#and that maybe you should just settle for and in fact embrace the people who like you and stop being scared of them

[pearlpool]

🤕!

#how to accept the fact that you are liked but not by the people who you wish would like you #and the people that do like you are great but they’re not filling the space that you want them to fill #and that maybe you should just settle for and in fact embrace the people who like you and stop being scared of them #and that maybe you should also let go of the people you wish liked you #god. i just don’t know what to do with myself #bc i keep telling myself im so unloved and friendless and that nobody cares about anything i have to say #but that’s actually not as true as i think it is #and maybe if i were to reach out to people who are already in my life without fear i would feel a little less pathetic and generally hated #rather than trying and failing to reach out to people who don’t give a fuck about me anymore #but its so overwhelmingly difficult and scary #i just want my old friends back. but they put zero effort in towards me #so i should just stop hurting myself by trying to push it #idk. i should be writing my paper rn LOL! #diary

[laiiaaa]

THE IN-BETWEEN — CARMEN BERZATTO

summary Carmen comes home late again and takes you to bed.

length 2k

contents established relationship, another fluff vacuum (i serve the people), a teeny tiny bit of angst but nothin’ crazy dw!, so many kisses, sweet sleepy moments, Carm being a good bf, so so soft dom bc that's just who he issss, i literally melted while writing this i'm so soft for him

On later nights like this, Carmen’s used to coming home to a dim, serene apartment. A lamp left on in the corner of the living room because you hate to think it’s pitch dark when he arrives; so too the light above the sink because you know well by now of his habitual hand washing; a dark bedroom with your form fast asleep, yet loving enough to cuddle into his embrace when he joins you.

This is anything but. 

You’ve left an album playing on that gem of a record player you found years ago—the one that had your face lighting up like he’d never seen before, beautiful and glowy and more than enough to have him falling for you. The kitchen lights are on, too, and there you are at the counter: perched in a stool, laptop open and glowing pale blueish light upon your sleeping features propped up in your hands.

Cute, he thinks with a warm grin blossoming on his face. 

Peeling off his coat and toeing off his shoes, he takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair as he begins unwinding for the rest of the night. He brings the music to a stop and tucks the record away back in its sleeve, and he turns the living room lights off, as well as the harsh overheads in the kitchen. He spots a few stray dishes from whatever dinner you had earlier and is a little irritated at the thought you had to cook for yourself—that’s his job—but he’s at least grateful you ate without him eyeing you to do so. He washes them by hand, wincing and turning over his shoulder to make sure he doesn’t startle you when the fork slips from his grasp and clangs about in the sink. Slowly, he closes your laptop and lifts it from the counter, handling it with care as he packs it into your bag and plugs it in so it’s ready for you by morning.

The lights are off and the apartment’s filled with little else other than muffled commotion of the city when he finally decides to take you to bed. Easing himself behind you, his hands brush ever so gently down your arms to your elbows, his chest coming to meet your back and shoulders as his chin settles into the crook of your neck. As if on instinct, your head nuzzles closer to his. 

“Hey, baby,” he coos, and he presses a kiss to your cheek.

You groan softly and rub your face into your hands, and Carmen commits this moment to memory. Adorable. 

“You want me to take you t’bed?”

“Mmmm…” you drawl, clearly too tired to think, or to speak, or to walk yourself to the bedroom. You rub your eyes a little more deliberately before he thinks you’ve come to. You whine a little and it makes his chest flutter when you say, “Hi, Carmy,” your hand reaching over your shoulder to tangle your fingers into his curls.

Carefully he sweeps your hair out of your face, and he cranes his neck to check up on you, smiling when he sees your sleepy pout and your eyes still closed. “Hey.” Another soft kiss to your jaw. “Whatchu doin’ in here so late, hm?” The tip of his nose nudges against your cheekbone. “You should be in bed.”

“…Wanted to see you when you got home…” 

“Yeah?” 

His heart is full and his head swirls with affection at your words—not that they’re new or unheard of, but that they’re constant. They’re not something you’ve ever denied him, instead being an affirmation: I want you here. And maybe it’s not so much the fact that you say those words but the fact that you always prove them. Working away into late night hours, drowsy and lethargic at the counter instead of cozying under the covers, leaning into his touch when he finally comes. You want him around, and that’s all he could ever ask for.

“Mhm. Was workin’ on a project ‘n got tired.”

He hums. “I can tell.”

The bridge of his nose caresses your cheek before you turn to face him, and for a moment the two of you let it linger that way, foreheads resting against one another as his hand comes to cup your cheek, and yours comes to circle around his forearm, like you want him tethered to you. His fingertips graze along your neck and it makes your eyes flutter shut, coaxed back into that sleepy haze that has his heart swelling at the thought of you being so comfortable with him. There’s a hint of guilt, though, in knowing you had to wait on him—that he can’t always be at home with you at normal hours, that you spend more time with him asleep than you do awake on most days, that he’s stuck between two worlds and one always seems to be winning.

And that guilt increases tenfold when you kiss him gently and murmur against his lips, voice groggy as much as it is yearning. “I miss you, Bear.”

His gut wrenches and brow furrows as he swallows it down. “I know, baby, I miss you too.” Another sweet lip lock has him itching for the weight of you in his arms and on his chest. “So much. But I’m here now, yeah?”

“I know…I just wish you were home a little more.” Your voice is small, like it hurts you to say it.

He picks up on it, how you say you wish he were home instead of wishing you could simply see him more. Because truthfully, you see each other as much as possible. In the mornings before he heads in for work; stopping by for family and having him stick by your side till he’s needed for service; brief lunch breaks where he runs home to make you something before heading back to the kitchen; late nights with moments before sleep—nights like this. But they’re not the same as being home all the time, he knows this. Those moments are clouded by the looming presence of his work, a clock limiting affection exchanged. They pale in comparison to a full day together.

He knows it’ll never be enough to fix it but he tells you anyway: “I’m sorry.” Eyes closed, he offers another kiss to your lips and it lingers. “ ‘M gonna figure somethin’ out, though, okay, baby?”

“You will?”

Nodding against you, a furrow in his brow at how sweet you sound, he assures you, “‘F course. I’ll…I’ll take more time off, hire new people…”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I do.”

“You don’t, it’s okay.”

“Stop that. You’re important to me.” I love you. “I’ll make it work.” More than I can wrap my head around.

You answer him sweetly, the way that lets him know you hear exactly what he’s left unsaid. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” He kisses you one, two, three more times with his hands cupping your jaw, feeling your exhaustion seeping through and slowly circling around the chair to stand at your side. “C’mon, you should get back to sleep.” He almost waits for you to stand and hold his hand before you’re already leaning—melting—into him again, head pressed into his chest as your hands loosely grab for his, fingers intertwined, and it has him swooning. “You need me to carry you?”

“No,” you grumble, “I’m jus’ really tired…” 

He looks down and thinks he could get used to this, you being clingy with sleep, and he rubs a hand along your back. “Mhm?”

“Mm, ‘m sorry…jus’ gimme a second…” You begin sitting yourself up again with his arms as leverage before he interrupts you.

“Uh-uh, c’mon.” Grabbing your arms, he bends over and loops them around his neck as he waits for you to cozy into him. “I’ll take care ‘f you, okay?” He smooths his hands down your waist and over your hips to tenderly squeeze at your thighs, cupping his hands under your knees to urge your legs to wrap around his middle. “Alright,” he sighs, taking note of how you’re being lulled into your slumber again as he wraps one arm tight around your waist with the other supporting your thigh. “Up you go…”

He lifts you up and out of your chair, and your breath tickles his neck, and your body slumps against his just right as you exhale a soft groan. It dazes him, knowing he misses this so often. So often he sees you only after you’ve turned yourself in for the night that he’s nearly forgotten the in-between: that blissful grace period where you’re not quite fast asleep and not quite awake, when your kisses are long and drawn out with a wash of fatigue, when you hold onto him like he’s all you’ve got. Carrying you to the bedroom, he counts his blessings, and they’re bittersweet. Moments like these will forever be cherished yet he wishes they didn’t have to be. 

The door opens with a creak and he’s careful not to let you go when he pulls back the covers. Wordlessly, he leans over again to lay you down, and there’s a bit of resistance at his neck before he lets go of your torso in exchange for unwinding the arms around him, pulling the blankets over your figure. Within seconds you’re cozying up again and turning to face his side of the bed, luring him to lean over you one more time to smooth back your hair and press his lips to your temple.

Quickly, then, while thinking of you, he strips and showers and gets himself ready for bed. A simple yet endearing routine: the shampoo you coaxed him over to, the body wash he buys because he’s convinced you snuggle closer into his chest when he uses it, towels fluffier than the shabby squares of fabric he used before he met you. It’s in the routine that he thinks of you like he does any other time of day, smiling to himself over all the little things you’ve brought into his life to take care of him—and in turn, to make him take better care of himself. 

He’s never fully understood that about you, how you make him gentler, kinder. He just knows there’s a softness in his chest when you’re on his mind—which is practically all the time—that makes the good things good. Good days turn remarkable and the bad ones become a little less so. He remembers to eat better, to check in on himself when he’s stressed, to ask you for help, to be a better chef, a better boss, a better brother, and a better lover. He doesn’t know when or how it happened, but he knows you’ve changed him into a better person. He only hopes he can show how thankful he is for you—for showing him he’s deserving of something good.

Finding you again, he climbs into bed beside you, wrapping an arm around you and waiting. Waiting for that moment that comes like clockwork, when somehow, by some mechanism he doesn’t have a name for just yet, you creep a little closer, relax into his touch and tuck your head beneath his chin once you know he’s there. He’s lost count of how many times it’s happened and it never feels like anything but the first. 

His chest swells, a tender smile grows, and his hands smooths along your back beneath your shirt as he kisses the top of your head. Slowly but surely he’s lulled into his own sleep just by feeling the slow beat of your heart close to his, content with the thought that by morning your bodies will be further intertwined and he’ll get to witness the in-between all over again: your soft hands running through his hair, his lips trailing from your neck to your jaw, laughter muffled into his chest when he pulls you on top of him.

Tomorrow seems like a good day for some time off—and maybe even the morning after that.

#carmen berzatto #carmy berzatto #jeremy allen white #carmen berzatto fluff #carmy berzatto fluff #carmen berzatto x reader #carmy berzatto x reader #the bear #the bear fx #the bear hulu #the bear season 2

[dcxdpdabbles]

Could you please pleasepleaseplease p l e a s e continue the halfa cass post? I'm dying for some more of it, it's SO GOOD

The first thing Cass notices about the Fentons is how utterly silly they are. She had been expecting a group of far more regal people, especially with the castle they lived in and being protected by Phantom.

She still doesn't really understand what's going on, but she can piece together that Phantom is in charge. The people who had stopped to stare at her all whispered about the King, and she could tell that a few of them gained helpless hope by the mere sight of her.

If they were truly trapped here, then her appearance meant there was a chance of escaping.

But were they trapped because of Phantom? Dan mentioned the Fae's costumes of tricking humans into signing slavery contracts with a feast. Had Phantom done the same?

"Maddie!" Dan yells at the top of his lungs, floating towards the draw bridge. "Maddie, I think you want to look at this!"

"What is it, sweetie?" A woman calls back, quickly followed by an explosion in the left tower. Cass stiffens as the window of the tower is flung open, and a woman in an overalls sticks out her head. Behind her, black smoke rises. "I was just making headway in the latest Fenton Escaper!"

"Really? How's that going?"

"It exploded! There is nothing left!" She beams, pulling her oversized goggles off her head. They leave a black outline around her eyes. .

Dan's body language doesn't show his surprise at her failure. In fact he seems oddly amused. It must be a common thing."I supposed that's good?"

"Oh, it's wonderful! Jake is going to be so happy that it reacted quickly to the new element!" The woman chirps. "He's out with Danny, gathering some more supplies for our people."

"They went hunting without me?"

"You know you're grounded, young man."

Wait, was this woman Dan's mother? Could the dead have parents? Or was it more of an adoption relationship?

