#he might have turned down the suggestion but I knew he would turn around judging from that look alone

[plussizeficchick]

Lovers Rock | Eddie Munson x Chubby! Reader

Summary: Eddie really likes reader, reader really likes Eddie, will they, won’t they? Loosely based on the TV Girl song, brief misunderstandings, brief mentions of masturbation, suggestive undertones. (Had this in the drafts for a while.)

Eddie had never felt more jealous of Steve than he did right now.

He had you, a cute, chunky little bunny practically hanging off of his arm and couldn’t be asked to give you a shred of attention?

Not that you seem particularly bothered, you’re too busy looking around. For what, he doesn’t know, but you somehow make just standing there sexy.

Eddie had been in love with you for as long as he could remember. He’s always had a thing for plump girls and you ticked all his boxes. You liked DnD, you didn’t judge his music taste even if some weren’t your favorite. And you were hot as fuck.

He remembers the first time he jacked off to the thought of you. He couldn’t look you in the eye for a week, and it didn’t help that for the past few months, you seemed to have put more of an effort in your appearance. (i.e. Eddie’s never seen you show so much skin and he’s fighting the urge to paint every inch in his cum.)

Nevertheless, he makes his way over to you both and he feels his heart skip when your eyes light up at the sight of him. “Hey, Munson.” You beam at him, and just like that, you made coming to this shitty party worthwhile. He smirks at you before pulling you into a hug, lips kissing your ear as he whispers, “Good to see you again, princess.” You feel a shiver run down your spine, his words making their way to your core. You’d had a few drinks and shared a joint with Steve on your way here so you were feeling nice and loose.

You shift your grip from Steve’s arm to Eddie’s, effectively trapping him in your ironclad grip. “Wanna get outta here, this shit sucks.” You mutter into his ear. “What about Steve?” You shrug off his concerns, eager to spend time alone with him. “We got a ride here, plus he said he might stay tonight.” Eddie nods in understanding before guiding you both out of the party. You make it to his van and after a few tries, you’re both out of there.

— —

Eddie put on his and your favorite mix, you both screaming lyrics at the top of your lungs. After a while, Eddie stops and just stares at you though, taking you in. It’s rare he gets to see you so carefree and the sight just makes him fall in love with you all the more.

Why did you have to be into Steve?

He’d never burden you with his feelings, but fuck there were some times it became too much to bear. Times he wanted to just say “fuck it” and tell you how he felt, but he knew it wouldn’t be fair to you, and that he’d rather suffer in silence than never have you at all.

You were stuck though.

Steve swore up and down that Eddie was into you and honestly, you thought so too. It was why you had put so much more effort into your appearance. Wearing shorter skirts, lower cut tops. Jeans that hugged the curve of your ass, blouses that showed the cute pudge of your tummy. You thought you were being flirty, always asking to listen to his music, touching his arm at any given chance, you were honestly doing your best here. You figured that this would be your best opportunity to just be upfront with him. So when you pulled into his uncle’s trailer park, you decided to lay it all out.

“Eddie, do you like me?” He looks at you confused as he turns off the engine. “What kind of question is that? Of course I like you. You’re one of my closest friends.” He looks at you with sincerity. You’d think it was sweet if that was what you wanted to hear. “Why are you asking that?” Eddie questions. You shake your head, turning in your seat to face him. “It’s just, I like you a lot Eddie and Steve said you might have a crush on me? I don’t know, maybe he was mistaken-” You’re cut off by Eddie abruptly grabbing your hands, his face almost surprised. “I did- I do! I just, I thought you were into Steve so…” He trails off at the sound of your chuckling. He feels his stomach drop at the sound and is about to pull away when he feels you holding on to him.

“Sorry,” You giggle, wiping a fake tear from your eye at the thought. “It’s just, what ever gave you that idea?” You ask. He looks sheepish as he relays his reasoning, “Well I noticed you kind of started dressing up more recently and you hang around us a lot more often than before. So I just thought…” He trails off again. You feel a snicker but hold back as you hear Eddie sigh in frustration. “Sorry for laughing, it’s just, I thought I was being super obvious with my feelings for you, but now I see it was having the opposite effect.” You sigh. Eddie looks at you, confusion written all over his face. “I was doing all of that for you. I was hoping that it’d push you to ask me out, but instead it just made you think I want… Steve.” You shudder in disgust. It coaxes a laugh out of Eddie and you’re sure you’d do anything to keep that smile on his face.

“So you’re saying, you’re into me?” He asks for clarification. You nod, a sweet smile making its way to your chubby cheeks. “And you’re into me?” You mimic. He nods before cupping your face with both hands. He looks you in the eyes, a silent question and you answer by leaning in, pressing your plump lips against his. It’s a sweet, clumsy first kiss, lips molding into each other. You feel the coldness of his rings against your warm cheeks and it somehow makes the kiss feel even better.

You part after the need for air becomes necessary, resting your foreheads against each other. “Thank God we sorted that out. I thought I’d have to walk around in nothing but a Hellfire club shirt before you’d say anything.” You chuckle at the thought. But Eddie starts to picture it and he’s not laughing.

“Hey, um, d’ya think I could see that right now?”

#x chubby reader #chubby reader #eddie munson x chubby reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x black!reader #x black reader #stranger things x chubby reader #stranger things x reader #x reader #stranger things x black!reader

[cryptidghostgirl]

I had this though on a cute little one shot for Alastor x chubby reader in the hotel I was wondering if you would like to run with it? Where the reader gets some nail varnish that matches their lip color without thinking about it. Alastor becomes rather fond of them wearing the color and eventually it vanishes after Angel points out that it’s almost the exact same color as the reader’s lips.

The reader ends up pouting a bit over it because they can’t find it anywhere in stores anymore. They ask Angel if they borrowed it to Angel’s confusioned response to the tune of “why the fuck would I want to wear your lip color?” And it gets to the point they ask for Nifty’s help finding it while Alastor is trying to avoid the topic entirely. Eventually Nifty DOES find it in the radio tower much to Alastor’s flustered frustration.

A/N oh hell yes i can do this. 11/10. Also I am skipping the fuck around in my request order, I am so nervous about posting cover up pt 4. I promise it will come out soon.

Spicy Sienna and Berry Naughty (Alastor x Gn!Chubby!Reader)

Pairing: Alastor x Reader

Warnings: Uhhh I got a little suggestive with this one guys. Sorry. Also,, Alastor is a little creepy and stalkery and has a thing about hands. This one just came out all around weird. Also, I named it after my favorite lip and nail polish matching combo so don't judge the fic by its name. Also Alastor sexualizes the reader a bit. Let me know if I missed anything. (guys i really have no idea what happened with this one, i am so sorry. I hope you still like it.) Also,, Alastor is for sure ooc.

Word Count: 3,675

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"Is that a new color?"

Alastor's ears perked up. He didn't turn to face the source of the sound but he listened. There was only one person in the hotel Angel would direct such a question towards after all.

"Yeah. It's essie, Berry Naughty is the name I think? Nail polish and makeup products always get called the silliest things. Do you like it?"

Y/n was the Hazbin Hotel's newest resident. They had arrived just a few weeks before, brought into the fold by Angel himself. The pair were old friends apparently, knew each other from back when they were alive.

"Yeah, it suits you. A lot more than that blue you used to wear."

There were three things the pair could be discussing in Alastor's mind. The first was Y/n's clothing. They were always dressed to the nines, decked out in some crazy ensemble or another.

At first, it had seemed foolish to Alastor. Anyone who cared that much about what they looked like had no shot at being an enjoyable person in his mind. That was before he had started to get to know the demon, seen the joy it brought them to indulge in fashion, realized the things they wore were for them and them alone. Everything had changed with that. It wasn't about persuasion, getting attention, facade. It was just who they were.

The thing about this first theory, however, was that Y/n almost never wore blue.

"Hey!" Y/n laughed, sounding a tad offended, "I liked the blue and I still might go back to it."

