himself, then he pulls down his pants and underwear. You see the way his boner slaps soft against his stomach. Fuck you almost forgot how big it was. 

“When we’re back from dinner I’m going to take my time with you,” Lando states, “but now I really  need to feel you on my cock.”

“Please do,” you softly reply. Lando takes his earlier words into action. He lets his dick slide into your cunt. It causes you to let out a hard moan. Lando fucks you harder then ever before, it never felt as amazing as this. When he squeezes your boob you almost yell out his name. “Fuck Lando.”

Lando grunts. He increases his pace again. When he starts to feel close to his orgasm, he almost feels ashamed for feeling his orgasm reaching this soon. Then he notices the way you look. It looks like you’re close as well. 

“Never came this fast in my life,” Lando groans when he feels his cum leave his body. You feel your orgasm hitting you as well. “I can say the same,” you joke, “but it’s not like I have a lot of experience.”

“Dinner?” Lando asks you five minutes later. “If you can behave,” you laugh. Lando grabs your hand, intertwines his fingers with yours and takes you with him towards his car. You barely can remember to grab your stuff before getting into his car. 

“It’s insane how much I missed you,” Lando confesses.

“Same,” you softly reply. 

“And I have to leave again in only two days for the next race,” Lando sighs. 

“I know,” you sigh back. 

“Join me?”

“You want me to join you again?” You ask Lando confused.

“Babygirl, I want you to join me every time I’m leaving home.”

a/n; i feel like this story is coming to an end but i have no idea how to finish it, help is welcome :)))

part twelve

taglist: @booksandplushies @dinodumbass @formula1mount @words-are-cheap @allywthsr @inejghafawifesblog @chonkybonky @formulas-bitch @harrysdimple05 @vildetry06 @wherethefuckisthething @nonameishere @lauralarsen@meadhbhcavanagh @obliviatevamps @shy4turcs @fix5idiots @nightlockcornucopia @marialovesf1 @kapsylia @im-an-overthinker @jule239 @lanando4 @lauralarsen @leclercdream @agentadhd @rewmuslupin @allsouls-emma @iamshiningeuw @teenagedreams-cl@kiskso @loxbbg @vellicora @thomaslefteyebrow @avg-golden-retriever @amorydsmt @killjoynotes@barelytolerabled @starmanv @changetyre @kami10471633 @2bormaybenot @httpmrklee @buendiabebeta @aliceespector@ryiamarie @mickslover @sop-hie092 @miniemonie2001 @greymarvelskaikru @kapsylia@swiftiedrafts @thatchickwiththecamera @formulas-bitch @venisvendetta @t3a-3njoy3r @landowecanbewc

taglist p2: @chezmardybum @booksandflowrs @mineandneveryours @strawberryy-kiwii @noneofyourfbusinessworld @secretgal66 @trinity2058 @evieepepi08 @shutupmymomsc4lling @smiithys @nanamilkbread @hellowgoodbye @annie115 @random-1927 @sadmeal444 @christianpulisic10 @peachiicherries @toppersjeep @lovingaphroditesworld @kiskso @silentreader128 @lauralarsen @scopeiguess @trinity2058 @shy4turcs @moonlight-girls-posts @xjval @saachiep81 @leclercdream @adalynneva @swiftiedrafts @oscahpastry @customsbyjcg-blog @idontcare011 @f1fantasys @emyladia

[edges-of-night]

Hello! I was wondering if I could request something? Fellowship x reader where the reader gets injured in a battle or something and confessed their feelings before passing out… and when they wake up they find out their feelings r returned 🤭 I love ur requests they r so very cute! Thank u!

That was such a lovely request to write, nonnie! I’m really sorry you had to wait for it so long. Also, thank you for your kind words!

･ﾟ✧ Aragorn.

Initially, Aragorn would not treat you much differently after your recovery – so much so that you start wondering if you actually confessed your feelings to him or hallucinated that whole part. But all Aragorn wants to do is find the right moment to talk to you. Once he does, he’d gently take your hands in his and tell you how much you mean to him – and that your feelings are in fact reciprocated! Confessing your love first gave him the courage to do the same. “I am not well versed in these fields. But I hope I can show you my heart just as bluntly as you did yours.”

･ﾟ✧ Boromir.

Boromir would not be around when you wake up. The others tell you he was simply shocked by your passing out and that he needed time to adjust and would be overjoyed to hear you’re fine – but you suspect it would be something else that scared him away. You’d find him pondering in a lone corner, afraid of how he’ll react to seeing you again – only to see his hardened face light up when your eyes meet his – and then he’d rush to kiss you! “I’ve been a fool for not understanding it sooner. Forgive me…!” ♡

･ﾟ✧ Frodo.

I like to think that out of the Fellowship, Frodo would be the most mature to handle your love confession. After all, he knows your injuries aren’t lethal and worries not about what happens next, since he is very clear in his own feelings. After you wake up, he greets you with a smile, takes your hand to make sure you’re fine – and lowers his voice to say, “I’ll call the others right away. But before that, I need you to remember the last thing you said to me. I feel the same.” He’d give you the cutest smile, shining all the way up to his blue eyes.

･ﾟ✧ Gandalf.

Gandalf, being the one who tried to heal you in the moment you passed out, tries ignoring your dramatic love confession and silently urges the others to forget what they overheard. That said, he is very flattered – after all, he’s been enamoured with you for a while now. Still, his romance is quiet and subdued. He’d sit next to you with a smile when you wake up. At first, you thought his behaviour was unchanged – until he ends his sentences toward you with “darling” or “my dear”. There is a playful spark in his eyes that tells you everything you need to know. (Eventually, he would also spell out ‘I love you too’ in fireworks or butterflies!)

･ﾟ✧ Gimli.

Gimli stays with you during your recovery, guarding your bed day and night, so dutifully that the others need to remind him of eating. Once you wake up, you’d meet his soft eyes, only to watch them harden when you try to speak to him: “Don’t do that again! Ever!” – “What? Talk to you…?” – “Scare me like that!” he corrects, grumbling into his beard. “What’s a lad supposed to do when his sweetheart passes out in his arms?” You smile blissfully as you understand and offer him a hug that Gimli more than eagerly returns!

･ﾟ✧ Legolas.

Legolas is entirely stumped when you pass out after that dramatic “I love you”. There is a frown on his pretty face for the next few hours, waiting for you to wake up again. When you do, you’re terribly embarrassed by the way he’s staring at you through his Elven eyes. He’d fixate you and ask, “Did you mean it? What you said to me?” You’d blush and retort that yes, of course you meant it – and that is enough to make his bright smile and joy return. “What a relief! I feared that if it had been but a fever, my reciprocation would ring false, or sound like a mockery. Please know it’s nothing but the truth!” And he’d take your hands and lean in for a quick and happy kiss!

･ﾟ✧ Merry.

At first, Merry would not believe what he heard just before you passed out. During your recovery, he retreats into dark corners to think and rationalise – people say all kinds of stupid things when they thought they were about to die, right? You couldn’t possibly be in love with him – not when there are so many other people – taller people – all around you. So, imagine his surprise when you do ask him for a private conversation after waking up, to set everything straight. Only Merry doesn’t accept your apology. “What’s there to apologise for? You said what you felt in that moment. It’s not like I didn’t like what I heard, I feel the same, after all…” And then, you both share an ‘oh!’ moment before you laugh and fall into the other’s arms!

･ﾟ✧ Pippin.

Pippin would initially be overwhelmed by your confession and subsequent passing out. However, he’s positive you’ll be fine, firmly believing that no matter how important, these matters needn’t be so dramatic. He’d treat you as casually as always after your recovery, though you can’t deny there is a spring in his steps and a smile on his face whenever you’re talking. You now know that your feelings are returned, and yet you still blush when he tells you over a shared bowl of strawberries: “I don’t think I’ve told you yet, but I love you, too! Very much so! I’ve thought of a few different pet names to call you, but I wanted to clarify that first. So, just tell me which one you like best…”

･ﾟ✧ Sam.

Sam would not leave your side, no matter how long you were passed out. Whenever someone would try and tear him away, he’d explain that he has something very important to discuss with you when you wake up. He would practice romantic speeches and poems to recite for you, really thinking the whole thing through – only to remain absolutely speechless when your eyes do meet his. After your initial greeting – “Thank goodness you’re alive!” – he’d just hold your hand and ask you to stay with him ♡

[starringthesturniolos]

bite me(part 5) matt sturniolo

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

summary: matt hates your guts but all of that changes when he wakes up and finds out your his mate.

contains: vampire!matt x reader, highschool au! (18 years old), dark themes, death, smut (not in this part)

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

matts pov.

"okay, you guys should feel different any minute now" Madi says before giving me a look. a look that says what I am doing is stupid. judging by the sadness that's roaming in my chest, I'm guessing y/n thinks its stupid too. why does she care, its not like she likes me, I think to myself. but even as I think it, I can't help but cringe at the loss of emotions I would have from getting rid of the bond. sure, it was annoying sometimes, but hell, Iife gets a little boring when you've been living for so long. its easy to go numb and become desensitized, and that's what made y/n an anomaly. even before the mating bond, she made me feel things. even things I didn't want to feel like annoyance and anger.

I look over at her and I can't help but stare. she's so pretty, I think even as the bond fades into a dull nothing.

"quite staring, your freaking me out" she says looking at me. I can see the tears in her eyes, and ,even though the bonds gone, I know she wishes there weren't any. I knew her and I knew that she didn't like to feel like others had power to make her sad or upset. she never wanted to lose control. I can't help but note how much I know about her. more than I thought I knew.

I look away and grab her arm and sigh at the fact that there are no tingles or heat that flash through me this time. "I'll take you home, it's been a long night." and so from there we head back to the car. shit, I almost forgot about chris. I open my phone to call him, but I see a text notification from him instead. "I'm going to stay, the spell could take all night for me" it says. I can't help but wonder how someone can take away the pain of losing a mate, but shrug it off. if I knew I'd be a magic user, not a vampire. and I wouldn't be standing here awkwardly with a girl I hated two days ago. a girl I wish I could comfort, but don't know how too. we climb in the van and I turn on the car. the hiss of the ac and the quiet hum of the radio are the only sounds in the car. she opens her mouth and closes it again. "what? what is it?" i sigh because the tension is killing me.

"if the bond is gone then why am I still sad?" she says quietly. I note the fact that this is the most vulnerable I've ever seen her. she's always had a strong front, and always had something smart to say. but now in the quiet that is my van, I feel like I see her, the real her.

"I don't know why." I say honestly, but cringe at the monotone way I say it. like I didn't care to know why she was upset, and right then I knew her walls were going to come back up before they even do. she shrugs and wipes her face once. "can I play music then, I don't like moping around." she sighs, grounding herself again. "I know you don't" I say softly "and yes you can, as long as you don't have shit music taste" I smirk at the end. teasing her is so much easier and more natural then whatever we've been doing the past 15 minutes. "Oh it's amazing, you're gonna wanna add my songs to your playlist when I'm done. " she takes the mood change and runs with it. she even laughs and I don't even try to stop myself from admiring her smile.

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

I pull into her house and all the lights are on and there are clanging noises coming from the inside of her home. its damn near 5 am and no one should be up that early on a Sunday morning. we were just having a good time, surprisingly, listening to music with each other. we both like the same kind of music and even though I acted like I hated her singing I didn't mind. but she wasn't singing now, she actually looked really scared.

"my dads home" she whispers and looks at me with wide glossy eyes. worry flutters in my chest at the sight of her being afraid. this guy must be bad news. "he rarely ever comes home" she says in the same quiet tone her eyes widening even further before she turns to me. "I thought Madi said she put a protection spell on me." she runs her hands through her hair and her breathing is picking up. if she keeps this up, she's going to have a panic attack.

" she did, okay, so you have nothing to worry about!" the words sound all wrong coming out of my mouth. I meant for them to come out comforting but instead they sound a bit like I just want her to shut up and get out of my car. why do I always have to sound so mean.

her breathing picks up more and she's crying now. "you don't know what he's like, matt! you've never met the guy. he doesn't want anything to do with me! and when he comes home, he's always drunk" she pauses and closes her eyes gasping for breath. "and he's mean!" she sobs. before I can stop myself I grab her face and guide her gaze away from the house to me. if she hadn't told me this, I would have never known she'd been hurt this way. I couldn't help but wonder how many times she came home to find a nightmare in her house.

"you don't have to be with that guy" I say slowly and nod my head before continuing

"just stay with me" I whisper.

