#but I’m not even remotely free until next week

[snowy-vee]

ALL MINE (4)

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DON'T STOP TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE JUST BECAUSE THE STRIKE IS OVER! NOBODY WILL BE FREE UNTIL EVERYONE IS FREE!

oblivious loser bsf! ellie williams x posesive popular bsf!fem reader

n/a: 2.9k words! I hope you all enjoy, I have change some things so the story MAYBE won't end in 6 chapters, I love reading comments or answering questions, so FEEL FREE TO DO SO. Any misspelling will be edited later on

You enter the house talking on the phone. You take out your boots and went directly to the fridge grabbing a water bottle.

“No, shit, Jesse, of course I’m giving her space but I think you don’t get that it’s been two weeks since I last saw her”

“If I don’t recall wrong, you made some cheer girls spy on her”

“Shush, what was I supposed to do? She was suspended for one week so I knew I wasn’t going to see her and that she was going to still mad at me the next one, so I put April and Sav to do a little… research ¡I am worried! She hasn’t even come to the house to pick up her clothes, her backpack, yes, but her clothes are just like the last time.”

When you went to fight Abby at her department, you didn’t, Ellie had done enough job, so you just screamed at her and made her tell you what the fuck happened between them at the locker room and years ago. Abby, tired of this bullshit, told you everything from A to Z, and you felt more like a piece of shit.

Now you understood everything, at least saw the situation with a different light, you did slap Abby and told her to stay away from you or you would sue her for spreading your pics around campus. Since then, no contact between you two, not even in class.

“Well, you fucked up big this time, what can I say?”

“Thank you, you’re the best, How does it feel that she’s with your ex and you’re still in love with her?”

“One, at least I can talk with Dina without problems, our friendship is good, Two, they are not together yet. How’s yours with Ellie? Oh right, hanging in a thread”

“Blah, Blah, Blah… Where’s my fucking couch?” You turned around going on the living room to sat down on your couch but it disappeared, it was there this morning when you left.

“How would I know? Where’s your couch?”

“That’s what am I asking, Jesse!” You were going to freak out. You heard the water of the bathroom running, there was someone on the house “I think there’s someone in the house…”

“It could be Ellie”

“Her keys are not in the entrance, I will call you later…” You said walking slowly towards the bathroom, you could hear Jesse telling you to don’t hang the call but you did anyway. Once you where in front of the door, It opened and you screamed.

The voice of Ellie screaming at unison with you made you stop. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

She said with a hand on her chest looking at you as if you were crazy. She obviously just took a shower and was wrapped in a towel with her hair soaked and wetting the floor. You felt relieved that it wasn’t a burglar, you nodded slowly reassuring yourself and saying that it was only Ellie… ¡Ellie!

“You’re back?”

“Well, still my house too, so yeah, you have a problem with that?” She said in a defensive tone, of course her guard wasn’t down yet.

“No, of course no! It’s just that I am surprised”

“Don’t be, this doesn’t mean me and you are friends again”

“I know… Do you happen to know what happened with the couch” You asked with a sad frown looking at her walk to her room.

“Yeah, I burned it in a remote clearing far from here”

“Why? It was brand new!

“It was dirty because of someone” she simply said closing her door. You had a confused look on your face as you were processing what she told you.

You locked yourself in your room, you did miss her but at the same time you had to find some words to tell her and you had zero idea what to do, God, she was burning things now, maybe you were the next. Ellie was walking around the house, you could hear her steps on the kitchen and the TV on, she was cooking something while watching one random quiz show.

The warm feeling that you had knowing that she was finally back at home allowed to take a long nap, a very long one because once you woke up, the sun was gone and you regretted it. You had homework to do and exams to study, you had to take it seriously since cheer wasn’t your major, you were studying something that your parents agreed on but you did not enjoyed that much.

They were donating monthly to the cheer team in exchange that you aced everything else, otherwise you would be expelled from cheering and from the team, even the coach knew that. Ellie always helped you and made it easy to study but she didn’t this time, obviously, so you had kind of trouble studying.

With your things to study you went to your kitchen, leaving everything on the table, you were going to study there but also eat something, you were hungry. You opened the fridge, empty except some sodas and protein bars… maybe in the pantries? Nothing caught your attention but the pan in the stove. Ellie had cooked one of your fav foods, was she torturing you? She knew that you weren’t going to grab the food nor ask her if you could, you bit your lip and sighed resignedly, protein bars would be.

Time flies while you were working in your homework, sometimes looking over Ellie because it still felt surreal that she was at home, she could feel your eyes on her but she wasn’t going to give you any attention or so she thought before you started groaning annoyed that you couldn’t understand a lot of things. It was making her nervous and irritated her a little, mostly because she knew that you stressed yourself easily over anything and that made the process more difficult and also because she couldn’t help you, you two were on a Cold War.

“What is it?” She said getting up from the only small chair of the living room.

You turned the computer around and showed her the topic, she started helping you and you were focus, of course you wanted to use the opportunity to talk but first enjoy her help. None of you realized how fast the time passed that until you let a small yawn.

“Maybe, that’s everything for today” Ellie said returning to her cold-self. Shaking your head you grabbed her hand.

“Please, don’t… I can’t spent another day without talking to you”

“We are talking”

“Don’t play dumb, I finally know what happened back home, I finally understand more your anger, Abby told me everything”

Ellie raised her eyebrows, waiting for you to start talking. She wanted to know what truth have you heard and if it was the right version of it, and it was, Abby told you the truth.

“So you went to her again?”

“That’s all you have to say? And it was not like that” You rolled your eyes looking at her “Whatever, what I want to say is that I wished you could’ve told me back then”

“Would it have changed something?”

“I have no idea, maybe?”

Ellie scoffed. “So my word was not enough? Telling you not to mix with Anderson?”

It was going to be difficult to try and have a conversation when Ellie still hurt and was defensive, which you get and that’s why the nap was a need, you were mentally prepared for this.

“I’m not saying that, but I thought it was something stupid like she stole your game box, not your girlfriend” You tried to explain.

“Okay, but you still had something with her knowing that I was in bad terms with her, why? I mostly want to hear why? I’ve been racking my brain searching for a reason”

“Because of you” Ellie opened her mouth to respond but you covered it. “Shut up. Let me finish, I did it because of you, Ellie, I’ve been in love with you since god knows when and I tried so hard just to be your best friend but I couldn’t”

Ellie eyes softened slowly. “Every girl that tried anything with you, I scared them off, I used the ‘power’ of being popular and I used to make them stay away from but then we came here and there was so many people that did not fear me or knew me and you were getting along with a lot of people, I was afraid you were going to finally find a girl that matched your type”

“Why you never told me that?” She said taking your hand out of her mouth, holding it now.

“I’ve tried! Millions of times but somehow you had a new girl in your radar or you did not read the signs, eventually I grew tired of it so I tried to keep you for me. The first time I got with Abby, was only a kiss in a game but that made me popular somehow and I was starting to get more attention because of the rumours, at the same time I saw how you looked at Dina when she was dating Jesse and how you started to talk with her when they broke up even if it was briefly, I knew you were getting interested in her”

“I have nothing with Dina…”

“Can you let me finish? Damm” She murmured a little ‘sorry’ and indicate for you to continue “That irritated me and I was thinking on ways, it’s going to sound bad… on ways to hurt you because of how you made me feel, like I would never be enough but I did not wanted to hurt you directly because I am your best friend, nothing else, you weren’t doing anything bad, just being social and flirting. Abby told me she find me attractive and ¡Bang! Match made in hell, it was perfect, because I knew how much pain you’d feel and it would be equal at mine.”

“So it was intentional? You wanted to hurt me?” She let go of your hand looking at your eyes.

“No! Well, yeah, I didn’t realized how dumb I was being but with you and Dina getting to know each other more, you lying to me to go see her… It was too much. I’ve been with a lot of people in front of you and you’ve never reacted until Abby, so it was the only person that made you protective of me while I tried to get rid of Dina”

You took a deep breath and exhaled softly, nodding slowly. “But this two weeks, I did some thinking, more like mini therapy and I’m ready to be your best friend and stop pushing myself on you on any way and let you be the judge of your love life. I don’t want you out of my life, you’re my everything and if it’s only as a best friend that I can be, I am ready and I know that I hurt you and that is going to be difficult to trust me again but I hope we can reconnect slowly again”

Ellie felt kind of guilty knowing that she neglected your feelings and kind of made you that way, she could’ve rejected you sooner… or accept you sooner, anyway what was done was done.

“I- I think that I accept your apologize”

“You think? Is that a yes or no?”

“I don’t know, I have to think about it and it will take time. Even if we start acting like before, my trust on you has been hurt” You nodded. Of course, you were aware of that but how long was she going to take? Also, you just confessed that you love her and she is not going to say anything to that? That made your heart kind of itching, you wanted to scratch it and, in the process, tear it out.

“I understand… Can I hug you?”

“It’s better that you don’t” Oh. Ellie already took out your heart and ate it in front of you “We can start slowly, I can help you studying and let’s go from that”

“Okay”

“You can’t interfere in any of my love life, nor go back to Abby, this time I won’t make you promise that you will, I just hope that you wanting my friendship back is enough to keep you away from her” Your mind was spiralling thinking about how much build up you had to do to rebuild what you had with her. “I’m kind of tired… I’ll go to sleep now, night”

She went to her room an closed the door. You were left alone in the kitchen and still with a little homework unfinished, but you had a new plan in the move, now that you had a green light you could start it.

“I’m going to the 24h store! Be right back” You yelled grabbing your jacket and keys, putting on your shoes and calling Jesse.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The music of the bar was mostly soft rock and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes was everywhere, you finally saw Jesse playing pool in his red varsity jacket with some guys of the football team.

“Hey, guys!” You said in your cheer tone, making them all smile. “Mind if steal your teammate for some time?”

“All you want, darling”

They started cheering Jesse’s name and patting him on his back as you pulled him out of the bar to the back part of it so no one could catch you talking and interrupt.

“They must be thinking we’re going to fuck or something”

“Ha! In your dreams” You let your back rest on the wall as you look at him taking out a cigarette “Give me one”

He light his up and came in front of you putting on in your lips and connecting both cigarettes to light up yours, all this keeping eye contact with you before taking a spot besides you, leaning his back on the wall too, that made you and he laughed.

“I’m sure that works like charm with the ladies”

“You can’t imagine” he shrugged “So what was that you wanted to talk about?”

“I will help you with get back with Dina” He started coughing because of heat you said, you raised your eyebrow blowing the smoke on his direction.

“What? Why? Is this one of your crazy plans?

Your relationship with Jesse was more of a partner in crime than anything, if any of you had this weird planning on something you could count on the other to support and help and he knew of your dying love with Ellie, so he was sure you wanted to help yourself more than help him.

“Don’t you still love her? Why don’t fight for that love back? You guys were cute”

“You used to gag every time you saw us”

“That was before”

“Before what? Before she and Ellie started something?” You nodded shamelessly, you had no problem admitting that you wanted Dina out of the picture ASAP. He stayed in silent for sometime, he was reconsidering the offer, most of your plans never failed and he truly wanted Dina back. “I don’t want to force Dina back in to my arms, I want her to be with me because she wants”

“Duh, my plan won’t work if she don’t want, this has to go smoothly, Ellie has given me second chance but with the agreement that I wouldn’t mess into her love life”

“Yet here you are” he smirked. “You are such a bad best friend”

“That’s why I want to be the girlfriend, now that all the mess with Cat and Abby is out, she doesn’t have to evade me in that aspect any more”

“Because you already cheat on her once” You hit her shoulder and he laughs “Don’t get mad at me, get mad at yourself! I’ll do it, but it better work, how much time is it going to take?”

“Some months, we need to let them at least some weeks together and then interfere between them, my friendship with Ellie still is fragile but she adores me too much, we will be back at normal, while that happen…” You flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground and stamped it out, exhaling the last puff. “You have to tighten your friendship with Dina, be more flirty, romantic but not too much that you make her uncomfortable, enough to make her remember how good your relationship was”

“And what are you going to do?”