The second option was lipstick. Another little hobby the demon indulged in that had caused Alastor to misjudge their character upon their arrival was the makeup. Every few days, they would come down from their room in one crazy look or another. It was always something dramatic, coordinated perfectly to whatever else they had going on. If Y/n loved anything, they loved a theme.

Alastor had again made the mistake of assuming Y/n's enjoyment of such a thing was a representation of their vapidness when he had first met them. He would not be making that mistake again. The thing was, for all their wild self expression and experimental use of colors, he had never once see them sporting blue lipstick, he couldn't even picture it.

"What! I'm just sayin." Angel teased.

The third and final option, the one Alastor decided was what they must be discussing, was their nail polish. Y/n loved the act of painting nails, called it a ritual of self adoration. The way they talked about it, someone would think they were dedicating sacrifices at an alter to the gods. Every week, like clockwork, they would repaint them. Monday afternoons, four o'clock sharp. Their favorite color of late had indeed been a dark, almost black, blue. Alastor had liked it. The color had made something about their hands shine.

"Rude." Y/n scoffed in reply.

Alastor had always loved Y/n's hands. He had always had a thing about hands. In his opinion, hands were the most telling part of a person, or demon even. They showed nerves, experience, hard work -- went straight through to the core of who a person was. A carpenter's hands were rough, a cook's were scarred, an artists stained with color, a string musician's had calluses on the fingertips. Yes, a lot about a person could be learned from their hands.

Y/n's hands were soft, on the smaller side, and without the bony protrusions of their knuckles so many people seemed to admire now days. Alastor had never understood the desirability of skeletal thinness. It was impractical and uncomfortable. Y/n's hands suited them perfectly, Alastor thought. They were his favorite pair of hands to watch, the way they would flit across the keys of a piano, the way they kneaded the dough when she baked, the way they held a pen.

"I mean, it does match your lipstick now which is kinda a look."

At this, Alastor really did turn around. He couldn't help himself.

Y/n and Angel were lounging on the couches of the hotel lobby. They were dressed down, wearing a pair of jeans that hugged their legs and a crop top that accentuated their body perfectly. They looked soft, they looked comfortable, they looked delicious.

The idea of hunger was a complicated one. When Alastor thought of other demons as delicious looking, it was because he wanted to eat them, to consume their flesh that is. Y/n was certainly delicious but, he had no desire to eat them. Not like that, at any rate.

Angel had been right, Alastor could see it from across the room. The soft ruddy red of their nail varnish matched the gloss coating their lips perfectly. Alastor had always loved the color red.

"Wait, really?" Y/n asked, holding a hand up to their face, by their mouth, their nails turned out towards Angel, "Is it bad?"

"Nah, it's honestly kinda a look."

Y/n hummed, moving their hand from their face and staring intently at their nails.

"Maybe it'll be my new color then... This is the gloss I wear when I'm just doing normal makeup."

"Cohesion is key." Angel noted, "If you have a look to fall back on, people tend to like that in my experience."

Y/n stayed true to their word and Alastor relished in this revelation. Over the course of the next week, nearly every time he spotted them around the hotel, they were wearing that same combination of nail polish and lipstick. It was a secret indulgence of his, a treasure.

They nearly caught him staring one time as they were talking with him. It was nothing special, just one of their average, casual chats about the ethics of one situation or another. For someone who had ended up in Hell, Y/n had a soft spot for moral philosophy. It was clearly spill over from some preoccupation of their mortal self.

Mid conversation, he had drifted off. He hadn't meant to, it was the way they talked. Y/n was an animated conversationalist, always moving their hands to accentuate their words in one way or another. It drew his eyes to their hands and their face equally, their nails and their pretty, dark red lips.

"Hey, Alastor... Alastor!"

"Yes, my dear?" he had quickly replied, snapping out of his stupor.

"Are you alright?"

"Why on earth wouldn't I be?"

"You just kinda... trailed off there."

Alastor tried his best to push his embarrassment to the side, to shake it off his shoulders seamlessly. Miraculously, he succeeded. He wasn't quite sure how, when they were watching him with such concern filling their eyes, a slight pout to their lips.

"Just a little distracted. Lots to do today. My apologies, my dear."

"And here I thought you loved deontological thought." Y/n had teased.

Everything was fine. Alastor didn't mind Angel having noticed, it was a well known fact the spider demon saw Y/n as a sibling rather than a potential partner. The pair had grown up together and when Sir Pentious, one night, had asked whether or not they had ever messed around with each other, seeing how close they were and comfortable with physical contact, the pair had made eye contact before each putting on their own display of disgust.

Alastor was good at seeing through people, he knew it hadn't been a show. What was a problem was when Husk somehow noticed the pairing of their lip and nail color as well.

Alastor had been talking to Charlie about one thing or another as Y/n shared a drink with Sir Pentious at the bar. He was half listening to Charlie, half to their conversation. Alastor always kept an ear out for Y/n's saccharine tones.

The pair had been chatting about how their respective journeys to redemption were going when Husk had cut in.

"Did you match your nail color to your lipstick?" he asked in mild amazement.

Alastor bristled. That fact was his, was for him. No one else was allowed to see.

"Yeah!" he heard Y/n brightly reply, a tinge of pride to their voice.

Though Alastor's back was to them, he could picture the way they must be holding their delicate, gentle hands up now.

"Isn't it cute?"

Husk whistled.

"Damn, Angel is finally rubbing off on you."

"I mean, I guess." came Y/n's hesitant reply.

"You trying to catch someone's attention?"

Alastor could hear his own heartbeat in the silence that proceeded their reply.

"I mean, not on purpose. Not with this. I just like the way it looks... I don't know, it makes me feel... pretty."

Y/n was right. Alastor knew for a fact, had seen it with his own eyes, how irresistible the combination made them look. Now others were starting to notice it as well and, well, Alastor couldn't have that, now could he.

The next morning, when Alastor came down for breakfast, he noticed Y/n sitting at the table, looking uncharacteristically despondent. His back to them as he began to prepare his morning cup of coffee, he smiled.

"What's got you down, my dear?" he asked and Y/n sighed.

"My nail polish disappeared."

So, they had already noticed. Alastor picked the carton of milk up off the counter.

"Don't you have others? You're always a veritable rainbow of color!"

Alastor kept his voice light and cheery. His coffee made, he took a seat at the table across from them.

"Yeah, I guess. I just liked that one. It matched my favorite lipstick."

"Couldn't you try another color? That midnight blue last week was rather nice."

"Yeah, I guess." suddenly, their eyes shot up to his, a smile breaking out across their face, "Wait, Al! You're a genius! I'll just go buy another bottle!"

When Y/n returned from the store a few hours later, their gray cloud had returned.

"Are you alright?" Vaggie asked as they slumped onto the couch beside her.

Alastor couldn't help but note, from his hiding place, the way the act of sitting changed their body. They were beautiful standing, stunning even, but something about the way their thighs spread out over the surface of the couch...

"Yeah." Y/n grumbled, "Just... bummed."

"Oh no!" Charlie exclaimed, walking away from the bulletin board she was planning their next lesson on and joining the pair, "What happened?"

"It's stupid." Y/n groaned, throwing their head back.

"Wrong guy hit on you?" Angel teased and they immediately righted themselves, shooting him a glare.

"No." they pointedly replied, "Just... that nail polish? Berry Naughty or whatever its called? The one that matched my Spicy Sienna gloss?"

"Damn, you're pulling out the color names." Angel laughed, "Yeah, I know. What about it?"

"I can't find my bottle anywhere and I went to like seven different stores today and none of them had it! Not one! You didn't borrow it, did'ya Ant?"

Angel put a hand to his chest dramatically.

"Who, me?"

Y/n rolled their eyes.

"Nah." he waved them off, "You know I always ask before I borrow. I learned that lesson about you the hard way."

Y/n sighed despondently again.

"I'm sorry." Charlie hummed, patting Y/n's knee comfortingly, "I know it was making you really happy."