@bbernard-03

@sturnthepot

@hoeformatt

@sturtriple16

@faygo-frog

@sturniol0s

@katie-tibo

@cindylcuwho

[pixelxgore]

hers a billfold wip as a treat i changed his face bc i have free will

The art is to encourage you to read my silly little insanity (you should totally do it btw)

I'm dyslexic so sorry if anything is spelled grotesquely wrong lol autocorrect sometimes has no idea what i’m trying to spell

Starting with my head cannon because every thing will make more sense with it (or it wont that's entirely up to you) Imma try my best to make this enjoyable

So I head cannon both bill and ford as aspec this is important for the rest trust (I'm Aroace myself so some of my words are based of of experience ) being aroace doesn't mean you can't have a toxic one-sided relationship with a triangle

(most of this is pretty vanilla but I still wanna talk about it)

I believe it started of as a one-sided relationship on fords part (wow shocker) but it wasn't really love because he's ace it was more of infatuation (this stems from the fact he is a science boy and like ooo demon triangle thing) mistaken for love (I'm pretty sure this is common among aroace people or I just had an original experience) and maybe bill had just a little bit of the same feeling but instead of infatuation it was just pure obsession and when they had there little “tragic break up” and bill finally came to realize his obsession and it consumed him (idk i think that how abusive obsession is) and he realized he can’t live with out ford (i man he can but unhealthy obsession) and thus bills one sided relationship with ford where he just tries to get his puppet back but can’t figure out why he needs him so bad so he comes to the (subconscious) cuncultion there in love (because of course that’s the reasonable decision) and then you all know what comes after

I think bill has major will wood music vibes so I have nominated three songs of his for bill ford (cuz I'm genuinely going insane over them)

This is for fun and based off my head cannons

All of my discussions are made purely of the vibes the song gives me and how cool than animation in my head looks so take everything you know about these will wood songs and throw it out the window cuz none of that is relevant :3

i saw someone say “Will Wood songs can really be interpreted in different ways, and most of them seem like wisps of similar thought rather than a concrete narrative, so you're always a little bit right and wrong when you take a guess.” and i think you should keep that in mined

(I'm gonna embarrass myself so hard (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄) )

I'm not gonna elaborate much but just trust me ok I put it kind of in chronological order

fords one sided relationship with bill: ...well, better than the alternative

Ok so this one is the least perfect out of all of them cuz it only half what I want (obviously this song is a stretch but hear me out) It's mostly for the like the last half of the song (remember what I said about throwing out the meaning for get that i lied) this song about the struggle ls of growing up and is a heartfelt plea to be understood and accepted for who we are (which obviously ford was a wired kid) and this kinda ties into the one-sided infatuation because it also is about the romanticism of nostalgic love, and the pressure of society telling you to find someone and "settle down" as we get older (witch yk aroace can’t really do that) so he’s grasping at the fact that he is enamored with this demon he just summoned (because science) so he can come up with this narrative in his head of how he is in love and can finally fit at least one of the societal boxes (idk it sounds like something to me probly ooc but I'm having fun)

bills one sided relationship with ford: ¡Aikido!

obsession with someone and how people often use coping mechanisms such as drugs to help with their feelings of uncertainty and helplessness. (yes this is copied not fully of a site this is tumblr not an english assignment) it also explores the idea that love and obsession can often manifest in neurotic and even pathological behavior.(oooo oooo look i’m so smart like staring the apocalyps) i’m not this cool this whole thing started with the first like whit h is “I apologize for playing with your eyes But I’m obsessed with you” witch reminded me of how bill used for as a puppet and then yk fords whole world came crashing down (this one explained its self more i have to do less mental gymnastics) and he’s like im sooo sorry i can’t live with out you

there whole relationship from the deal to the end of bill: Misanthrapologist ("In case I make it,"

Outtake)

ok this one is the one that mostly made of vibes because the song is about an unhappy codependent relationship through metaphors of christianity, nihilism, outer space, and mozart (witch only really encompasses a portion of the relationship) the song stars with “I wanna meet your make Shake him by his ensanguined damask lapel Holler "Look what you've done Gave this planet a sun And made a man to wonder if he's more than the sum of his cells"” which makes me personally think of obviously the deal fore made with bill and how bill stroked his ego all the way through there partnership um you can see where i goes from here just go listen to the song

ok this one’s off topic and only for my imaginary animation but the line “So how could I stand a chance, let alone dance With the way you sweep me off these two left feet?” just like imagine this with me it’s bill (human probably cuz i don’t work with the triangle) and young ford in the minedskape thing and its bill dipping ford and when it goes down it switches to bill and fort in bills pyramid thing with ford chained up do you see the vision ok I’m done now (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

[nmakii]

ALL BECAUSE I LIKED A BOY?

— watching your life falling into catastrophe before your eyes. all because of a boy, because of oikawa tooru.

— fem!reader, oikawa lowk just plot device, vent draft 🤨, its me im reader, nonfiction 🤣, reader highk whipped

a/n: dawg… just had liek the WORST day at school tfff my whole lunch table dropped me can’t believe i wasted ingredients on a bitch that cant even return my chinese textbook 😒

oikawa tooru has a lot of fans. even that might be an understatement. but, it’s true nonetheless. even you’ve fallen for that cheeky loser’s spell.

in your defense, there are many things to love about him; how funny he is, how much he cares, how devoted he is, not to even mention his looks.

so, yes, you may have fallen for him. a lot of girls have.

“but it’s different this time. we have the chemistry. if he wasn’t so busy with training, if i’d be able to run into him again and hang out with him, then i’m sure he’d feel the same way.” you tell your friends over lunch. one of them scoffs. “suuuure, keep telling yourself that. i watched that latest game he played in, there were at least 10 other girls who were thinking the same thing.”

“you don’t get it, you just don’t get it! we have so many mutual friends, it’s almost as if we were meant to meet, y’know?” you explain, sounding almost desperate as your heart stirs thinking about him.

and, among the many exploits you did to impress him, you started doing volleyball. “s/o-chann! what are you doing here?” oikawa walks over to you, new kneepads in hand. “oh— hey! just buying some things.” you explain to him, handing the cashier some money as they wrap up your new volleyball. “what about you?”

“ahh, just getting some new gear since mine is getting pretty old… i never knew you did volleyball!” he notices things quickly. “well, yeah… i just have a lot on my plate, so i don’t do it as often anymore.” you tell him. “really noww? well, we should play together, okay?” he offers, a competitive edge in his voice.

oh my god. this is your chance to hang out with him. sure, this was what you were hoping for, but not right now… what if you fail to serve so miserably that he ends up laughing at you? but, again, it’s hanging out with him!

“sure! i’m down to play!” you quickly recover from your anxious thoughts. “erm— while we’re both here, you wanna hang out for a while?” you ask, words falling out of your lips without your own accord. “aww, no can dooo… i’m here with iwa-chan, and he’s gonna get mad at me if i bring a girl back with meee…” he pouts. “next time though! i won’t go easy on you!” he laughs before waving you goodbye.

next time.

that meant he wanted to see you. right?

“ughhh, enough about oikawaaaaa… he’s not even that cute, you’re far too good for him.” your friend frowns. you do talk about him too much, but what’s there not to love? all that could spill from your mouth were words of love for him. she was probably sick of it, your whole class was probably sick of it. so many people knew of your crush on him, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he knew and decided to just ignore it.

you couldn’t help it, you just loved him so much.

but, nothing ever came out of it.

he continued with his life, and you moved on with your’s.

soon enough, all the love in your heart for him was drained from his lack of reciprocation. you couldn’t blame him, he has so many fans, it wouldn’t be fair to pay attention to just one.

but still, even if he never got to be your boyfriend, you still got a best friend.

“agh!! s/o-chan, don’t, i look ugly right nowww!” oikawa whines as he runs away from your phone camera, nimbly maneuvering himself through the convenience store’s thin aisles. “come back ‘kawa!” you catch up to him, pulling on his arm so he couldn’t run away and snapping a blurry photo of his face.

“noo, s/o-chan, don’t post it!!” oikawa shakes his head in distress, trying to grab your phone. “too late!” you laugh, hitting post on your new story, oikawa tagged. oikawa falls on top of your body, trying to grab your phone. “delete!” he demands, trying to reach for the phone you held up in the air while keeping you stuck on the ground.

you laugh at his feeble attempts, politely waving hello to one of your classmates walking into the store. “get up!! you’re so embarrassing, ‘kawa!” you try to push him off.

it was a good day, a really good day.

even without that romantic chemistry, there was definitely something between you two. and, everyone could feel it; the way conversation just flowed so naturally between you two when you were simply being yourselves, it was like breathing after drowning for so long.

it was like laughing for the first time. you’ve never gasped for air so much as you did when you were with him.

just friends now, nothing more. and, that’s okay.

the next day, you’d walked into school, still happy from the fun you had after school yesterday. when you overheard someone’s conversation.

‘you know, s/o from class 3-3 is lowkey… so loud. all she talks about is boys. it’s like she thinks she’s someone special.’ you hear someone snicker.

‘her hair is so bad… it’s like… why would she go out looking like that?’ you hear from the long haired brunette in front of you, turning her head to look at you not so subtly.

‘she thinks she’s so funny… she needs to learn when to shut up…’

where did all this come from?

you frown as you try to get along with your day. it’s still alright though, even if most of the school population is against you, you still have your friends.

“s/o, we took a vote and most of us don’t want to eat lunch with you anymore.” your friend tells you, if you can still even call her your friend. the shock can barely even register before you nod. “oh. alright then.” you take your things to eat on one of the benches at school.

“ah! s/o-chan, what are you doing hereee?” oikawa sees you, staring daggers into the gardens. “huh? oh, i…it’s nothing…” you mumble. “don’t you have your own lunch table? why’re you here all aloneeee?” he asks.

and that’s when it finally sank in.

“i just wanted a change of scenery today, i’m okay.” you assure him, using all your willpower to hide the tears that threaten to fall out. oikawa frowns, feeling as if there’s something else, but decides not to pursue it. “hmm, okayyyy… well, if that’s all, i guess there’s no problem. i’m gonna go eat now then!” oikawa waves goodbye, on his way to iwaizumi’s table.

and when he’s finally gone, is when you finally let all the tears fall. this is such a stupid thing to cry about… being kicked out of a lunch table? there are so many other problems you could cry about…

you go to the bathroom to splash some water on your face, eyes all puffy from crying. when you get back to your classroom, you see two of your friends, or… ex-friends. it’s just for a split second, but they run out the other side of the classroom, trying to avoid you.

what was all this even for? because of being friends with a boy you liked? you never even dated, so what harm was done?

you’re so many things; smart, athletic, quite awfully pretty as well. you have your own interests, hobbies, and likes. why do you have to be reduced to liking oikawa? sure, you did talk about him an awful lot, but never recently.

“why did everything go wrong?

all because i liked a boy?”

[ruhorih4ra]

I really reaaally should be sleeping right now.

This chapt contains descriptions of violence against humans and demons, big demons and little ones. :(

Get out of my way 🌈

The devildom isn't suitable for humans. Everything is too dangerous for the vulnerability of their souls and the fragility of their bodies. The days were cold, but the nights were colder, freezing. Human eyes can adapt in the morning; the sky even resembles the one in the human world when the sun has just set. Even so, the devildom doesn't have a sun and the dark just grows more intense as the hours pass with no promise of a brighter tomorrow.

There comes a time when you cannot see a thing and the cold stiffens your muscles so much you start to look like a statue. But you had never had to worry about it before, the brothers were always there to hug you, guide you, protect you with their hands and warmth.

“You don't want to open your eyes, Mc? Don't worry, dear, you don't need to see us devouring your soul.” The Little D. of pride said. Even though he had the same voice of Lucifer, it sounded different. “I'm just enjoying the clean air.” you answered.

“Ah, so that's why you are protecting yourself with magic?” The impersonator of Satan inquired. You finally opened your eyes and searched for the new addition to the group, all of the Little D.s had morphed into the brothers' demonic forms.

“Zzzz Night, Mc. Zzzz.” The copycat of Belphie was sleeping in a fetal position over a bush. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Heh, no problem. We don't need him to start the feast!” Leviathan's impersonator cracked his knuckles. “I guess that's true, but first listen to me.” you stood in the middle of them. They had surrounded you in a circle, leaving no place to run.

“We are on the outskirts of the Devildom forest, as you can see, we are completely alone except for the creatures that lurk in the dark.” Your voice was calm as you inspected the demons’ faces. “We are the creatures that lurk in the dark, Mc.” Asmodeus's copycat said.

“Yes, one of them.” you took a rock and closed your hand into a fist, bringing it to your lips and chanting a spell. “Look, it is pretty, isn't it?” the rock glowed a bright green color.

The demons looked at each other as if they were questioning your sanity. Some raised their eyebrows, and others merely shrugged. “Catch it!” You threw the rock at the Little D. of Wrath, who caught it effortlessly. “Oh! Look! it's me!” He said excitedly, turning to the Lucifer impersonator. Sadly, before he could even meet the eyes of his companion, fangs, huge like sharp knives, sank into him.

“A fufufucking giant venus fly trap!! Aahh get the hell outta my way!!” The first to run was the Little D. of Greed and you followed in his steps, quickly closing your eyes and casting another spell. “I am the magician, MC… Heed my words! Open the way forward and create a path where there was none!”.

Suddenly, the air changed and you knew you were far from the forest. You were in the coliseum, surrounded by the vestiges of Diavolo's ancestors. The peace didn't last much as sardonic laughter filled the place. “Hahaha! I must admit that was funny, Mc. But as you may know, you CAN'T kill us!” the Little D. of Envy spited, fury evident in his agitated movements.

“Oh, but I can and you know it. For all these months the truth about your kind was impossible to find, there was nothing!” You walked towards him. “But in the end, you are just demons. I know I made you stronger but I did not create you.”

One by one the Little D.s arrived, all but one. “Phew! that was close hahaha!” The demon of greed laughed while wiping away a drop of sweat. “Ugh! my clothes are ruined!”

“Hey! where is your arm?!” Beelzebub impersonator asked, looking at his partner in crime with confusion. “Enough!” the voice of Leviathan resounded in the silent place, the echo of his order made sure that the others obeyed. Even you stood still for a moment, trying to remember if you had heard Levi speaking in that tone before. It makes sense, after all, Leviathan is supposed to be and admiral.

“I will not give you my soul. I’d rather die.” with a swift movement of your wrist a dagger materialized in your hand and you adopted a fighting pose. “As you wish, Mc.” Lucifer imposter ran towards you and kicked you right in the stomach, throwing you against a wall.