“Be the friend Ellie deserves and helping her through the hard times” you take out your phone to call an Uber to go back home, your job here was done, you just had to wait and have faith that Jesse was going to do a good work.

“You truly are something else” Jesse sighed walking back to the bar and giving you a last look.

“I’m just taking care of my girl”

Meanwhile, Ellie was at home contemplating her ceiling and thinking that maybe this time everything was going to be easy and that maybe this was a small bump that your friendship had to overcome to become stronger. She was so weak when it came about you, she tried so hard to stay at Dina’s but she was sometimes searching for you on campus without realizing that, sometimes it seem as if you were the one that started the cold war. How wrong was she about it…

taglist;; @boobdrug @lovelyxbaby @pedropascalsbbg@cherryimaa @yumimak @amberputh @cattjull @carylinflors @ghostlyfangs @teawithnosugar @azxulaa @elliesexual @gato-chino @divinesdior @yumimak @abbystoy @gosomewjere @isitadinosaur @sourgummywormsss @rhehhwfehwfqd @bubblymilktee @mulan-but-gay @liasxeatt @lookforthelight1 @slynxs @doveocean @onlinelesbo

for people who asked me to be tag but it's not, sorry, it's not letting me tag you, I'll try later or next chapter <3 I'm going to ask for 250 notes to post the next!!!

#ellie x fem reader #ellie williams #ellie tlou #ellie williams x reader #ellie smut #ellie x reader #ellie the last of us #tlou ellie #tlou2 #ellie tlou smut #tlou #dina tlou #abby tlou #wlw #lgbtq #the last of us fanfiction #ellie fanfic #ellie williams x female reader #abby anderson #abby the last of us #abby anderson tlou2 #snowy vee

[tommysversion]

dancing at a club and catching mafia! Joel's eye, suddenly feeling him pressed up against him feeling you up and being invited to a more private area. mafia joels got me feral never thought of him like that until now

( I honestly don’t know where this AU idea came from, anon, but it lives in my head rent free and I’m glad I’ve infected you with this brain rot too. )

CWs: age gap / guns / oral sex (m!recieving) / unprotected sex / violence / language / dirty talk

——

You’ve been trying to get into this club for weeks, trying your luck queueing outside every Friday night. Finally, you’ve gotten lucky, and god damn is it worth the wait. It’s the fanciest place you’ve ever been in, but you suppose that makes sense. You’ve heard that the place is owned by the local crime family, and that doesn’t surprise you at all.

A few drinks in and you’re not remotely worried about dancing in a mafia owned club. You also barely notice anyone around you, except him. He’s older, older than you, but built solid, with slicked back grey streaked hair, and impossibly dark eyes that are fixed on you, watching your every move.

After a while, you lose track of him, shake off the feeling of being watched, lose yourself in the pounding music, head foggy from alcohol and adrenaline. Eyes half closed, you sway to the music, the bass pounding through your body.

Solid hands settle on your waist, pull your back flush against a wall of muscle; someone’s chest. You can feel a gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans, turn your head to see the older man from before smirking down at you.

“Don’t run, little rabbit.” His voice is low in your ear, but somehow still audible over the noise. There’s a slight drawl to his voice, the barest hint of an accent.

Even though every nerve in your body should be screaming at you to run, you don’t, instead press back against the man, let him run his hands over your body. You recognise him now, vaguely. You think his name is Joel, think he’s one of the enforcers for the family.

“How about we go somewhere a little quieter, hm?”

You know you should say no, but somehow you’re not so sure he’s the sort of man who takes no for an answer. And besides… you’re curious. He’s hot as hell, and dangerous, and you’re not the smartest when it comes to avoiding dangerous situations. So you let him wrap an arm around your waist and guide you from the crowded dance floor, down the hallway to one of the VIP rooms.

The music is still thumping over the speakers, but this room is much nicer, plush velvet couches and thick black carpet, walls painted black and accented with gold, dimly lit.

Joel sits himself down on one of the couches, pulls you onto his lap, draws out his gun and sets it to the side; still within arm’s reach, but not near you, ignoring it as his hand fists into your hair and drags you into a kiss. It’s rough and hungry, full of passion and need. You’ve never been kissed like this before, his hands roaming your body, pulling the tight skirt of your tiny dress up around your hips, hands kneading into the firm skin of your ass as he kisses you, makes your head spin with need for him. He pulls you against his body, grinding you down against the solid bulge in his jeans.

You whimper softly into his mouth at the feeling of him, at the thought of how big he must be.

“Very good, pretty girl.” His voice is low and husky, lips still slightly parted as he surveys you. “Now get on your knees for me. I know you want to.”

He’s right. You’re practically drooling over him, sliding from his lap to between his spread thighs in the time it takes him to unbuckle his belt, unzip his jeans, pull his hard cock out. Fuck, he’s big. Big and thick and so, so hard, just from watching you, just from kissing you.

You know he’s a dangerous man, would know it even if the gun sitting next to him wasn’t a very physical fucking reminder. And yet. And yet you tuck your hair behind your ears and lean in eagerly, taking him into your mouth, kissing and licking at the tip of him until he growls. Taking it as a warning, you slide him into your mouth, working your tongue around him as best you can, taking him deeper into your throat until you’re in danger of gagging.

He rocks into your throat almost lazily, those dark eyes fixated on you, one hand in your hair, the other resting on the gun beside him. Your jaw aches, your throat too full, but the look on his face is all the encouragement you need to keep going, until he pulls you roughly off of his cock, releases your hair.

“Get up here.”

You scramble to obey him, crawling back into his lap, your skirt still up around your waist. Your thin panties, or the scrap of lace that passes for panties, are absolutely soaked, and he can tell. Smirking, he tears them clean off you, yanks you right against his chest, tosses the ruined lace aside.

“Such a slutty little girl.” His fingers run along your soaked slit, dipping inside you, making you wriggle and whimper. “You know exactly what I am, but you still want me. Still sucked my cock like it was delicious.” He kisses your bare collarbone, amused when your eyes go back to the gun beside him.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I won’t hurt you.” He sucks a deep purple mark into your throat. “Can’t promise I won’t make you scream for me, though.”

He lifts you like you’re nothing, lines you up before he pulls you down roughly onto his cock, letting you sink down onto him, feeling every inch as it disappears inside you. You bury your fingers in the denim of his shirt, digging your nails in as you brace yourself.

“That’s it…” his head falls back against the wall, exhaling softly as he feels you tightening around him. “Take it…”

And you do, addicted almost instantly to how he fills you, rolling your hips against him, riding him almost desperately in time to the music pounding through the walls. There’s power in knowing who he is, what he is, and having him beneath you, hearing him moan for you.

Not that you can stay smug for long; his hands plant on your waist, keeping you still as he ruts up against you, hard and fast, hitting your sweet spot. All you can do is cling to him, crying out when his rough hand slaps your ass, one side then the other.

“Please!” You don’t know what you’re begging for; permission, maybe? You somehow know he won’t like if it you climax without his say so. It’s hard to hold it back though, and he knows it.

“Go on, princess.” He nuzzles into your throat, kisses the mark he’s left on you. “Go ahead and cum all over my cock.”

You whimper at the filthy words, at the gentle touch, and the feeling of him deep inside you; you take the permission though, letting go entirely, your entire body shaking as your release washes over you. It’s been far too long since you’ve gotten laid, and why not admit it? He’s fucking good.

He knows it, too, but he’s too focused on chasing his own release to be smug about it, holding you in place with one hand, the other snaking around your throat as he bucks up into you, harder and faster, filling you with hot thick ropes of his release before he can stop himself, cursing under his breath the entire time.

He rests his head on your shoulder, considerate enough to let you regain your breath before he snags your phone from your bra, enters a number into your contacts, all without shifting you from his lap, keeping you seated on his cock.

“Next time you need to be fucked properly, princess? You give me a call.”

You nod, still dazed, beyond words.

It doesn’t occur to you until the next morning, nursing a major hangover, that the enforcer of the local fucking mafia has given you his number, implied he wants to see you again. What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?

#answered #my writing #joel miller smut #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller fanfiction #the last of us #mafia!joel #Pedro Pascal

[tencrushesperday]

Now I Can See You - Rutger McGroarty

summary : when did things get so complicated ? They always get complicated when you overthink. Maybe if you acted more with your heart and less with your head you wouldn’t be locked up in a room with Rutger.

pairing : rutger mcgroarty x junior! reader

TW: implications of sex, insecurities (idk if it’s really a tw but better to be safe than sorry)

a/n : you just KNOW i had to use a Taylor song name for the tittle. i wrote this one a few weeks/ months ago and @sillinger said i should post it so here it is. idk what i did here and honestly i’m not good with criticism so if u don’t like pls just ignore it <3

You and Jacob met in Algebra first semester of freshman year. Your friendship was strategic on both parts. You wanted to cut ties with your shy high school persona and become a free spirit college student who knows how to have fun. He needed to pass that Algebra class. It was a win-win relationship : you passed him your notes and explained to him what he didn’t understand and he invited you to hockey or frat parties. Getting along also kinda helped.

Therefore, for the next few years, you became inseparable at parties. Beer pong partners, couch interlocutors, he would always have his arm swung around your shoulder. And if the sibling energy wasn’t so prominent your friends would have assumed you were a couple. But you always had each other’s backs and nothing even remotely ambiguous ever happened.

When in junior year, Jacob introduced you to the freshmen.

You thought Rutger was cute the moment you laid eyes on him.

You got to know later that the first impression was mutual because he would flirt with you any chance he got.

But he flirted with anybody anyway. He was quite popular with the ladies, you noticed after the few first parties.

Therefore you never took his comments seriously. You were looking for a serious relationship. He was probably looking for a new conquest to add to his list.

It wasn’t something you were interested in.

Until that fateful night. You needed to take the edge of that night. You’ve had a stressful week before, filled with presentations and assignments to turn in. So, you - just- needed to relax. You’ve had a few of whatever Nolan concocted you. Rutger complimented your dress when you where sitting on the stairs together. Everything happened fast that damned night.

After that it didn’t take long for the dress to find itself on the floor, and what needed to happen happened.

~~

In that moment you hated Jacob more than anything. Why did he have to go and meddle. You realise you should have never told him about Rutger.

At least you had the decency to not tell him how much you actually liked the freshman. You would have never heard the end of it.

But now you’re stuck in this room with him and you know that whatever Jacob is doing right now he’s not letting you out of the room before you and Rutger talk.

Yet he doesn’t seem like he has much to say, so you keep your mouth shut as well. You want to know what he’s thinking. You want to apologise for running away in the morning, for leaving him with a cold bed, for ignoring him afterwards.

But you know it’s useless. He doesn’t care. He probably slept with at least another girl since then. What was it a week, ten days, since?

You’re the one who would have wanted to wake up in the stupidly warm arms, pressed to his stupidly toned chest. He was probably relieved when he didn’t have to kick you out in the morning.

But the silence is awkward so small talk it is, you decide.

Yet the moment you start talking to ask how he’s doing, he interrupts you.

“Why’d you leave in the morning?” he sounds disappointed.

Wait. Does he?

You don’t know what to say so you just say what you truly thought since the beginning, “I didn’t want to wait for you to kick me out.”

He widens his eyes at you. Really it’s comical the way his mouth hangs open for a second before he asks “Is it really what you think of me? That I would have kicked YOU out in the morning?” He insists on the word you and you don’t know what to think of it.

You’re left speechless. What can you answer to that anyway except for yes. He looks so offended already, that wouldn’t help.

“I know I’m just a freshman hockey player. But i thought.. with you being friends with Truss and all… maybe you’d have a better image of me… I thought… i thought i finally got you to look my way…”

Now it was your turn to look at him with wide eyes as you only manage to say one thing. “What?”

“It’s okay I understand it was a mistake for you. I’m younger and you probably don’t have the time to deal with me but can we please remain…”

What? No, no, no. After the word mistake not much makes sense to you. You don’t hear him anymore. Where did he get that idea?

“Wait. What? No, no, no. It was not a mistake for me not at all. I just… I thought you wanted me gone after you got what you wanted… I… I thought you’d get bored of me and kick me out and start ignoring me after we slept together…”

You’re ashamed to admit how insecure you are.