"It's silly." they shook their head, "It's just nail polish."

"Yeah but, it clearly brought you a lot of joy." Charlie insisted, "What if I ask Nifty to keep an eye out for it around the hotel?"

Alastor almost let the shadows hiding him from the group in the corner of the room dissolve in shock. He hadn't expected that. He had really thought everyone would just let it go. Yes, he knew Y/n would probably be upset about it for a few days but, that just gave him all the more of an excuse to be near them, to comfort them.

"Really Charlie?" Y/n brightened immediately, "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course! I mean, I'm not making any promises but, you know."

Y/n pulled themselves from the couch, throwing their arms around Charlie's neck.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"It's just a nail polish." Vaggie chuckled, watching the interaction warmly.

Y/n let go of Charlie, who shrugged back at her girlfriend.

"It makes them happy."

Two weeks had gone by with no sign of the bottle of nail polish. Y/n still went to the stores every few days, checking for the color, but had yet to have any luck. Nifty too had come up empty handed.

Alastor was very pleased with himself. The trick of using his shadows to empty every store in the surrounding area of the color before Y/n went shopping was something he was particularly proud of.

Of course, all along, he knew where the missing item was. It was in the top drawer of his night table on the right hand side of his bed. Nifty only went in to clean his room maybe once a month or so and she knew better than to snoop. It was all going off without a hitch, even the comforting aspect. Alastor had had the absolute pleasure and honor of showing up at just the right place, at just the right time (imagine that), so as to be included with Angel when Y/n had the bright idea to see if she could find any other matching colors between her vast collection of lipsticks and lipglosses and even larger collection of nail polish. He wasn't sure how their hands could sustain that much acetone, or their skin that much makeup remover, but he was grateful for it nonetheless.

Alastor was in his studio, fixing one of the control panels, his mind filled with spinning memories of the past couple days (Y/n had even hugged him! The feeling of the cushion of their waist against his arms, their stomach, was not one he would soon forget), when he heard a knock at the door. He straightened up, eyeing it suspiciously.

The guests of the Hazbin Hotel, as well as its staff, knew better than to disturb him while he was at work. It's owners, on the other hand, were much more foolhardy. He ran a hand over his hair, straightening it a bit so as to make himself presentable, and called for the knocker to enter.

The door creaked as it swung open, just like Alastor wanted it to. A creaky door was a good thing, it made sure most people couldn't sneak up on him when he was at his most vulnerable, most distracted.

"You'll want to grease that." Y/n hummed as they stepped into the dingy space, "I think we have some WD40 in the basement, if you want me to bring it up for you."

They had never come to visit him up here before, never dared even come near the rotting wooden door. Alastor walked forward, shutting the door behind Y/n now that they were fully in the room. He was close enough to feel their breath on his skin as he smiled down at them.

"No need, my dear, although, I do appreciate the offer."

A silence fell between the pair as Y/n took a few steps further into the room, their eyes running across every surface available before them. Alastor noticed their hands were clasped behind their back. It wasn't an unusual position for them but, something seemed different about it this time.

"What can I help you with?" he cordially asked and Y/n turned to face him.

"Well... I... um..." they locked eyes with Alastor, finding their words at last, "Nifty found something today. While she was cleaning."

Alastor was glad Y/n's demon form was not all that powerful in this moment. If it was, they would have heard his heartbeat spike. His voice, his demeanor, even his expression were easy to control but his heart? Not so much.

"Oh?"

"Yeah... I..." Y/n trailed off.

With a sigh, they brought their hands forward, opening them to reveal the source of Alastor's anxiety. Nestled there, in the softness of their palm, was the nail polish.

"She found it! Congratulations, my dear. You must be thrilled."

"Yeah." Y/n replied uncertainly, looking away.

Alastor knew why they were so uncomfortable, but his hope was stronger. There was an uncanny sense of optimism in him, one that was unfounded and unfamiliar. It drove him to pry, to see how much they really knew. For all Alastor knew, there could be something else entirely going on.

"Where was it?"

"I..." Y/n looked back at him once again, "That's the problem, Alastor. Nifty said... well, she said she found it in your room."

"In my room?" Alastor repeated, feigning confusion, a hand to his chest in mock surprise.

Y/n nodded.

"In your night table drawer."

They must have known him better than he thought, have seen the flash of sudden anger in his eyes or something like that, maybe he had tense his body. Whatever had ticked them off, they continued.

"She didn't open it. Nift said it was open and went to close it and just... spotted it in there so don't get mad at her, she didn't do anything wrong."

Alastor stood in silence, watching Y/n carefully.

"I just... Look, I'm not mad, I am just confused. Why was it in your room, did you take it from me?"

A shock of nerves fluttered in Alastor's stomach. The heat rushed to his cheeks and he looked away, a hand flying instinctually to his collar and tugging at it just the slightest bit, as if the room was too hot. It was all the answer Y/n needed.

"Why?"

Alastor turned back to Y/n and nearly stumbled back a few steps when he realized how much closer they had brought themselves to him. Nearly every other time, he was the one to bridge the distance, to step into their personal space. His breath caught in his throat, a sort of thrill flooding his mind.

"I... I..."

He had stuttered. Alastor didn't stutter. He had never stuttered, not even when he was alive.

"You..?" Y/n prompted, leaning forward slightly.

His mind was reeling. He couldn't tell if that was their goal, secretly, if they had finally realized the effect they had on him and begun to use it to their advantage. Alastor looked away again.

"It was..."

"You knew it was my favorite. Why did you take it?"

Fuck.

They were upset, maybe even angry. Alastor had seen them mad before but it had never been directed towards him. Normally, he would relish in the wrath of another but Y/n's wrath? Fuck. He realized right then and there, he would rather die.

"Husk." he admitted at last, his hands now fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket, his face flushed.

Alastor dared a glance at Y/n. Their brow was furrowed.

"Husk?"

"Yeah. Husk."

"I... why Husk? Did he dare you? Did he... I... what?"

Whatever feelings they had previously held had been replaced by pure confusion. Alastor could handle confusion. The situation at large was still unwelcome and rather untenable but, at least there was the confusion.

"He..." Alastor cleared his throat, brave enough to meet their eyes again at last, "He noticed."

"Noticed.... oh."

"Yeah."

They fell silent. This wasn't a thing Alastor had felt since he was very young. There was a wild animal in his chest. In this moment, he didn't just look like a deer, he was one and Y/n was the hunter with their gun trained on the spot between his eyes.

"It wa-"

"Did you also take it off the shelves all over the neighborhood?"

They had always been smart, smarter than he gave them credit for. Alastor grimaced, nodding slowly.

"Alastor, why did it bother you so much? Is it illegal to match my nails to my lips? Does it go against your... your weird ass deontological code?"

"No, it's just... it was... fuck!"

Y/n had never heard him curse before. A hand flew to Alastor's head, he took a deep breath.

"Alastor, I-"

"It was for me, okay? I... I didn't want anyone else noticing. It was just for me."

Y/n looked somehow even more confused as he lowered his hand once again. The releif that had accompanied the admission was greatly outweighed by his anxiety as he waited for their response.

"But Angel noticed too? Before Husk?"

"That's different." Alastor sighed, "He... You... I..."

"Alastor, what's going on?"

There was concern now, lacing their voice in its gentle vines. It almost made everything worse.

"I like you, okay!? There. Are you happy now!?"

He didn't know why he was yelling. Y/n's eyes went wide.

"You... like me? Like, like like me?"

He glared at them and they put their hands up in surrender.

"Just trying to clarify the situation!"

Alastor rolled his eyes, crossing his arms protectively over his chest.

"Yes. I... like like you or... whatever nonsense you just said. Are you happy now?"

It was a stand off, each training a metaphorical pistol at the other. Y/n was the one to finally break.

"Yes." they curtly replied, crossing their arms to mirror his position, "I'll... I'll let you get back to work now."