"Yeah, Yeah, I know. Anyway, Maddie, I wanted to introduce you to the new arrival-"

"You brought a girl home!" Maddie cuts him off, flinging herself out the window. Cass would have rushed to her aid were it not for her apparent control as she spun into a landing. "Hello there! I'm Maddie Fenton! Dan's mother from another timeline, welcome to the family!"

Cass could tell she was going for a hug before the hug arrived, but she was still somewhat surprised by how forward Maddie was. Oddly friendly in a way no one in Gotham dared to be. Unless they were crazy like Harely. She can only blink as the woman wraps her up in an embrace, her muscles belying her small frame.

A fighter. A rather skilled one at that.

"I was so worried Dan would never find a partner!"

"Maddie! She's not my girlfriend!" Dan hisses, "She's a kid!"

"I'm twenty-one" Cass corrects

"A baby," Dan insists.

"Oh, that's a shame. She's gorgeous- from what I can see with the mask. The grandchildren would have been beautiful." Maddie sighs, letting her go. Then, it seems the woman noticed her features for the first time because she looked startled. "Are you a living human?"

"Worst. She's a halfa," Dan responds. Maddie's upper body goes rigid, and Cass can see thousands of emotions go through her—shock, denial, awe, wonder, glee, despair—to name a few—before she settles on one.

Glee.

"Jazz! Dani! Come here!" She screams, and Cass only has a few seconds to step away from Maddie's sudden craze before another glowing blur speeds towards them.

It's a younger version of Dan but female. She stops just short of ramming into Dan with a giggle. "Made you flinch!"

"You did not."

"Did, too." The girl, nineteen maybe, insists but twists to Maddie while speaking. It doesn't seem like she thinks about whether she is correct. Cass wondered if she should say that Dan really did not flinch. Besides his hair swaying slightly by the gust of wind she created, he hadn't moved from his crossed-arm position. "Who's this?"

"A new Halfa!" Maddie cheers.

The girl's friendly demeanor crumbles into horror. "What?"

"I know- isn't this exciting?"

"No, Mom, it means she died." Yet another voice sighs. "What did we say about our science?"

"Not to let it overpower my morals and to be tactful of other feelings." Maddie quotes with an eye roll, though Cass can tell she's not bothered by the reminder. Strutting from the castle draw bridge, the only one that uses it is a beautiful woman clad in a purple sleeveless dress.

She moves with the confidence and elegance Cass had expected of a Queen. It's when she stands next to Maddie that it becomes clear they are mother and daughter- almost all her features are a copy of Maddie. "Hello there. I'm Jazz Fenton. I heard you've been through a horrible ordeal. I'm very sorry for your loss of life."

Cass blinks at her, then shrugs. She isn't sure if she is grateful that Damian's ninja mask is still across her face, keeping her amusement hidden.

Jazz smiles even wider. "Welcome to Phantom's Keep. We welcome you inside."

Hmmm, well, no, Cass did not like how she said that. Sounded a little too Fae-like for her taste.

Jazz isn't aware of her unease as she gestures to the castle. "We have some questions on how you arrived. See, Dan and I thought you had died and placed you in the sector for new ghosts. Dan was supposed to greet you and get you settled. But your new status changes everything."

Was Jazz....Phantom?

If so, Cass needed to be careful how she continued interacting with the woman. She didn't want to get stuck here for seven years, either. She had a family she was going to get back to.

__________________________________________________________

"Where is Cass? She hasn't checked in for days," Bruce asks his children, looking over everyone's logs. Her last entry was twenty-four days ago, a short "Investigating Amity Park—pending field report" blinking on his screen.

"I'll ask Raven." Damian volunteered. "She should be able to give more insight into Cass' mission."

"Thank you, son."

Bruce hoped the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach was just untreated paranoia like his children liked to claim and not that something had happened to his daughter. He never liked it when his gut feelings were right.

They were never a good reason.

#dcxdpdabbles #dcxdp crossover #Cass the Halfa #Part 3 #Time moves oddly in the Ghost zone #Cass meets the Fentons and went “Jazz seems the most sane” #Dan and Dani are siblings

[mrsparrasblog]

Speak now

You and Simon were an unusual pair, at least that's what everyone said about you. You remember how Gaz and Soap laughed for an hour straight when you told them the news that you and Simon were together. You saved people, he killed people; that’s what people saw.

But you saw something different in Simon. He wasn’t tough or aggressive or anything that people told you around the base. In fact, you never had a boyfriend who was so gentle towards you, always afraid to hurt you by accident.

His fear was what finally broke you apart all those years ago. He was afraid to hurt you, to corrupt you with his sins, or even worse, to get you killed like everyone else who cared about him. It was just over.

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

Three years later...

The day finally came: your wedding day, the day you waited more than a decade for. You remembered how you always planned your wedding since you were four. Over the years, the planning became only more intense. You wanted a big wedding cake, peonies everywhere, and no roses in sight; that was too ordinary for you. A dress that embraced your body type instead of hiding it, and definitely a winter wedding since you hated summer; too hot for a wedding, imagine getting sunburned on your wedding day? Terrible.

Your ex-boyfriend Simon always laughed about it, telling you this was the most incredibly dumb thought when it came to a wedding. But he promised you if you tied the knot, you’d get a winter wedding, maybe even a few days before Christmas with a hot chocolate bar, a Christmas tree with signed ornaments from every guest, and a honeymoon in NYC to see Christmas and New Year's Eve there.

So, how did you end up here? It was July, 32 degrees Celsius, and you were sweating your makeup off, which was the worst case since you hid your sunburn under it. Simon would laugh at the irony; of course he would. Then he would tell you some stupid dad joke about sunburns, and you would roll your eyes at him, trying to hide your laughter because it was too embarrassing to admit that you loved every one of his jokes.

But you were here in the church right now, and Simon was only a guest, not your groom, and it was better this way. Simon wasn’t ready to settle down with you; he didn't want kids and everything you wanted, and he was always afraid of committing to you. You just never knew why.

A few months after your breakup, you met James. He was one of the lawyers working for the military and, finally a non-soldier, someone who wanted to settle down with you. He proposed only after a year, and it was magical, at least you thought so.

How didn’t you recognize the signs? How have you never gone out with Price, who was like a Dad to you since your engagement? How you stopped singing and dancing in the shower? How you lost weight only to please him, and how you were stuck in a nightmare wedding?

Well, you should cut him some slack, you thought. It wasn’t that horrible; it was only horrible for you. Other women would love the pile of roses, the tent of a dress you wore, the summer wedding; everything was fine just from a different perspective.

"This will be the happiest day of your life," you mumbled between your breaths as you looked into the mirror, finalizing the last bits of makeup.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," John hummed, giving you an approving look. You couldn’t contain yourself from hugging him. John was only 10 years older than you, but he grew into a father figure for you. He almost cried when you asked him to walk you down the aisle.

"Thank you, John."

"If you don’t want this, say the word, and I will drive you home."

"John, I want this."

The church was filled to the brim with his and your friends, well, mostly his friends and family. Most of your friends avoided you since your engagement. At least Kyle, Soap, and John were there. You asked Simon if he’d come too; he wasn’t sure at first, but he said he'd come. You needed him there; he was your best friend after all - well, he was before you broke up.

John took your hand, and with him, you walked towards James. Everyone looked at you, and despite everything you didn’t like, you were indeed the most beautiful bride there ever was. Your bridesmaids stood at the altar in their maroon-shaded dresses, smiling towards you. James smiled at you; he didn’t cry, but that's okay; you knew he was more than happy to be here today, with you. But your eyes searched for him; was Simon there?

As everyone stood up, you noticed him, looking down at you with a faint smile. He wore a suit, something you had never seen him wear before. The fabric was stretched across his broad shoulders; the suit trousers were too short for his full height, so his ankles were visible. But despite this, he looked incredible, and without a mask, just for you - he left it at home for you. He was the only one not smiling at you - not important right now. John gave you to James, being the best actor anyone had seen; he hid his despise towards James so well.

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

"Th' bride looks absolutely bonny, dinnae ye think sae, Lt.?"

"Go fuck yourself, Johnny."

"Would dae it, bit it wid be a tad disrespectful oan a bridle," Johnny chuckled with a boyish grin while Garrick shot him a death stare, clearly annoyed by Johnny's unableness to behave.

Simon didn’t want to go to the fucking wedding, as if it wasn’t worse enough to know how much he fucked up by breaking up with you. No, he needed to watch that shit now; it was worse than all the torture he endured in his life. He would have said no; he really should have if you hadn’t looked at him with your dear eyes. How could he say no to you? He was just a man after all.

And now he was punished, watching the love of his life marry a bloody wanker. A lawyer, as if you would be happy with that suit-wearing superficial idiot. No, you always wanted and deserved a real man, someone who’d kill for you, someone like him, someone who wouldn’t mind getting dirty for you, someone who respected your wishes. Someone who knew how much you hated summer weddings, roses, and this dress.

Well, you still looked like the most beautiful woman on earth, he thought, but he couldn’t shake the thoughts away that this was not like you; this wasn’t you. That's not what he could give you if he hadn’t been such a bloody coward.

He looked at you and tried to smile; that's the least he could do after giving you up. "Dear friends, and family, we are gathered here today to celebrate the love between the two of them. If you are willing to support the love between the two, then please answer, 'Yes, we will.'"

"Yes, we will," was chanted from the various people at the church, just not from him and Price, who looked more stern than usual.

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

(Three years ago...)

"Why do you think this is romantic? She left a poor bloke at the altar," Simon looked at you confused at your choice of movie for Netflix and chill.

"If you know, you know, Simon. Just thinking, if you love someone so much, you can be egotistical, you know."

"You’re weird, love," he chuckled while pulling you closer into his embrace.

"If I ever marry, I want a winter wedding with Christmas trees and hot cocoa and snow, lots of snow."

"You'll freeze to death in the dress, love."

"At least no sunburn."

"I've been taking Viagra for my sunburn. It doesn’t cure it, but it keeps the sheets off my legs."

"You're not funny, Simon Riley."

This is not right; everything feels wrong about this for him. And when he looked at you, noticing your eyes were focused on him instead of James, the doubt was gone. He stood up, ignoring the glances from everyone in the room; only you were important now. Who cares if he fucks up, as long as he has you back?

"I love you. I know I'm a fucking bastard for not telling you this ages ago, but I always loved you since the day you bloody screamed at me in the hospital. I love your craziness, your messy hair in the morning, and how you always sing in the shower even if you can't fucking sing. I love you, and I know this isn’t your thing; everything comes with me. Let me be the man you deserve."

Silence. Everyone in the room was torn between anger, silence, and somehow happiness. You knew what you were about to do was the most selfish thing in your life. You gave James an apologetic glance, and much to Simon's surprise, you ran towards him, or more of waddled, which made the whole situation awkward; you really should have trained to walk in your wedding heels. Of course, he scooped you up, running with you out of the church like a madman, putting you in the front seat of his trashy SUV.

"I didn't think you’d agree."

"Me neither."

"I'm glad you did."

"So what now, Simon?"

"Marry me, love; make an honest man out of me. I'll give you everything you want: kids, a corgi, even though shepherds are superior, and I'll build a damn house for you with a bloody wrap-around porch, everything for you, just be Mrs. Riley."

You couldn’t contain your happiness anymore, so you wrapped your hands around his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. "Yes, yes, Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you too, always."

#cod #cod mw2 #cod mwii #cod x reader #call of duty #tf 141 #simon ghost riley #ghost call of duty #ghost #ghost cod #ghost x you #ghost x reader #ghost x y/n #simon ghost x reader #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #simon riley #simon my beloved

[bbanghiitomi]

| when things don't go your way

synopsis: what do you call someone you're not dating but someone in your arms? hanni asks that question herself often but always comes to the same answer: which is you.