“Is you esteem of me really that low?” Rutger’s question really surprises you. And is it pain you hear filling his voice?

“I genuinely like you, did since the beginning. And i couldn’t get you to see me. You always acted like i was a kid and I almost lost hope honestly. But I wanted you - I want you - so I kept try to flirt with you. The moment you followed me into that room, I’ve never been more happy, and when you started kissing me back I swear I’ve felt more awake than ever. I just had to remember everything about you, about your body. I asked you what seemed like a thousands times to me if you were sure of what you wanted and you just kept shutting me up with new kisses until I gave in.”

The images he was depicted, you knew them all too well. You had replayed the night in your head too many times to count. It still gave you goosebumps.

“I’m so sorry” You knew he wasn’t done but you had to say it out loud. Still, you didn’t know if it was enough. You had hurt him in order to protect your own feelings, you could see that now.

“I am so so sorry Rutger. I never thought of you as a kid… Really. Never. I’ve noticed you since we met…”

Jacob’s room wasn’t so big but in this moment, as you took small steps towards Rutger, it seems miles long. You didn’t know what to say anymore. You wanted to tell him just how much you like him and how much you want him but the words won’t get out. Being vulnerable has always been difficult for you and you’re so used to doing everything to protect your feelings.

But this is not on him and you know it. He told you everything he had to say. He said he liked you, he said he wanted you. Yet you still can’t believe him. Damn those insecurities.

“More than anything I’m sorry for being insecure. I was convinced you would get bored of me so I shut you out from the beginning. It wasn’t fair to you”

How can you tell him you like him too? And now he’s so close, he is all around you, and all you want to do is kiss him again.

“Do you really mean what you said earlier?” It may sound pathetic. It probably does but you have to be sure.

He doesn’t say anything for a while, just stares at you. Then he leans in and it’s enough of an answer.

#rutger mcgroarty #rutger mcgroarty x reader #umich boys #she’s older woo

[picklesonjupiter]

A wip snippet of my snack fic where Sirius and Harry become Severus' new neighbors

Severus woke up early, like always, and drank his cuppa tea, like always. He grabbed the remote from between the couch cushions, turned on the telly, and went to the front door to pick up the newspaper, like always. Routine was safe. It was what kept his life from being turned upside down.  He flipped through the paper while a rerun of an 80s show played in the background. Suddenly, an annoyingly loud honking sound outside. Jumping out of his comfortable seat, he peeked out of his window blinds and saw a movers’ truck. Severus groaned. Mrs.Kilpatrick, his next door neighbor, had recently passed away from old age, and her children had decided to sell her home. Severus had not cared for the woman with her ten cats that roamed free and ate his garden’s plants. Yet she and her cats had been part of his routine. New neighbors meant having to adjust all over again.  Severus saw a boy no older than ten run out of the truck; the first thing he noticed was his unruly brown hair and crooked glasses. Then the boy shouted, “Padfoot, hurry up.” Out came a tall man, no jumper on to protect from the morning chill, showing off his tattooed arms. This "Padfoot" (what an outlandish name) person laughed heartily, showing off his pearly white teeth. Severus felt the vein in his forehead immediately begin to throb. His new neighbors seemed to be the sort to introduce themselves to the whole neighborhood and expect them to be neighborly by making small talk. Severus loathed small talk.  He shut the blinds and went about his business, ignoring his new neighbors’ moving ruckus as best as he could. After showering in lukewarm water, he dressed in his usual black attire and went into his childhood room, which was now remodeled as his study room. He graded his students’ assignments until the alarm he set went off.  Stretching his arms to get rid of his stiff neck and shoulders, he stood up and walked to his garden. His irises and camelias were beginning to bloom. He watered the tomatoes, onions, cabbage, and carrots that he planted a few weeks ago. He also watered his indoor plants and changed pots and dirt for the plants that were dry and dying.  Gardening always soothed him. It was a habit he began with his mother. When he was younger, they often could not afford to buy food, so his mother began planting seeds in their backyard until vegetables and fruit grew. (His father allowed his mother this one hobby because it fed them.) Severus was preparing lunch for himself when he heard knocking and then heard the sound of his doorbell. Wiping his hands, he opened his front door to find his new neighbors standing there.  “Hellu, I’m your new neighbor. I wanted to introduce myself to you. I’m Sirius Black and this is my son, Harry. I hope we can get to know each other and get along.”  Severus ignored the man’s outstretched hand, sneering at it. “Do you have any pets?” Sirius dropped his hand, his smile becoming a tad forced. “We do. A dog. His name is Lady. He’s a sweetheart; he loves to run around outside and play fetch.” “Keep him out of my garden.” He shut the door in his face. Severus heard Black say loudly, “What a rude man. I didn’t even get his name. Come on, Harry. Let’s hope our other neighbors are better.” “Anyone would be better than him. Did you see the way he looked at us? Like we were bugs.” The last thing Severus heard was that irritating belly laugh.  — From that point on, Severus received gifts from his annoyingly cheerful neighbor every few days. First it was freshly baked bread, then a pie, until the gifts became outrageously expensive. Severus walked to Black’s front door and knocked with extra force in his knocks. The boy opened the door, his hair looking like he had just rolled out of bed. “Is your father home?” The boy blinked up at him like an idiot before screaming for dad to come down.

#severus snape #sirius black #severus x sirius #hp snack #snirius #pro snape #snippet

[sailtomarina]

Study hard

If he read a single word more, Draco was going to explode.

It wasn’t like he needed the extra reading, or writing, or practical application. He’d read everything there was to read, written every stance imaginable, and wand waved until his arms nearly fell off. He needed a break. He deserved a break.

Shoving his chair away from the table, he made to stand up, but found himself impeded by two warm arms winding their way around his neck and a weight settling against his back.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Granger. 

Like him, she’d returned to Hogwarts for her 8th year to finish out her N.E.W.T.s, but unlike him, she’d chosen to do so of her own free will. He was given no such choice in the manner. Draco Malfoy was to graduate from Hogwarts on court order, and spend the next decade devoting himself to the Ministry in a field of his choosing. It was a favorable outcome, all things considered. He could have been like his father, sentenced to half a century in prison. He could have had his wand revoked, or his memories of the wizarding world wiped clean. He could have been forced into house arrest for the remainder of the school year as a remote student—this was actually his first preference.

Preferences were not an option. Draco found himself bundled up onto the Hogwarts Express with a mission to graduate with honors. No exceptions.

Then she happened.

Hermione Granger—know-it-all, rival, rebel with a cause, former prefect—sauntered into his train car, sat her sweet arse down in front of him, and demanded a fresh start. No more name calling, no guilt trips. Following through on her defense of him in front of the entire Wizengamot, she declared the two of them equal. How could he refuse?

They shook on it, and she settled in for the rest of the train ride with her nose buried in a book looking as natural as a cat in a box. Draco? He was the caged canary.

The weeks that followed were some of the most challenging and invigorating weeks of his life. Obviously, he received all the derision and disregard that he deserved from most of the student body. In exchange, he found himself in a nonstop race to the top of every class with Hermione Granger, their names trading places from exam to exam. On the rare instance when Theo or Boot usurped their reign, they’d take the top spots back with a vengeance.

This is actually what prompted them into regular study sessions together. Call it a pooling together of resources, or perhaps combining forces for the greater good. Weekly meetings turned into three days a week, and then eventually into daily meetups. The sight of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger sitting together at their table in the back by the window became a regular, even expected, sight. Heated arguments over scholarly disagreements took place in the 8th-year common room, far from the disapproving eyes of Madam Pince.

“I’m going mental. I need a break. Or maybe a vacation.” Draco kept his voice low—they were still in the library, after all.

The arms around him tightened, and Granger nuzzled his neck like some kind of grooming cat. “If you don’t study hard, I’m bound to beat you.”

He adjusted his pants. If she kept hugging him like this, he’d be forced to drag her off somewhere private. He wasn’t sure he’d make it very far.

“I highly doubt you’ve studied any harder than I have. I just happen to know when to call it quits and take some well deserved rest.”

“Is that what you Slytherins call it? Rest?”

Sweet suffering Salazar.

“I could actually use another reference from the Restricted Section. Care to join me?” His fingers played with the buttons of her cuffs, and he dropped his head back to lock his gaze with her own.

If only his father could see him now—his only son and heir trading heated looks with the girl he’d spent the entirety of his school years reviling. It was comical, really, how Draco had mistaken his own infatuation for animosity. His eyes were clear now. He knew without a doubt that he was one lucky wizard and that, Hermione-willing, he’d spend the rest of his days living up to her high expectations.

The smirk that slid onto her face was frighteningly similar to his trademark, yet another influence their classmates noticed more frequently as each day passed. Releasing her hold on him, she held a hand out in agreement, allowing him to lead her into the stacks far from prying eyes and ears.

If anyone had asked them later who ended up snatching the top scores that cycle, they would have been hard pressed to remember. In truth, they were both winners that particular day, and every one after that. Restful, well referenced winners.

WC 822

#dramione prompt #dramione #dhr fanfiction #harry potter fanfiction #draco malfoy x hermione granger #hermione granger #draco malfoy

[jungkookslipring]

Rest Up

Request: yes 😁

Pairings: Lee! Felix Ler! Lee Know 🐥🐱

Relationship: platonic 🫶🏽

Genre: fluff ❤️🤗

One day Lee Know was watching a drama in the living room while Seungmin and IN were at the Internet cafe, which left the sunshine boy. The little Ray of sunshine emerged from his room since he decided to sleep in that day. He was still pretty groggy when he came around the corner, seeing Lee Know wrapped up in blankets. Lee Know looked at the sleepy figure standing in the doorway and smiled.

“Morning Yongbok-ah,” he smiled as Felix shuffled into the living room.

“Morning,” he mumbled before plopping next to Lee Know, laying his head on his lap. Lee Know chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Did you sleep well? Did you dream of me?” He joked, gently massaging the blonde's head. Felix had a sleepy grin as he shook his head.

“I slept fine, I just think I slept too long to where I’m still tired, ya know?” he asked while rubbing his eyes. Lee Know nodded. He understood what he meant. He turned his attention back to the tv, alternating between scratching the younger’s scalp and running his fingers through the strands of hair. Felix really didn’t want to go back to bed but the movements Lee Know was doing in his hair were making his eyelids heavier.

“Hyuuuung, I don’t wanna sleeeeeeep,” he whined as he swatted at his hands. Lee Know laughed.

“Honey, we've been go go go for the last couple weeks. You’re allowed to rest,” he said gently as he continued with his movements. Felix swatted at his hand. Lee Know laughed. Felix was cute but he was like a toddler.

“Lixie stop hitting my hand!” Lee Know fake scolded with a huge smile on his face. Nevertheless he did stop his movements and went back to his drama. Felix grabbed the remote and paused it. Lee Know took the remote and played it again, not too long before Felix paused it again. Lee Know looked back down at the Aussie with a shocked face.

“Lixie!” Lee Know chuckled. Felix smirked. Cool so we’re choosing violence today? Got it. Lee Know went to run his fingers through Lix’s hair again, and when Felix lifted his hand to swat at his Hyung, the older of the two grabbed his wrist to where it was stretched above his head and dove into Felix’s armpit immediately with the other. Felix squeaked at the sudden sensation, squirming in Lee Know’s lap and shouting protests.

“HYUNGIEHEHEHEHEHEHE” Felix screeched as he attempted to pry the evil fingers out from under his arm. Lee Know giggled along with his cute baby. Felix kicked his heels into the couch as it became harder to fight back.

“Tickle tickle tickle Lixieeee,” Lee Know sang, effortlessly keeping Felix’s arm raised above his head. Felix’s adorable laughter filled the living room as he swatted, clawed, doing whatever he could to get Lee Know to free him. Felix couldn’t lie though, he loved the attention he was getting from his Hyung. Felix fought for as long as he could until he couldn’t anymore and let his free hand go limp, letting it fall to his chest as he laughed his head off, the tickly fingers dancing all over his under arm.

“You are just the cutest Lixie bug,” Lee Know cooed as the Lee’s ears turned red. The leader of dance racha was fully aware Felix was enjoying this, but still didn’t want to completely torture the poor kid. He stopped briefly to check on Felix.