He was incredibly fast, you only saw a shadow before crashing into the hard surface. “Already bleeding, human?” The Little D.s were surrounding you again but they stopped when black, well defined lines appeared on your neck. You stood up with no effort, arranging your clothes and brushing off the dust. “I borrowed some of Beelzebub’s strength, I'm sure he won't mind.”

“Ha! Points for trying but you cannot avoid the inevitable.”

***

Sc ran towards the house of lamentation under the inexplicable feeling of urgency and shame. The other students looked at her with curiosity and amusement as she left RAD, most looking for the demon chasing her just to realize that the human was simply running.

It felt unreal, everything since she had arrived to hell feels the same way, like a comedy. She paid no attention to the blurry faces and shady laughter, she couldn't care less about them in this hellish asylum. She heard the high-pitched squawk of a bird in the sky and noticed how a couple of crows flew back to RAD after looking at her. “The Avatar of Greed and his thousand eyes.” she thought, unconsciously running faster.

“Fuck you, you blabbermouth jerks!” Sc shouted, already sensing their intentions. Her whole body felt ready to explode, her lungs were burning, breathing had long since become painful. “I won't make it, I won't make it, I won’t ma-”

The sudden image of the house of lamentation's door appeared in front of her, seconds weren't enough for her to stop before crashing into it. “Shit, oh, fuck!”

“I saw you running away, I thought I’d give you a little push, Sc.” She heard a condescending voice from behind. She touched her nose and the pain was sharp, surely it was broken. The blood on her fingers took her attention away before her brain could process the demon's words.

“Did you open a portal in front of me?” She asked, still confused. “You seem to be in a hurry.”

Sc looked at Satan with wariness, he looked mad but it was quite different to previous times, he seemed tranquil, peaceful. Sc felt goosebumps trough all her body, something was screaming at her to get up and run away and so she tried. “Not so fast, little rat.” Satan moved so fast it looked like he had teleported, he took her arm before she could open the door and pulled her closer, gripping her hair tightly with his free hand.

“We have some unfinished business, Sc.” Tears unconsciously welled up in Sc’s eyes as the burning of her scalp became unbearable.

Satan's eyes widened, confusion filled green irises, darkening his gaze with pain. Sc sunk the dagger deeper into the demon's stomach without taking her eyes off his. “I'm sorry, m'lord but I don't have time for your tantrums.” Sc twisted the dagger viciously, years of experience helping her to keep her hand still against the fear. “I’ll kill yo-” She thrust the dagger again until the grip in her hair disappeared and Satan fell to her side, moaning in pain as dark blood pooled around.

***

The pain in your stomach was sharp as the knife that caused it, you looked first surprised and then with fear at the black form of Mammon, drops of saliva sliding through his fangs as the knife sank more and more in your body. “What kind of idiot gets stabbed with their own knife?!”

You took the Little D.’s hand, the one that was wielding the knife, while the other hand searched for his face with apprehensive calm. “…ring of light!” you murmured, tightening your grip on the demon's face that gradually changed from mocking to pained. Rays of divine light came from the ring that had belonged to Lucifer so many years ago, light that worked as a deadly repellent against demons.

Your wound was nothing compared to the cries of pain from the Little D. of Greed who begged for mercy with a voice that no longer resembled Mammon's. His body fell at your feet with a loud thud. “5 left.” you murmured, looking at the Little D.s, who were becoming more and more manic with every passing second.

***

Sc entered the house of lamentation as if she was coming from a peaceful walk in the gardens rather than a death fight with the Avatar of Wrath. However, once that she realized the other demons weren't coming at her, she started walking faster, following a direction that only her intuition knew.

She stood in front of the attic door, where she had been staying since she had arrived to the devildom. An ominous feeling filled her when she touched the doorknob, her skin was crawling as she opened the door slowly. The fast beating of her heart slowed down when she saw the Avatar of Sloth sleeping in deep slumber, like that he even looked like an angel.

Suddenly, something called her, a force too strong and pressing to ignore. Her gray eyes landed on the little cage she'd bought, like the sleeping beauty was lured to the spinning wheel, she was lured to the bird cage. It was situated above a dresser, just a few steps ahead of the bed.

Once she took it, the urges to go became stronger, as if the cage was commanding her to move. A voice in her head murmured words she could barely register. “Forest. Dark. Cold.”

“What?” She murmured, her voice as feeble as the one in her head. “Careful. Attic.” Sc's hands tightened around the small bars of the cage, absorbed in the voice and the message she couldn't decipher. “I don't understand you.” She said, how was she supposed to sharpen her hearing if the voice was coming from inside her mind. But it wasn't necessary because what she heard then was loud and clear.

“Behind you.”

***

A left hook from the Little D. of Gluttony sent you straight to the ground. The other demons had returned to their more amicable form, small black demons with friendly smiles cheered every time Beel imposter landed a blow. Before you could stand, you received a kick that conected with your jaw and made you kiss the ground again.

“You're the best, Leeb! Give them a good lesson!” The little D. of Envy shouted. If not for Beelzebub’s strength, you would be dead. “Leeb? This is the first time I hear your name.” You said, breathless.

“It doesn’t make sense. Don’t try to fake it, I know you’re not my ‘inner demons’.” You were beaten and bruised but there weren’t broken bones and so you could hold your ground. “You stole his shape and now his name?” The Little D. of Gluttony didn’t answer, instead he charged towards you. You dodged his punch at the last second, putting distance in between. “Where did you come from?”

It was clear that your questions wouldn’t be answered, the demon was too focused on ending you. “Hear me, denizens of darkness, you who are born of shadow and you who give birth to it. Hear me and do as I command! I, MC, call upon you to give me the strength of one of your number! the Avatar of Greed, Mammon!”

Before Leeb could land another blow, you moved behind his back, but you were so fast that it let you disoriented. Your body felt so light weighted and free, no wonder why Mammon is the fastest of them all. The demon aimed a kick to your torso, with Mammon’s speed you avoided in no time and thus began a round of blows and dodges.

“This is taking too long! Just break their legs!” You heard the voice of Leviathan, the Little D.s were tall again, clear proof that they were getting impatient. Leeb charged towards you one more time and, just like last time, you waited until the last moment to launch yourself out of his reach.

The demon crashed entirely into the wall, he stood there for a few seconds before turning around. Just when you thought another round would begin, what was left of the giant wall came crushing down on Leeb.

“Clearly, you are not on the good side of the Avatar of Greed.”

***

SC turned in time to see Belphegor aiming a punch, she dodged it in time too, her eyes glued to the hole Belphie made in the wall behind her. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“Mm-hmm.” Belphegor murmured, but didn’t move. Sc looked at him, his eyes were closed and his head was tilted to the right side, occasionally moving to the left. “Lord Belphegor, are you a sleepwalker?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s okay, I’ll leave now, okay?”

The Avatar of Sloth remained still, breathing calmly over Sc’s face. She wanted to relax, but she couldn’t remember any animal with claws as large and sharp looking as the demon in front of her. The same demon that had killed Mc in the very same place.

“Ookay, my lord, I’ll take my leave.” She moved slowly around Belphegor, never turning her back on him. She was almost out of Belphie’s reach when the demon straightened and dug his claws into Sc’s arm, making her gasp in pain. “Mc?” he murmured sweetly, in stark contrast to his actions.

“No!” She muffled her mouth with her free hand, noticing how the sleeping demon was in fact still sleeping. “They’re not here.”

“Where are they?” Belphie asked, tightening his grip, making the woman bend over in pain. “The news-” She gasped, closing her eyes. “The newspaper club, my lord.”

The relief she felt was immediate, Belphie let go of her arm and went back to bed. “Stupid eggplant.” He said, then a bunch of snorts as adorable as those of an angel were heard.

***

The Little D.s started attacking all at once, too upset by the current situation. You moved, attacked, and avoided as efficiently as you could, but the constant use of magic was taking its toll on you and more often than not their hits were successful.

"Spirit of the fire, bring your force upon the demons before me" you screamed, breaking the spells that allowed you to use the brothers’ strength and directing all your attention on the current one.

Two of the Little D.s avoided the intense fire that appeared out of your surroundings. Asmodeus and Belphie impostors screamed as the fire consumed their flesh. Similar to the others, their bodies didn’t die like a human one, instead they crumbled as if they were made of porcelain.

For a few moments, the world stopped moving and you watched them burn, the fire illuminated your face and your eyes reflected the flames. “Only two left.” Both the Little D. of Envy and the Little D. of Pride stood in silence, their faces disfigured by a perverse grimace of hunger.

“You are correct, Mc. We aren’t your inner demons.” The Little D. of Envy took the first step, as soon as his foot touched the ground, his leg broke and rolled into itself, his body did the same. “Congratulations!” He broke into maniacal laughter. As for Lucifer copycat, he vanished from his previous spot, leaving behind a cloud of black fog.

Your eyes scanned everything as fast as they could, but the fear had flooded your brain, stifling your ability to move. “Don’t resist, Mc.” Said a voice you hadn’t heard before, the real voice of the Little D. of Pride. You tried to move but something was forcing you to stay still, a black mist adhered to your body like freezing cold. “No, I refuse.”

The Little D. of Envy finally stood in front of you, taking your face with his hands, sinking his claws into your jaw. “Open your eyes.” He demanded. You had closed them, remembering Mephisto, Mammon, Amodeus… they had seen something in you through your eyes. “No!”

The fog that had adhered to your body forced your eyelids, tears of pain, fear and frustration slid down through your face. “Oh! It is not as white as before, is it?” the demon laughed. “So resilient, so persistent!” “Stop!” You screamed one last time before the mist prevented you from even that.

He looked at you and you looked at him, something stole your breath and left you empty.

The smell of your favorite food, that reminded you of Beel.

That feeling when you sleep on freshly washed sheets, that reminded you of Belphie.

They vanished, something absorbed them until you couldn’t remember what was there before.

A deep laugh, he doesn’t laugh often. Well, he does laugh a lot when he is with you. It makes you feel proud. Proud. Lucifer. That disappeared too.

You try to fight it, to grab an invisible rope that is not there for your soul knows no strings.

Someone is pulling your wrist, a voice is calling your name, asking you to follow him and only him and no one else. Your first disappeared too.

Your favorite color, that one song that accompanies you in all your difficult moments and the sound of the waves breaking against the rocks. Your favorite book and the hand of Satan, holding your hand as you turn the pages.

You started crying, feeling the emptiness as a part of you.

Someone hugging you, the relaxing smell of tea, the warmth of the fireplace, the silly jokes, the routine. A decorated cane, a simple courtesy.

“It’s mine!” You cried in vain.

Flowers, roses hanging from the bed and a beautiful demon smiling at himself, smiling at you. A bathtube filled with roses and then empty, just a pillow and a sheet. The faint sound of video games while you see the slow movement of a goldfish, alone in a giant tank.

And the only thing you can feel at the end is love, tender love.

You can feel the taste of your favorite food, the rhythm of that song, the ache in your stomach when you laugh too much. And what you thought was emptiness was only the resistance of your soul, the incorporeal fight for your soul.

And you feel it in yourself, with all its colors and shades.

You smiled, no longer looking into the dead eyes of the Little D. but looking at everything that makes you feel alive. “I told you, you can’t have my soul. It’s mine.”

As soon as you finished talking an intense pain spread from your stomach to your throat, blood came out of your mouth and choked you for an instant. “If not your soul, at least your body.” The Little D. of Envy said with boredom and hatred.

Before delivering the final blow, a dazzling golden flash hit him on the head, a woman holding a bird cage landed blow after blow at Leviathan impersonator, who was now lying on the ground. Gradually, the mist that held you still vanished and took the form of the Little D. of Pride, but this time it was as little as the Little D. of Envy that you had seen the first time, no bigger than your hand.

“Catch him!” You barely had the strength to speak but Sc heard you, quickly launching herself with the cage in hand towards the little demon. The bird cage did all the work, sucking inside the little demon.

“Thank you.” You murmured. Sc was hugging the bird cage, slowly sliding against a wall. Until that moment, you hadn’t noticed how injured she was. “No problem.” She said before passing out, the cage firmly secured in her arms.

You heard hurried footsteps and frantic voices but your eyes couldn’t resist more, you surrendered to your tiredness and closed them, perhaps forever, you thought.

Last part ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ???

Taglist: @yuumaofc @asmolover1234 @gallantys @prefesro @urminebutidontwantyou @fiveofspades @exrellian @kaiserkisser @cutestpatoootie @fandumshippr @frenchmess23yo @reject-queen @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf

Yes, next one is finally the end of this long ass fic that is taking me forever to finish (feign surprise please 🙏🏻)!!

Also, I KNOW it was kind of sappy, if I were Mc my soul would already be marinade and ready (bon appétit! 🍷) but this Mc is amazing just like you! (⁠っ⁠˘⁠з⁠(⁠˘⁠⌣⁠˘⁠ ⁠)

Still, I feel like I lacked angst in this chapt. My soul is sad rn. :(

Thanks for reading and commenting! 🩷

[suzukiblu]

For Wip Wednesday is it possible to request one of each? Or would you prefer individual asks for different wipes?

the Gotham Kid

Trauma can do a lot to a person, though, and it’s not like the Alley isn’t spoiled for it. Kid’s only been here a few months, and he’s seen way worse than something a cheap dye job could cover up. 

Way, way worse. 