— nonidol!filmstudent!phanni! × nonidol!journalismstudent!fem!reader

ლ⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠ლ⁠) ლ⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠ლ⁠) ლ⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠ლ⁠) ლ⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

y/n, are u not coming to see me?

i miss you already...

haven't seen you for a month.

how's ur org doing?

received.

you find yourself smiling as you read her messages, it seems like just the casual hi and hello's, the simple updates that friends are supposed to be sharing with each other aren't enough to satisfy the pham's need to be able to see your face, hear your voice and touch you. she's right actually, the last time you've seen each other was a month ago, before your journalism organization started being busy once again and her life has been a lot more boring ever since. there have been lots of restless nights where you think to yourself that there's no such rest as good as hanni's hugs, you really need her embrace, her arms around your waist.

god i miss her…

you can't help but think to yourself whilst you sit in one of the journalism organization room swivel chairs, working in front of a computer for the next online publishing of the university's news publishing website. it's almost 9pm, the lights are dim and the last person who you were with inside the room was the radio broadcasting group's director — danielle marsh, who then left with the sports writer kang haerin. they've been going in and out together for the past couple of months, which went unnoticed by some members of the faculty as it was seen as “typical” and very on character for them to do so.

you weren't new to that thing too, it's pretty obvious they've got a thing for each other and they're pretty open about it if anything.

unlike you.

just seeing the two made you miss hanni so much more, and it's quite selfish to think of such things because everyone, including the sane part of your brain knew that there's nothing between the two of you except for friendship — worn like a cloak to hide a secret. you can't remember why this whole arrangement between you and hanni started, when did you start sharing kisses? when did you start taking her home? what was the reason you visited her place even if it was late at night? why were you even so adamant about being there for her when she needs someone? why did both of you agree not to put any meaning behind these things? those thoughts were at the back of your mind, it shouldn't matter actually and when you think about it you try not to pry yourself about how it should matter that much — at the end of the day, things are not going to change.

if the walls of your room could talk, your secrets would no longer be something shared between you and hanni.

well, you've been on thin ice for such a long time — at this point, you assume that everyone in your organization and her club already has an idea about your relationship with hanni and are quite in a stump about it but that's too far from the truth, in fact — there were hardly anyone who notices the little things you do. everytime you think about her, the shared secrets together, the things about you that only she knows — you can't even find a reason to hate yourself for entertaining something people won't find appealing. it's been so long, why would you even go back to where it all started to stop this from escalating even further when you could just go with it until the end.

you know, you're going to hold onto this till the end, thinking that there will be that time where you and hanni can settle things down and accept what needs to be accepted and leave what needs to be left behind.

maybe, things will get better eventually…

you just hope you can stick with this until — you can finally call her… yours.

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

hm…

i'll think about it.

miss me already?

the org's doing just fine, hbu?

sent.

you drop your phone on the table as you close the tabs of the computer and then turn the computer off. you stay on the chair for a few more minutes, waiting for her reply as you fiddle the hem of your shirt with your fingers. quite nervous, confused as to why you were nervous — you can't help but just laugh, not having any explanation as to why you're suddenly acting like a giddy teenager girl over your so-called "friend".

crap… you think to yourself, it's really late now but you were hoping to see her again, at least even for just an hour or-so.

i wonder what she's up to now.

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

oh! the club's doing well!

we just finished our project and were hoping to release it soon.

you know how giddy i get about it, right?

i wish you were here with me so i can tell you all about it.

received.

you feel the familiar heat crawling up to your cheeks, you tap at the screen only for a few seconds and then pick it up. you wonder why, even before you kissed her, no matter how many times you tried setting yourself up with other girls — it wasn't effective at all. behind those words you told other people is hanni lingering at the back of your mind, the image of her face clear in your eyes until you just gave up, leaving yourself falling into her arms.

just how many times have i tried?

i can't even remember.

you thought then just gave up.

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

yeah…

i wish i was there, where are you anyway?

i mean, maybe i can come and see you.

right?

sent.

you stare at her message for a few seconds then you stand up and grab your bag that's been left unattended on the floor for a few hours since you first started working on the articles. you have absolutely no idea about what you're doing, it's just you doing whatever once again and doing it in the most random time ever but that's just because you missed hanni so much.

it won't hurt, right?

spending just some time to see her again.

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

wait, really?

i mean…

that's great!

but what about your roommate?

will minji not look for you?

received.

that's the thing, minji has been your roommate for almost two years — yes, that long. she's practically like your sibling at this point, one that you can always trust and lean on when you need a shoulder to hold onto or someone to cry on. minji used to be also a part of the film making organization in your university. she used to work with hanni on some projects for school until she left to focus on writing her own stuff on her own accord. so, minji is someone hanni already knew before she met you.

minji knows your thing with hanni and is at first troubled by it, but then it's not like it's something unethical, right? it's just secrets and a relationship with no label, it doesn't hurt anyone aside from you and hanni. that's the thing, minji feels bad that you subject yourself to self-harm — which is a relationship where you have no right to feel jealous about. she knows it sucks, how many times have she asked you: “what’s really between you and hanni?” and you always answer her. “nothing, we're close friends.” even though she's seen you cuddling with hanni on your couch, awfully closer than normal.

she worries your mother might find out even before you make it official between the two of you,

you know, she knows you're screwed if it were to happen.

minji has basically given up prying her way into your business but still tries to watch out whenever you feel sad or frustrated. she's always there when you need her — she's obviously a great friend that even your parents trust.

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

nah, don't worry

i’ll tell her.

she’ll be alright.

where are you?

sent.

honey ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

great, i’m here at my condominium

just, you know? waiting…

hope you come here asap

;)))

received.

you grab your backpack and sling to your shoulder, making your way past the rows of computers lined and exiting the room. you see the dim corridor, your eyes follow along the lines of doors and the straight path to the stairways, and under the dark hall the pictures of when you first met hanni lingered at the back of your mind, right at the end of the corridor.

r u carps, min?

hey minji,

bro

i won't be home 2night

take care of the dorm and heat up the pizza

i got some money under the flower base and just take it to order sum whatever…

lov ur roommate, y/n

sent.

and with a blink, you come back to reality and start running your way to the stairs and reaching the ground floor — rushing as soon as possible to get to the open parking lot where your scooter is parked, you open your top box with your keys and immediately place your bag inside before locking it once again.

r u carps, min?

dude wtf?

why now? ur mom will be here tomorrow.

y/n?

hey!

BRO!!!!

ur such an asshole

you know that?

come on…

ur dead

received.

as the engine ignites, all your worries are pushed back behind before the motor accelerates and you finally find your way outside the campus then to her condominium.

“you’ve been away for so long.” hanni grumbles, arms wrapping themselves around your torso, you laugh at her expression, a cute pout adoring her pink lips and her eyes full of stars inside of them. it's almost like she has the universe in her pupils. “only for a month by the way, i’m guessing you really feel lonely here.” you tell her, raising your brows at her direction with a smile on your lips. she nods, snuggling closer to your body on the bed, she feels like a koala the way she couldn't let go of your figure.

“of course! aside from my parents, you're really the only one i want here with me.” she says, well it's nothing but the truth but hearing it made something inside you tremble. it's something you cannot understand but something you feel very deep inside, you only smile at her.

she could bring anyone she wants here.

and you would still not be able to tell her nothing, because you have no right to do so.

she's free to do whatever she wants to do.

and that must be your fault, right?

you place a hand on top of her head, patting her soft hair under your palm. “seriously, this is why you feel lonely. having a friend or two here other than me wouldn't be so bad.” you express out of genuine feelings, though it's nice to know you're the only one she wants, you can't help but feel guilty that you're making her wait or expect too much to the point she's not allowing anyone inside of her life aside from you.

at the end of the day, you only want her to be happy.

but that's not the case, for a relationship that doesn't have any label — hanni seems committed to it.

you haven't even said anything but she's already sure she's yours, and it honestly makes you feel bad even if it is a mutual feeling you two both share.

“i really only want you…” hanni buries her head on your neck, snuggling close for warmth and you can't help but wrap your arm around her, to keep her close as if anyone was going to take her away from you if you don't. “it's okay, i won't be away for any longer anymore. i promise.” you whisper, you feel hanni nod her head and feel her lips against your skin as she speaks. “promise me you’ll be here with me forever?” you look down on her, eyes directly on her cheek, her face hidden on your neck. “i will.” you smile at her.

maybe, you are really that tired that when you open your eyes it's already 9am in the morning yet hanni is still wrapped around your arms. the sun shines so much brighter on days like this, it must have been her presence beside you and everyday should have been like this if things were different.

there is still a chance for you to change it.

you start to see it.

“are you sure i can come to you and minji’s place today?” hanni asks, looking up from her plate of food, she tilts her head as she asks, eyes meeting your own pair. “well yeah, you know minji would never mind.” you say, bringing your utensils down before smiling at her direction. “besides, it’s not a busy day today.” you add.

you take the helmet in hanni’s hands and help her wear it on her head, making sure it's strapped tight. as your hands let go of the helmet, you notice hanni staring at your face and you raise your brows at her. “what?” you ask. hanni giggles and shakes her head. “nothing, i just… feel giddy about being with you today after what felt like forever.” she says and you almost saw the entire galaxy inside of her eyes the way it shines, the wait the light sparkles, you can't help but be mesmerized.

you nod at her and place a kiss on her cheek. “of course, it's not everyday we get to be like this together.” you huff and hop on the motor, hanni follows and wraps her arms around your waist.

when you get to your shared apartment’s front door you notice the weird aura of the place, you hesitate to open the door as you stand still looking at the wooden entrance, hanni peeks behind you and wonders why you haven't touched the doorknob.

now… i must be paranoid.

it's oddly quiet or somehow, there's a strange presence looming around the place and you don't know what it was.

you take the doorknob in your hand and feel its cold surface, sending shivers on your spine. you twist it and enter inside, slowly stepping a foot and looking around to see if anyone beside minji is present, hanni follows quietly but is still confused. your eyes widen when you spot your mom standing by the living room and seemingly pacing around, in panic and quite in a rush, impatient.

you feel a rush of adrenaline pumping in your veins as you immediately take a step back, pull hanni outside then close the door gently. “w-what’s wrong? is there an intruder inside?” hanni asks, worried that there might actually be an intruder, which ironically turned out to be your mom. you laugh sheepishly and scratch the back of your head. “uh no? i just remembered that minji wasn't around and… we can go grab food somewhere before coming back—” your words are cut off when the door opens to, none other than minji.

“minji..?” hanni looks behind you, to the door as minji stands with a hard expression on her face.

“where have you been?” minji asks, her tone is strict and impatient for an immediate answer, her eyes bore behind you and then dart back at hanni. “and why is hanni here?” she adds to the pile of questions.

you turn around and shake your head. “ah, i didn't know you were here… crap, i was at her place yesterday and i thought i’d hang around with her here ‘cause you wouldn't mind, right?” you shrug, minji kept her serious face but sighs, rubbing her temple with her fingers. “y/n, i won't of course. but you know who will?” she says, clearly frustrated.

hanni squints her eyes at minji. “who?”

“her mom, she's here today, waiting for y/n inside.” minji answers, you flinch at the idea before turning your head at hanni who frowns and looks away. “i didn't know she'd be here!” you whisper aggressively, rubbing your face with your hand.

“dude, i messaged you yesterday. you didn't even bother reading it.” minji argues, which was the truth but you were riding your scooter to hanni's place when you received the message — it was the reason you didn't have the time to read it.

with your face buried on your palm, you grumbled. “dude, i was riding my scooter that time…”

hanni sighs and places her hand on your shoulder, you put your head up and look at her. “i’m leaving for now i guess, you'd be in more trouble if she sees me.” hanni says, giving you a small smile.

you furrow your brows, you think to yourself that there must be a way — there's something you can definitely do, doesn't matter what there has to be something!

you stare at her, pursing your lips before reaching out for her hand and shaking your head. “no, you'll stay. don't worry i’ll take care of this, please just stay.” you tell her, minji’s expression turns into confusion — as if, your ways of salvaging you and hanni's relationship seemed absurd to minji's level of understanding.