“You okay sweetheart?” He asked. Felix managed to nod as he panted. Lee Know poked his tummy a couple times to see if there would be any form of protest, but the Aussie only giggled. It didn’t hurt to ask.

“Want me to keep going?” Lee Know asked. Felix’s ears turned even more red before nodding and whispering out a

“Please”.

Lee Know swears he could kiss his entire face right now. He let go of Felix’s wrist briefly to lift up the boy from under his arms and into his lap. His fingers quickly moved to both his sides and started squeezing up and down his torso. The younger squealed as he did his best not to fight back but his hands were on auto pilot and did what they could to stop the attack.

“HAHAHAHAHA HYHUHUHUNG” Felix screeched when Lee Know got to a particularly sensitive area on his torso. Lee Know took a mental note of that.

“Yes love?” He asked cheekily as he got closer and closer to that spot. He teased Felix as his fingers danced from his ribs to his sides to his tummy to his belly button all in the span of a few minutes. Felix squealed and squirmed in Lee Knows lap before Lee Know latched onto that one sensitive area which was right above Felix’s top ribs. Felix arched his back and screamed when Lee Know gave it 110%.

“BAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HYUNGIE ITS TOO MUCH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEAHEHEHEHEHEHEASE I CANT HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Felix screamed as he grabbed Lee Know’s hands. Lee Know kept scribbling away until Felix gave up.

“OKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OKAY HYUNGIE OKAY I’D DONE HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Felix screeched before going limp, laughing his heart out into Lee Know’s neck. The dancer immediately stopped and wrapped his arms around the sunshine liner. Pulling him further into his lap.

“You’re allowed to rest, Yongbokie, I’ll be right here,” he whispered gently as Felix situated himself to where he was laying bridal style in Lee Knows arms, his fave buried in the crook of his neck.

“Thank you, hyungie,” Felix whispered. Lee Know smiled and kissed his head before resting his own on top of the blonde’s. He turned back on the drama and pulled the blanket over the both of them. He kept the volume low so his baby could rest, because he knew they all needed it.

#stray kids #stray kids x stay #stray kids fluff #skz fanfic #lee felix #lee know #stray kids imagines #stray kids tickle #kpop tickling #tickling kpop #kpop edits #kpop fluff

[alotofpockets]

Triggered | Yelena Belova

Pairing: Yelena Belova x Reader

Request: Hi! I have a request :) What if Yelena and reader are watching a movie and then some scene comes on that triggers Yelena’s past in the Red Room and Yelena starts to lose control of herself and she tries to attack reader but I’m the end it all gets under control???? So angst with a happy ending? If you’re not comfortable with reader getting attacked or anything else feel free to take it out :)

Warnings: angst with happy ending, past trauma (Yelena Red Room), reader gets pushed.

masterlist | requests: open | taglist | words: 1188

Movie nights with Yelena had become a weekly thing, sort of like your own little tradition. One week she would come over to your place, you would pick the movie, and she brought the snacks and the following week you would go to her with the snacks, and she'd pick the movie.

This evening your movie night took place at your apartment, you picked an action movie that you've been seeing trailers of all over social media. It started off as a great night, cuddled up on the couch. Snacking away while the movie played on the screen. You cherished these moments with her. Moments where it was just the two of you, no family or Avengers around.

In the next scene one of the main characters gets drugged before being taken hostage. You're so deep into the movie that you don't notice the switch it Yelena's behavior until she pushed you away from her.

Since you're sitting on the couch, the push didn't really do anything. You're more so shocked at the randomness of it all. You look over to Yelena, who is now standing beside the couch, you don't think you've ever seen her this scared.

"What's wrong?" You ask her, moving closer again. "Stay away from me." She replies her tone isn't one filled with anger but rather one with uncertainty. You take a step back and raise your hands, "Okay, look I'm standing back. Can you tell me why I have to stay away? Help me understand, Lena." You're worried, not knowing what was going on didn't help. You look over to the screen and you start thinking it has something to do with the movie. What if something came up that happened to her in the past? You knew of some of the things that Yelena went through, but she didn't like to talk about some parts of her past. Which you respected, you never once pushed her to talk about something she didn't want to share.

"I'm going to turn off the TV, okay?" When Yelena nodded, you reached for the remote and pressed the off button. The TV turned black, and the sound of the movie left the room. When you turned around again you saw Yelena’s demeanor fall apart. Tears running down her face. She looked so small like this, your heart broke at the sight of your usual strong and tough girlfriend like this.

You stepped closer and closer each time she didn't tell you to stay away. When you got to her you wrapped her up in your arms, holding her tight. She breaks down in your hold. You keep holding her tight, letting her get all her emotions out. Making sure she knows you're there by moving a hand soothingly over her back.

"I'm so sorry." You hear her say between sobs. "It's okay, baby. It's okay." You reassure her. She takes a step back, moving out of your arms. She takes your hand and leads you back to the couch, making you sit down with her again.

"Y/n, I am so sorry for pushing you away." You give her hand a reassuring squeeze, "It's okay. Do you think you can tell me what happened?" She nodded slowly, reading herself to open up.

"So, the scene triggered a memory. Back in the Red Room that was how we were brought in, because we weren't allowed to know where it was. It kind of brought me back to one of the times where I woke up from the sedation and the person sitting next to me gave me more tranquilizer. I was so in my head about it, that it felt real. Like you were that person and I got scared." You nod your head along to her words, letting her know you're listening. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this, Lena. Thank you for trusting me enough to open up about this part of your past, I know it's hard for you. And I know it doesn't mean much, but I promise to never ever hurt you. I love you so much and I will always be on your side."

Yelena leans into your side, "I love you too." You place a protective arm around her. "How about we end movie night here and see if Natasha wants to get a drink somewhere?" Usually when Yelena has something from her past on her mind, she wanted to be with her sister. When Yelena tells you she liked the idea, you told her to get ready and that you would call her sister.

"Hey Nat." You say when she picks up her phone. "Hi, y/n/n! What's up?" You were grateful for the close bond you had with Yelena's family. "Are you free tonight? Yelena got triggered by something Red Room related and she wants to be with you." You tell Nat. "Definitely, text me where to meet and I'll be there soon. And thank you, y/n."

"Of course, Nat. I'll text you the address right away. See you in a bit." You text Natasha the address of Yelena’s favorite bar before walking to the bathroom to check on Yelena. "Nat is meeting us at the bar in a bit." You say as you kiss her cheek. "Are you ready to go?"

Yelena leans into your touch, "Thank you for always being so understanding and knowing exactly what I need." You smile at her through the mirror, "Of course, my love." You stand like that for a bit, just looking at each other in the mirror, until you break the silence. "Let me go grab my shoes, don't want to make Nat wait." Placing another kiss to your girlfriend's cheek before moving out of the room.

Once you get to the bar, you see Natasha is indeed already there. Yelena walks up to her and gives her a hug, before walking up to the bar to get everyone some drinks. You move to Nat and give her a quick hug too.

"How is she?" She asks as you both pull away from the hug. "A lot better, I think. But I've never seen her so scared Nat. She said it had to do with the way you were brought to the Red Room." Natasha nodded, you could see in her eyes that she knew what Yelena experienced all too well, from her own point of view. You move forward to give her another hug and whisper in her ear, "It's over, Nat. Never again."

"You're right. Let's have fun tonight and get the memories out of our heads." Natasha says with a smile. "Cheers to that." Yelena says raising the three drinks in the air.

The next couple of hours the three of you spend in the bar. Memories forever present in the back of your minds, but it's okay because it will stay as memories. They made sure of it themselves.

You decide to spend the night with Yelena at the compound, so you could all wall home together. In her room you crawl into bed with her. Cuddling until you both fall asleep.

~

Main taglist: @yellowvxbes // @xxromanoffxx // @xxxtwilightaxelxxx // @wandanatvoid // @wandaswifeyforlifey // @marvelwomen-simp // @snooy245 // @peggycarter-steverogers // @wandas-slut-heart // @nats-dreamland // @annephobic // @laaurrel // @catasha // @t00manyfand0ms // @multifandomlesbianic // @bandit2029 // @avengerswriter4eva // @gigistylestomlinson // @snowdrop1026 // @sylvies4ever // @youreatotalposer // @mellowladyangel // @milfloverslut // @natasha-danvers // @lyak12 // @smalls-words // @when-wolves-howl // @svftpetker // @la-reine-des-enfers // @official-chaotic-wandamaximoff // @b0r3d-s1mp1ng-b1tch // @bubblensqueak002 // @imabee-oralizard // @rafecameronswhore // @be-missed // @romaaa28 // @youresuchamom // @youralphawolf72 // @maia-lightwoood // @rootbeerfaygo // @elliesayshello869 // @vllowe // @princessprudy // @nightingalexx // @hallecarey1 // @wandsmxmff

Yelena taglist: @ailenepuff // @mellowladyangel // @kacka84

#yelena belova #yelena black widow #yelena belova x female reader #marvel #marvel imagine #yelena belova x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha and yelena #yelena x reader #yelena mcu #yelena belova imagine #yelena x y/n #yelena imagine #yelena belova x y/n #natasha romanoff imagine

[shitpostingkats]

Yu-Gi-Oh Review Roundup: GX!

Favorite main character: Chazz Princeton

The Chazz. The yugioh rival who, barely five episodes into the first season, gets fed up with being in the show, sails away on a yacht, shipwrecks, is rescued by card game playing russians, gets adopted by said russians after beating all of them back to back in a 50 man gauntlet, and returns to the main plot triumphantly riding a submarine with an entire crowd of slavs chanting his name.

In, uh... *checks watch* episode 25.

Chazz is one of those yugioh characters who’s just always doing the most he possibly can, and you gotta love him for it. And unlike some prideful anime rivals, he actually has the skills to back it up. Skills you actually get to watch him build himself, from the ground up, after having his fall from grace/russian sabbatical. Which just makes it even more satisfying to see him tear into duels, because his archetype of choice, and his whole arc in general, is about using the most unintimidating, unwanted, and least powerful monsters. It’s like the pokemon trainers who threaten to beat you into next week, and then bring out. A magikarp.

Except he then absolutely trashes you with said magikarp. And clomps away in his big goth platforms, loudly proclaiming that magikarp are annoying, and stupid, and he definitely doesn’t like them. Nu-uh. Ignore the maxed out friendship stat.

Up until the heavier plot kicks in in season three, Chazz has hands down the best character arcs of GX. His fight to break free of his abusive brothers’ control, his crabby assimilation into the Slifer Squad, his brief stint and subsequent escape from a Literal Cult (yeah that happens in gx don’t worry about it). Chazz is such a charismatic and well developed character that, when he kinda vanishes for like a dozen episodes, only to reappear, having won an entire tournament offscreen, being heralded by banner-bearers, and carried on a freaking PALANQUIN

I stood up and CHEERED.

Favorite antagonist: The Dark King

The most stunning of trope subversions in a season chock-full of them. Yes, Yubel may be a more threatening and complex villain, but they have so much going on between the dub vs. sub battle, they may get the final save-the-world card game at the end of the season, but the Dark King is such an equally nuanced and menacing antagonist.

Because he’s the protagonist.

 The dark king is every concept I loved about the Yamis in DM, the idea that parts of ones soul aren’t wholly power of friendship goodness, the idea that you can still choose to be an anime protag even if there’s darkness living inside of you. Because being kind is hard. And the act of pursuing it hits so much harder when we see how much it costs to turn down the other path.

Again, I’m a sucker for any character arc even remotely analogous to mental illness. If you see a pattern in the way I review media, I wholeheartedly claim it. I am a simple creature.

But the Dark King also functions so fantastically as both a metaphor and a subversion because we’ve seen the trope of a Superpowered Evil Side before. The show is betting on that. The twist comes in that the Dark King is not some malevolent, foreign entity. That it’s Jaden. Just a scared kid, lashing out at the world and forced to deal with the consequences. And he’s not evil.

Whereas Marik shows with dealing in the part of yourself that wants to commit atrocities, Jaden takes it the next step, and has to accept that you can’t just get rid of it. You have to live with it. Rein it in. But be kind to it. Because it is you, and it just wants to keep you safe and it may be wrong and a base impulse but punishing your worst instincts is not only self harmful, it is impossible.