“Should it be, pretty boy?” Trish asks the guy, her smile pleasantly poisonous and familiarly shit-starting. Kid might have to rough up a couple guys before they're done here, he notes in mild resignation. Not that he blames her for wanting to make it clear that this isn't the time or place for outsiders to be fucking with anybody, but these guys haven't actually done any fucking with anybody yet. 

Though he does know better than to give anybody in Gotham too much benefit of the doubt, especially in Crime Alley. 

Superman would, but Superman would do a lot of things Kid can't afford to.

Could never afford to.

the one where Kon isn't the father

Tim cries all over himself and also Kon for way, way too long, but it’s–fine. It’s fine. He can explain looking like he cried to the Kents, because crying over his dead boyfriend coming back to life is a perfectly normal emotional response. 

And Kon is, technically, his dead boyfriend now. Or–not the dead part anymore, obviously, but–

“The cover’s good as-is,” Kon murmurs quietly as they’re sitting together in the far corner of the nursery. She’s still asleep. Tim couldn’t bring himself to leave her and go upstairs, though. “Like–what everybody assumed, I mean. They already all think it anyway, right? Like, they’re all already convinced. So coming up with a different lie might just make ‘em reexamine shit and maybe notice something, and that’d be a problem.” 

“It would,” Tim agrees in relief, glad that Kon understands that. But also . . . “But you want to tell them–you want to pretend about us, too?” 

“I don’t want anybody to have a single reason to doubt who Kyra’s other dad is,” Kon says. “Ever.” 

“You don’t have to do this,” Tim says, although if Kon doesn’t it's going to ruin his life. 

Ruin Kyra’s life, more importantly. 

“Fuck off, Rob, don’t tell me what to do,” Kon snorts the exact same way he used to in their Young Justice days, and Tim chokes on a sob of a laugh. Fuck, he’s missed him. 

He’s missed him so, so much.

Match technically is also a Luthor

Match finds that response . . . strange. Strange in several ways, in fact, because it almost sounded like Luthor was actually listening to what he said. 

Almost. 

“I take it there isn’t something less idiotic than ‘Subject Match’ to be calling you, then?” Luthor says. 

“No,” Match says. He doesn’t particularly care what anyone thinks of his designation–it’s perfectly serviceable–but he doesn’t know what he thinks of the way Luthor’s commenting on it. Like he thinks the Agenda should’ve . . . tried harder or something. 

That can’t be right, Match thinks. 

“Of course there’s not,” Luthor snorts dubiously. “Fine, I’ll come up with something bearable in the car. Now come along, I wasn’t actually joking about that meeting I have to terrorize. The board members have been getting ideas again, suicidal little optimists that they are.” 

“In the . . . car?” Match asks incredibly. What, did he just drive here? 

“That is what I said, yes,” Luthor says, then snaps his fingers impatiently beore turning back towards the door. “Keep up.” 

And Match doesn’t understand what the hell is happening here or even why it’s happening at all, but he doesn’t have orders and Luthor definitely does have kryptonite, or at least an Amazon or two, so Match just . . . 

Follows him.

weird Kryptonian bonding rituals

“Huh?” Clark startles, and they all look over at Lois. She looks triumphant, waving her phone. 

“Conner,” she repeats matter-of-factly. “It’s easy to pronounce, common enough he won’t constantly be having to spell it, but still uncommon enough there won’t be twelve other ones everywhere he goes. Also it means ‘lover of hounds’, so we have to get him a dog now. Do you want a dog, Conner? And, uh, also the name. Also do you want the name.” 

“. . . maybe?” Superboy looks curious, floating over to peer at the phone screen. “What’s having a dog like?” 

“It's nice, if you get one who's right for you and take good care of them,” Clark says, immediately resolving to find an apartment that allows pets. He’ll pay the pet fee. He’ll pay a monthly pet fee if he has to. Superboy can have all the dogs he wants. “It's rewarding. And, well–nice, again. Dogs are great, and they love people. Man’s best friend and all that, you know? Not that we necessarily count as that kind of ‘man’ because of the whole alien definitely-not-biological-weapons issue but–look, it’s fine, dogs are great! They don’t even get weird about us being the wrong species! Um. Not the wrong species, just . . .”

“A dog would love me?” Superboy tilts his head, then . . . blinks, very slowly. “Like–how much?” 

“Almost as much as we're going to,” Clark says, his chest clenching tightly.

the last son of Krypton meets Hypertime Kon

“We’ll help you however we can,” Clark promises again, slightly rephrased, and Kon looks surprised. 

“Um–you sure it's not a problem?” he hedges awkwardly. “I can, like, go bother somebody who’s less busy . . .” 

Clark cannot imagine ever being busy enough to ignore this kid, much less pawn him off on someone else. That is not a thing that he is ever going to do, no matter how long it takes to get Kon home. He’s another Kryptonian, and one who’s proudly wearing the El crest and carrying both genes and a name from a version of him. How could he do anything less than his best for him? 

“It’s not a problem at all,” he says firmly, giving Kon’s shoulder another squeeze before dropping his hand away. 

“Certainly not,” Diana agrees. 

“It’s definitely a problem,” Bruce mutters under his breath, like he’s never picked up a random stray kid who he doesn’t know anything about except how much they needed his help. Hypocrite, Clark thinks both wryly and fondly.

[forestdeath1]

I see many Snape Stans (I dislike Snape but I see why he turned out the way he did) saying James sexually assaulted him, especially on TikTok, when it’s not the truth at all, we don’t know if he ever actually took off his pants because and it wasn’t his fault that Snape wasn’t wearing any trousers. While he did bully him he never sexually assaulted him, and so many people are now saying this and I’m just flabbergasted, why did no one read the books? Why does everyone get their informations off TikTok and Twitter?

I don't really like this topic, to be honest. But here's how I perceive it.

1. In the canon, as far as I remember, it wasn't even implied that wizards wore trousers under their robes. They all just wore their underwear. And Lupin says:

"Oh, that one had a great vogue during my time at Hogwarts," said Lupin reminiscently. "There were a few months in my fifth year when you couldn’t move for being hoisted into the air by your ankle."

"Yes," he said, "but he wasn't the only one. As I say, it was very popular. . . . You know how these spells come and go. . . ."

So Snape not only created this spell himself, but it also became popular at school. So many students were hanging upside down, showing off their underwear.

From this, we can infer that wizards perceived it slightly differently than we do now, and even than Harry. It was "fun" bullying, but nothing more. Even Lupin himself sounds like he's justifying it, although he probably got hung upside down too ("There were a few months in my fifth year when you couldn’t move for being hoisted into the air by your ankle.").

2. We don't know for sure if James ended up taking Snape's pants off. Logically speaking, JKR simply didn't describe it, assuming that he did. Given the time the book was written, she probably didn't intend to invest it with such a horrible meaning. This all happens in the 70s in the WW. For our time, of course, it's SA. And that's awful. But the perception of that time could leave its mark. For example, when I was in school, many things that are now considered "awful" were seen as "not so bad". Those who did those awful things back then didn't even really understand how awful their actions truly were. Society evolves and we increasingly respect people's personal psychological and physical boundaries. What we didn't perceive as SA back then is considered SA today. A simple example you've probably seen in movies, spanking children was considered normal and right. That's how society raised those people. Surely today those same people wouldn't spank their children, because they would understand it's bad.

So it's likely that nobody at school perceived this action as SA. Moreover, James always played to the crowd. And if he really, according to the author's intention, took Snape's pants off, and the whole school saw it as normal, and didn't start looking at James with disgust... it raises big questions for the school students, doesn't it? If my friend did this today, he wouldn't be my friend anymore. Most people would look at such a person with disgust. But James's popularity didn't diminish at all.

This brings us back to the fact that nobody back then saw it as worse than bullying. So the society of that time hadn't yet formed enough understanding of what SA was and how bad it was to expose someone else's genitals. So James didn't fully understand either how awful it was, much more awful than pink bubbles out of your mouth or doubling someone's head in size. So for them it was all on the same level — taking someone's pants off or making them hang upside down or doubling their head in size.

I'm not justifying it, but the wizarding world is pretty harsh. Neville was thrown out of a window, Harry almost killed Draco, Fred and George literally made a kid disappear for a week, and Hermione kept Rita Skeeter captive in a jar for over a month. All of this is awful, but the wizarding world operates by different moral standards.

If judged in terms of our morality, there are almost no morally pure characters in these books.

I especially don't understand Snape stans (I mean I like Snape, but I don’t understand their logic). In terms of our morality, both Snape and James deserve to be punished. Snape would have got a much bigger sentence for joining and helping a terrorist organisation. What are Snape stans trying to prove? That Snape was better? No, he wasn't. They're all arseholes in terms of the muggle world of 2024.

[n6ptunova]

need friends w benefits headcanons with chris pls (and him being crazy in love)

friends with benefits • chris sturniolo

a/n: STOP YOU GET ITT thank uu for the request🫶 also idk if this counts as a headcanon i kinda got carried away mb😭

warnings: nsfw obv, some fluff, not proofread

- you and chris hung around similar friend groups in la and you knew of the triplets, even had a lil crush on chris, but he didn’t know who you were till one day at a party he saw you talking to vinnie, a mutual friend.

- chris didn’t really mess around with la girls, partly bc he’s not looking for anything serious due to his commitment issues, and partly bc la is full of clout chasing influencers who talk.

- but when he saw you, the pretty girl with his vinnie’s arm resting around her shoulder? he wasted no time grabbing his brothers’ arms mumbling something about, “let’s go say hi.”

- the moment you met you got along like a house on fire, laughing at jokes only you two found funny, bouncing off each other the whole night and when you two were left alone, a few flirty remarks slipped here and there.

- you exchanged phone numbers that night and things quickly escalated, flirting intensified and after a few weeks you found yourself in his bed.

- you initially thought this would be a one time thing and so did he. neither of you wanted to risk the friendship you’ve built so far and have this be messy. but for some reason this felt…different.

- yes, it was your first time hooking up but he was already pussy-whipped. he couldn’t, for the life of him, stop fucking you.

- as shitty as this sounds, he usually preferred doggy style on one night stands so he wouldn’t have to see the girl’s face (plus he’s an ass guy wbk) but with you, it’s the first time he’s felt inclined to do missionary and he just couldn’t get enough.

- he’s already filled up the condom two rounds ago yet he’s still balls deep entranced by the euphoric feeling of being inside you. he only snaps out of it when your nails dig down his back and you manage to breathe out, “c-chris, too much.”

- “you can handle it for me, can’t you?” the way you tightened around him and arched your back gave him his answer.

- chris never hooks up with the same girl twice. he knows it’s a bad idea. so why was he calling you the next day to come over. and the day after that…and the day after th- you get the point.

- each time he said to himself it’ll be the last time, but he couldn’t help it. what was it about you that drew him in so much? you were the best he’s ever had. so he suggested the idea of friends with benefits, no strings attached and you agreed because he too, was the best you’ve ever had.

- you had no rules about fucking other people, but it’s not like he could anyway. every time he tried getting intimate with another girl, the only thing on his mind would be you, you’re what gets him going at this point. one time he couldn’t even get it up for another girl, it was the most embarrassing moment of his life.

- he thought it’s just a phase and over time he’ll get over it once fucking you gets repetitive. only, it never did. each time you did it was better than the last. he was convinced you had some sort of spell on him.

- you were the only girl he’s ever made love to. the only girl he ever enjoyed kissing while being inside of. the only girl that made him crave cuddling and aftercare so much he’d literally get withdrawals and be whiny if you weren’t in his arms after sex or vice versa. omg when did he get this soft??

- i don’t think he would tell anyone, even his brothers, that he has a fwb so you two would sneak around a lot in the beginning, until the others see you hanging out alone often, eating together, going to the arcades, bowling, the movies, everyone just assumed you’ve become best friends so no one questions it when you spend time in each other’s rooms (though nick and matt can tell you like each other but they don’t mention it)

- you only call him ‘chris’ when you’re hooking up, but when you’re hanging out or around people you refer to him as you do everyone else ‘bro,’ ‘dude,’ ‘dumbass,’ etc. so he associated you saying his name to sexual activities without even realizing.

- you called him by his name in a public setting once and he immedietly got a flashback of you moaning his name and became a flustered stuttering mess.

- he’d have little moments of confusion like when his heart skips a beat everytime he heard you laugh, and the overwhelming urge to make you do it again. and why did he want to be around you 24/7? inviting you everywhere him and his brothers go. making excuses to touch you in any way like having your knees touch sitting next to each other, or placing his hand on your waist to get past you.

- he didn’t understand what any of it meant but he convinced himself that’s probably how best friends are, i mean look at nick and madi, it’s the same thing, right?….right?

- i don’t think he really realizes he’s in love with you until one day he texted you he’s coming over and you told him you’re not home. that’s weird, where would you be at 2 am? “i’m at vinnie’s place”

- oh. why did that hurt? why does he care? it’s not like you had a rule about seeing other people, except he wasn’t seeing other people. he couldn’t see other people. and he kinda didn’t want you to either. that’s when it clicked. he loves you.

- he replied coldly and waited for the next time you see each other, he asked if you slept with vinnie and you said yes. from your pov, you were running away from your feelings for chris. you knew he doesn’t want a relationship and so to not get too attached you tried sleeping with someone else. but it didn’t work.

- you weren’t gonna tell him that but you sensed he was a bit jealous, you liked it. it ended up with you having angry jealous sex that night, but even though chris was roughly hammering you, the way he kissed your lips down to your neck was so soft and gentle, full of love.