Someone had driven a nail right through Alastor's chest and into his heart. He watched their retreating form as they opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. Just as it was about to fall shut, they miraculously stuck a foot between the closing door and its frame, peeking their head back into the room.

"Just so you know: if you asked me out on a date," they began, their eyes flicking up to his from where they had previously been fixed on the floor, "I'd say yes."

-----

A/N Ant is a pretty common nickname for Anthony in NYC (where I am from and where I'm pretty sure Angel is supposed to be from). Yes, I will be using it in another fic I am working on too (its part two of Unexpected (Vox x Reader). Also,, deontology is when you have a strict set of ethical rules/maxims you stick by no matter what (Kant is a deontologist).

TAGS:

@willowshadenox @i-love-jafar @elfyeet @reader3 @lazygirlfanfic0-0 @kahlan170 @wendyphan01203-blog @fairyv-ice @clarakainda @lunaramune @mcueveryday @luxky-aish @peterpankat @corvid007 @juskonutoh @simpingsohard @sethianaa @gabile18 @slytherin4ever @skyeliteratures @zombiesnips-blog

#hazbin hotel #x reader #hazbin alastor #alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor the radio demon #x reader fics #fic writer #hazbin hotel x reader #alastor hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x you #hazbin hotel x y/n #x you #alastor x y/n #x y/n #ooc alastor #x chubby!reader #x chubby reader #chubby!reader #chubby gn reader #hazbin hotel x gn reader #alastor x gn!reader #gn reader #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #gender neutral pronouns #alastor x chubby reader #alastor x chubby!reader #the radio demon x reader

[spectres-n-soap]

In The Rain I Cannot Find You - Soap x Reader x Ghost

Content Warnings - Near death experience, Soap is mentioned to be drunk, grief, MW3 is canon

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"Lass?" Soap slurred as he hung off your shoulder. "Ye got a lad back home?"

You rolled your eyes and shrugged him off of you. "I don't and you're drunk."

"Away n' bile yer heid." Soap grumbled and nudged you a little. "How is a lass as bonnie as ye alone?"

You gave him your best signature 'STFU' look while he just grinned back at you. His blue eyes still bright despite being in a dingy, dark pub. The kind of pub you would have avoided going into if not dragged here by the squad. "I'm not alone." you said and dragged out the last word. "I got you, Ghost, Gaz and Price."

Soap laughed, "Thought friendship wasn't in the field manual lass."

"Fuck off MacTavish."

It's raining. Feels like its always raining these days as you get closer to the due date. "Maybe we should turn back." You suggest for a third time.

"No." Simon says, his hands clench the steering wheel harder. Simon knew that the closer you got to Scotland the more anxious you became. He doesn't judge, his stomach had its own pit opening up within it. "A little bit of rain isn't gonna stop us."

You nod and slouch, or at least try, into the seat. You pick at your nails and then tap against the center console. Simon doesn't comment. It hadn't occurred to you until this morning that bringing Simon might make you look bad. You glance over at him, his brown eyes solely on the road. It should be Johnny, you think, taking me to his mum. Not Simon.

Soap pulled you back under cover, "Are ye insane?" he asked with a growl. "Chargin' in there, what was ye thinkin'?" Soap patted you down and searched for any injuries.

" 'M fine Soap." you huffed and pushed him away, "Dunno why you care so much." You muttered as you refill your ammo.

"Ye don't know- Bleedin' Christ lass." Soap laughed as he shook his head.

"What?"

"Nothin'." Soap muttered, "Yer not broken?"

"Right as rain Soap."

"Lets head to the safe house then."

The house is the same as you remember. That fact makes your stomach folds in on itself. Its just so normal. You take a deep breath in before getting out of the truck. You can't help but think about the two reason you've had to come here. Death and life, two sides of the same coin. You hobble up the porch steps and only knock once before its swinging open. Its not Johnny's mother who opens it or stands there.

"Johnny?" you mutter, meeting the gaze of the same blue eyes who once looked at you with love. The confusion clears away as you realize this is his Da. 

"No lass." his Da mutters, his eyes filling with despair. He looks at your pregnant stomach, "That my sons bairn?" You nod, mouth going dry as he steps aside and opens the door wider. You look back to Simon who nods and gestures for you to go.

"Soap?" you whispered, your breath fogged in the air. It was fucking freezing. Swamps? Sure. The desert, the rain forest, urban sprawl? You could handle all those things but the constant freezing cold of Siberia was something you loathed. There's cold and then there this. "Soap?" 

"Lass ye won't fall asleep if you keep talkin'." Soap replied as he rolled over to face you.

"I'm fucking freezing." you chattered out. You didn't give a choice as you ditched your sleeping bag and wiggled into his. "Say something and I'll bury you in the snow."

"Aye, I'll be quiet." Soap muttered as he pulled you closer somehow. He was remarkably warm. Like some kind of heater. You wrapped your arms around him and then shoved your hands down his shirt. You laughed as he yelped and cursed at you.

You sit at their table as his Mum and Da whisper to each other in the kitchen. You can hear a TV playing upstairs, a video game you deduce. They still have little ones growing up. Your heart clenches, they lost their big brother. Maybe even an uncle.

Finally his Mum comes out with a plate of snacks and some lovely smelling tea. "I'm glad you texted me." his Mum says as she sits down. "Do you know the bairns gender?"

"No ma'am."

"Oh don't call me that." she says, a fain smile on her lips, "Not quiet that old yet." a silence falls between the two of you.

"You- You must have more questions besides that." you say.

"I'll be honest lass, he wrote home a lot. So many letters talk about you and his Lieutenant." she places a hand on yours, "I suspected there was something going on. Ye showing up o my porch just confirmed what I thought."

"Your not upset?" you carefully ask.

"Yer the lass he loved. Ye carry his bairn and contacted us despite having the choice not to." she smiles despite the pools of grief in her eyes, "Far as I'm concerned, yer part of this family."

it hits you hard, her words batter down every wall you had quickly built in the last nine months. The tears come quick and without warning. You sniffle as a way to fight off the sobbing.

"Lass?" his Da comes from the kitchen, "Are ye okay?"

You shake your head and arms immediately envelope you. His mum smells like rain and cookie dough you realize. "You don't have to be alone in this." she whispers.

"I'm not alone." You mutter, mind jumping to Simon. Simon who love Johnny as much as you do, who helped you paint and set up the nursey, hold your hair and rushes over from just one call.

You dragged Soap from the fire and winced as the flames licked at your hands. "C'mon you asshole." you snarled before you finally recused him from the burning warehouse. A trap, a god damn trap that might've done its job if it hadn't been horribly rigged.

You put two fingers to his throat then ripped off his vest. "Damn it Johnny." you growled as you begin to do cpr. "You aren't allowed to leave me in this cold wasteland." you counted the chest compressions. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. You pressed your lips to his while you pinched his nose close. You pushed two breaths into him before resuming the rhythmic chest compressions. "Fucking black ops." you muttered as you repeated the process.

Your heart pounded against your chest, tears filled your eyes. 28, 29, 30, then two breaths. Repeat, repeat, repeat. A sob got caught in your throat, your arms ached and your hands had gone numb from the freezing cold. "Johnny please."

You put your lips to his, plugged his nose and breathed. Finally, he coughed and rolled over to vomit as you sat back on your feet and cried.

#john soap mactavish #john soap mctavish x reader #soap #call of duty #cod #john soap mctavish x you #ghost x reader #mw3 spoilers #simon ghost riley #simon riley #simon riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon ghost x reader #ghost x soap x reader #ghost x you

[lowkeyremi]

Bringing Atsumu home (MSBY Atsumu x fem!reader)

CW: little bit suggestive, mild language (cmon it’s tsumu..)

He was already off to a bad start. He had made some offhand comment about fucking you in front of your parents. Your parents dragged you into the house and closed the door right in front of his face.

Your mother was first to speak, “I don’t like him. When you said you found yourself a boyfriend I didn’t think you’d bring home someone like that.” Before you can say anything your father steps in and speaks too, “he’s that volleyball player who’s always in some kind of scandal, right? He might cheat on you.”