You may have instantly internalized any negative emotion out of shame, and yes, you may somedays even be controlled by it. But do not fear it. Learn to work in tandem with your rage. Do not let it possess you, but do not imprison it either.

The Dark King is one of those stories that I really think I needed to hear as a kid, but even now, consuming the series as an adult, doesn’t make that message any less impactful.

Favorite side character: Tyranno Hassleberry

Back in the early days of 2021, before the first season of yugioh dm was even a passing consideration of a thought in my mind, I decided to poll my online friends and determine what they thought the Best Worst Name in localized yugioh.

These were people that had never watched yugioh, never so much as glanced at the card game.

We started with 32 names.

After five rounds of voting, only one was left standing.

Tyranno Hassleberry beat Maximillion Pegasus, and thus was crowned the ultimate champion of Best Bad Yugioh Name.

Some might say this championship gave me a bit of a preemptive bias towards the funny dinosaur man.

They’d be right.

Imagine my delight, however, when this already-primed-for-stupidity name got a face, and we learn that big, dumb, real himbo of a yugioh name is attached to an equally big and dumb himbo of typical yugioh absurdity. I mean, truly, Tyranno Hassleberry is everything I love about yugioh worldbuilding, personified. In a series that takes an up close examination of the partnerships between man and monster, and the terrible psychological effects thereof, Hassleberry stands as the shining example of a character so full of love and stupidity that he is immune to the horrors.

While Jaden “What is attraction” Yuki is off getting ptsd from his partnership with a dragon demon that hyperfocuses on relationships so hard that it has put people into comas, Tyranno is also there. Just vibing. Hassleberry, do you have such a strong spiritual connection to your ace monster that you might be genuinely inhuman? Do you also have special anime eyes and mild superpowers? How’s that going? Good? Good!

The world of yugioh not only can provide rich, nuanced explorations on mental wellness and the very idea of identity, it can also provide a man who is half dinosaur and it is only ever lightly remarked upon. Apparently, the solution to surviving an ever expanding universe of unreality and cosmic horrors beyond your imagination is just. Be kind. Be happy. Talk about dinosaurs.

Favorite duel: Yubel vs. Zane

A masterclass on how non-plot-relevant duels can still contribute SO much to the show and its characters.

Zane is a funny little weirdo. The walking personification of Gifted Kid Burnout, this dude graduated valedictorian and then immediately proceeded to get kicked in the ribs by the realities of non-academic living, causing him to sink into a deep and self harmful depression spiral, obsessed with pulling others down to his level and proving to them that happy go lucky positivity is only a naive shield in the face of true adversity and cruelty.

*Laughs a bit too forcefully* What a funny dude!

Zane has basically been on a downward slide in mental wellbeing since season two, and at this point, seems to have reached a natural stopping point in his corruption arc. Tired, washed out, and pessimistic, but at least comfortable in his status quo of being An Absolute Mess. He’s teamed up with Aster as sort of the token chaotic neutrals of the party, the only ones edgy enough to do things like casual torture and murder, but he’s attempted to reach out to his brother, and has even begrudgingly been roped into protecting the gang as they make their final stand against Yubel. He seems to be operating under the belief that while he no longer has to try so hard to rid the highschoolers of their delusions that the power of love and friendship will save the day, he’s still a depressed snot rag wrapped in a black leather overcoat.

That fantastic bit of ex-villainous personality gets to go head to head against the current villainous personality, and it is a treat. Yubel and Zane carry entire scenes through sheer force of presence, and seeing them snark and attempt to out edgelord each other is a delight.

But it also is a very pivotal point for Zane’s character because, for once, he is not the most mentally unstable person in the room. That honor goes to Jaden, newly traumatized, and about to start rolling down the same hill. Zane recognizes those self destructive behaviors, even attempts to warn Jaden that refusing to acknowledge his actions will only lead to further harm, but before he can properly sit down and explain to Jaden that self harmful behaviors are bad actually, and that electrocuting yourself to feel any semblance of emotion is actually a massive holy shit red flag, Yubel interrupts them.

So now, Zane, Failure Big Brother Extraordinaire, has to come to some semblance of peace with his own emo demons, while battling Jaden’s for him (both literally and figuratively).

The sheer panache of two of the most wonderful anti-heros of yugioh, the emotional turmoil of Zane’s inner conflict, the realistic portrayal of how we process trauma, plus the absolute YUGIOH MOVE that is choosing to die of card game induced heart attack. Honestly, I could go on about this duel forever.

Favorite arc: Quest for the Rainbow Dragon

I mentioned previously that I started watching yugioh as something to have on in the background, usually while I sewed. The Quest for the Rainbow Dragon is the arc that made me put down my needle and actually devote my full attention to watching the show.

GX is a show full of subverting audience expectations. I have my own opinions on the prioritization of shock-bait over consistent plot writing, but I also can’t deny that when Adrian Gecko just shrugged off his shirt and engaged in freaking fisticuffs, I was speechless for a whole five minutes.

In between one blink and the next, GX went from a weird early 2000s merchandise advert that occasionally had character writing and the oh-so-rare taste of legitimately serious writing, to a full on survival horror anime. The surreal, empty desert environment of the spirit world, the main cast slowly whittled down and frequently split up, the eerie monologues of Yubel and their legitimately unnerving horror visuals; all contribute to this claustrophobic feeling of dread. The panic of the students feels real.

And QftRD, despite being the first entry in GX’s much darker and grander second half, makes wonderful use of smaller scale episode plots. Entire episodes are devoted to the struggle of moving from one room in the school to the next, or negotiating for enough food to survive just another day. Every main character gets to shine in aspects that we’ve only seen hints of in their lives of status quo card games: whether it’s Alexis’ natural leadership, Hassleberry and Axels’ military skills, Crowler’s actual want to protect the students’ well being, or Jaden and Jesse just finally getting to explore their connections with duel monster spirits. Heck, even the unnamed students get to shine, using their knowledge of the school to navigate through hidden passages.

It’s such a shock to the system, after two and a half seasons of decidedly not small scale apocalyptic survival. The transition from Saturday Morning Cartoon Weirdness to PTSD War Crime Hours is very jarring and unexpected, even if you know it’s going to happen. But the duel zombies arc goes a long way to make that pivot feel deserved, to give actual weight to the sacrifices and choices the characters are about to make.

Also, I somehow managed to write this entire thing without realizing this is my second time my favorite arc in a ygo show has been the one with the word ‘dragon’ in the title.

Greatest strengths of the series:

The slow burn from shonen cartoon to cosmic horror trope subversion.

Truly, I can only compare GX to a handful of other shows that have ever come within the same ballpark of a viewing experience. The closest I can get is maybe relating it to Red vs Blue: One of my favorite shows of all time. And one that it’s absolutely impossible to get into.

See, with both GX and RvB, they’re shows that start out silly, unconnected, and (don’t worry, I love both of these shows with almost my entire heart), bad. Now, an impatient viewer might be tempted to just skip to the point where the show takes off, where it quote unquote “gets good”. But the problem is, if you attempt to cut out all the chaff, you lose what fundamentally makes the sudden spike in writing quality so compelling: the unexpectedness of it.

GX grabbed my attention by the throat in Waking The Dragon, because, up until then, I’d been using it as chill background fodder. Jaden felt so real to me as a protagonist and a person, because I’d spent fourty hours watching him be a normal protagonist/teenager. The previous episodes might not have done much to advance in terms of the plot, but they delivered something equally important: A status quo.

And when that status quo is broken, it feels much more powerful to the audience because it feels so fundamentally wrong. Just like it’s insane to watch in real time as RvB goes from being a bunch of outdated loosely strung together skits to a military drama waxing poetic about morality, GX spins on a dime from “Saturday morning cartoon” to “Cosmic horror meta tropefest”, and every episode you want to look up from the screen and go “How. Wh- Who let them just... do this?” Who let them set out to write one kind of story, and then not bother to correct them when they started doing something completely different? And why is it so good?

That is a very rare feeling in media, I think. To be so truly and utterly thrown off guard by a change in story direction, yet having more fun than you possibly could with some so-called “good” stories. And I think it’s a feeling worth cherishing.

Weakest points:

The slow burn from shonen cartoon to cosmic horror trope subversion.

The other reason I compare GX to Red vs. Blue is the fact that they are both shows that I cannot in good conscience recommend to friends.

“Here’s this show I like,” I say.

“Oh, cool, I’ll check it out!”

They return, minutes to hours later.

“So, I started that show you like and uh. Are you aware it is? Bad?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, it gets better-”

“Oh, sweet, cause I was really worried-”

“-Just give it a couple seasons!”

“I, uh.” They tug at their collar. “Can I skip the bad parts?”

“No. :D”

Hours and hours of time sunk into a mediocrity on the off-chance it “gets good” is a tough pill to swallow for most people. It’s a tough pill to swallow for me, and I willingly aspire to watch every yugioh anime. Add on top of that poor production quality,  bloated plot bunnies, and some writing that has aged like milk, and you have. Well. A benign watching experience, at minimum.

And like I said, there’s good ingredients to the final storyline buried in all that early stuff! Just skipping directly to the middle in a hope to reach “the part everyone talks about” fundamentally waters down the experience, leaving you struggling to understand what has fans going bananas.

Why does the show hit you on the head 200 times with a hammer? Cause it feels so good when it stops!

Now, I’m not your parent, and you can watch tv shows however you want. If you only watched seasons 3 and 4 of GX, then by god, you watched GX, and you are welcome at the discussion table. Get in here, amigo. Your opinion matters just as much as mine.

GX is very difficult to review, in comparison to all its other sister shows, because the aspects some people praise are the very aspects others could never really get into the show because of. Its greatest strength as a story and its greatest weakness as a show are one in the same. It’s sort of this weird child of the family, unable to be talked about without a lot of contradiction and conversational backtracking. Is GX the best show of the three? Maybe. Is it my favorite? No, with an asterisk. Is it some people’s favorite? Absolutely.

If you changed it, made the plot tighter, the writing more concise, had a planned narrative from the beginning and slowly worked in elements of the larger endgame, would those same people still like it, in the same fervor?

I don’t think so.

Most yugioh moment:

YA SEE, A FEW YEARS BACK, ON A ROUTINE DIG FOR DINOSAUR FOSSILS, A LANDSLIDE BROKE OUT AND NEARLY BROKE MY LEG IN TWO. THEY HAD TO OPERATE QUICKLY, SO THEY USED THE DINOSAUR BONE I FOUND TO SAVE MY LEG. EVER SINCE, I'VE HAD WHAT THEY CALL DINO DNA. THE DOCTOR SAYS IT MAKES ME STRONGER THAN THE AVERAGE JOE.

#yugioh #yugioh gx #yu-gi-oh! #yu-gi-oh #ygo #ygo gx #spk's ygo reviews #essays #review #chazz princeton #jun manjoume #jaden yuki #judai yuki #yuki judai #zane truesdale #ryu marufuji #tyranno hassleberry #jesse anderson #johan andersen

[comic-book-jawns]

Ava kisses her for the first time on a Tuesday morning, their 12th day in Switzerland.

“C’mon, Bea. You’re gonna give yourself a hernia.”

Beatrice, naturally, had opened her mouth to explain why Ava’s assertion was not remotely plausible… but then her diaphragm hadn’t given her the chance to, just as Ava intended.

“Pardon me.”

Beatrice wasn’t sure if her blush was the more the result of her loss of dignity or Ava’s smirk.

“Nope.” Definitely the smirk. Dammit. “You’re allowed to have the hiccups!”

The laughter was clear (and enticing) in Ava’s voice, but Beatrice refused to let herself be goaded into conversation a second time. Perhaps, she could admit to herself, though, that Ava had a point.

“I literally peed my pants yesterday, and you don’t see me apologizing for it.”

They’d been halfway to Bar LaVasseur for their first night shift, Ava babbling away about the wild time Beatrice prayed was not in store for them until she stopped abruptly and confessed she’d forgotten to use the restroom.