- chris was so engulfed in the feeling that as he was reaching his high he ended up confessing, “fuck, i love you.” you were so fucked out that you didn’t even register what he just said until he dropped his body weight onto you, both of you catching your breath.

- “wait what did you say?” you’re both alert now, “oh- i said um…listen, i really don’t want you seeing other guys.”

- you smiled up at him, “then, i won’t.”

- “i also don’t want us to stay friends…i kind of wanna be more than that.”

- “and that would be?” you were teasing him at this point but you wanted to hear him say it.

- “i want to take you out on a date, and have you be my girlfriend. but if you don’t feel the same there’s no pressure-“

- “i’d love to be your girlfriend.” you cut him off, to his relief. he grinned and leaned down to kiss you, both of you smiling into it. after you pull away he rests his head on you while you play with his hair.

- “oh and chris,” he hummed in response, too tired to say anything, “i love you too.”

[oyster-sauce-tart]

SAGAU thoughts

I’ve had ENOUGH!!! of all the imposter sagau’s makinh me feel sad (as much as I love them it has completely taken over the genre and don’t like that) so taking matters into my own hands

*ahem*

So I have my own little thought about the multiverse theory in which different universes are constantly created; for every choice you choose, another universe in which you’ve made a different decision is created

Even the world of Genshin is no different.

When you, the Player, first downloaded Genshin impact the concept of a “Creator” was made. A being amongst gods who created everything, who created life to the entire world.

And technically it’s true! You are the Creator of Teyvat!

By deciding to *play* Genshin impact you created a world that is an alternative to the Teyvat you originally knew!

Heck even an another version of you exists!

In every which way this Genshin You is still you. The same appearance the same personality…

Although, this Creator you doesn’t just encapsulate how you act, but how you act and play in Genshin as well

So… if you’re one of those… bloodthirsty players that love to attack every enemy in sight…

The Original

Disclaimers: mentions of reader’s death, brief description of gore (getting hit by a truck isn’t a very nice experience), Aether is the traveler (mentioned), 2nd person pov/GN!reader, Reader is referred to as ‘The Original’ with no other name mention, I did all this on mobile w/o any spell check, implied Reader was an academic focused college student before death

You had originally thought, that when you died everything would merely turn black. Or maybe you would reincarnate into another person, forgetting your old life and starting anew.

You’d have yet to know that’s what exactly was going to happen (more or less) but we’d still have yet to approach that part of this tale.

After that spiraling truck hit you square in the body, knocking you out cold with too many injuries and too much blood loss for your body keep you breathing, you had woken up with perfect health.

Erm… well… sorta. You weren’t bleeding out with your limbs thrown every which way, with pieces of your bones poking out of your flesh, anymore but you didn’t really feel… anything. Just floaty, and a bit tingly…?

“Well, yes, transferring your consciousness from one realm to another before it drifted away at the last second can bring out that weird feeling… you may want to ask Aether about that, they might empathize with you.”

…

what.

It had suddenly came to your attention that you were laying down. On someone’s lap. Who’s lap? Well you still had your eyes closed so you decided to open them and jump up to stand in order to see what in the utter hell was going on.

You jump out of whoever’s embrace you were in and opened your eyes. You saw that you seemed to be in some kind of… space…?

The best way to describe it was like being taken to space to see the stars up close except you didn’t need a space suit, you were breathing just fine! As well as the fact that the surface your feet was under rippled like water droplets yet you didn’t sink nor stumble from the weird feeling.

“An amazing realm we’re in isn’t it? I’m glad I created this and hid up here after that dastardly war…”

Ah right the mysterious voice talking to you that suspiciously sounded like yours if you took etiquette lessons.

You finally turn to look up at the voice and your eyes widened. It wasn’t just that voice that sounded like you… the person standing in front of you looked exactly like you!

Down to the skin, hair, and eye color, the height, the body tone and shape, even those little marks that only you would recognize…! It’s like looking in a mirror…! Ah well sort of…

First of, the hair color you two may share but their’s was much longer than yours. It even reached down to drag across the water-space-floor thing. And also they weren’t wearing the same clothes at you, but rather in some really pretty and delicate looking robes. Although this person had the upper half of the robe be loosely worn hanging off the shoulders showing a moderately tight turtleneck.

You couldn’t lie you wanted some of those garbs yourself, did this lookalike had a closet you could borrow maybe…

Ah wait speaking of which…

After ogling at your mirror image’s body, you immediately pointed at your doppelgänger with an accusatory tone. As if you weren’t just admiring their beautiful wardrobe and fashion choice.

“Who are you?!” you shouted at them. You tried on a loud voice to make yourself seem more threatening.

Alas, you were more of the academic type rather than the intimidating one so this person-who-looked-like-but-wasn’t-quite-you-you-think merely chuckled and looked at you with a rather admirable look.

Slowly they started to get closer to you with a chill and calm walk and once they were close enough to you they placed their hands to hold onto yours. You had noticed their hands were as just as rough as your own, although you didn’t know why this person’s were like that you can thank yourself for your own hand texture thanks to years of taking scholarly notes until your wrists cramped up during college lectures.

They stared at your hands, having had come to a similar realization and rubbed the back of your hands in a delicate manner.

They looked at you again.

“I’m so glad to finally meet you… my Original…”

…

WHAT.

[ Prologue, The Realm of Inbetween 1: END ]

Well ummmmmm this went a big longer than I intended,,,

Originally wanted to just spew out thoughts then I blacked out and now here’s this. I’ll actually continue this tbh this is real good and I’ve been wanting to write smth for this idea for awhile soo lol

Umm anyways cue end card-

Ty for reading <3

As always, I am unable to respond to replies so please show your support for my writing with reblogs, asks, or even dms!

Feel free to read my Carrd here to keep track of requests or Masterlist!

[ranahan]

i've been pondering how mando'a-as-first-language speakers might tend to parse [θ] and [ð]... we know <x> = <sh> thanks to ryan kaufmann (which i'd say must be canon enough since traviss didn't contradict it) and [f ~ p] and [z ~ s] from Traviss, (and maybe <vh> = [f] at least dialectally a la Vhett -> Fett, but I'd prefer to think that's more a matter of Basic speakers parsing [ɸ] as [f] than [ɸ ~ f] being widespread in mando'a) but I don't think we have any data on how they'd tend to parse [θ] and [ð]. I like the idea of th-fronting where [θ] becomes [ɸ] and [ð] becomes [v ~ ʋ] (Kiwi English is allegedly developing this phenomenon), but since mando'a phonotactics don't seem to allow [ɸ] outside of a syllable-initial position (of course since vhe- words are the only example we have of <vh> the data is a biiit limited, but if we assume it's true) I do wonder how likely mando'ade would be to parse, for example, the [θ] in "cloth" as [ɸ], or if they'd be more likely to parse it as [t] or [s]. Tho I do also like the th-fronting bc I wanna distance <vh> from <f> as much as possible :') Not a cipher! 🗞️

On the other hand I'm a bit charmed by [θ] -> [s] as well, mostly bc I associate it with the Askie pronunciation of ת‎, historically [θ] which has in different regions either remained as such or become [t] (Modern Israeli) or [s] (Askenazi). But then the lack of [z] for [ð] (since [s] and [z] are not readily differentiated among mando'ade) makes it less ideal imo. I mean ofc they could be mismatchy, it's not like [ð] and [θ:] were replaced with other sounds neatly and evenly in Finnish (and there's that variation across dialects, which of course would be a thing among mando'ade as well--) But yeah, [ð] could be, if not [v ~ ʋ], then [d] or even [ɾ] or [l]... for obvious reasons I find the idea of the [ɾ] realisation pretty charming :')

anyway, uh, thoughts?

(yes i am thinking abt this bc loan words mostly)

(also. while generally i prefer [f] -> [p], ~kevhe [or whatever final vowel would be best...] for caf is much nicer than kep, lol...)

I’m afraid your ask is going to be better thought out than my answer!

I did think about the same thing, then thought about the option of ð being loaned as dh in Mando’a, and then got hung up in determining what the heck Mando’a phonology even is, and what do the dh etc. spellings stand for. And then never really got back to loanwords.

But now that I’ve found an answer that satisfies me, I do have a whole bunch of things I’d like to loan to Mando’a actually, because I for one don’t buy that a language of an empire, itself a creole (if you subscribe to that headcanon), does not have many loanwords. You know that joke about English mugging other languages and riffling through their pockets for loose vocabulary? I think it would be more realistic for people to make similar jokes about Mando’a, and how Mandalorians plundered half of the galaxy and half of the dictionaries too. (Yes, this is the hill someone else will die on.)

Anyways, yes I do have thoughts. Sorry this is going to be very long and rambling because these are more of immediate thoughts rather than something I’ve formed a considered opinion on.

Like you, I’ve also noted that vh only occurs in syllable initial position in the Mando’a dictionary. But! There’s a Mandalorian world called Ceravh, which as far as I can tell comes from Traviss. I’d give that even odds of being Mando’a or being (perhaps a Mandalorianised version of) a native name of the colonised world, which could indicate that Mando’a could use syllable-final vh in loanwords at least.

But anyways, another option I have thought about is that a word-final φ could get loaned as v. Even if Mando’a doesn’t allow a syllable final φ, the voiced counterpart v is very common in that position. So e.g. caf > kav. Or heck, how about h? > kah. Idk how sensible h would be, it just popped into my mind as something that could sound similar and is allowed in the coda.

Another option of course is that Mando’a could insert extra vowels into loanwords, like e.g. te reo Māori which basically keeps all of the original sounds and adds vowels until the word conforms to te reo phonotactics. So e.g. caf > kavha or kevhe or whatever the vowels would be. There’s this quote, which has a different context, but be used as a precedent if you wanted? “Pronouncing terminal consonants varies in songs. They often become extra syllables. For examples, tor becomes to-rah and tang becomes tan-gah to maintain rhythm and meter.”

On the other hand, loanwords, especially old ones, could also be subject to Mando’a’s habit of contraction. Which tbh seems as much fanon as canon to me in that canon shows some contraction and elision (especially in compound words), but fanon has observed that pattern and taken it as a licence to go an extra mile. I kind of love that kind of an emergency and it’s what got me interested in Mando’a in the first place. I digress, but I’m trying to say faithfully borrowing every single sound is not necessarily the way I’d go for Mando’a. Maybe borrowing syllables as the closest equivalents would feel better? Idk, maybe I’ll try a couple of different approaches with some test sets of loanwords and see what happens.

I do generally like f > p, but… Idk, the results don’t always compel me? They don’t sound unlike Mando’a, but also not exactly like Mando’a either? I mean kav feels more like Mando’a than kap to me. Same for vhervhek vs perpek (although for obvious reasons, perpek does appeal as a curse). But on the other hand, fan > pan vs van vs vhan? Not much of a difference. And Fi > Pai, Felucia > Pelucya/Pelusha, even Falleen > Palin/Paliin do sound good to me. This is probably because while there are words that end in p (like kotep, taap), they are pretty rare. While words ending in v or beginning with a p are a dime in a dozen.

I agree that Vhett being spelled as Fett is a transliteration from Mando’a to Basic, and not necessarily indicative of how Mando’a L1 speakers would adapt loanwords from Basic to Mando’a.

Re: θ/ð, I’ve previously considered t/dʰ, but I like both s and th-fronting better! Those would be the closest fricatives, wouldn’t they.

Mando’a doesn’t seem to have /z/, which seems to be an allophone of /ts/ rather than /s/, if you go by Traviss’s recordings. Or maybe it’s an allophone of /s/, if you go by some comments. Heck, maybe it depends on the dialect. So perhaps you could go with s/ts, or level them both as s? I guess it would depend on whether z gets loaned as ts or s?

Or go with th-fronting (θ > ɸ, ð > v) in syllable initial positions, and for the coda, either voice the θ > v, or add an extra vowel after it, or allow φ in the coda for loanwords. I think that at least for dialects that realise <v> as [β], th-fronting sounds really close. I like it!

And since some Mando’a dialects seem to have [b ~ v] (or perhaps more likely [v ~ β], or maybe some dialect has /β/ which is heard as /b/ in some others…), after making the rounds in Mando’a dialects, a loan word might even end up with ð > v > b.

Full disclosure, I also like how either would make loanwords a little less immediately recognisable. But on the other hand, loanword phonology is also affected by the speakers’ understanding of the donor language, which might bias e.g. /t/ over /s/. Idk though how much we need to nitpick realism in an artlang though. Enough to ground it, not so much the art goes out.

And then we of course have the loan words Traviss picked from English:

besom /ˈbiː.zəm/ > besom /ˈbɛ.sɔm/

Bergen /ˈbəɹɡn/ > birgaan /bɪɾ.ɡaːn/

TAB /tæb/ > taab /taːb/

hyem /jɛm/> yaim /ʝaɪ̯m/

charva /ˈt͡ʃɑːvə/ > chaav’la /ˈt͡ʃɑːv.la/

chebs /tʃɛbs/ > shebs /ʃɛbs/

scran /skɹan/ > skraan /skɾaːn/

scunner /ˈska.nɐ/ > skanah /ska.nah/

(Geordie) way aye /ˈwaɪ.eɪ/ or (Pompey) weee /wiː/ > wayii /wa.jiː/

dinny /ˈdɪ.nɪ/> dinii /dɪ.niː/

jack /d͡ʒæk/ > jag /d͡ʒaɡ/ ?

(I’m not counting mhi and kando from that linked post, since they—or at least kandosii—are pre-Traviss Mando’a.)