Your mother starts up again, usually you would have sat through their lecture spacing out. Your parents are strict in a sense and they “just wanna do what’s best for you.”

Atsumu has taught you to be who you are and stand up for yourself. You interrupt your mom mid sentence. “Stop! Atsumu’s a good guy. Please just give him a chance. You guys seriously need to stop judging him when you’ve barely even met him.” Both your parents seem to be taken back by your statement.

You assume they get the message because your dad is opening the door for Atsumu and your mom is heading back to the kitchen.

“Come in ‘Tsumu. Sorry about that.” You say sheepishly. He smiles, “Don’t ya worry ‘bout it. ‘S my fault for making that comment.”

Upon hearing his accent your father gives you a disapproving look and you glare back at him. He raises his hands in surrender.

You hold out your hand for Atsumu and he takes it, pink coating the athlete’s cheeks. Atsumu is holding the wrapped up food that he did not make, he begged on his knees for Osamu to make some onigiri so he’ll be in good standing with your parents.

With the way he’s acting now, all of Osamu’s hard work might have been for nothing. He walks into your kitchen with you and asks, “where do you want this to go, ma?” Your mom turns around her eyes widening at how familiar Atsumu is being with her.

You pinch his side and he gives you a confused look. “Um. Go put it over there.” She points to the dining table and Atsumu goes to set the food on the table. Your mom turns back around but you can tell that she’s secretly approving of Atsumu, that smile on her face before she turned around was all you needed to see.

“Can I see yer room, beautiful?” You can see the excitement in his eyes. You nod, “sure, let’s go.” He follows behind you up the stairs. You turn the corner and your room is the first door.

“Don’t laugh, I have a lot of my old anime stuff still up.” He’s already holding a hand to his mouth trying not to chuckle at how cute you are.

You slowly open the door and oh goodness… all of your old posters and your manga wall is hanging up. He bursts into laughter and you smack him. “You promised!” You say slightly embarrassed and he’s holding his stomach, “no I didn’t, I never said anything.” He says between fits of laughter.

“It’s time to eat!” Your dad calls. Atsumu walks out your room. “It’s okay baby, ‘s nothing to be embarrassed ‘bout.”

You roll your eyes and end up following him down the stairs. Your parents are talking about something but their conversation comes to a halt when you two walk in.

“Mm mm what’s for dinner? Smells so good in here!” Atsumu exaggerated. Well.. maybe he’s not exaggerating, your boyfriend is a foodie just like his little brother.

“Well, I’ve cooked some family favorites.” Your blond boyfriend licks his lips. You two sit at the table along side your parents and thank your mom for the food.

Halfway into eating your mom breaks the silence, “so.. Atsumu, how did you two meet?” His eyes light up and his mouth is full of food when he starts to speak. “Sho like we met-” you pinch him and he gives you a look of confusion.

He then realizes that he needs to chew his food before talking. When done chewing he continues to feed your mom the information that she knew she was not gonna get from you, “So we met at one of my games. She was sittin’ with all her friends in one of the stadium’s front rows lookin’ all pretty. Soon as I saw her I was like ‘I have to get her attention.’ So I winked at her a few times, when I made an ace I’d look her way and damn was it affective cuz she was a whole smiley mess.”

You kick him, which in terms means for him to shut up but he’s determined to embarrass you in front of your parents.

“After the game I went lookin’ for her and all went well cuz one of her friends is dating my teammate which made finding her easy cuz she just followed them around. I asked yer pretty daughter out and she was a little bit of a mule. Didn’t wanna give in to my handsomely good looks, but I convinced her none the less. Everything after that is history.”

You clear your throat, “I don’t think you’re remembering it correctly, ‘Tsumu. You begged me to go out with you and I said yes out of pity.” It was a last resort for your pride but Atsumu’s version was 100% correct.

He snorted mainly because he knew you were trying to keep what little pride you had left. “Maybe ya need to refresh that brain of yers sweetheart, cuz I clearly remember you head over heels for me when I was askin’ ya out. Sure ya were a lil’ stubborn but ya fell for my tactics anyway.”

Your mom giggled, “she has an eye for handsome men. She gets it from me.”

Atsumu turned to you and smirked, “she sure does.”

After dinner atsumu was (in your opinion) sucking up to your mom and helped her wash the dishes.

She was talking to him about something and the two were laughing and having a good time. You didn’t want to admit it but you were slightly jealous of your mother.

Sure you saw Atsumu everyday but seeing him being so close to your mom in such a short time strikes something in you.

Seeing anymore would probably upset you which is why you retreated to the living room.

It wasn’t until another thirty minutes that Atsumu and your mother emerge into the living room. Your father sat in his recliner like the old man you always call him.

“Baby…” his voice trails. Your curious eyes look into his which are big brown and honest.

“Come ‘ere.” He says softly to you. What’s this pro athlete planning? The way he called for you didn’t sound devious but you notice your mother recording out of the corner of your eye which caused suspicion.

“So… it’s been like what? Three years since we started datin’..” he pauses and holds out his hand signaling he wants your hands in his.

You slide your hands into his and they are warm and inviting.

“And um… it’s been the best three years of my life. I’ma be honest.. all my past flings were ass.”

You were about to interrupt but he must have assumed this because he responds, “I know what yer thinking. Just let me explain.”

He takes a second to breathe in deeply and exhale slowly.

“So as I was sayin’… these past three years have been the best ever. 'n I wanna continue to enjoy life with ya, cry with ya, laugh with ya…” he starts to trail off and you get a little nervous.

“Jeez, why am I ramblin’. I wanted to ask ya to marry me.” He gets down on one knee and presents you the prettiest ring you’ve ever seen.

You freeze up and look into his eyes. The silence is so loud and your parents as well as atsumu wait for your response.

“This isn’t a joke is it?” You ask slightly concerned.

“No, god no! Sunarin dared me to do that on April fools, but I’m serious this time. I want ya to be my wife ‘n have my babies.” He says, his voice sounded confident but you could tell by the look on his face that he was nervous.

“Tsumu! You are embarrassing me. Why are we talking about babies right now in front of my parents?” You say flushed and Atsumu starts to pout.

“Just answer the question, I’m sweatin’ buckets over here…” The silence is once again loud.

You run over to him, knock him onto the ground and smuggle him with a hug. “Yes! Of course atsumu. Why did you think I’d say no?” You say all at the same time.

“I-I didn’t think you’d say no!” He stutters.

“You sure did, Atsumu Miya. You were shaking and your voice went all soft when asking me!” You argue. The two of you are about to get into it but your mother who you forgot was standing there interrupts.

“Sweetheart can you let atsumu put the ring on you? I want to get some pictures.” She says with a big smile. Your father nearly faints.

“Weren’t you the same one hating on my boy- fiancé when we got here?” You ask and she shrugs.

“I got to know him over cleaning up dinner, he’s a really sweet boy.” she explains.

You pick yourself up off of Atsumu. He stands up and you hold your hand out with a goofy smile.

He slides the ring onto your finger. He knows your ring size because he bought you a promise ring for your one year anniversary.

You and Atsumu stand where your mother puts you two and she takes various pictures.

“Amy will be so jealous that my beautiful daughter got a husband before her’s!” Your mom brags and you cackle.

“Mom you do know Uma and I are close friends, right?” She clicks her tongue and waves her hand.

“You and Uma might be friends and your fathers may be friends but Amy and I will always fight over who has the better child.” She says competitively.

“Ooo! I’m posting this on my social media.” She says with a smile.

“I’m sorry ma, but please don’t for right now. We haven’t even gone public with our datin’ yet.” Atsumu warns and your mother nods.

“Atsumu, I think I’m ready for us to go public.” A small smile reaches your lips.

“You sure, baby? Don’t pressure yerself to do it.” He says.

“I’m 100% sure, Tsumu.”

NEWS: MSBY SETTER, ATSUMU MIYA HAS A FIANCÉ?! Read this article to find out more!