Beatrice had asked if she could wait to go at the bar; and Ava, looking only moderately sheepish, had replied that waiting wasn’t the issue. So, in fact, it was Beatrice who’d ended up apologizing, following her prolonged period of silent confusion.

When they’d set off again from their flat twenty minutes later, Ava indeed had not apologized. She’d thanked Beatrice for accompanying her.

“Fine.” Beatrice at least managed not to hiccup mid-word, but Ava still giggled. “Slap me.”

Until her giggles turned into a cough.

“Excuse me?”

“No.”

It was Beatrice’s turn to smirk, and Ava stopped in her tracks, face flushed — which wasn’t surprising given the burn she’d acquired last week in pursuit of a “base tan.”

“Bea, I’m not gonna slap you.” Even less surprising was her roommate grinning well before she got to the punchline. “That’s way too boring.”

Ava, naturally, had spent the rest of their walk back to the flat trying out increasingly absurd scare tactics: jumping in front of her, phasing in front of her, phasing in front of her and screaming, declaring that she’d left the stove on.

Admittedly, that one could possibly have worked last week… before Ava decided to make “experimental tea” and Beatrice returned from the library to a kettle of boiling orange juice, alongside Ava, who’d spotted a stray cat on the street from their third-floor window.

Just as it seemed Ava had run out ideas, she suddenly sprinted ahead, straight for the lake. And while Beatrice already knew Ava would complain about her wet clothes for the next two hours, she also recognized that Ava was an adult, free to make her own choices — as long as they didn’t involve the stove.

“I can’t swim, by the way!”

Her roommate called over her shoulder gleefully, as she splashed through the water’s edge.

“Ava!”

The warning only encouraged her, of course… until she reached the drop-off. The one Beatrice had known was awaiting her, having gone for a morning swim on Sunday, their “day off” from training.

“Bea!”

Beatrice was still getting used to the nickname, despite Camila having used it first. Ava’s tone, though, was one Beatrice absolutely did not want to get used to.

“I’m here.”

If she did, it would mean she’d failed her mission… failed Ava.

“I’ve got you.”

She hadn’t this time, though, carrying her out of the water — Ava uncharacteristically quiet as she clung to her neck.

Beatrice wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, only that she felt her blush return — as Ava pulled back and promptly looked over Beatrice’s shoulder at the ground below — along with her hiccups.

She was too drained to fight a smile when Ava giggled again, but it was short-lived.

“Thanks, Bea.”

Beatrice set Ava down with a tingling right cheek.

She didn’t hiccup again.

#avatrice #warrior nun #avatrice fic #warrior nun fic #avatrice fanfic #warrior nun fanfic #ava x sister beatrice #beatrice x ava #ava silva #sister beatrice

[bihansthot]

Title: Super Self-indulgent Shark Week Spectacular

Rating: G (there is one swear though)

Pairing: Bi-Han x Sol (me), Tomas x Hallvard

Summary: So it’s a little late for Shark Week, but I finally sat down and finished up my super self-indulgent selfship Shark Week spectacular. Feel free to join me on my little adventure as I get to my love of Shark Week with my youngest son for the first time. Thank you lovelies for encouraging me to split my time between reader inserts and self ship content. I don’t really expect anyone to read this but if you enjoy domestic fluff an sharks you might enjoy it.

Author’s Note: As always if you enjoy this please feel free to like, comment and or reblog and please feel free to ask any self ship questions you have, I’m always happy to talk about it. Based on my previous poll, I did drop the tonal accents on the Chinese words, so there are smattering of Chinese names, and familiar terms. Thank you all again for encouraging me to write this and special thanks to @kutleki who also shares my love of Bi-Han and sharks lol

“Bingbing’s asleep? You’re sure? You didn’t just put her in her bed and shut off the light and just walk out did you?” I ask raising an eye at my husband.

“Babe, what do you take me for? First of all, I read her a story until she literally blacked out, then I snuck out of her grasp, tucked her in, and left the room. She’s sound asleep.” Bi-Han answers as he grabs a bowl of popcorn from the kitchen.

“Hmm, ok,” I reply, skeptical that my husband was successful in putting our almost three-year-old to bed. I turn to my sons, “you sure you’re not going to get nightmares, Xue?”

My youngest son gives me an indignant face that I’ve seen his father make too many times, “Mama I’m 9! I’m not a little boy! Sharks aren’t going to give me nightmares! You and Baba kissing all the time will though.” He mimes vomiting and wraps his arms around his stomach and hunching over as if he was in pain.

“Try living with it as long as we have,” my oldest twins answer in unison as they pile onto the couch next to me, leaving no room for their father.

Bi-Han arrives with the popcorn and gives me an upside-down kiss, “oh yeah, total nightmare fuel,” he chuckles and hands the twins the bowl of popcorn.

I shiver slightly and zip my hoodie up a little more, I love spending time with my husband and my boys, but being surrounded by cryomancers with no natural resistance required proper clothing.

Bi-Han notices my slight shiver, “need a blanket babe?” He doesn’t wait for my answer and makes his way to our bedroom to grab one of the fur duvets from our plush king-sized bed. He makes his way back in the living room and the temperature dips again and I’m grateful when he wraps the blanket around my shoulders. He narrows his eyes and looks around before looking at the twins, “and where exactly am I supposed to sit?”

“On the floor with Xue?” Xiao-Han, my oldest, answers confidently.

“Yes, that’s exactly where you boys belong,” Bi-Han glares at the twins while crossing his arms over his chest.

“Y-yes baba,” they answer sheepishly as they slink onto the floor next to their younger brother.

“Is everyone finally settled,” I ask, slightly annoyed with having to wait this long to start watching Shark Week because at the rate we’re going it will be Xue’s bedtime before we can even watch one episode. I grab the remote as my hoard of boys answer affirmatively and I’m just about to press play on the DVR when the door opens wide with a clunk.

“Sorry, we’re late Sol!” Tomas’ voice greets me as he’s followed by Hallvard and Kuai Liang all showing themselves inside our dwelling.

I blink and look over at Bi-Han, “you invited your brothers and didn’t tell me?”

“Well you said it was family night, so yeah? I didn’t think you’d mind,” Bi-Han gives me an odd look as if he didn’t understand what the problem could possibly be.

I scowl at him before turning my attention to our extended family, “guys keep it down, Bingbing is asleep.” I hiss, hoping my boisterous in-laws didn’t wake the baby.

Tomas at least has the decency to look ashamed of himself, “sorry Sol,” he whispers as they make their way to the living room.

Bi-Han stands up, “I’m going to make more popcorn one bowl isn’t going to be enough.” I give him a dismayed look, “babe it’s ok, the boys don’t have school tomorrow, it’s Friday night, and Air Jaws will wait for you, I promise.”

“What about Colossus though? And Deep Blue and Duchess? Are they going to wait?” I sulk as I rattle off the names of Great Whites made famous over the years.

Bi-Han throws another package of popcorn in the microwave and pushes the button while he chuckles, “they’re already recorded qīn, they’ll be fine.”

Kuai Liang settles on the couch next to me and I feel the chill of all my cryomancers dissipate slightly, “do you want me to go check on Bingbing and make sure she’s still asleep?”

I sigh, “if you don’t mind, I really wouldn’t mind letting her stay up, but she’s not even three yet, I don’t know if the sharks would scare her or not. I was about Xue’s age when I started watching Shark Week even if it is a bit older than that, but I suppose I did have a lot of picture books about sharks when I was younger, but not two years old, younger.”

“I don’t mind, she’s my precious niece,” Kuai Liang replies as he gets up and heads down the hallway towards the kids' bedrooms, and my nice air of warmth is gone. A moment or two passes before he comes back with Bingbing nestled excitedly in his arms, “she uh wasn’t asleep.”

“I was afraid of that,” I hold my arms out to take my daughter from her Uncle, but Kuai Liang makes a face and hugs her closer as he sits down with her. I shrug in defeat as he cuddles Bingbing closely and starts baby-talking to her in Chinese, her little face lights up and she tries her best to babble back to him. I feel inadequate, Bi-Han and I have been together 15 years and I can barely string a sentence together in Mandarin, and my two-year-old speaks it better than I can, in my defense Bi-Han is not exactly the best teacher, I try and justify though I find it hard to believe my lie when all four of my children are multilingual and I still need the help of google translate to go to the market. I scowl and turn to my brother-in-law, “cover her eyes if it gets too gruesome.”

“Will do,” Kuai Liang agrees and resumes playing with Bingbing by trying to eat her hands which she is absolutely living for, and squealing with delight.

“Did Uncle Liang play with me when I was Bingbing’s age?” Xue asks and I can’t tell if he’s jealous of his little sister or genuinely curious.

“Are you stupid,” Xiao-Bing answers before I can, “Uncle Liang always played with you when you were meimei’s age, he wouldn’t leave you alone.”

“I played with you and Xiao-Han when you were babies too, you used to love answering your foot like it was a phone, it was so cute,” Kuai Liang reassures the twins, making sure they all know their Uncle spent equal time with them.

“Hey don’t forget about us!” Tomas chimes in stealing a handful of popcorn from the twins, “he’s not your only Uncle! Uncle Halle and I have been here the whole time too!”

I chuckle, “yes you’ve all had plenty of Uncles to look after and play with you boys ever since you were born, I don’t know who was more nervous when I was pregnant first, your Baba or your Shushu.”

“Mama, I don’t wanna hear about Han and Bing again, I want to watch sharks!” Xue pouts and shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

I sigh and look over towards the kitchen, “I want to watch sharks too but we have to wait for Baba.”

Bi-Han dumps the popcorn in a bowl and heads back into the living room passing the bowl to Hallvard, “are we finally good? Do we need a third bowl of popcorn?” He asks hovering next to the couch not wanting to risk sitting down.

“We can always make more if we need it,” Tomas quips. “Sit down gēgē, I think if Sol has to wait any longer she’s going to go cage diving with the sharks herself.”

I finally open up the Discover Plus app on my phone and connect it to our living room tv and press play on the latest installment of Air Jaws: the Final Frontier, excited to be able to see my favorite, breaching Great White Sharks. I’m greeted with a pleasant, familiar face as Andy Brandy Cassagrande introduces the premise of trying to find breaching sharks in New Zealand. I curse under my breath and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“What’s wrong babe, I thought you liked this guy?” Bi-Han asks while stealing some popcorn from his younger, adopted brother.

“It’s not Andy I’m upset about, it’s those damn orcas, Port, and Starboard I’m upset about. Why have they not been tagged or dragged off to Sea World or something, they’re decimating the Great White population in South Africa and forcing the sharks from their homes,” I complain glaring at the mention of the problematic whales.

“Babe, it’s nature. Discovery Channel can’t just swoop in and save the sharks single handily,” Bi-Han replies, and while he’s right the answer still rubs me the wrong way.

“Yeah well, next family trip is South Africa, you’re going to rip those orca’s spines out and I’m going to go cage diving with the sharks and boop their snoots,” I state bluntly as I’m suddenly met with stares from my boys and in-laws. “What? The orcas deserve it!”

Bi-Han hisses in my ear, “the boys aren’t supposed to know I can rip a spine out I thought, that was your rule if I remember correctly. You didn’t want them exposed to the assassin side of the Lin Kuei, only the martial arts aspects and I agreed that the boys wouldn’t be assassins.” Bi-Han seems upset and worried that I had said too much.

“Fuck,” I whisper and suddenly flush red at my mistake, “kidding! Only kidding! I just hate those orcas so much that I wish Baba was able to take care of them so easily!” I try and talk my way out of my predicament, but thankfully my children seem engrossed with the sharks circling the cage diver to notice my backtracking.

“Smooth qin, real smooth,” Bi-Han rolls his eyes and gropes around for the popcorn bowl before Tomas helps him out and moves the bowl under his hand.

“I mean Baba’s crazy strong, if it’s possible to rip a spine out, which I don’t think it is, he probably could,” Xiao-Han replies casually as if we discussed the physical aspects of dismemberment all the time.

“It’s not possible,” Bi-Han is quick to inform his son, trying to get the topic onto something else, “woah! That shark is huge! Look at it!”

“Why is he so big?” Xue asks, clearly spellbound by the magnificent animal circling the cage and nosing at the seal decoy.