“wait? y/n are you crazy? you're gonna get you both in trouble!” minji says, already scolding you even before the trouble happens. you look at her and shake your head, holding hanni’s hand tight. “no, that's my mom — i know her, we’ll be alright. i promise.” you look back at hanni to give her a small smile again, caressing the soft skin of her hand under yours to soothe the unstable feeling stressing her out.

the door opens once again but this time it's your mother who exits and her eyes dart at the three figures standing. “y/n? where have you been, young lady!” she yells, you laugh and look at her with a sheepish expression before pulling hanni slightly closer beside you. “i stayed somewhere only for a night. i swear, no troubles.” your mother seems to notice hanni’s presence beside you and raises her brow towards hanni, her scary aura unchanging.

hanni took a deep breath, opening her lips as if about to say a word but she fails miserably when your mother glares at her. “and who is this girl?” your mother asks, her voice asking irritatedly. you look at hanni before wrapping your arm around her torso, getting a look of doubt from your mother but mostly directed to hanni, who gulps a lump inside her throat. “hi — i’m y/n’s —”

“she's my girlfriend, mom.” you grin at your mother, hanni and minji both looked shocked at the sudden revelation — you were confident, this time you’re sure and there's no way you’ll take it back again, not this time or never again. hanni looks at you and her eyes shake when it meets your mother's gaze.

“oh, what..?” minji mutters, feeling her head spinning, she blinks in confusion and looks at the three people all facing one another. hanni blushes, aggressively gripping the hem of your shirt, looking up at you as if you said something crazy which is indeed crazy, out of character even.

“oh, really?” your mom adds, her voice softens but her eyes remain the same.

hanni looks at your mom, nodding her head gently.

“yes, i’m your daughter’s girlfriend, ma'am. nice to meet you…” hanni smiles, still quite hesitant, like a curious cat dipping its paws in something it doesn't know — but in hanni’s case she has her hand sticking out for a handshake.

somehow, your mother's eyes softened or is hanni just deluding herself into believing so?

she hopes, your mom did — because she shouldn't be seeing things, she's still sane after all!

yes, your mother did soften her gaze.

hanni may not be that crazy after all.

just a little, just for you.

“yeah! you're okay with it, right mom? hanni’s a very nice girl and she lets me sleep at her place when i stay at school late and she cooks me breakfast and she helps me with my homeworks. she helps me clean my room, helps me with my laundry and —” even before you finish rambling about how hanni basically keeps your life stable your mom raises her index finger to your way to shush you down before she steps forward to take a closer look at hanni.

your mother looks at hanni’s hand and reaches for it before shaking it, feeling hanni’s sweating and trembling hand. “nice to meet you, is my daughter too much work? i know she's a little handful sometimes.” you slump your shoulders as you mother jokes, hanni laughs— you notice the change in her voice, feeling your girlfriend starting to relax herself. “she isn't, i’m happy to be helping her.” hanni answers, feeling her cheeks flush and her blood boiling on her face.

“that's good to know, she's very dependent.”

minji nods and huffs. “yes, she is!” you roll your eyes at her.

you mother lets go of hanni’s hand and turns away to walk inside the door, but before she enters she calls for minji. “help me arrange the table.” she says, to which minji followed almost immediately.

hanni feels like laughing, there's a certain type of warmth blooming inside of her when she realizes what just happened. she blinks only for a bit, trying to do something to make sure she isn't daydreaming or dreaming whilst asleep — and she had just confirmed that she is indeed awake, none of what happened was fake and the warmth of your arm proved it.

“hanni.” you call out to her. hanni puts a hand on her mouth and looks up at you, starstrucked to actually see your mother up close.

“i’m your girlfriend?” she asks, to make sure you're not bluffing.

you smile and nod, giving her the type of gaze that means “i love you”.

“you are, you're my girlfriend.” you tell her.

hanni feels like crying this time, there's something about it that she can't explain — something about finally being able to hold onto something that isn't a thin thread of hope for something that will break apart in no time, without her knowing. something about finally being able to actually express her feelings without holding back sends waves of relief inside of hanni.

why has she not thought of this earlier? why didn't you tell her that earlier?

hanni embraces you in a tight hug, her face buried in your shoulder as she sobs. “oh my god…” you feel her speak. you laugh, petting her head. “hey now, i promise i’m not lying.”

hanni sniffs and looks up at you. “i love you.” she whispers, eyes covered with tears and cheeks are bright red, before breaking into a wide smile. “i love you too.” you tell her back before giving her a small kiss on her lips.

#female reader #kpop #kpop imagines #newjeans #newjeans imagines #girl group #hanni #girlgroup imagines #hanni pham #pham hanni #newjeans x reader #newjeans hanni

[cupidsfaerie]

call it what you want ✧.* | hook x reader!

hook x fem! reader

summary: hook buys his girlfriend a chain with his name on it.

genre: fluff!

a/n: this concept is so cute, slightly inspired by call it what you want by taylor swift! enjoy <3

hook and y/n had been dating for about six months now, and their relationship could not have been better. every day was like a new adventure for the two of them. they were the definition of puppy love, two people who were obsessed with each other.

with the relationship getting more and more serious, hook wanted to gift y/n something that she could wear have to solidify their relationship even more. he had been thinking of ideas, and trying to think of the best thing for him to give to her. he spent his time off going to different places to find a gift, before finally settling on getting her a custom made chain with his name on it. he had finally received the finish chain, and he decided it would be a good idea to surprise her today with it.

y/n, on the other hand had noticed how busy hook had always seemed lately, and wondered if maybe he was getting tired of her, or maybe the honeymoon phase was starting to come to an end. she felt like he was distant lately, but tried not to think to hardly on it. with the six months they had spent, she thought about how quickly time had gone. they hadn't spent time together in about a week, with him always being busy with work according to him. so, y/n spent her time off studying and doing things to distract herself from the fact that she had not heard from him.

y/n was fixated on her work, when she heard a knock on her apartment door. she looked up in confusion, getting up to open it. when she opened the door, she was surprised to see her boyfriend boyfriend standing in front of her. "oh my gosh, babe! what are you doing here?" she asked excitedly, as she greeted him with a hug. he smiled, pulling her into a hug, and kissing her lips softly.

"i wanted to come visit you. i'm sorry for not calling as much as i should, baby." he said. "no, no. don't apologize, love. come inside!" y/n said, as she moved out of the way to let him inside. hook smiled as he looked at her place, they had spent so many nights here together, and each one was always more special than the last.

"baby, sit down for a moment. i want to show you something." hook said, as he grabbed her hand, leading her to the couch. y/n looked at him confused, before sitting down next to him. "what is it?" she asked, curiously. hook moved his free hand into his pocket, and y/n tilted her head. her eyes widened when she saw a box, "don't worry, i'm not proposing, yet." he chuckled, causing y/n to let out a giggle.

"we've been together for a half a year already, and i know that to some people that isn't too long. but, i just wanted to let you know that i am so lucky to have you." he explained, causing y/n to let a tear slip out, followed by a smile. "that being said, i got this made for you." he said, opening the box to show her a chain with his name written out in cursive.

y/n's smile widened, and she embraced hook with a hug. "oh my gosh! it's so pretty, baby." she said, as she looked at it. hook smiled, and took the necklace out for her. "here, let me put it on for you." he said, standing up and sitting behind her. she smiled as he placed the chain onto her neck, and put it on for her.

once he finished, they both stood up and he looked at her. "you look so beautiful, now everyone knows you're only mine." he said, smirking. "always, baby. i love you." she said, pulling him into a hug. "i love you so much more." he replied.

the end.

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

this one was so fun to write, and came to my mind so easily. i hope you liked it! <3

#aew #hook aew #aew hook x reader #aew fanfiction #aew imagine #wrestling imagine #hook x reader

[fairuzfan]

It’s “vote blue no matter who” but then you get Dems like Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, and John Fetterman or people like Tricia Cotham and Jeff Van Drew who switched parties and then it’s every excuse in the book as to why Dems can’t get shit done and just “vote harder.”

Dems did know that embracing disenchanted conservatives would push the party further right, and that’s precisely why centrists and the upper middle class liberals were all so excited to join ranks with “never Trump” republicans.

The issue is that voting is great and all in theory. Some of my family is residing in a country where you can't vote so like, having a say in your government?! That's great!

But I don't *really* have a say in my government when all the standard forms of calling and emailing are being flat out ignored. Sure I voted. But now what. Fetterman is a racist asshole that pretended to be "on the side of the oppressed" to get his position. Sinema is.... like that. Manchin is annoying as hell. And what, you're telling me "just wait til next election and they'll be gone"? Like at what point will this endless spiral of "it could be worse" honestly start benefiting anyone.

And people are saying "join unions or organize" as some sort of gotcha... Palestinians have been organizing for 75 years. The whole reason people know so much about Palestine is because we've been organizing for YEARS, have been participating in the system for YEARS. Sure I can unionize. Sure I can organize. But when absolutely no one takes you seriously in your government?? Then what are you supposed to do??

I still am an advocate for voting locally, but I honestly don't see the point in voting higher than that. I remember a comment in the "can't vote out fascism" post was saying "actual physical fascism is worse than passive fascism" and I'm like.... yeah for you maybe? I'm disabled and I've been mostly in my house for the past 3 years because I want to avoid COVID at all costs. Disabled people around the states have as well. People have been dying well before the past couple of months. Are you saying you'd rather have silent deaths than loud ones?

And another comment that really annoyed me and felt severely disconnected from reality was "Trump's Foreign Policy is the same if not worse than Biden..." Worse than funding a genocide...? Like I hate Trump so much and would never vote for him. But I also won't ever vote for Biden.

Also something that "Vote Blue" people don't realize.... Biden's already lost. I'm not saying this to be smug or anything. Many Muslims and SWANA immigrants vote PRIMARILY based on foreign policy. Like that's one of our main concerns. Every single election, we consider which person would be "better" for people overseas — this isn't me projecting, we talk amongst ourselves about it to make a decision. And these people live in major cities and swing states like Michigan in Dearborn and Detroit. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Illinois turns red next election. Many Palestinian refugees after the Nakba and Naksa settled in Chicago and the greater Chicago area. I've heard that people hate Fetterman so much that they're not voting for him next election or wanting anything to do with democrats anymore. Dems have completely neglected the Muslim and SWANA community and that will come back to bite them in the butt.

Like at this point, you should be thinking of what to do when Trump becomes president lol. Actually think about it. Because honestly, you can yell at me all you want and call me stupid or an idiot for not voting/doing a write in — but I'm 10000% sure that Trump is going to win next election. What more are you going to do other than vote?

[finniestoncrane]

Placebo

Gotham!Riddler x GN!Reader, word count: 650 commission: gotham!riddler getting some very well-deserved love and affection after getting in a lil scrape commission me here! request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: fluff, some minor injury

“It went that bad, huh?”

“It didn’t go bad, they just didn’t… follow my plan.”

Edward stared at the ground, his glasses broken and askew on his face, usually tidy hair messed up and falling down into his eyes.

“And your plan was…?”

“My plan was to get those officers back for their cruel taunts, I thought if I called them out on the way they spoke to you, to us, that they might at least engage in some kind of… reasonable conversation. Maybe I could get them to see the error of their ways.”

“And instead?”

“Well… instead, they got angry, and opted to take that aggression out in a physical manner. I hardly think it’s my fault that they were too stupid to learn how to take criticism. I take enough of it, from people who definitely don’t know better. And I do know better. I know what’s right and what they should do and ow!”

His ranting was cut short as he hissed loudly, the Neosporin stinging his gentle, soft skin as you passed it over the grazes on his knuckles.

“I can see you gave back as good as you got though.”

“I tried…”

His gaze remained towards the floor, but you could make out the slight smile on his cheeks, which flushed with a hint of blush.

“You poor, sweet thing. You’re a hero in my books, anyway.”

“Really?”

Finally, he looked up, meeting your eyes with a gaze that searched for truth and sincerity in your words.

“Of course, Edward. You’re very brave, to stand up for what you believe in.”

He smiled, adjusting his glasses and pushing them up the bridge of his nose, twitching it from side to side to get them to settle in place. Smiling back at him, you brushed his hair back into place as best as you could, and without thinking, you leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on his now visible forehead.