Let’s just say a lot of people know about you guys now! ❤️

#atsumu x reader #msby atsumu #atsumu miya #miya atsumu #atsumu miya x reader #atsumu fluff #miya atsumu fluff #miya atsumu x reader #haikyuu!! #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #there’s a little surprise at the end #haikyuu fluff

[bellarkeselection]

Breathe With Me

Request from @val2557 imagine of Kayce Dutton and he is helping the reader when she has a an anxiety attack when there is a lot of people at a dinner they are attending?

Everybody that knew who the Dutton family were had started making their own judgments about my relationship with Kayce. His father John always asked his kids to show up to the Livestock dinner party but it was rare that they all showed up. Beth didn’t see the point in it, Lee was focusing on running the ranch, Jaime was trying to run for office and that left the reason Kayce didn’t go to them….me.

I wanted to attend the dinners I really did. There was just one problem. I had anxiety when it came to large crowds who I felt were judging me. Running my hands down the light orange dress I was wearing I sighed letting my mind wander with my thoughts. “Come on Y/n. You can make it through this.”

“Y/n, are you ready….wow.” Whipping my head around I heard my boyfriend’s voice enter the bedroom.

I turned around making my short brown boots screech against the wooden floor. Normally I had my hair up in a braid but I decided to leave it loose and just put some curls on the ends. “Is it too much. I don’t know how you dress for a livestock dinner.”

“It’s not that. You….damn you look good.” Kayce gasped slowly crossing the floor until he was standing in front of me.

I smiled eyeing him in a tux for once. “You clean up rather good too, Dutton.” He had his normal black cowboy hat on his head paired with a white dress shirt and a black suit jacket.

“Are you sure you’re up for tonight. We can just stay home. My father will understand why.” He suggested to me.

I teased him trying to not have the conversation. “You just want to stay home so we can lay in bed all night.”

“I mean you weren’t complaining last time when we had sex for hours….but I am being serious about not wanting you to be nervous.” Kayce pointed out to me with a smirk on his face leaning closer to me kissing my forehead. He wrapped his arms around my waist tugging me against his chest gently.

Shaking my head in disagreement I draped my arms over his shoulders kissing his cheek. “I’ll be fine, Kayce. Tonight is important for your father and he want him to keep liking me if you ever want to put your mother’s ring on my finger.” He nodded looping his arm through mine leading me to his truck since we said we would meet him there later.

The drive wasn’t that bad since we just listened to county music until we parked the truck outside the building. He helped me out of the truck and we walked in together not holding hands since I wanted to appear confident during the dinner. Kayce had me walk in front of him opening the next door wheee I gulped coming into contact with a room of livestock members all talking. “Hey, look at me. Just tap me if you need to go and we will.”

“I got it, Kayce.” I nodded moving through the crowd of people finding our table and name tags at the very front.

John walked out onto the stage nodding his head down at us as a silent thank you for being here the second we sat down in our chairs. Lee was there but Beth and Jaime’s spots were still empty. “Since 1886 every Dutton who died is buried 300 yards from my back porch. My great, great, grandfather, to my wife, and someday I will be there myself. When a tree grows on my ranch, I know exactly what fed it. That’s the best we can hope for because nothing we do is for today. Ranching is the only business where the goal is to break even. Survive another season. Last long enough for your children to continue the cycle, and maybe just maybe, the land is still there when a tree sprouts from you…lord god give us rain and a little luck and we’ll do the rest, amen.”

I smiled, watching his speech feeling fine until I heard someone next to our table whispering. "I can't believe they came tonight."

"My boys were joking that they don't come because she might be pregnant." Another mumbled to their friend.

Reaching for the fork on the table I attempted to push past the tightness I could feel beginning to surface in my chest. "But there is someone I'd like to recognize tonight because she has been a great member of the family for a while now. Y/n L/n, I appreciate everything you do for this family."

"Hey are you okay?” Kayce shifted his gaze over to me seeing my chest heaving up and down. I was also clutching the fork in my hand until my fingers were almost turning white.

Lee glanced our direction beginning to clap at the end of his speech. “Congrats to Y/n and my father.”

Everybody around us joined in the clapping and cheering while John made his way over to our table. He sat down in the chair next to me. I shifted my gaze around the room quickly in a panic seeing my vision start to get blurry. “Y/n?” Kayce calls my name the second I dropped the fork and it clattered to the floor and I jumped up rushing through the crowd to the bathroom.

Shutting the door quickly I gasped for breath sliding down onto the floor to catch my breath. Gripping my hair in between my fingers I was so annoyed at myself. I shouldn’t have ran out of the room like that but I didn’t know what else to do. “Y/n, darling. Can I come in?”

“Yeah…” I croaked out wiping away the and getting up from the ground floor when he opened the door and shut it so nobody would see me crying in there.

Kayce stared at me silently for a moment seeing that I was shaking in my boots. Wrapping my arms around myself I felt like I still couldn’t breathe even though the tightness in my chest had gone away. He opened his arms and tilted his head telling me to com here. “Sssh I’ve got you. I’m right here…it’s gonna be okay.”

“Is it….how badly do you think I embarrassed your father leaving like that?” I sniffed through tears gripping onto his dress shirt as tightly as possible.

He just keeps me close to his chest resting his chin on top of my head. He knew that I was going to worry about this when there was something more important like my well being going on. He wasn’t concerned with what the others out there thought, he just wanted me to be okay. “It doesn’t matter right now. Just breathe in and out with me until you’re better. Can you do that for me?”

“Mmm.” I made a noise barley breaking the hug where he was holding onto my forearms since I still didn’t have good balance. Taking in a couple of long breaths in and out I finally started feeling better where I laid my head back down on his chest and he kissed my forehead.

Kayce smiled lightly squeezing my hand in his. “Let’s get you out of here. I’ll explain what happened to my dad later.”

“Are you sure he won’t be upset?” I questioned him where he leads me through the hallway and out to his truck. He helped me back into the vehicle before getting in on his own side.

He reached over taking my hand in his once more. “I’m sure, baby. I just want you to feel better.”

“Thanks Kayce.” I smiled laying my head on his shoulder and we stayed in the parking lot just enjoying the silence before we went home for the evening. Both calm in the others presence and away from the busy livestock diner.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

#kayce dutton #kayce dutton x fem!reader #kayce dutton x reader #kayce dutton imagine #luke grimes #yellowstone series #yellowstone #yellowstone imagine #yellowstone masterlist #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone x reader #ask box is open for anything #requests open #comments really appreciated #anxiety attack #yellowstone one shot

[sixtynintharchon]

“i’m mad at you” feat. tartaglia

✧ summary : after a few too many broken promises to be home on time from sparring with whoever it was this time (honestly, you wouldn’t have cared if he was actually doing his harbinger duties), you finally get angry at him. though he seems to know how to calm you down.

✧ warnings : nsfw?? it’s suggestive. mdni i guess idk it just makes me uncomfy. teasing. ajax the little shit we love him. idk i’ve never had to write a content warning before

✧ pairing : tartaglia x reader

first crack at writing on tumblr, don’t judge me too harshly😭

Ajax was amused, if not a little surprised, when you weren’t waiting for him in the living room like you usually did if you happened to get home before him. And he knew you were, in fact, home: your coat was hung up by the door.

He found you in the bedroom. Already in bed? Before he could join you? You were either sick or…

“Do not.” Your voice cut the silence as he was leaning down to kiss your forehead.

“Oh?” Now he really was amused…

…because you were mad at him.

“This is the fifth time this week.” You explained, rather cryptically in his opinion but he knew what you meant. He was late to get home for the fifth time this week and it was Friday, the fifth day of the week.

Perhaps you felt neglected, perhaps you were just annoyed that his exact words had been “I promise I’ll be home at the right time tonight so we can spend some time together”. Whatever it was, you were annoyed and you were going to let him know it.