“She, pumpkin, that’s a girl shark, they’re much bigger than the male sharks, so anytime you see a really big shark it’s most likely a girl,” I inform my youngest son.

“Why are the girls so much bigger,” he asks, clearly confused by this considering his own parents' dynamic was very much the opposite.

“Well, they have to be really big to fend off predators and to be able to take care of their babies,” I reply finally stealing a bit of popcorn for myself.

“But Baba keeps the family safe,” Xue insists, “you’re too small Mama.”

“Things are different with sharks, shark mamas are big and strong because shark babas don’t stay around and help the mother shark raise the babies, they do everything on their own so they have to be able to take care of themselves and their babies,” I explain before adding. “You’re right though I can’t take care of you all as well as Baba can, which is why we keep him around,” I laugh slightly and pull the blanket closer as I snuggle up to Bi-Han.

“You also keep me around for my excellent dumpling skills, don’t forget that,” Bi-Han laughs as if he doesn’t bring anything to the relationship outside of his brute strength and culinary prowess.

“At least the children wouldn’t starve if I spontaneously died,” I laugh as I’m swatted by my brother-in-law.

“Sol! Don’t say things like that in front of the baby, you’ll upset her!” Kuai Liang scolds as he covers Bingbing’s ears.

“You better not spontaneously die, Baba’s dumplings are good and all but I can’t eat them every single day, besides there’s no way he’ll remember to buy us the Oreo mooncakes, we’ll just end up with boring sesame, and the crappy ones with nuts and ham Shushu likes,” Xiao-Bing starts while Xiao-Han finishes the complaint while stuffing popcorn into their mouths.

“So glad my cooking and ability to buy the right mooncakes is why you want me alive,” I sulk and pull the blanket around me higher.

Bi-Han shoots the boys a look and they immediately mumble, “sorry mama.”

I try and ignore the twins' reasonings to keep me alive and remind myself they are teenagers and I’m lucky they don’t tell me they hate me on a daily basis as I finally let myself get sucked into Andy’s hunt for breaching sharks in New Zealand. We watch the rest of the special with little commentary aside from the occasional “woah!” from my youngest son. The special ended with a super satisfying breaching Great White and potential hope that the Great Whites might have found a new home in New Zealand. Thankfully Bingbing was sound asleep in Kuai Liang’s arms and didn’t seem to have been scared of the sharks she did end up seeing and I can’t help but think to myself “she’s my daughter, of course she isn’t scared of sharks,” it feels surreal but so satisfying to sharing something that had been such a big part of my childhood with my own children. It was hard to believe Shark Week was celebrating its 35th anniversary but my boys were so amazed by it and intrigued that I hoped it continued another 35 and was something I’d be able to share with my grandchildren.

“Can we watch another Mama?” Xue asks, he had abandoned the empty bowl of popcorn in favor of his stuffed polar bear because of course all my children received stuffed polar bears when they were children. It wasn’t just a nod to their father but it was also special to me because when I was a very sickly child growing up in the hospital a kindly nurse had gifted me a stuffed polar bear after my first major heart surgery. I often thought it was fate that I had ended up with my Polar Bear.

“It is getting kind of late, but I suppose one more won’t hurt,” I agree and queue up Jaws vs the Meg and snuggle closer to my husband, my heart overflowing with happiness as my family is all together to enjoy this. I’m a little sad my own brothers aren’t here to experience it, but they haven’t seen the boys since my Father’s 70th bday, and have never met Bingbing. It was hard living another world away sometimes, but I wouldn’t change my life for anything.

“What’s this one about Mama?” Xue’s voice cuts through my slight melancholy.

“This one? Only the coolest sharks ever! The Great White vs their prehistoric ancestor the Megalodon! It’ll be awesome!” I perk up with the excitement of my two favorite sharks being showcased in one special.

“Cool!” The boys echo as we settle back in to enjoy the special.

I definitely hit the jackpot as I look around at my extended family, and happily push play.

#mortal kombat #shark week #bi han #sub zero #og sub zero #kuai liang #sub zero bros #mk smoke #tomas vrbada #hallvard breivik #tomas x hallvard #self shipping #self indulgence at its finest #self ship imagine #self ship positivity #self ship promo #solarbear #bi han x sol #tw kids #fictional kids #fictional family #dilf!bihan #dad!bi han #family dynamics #do I need more tags

[scribe-of-elysium]

Quietus - Status Update - June 2022

Readers waiting for the next chapter may have noticed that it’s approaching almost 2 months now since my last update. A long time for me!

Due to lock-down ending, and busy life resuming at a very fast pace, I’ve had little free time to write (proof is me posting this at a ridiculous hour I'm normally asleep at). The lack of time will continue over the summer. I’m now back to full-time office hours, and when I’m not working on weekends or my days off, my time is spent mostly outdoors. Writing has unfortunately dropped way down my priority list, as was the case before lock-down. For a while, I was forcing myself to make time in order to maintain a regular update schedule in my eagerness to complete, including writing late nights and early mornings, but that resulted in me placing a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself, and that’s something I can’t and won’t continue to do, for the sake of my mental and physical well-being.

A huge amount of content has been put out over the last two years since the pandemic began. I picked up Quietus from the point just after Sakura had first returned to the surface, and have now reached the beginning of the very last arc. Since I had a lot of free time to write during lock-down/remote working, I also had a lot of motivation to keep writing.

Unfortunately, I now have neither the time or the motivation/inspiration to continue at the regular pace I’ve been working at over the last two years. The final arc requires a lot of dedicated time, effort and concentration, and I can’t set aside those things right now. It’s the most difficult arc, because it contains the build up to the ending, and a lot of complicated battle scenes, as well as the resolution of all plot points, all of which need to be executed right. Not rushed or sloppily written.

I feel under pressure to deliver the ending right, and to the highest standard. I’ve also gotten frustrated by how never-ending the story feels in terms of how demanding it is. Maybe that’s another reason, besides lack of time, that I have not actively pushed myself to schedule in even short writing slots week after week. This last arc is intimidating and overwhelming, not just because of all the characters, events, development and plot I need to juggle. Quietus, to me, isn’t just any fanfic; it’s been a special project I’ve been working on for over a decade. It’s been a distraction and comfort through some very difficult years, a story I’ve really poured a lot of love into, and I owe it to myself, and the crazy time and effort and thought I have invested into the story, to not mess the plot up in its final stages just because I’m really impatient to be done with it.

For this reason, after consideration, I’ve decided I will be withholding on writing and releasing future chapters. This means the story will be ‘on hold’ until further notice after the next chapter is updated.

This does NOT mean I intend to abandon it. I’ve felt tempted to stop. It would be easier and kinder to me. You can’t even imagine how much planning and energy a story of this scale requires to continue. I’d feel like an absolute failure if I dropped it for good though, and I hate starting something I don’t finish. I also know how horrible it would be for readers to be left without an ending. But I need to see it through to the end for myself, before anything or anyone else. Or at the very least, take it as far as I can go before it feels absolutely impossible to carry on with it. Right now it’s difficult - but not impossible.

It’s disappointing, being so close to the ending, that I have to stop and lose momentum now, but I’d rather place it on pause and work on it slowly as and when I can, giving it my full attention as it deserves, than carry on half-heartedly and rush it to completion.

I’m also aware there are many readers who have fallen behind. Whether they were waiting for the fic to end before reading the rest, or simply haven’t been able to find the time to read, delaying releases gives them a chance to catch up, if they wish to do so. The general drop in reader views/feedback over the last chapters suggests that might be the case. If so, then a delay is beneficial, given most people appear to not be caught up anyway.

The next chapter is about 75% done, so readers will have another chapter (or possibly two, if I complete and split the rest of it) uploaded before I place the story on a formal hiatus. Updates after that will be fewer and farther between, and will likely be posted in bulk chapters of 2-3, until I reach completion. Writing continuously without feeling the pressure to stop and upload is better for me. I’ll see how it goes. Maybe if my motivation, energy/time and inspiration return sooner, things might change again, but for the foreseeable, no further new content will be released after the next chapter.

Though I will be on hiatus from writing for Quietus, I'd still love to have feedback and hear from my readers during this period, including from those who are behind and have yet to catch up to the latest chapters.

Thank you to everyone who is still on board for being so supportive and understanding.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*  

#Quietus #Status update #Chapter 109 preview #I should be asleep #This is how little free time I have to post when I'm normally asleep #SasuSaku #Fanfiction #Hades #Persephone

[ronearoundblindly]

The Stark Legacy (17)

Whisky, part of Book II: Mind (see previous or series)

Summary: The birthday girl is discovered for the wrong bad behavior but counters with an unusual offer.

Warnings for mentions of medical self-experimentation and drinking. Rated Teen/Mature so 15+ only, please.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN—December 2038

Imagine a paper cut slowly and methodically slicing into your flesh. The pain is not immediate, but you know you felt something breach the surface. Then you feel tweezers slip inside the paper cut and pry it open just a little further. You feel the exposure of air where it doesn’t belong. You can’t move unless you want it to get worse. After the tweezers spin around inside each tiny little cut, a needle is stuck shallowly, repeatedly inside. When this process is completed over the space of your entire limb in 3mm increments, that’s thousands of times per limb, the still-fresh paper cuts are doused in sanitizer.

At least, Sam thought, that’s what it feels like.

The whole process took hours, days, and weeks at a time, yet somehow this was not the most terrible birthday Sam had ever had. She was doing something good for science, and while that thought kept her going each day until she passed out under the cradle’s mechanical arm, whisky kept her from thinking too much about it after a section was complete.

The feet were by far the worst. She’d never had the chance to get a tattoo, but Sam was sure she wouldn’t bother now. And she wasn’t even done; her left arm, chest, and head still remained.

Tomorrow. Not today.

Sam was enjoying a very quiet night on the ‘bone yard’ hilltop, sipping a bottle of Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky. Burning on the inside was a nice change from crawling on the outside, though the grafting of vibranium into her keratinocytes managed to ease some nerve discomfort after the first 48 hours. Sam took note that this could be because the metal protected the exposed nerves within her Extremis-altered epidermis, but that was only her best guess.

Sam was entirely lost in thought when Bucky appeared at the far end of the field and trudged over.

“Hey” was all he said when he got close enough. Sam nodded back. She hadn’t seen him in a week or so, but they hadn’t had a conversation since flying to Wakanda. That was a few months ago now.

“You look about as good as I feel,” Bucky added as he reached out his right hand, twitching his eye toward the bottle. “I won’t ask you why a seventeen-year-old is drinking straight from the bottle if you share.”

Sam handed over the bottle. “Merry Christmas.”

“Damnit,” Bucky exclaimed, “that’s next week, isn’t it.”

“Sure is…and I’m eighteen as of last Monday.”

The bulky soldier let his shoulders slump. Perhaps he meant to say congratulations, but instead, all that came out was “I’m sorry.” He handed the bottle back after a very long swig, then sat down a few feet away.

“Yeah,” Sam replied, continuing to medicate. “So what have you been up to?”

“Sam Wilson is having to retrain using the EXO-7, so I’ve remotely piloted a few battle sims for him. Then there’s…” Bucky drifted off in thought, deciding what Samantha could know. He finally landed on saying, “always some asshole trying to stir things up here and there.”

“So you get sent off to punch ‘em?” Sam chuckled at the thought.

He maneuvered his hands in the air for a second. “Well, it requires some finesse, too, but sure, I’ve…passed the point of diplomacy a few times.”

Sam noticed the physical difference in Captain Barnes since they’d left New York. He spoke with his hands freely, used and relaxed more muscles while interacting with others, told animated stories, and calmly listened. He seemed free of some constraint in Wakanda. “You like it better here, don’t you?”

Bucky was caught off guard by the errant thought. “Not—” he searched for the words, “not better, I guess, but—maybe? I’d never really thought about it.” He put his metal arm out this time, wiggling the fingers for the bottle.

“You won’t break it?”

Bucky’s head snapped back in feigned offense. Sam was eyeing his arm again, as she’d done in the quinjet during their flight. 