Bit of a guess at the pronunciations because I’m not a Geordie and Traviss doesn’t do IPA, but I’m getting the feeling that the vowel qualities don’t match up that well. I might have loaned Bergen as *bargen or *begen instead. Besom i > ɛ I can excuse as levelling the vowels to the same height, which seems like something Mando’a is prone to. ɛ > aɪ̯ is interesting. But generally, I’m not sure what I’m looking at here? Maybe just artistic licence?

Of course if actual historical loans, we’d have to consider that those words might’ve been loaned from a dialect or at a time when the pronunciation differed from modern/RP pronunciation. Plus I at least like to think that Mando’a itself has many different dialects, so I’d be willing to excuse a degree of artistic licence and inconsistency, especially when it comes to vowels which are more fluid to begin with. Afaik it’s also not weird for natural languages to exhibit even considerable variation in loan word adaptation.

Ch is loaned both as ch and sh. Syllable-final r seems infrequently loaned (birgaan) or not (chaav’la) or loaned as h (skanah)—perhaps this reflects the (non)rhoticity of the dialect from which the loans came from, because Mando’a does have syllable-final r’s. Otherwise the consonants in these words seem unremarkable.

Talking about r though, I think there are some words in Mando’a where n > r in certain environments (or at least that could explain some etymologies). I guess it wouldn’t be too much a stretch to extend that to d and maybe ð. You can hear [kote], [kode] and [koɾe] or the Republic Commando OST. Imo this is simply the effect of singing on pronunciation (I was a trained singer once upon a time, I could go on about this), but Traviss seems to have taken it as t and d being interchangeable, or /kode/ being the archaic pronunciation and /kote/ modern.

Also as an aside, I kinda want to work out the phonetics of Huttese, because clearly Huttese (or trade/pidgin/creole Huttese, whatever they speak as a lingua franca in the Outer Rim) has lots of Basic loanwords, and I think that many Basic loanwords would probably arrive to Mando’a via Huttese rather than directly from Basic.

tldr: You have seem to have thought more about this than me. Do you have more thoughts? I’m not sure how much sense my reply made; it was bit of a brain vomit. I’ll probably go read some things and come back to this later with hopefully more sense, but I wanted to reply now because I’m not sure how busy I’ll be in the near future.

P.s. you wouldn’t happen to remember where you read about <x> = <sh>, [f ~ p] and [s ~ z]? I mean I remember reading some of those same things, but it was at least a year ago and I don’t seem to have saved the source (whoops). I can probably look up the source myself if you remember where it was. Might it have been this forum thread? “So, Xaga might have been "Shaga" (incorporating that "sh" sound the Mando like) and Zuka could've been Suka.”

[msue0027]

Can i be picky, pricky, mean and bitch a little? Pretty please?

So, I've watched x-men apocalypse (wow, I'm soo early to this party). It was nice, and look, there's my country (so of course I'm gonna have opinions). And well. I've been reading fanfics, and as i skim thru the tags i see Nina Gurzsky, and then again, and hm again, and who tf is Nin... Oh, NINA, as in Erik's daughter. Wait, Gurzsky?

What kind of surname is that? Because it's not Polish. (but we can fix that.)

I know in comics Magda is of Romani ancestry but i don't remember it being mentioned in the movie? So i guess she's polish-polish. And "Gurzsky" looks like she's 4th or 5th generation of emmigrants to america, has let everyone pronounce the name anyhow which led to diff spelling, and doesn't speak polish anymore.

(Really, who came up with that name, I'd like a word. What was your reasoning, your reasearch, the background you came up for Magda? Maybe it makes sense and is justified to be like that? Maybe I'm wrong, don't have all the info, misunderstood something? Then I'm really sorry.)

Nonetheless, let us begin. Gurzsky

So i guess anglophones just skip this surname all together, but let's try to read it. It would be something like goo-zh-ski or goor-zz-ski. Both are bad and hard to pronounce. Why is the "z" there? Why complicate it unnecessarily? Let's drop it (some ppl would do it anyway, even if it being there was justified, it's called simplification and it happens when there's many hard consonats next to each other, or something, i'm half asleep). My brain did it intuitively upon reading this name. It shouldn't be there. There's no reason i could see. So it's Gursky now.

Ehh. How many times? "-ski" is traditional ending of a polish surname, and used to indicate nobility. "-sky" is traditional transliteration from cyrylic alphabet, it's for the russian surnames. (And the ending "-sky" came there from Poland.) (I'm very passionate about that, sorry not sorry. But don't get me started at another polish surname "-cki" bc americans always pronounce it wrong. That “c” is separate letter and not just “k”, and i don't think i can find corresponding sound in english language (so you might be forgiven) and i don't want to bombard you with IPA (never mind, next day me kinda wants, so, it’s like “ts”, or german “z”), especially that it's not main topic of that post. But really, you could put some effort. We know the language is very different from your own, with weird sounds, but please, try. We're gonna love you for that. For one word. Anything really. Well, you already know “kurwa”, so maybe one more. Sorry, i digress.) So, it's "-ski", but not really. This type of surname changes based on gender. "-ski" is masculine, and "-ska" is feminine. Yes, not always, there are women with “-ski” and men with “-ska”, but then it does not flex at all (same form for both genders). You just have to ask. But that's minority. So now it's Gurska.

And surnames don't have to follow general rules of orthography and flexion, they can have their own unique spelling and way of decletion, you need to ask the bearer of the name. But. They still usually do. So looking at that name? It begs to be the deriving from mountains: góry. So it should be Górska. Pronounced: goor-skah. Now it is a Polish name. A good one.

So. I'm gonna use this name for that little family. It's canon for me now. Magda Górska and Nina Górska, and Erik was going under Henryk Górski. (Kinda cute if you ask me.)

Oof, I'm done. That was long. Thanks for coming to my little ted-talk, hope you enjoyed :))

(ps. i have rewatched scenes set in Poland, and Erik actually intrudeces himself as Henryk Górski, which means i was right but also why have a made this long-ass analysis? It was fun tho, and too much of my half asleep brain power went into this not to post it.)

[ask-good-cop-bad-cop]

Care to share some of your GCBC headcanons?

🔸️ I'm going to be pulling a lot of these from previously answered asks. It'll be nice having them in one spot.

✮ Their full name is Garrett William Copp. They developed as a "they", but Ma and Pa didn't realize it until they were a few months old and began to show two distinct personalities. So Good ended up getting called Garrett, and Bad ended up getting called William. He vastly prefers his name to be shortened to Liam. Don't ever call him Will. Especially don't try calling him Bill.

✮ Their birthday is October 31, 1969. (Yes, I am aware that would make them 55 now. It's still 2014 for them.)

✮ Bad has always enjoyed physical activity and played many sports when they were kids. His favorites were baseball and track & field. He also took up boxing in college. Good had more of an interest in theatre- Bad gave up sports their senior year of high school so Good would have the time to do something he enjoyed for once.

✮ They had difficulty controlling their switching when they were younger- Good especially. He's always been the stronger of the two of them that way and can easily take control from Bad, no matter how hard Bad tries to resist. Unfortunately this, paired with Bad's need to be active, often led to injuries.

✮ Existing as they do also led to a lot of bullying and fights throughout school. Bad was always quick to switch in to defend Good- but he never threw the first punch.

✮ Bad prefers savory flavors, while Good prefers sweet. This played a large part in why they chose their particular culinary skills.

✮ Good has always been better at things like math and chemistry, which helps a lot with his interest in baking. Bad, with his long-standing love of reading, is remarkably good at things like spelling and grammar- to the point he turns off spellcheck and autocorrect on every device they use because it just drives him crazy.

✮ They both have specific emotions that they feel very strongly, and specific emotions they have a very difficult time feeling at all, and often need the other to either bring them back down or help them process it. Good's strong emotion is joy, and the emotion he is incapable of feeling on his own is anger. The most he can feel without Bad's help is annoyance. Bad is pretty much the opposite. He often needs Good to help keep his quick temper in check, and without Good's help, the happiest he is capable of feeling is 'content'. They both feel sadness/despair the same; Good is just much more comfortable with and capable of crying. Bad has to reach some pretty extreme limits before the tears will finally come.

✮ They dream together! Not always, but about 90% of the time. Sometimes they still share a body, sometimes they're separate. They especially like the dreams where they're separate and have been practicing lucid dreaming because, even if it's only a dream, they enjoy having the chance to do things together like normal brothers. They know they wouldn't be able to function if they really were separated though.

✮ Bad's tastes in music are pretty much limited to classic rock, traditional Irish, and ambient/atmospheric (think movie/video game music). Good, on the other hand, will listen to just about anything- especially if it's loud, upbeat, or both. His favorite genre is symphonic metal, and Bad often tells him he sounds like Fabio (former lead singer of Rhapsody of Fire) when he sings, just with a different accent.

✮ They very likely have the creative spark needed to be a Master Builder. No one's ever bothered to try training them to find out though.

✮ They're both mainly coffee drinkers. Bad prefers his black (maybe every once in a blue moon with just a touch of sugar), while Good prefers lattes, usually mocha but sometimes with other flavor shots, depending on what he's in the mood for. They're the same way when it comes to tea, as rarely as they drink it. Bad prefers hot herbal teas (specifically mint or chamomile) to unwind in the evenings, also very rarely sweetened. Good likes tea lattes (London Fog is his favorite so far) or milk teas for a sweet caffeine boost that's different from his usual fare. The only iced tea either of them will drink is their mom's sun tea, which she sweetens with honey and adds fresh crushed mint leaves to.

✮ Aside from seasonal allergies, they're allergic to mosquito bites. It's not life-threatening but any bites they get do swell up to be at least the size of a golf ball.

✮ They are what some would call "sensitive" or "intuitive". They have been able to see ghosts since they were young. Bad Cop in particular tends to get surprisingly accurate gut feelings about situations (not 100% of the time, but definitely more often than not).

[radiocmyk]

Rating physical nonhuman labels (personal opinion)

you know it got long

Physical nonhuman: 5/10 Like it gets the job done but it is so clunky and prescriptivist; yes it is just a direct statement of the fact but it also applies to wild animals that aren't human so it's not 100% all-cases-use which is a point against it to ME, it's long, there are 20 million different tag iterations so I never know which one to use, this is nothing to me. Like the taste of air

Clinical zoanthrope: 4/10 I know most folks' complaint is that it's pathologizing and inherently an upfront declaration of delusion; calling yourself that is presenting a diagnosis or at least a probability of what you would be diagnosed with, and that is all true... but hot take I kind of like it. If I ever call myself that it's because I like how it kind of makes physical nonhumanity sound like a medical condition of the body because to me it is, with little difference from other chronic conditions I have. But I also never actually call myself this, I just like a potential it has in theory.

Holothere: 8/10 I like that it's one word with an easy spelling and pronunciation. I like that the community took to it fast and cohesively enough for it to be a viable tag for posting in. My problems with it are generally the most popular problems with it, which is that it isn't universal. This is pretty much a Tumblr-exclusive, and in order to use it in any alterhuman setting outside of Tumblr, even one accepting of physical nonhumans, you'd have to first give a definition and explanation, and then at that point why bother, because the point of the label or any label for that matter is to not need to do that. I do like how broad and inclusive it is. Before this word the community seemed to be focused around the most prototypical manifestation of clinical lycanthropy known to psychiatrists (derogatory) and it left very little room for people like me. I could see it taking off in the future, too, really it's a recency issue.

Physical therian: 3/10 I'm sorry I don't even know why I don't like it because just on an objective level it's true for me. I'm a therian who is also physically nonhuman. I was even a therian first and still see my physical species as theriotypes on some level. But it just sounds and looks weird to me. It tastes weird. Like weird air. Sorry

P-shifter: 0/10 I shouldn't need to explain why

(Just) Zoanthrope: 7/10 I like it for similar reasons as holothere, namely the being 1 single word that comes with a bonus of sounding like a fantasy monster or affliction from a tabletop RPG worldbuilding project. It's sweet simple and to-the-point. However calling yourself a zoanthrope tends to just have the same effect as calling yourself a clinical zoanthrope even if you leave off the clinical, because to most people they're (fairly) synonyms, which means it still very much has unfortunately diagnostic connotations. Points for making me think of the word zoetrope though

Physically-identifying person/being: 0/10 This sounds like you just called me a trans-identifying female. Sometimes it doesn't even use the word animal or nonhuman at all. You're uncomfortably dancing around acknowledging my nonhumanity so much that you may as well just call me human at that point or not even talk about it at all. I'd have better luck labelling myself a therian or even human+.

Biologically nonhuman: 0/10 but for having the opposite problem as above in that it feels like declaring oneself a biological male/female. Idk. I can see what was in mind for this one, and it's well-meaning (I think), but it is just too close for comfort. Can we avoid terminology directly, linguistically parallel to dogwhistles please. Just in general

Were: 1/10 I do not like this, not because it's inherently referential to wolf and werewolf lore (technically "therian" has a similar problem since etymologically "therianthrope" is mammal-centric from the beginning), but because it does not fundamentally distinguish one as physically nonhuman. Therians are weres too. That is documentedly an older therian term, and I actually have an intense distaste for a non-therian physically nonhuman inclination to present it as having intrinsically physical nonhumanity connotations as if therians don't lay an equal claim?