Jumping back with an embarrassed, spluttering cough, you got back to work cleaning up his knuckles. He’d thrown punches, defending himself and by extension you. In fact, you suspected that a lot of it was for you. His face hadn’t stopped beaming since you gave him the small, sweet kiss. His eyes didn’t drift back to the floor, they were stuck on you, intense in their gaze.

“There, all done.”

Lifting his hands to your mouth, you kissed the knuckles, tilting them forward to kiss the back of his hands too.

“Kissing it better, it might help, you never know.”

“It… it might. The placebo effect has been proven time and time again to offer legitimate healing and preventative properties, all established through rigorous and extensive huh-”

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to listen, but the way he spoke, the way his lips moved, his nose twitching with the words, it was impossible not to kiss him. So you interrupted him, his mumbles muffling against your mouth before he stopped completely, silent but for a few soft moans as he leaned into the affections.

Feeling his hand reach behind you, the moment felt perfect, until he pulled back with a yelp.

“Oh!”

“What’s wrong?”

“My… hand. Fingers still hurt a bit, can’t really… offer you much in the way of reciprocated affections.”

Taking the offending digits, the ones which throbbed in pain as he tried to hold your head steady into the embrace, you kissed them again.

“Just means they need some more sweet placebos then, hm?”

Bashful, but attempting to push through it, he smiled, wide enough to push his cheeks up and shift his glasses.

“I would never turn down effective medical assistance.”

Clearing his throat, he made an attempt to apologise for how clunky his flirting was, but you were already silencing him with another kiss. You weren’t going to let him talk himself out of his deserved affections this time.

#finnie writes #riddler #the riddler #riddler imagine #the riddler fanfic #riddler fanfic #riddler x reader #riddler x you #edward nygma #gotham #gotham riddler #gotham!riddler #gotham fox

[seafoamreadings]

week of august 6th, 2023

aries: venusian activity in your 5th house, retrograde or not (it is) means romance and creativity for you. love your inner child in the way that it needed when you were young. take yourself outside to play, or buy yourself a nice toy. if you have your own children or spend a lot of time around someone else's kids, be a safe and trustworthy grownup to them for extra good karma!

taurus: venus in retrograde comes back to square uranus and conjoin the sun, retracing her fairly recent steps. while it's probably less bubbly and bright than last time, it's still alluring and may herald romantic developments.

gemini: the moon in your sign such as it will be this week can make people antsy. you're not really an exception. on the brighter side of things though, you're more fluid than any other sign and can easily turn any mood around. you can turn other people's moods too, with your charming eloquence put to good use.

cancerians: it may well be that recent leonic themes are not something you're quite comfortable with, and maybe with venus retrograde over there you even have some financial struggles occurring. this week especially, overspending is ill advised. it's not such a mercurial time that you need to work out a whole budget unless you want to! just think twice (or three or four times) before you buy stuff for fun.

leo: sun conjunct venus is HUGE for leos, never mind the fact that venus is in retrograde. that just means you get to do this again after she turns direct and it'll be even better then! good vibes all week if you wear gold, especially rosy golds, and glitter, and big sleek hair. plus embrace the feline life and attitude. lilith is also in that neighborhood, so no need to adhere to any traditional roles. be in your wildest authenticity. you may be a house tiger, but you're still a tiger.

virgo: this week is peaceful for you if you are willing to surrender. but for a sign who has a negative stereotype about being micromanaging control freaks, which yes is a stereotype but also yes has some truth to it (admit it!!) this is no easy task. just practice letting go. if you founder, practice some more.

libra: venus retrograde is an introspective time for you but if there's any time during the process that you should be out socializing it's this week, and if you don't want to then at least take some good selfies. the glow is unreal and people should see it, don't deprive them of your divine aura.

scorpio: frivolous for some but poignant for you. that's the vibe this week. others can't be expected to understand what you're going through, so you may feel a bit lonely in it all, but try to enjoy or at least appreciate the solitude such as it is and do something really kind for yourself, and then do something really kind for someone else, with no expectation of reward or even recognition.

sagittarius: jovial jupiter, your sign's ruler, gets beamed with a friendly trine from mercury, the merchant and trickster. little harmless deceptions or mistakes can actually work out in your favor, and if you're in any form of sales it is currently profitable.

capricorn: once a month, like this week, the moon treks through your relationships house in cancer. on the weekend you'll probably feel like settling in and settling down with a comfortable person. but make sure they are more than comfortable - your structured lifestyle needs more than a nap and a good meal.

aquarius: uranus in taurus has likely had you feeling out of your element. and the series of squares to that ruling planet of yours probably compounds the problem. the trick is to stay utterly true to yourself, while also embracing ways in which you can grow, especially in areas that involve nature - the grass, the trees, the dirt. get out of your mad scientist lair for just a bit.

pisces: increasing activity in virgo, much of which is shadowy and operatic, has you feeling a bit wuthering heights. partnered pisceans may be questioning their commitments or feeling questioned themselves. single pisceans are more likely than usual to find themselves in "situationships" they really wish were more, even if they struggle to admit it.

#horoscopes #astrology #weekly horoscopes #transits #weekly horoscope #signs #zodiac #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

[amazing-spiderling]

For the character ask game, Scott Summers and/or Kurt Wagner, #7 & #12

<3

7. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Scott: People making jokes about Scott yelling "JEAAAAN :00000" all the time will never not be funny to me. IDK there's just something about people who end up marrying their high school sweethearts that's a little wacky. And as much as I enjoy ragging on the guy, I am glad that the fandom has come around and is appreciating his character development, especially from the last 20 years of comics.

Kurt: I've literally never met an X-Men/comics fan that doesn't like Kurt. Like he may not be their FAVORITE, but he's kinda the unproblematic fave of the fandom, so if you bring him up, the odds of people having something positive to say are pretty high. If anything, I think people are better about criticizing a bad writer or bad production decisions for any wonky characterization, rather than jumping to, "this is why this character sucks" like I've seen them do for other characters in comics.

12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?

Scott: Wow, my feelings about Scott are kind of a jumble. I haven't read that many comics that focused on him specifically, so I feel like I'm drawing from all of the various media interpretations... I hesitate to make a claim about comics Scott because I'll say something like, "he writes a blog about baking" and someone is going to come in and be like, "X-Factor explicitly stated that he writes about gardening".

Okay, upon a little thought, I do have one. After he was resurrected following whatever the hell was going on between the Inhumans and Mutants in "Death of X", Scott felt REALLY BAD about what happened to my boy Alchemy, and we didn't see it, but offscreen he made sure that Tom was at the front of the line for Mutants to bring back to life on Krakoa. He yelled at Emma about it, too. (That last part probably was elaborated on, but I want to imagine that he was mad about that death in particular, since she used his voice/commanding personality so heavily and ended up getting Alchemy killed without a second thought.)

Kurt: I guess I'm not really sure if this is a headcanon or just like, a gut feeling- but... I don't see Kurt ever settling down, getting married, having kids. Which is kind of a wild thing to say because the man is HUSBAND MATERIAL THROUGH AND THROUGH and Marvel writers who get to take a swing at future versions of the X-Men love giving him a family... but he's always married to some rando who showed up in one (1) forgettable comic from 30 years ago that nobody remembers. It's sort of the problem of having chemistry with everyone, but then maybe not having a "spark" with one person in particular.

My use of the word "spark" here is intentional- as those familiar with his arc during the recent Krakoa era of X-Men comics might have picked up. Kurt creates the idea of a "spark" as a universal concept for Mutants of any/all faiths to embrace, a means to protect the sanctity and respect for the miracle of life. He was one of the few to recognize the need for Mutants to have something outside of themselves to pursue, and it came at no small cost to himself. In fact, he became something of an outsider, observing the community he loved, so that he could better serve them- and that I think is the crux of the issue. His "true love" is not another person, it's the preservation of a dream, and providing hope to all mutants. Even in the alternate world where he married Wanda and they had TJ, the couple lives apart from one another, each a part of their own respective teams because while they loved each other, they realized they could not focus on their duty when they were together. The mission still came first. I don't know that I mean he should join the conventional priesthood (if only because time has shown not enough comics writers are well versed enough in organized religion to write convincing and compelling comic stories about it) but his devotion to the Legionaries was close enough for me.

It's a bit of a double edged sword- I think it's something that makes his character unique, and I could turn this idea over and over in my head endlessly, but it comes at a bit of a cost from a meta perspective. I think part of the reason there's not as much fiction for the poor boy is because he doesn't have really solid canon ship fodder (NightWolves shippers have all my respect, mind you, but somehow it seems to draw a niche crowd?), so he tends to sit in the background like charming blue set dressing. It's okay though, we all still love him.

#scott summers #kurt wagner #nightcrawler #yes i have feelings about way/legion of x how could you tell

[cattyanon]

👀

Oh I suppose I can share.

So technically it's the Sonic of No Place that's the siren. Although now I'm considering exploring something where Sonic becomes the siren cause why not... His name is Spindrift (which i researched a bunch of water related words for the coolest sounding thing) backstory is that during a giant storm he fell off the Angel's Voyage and in a stroke of 'luck' he comes in contact with a magical gem (i'm still not sure if I want it to be the Paradox Prism itself or just something made up) that turns him into a mermaid. And no, mermaid wasn't a typo- but there's an explanation! >:)

Anyways, after the initial freak out he's like "I gotta find some way to reverse this!!" And although he tries to be careful about who he asks for help since he knows people can be assholes his plan goes awry. You see the plan was for him to hang out kinda close to a random docking place and then when a ship takes off he'd tail it for a little while and eavesdrop in order to figure out if they're good people. Unfortunately he wasn't being as sneaky as he thought and word got around of a mermaid being spotted in the area. As you can probably guess, this doesn't end well for him and he ends up captured by bad people and put onto a black market.

He goes through the wringer and is passed around/sold many times and despite trying to cling onto hope, one day he breaks. I don't have anything specific on what happens but one day he hits his limit and he SCREAMS at the top of his lungs in a mix pain, sadness, and anger. And the scream is abnormally loud. So loud it shatters all and any glass around him and ends up rupturing the eardrums of anyone too close.

If you guessed that means he went from being a mermaid to being a siren- you're correct! I even made some lore about it~

So basically when a mermaid gets consumed by hatred they turn into a siren. It's a very rare occurrence though, so there's not that many sirens in the world. Sirens are shunned by mermaids and despite their reasons for becoming one (like Spindrift was basically tortured) they're banished from anywhere mermaids reside.

There's a few main difference between mermaids and sirens besides the obvious siren powers gained upon transforming. Here's a list:

Can breathe above water for longer periods of time. This is how Spindrift managed to drag himself back into the ocean without suffocating to death. It was a really close call though.

They have claws.

More prone to anger.

Carnivores instead of omnivores.

Maybe a slightly longer lifespan...?

Anyways, Spindrift no longer trusts anyone else. Least of all blindly. In fact he actively hates what he (eventually) refers to as surface dwellers. After finding somewhere pretty secluded (which ends up being the Devil's Lighthouse) he settles down and makes the area his home. But sadly there are pirates greedy and daring enough to try and get to whatever treasures may lie in that area... and Spindrift hates trespassers.

After at least a few boat sinkings, somebody manages to survive and spreads the word about how there's a siren guarding the Devil's Lighthouse. Spindrift earns the nickname Rupture and, upon learning of said nickname, eventually embraces it. He loves the looks of terror upon people's already terrified faces when he reveals/confirms his nickname. It brings him a sick sense of pleasure that derives from the torture he endured at the hands of pirates. It was like payback.

When Dread first tries to get to the Devil's Lighthouse, he doesn't get enough of a good look at Rupture to to think he's Spindrift. Combine that with the fact that Spindrift was kindhearted and should be dead and the thought never even crosses his mind.