It wasn’t like he’d made a sacred pinky promise, of course, but coming second to the thrill of fighting was becoming irritating for you. And the fact that he was a man of his word in every other aspect of his life just really irked you. Why was it different when he promised to come home on time?

“Hey, I’ll make it up to you.” He suppressed his chuckle as he got himself undressed and ready for bed. He caught you peeking at him from where you were lying, but he didn’t give you an indication that he knew you were looking apart from flexing the muscles in his back slightly more than necessary when he pulled his shirt over his head. Maybe the show would do well to appease your anger, so he decided to ditch the pyjama shirt and bottoms he usually wore and opted to just stay in a pair of boxers.

“You can make it up to me by sleeping on the couch.” You mumbled, and he was glad he had his back to you so you didn’t see the little smirk on his face. He knew you didn’t exactly mean it, but you might decide you did if you saw how entertained he was by your irritation.

“Hey now,” he failed to restrain his amused giggle, “hear me out, will you? You wouldn’t deny a request from your beloved, would you?”

“My beloved doesn’t seem to love me much since he barely wants to see me but I’ll think about it.”

If your words stung at all, he didn’t react as he got into the bed next to you. He managed to coax you into turning around to face him. You gave him an entirely unamused expression on your face when you caught his boyish smile.

“What more could I ask for?” He grinned.

You just rolled your eyes at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m mad at you.”

“I can’t help it. I love you too much.”

Oh, this man.

“Well I’m angry at you.” You replied monotonously, but it made your heart flutter to hear him say that with such a pretty smile.

“You look so cute when you pout.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Ajax.” You tried your very best to put your best warning tone on.

“...And even cuter when you growl like that...”

“You’re so irritating.”

“You love it.”

“I don’t know why.”

“Because deep down you know that I'm the one for you.”

You couldn’t find it in you to cringe when he said it with such intent. “Poor me.” You tsked.

“That's right, poor you, because I've stolen your heart and I'm not giving it back.” He teased, smirking at you like he knew he’d already won.

You narrowed your glare again. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, did my expression bother you? How about I show you how sorry I am, love?” He moved closer to you in the bed.

You were already blushing when he was nose to nose with you. “Hey, I’m still mad at you!”

“Oh, is that so? Then please, continue to be mad at me so I can apologise properly.” He couldn’t help but chuckle as he rolled you into your back and moved himself so he leaned over you, with himself between your legs.

“I am.” You glowered at him when his face was directly above yours.

“You won’t be for much longer.” He practically purred.

“Try me.” You mumbled.

“I can't think of a better challenge. Oh, but first, please close your pretty eyes.”

It seemed an odd time to be requesting that. You raised your eyebrow at him confusedly, “why?”

“Just do it.” You didn’t miss the mischievous glint in his eyes, paired with his signature boyish smirk.

With an exasperated sigh and a roll of your eyes, you closed your eyes like he asked. You weren’t really that mad anymore; he felt and looked far too nice for your anger to remain. You were just very aware that he’d be far too smug about it if you admitted it was so easy for him to calm you down.

You felt him lean down and press his lips to your neck. It was such a simple gesture, yet you…

“I can feel that.” Ajax whispered, oh so softly. “Your heart beating faster. You’re getting warmer.”

“Are you trying to seduce me?” You feigned being unaffected, but this man knew you better than you might’ve even known yourself.

“It’s working, isn’t it?”

“I’m still mad at you.” You mumbled half heartedly, because truthfully you couldn’t even remember why you were mad in the first place. Not when he was this close. Not when his hand that he wasn’t leaning on was now on your thigh.

His breath fanned your neck, but his lips didn’t quite touch yet.

“No you’re not.” He chuckled smugly, pressing a soft kiss to the side of your neck. “What’s this? I can feel how hot you’re getting. Is it because of me?”

“You’re annoying.” You sighed dramatically.

His hand on your leg moved a bit higher and further towards your inner thigh. “I don’t feel you trying to leave.”

“I’ll bite you.” You warned.

“You’re welcome to try.” He muttered into your neck, kissing up to your ear. “In the meantime, let me apologise.”

Maybe you should “get mad” at him more often. He’s very good at apologising.

#tartaglia #genshin impact #genshin x reader #childe #genshin smut #this man makes me feral #genshin x you #genshin imagines #genshin fanfic #genshin headcanons #genshin tartaglia x reader #tartaglia x reader #childe x reader #tartaglia smut

[dontaskmemybias]

Plus One

Pairing: Non Idol!Lee Felix x afab reader

Request: No

Theme: Roommates to Lovers

Contains: Fluffiest fluff, cursing, suggestive themes.

Word Count: 4,798 words

Note: This is a work of fiction and does not portray any of the members irl. I might make a part two to this if y'all are interested!

PART TWO

_

When you moved into town you were DESPERATE for a new roommate, you asked everyone and it turns out that a friend of a friend of an old college roommate had someone he knew who was looking for a roommate. It felt like the universe was on your side when you heard the news and you almost cried from happiness, but there was a catch (of course there was) the roommate was a dude.

Now the thing is usually you wouldn't mind rooming with a guy, you've lived with quite a few and other than them leaving messes for you to clean up occasionally they had all been pretty decent. You were worried because you had never met this Felix guy before so you had absolutely no idea what to expect. But everyone who had met the guy swore up and down that he was a great guy, very respectful, and made killer brownies, so you decided to meet up with him in person to judge for yourself.

The day came that you were supposed to meet up with Felix at a local café and get to know him, see if you would get along. You decided that if he was going to live with you it didn't really matter what you looked like, so you popped on your favorite oversized hoodie and a pair of leggings and made your way to the café. When you got there you shot him a text to let him know where you were sitting after grabbing an iced coffee. After what felt like five seconds you heard someone clearing their throat.

"Y/N?"

You looked up to see who the crazy deep voice belonged to and almost jumped out of your seat when your eyes laid on the most gorgeous person you'd ever seen. He looked like a fae creature, his long blonde hair caressing his face, the freckles across his cheeks looked like beautiful constellations, and he was dressed in a button-up layered under a beige sweater-vest and perfectly fitted blue jeans. Your brain did a hard reset and you realized he had asked you a question.

"Oh, shit, sorry, yeah I'm Y/N, you must be Felix?"

He smiled and you swore he looked like a ray of sunshine come down to Earth, you had to stop yourself from staring as he let out a low chuckle.

"Yep that's me! Am I not what you expected? You look... kinda shocked to be honest." he lightly chuckled and ran his hand over the nape of his neck.

"Oh no! Sorry I didn't really have expectations, I just feel like I should've dressed nicer is all." you looked down and cringed at your outfit choice.

"Oh! No worries! I think you look great!" He flashed you a toothy smile and slid into the seat next to you. "So, what do you want to know? I'm pretty much an open book!"

~✨~

That was six months ago. Six very long months of living with the most gorgeous creature to ever walk the Earth. You had to tell yourself at least once a day to get your shit together and stop ogling your roommate whenever he did the smallest thing like stretch his arms up to reveal a sliver of his lower abdomen or bake you brownies when work had you stressed out.

Not to mention his habit of touching and cuddling you.

His friends had warned you when you first met them that Felix loved skinship and he would probably break down your personal bubble like he did to all of them. But NOTHING could have prepared you for the amount of physical affection this man gave you. It started small of course, testing the waters, knees touching on the sofa during your weekly movie nights, holding your hand when you went out so you didn't get separated, things like that. But over time knee touching became full on cuddle sessions on the couch while you watched your favorite movies. Holding your hand at the bar became a hand wrapped around your waist. Eventually Felix had come to you in the middle of the night because his insomnia was acting up and he couldn't sleep and you offered to let him cuddle you. Now you two spent almost every night in your bed together.

It was honestly really nice. You hadn't dated anyone in years and you desperately craved physical affection. Nobody would guess it by looking at you, but secretly, you were just as much of a cuddle bug as Felix was.

The only problem is with every lingering touch, every time he fell asleep in your arms, you fell harder for him.