Shifter: -1/10 This is literally p-shifter but worse because it sounds like I'm selling crystals for honing one's antisemitism from an Etsy store with starseed in the name. Like you know how I said zoanthrope sounds cool to me because it sounds like a creature or curse from a fantasy setting? That applies to shifter but in a bad way. Like this is what it would be called in one where the worldbuilding is uninteresting and the plot is inspired by a specific Harry Potter fanfiction

Endel: 1/10 I mean... inaccurate? Mostly it's the inaccuracy. There is nothing wrong with the word or label itself, but on me, I would be upset to be called it, because not only does it miss the part where I'm looking for a word that imparts physicality on a base level, but it ALSO fails the "CZ test" (does using this word imply or outright state a diagnosis status?). It kind of feels like the opposite of holothere. You can be an endel in a non-physical way, but not in a non-delusional way, so this is the exact contrary to what I want from a label lmao. And using it in a broad brush on all physical nonhumans because it's a word for "nonhumanity due to delusion" feels... wrong...

Real/actual nonhuman: -100/10 what are we doing here guys

Raven/hawk/centipede/raccoon/wolverine: 10/10 The only perfect score on the list because it's the only one that's TRUE. I can call myself a holothere or zoanthrope but it doesn't mean "I am a zoanthrope!" Because I am not a zoanthrope. That is a word. I'm a raven(etc.). That's a species. That is the only "label" on the list that is simply just correct, rather than even needing pros and cons. Not to be an autistic stereotype but I do love objectivity

Chimera, monster, grotesque, hybrid, etc.: ∞/10 fuck yeah let's get it

[soobadnoonecanstopher]

Can I Stay? (A Baekhyun Story) Part 9.

Pairing: You x Baekhyun

Rating: M

Word Count: 6.1K

Warnings: Light angst. A romance between two adults with an unspecified age difference between them, an English story that uses the word Noona for lack of another word in English that carries the same feeling, if you don’t like this, then don’t read this story.

Author‘s note: remember all those years ago I said I’d write a Baekhyun x Noona fic? This is that fic.

Inspired by the Ray LaMontagne songs Can I Stay

Tag List: @andimoon @his-mochi-cheeks

Links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

Work was different.

After the cosmic shitshow of a Saturday had passed and it seemed like everyone had lived to see another week. Your Monday morning workday was back to normal.

But it was so unbelievably outside of anything normal you had ever experienced. There was so much that had changed in such a short amount of time.

You’d woken up very early that morning — you did not have an exact hour to call it but you knew you’d caught brief glimpses of the dim light of a freshly rising sun through your window. You’d only caught small bits of that particular shade of dawn with your sleepy eyes and your otherwise-occupied mind registered even less through the soft moans, indulgent touches, and wordless love-making that started your day.

Baekhyun had to leave quite early to go home and get changed for work; all the while lamenting on the distance and even going so far as threatening to sell his apartment and buy something in the fancy new high rise that had just gone up across the street from your building. Or better yet (his words), he could just move in with you and never have to wake up without you in his bed ever again.

You had to gently remind him that all of that talk sounded pretty abrupt and dramatic for a three-day old relationship and his face worked through a variety of emotions before finally settling into a deep pout that would not leave his face even after your many assurances that no, you weren’t planning breaking up with him, and yes, you really did love him even more than he loved you —which in itself involved much back and forth until you both just agreed to disagree.

So work today, it was back to normal but normal seemed to have a brand new definition. You were busy but not too busy. You were floating through your tasks with the ease that came along with the familiarity of it all, all the while doing your absolute best not to just sit and watch him all day long.

It was actually quite difficult — keeping that look out of your eyes whenever he was around you. That look that a woman gets when she looks at the man who had pressed her back into a mattress for hours the night before.

You had to make an effort. Your eyes were so easily and naturally drawn to his face; your ears to his laughs; your smile to his smile; your goosebumps to his secret touches; your hushed giggles to his close whispers.

He’d watched your face too closely and much too knowingly when you declared in your best manager's voice that the blinds to your office would stay open all day long without exception and he was expected to remain out of touching distance from you whenever he was in here.

His whispered ‘Yes ma’am’ did not inspire any confidence at all. In fact hearing that triggered something in you that made everything worse.

You wondered when this powerful spell would wear off enough for you both to be able to act like normal functioning adults with full-time jobs around each other. You figured the close proximity wasn’t doing either of you any favors but you still couldn't stand the thought of sending him away so you could get some actual work done.

It was just before lunchtime when the first real close call happened. A mere 3.5 days into this brand new relationship and already — already.

Yes, it was your fault. In fact, Baekhyun had been the better behaved of the two of you. It was probably because it had just been so long since you’ve felt this feeling. It had been so very long since you’d had someone to love and genuinely felt loved by someone that you had simply lost your mind a little bit.

Baekhyun had been hovering near your desk holding your schedule calendar in his hands as he flipped through, reading an occasional line from the upcoming week. You had a few meetings, most that he read out loud, one that he mumbled his way through that would be coming up later today. You only half listened as you watched him speaking from down in your desk chair. You’d pulled the lever below your seat and leaned way back in the chair, looking up at him as he spoke and he took occasional glances down over the top of the book he held up covering part of his face. You could see only from his cute nose upward but every now and then his hands would drop the book just a little and his pink pouty mouth would appear as he emphasized some word he was saying for importance. Every time those lips pursed outward it reminded you of kissing him. When his lips parted you caught the occasional tip of his soft tongue.

You weren’t really listening. He was very pretty when he spoke. You liked the sound of his voice and the way his lips moved when he said the word ‘Noona.’ Which for some reason he was saying again.

‘Noona.’

‘Noona?’

‘Noona!’

Oh shit, he was talking to you.

“You aren’t listening at all,” your brain sharpened to the words. “I’ve been talking for ten minutes. Did you hear anything I just said? The final reports, the wrap party venue, the one-two-three meetings after lunch? Hello?”

He was right. The very mild frustration you heard in his voice was adorable. You pulled your lips into a frown because you were very sorry, even if you weren't that sorry you knew you were acting up right now. This was just so very hard. Maybe it was because you were very sore all over and actually quite sleep deprived from the three (!) times he woke you up last night.

“Sorry, Baby, my mind was wandering,” you confessed easily, hearing the dreaminess in your own voice as you said it. And you heard the long and slow sigh that came from his chest. He was closing his eyes up and he was steadying himself before he spoke.

“I’m not going to ask…not going to ask,” he said to himself a few times and he held the calendar closed with one hand, a slim finger stuck In between the pages to mark his place and he lifted his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“I’m not going to ask. I don't want to know. Do you hear what I said? I said, I do not want to know what you were thinking about. Do not tell me. I am not asking.” His eyes were wider now and you could make out a bit of desperation in his voice.

You lifted your foot, pointing the tips of your toes and you lightly traced the outline of his thigh.

“Gonna get caught. The blinds are open. Put your foot down.” He was speaking under his breath and you felt his hand come down and push your foot away when you’d slipped your foot around the front of his hips. Despite the admonishing words, you could very clearly see the smile at the edges of his lips and you could hear the playfulness in his tone. You giggled when another pass of your foot around the back of him, poking his butt earned you a harder slap and he took the smallest step away from you.

“Noona.” He hissed through gritted teeth, doing his best impression of a very serious man who meant business and you spun around in your chair laughing harder at the sound of him.

The spin was harder than you meant and it made your chair hit your desk. A small metal cup you kept full of pens that was on the edge of your desk went flying and you turned back around to see them go. They landed across the space behind where Baekhyun was standing.

You looked down at the mess on your floor and Baekhyun also turned to look down at the mess on your floor.

His eyes were just kind of wild looking when he turned back to look into your face and you looked at his face with what you imagined was a similar expression.

Neither of you moved right away and your mind whirled with the best way to clean this mess up. Did you risk the closeness and clean it up together? Did you get up and do it yourself, knowing that he would likely join you on this floor behind the couch, behind the desk, behind the view of those open mini blinds? Did you just watch him do it? You did really like the way his butt looked in his business slacks…

“Did you do this on purpose?” He whispered the question harshly and it didn’t sound like he was joking, but you felt the laughter rise up in your chest at his accusation.

“No, Baekhyun, I didn’t, I swear.” You were laughing while you said it and that didn’t do anything for your credibility. It was true. You really did not. But you sounded so guilty.

“Did you do this so I have to bend over in front of you and pick them up?” His smile on his face as he asked this follow up question was widening and you placed a hand on your stomach to try and stop your own laughter.

You stood up from the chair.

“I’ll get them.” You raised a hand and his own hands waved you away dramatically.

“No.” He said flatly, putting the calendar down on your desk. “No, no. I’m the one sleeping my way to the top. I should get the full sexual harassment experience. Do you want me to pick them up one by one so it lasts longer? Do you want me to struggle while I do it — act like they’re really hard to pick up?”

You felt at a loss. You were laughing too hard to be of any use in this conversation and he was grunting noisily as he bent at the waist and picked up the first pen.

“Ohh..Miss Manager, it’s so heavy,” he mewled suggestively and he placed the pen sideways in-between his teeth as he stood up slowly, arching his back seductively as he did it.

His voice changed and lifted into something more naive sounding, “Miss Manager, you said I could have a promotion if I did this, right?”

You caught a movement out of the corner of your eye that snatched your attention, your laughter, and your breath at the same time.

You heard someone clear their throat at the same time as a knock sounded out on your door. Your door had been opened just in time for his last sentence to have been heard by whoever was at your door.

“Assistant Byun,” you said flatly with a very serious tone taking you over. The change was so abrupt that Baekhyun straightened his spine and spun on his heels, quickly dropping the second pen from his mouth and dropping the other two he had already picked up. They landed on the floor at his feet adding back to the mess.

Your heart had dropped down into your stomach and all traces of your earlier laughter had stopped dead and you stood up straighter, running your hand down over the front of your blouse and smoothing out your skirt just in case anything has been out of place to make this situation look worse than it already did.

“Sorry, I was joking,” he said with his voice back to as normal and as professional and flat sounding as possible. “Bad joke, my apologies.” he added quietly with his head hung down in shame directed at you but only for the benefit of whoever it was that had just come in.

At your door, doing an awkward little glance back and forth between your face and your assistant standing with his chin pressed down into his chest was Sandi, one of your junior translators whose desk was just outside of your office. If she had any thoughts about what she had just walked in on, she didn’t seem to dwell for long on them.

“Manager, Sophie’s 1st is here for you. Should I let him in?”

Baekhyun’s head had lifted and you caught the drift of Sandi’s eyes as they touched on his face and she had a sweet smile on her lips directed at him.

“Hi Baekhyun,” she whispered lightly and his hand lifted with the smallest wave with a pretty smile before he was spinning quickly to squat down on the floor to quickly gather all of the pens.

He made quick work of the mess and Sandi was really standing at your doorway for much longer than necessary you thought briefly before your quiet appraisal of the danger of the situation you both had stupidly put yourselves into, well not both, this had been entirely your fault. You really had lost your entire mind. Your blinds had been open and you always emphasized your open door policy with your team. They only ever knocked when you had the blinds closed and even then you’d never minded their interruptions before.

“Manager?” Sandi’s quiet voice interjected and when you pulled your eyes away from the slim fingers that carefully arranged the pens neatly inside the metal cup that was sat once again on your desk where it belonged to look back up into her questioning face.

“Do I let him in?” She asked again.

“Assistant Byun, do I have a meeting with Chet right now?” You leaned and whispered to your assistant from a completely appropriate distance for a strictly professional relationship and Baekhyun straightened his posture, straightened his suit jacket, his tie, and adjusted the lanyard with the ID badge around his neck so it hung just so.

“Yes ma’am. I mentioned it when I was going over your schedule.” There was an edge to his voice as he said it. You felt weirdly blindsided. You grabbed for the schedule and flipped to today’s entry, finding a single four letter c-word that did not say Chet written in carefully penned tiny capital letters. Right there in his handwriting it sat.

‘CUNT-11a’

“You can let him in,” you called out to Sandi and when you looked up at the girl she had a weirdly familiar dreamy lost look in her eyes as she looked at your (boyfriend) assistant. It took her a few moments to register your words and she left your doorway with a nod of her head and another small wave in Baekhyun’s direction which he, again, returned with a sweet smile.

Your mood felt off.

Now Chet was here and Baekhyun had so much female attention in this office the man probably couldn’t go five steps without running into an admirer. Now you had to deal with Chet, the misogynistic hugger and why was he even here? You half hoped he would try and ask you out again just so you could once and for all burst that hopeful bubble of his, tell him it wasn’t going to happen now or ever so he should just give up and set his sights on some poor other girl in this office.

Not that there was anyone here who deserved that kind of attention.

You settled yourself down well behind your desk seated deep in your office chair and you noticed instead of his usual seat for these meetings at the far corner of your office where he wouldn’t be an interference of a distraction, Baekhyun parked himself just at the side of your desk, leaning a hip against the window sill that stuck out just enough for you to hit your elbow on it whenever you got up too carelessly.

Standing there, very much in between you and whoever might want to get back here with you for a hug — he felt like a bouncer to some exclusive night club.

Chet came in a few moments later with all of the charisma of a used car salesman trying to unload a lemon on some poor sucker and walked up to the edge of your desk with a wide smile on his face and his hands outstretched, clearly expecting you to come around for the usual hug. You didn’t stand and you didn’t move anything but your mouth to speak.

“Chet, what can I help you with today?”

His hands hung in the air and his smile faded just a little before it widened again, this time not reaching his flighty eyes. The man was clearly taken aback and he stood there for a while just watching your face with that same fake smile on his lips. After a while you saw his focus shift over to Baekhyun before you had his attention again. He did it a few times and you stared into his face as you waited for him to come to terms with whatever he was coming to terms with. It took a while. He was looking between you and your assistant who was, it seemed, carefully examining the leaf of the fake tree that stood by your window.