Then Sonic Prime happens... and boy is everybody in for a shock. And a bit of whiplash at the sight of Sonic. :p

#sonic #sonic prime #sonic au #Sonic the hedgehog #Tragic Mythos Prime AU #And here are the specific tags for his name at different points in time: #Spindrift the Hedgehog #(before he fell off the boat) #Spindrift the Merhog #(soon after he fell off the boat) #Spindrift the Siren #(after he becomes a siren) #Rupture the Siren #(after he embraces the nickname given to him) #I know 4 different iterations of the name is quite a lot #but this way it's easier to find me talking about the different points in time if need be

[turvi]

Come Get Your Funky Lovestory-4

Eddie Brock x F !reader

Summary: Y/n gets protective when Peter gets attacked by Venom. Eddie can't help but flirt with Y/n

Credits to Owner. GIF NOT MINE.

"What happened?" I went to visit Peter in his dorm to find him bruised up. He has had a rough week. He has still not made progress with MJ and Ned and two days ago he cried on the call saying how much he misses his Aunt May.

It broke my heart to listen to him cry like that. I have only known him since the civil war that broke out between Tony and Steve where I choked him (it was an accident, he was annoying me with his webs).

I couldn't help but grow a soft spot for the boy ever since I got to know him. I have started to feel protective of him ever since the Mysterio event, the multiverse event, and obviously the fact that I see glimpses of my son Abel in him. He looks at me the same way Abel looked at me. Maybe it's the guilt that I couldn't save my son, which is the reason I feel guilty for not being able to save him. Maybe it is my fault.

"It is not your fault Y/n" I look at him wide-eyed, jaw slacked. How does he know what I am thinking?

"How- what?"

He lightly chuckles at my reaction

"I think I have known you long enough to know you overthink, also because I remember how one time you got shampoo in your eyes and thought you were going to go blind"

I frowned jokingly "You know I was right to worry my eyes were red"

We sat there in comfortable silence when I decided to speak up again

"Tell me Peter who was it"

He looked down at his socked feet biting his lips. Why was he hesitating to tell me? "It was the same parasite you were talking about. He looks very dangerous Y/n, I somehow managed to escape, please stop looking for it."

"Pete, you jumped on a ship to help Tony fight Thanos why are you scared of this alien?"

"Please Y/n it's just the two of us now, no one will come to help us and if something happens to you too I'll not be able to forgive myself" he breaks down crying. I approach him cautiously settling myself on his carpeted floor in front of him.

It truly breaks my heart to see him like this. I take his hands in mine and gently caress them.

"Are you talking about Venom?"

He hesitates before he can answer "Yes Y/nn it is very dangerous I almost died" before he starts panicking I hold him in my embrace trying my best to calm him down.

"Don't worry I'll make sure this Venom gets sent to whatever part of hell it came from" I lean back to wipe his tears. His eyes were bloodshot from crying.

I soon bid him goodbye not before making sure he has something to eat and leave to go to my apartment.

Now, this was getting personal. I need to find Venom before it harms Peter more. As I am lost in my thought I bump into someone in the hallway.

"We should stop meeting like this babe," Eddie said in his husky voice

"Eddie, great I was looking for you" I couldn't stop the growing smile on my face

"Oh, I am honored my lady" he bowed. I chuckled taking his hand.

"Not here let's talk inside" I quickly opened my door and sat down on my sofa Eddie following my lead.

"Ok so you are a journalist"

He nodded his head "And you have beautiful eyes"

"Uh- wha- what" calm down he just said your eyes are beautiful. Not a big deal. He said my eyes are beautiful

"I thought we were stating facts about each other," he said grinning

I chuckled nervously "No I just wanted to ask if you have noticed any strange activity lately"

"What kind of strange activity?"

"Like any reports of a parasite attacking citizens"

Eddie stiffened at my words and straightened his back

"Uh-no why do you ask?" he asked squinting his eyes at me

"I just heard a lot about it at my work and people are scared of it. I thought you would know something about it since it is on news" not a lie you actually heard about Venom sightings at your work.

Eddie shifted uncomfortably in his seat "Not really, but I'll let you know when I do"

I can't help but wonder, Venom has been on news for weeks how come Eddie has not heard about it. "Thanks, Eddie, Cookie?" you asked with a beaming smile

Even though Eddie was terrified at that moment he nodded his head yes. Maybe he knows something. But why won't he tell me?

Wherever you are Venom you are going to pay for hurting my best friend. I'll make sure of it.

A/N: Yes I made slight changes it is ignorable. Hopefully. I know we didn't get much of Eddie here but he will be there in the next part

Taglist: @noodletwogo @belladona-is-poisonous @preciousbabypeter @jasminemohmed

Part 5?

#Spotify #eddie brock x you #eddie brock x reader #eddie brock x y/n #marvel #peter parker x reader #we are venom #venom x reader #venom fic #venom 3 #the avengers #tom hardy #tom hardy fanfic #peter parker #spiderverse

[thefamilyeldritchabomination]

Chapter Nineteen: Scarborough Fair Pt. 7

“We should get a newspaper, this town has me on edge now with how they’re behaving.” Muin said as she honed in on the glass case holding the newspaper hostage in its cold embrace.

“Given that the Fuhrer is murdering people left and right, who can blame them?” Ling responded as he went to sit down, debating on getting some food as his stomach made an uproar.

“No, this is something else. They would’ve been vacating the area if it had been about the Fuhrer.” Muin carefully aimed a throwing knife, the blade whistling in the air before hitting its target, shattering the glass case holding the newspaper hostage.

“And now we can add destruction of public property to our list of things we’ve done while in Amestris…great…” Ling had a very strong feeling that once things had settled in Amestris, there would be a very likely if not inevitable outcome of being banned from this blood soaked country.

 “Hush now child, we got something else bigger than trivial human affairs.” Muin hissed as she looked over the now ‘liberated’ newspaper to figure out what’s going on in this particular area.

 “Those aren’t trivial matters, this is going to snowball into an international incident…what are you looking at Muin?” Ling took a chance to look over what Muin is reading at the moment.

“The thing that outshines your woes, we got another monster besides this Fuhrer thing going on. I suppose our visit to this area will have to be cut short.” Muin mumbled as she debated if there was a possibility of being able to fight off whatever is going on by herself.

 “Okay, maybe Tinne was right about this nation being a war happy one…just what country allows their civilians to disappear en masse like this?” Ling looked at the article about people disappearing overnight as well as missing cattle, homes being destroyed in the process.

 “I suppose that would be of concern for the humans, however, if our Queen is here, we need to locate her at once and teleport back to Xing.” Muin started her trot back to Gef to inform him about this new little twist to their situation.

 “Muin, wait, we shouldn’t rush this! People are staring at us!” Ling protested as the eyes of the gathering crowd just watched the little spectacle unfold.

 “No, we can’t wait. Our Queen is somewhere in this gods forsaken area with possibly two monsters on the loose. We need to fire up the equipment and locate her at once.” Muin reasoned, not giving any sort of afterthought about the mortal population watching this weirdo knife a newspaper case and stealing a paper from it.

 “Muin, what’s going on? We’re gaining a bit of an audience here with the ruckus.” Gef asked as he turned his attention away from cleaning the car up.

  “Well that’s very simple, take a look at the newspaper article.” Muin handed Gef the newspaper to look over at the worrying article.

“...Shit, okay, Victoria, Ngetal, I need you both to start up the equipment at once.” Gef barked a bit at the two technicians as they scrambled to get the equipment out from the back of the truck.

 “I don’t understand why we’re getting into a panic over this..” Ling protested as Ruis decided to finally act like a grown fae and have that very important talk with the young prince.

“Look, Ling, there was something we’ve been holding back on telling you and even your ancestors when we first arrived. If a Queen is put in a bad situation like this one, a normally trained one should be perfectly alright to perform magic without worry. However, an untrained Queen who is just tapping into their powers for the first time is…unpredictable. We could get a mild non threatening hiccup or the worst case scenario, the Queen inadvertently obliterates an entire area with raw magic, reducing mortals into grease stains within a blink of a second.” Ruis explained as the growing horror on Ling’s face grew upon being given that explanation along with the fact he himself is very much a mortal child facing possible obliteration.

 “...okay fire up that equipment at once…I like being alive and not being a shadow on pavement.” Ling conceded to letting the cave weirdos immediately locate this Gort so there won’t be a horrifying crater in the earth itself.

 “Good choice there Ling, good choice.” Ruis patted Ling on the back before sneaking him a treat she stole from the station.

 “Okay we have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” Ngetal began as they looked over to Gef and Muin.

 “I want to hear the good news first, the last thing I think I could handle is the bad one first.” Gef said, having a gut feeling that this isn’t going to be ending well.

“Well, good news is that Gort is most certainly here in the area, there is trace residue of her magic here from usage.” Victoria began as she looked over to the group.

 “And for the bad one?” Cuilleann finally spoke after being allowed time to chill the fuck out from the road trip from hell.

“The residue is all over the area, we won’t be able to locate Gort right away because of how heavy the traces are.” Ngetal broke the bad news right away to lessen the blow of just how hard it’ll be to locate Gort with the tech alone.

 “Please tell me I won’t get ill from being exposed to this for too long..” Ling said, still not thrilled with how this little adventure has been turning out so far.

“Oh no, you should be alright for the most part. It just causes mortals to have abnormally longer lifespans and longer fertility timespans.” Victoria reassured Ling as to keep him calm with a possible raw magic explosion in the making.

 “...Okay I am definitely liking the longer lifespan side effect.” Ling somewhat perked up at being given a longer lifespan from being exposed to trace amounts of raw magic.

 “Okay, you know what, let’s focus the equipment on where the strongest concentration of the trace magic is. That should resolve our little situation and be able to fetch Gort at once.” Cuilleann finally got her head back into the game as she figured that should resolve the issue.

 “Okay Cuilleann, we can try and recalibrate the equipment to do just that, however, I will warn that this is going to take a bit.” Victoria explained as Ngetal went to business on recalibrating the machine to focus on where its the strongest at.

 The machine whirled and chittered as it worked its technological wonders in figuring out where the trace magic was strongest in this particular area, ignoring the onlookers at this weird spectacle. Ling felt like he should’ve distanced himself from his weird formerly cave dwelling entourage at that very moment as a rather ‘interesting’ hearse pulled into the gas station. Muin could only huff a bit as the stranger came out of the beach party hearse with his round sunglasses shining in the sun, smiling away to show off his shark looking teeth. In short, to the cave dwelling weirdos, the weird shark tooth man was a rather fascinating specimen of humanity they hadn’t encountered before. The man in the sunglasses could only whistle appreciatively at Muin who only hissed in response and was ready to knife a human that annoyed her at that moment. This only prompted the man to be even more curious since that was the first time someone actually hissed at him; specifically one that wasn’t a certain little shapeshifting gremlin in his life. Surely the world had gone mad since Central was basically the epicenter of a horrific and epic battle unfolding.

 “So, you’re on vacation with your circus troupe?” The man asked as he waited for his turn to fuel up.

 “What exactly is this ‘circus’ you speak of?” Muin hiss only deepened a bit as the machine continued to make its ‘thinking’ sounds in the background.

 “Okay…guess where you’re from doesn’t have a circus…my bad. I’m Greed by the way.” Greed decided to introduce himself to the hissing, angry Swan maiden who wasn’t too thrilled with this thing called ‘social interaction’. 

 “Ling, we could’ve given you that name if we knew that was an option.” Ruis interrupted as Ling stared out at the possibility of being given the worst name imaginable.

 “Well Greed, I’m annoyed. Please stop speaking to me at once.” Muin decided to shut down the interaction at once with full hostility in a very swan-like fashion.

 “Well it was very nice to meet you Annoyed. Also hell yeah kid, Greed is the best name out there!” Greed snarkily responded to Muin whose feathers were ruffled big time at this.

 “Ruis, I beg yah, don’t rename me as Greed..Please..” Ling pleaded as he certainly wasn’t a fan of that name.

 “Fine, you get to be Greedling!” Ruis grinned a shit eating smile upon such a ‘clever’ compromise.

 “I should’ve seen this one coming…” Ling looked defeated as Greed laughed a bit at the interaction.

 “Oh my god, you guys are a riot and a half! I haven’t had a good laugh like this in a while.” Greed finally caught his breath after getting a good laugh in.