He grabbed the whisky. “Go ahead, you can ask,” he prompted, having heard all sorts of outrageous, mostly rude, comments and questions about the metal appendage. How much can you carry? Can you pull it off and on to sleep or clean? Can it spin around in all directions? Are there weapons inside of it? Can you crush a guy with only that thing? How much did it hurt when they put it on you? Do you have to charge it separately? These were the normal questions. Every once in a while, someone would ask if he missed being a whole human, and that one particularly hurt. 

“Would you ever want a real arm back?” Sam said sheepishly.

The way Sam asked him, though, was unlike anyone else. She did not imply he was not a human, she asked what he wanted instead of what he could do, and most curiously she seemed to believe he could have a real arm again. Still, Bucky wouldn’t be stitched together with a corpse’s arm.

“I’m not Frankenstein’s monster,” Bucky replied, slowly and deliberately, “that’s how I ended up like this.”

Sam took and drank from the bottle. “You know, the monster was the most genuine and kind person in that book.” She looked down at the grass between her feet, very quietly adding, “Forget I asked. I’m sorry.”

Head hopping “You’re a smart-ass,” he mumbled. Then it dawned on him. “You’ve called me that before,” Bucky said absently. “When you were a kid, you looked right at me…and called me a monster. I don’t think you meant I was genuine and kind.”

It took a moment to see the comprehension roll across Sam’s face. “Eh, shit. Children…” Sam shook her head, unable to find the correct way to apologize. “Children don’t see the big picture.”

Bucky returned his gaze to the sky. He didn’t know what he wanted from her; an apology, an explanation, maybe recompense. It made no difference all this time later. Nothing could change why the word had hurt him so much. He would have believed it no matter who said it. Somewhere in his mind or heart, he believed himself a monster from the instant he fell from the train in ’45.

“Bruce was my friend,” Sam blurted, “and then I did something wrong. He got mad at me, but…all I knew was that he didn’t touch me. Hulk didn’t hurt me. And then you beat him up anyway. You beat my friend to a pulp right in front of me. You hurt someone I loved, so I called you names. That’s what four-year-olds have to fight with, mean words that we barely understand.”

They sat silently for a long while, passing the bottle back and forth. Bucky enjoyed the taste, the reminder of old times with friends and men in arms, but he noticed Sam’s aim in handing off the bottle deteriorating, slowing in response. Her eyelids slumped. She didn’t look up at the sky anymore; she looked straight forward with the same wonder as the stars.

Bucky took a moment to amuse himself. “So you’re a genius and can give me an arm, huh?”

“Depends on your definition of real,” Sam slurred a little. “You’re not entirely human, so I’d need to replicate your DNA and tissue. Add in some vibranium for durability because why the hell not? We’re in Wakanda. Of course, I’ll need to do a scan of rotational capacity from your other arm so it can match, and then blend the infused tissue with your existing skeletal, muscle, and skin structure…” The last half of her thoughts were spoken with closed eyes. She got lost in solving the problem, repeatedly pushing her entangled fingers together in frustration.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?” Her eyes were blank.

“You want me to take you back to your room?”

“I—I can do it,” she said, shoving herself up onto shaky legs. She turned to go inside, leaving the bottle with Bucky.

“Hey, Sam,” he called after her. “Happy Birthday.”

She didn’t turn around, only paused, then made a weak salute on her way inside.

[Ch 18: Test]

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

#bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x oc #tony stark's daughter #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #mcu au #alternate universe #endgame au #slow build #slow burn #action/adventure #the stark legacy #series #epic tale

[greetings-and-salutations]

“That Guy in the Tights Kicked the Pigskin Through the Devil Horns.”

Eddie Munson x Reader

Day 10 of the Stranger Things Summer Write-a-Thon!!!

Masterlist

(Gif not mine)

Requested? No

Summary: It took a practical plague to get him there, but there he was all the same: Eddie “the Freak” Munson, reveling in the Friday Night Lights per the request of his lovely girlfriend, who, unbeknownst to him, had a purpose of the utmost importance for the evening…

Warnings: starred out swear words, secret relationship, sexual innuendo? Kinda?

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader (a cheerleader, his jacket’s big on you)

“TAKE IT TO THE GOAL!

GO!

FIGHT!

WIN!

GO TIGERS!”

(Y/n) grinned, shaking her Pom-Poms one last time, a wide smile on her face as she looked on at the screaming crowd in the stands, before running off with the other girls so that the players could return for the second half of the football game.

It wasn’t a particularly important game, but her boyfriend Eddie was in attendance, and, to (Y/n), that was bigger than homecoming.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to come support her at all the other games. He really really did, but his dungeons and dragons club meetings usually fell on Friday nights, and (Y/n) was very adamant that he not miss something so important to him just for her. He’d argue that she was important to him to, but (Y/n) wouldn’t have it. He would never even consider asking her to skip a football game, knowing how much she loved cheerleading. What kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn’t return the sentiment?

So, why, you ask, was Eddie suddenly commitment free for evening? Well, Dustin, one of the boys in Eddie’s club, had gotten sick during the week, which, unfortunately, had led to Mike, his best friend and another member of the club, catching it as well. There were only so many people that played regularly anyway, and, being down two members, Eddie and the others had decided to postpone the campaign until next week. Which (Y/n) felt bad about, but the much larger part of her was excited by Eddie’s lack of plans, and how they had prompted him to be where he was now, hanging out under the bleachers and waiting for (Y/n) after watching her perform with the rest of the cheerleading squad in their halftime routine.

+ + +

“You did so good!” Eddie called out excitedly, a bright smile covering his face, as his girlfriend appeared in his view, (Y/n)’s own face lighting up like a Christmas tree as she ran and jumped into his embrace, Eddie’s breath leaving him momentarily when she did, not that he minded. It was adorable…

“You think?” She asked when they finally pulled away, though Eddie’s hands remained casually on her lower back, holding the girl close, as he answered.

“I don’t think, Baby. I know.” (Y/n) blushed.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” She commented with a soft smile, making Eddie feign shock.

“What? You didn’t think football games were my scene? I’m offended. I’ll have you know that I screamed very loudly when that guy in the tights kicked the pigskin through the Devil horns. Highlight of my night. Besides seeing you of course.” (Y/n) giggled at his joke, Eddie’s heart skipping a beat when she did, before the sound of voices, seemingly getting closer, caused them to pull away from each other quickly.

Don’t get the wrong idea. Eddie was definitely NOT ashamed of (Y/n). In fact, this whole ‘keeping their relationship on the down low’ thing wasn’t something he even remotely enjoyed. But, he was a man in love, and if that meant his girlfriend being kept a secret so that she wouldn’t have to lose her cheer friends, he would do it. He would do anything for her.

It had never occurred to him that (Y/n) might have different thoughts on the subject…

“Hey, Eds?” (Y/n) broke the uncomfortable silence, her giddy smile from before having been washed away by the tension. Eddie hated it.

“Yeah?” He asked, hoping that whatever she was going to say might lighten the mood so that the smile would return.

“I’ve been thinking…” Eddie’s heart dropped.

“Sh*t, that’s never a good sign.” He mumbled, half of him joking, but the other half genuinely concerned that she was about to break up with him or something slightly less dramatic but still unequivocally heart wrenching. Seeming to notice his worries, she was quick to shut them down.

“Its nothing bad!” Eddie almost sighed in relief, but decided she didn’t need any more proof of where his insecure thoughts had been headed, and offered her a playful grin instead.

“I’m just teasing. What’s up, Sweetheart?” He asked, watching her fiddle with her fingers anxiously. So, it wasn’t bad… but it was still serious enough for her to be nervous about it? He wondered what it could be.

“I was just thinking… what if we didn’t have to hide all the time when we wanted to hang out?” Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What do you-“ But (Y/n) wasn’t done, her rambling continuing as she began shifting back and forth on her heels anxiously while she spoke.

“It’s just, I know we decided we wanted to keep this between us, but I’m no good with lies and I hate not being able to talk to you at school and-“

“Woah, hey. Calm down…” Eddie’s head was spinning. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? “I thought that’s how you wanted things, cause of all your cheer friends.” He said, before realizing that wasn’t an answer to her question. He continued. “But if you don’t, I’d love to go public with you.” And he meant it to. Imagining being able to hold her hand on the way to math class, pass cringy little love notes is Ms. O’Donnell’s, even just being able to talk to her if he wanted to, whether other people were around or not, had Eddie practically glowing.

“Really?” (Y/n) asked, her hopeful smile growing into glee, when Eddie swiftly nodded his head in confirmation.

“Nothing would make me happier than being able to kiss you whenever I wanted to.” He said, before closing the distance between them and planting one on her, chaste and casual, but still enough to turn the girl into a blushing giggling mess. “Eddie…” She complained, though he could tell she wasn’t really mad. They were both too ecstatic to be annoyed by anything. He*l, even Jason Carver could come bursting in to call him names and Eddie wouldn’t even bat an eye, his focus solely on his girlfriend.

“Sorry, you’re just so pretty.” He said, pecking her on the cheek, then the nose, then the forehead, before pulling her back into his warm embrace.

“So… we’re gonna start telling people?” (Y/n) mumbled against the fabric of his shirt. Eddie hummed in agreement.

“We can tell whoever you want.” And (Y/n) practically shrieked in excitement, pulling away from Eddie to do a little happy dance that he decided then and there was far too cute to be legal.

“I gotta go tell Chrissy right now!” She exclaimed, earning a bright smile from her boyfriend, though he was still mildly concerned. Chrissy seemed nice, but some of the other girls? He silently prayed to the D&D gods that this wouldn’t come back to bite them in the a*s. Speaking of a*ses…

“Baby, wait… hey. Before you go, do you have a jacket or something? Cause, while I certainly enjoy watching you jump around in that little thing, it’s hardly weather appropriate.” He pointed out, worry on his face that had been there most of the night, as he watched her and the rest of the cheerleaders performing in their little skirts. The other girls had various jackets on, but, it seemed (Y/n) had decided to tough it out for the first half, her shoulders bare. It was hard not to notice how badly they shook. Even now with the wind unable to get the them, she shivered without Eddie’s arms around her.

“I-I kinda forgot it at home again…” (Y/n) blushed a little as she answered, clearly embarrassed by her forgetfulness.

“Sweetheart, you gotta stop doing that.” Eddie chastised playfully, before shedding his own leather and denim monstrosity of a jacket and wrapping it around her body. “Here.” He fiddled with the collar, situating it correctly on her much smaller form, as she frowned up at him.

“What about you?” She asked worriedly, but Eddie was quick to wave her off.

“I’m not wearing a mini skirt. I’ll be fine. Besides, this gives you a reason to come find me later. Gotta give it back at some point.” He pointed out, hoping that his words would prompt her to hang onto the thing, at least for a little while. “Maybe you could even hitch a ride home with me after, if you wanted? What do you say? Movie night where we don’t pay attention to the movie?” He smirked a little as (Y/n) gasped at his inappropriate suggestion.

“Eddie, don’t be gross.” She told him, though he could see the amused smile trying to peek it’s way out. His grin widened.

“You love it.” He teased, to which she turned on her heel and began skipping off, back the way she’d came.

“I’m walking away now…” She called over her shoulder in a sing-song voice. Eddie was momentarily distracted, the sight of her little green gladiator skirt poking out from under his humongous jacket giving him the butterflies something awful, before he realized she’d neglected to answer his question.

“Wait, what about tonight?” He asked, running to catch up with her before she had made it all the way back to the rest of the cheer squad. (Y/n) turned back to him and pretended to think about it for a moment, before relenting with a sigh.

“Okay… but I pick the movie. And we actually watch it.” She made a serious face at him, trying to be stern, but Eddie knew when he’d won.

“Whatever you say, Sweetheart.”

And she rolled her eyes playfully once more, before giving him a final kiss and making a b-line for Chrissy Cunningham, most likely to give her the great news.

Eddie watched on with a sigh of his own, though his, rather than annoyed, more so, contented, in his relationship and his plans for the evening. Because, it didn’t matter what they did, anything with his girl would be perfect.

Tag lists are open!!!

Tags: @electriclcvewp @kaqua @m-rae23 @yellenabelovaa @alexislsanchez @meatballdonut @peachycupotea

#Stranger Things Summer Write-a-Thon #eddie stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you