“Ahh, you never returned my call. Did you get my message about the uhh—final edits?” His confidence sounded a touch rattled, which you had never before heard from him.

You furrowed your brows and pouted your lips. Genuinely curious now. You hadn’t heard of any new messages from him. You had been rather distracted all day though, perhaps your flawless record at work had finally been shot by your own silliness all morning.

You were genuinely thinking now.

Message? What message? Did you miss a work message from Chet? You looked at your computer screen and found nothing unread in your inbox and your latest direct message chain with him was from a week ago. Nothing unread between the two. You looked across your desk at the beefcake and lifted your chin in the direction of your suspiciously quiet assistant while keeping your eyes on the man standing in your office.

“Assistant Byun, did I get a message from Chet?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer right away and you noticed that Chet’s focus looked just a little more frazzled than it had when he first walked in. He looked like his edges were just a little hazy. Like he was beginning to show some signs of annoyance with you, or with Baekhyun or maybe with the pair of you. The longer your assistant stood silent the more Chet’s patience seemed to be wearing out and after a few moments of it he looked to be openly glaring in the direction of where that fake tree stood by your window.

“Umm,” it took him too long to finally respond and when you did look, Baekhyun was posed with an index finger pointed up to his chin; on his face a look of confusion. “I don’t—think there was anything from Chet.” He was shaking his head in response.

“I left it with you.” Chet spoke up suddenly, directing his voice at Baekhyun without his any hint of his usual pep. You heard some attitude and a challenge now.

Baekhyun still wore that same exaggerated look of confusion and his head was shaking back and forth with his eyebrows raised. With what you knew about Baekhyun you were nearly positive this was intentional. He knew exactly what Chet was talking about and he was playing a game.

“It was just this morning.” Chet added in a downright hostile tone and you heard a sudden gasp from beside the tree. Inside of your stomach, a bad feeling was brewing. It felt a lot like whatever this was would not end here with this quick and unexpected meeting in your office.

Baekhyun’s mouth was open now. Sudden remembrance. He was snapping his fingers and making a big show of it.

You had to bite down on your tongue to keep from making any sounds.

“Actually, you know what? I think I do remember something, but Noona it was,” he lifted his fingers in front of your face, holding his index and his thumb about a centimeter apart from each other, “very small.”

He whispered the last two words and his lips pulled into a dramatic frown and he shook his head back and forth. You covered your mouth with your open hand and you held your breath, dipping your face so it was hiding behind your computer screen.

“What did you just say?” Chet asked humorlessly. Clearly he got the joke and took its intended offense. “Do you have a problem man?”

Baekhyun’s hand was on his chest and on his face was a look of exaggerated pity. He ignored the second question.

“Happens to a lot of guys, bro,” Baekhyun whispered and he frowned his face again.

It took you a moment to compose yourself enough to remove your hand from over your lips. You recognized that you had to intervene before this grew any more out of hand than it had already grown. You should not be encouraging this. It was childish and juvenile of a joke and your hidden laughter was only encouraging Baekhyun to act this way.

Baekhyun took a few steps closer to where you sat, coming into the space right beside and you very much behind your desk. He was obviously in the exclusive club that Chet had no admittance to.

He pointed to the notepad you kept beside your phone and in the very bottom corner, written with the finest point pen and in what had to be nearly microscopic handwriting was a just barely legible, ‘Sophie needs FE approved -Chet.’

You looked down at the note, lifting your attention to the big burly man standing with a face full of annoyance and his arms crossed over his chest and you had to look back down again at the note.

You swear you didn’t do it on purpose but the second you felt your vision strain over the tiny letters and you had to pull your eyes into a genuine squint, you heard a not very well concealed snort of laughter beside you.

He coughed into it but it was not at all subtle.

“Ahh, I see now. Yes. I’ll get that to you within the hour. And Chet, honey?” you let your face pull into one of sympathy. “You didn’t have to come down for that.”

He cleared his throat and you heard the beginnings of some sort of rebuttal.

“You’ll get it when you get it, Chet.” You raised your voice as you dropped the smile.

He absolutely didn't need to be here for this. You absolutely would get it done and send it over quickly and you felt extremely done with looking at the man now.

“Within the hour. Sophie’s been up my ass about this,” he said with a scowl on his face. His eyes touched on yours but every other breath had them bouncing over to your assistant’s face. He lifted a hand and pointed a finger in your direction, it felt a little bit like a threat. The action felt unlike anything he’d ever done to you and you watched his face with the most stone faced expression you could manage. His true colors had shown themselves and they were hideous. You wanted nothing more to do with him than you absolutely had to.

“You take care, Chet.” You refused to be bullied by this guy. He was at least three pay grades below you and it was pretty telling how little he respected you with the drastic drop in basic decently the second it became clear that he had no chance of sleeping with you.

A few moments after he had left and the quiet settled over your office you signed the final approvals and sent them over to Sophie’s office.

“Baekhyun?” You called out sweetly toward the man who was typing something out on his phone.

“Didn’t we agree not to mess around when it came to work?” You didn't want to scold him. You really didn’t. But you had both promised each other that the work was so important to the both of you that there would be no silly games.

You had his attention. He had let the phone sag in his lap and he was looking across the office at your face without any immediate answer for you. After a moment his eyes dropped another foot and he was staring ahead of himself without focus.

“I don't want you meeting him,” he said after a moment. His eyes lifted back up into yours and his face ticked back and forth a minimal amount. “I don't like you meeting him.”

“Sometimes I have to meet him,” you said with a sigh. You didn't like it either but at least for the next few days until the wrap, you really did not have any choice.

“Noona,” he began and you watched his face as he inhaled a small breath to speak and let his lips hang open without continuing his words. His lips closed back up again and he shook his head.

“Nothing,” he said softly and he pulled his eyes away from yours as he looked back down at his phone.

“Say it, Baek.”

You definitely didn’t want him to feel like he couldn't speak his peace.

“Nah, it’s stupid.” He said and he was scrolling on his screen. You could see the agitation rolling off his shoulders. You could tell something was up.

“Just tell me though, what is it?” You could be as stubborn as he could be and after a while he stood up with a defeated sigh carrying his phone in his hand, he walked up to your desk and sat it down with the screen up.

On his screen you saw your instagram profile, which you hadn’t even known he knew about, and he had the tab opened with your likes. You saw with your own eye the tiny heart you’d placed on a picture there. It was something Chet had posted, and you had no memory of having done this. The picture that you had hearted was just of some sunset he must have posted. Something innocuous and unconcerning but it clearly had bothered your boyfriend enough for him to be pointing it out to you right now. You did remember scrolling mindlessly before you got ready for work this morning. Could that have been when you’d done this?

“I don't like you meeting him. I don't like you liking his pictures. Especially not pictures he posted this morning, after I left your bed.”

You didn’t remember doing it. You looked down at the evidence and it was right there.

“I’ll block him,” you said quietly. “I didn't even know that was his picture, but that doesn’t matter because it’s obvious that I did that and I am sorry. It definitely won't happen again.”

Baekhyun was watching your face and you quietly pulled your own phone out, opened up the app and did just as you told him you would. You’d meant to block Chet after the mop-water incident but it honestly had just slipped your mind. So much had happened since then, your mind had been a bit of a mess. You just forgot and here you’d accidentally hurt Baekhyun’s feelings because of your carelessness.

He was swallowing and he blinked his eyes slowly as he looked away for a second.

“Now I feel like an asshole,” he said under his breath.

You pushed your lips into a small pout and his eyes glanced down at your face, lightly sniffing his nose once before he looked around again.

“It’s done,” you held your phone up and waved it at him with a smile. He groaned and closed his eyes up.

“Don't encourage me, Noona. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. I told you it was stupid.”

“I was going to block him anyway, I just forgot to because I was distracted by my sexy boyfriend.” His mood still seemed a little down but maybe after a few compliments and perhaps some lunch he would smooth out a little.

It turns out Baekhyun had plans for lunch. He did often share a meal with a few of his fellow assistants and today it seemed like the day. The plans had been in place for a while now. He also reminded you that he had already told you about it, at least twice today, back when you had lost your mind.

It was fine. You could use the quiet for an hour. You had your headphones and you could even take a walk around the block to help your food digest. You assured him that you were a big girl and you could handle a few solo lunches. You’d had plenty of them before he arrived, and you’d been just fine.

And you were. You went for your stroll, you listened to some music and you ate something tasty from a shop around the corner. You drank too much water during your walk and when you came back you had to make a stop at the bathroom. It was perfect because you could refresh your lipstick and make sure you didn't look too much of a mess after venturing outdoors.

As expected, your hair was a bit messy but nothing a few fingers run through it couldn't fix. Your outfit was cute though and you slipped into the stall to empty your bladder.

After a few moments you heard the telltale sounds of office gossip; a group of girls whose voices felt oddly familiar to you came in giggling about the latest news.

Apparently someone was eating lunch with one of their friends. Someone who was ‘so hot’ and ‘single’ and ‘rich’ and looked ‘so good in the blonde hairstyle.’ Your ears sharpened to the words they were saying immediately. You also lifted your feet just in case they checked under the stall for spies. You weren't born yesterday, you knew the best gossip was obtained through illicit means.

It took you no time at all to understand the subject of their gossip. You felt a strange chill run through your chest.

He was eating lunch alone with her. Was it really only one other assistant? Not a group of friends but him and her alone? She was a young pretty thing and they made such a cute couple. Apparently they had been spotted giggling together. Flirting together, as he was often seen doing with lots of girls. You hadn’t really noticed his overly friendly behavior with the girls but the memory of the lovesick smiles Sandi sent toward him today pinged against your heart. Of course he flirted with you but the idea that this might not be strictly reserved for you made your heart clench. It couldn’t be true. It had to be nothing.

The conversation drifted naturally when one girl spoke your name out. You held your breath for the quick dismissals. No way. You were too old, there’s no way he’s into an older woman. The other quiet voice that defended you, called you smart and pretty enough for someone like him, had even seen some moments between the two of you that would raise a few eyebrows, that one quiet voice was quickly drowned out by the naysayers. If anything it was one sided. If anything it was pathetic for you to even hope. If anything you should know your place.

You’d heard enough and wanted no more of it. You hoped their lunch hour was going to be over soon so you didn’t have to hear any more.

Your hopes were realized quickly enough as you quietly washed your hands and exited the bathrooms. You could not calm your mind though.

How much was true. You trusted him and you believed in him but your feet carried you in an odd direction. You walked the long way around. It would eventually take you to the elevators that led up to your floor but, goddammit, you found yourself making a detour with your curious eyes watching the tables near the company cafeteria.

You were looking for something that was nothing. Something that meant absolutely nothing. You knew it was nothing.

Baekhyun was walking side by side with a bright smile on his face and his attention drawn to her words.

You had seen her before, she was the assistant of one of the other managers. You were pretty sure she was under contract for only a few more months. Like him, she would soon be moving on to something new. Like him she was young and green and still had so much to learn. Perhaps they talked about how hard their jobs were; bonding over having to cater to a picky manager's whims.

She was giggling. She was laughing loudly and she reached a hand out and laid light fingertips on his forearm. That uncomfortable feeling inside of your chest throbbed.

This was nothing. You didn’t have to turn it into something when it was absolutely nothing. The gossip that you overheard had been baseless and it was wrong. Yes, you knew for a fact that they had been wrong about you. Because he was into you, he loved you. If they could be wrong about that, then they could have just as easily been wrong about this too.

You felt a need for an escape. You longed to hide from this. They were taking an exit path that would put you in front of them and you felt like a fool as you ducked behind a pillar just in time for them to walk by.

“Yeah, yeah definitely. I’ll call you,” he was saying to her.

“Okay, let me know. Bye, Oppa.”

Younger than him. On friendly enough terms for that sweet nickname too. And he was going to call her.

Your mind was a mess. You wandered your way through the hallways headed probably somewhere that would eventually lead you up to your office. It took longer than you intended to make it back up to your office, but still not long enough.

When you walked inside he was already seated at the spot he usually occupied when he was busy with something and didn’t want his typing to disturb you. He only kind of glanced up to look at you as you entered and his eyes were back down on the screen of his computer. He had a chat window open there. He was talking with someone.

Talking to someone about something that was probably nothing.

You were acting like a fool. This man had taken a once smart, capable, and intelligent woman and in just 3 and a half days had turned her into a fool.

You scrolled through your emails, finding a thank you message from Sophie for the quick turnaround and a waiting direct message from Chet.

You clicked on the flashing bar and the message popped up.

‘I need to speak with you, can we meet?’

You didn’t have the patience for any of it and you sighed noisily and covered your face with your hands, momentarily and genuinely forgetting that you weren’t alone in your office. Before you could take the sound back Baekhyun had walked over to your desk and had looked at the message window on your computer screen.

You stared at your computer screen, your eyes focused on that one message from Chet. You could smell him, his hair smelled like your shampoo. Baekhyun had stepped into your space and he was bent at the waist reading the message on your computer screen, the message from the man he had been butting heads with through his little message games and deprecating jokes. Out the corner of your eye you saw his hand land over your mouse, he was moving the cursor and the arrow hovered just over the X to close the window.

You lifted a hand and laid it over his just before he clicked the X to close out the window.

“I said I don’t like you meeting him.” He was staring ahead at the screen with a darkness in his eyes and his jaw was clenched down tight.

“Assistant Byun-” He physically flinched when he heard it. You felt a burning inside your stomach, “I can handle it myself.”

[To be Continued]

Links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10