 “Now this is what I’m talking about! I’m the funny one in the group.” Ruis looked pretty thrilled that her comedy act was well received by Greed. 

“It’s nice to have someone not hiss at me for a change, I take it you’re the nice one in this group as well?” Greed asked as the skyline behind him flashed a bright bluish white light.

#Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA 03 #Fan Fiction #FMA Fan Fiction #Writing #The Wayfarer #Envy the Jealous #Envy #Greed the Avarious #Greed #Ling #OCs #Homunculus #Homunculi

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Beyond the Blood Tie - Chapter Two, Part One.

So, I know the first chapter was a flop, but still, I persist for the two people who are reading it. I’m not going to embarrass myself by applying a chapter unlock feature, since it’s clear it isn’t popular enough, but since the second chapter is not far off 7,000 words, I thought I’d split it. Second half willl come at the weekend. 

So yeah, if you like it, let me know, because right now I’m stuck thinking it’s a pile of shit. Either that or people just don’t like the idea of the boys as vampires. I can promise you, it’s nothing represented cheesily, or like Twilight either. I write true to the more authentic characterisation of the undead. But meh, whatevs. Can’t force you to like it. 

Previous Chapters - One

Words - 3,087

Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed

Warnings - 18+ content throughout. Minors DNI!

Ursula's POV

"My dearest, come sit. You cannot just stare out of the window aimlessly until the shutters come down," my husband tells me as I stand staring through the glass, opening the connection between my offspring and I, the vampire who is like a son to me, feeling his rage and distress fully. When you've had their blood and they yours, when you are the one who made them, you feel them always. You feel their emotions, and they yours. You can even call for them without the use of a telephone, or telepathy. It is more of a feeling you give out that they immediately respond to, the call of their creator. No vampire can deny it, unless they're incapacitated. I'd call out to Angel right now if he wasn't chained up in the CD, to have him at my side. I know he did wrong, I know he had to be punished, but feeling his pain hurts my soul. Yes, vampires do have them, souls.

"Charles, I just cannot rest. His distress is too strong, he's in pain and I know I will sense every ounce of it over the next two months while he is being punished, but right now I just cannot steel myself. I know at my age I have to, and I should find it easy, but I've never been without him. I miss him.” My lamentation is delivered with blinking a bloodied tear that has gathered at my lashes, letting it roll down my cheek. We cry tears of blood because our bodies hold no actual water, in case you wondered. We literally are what we eat. Blood.  

"I know, I can hear it in your voice. I miss him as well, but this had to happen. We've done our best with him, even though he has always been troublesome. Even after he turned a hundred years old, he didn't settle fully, we all know of the certain issue he has that cannot be helped, as much as the dear boy has honestly tried. Maybe though, this might do the trick. As his creator, I know you've been tough with him, of course you have and this is not your failing, but maybe him being put through some serious pain might have a better effect.” I hear the couch creak and then a split second later, he is behind me, wrapping me in his arms and kissing my head. I sink into his comforting embrace, finally coming away from the window when he pulls me back, going to sit down on the couch with him in front of the fire. We're very oldie world like that. We appreciate an open fire, even though we vampires have no necessity for warmth.

Feeling a flare of rage rip right through Angel, I close my eyes and try to transmit something soothing to him, imploring him to calm down. My beautiful boy, he’s so very bad tempered. "I can only hope you're right. I'm lucky I didn't lose him altogether, and I just have to hope his loyalty to me will prevent him from snapping again like this, that he truly understands what the punishment would be to me if he did. I have to hope that, at least.”

Charles strokes my hair, smiling thinly. "He is exceedingly loyal, and very protective of you, too. I should think the threat of you being hurt for his misdeeds in the future will act as a deterrent probably more than the pain he'll be put through.” I still feel no more peaceful, but I know I do have to try, at least, because of the fact that Angel can feel my emotions. Knowing I'm upset will make him worse. Ever since I gave him the choice to be turned or not one hundred years ago, he's never been away from me. Just the same as his brother, EZ, Charles's offspring, has never been away from him. We're a family. Charles and I had been together for a very long time prior to turning them, over five hundred years.

I met him in 1416, while traveling through Venice. He was roughly the age EZ and Angel are now when I met him, in his one hundred and thirties. I was four hundred and twenty-one years old, and even though such age gap pairings between vampires are not common, I completely fell for him. I had never met a more charismatic man when I was alive, or vampire in my living death than Charles. He is very old British aristocracy, and still speaks with that proper cadence I find truly charming. He has kept me captivated me from the moment I met him. He settled into his vampirism in much the same way EZ has, and had a wonderful composure about him. We vampires can be rather reckless for our first one hundred years, until we begin to mature at one hundred.

When my travels lead me away from Venice, Charles came with me, and we've never been apart since. We married (in a vampire ceremony, of course) around a hundred years after we met. A lot of people assume that vampires are loveless creatures, incapable of feeling anything other than the drives to feed, kill or copulate. Yes, those drives are strong, I shall not lie, but they are not the only things a vampire is capable of experiencing, emotionally. It's just that humans are not typically who vampires bond with. It isn't unheard of, of course. Plenty of my friends over the years have chosen human companions, as did I once, but you scarcely find it in a younger vampire.  

It is here that my mind turns back to Angel, and I am relieved to feel him feeling more soothed. They must have just allowed him to feed, for that need within him feels placated. He’s an absolute beast when he’s hungry, so temperamental! I remember once, back when I’d not long turned him, when our sustenance was thin on the ground and he couldn’t find a willing food source. The absolute conniptions! He is, as apparently he was in his life, a bit of a drama queen at times. I slapped him and told him to behave, before going out and seeking a willing donor for him. He’s a very charming vampire, but he often forgets such charisma when hunger plagues him.

He’ll be going through that all over again at the Correctional Department, forced hunger. They'll allow him to feed once a day, which isn't enough for a young vampire of his age to be sustained, but they're doing that for a reason. The reason is to keep him weak. He'll still be unquestionably strong, but much weaker than he would be at full strength. Depending on how he behaves, they could even take away his right to feed daily just as extra punishment. We vampires can last without blood for a long time, but in a severely weakened state. I just hope he doesn't give them the kind of trouble that would warrant that.

At my grand old age of one thousand, one hundred and six years old, I need very little blood to survive. Three feeds per week see me right, but after going to see Angel again earlier where he was being detained since the incident three nights ago, I just do not feel like taking my second feed of the week, my appetite affected negatively by it. However, I was glad I saw him one last time, before I will now not see him for eight weeks. He thanked me eternally for saving his life and pleading his case to the authorities. What I had to say, well, I wasn't so sure it'd work, but sometimes with humans, the most simplistic discourse is often the most effective. I find it better to not confuse them, and they can be easily confusable creatures. They're not as sharp as us by a long shot.  

I put it to them clearly, how would they feel if two intruders came onto their property, shot two of their pets dead when expressly told they wouldn't harm them if they just left the property, and then attacked them to steal their blood? That is what they did to Angel, attacking the nest (our word for a gathering of vampires all under the same roof) when he was the only one home. Charles and I were out at a social gathering with other vampires, EZ was out walking the desert with the other two wolves, leaving just Angel and the two female wolves. According to him (and I believe him, I know he isn't lying) Astrid and Stellar began making a noise outside, and when he went out to investigate, he found a man standing on the front path leading up to the porch of our home.

He pulled a gun and said unless Angel called off the wolves, he would shoot them, and before he could even reply two shots were fired from a second person, hitting both wolves while the man on the path threw a silver net at my boy. Of course, silver binds vampires and renders us powerless, but the fool didn't do a very good job of throwing it at Angel properly, and managed to escape, thank heavens.  

He then proceeded to literally tear them limb from limb, draining them before they got to do the same to him. Vampire blood is of high value on the black market, for those seeing the effects of the dead blood on themselves, which can differ greatly from person to person. Some, but nonetheless that is what they were there to do. Of course, I felt his anger go into overload and rushed home as soon as I picked up on it, but it was too late. I found him standing covered in the blood of his victims, staring down at the two beautiful white wolves who lay slain upon the porch.

Animals are who he has the greatest respect for, he values their lives above those of humans, which is the same with a lot of us. He loved those wolves immeasurably; he'd reared them from cubs when they were abandoned by their mother. The wild wolf population, same as any other wild animal percentage flourished greatly after the disaster. You should see some of the animals we count among our wildlife. It isn't uncommon for the humans to find a baboon going through their trash, or zebra grazing on less arid pastures. When the disaster struck, those animals escaped their zoos and sanctuaries, ran wild and flourished. With little interference from the hand of man, they bred plentifully. I'll never forget walking out of our home one evening and seeing a giraffe standing there staring at me as he ate leaves from one of our trees. It gave me quite the giggle.

It has only been over the last ten years that there has been an animal regulation and control force active again, people who can deal with these kinds of animals and round them up to go back into the zoos their ancestors came from. There are a lot of animal liberation activists fighting this though, trying to let the animals run wild since they tend to stick to less densely populated places. Anyway, Angel found the Gray wolf babies one night about four years ago and brought them home. Two males and two females, the males grey and the females pure white.  

They were beautiful, and they had the temperaments of dogs unless they sensed that anyone meant us harm. They guarded the house for us while we slept, and were wonderful companions. The other two, Icarus and Thor haven't left Angel's room since he was taken away. Not even to hunt. Leaving Charles to his book, I head up there myself, into the deep grey walled room and over the dark floorboards towards the big, black bed, upon which two big grey wolves lie upon. I sit down and they both look up at me with sad eyes, whining a little as they shuffle over to me, receiving the affection I give in the form of stroking their lovely, long ears.

"I know, I miss him too," I tell them, sighing. Since we vampires don't breathe, you must get the measure of how low I feel at present to actually do that. We sometimes breathe again, but we're not consciously doing it. Like in moments of exertion, fight or flight, or engaging in sexual acts, our body remembers and the chest begins to rise and fall until the moment is over and we become still again.

"Are you hungry? I'm pretty sure there's food for you downstairs. Food, yes?" I try and encourage them with, getting up off the bed and heading to the door. Just when I think they're not going to follow me, Icarus is the first to move, followed shortly by Thor. I head back downstairs into the kitchen (not that we use it for its actual function) and over to the only human contraption in here, save the kettle and the deep freeze. I have a few human friends, and I like to be able to prepare a beverage should they choose one, even though the smell nauseates me. We vampires just cannot stand the smell of food and drink. Our diet is blood, and anything else turns our stomachs. Opening said contraption, the large double door of the refrigerator, I see a large plate containing two chickens, and take them out to place in each of their big, stone bowls. I then remove those once used by Astrid and Stellar, since we buried them three nights ago.

Icarus and Thor sniff at the chickens before beginning to eat, while I make a mental note to defrost more of the meat Angel has stock piled in the large freezer at the other end of the kitchen. The wolves do usually hunt for their food, but they're extremely spoiled by their master, who always makes sure they have a plentiful supply here at home. I was wrong when I warned him a food supply in the house would make them lazy. They still relish in hunting down their prey, and Angel has done a good job in teaching them not to hunt humans. If only he could teach himself the same. No, I mustn't mislead you there. He doesn't hunt humans, he just… he can't control himself with them at certain times. He's actually fairly human friendly for a vampire; he doesn't loathe them all. He just dislikes a high percentage.

"H, EZ," I say into the nothingness that suddenly then contains the large form of my other child. I felt the presence of another vampire suddenly, and not my husband so I knew it had to be him. Technically, he isn't really my vampire child since he is Charles's offspring, but I look at him as much.

"Ursula," he greets me with, his tone flat. I know he isn't happy about Angel's incarceration either. Why would he be? That’s his elder brother chained up in there, he’s quite rightly pissed off at present. "How is he?"  

"He's alright for the moment, he's fed and pacified but still irritated, obviously," I detail, while he walks further across the kitchen to me, his heavy boots echoing across the tiled floor.

He raises his eyebrows, smirking a little. "Of course, he is. This is Angel after all, Angel who is being detained by humans also. He's bound to be annoyed to the root of his fangs and back." Just then, I pick up on a flicker of energy in the house, one that I felt after EZ arrived, but that suddenly just got a little brighter.

"Who's the human you've brought back?" I ask, smiling at him widely and watching his lips twitch. The grin grows after a few moments.

"I forget her name; I wasn’t really paying attention.” Typical EZ. If you’re human, he doesn’t really have a lot of time for anything you might have to say to him, but if you’re female and attractive, he’ll fuck the living hell out of you for hours on end. "Twenty-two, big breasted and obsessed with fucking vampires, I do remember, though. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to entertain her until dawn. See you in the evening.”

"You might want to hurry, I think she's started without you." I call after him as he walks out, watching him suddenly vanish as he moves at our speed, his laughter echoing the hallway in his wake. I can feel energies, just the same as other vampires can, but because of my age I can feel them a little more strongly, and I knew from the moment she began touching herself that the young lady upstairs couldn't wait for EZ to arrive at her side again. I could feel her instant arousal, and no doubt quite soon, I'll be able to smell it, too. That's how sharp our sense of smell is.

I head back to Charles, sitting to converse with him until we begin to grow tired just as the electronic shutters fall to cover our windows and protect us from the dawn, and once I've closed all the heavy drape curtains in the sitting room, we both head upstairs to bed. Most humans find it strange to learn a high percentage of us sleep in beds, but the truth is a coffin is only necessary if you yourself feel the need to be in one, or if you're within a location where the light cannot be securely blocked out.

I prefer my husband to be next to me while I rest, even though I will not wake in my sleep unless something great disturbs me, like extreme distress from Angel. Simply, will lie like a dead body. It is as I close my eyes to rest that I reach out to Angel one last time, and feel what he is feeling. He's tired, the dawn naturally making him sleepy as it does to all vampires. I just hope he can rest comfortably enough, since he is to remain in a tied standing position, allowed no coffin to sleep within down in the chamber he is being detained in. It's part of his punishment, and I must steel myself to that.

"Sleep well, my child." I whisper into the darkness, before sleep takes its hold.

#angel reyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes smut #angel reyes x ofc #angel reyes fic #ez reyes #ez reyes fanfiction #ez reyes fanfic #ez reyes imagine #ez reyes smut #ez reyes x ofc #ez reyes fic #mayans mc #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc smut #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic

[sabineelectricheart]

Sleep-Watching Hobbyist

Summary: Shelby enjoys spending his time contemplating at the relaxing beauty of his wife when she is asleep.

Rating: K - Intended for general audience 5 years and older. Content should be free of any coarse language, violence, and adult themes.

Words: 1000

Notes: Fluffy fluff fluff. Because, like, only people really in love like watching others sleep, and you can’t convince me otherwise.

Shelby likes to watch her sleep.

It is not a particularly interesting hobby, or even a fruitful or productive one. For a man who has historically needed to pack productivity and excellence into every second of his day, watching his wife sleep seemed to him, at first, an indulgent and utterly wasteful use of his time.

Alas, now that he is not too concerned about his public image, he finds that it is easy to indulge in futility every so often. The fact that those have always something to do with a certain pink-haired woman and her fascination towards the pedestrian has nothing to do with anything.

Lynette sleeps much later than him. She sleeps more hours, insisting that a healthy body and a healthy mind can only be achieved with eight hours of rest a night, and she also comes to bed often later. Their clients have their dates at evenings, after all, and she insists in monitoring them on a helpdesk system.

Their hours rarely match, especially during the week. Several mornings in a row, she tried, and failed, to rise with him. To make him breakfast, to talk about headlines and stocks and his schedule for the day. However, her sleepy eyes and lioness-like yawns made it clear that pre-dawn conversation was not her forte.

He knows that his wife misses him sometimes, when things are particularly busy at the company and neither one has the time to visit the other a short elevator ride away. When she first insisted and tried to wake up at ungodly hours anyways, however, Shelby walked her back to their bedroom, tucked her securely back into the downy softness of the cashmere blankets, and kissed her forehead. His bangs tickle her cheek and her sleepy laugh would make his heart throb.

For a long moment, he considered climbing back into bed with her and foregoing his duties that day.  Of course, he left for the office soon after, thinking of little else besides his sleeping beauty snoozing peacefully in their marriage bed, dreaming only of him. He still makes sure that a hearty breakfast is delivered at their bed by the time she is supposed to wake up, though, for that she is reassured that he thinks of her, as well.

On subsequent mornings when Lynette tried to rise with him, he would hold her gently but firmly in place with the weight of his arm.

"Sleep, darling. There's no reason for you to wake yet." Shelby would tell her, his tone low but definite, leaving no space for discussion.

She might weakly protest with a muffled groan, as her verbal skills would take longer to manifest once again, or maybe she would roll and press her face against his chest and curl her body against his. He wagered that the promise of some sort of physical love is supposed to make him more amendable to let her push herself, but it might just be because she is not awake enough to hold herself up straight for too long.

Nevertheless, his winning matchmaker would never resist for long. Once he felt her breathing steady and her limbs grow heavy, he would slide himself away from the warmth of her embrace. It would be time to leave, and she would benefit if he left her alone to rest, but instead he would sit up, lingering in bed fully dressed much longer than he ought to.

Lynette is beautiful in any setting, the very picture of godly love. She is beautiful when she tinkered about the house in the morning, she is beautiful wearing nothing but an oversized pyjama shirt and panties, she is beautiful while she would bend to pick up the mail slid under their door overnight. She is beautiful when she pondered what colour lipstick to wear, even when she would always settle for a shade of pink that he came to associate with her, or which shoes matched her outfit. She is beautiful when she typed out text messages to friends and colleagues, smiling at her phone or tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Beautiful, always. There is not a moment when Shelby does not think so, and he doubts there will come a day when this changes.

Why would sleep be an exception?

Lynette moved, always, with a quiet grace. A gentle, easy cadence that made him, a convicted atheist, consider more than once that she might indeed be an angel, for no mortal he had ever seen carried themselves in quite the way she did. It is beautiful.

To see her sleeping was another type of pleasure entirely, as this magical, ethereal glow to her seems to fade away, to rest along her body. Everything about her was relaxed, from the tenderness in her thin brow to the slight bend at her knee.

She always seemed happy while asleep, in a different sort than her electric excitement of her waking hours. She looked as if there is everything with the world, as if there was a celestial ordainment that she had fulfilled.

Though Shelby watched her most often in the dark, as he loathed to disturb her peace and is sure of the ability of his eyes to adjust, there were often late evenings or early mornings that he would open the curtains and allow moonlight to spill in, casting a bluish glow over her skin. An ethereal shimmer would settle upon her cheeks as if she were sprinkled with stardust, and he would be spellbound by her beauty, wishing nothing more than to be afforded an eternity in her presence.

Soon, too soon, there would be time to leave, there would come an hour that, should he not leave immediately, he would be late to whatever, and he would walk away slowly from the bed and out the apartment.

In the night, he would return, and Shelby would be reminded that the only thing better than watching Lynette sleep is sleeping next to her.

*_*_*_*_*

Cupid Parasite Masterlist

#cupid parasite #Shelby Snail

[grievousdearu]

Fugitive of Fugitives

Three weeks.

I’ve been running from them for three weeks.

I didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye. All Walker and Shiia know is that one day I just… didn’t come back.

Maybe they had the opportunity to live-- tell the Collective operatives sent after me that they had no idea where I went, that they didn’t even know who I worked for.

But they were probably killed when they couldn’t provide information on me.

That’s what I can’t stand to think about; the fact that they were probably killed because of simply being associated with me.

It would hardly be the first time, and I know for a fact it will keep happening. That’s just a reality of my life.

Nobody close to me gets to live happily. Wherever I go, death and destruction will follow soon after.

I almost want to embrace that fact; stop letting people get close. Maybe then I’ll stop getting people killed.

Maybe it will just get more killed.

I can’t say.

Aching hunger gnaws at my stomach as it once more reminds me it’s been almost a full day since I last ate.

I decide to walk up closer to the cliff’s edge, which lets me look over the pale green moorlands to the east, bathing in the starlight from thousands of stars in the night that’s soon to end.

I thought about heading west- chartering a ship and traveling out to the Alran Isles, try to hide with the privateers- but I barely have enough money to feed myself, let alone buy passage across an entire sea.

Not to mention that the Collective has considerable wealth and could just as easily buy those privateers out to kill me.

So instead, if I kept headed south, maybe I could reach Amnest? I have no idea what the presence of the Collective is that far south- if they even have that kind of reach. All I know is that I’m not safe as long as I’m within at least three hundred kilometers of Helmholtz.

Maybe I’ll never be safe. Maybe I can reach the deserts as far east as Ririn and the Collective will still be able to find me.

These people… this organization… they aren’t just a group of adventurers who have to follow laws… they’re criminals who own several nobles outright- just in the Helmholtz region alone.

How do you hide from that kind of organization? Is it even possible? How long will I be running from them?

Thousands of questions blaze through my mind, but I can’t find a reasonable answer to a single one of them. They all just gather in the back of my mind, questioning whether I should just make it easier on myself and turn myself in.

Maybe if I did that, they’d find it in themselves to kill me quickly.

Who knows?

The section of cliffside I’m standing on has a steep enough ledge for me to take a seat with my legs dangling over the moors.

It feels peaceful here. No glowing city torchlights in the distance, no roads with people crossing from one region to another… just open, deserted moors.

If I hadn’t known that the moors were full of terrifying monsters that roamed during the day, I might have been tempted to go wander there for a while before continuing my trek down south. But with daybreak mere hours away, I knew it would most likely end poorly, and with me being left dead on the grass, with not a single person to find me to bury my body.

Maybe if I manage to shake the Collective off my trail, I can come back up here, maybe settle down in an area of the moors. Surely there’d have to be some way of keeping the monsters away, right? This place must’ve been inhabited at some point, so how did they do it?

I lean to my left and rest against the tree that stands there, overlooking the moorlands.

“Is this something you saw happening, mama? Did you see me screwing up what you’d given to me in such a spectacular way?”

I ask that question absent-mindedly, out loud. Openly asking if she’d foreseen the life I’d come to live; a life rooted in failure.

Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Maybe she saw something in me that I have yet to see.

I always hated it when she and everyone else called me a “prodigy”. I never felt like that label was appropriate for someone like me.

Especially someone born a Katari.

Everyone was always quick to assume I was a failure, but the second I showed any measure of skill, it always changed their mind; suddenly I was “worth something” to them.

Even now, people assume I’m inherently evil, or that I’m going to do something bad, just because I’m a Katari. It’s not as open, but I know it’s still there.

People like Walter, Shiia, the Collective; they almost let me believe that stigma was starting to fade, but whenever I returned to Helmholtz, that reality always came back to slap me in the face.

It was probably never going to leave, and I was always going to be treated as “evil” at face value.

I can’t help but feel despaired by that fact. That I wasn’t ever going to be fully rid of that stigma, and that one girl alone wasn’t going to change it in her lifetime.

I once held strong, determined hope that I could, but I lost that hope when I grew old enough to realize how the world operates.

Maybe it’ll happen. I just… don’t think I’ll live to see that day.

One last time, I look up at the night sky, the light of the stars, and the twin moons beaming down to the ground.

“Maybe it wouldn’t happen in my lifetime… but maybe another.”

That prospect… it leaves me wondering if it was right to have that dream. To have a child of my own and to hope that once they grew old enough to know what life was like… maybe they’d be able to live it without the stigma of the Katari life that I’ve lived.

Would it even be right for me to have a child? What if I’d failed in my quest and they grew up in a world that hated them just as much as the world I’d grown up in hated me? Would I be able to live with the guilt of knowingly doing that to another living being?

What even is the point of wondering all this? Why should I contemplate the life of someone who will come after me if I can’t even say for certain I’ll live that long to find out?

I can’t help but ask myself more and more questions as I feel myself falling asleep against the tree I’d been leaning on for a while now.

Finally, I let myself fall unconscious as I let the worries of the future leave my mind.

I’ll cross that bridge, should I ever live to come to it.

#fantasy #original content #writing #anthology #female protagonist