This became abundantly clear last Tuesday when he came bouncing through the apartment like someone had just given him a puppy.

~✨~

"Y/N~ guess whaaaattttt!!"

"What's up 'Lix?"

"My work is throwing a huge end of year party and I GET TO BRING A PLUSSS OOONNEEEE!!" He looked positively giddy at the idea of bringing a plus one, but you didn't know why. Felix is also going through a romantic dryspell.

"Is that so? Who are you planning on asking? Some cute girl got your eye?" As soon as the words left your mouth you saw the tips of his ears go pink and he looked down at his feet. "Oh. My. God. Does 'Lixxie have a crush on someone?" You teased him, but deep inside you were devastated at the thought of Felix being with someone else.

"No, nothing like that..." Felix trailed off then his eyes met yours and your heart ached at the sight. His cheeks were now a bright pink and he looked so bashful.

"Oh I'm sorry for teasing 'Lixxie you know anyone would be lucky to have you!" You said it sincerely because you really did mean it. Anyone would be lucky to have Felix in their life.

"It's okay, I was actually excited because I wanted to see if you'd come with me..." He looked away and then his eyes met yours again, filled with panic. "I mean not like a date or anything you're justoneofmybestfrie-"

"Felix," you saw his panic and cut him off "no worries, I would love to go with you!" You gave him a big smile. "Plus I would love to meet all the coworkers you've told me about!"

He let out a sigh of relief and smiled back at you. "Okay awesome! Its next Friday at 7pm, the dress is cocktail attire. I know you don't have a ton of clothes like that so I was thinking maybe this weekend we could go shopping? I want to find something to wear as well!" He positively beamed at you. Felix LOVES shopping, but he hates to go alone so you know that he would be really bummed if you said no.

"Of course I'll come with you 'Lix, who else would be able to tell me if my dress looks good or not." You started giggling at the thought of bringing one of the other guys you hung out with dress shopping. "I mean I could always ask Hyunjin but you know how he is." Felix busted out laughing at that, no doubt remembering the time you tore your dress on a fence before going to the bar with the guys and Hyunjin complemented your 'grunge' look before you told him that you had ripped it on the way in.

"Okay so let's hit the mall on Saturday?"

"Sounds good to me!"

~✨~

That is what led to your current situation, going to what felt like 5 billion stores (actually three) and watching your incredibly attractive roommate try on suit after suit.

"Y/N what about this one?"

You looked up to see him clad in a gorgeous blue suit that seemed to fit him just right. You had to stop yourself from literally drooling on the department store floor when he twirled around for you.

"It looks incredible 'Lix, like it was made for you!"

"You've said that about like the last three suits I've tried on." he rolls his eyes and inspects himself in the mirror.

"Well I can't help that all of these fit perfectly on you!" you weren't lying, the last three suits literally looked like they were tailored specifically with him in mind.

"Y/N!" Felix looks over at you and takes your face in his hands, his face is so close you can feel his breath on your nose. "I've just had the most amazing idea."

You tried to hide your blushing face by putting your hands over his and covering more of your face. "What idea?" You ask, trying not to sound too out of breath.

"We should go get you a dress and when we find the perfect one we can come back and I'll get a suit to match you!" He jumps back raising his hands in the air beaming while waiting to hear your response.

The thought of you and Felix matching at this party made your heart flutter a bit, to anyone who didn't know you, you would look like a couple. That thought alone made you feel all sorts of things you should not feel about your roommate. But, despite that, you answered.

"I think that's a great idea 'Lix!"

The look on his face was one of pure joy when you agreed. He runs into the dressing room to switch back into his own clothes leaving behind a VERY flustered roommate.

You looked in the mirror and saw the red tinting your cheeks and hoped that by some miracle Felix didn't notice how flushed you got just from the idea of coordinating outfits (who blushes at that?) you put your cold hands on your cheeks to calm the redness down and waited for Felix to get out of the dressing room so you could go to the dress store next.

~✨~

If there's one thing on this Earth that you hate, it is trying on clothes. It is your personal hell. You hate the way nothing seems to fit, everything is itchy, the dressing rooms are always way too hot and make your face bright red, and the fluorescent lights make everything look that much worse. Your only saving grace today was Felix. Your ray of sunshine, always making sure to complement you but also give you actual feedback.

"No definitely not this one, you'll be way too uncomfortable with the sleeves all night." You smiled at how well he knows you, the sleeves were already bugging you and you knew that you would want to rip them off if you had to spend a whole night in this awful dress.

You had tried on like 50 dresses by now (actually 10) and none of them had the WOW factor, but luck would have it that #51 (11) was in fact the winner. It had a beautiful high neck with a patterned cut down the front to show off your 'assets', it was the perfect length, and it was covered in gorgeous silver glittery designs. This was the one, you were sure of it.

"Hey 'Lix?" you called out from the dressing room.

"What's up gorgeous?" You knew he was getting tired because he tended to call you things like 'beautiful' and 'gorgeous' when he got sleepy, which did not help your situation whatsoever, but it was quite cute.

"I found the dress, but I was thinking, I think it should be a surprise!"

"How are we supposed to match if I don't see the dress?"

"Well I could show you a bit of the fabric? Then you could go off of that?"

"Okay darling that sounds lovely." darling? That was a new one. Thankfully you had time for the massive blush that crept up your cheeks due to the new nickname to dissipate as you changed your clothes. Once you got out your cheeks were just a light pink.

Felix perked up as you walked out holding the dress behind your back and you went over to the checkout. After purchasing the dress you showed Felix a bit of the fabric from the bag and he started giggling. "I like that we are making this a surprise, I think it'll be fun!" And with that you both went to the men's section so Felix could find a matching suit.

Thankfully it didn't take too much time, he found a match almost right away and (of course) it fit him perfectly, or so he told you. He said since your outfit was a surprise, his should be too.

Clothes in hand you drove the two of you back home to get some much needed rest. As soon as you got through the door Felix shot you a devilish look and ran toward your bedroom and flopped down on your bed. You walked in, chuckling lightly, and asked him what he was doing.

"I think it is nap time and naps are always the best with a budddyyyyyy!" He held his arms out and made grabby hands at you. You burst out laughing and headed over to the bed. As soon as you were within his arms reach he pulled you down next to him and started spooning you.

"Y/N, you're my best friend, you know that?" He sleepily whispered to you. You felt your breath hitch at his small confession, but before you could respond you heard his breathing even out and he was asleep. You sighed and pulled the covers up over the two of you and decided that a nap with Felix wasn't the worst thing in the world. So you closed your eyes and drifted off to sleep.

~✨~

All week Felix was so excited about his work party is was basically all he could talk about when the group went out for dinner on Wednesday.

"Y/N and I are matching but we haven't seen each other's outfits and I am soooooo excited to see the dress she picked!" He exclaimed to everyone.

"Dude, we know, it's all you've talked about in the group text since Saturday." Chan chucked at the freckled boy who was positively beaming.

"I'm happy for you guys, it sounds like it will be a really fun time!" Jisung chimed in, smiling back at Felix.

"Anyway, changing the subject. Y/N how's work going?" Seungmin looked over at you with a big smile. You smiled back at him.

"It's going pretty great, I think I'm really getting the hang of things." Everyone seemed to appreciate the change in topics as they all went around the table talking about work and the different things they were now in charge of.

Dinner went by quickly and before you knew it you were heading back home. You and Felix had only had a few glasses of wine with dinner but the buzz was definitely present on the ride home has you both giggled about everything and nothing at all.

When you got through the door Felix pulled you in for a big hug and started playing with your hair. "I really can't wait to see your dress, I'm sure it is going to look amazing." You pulled back a bit so you could see his face and he was still smiling, a light blush was present on his face but you were sure it was just the alcohol in his system.

"I'm so excited to see your outfit too 'Lix! But it is late, we should head to bed."

"Yours or mine?"

It was a harmless question given that you guys stay in each others beds all the time, but usually you go to sleep separately and then Felix will come get in bed with you when he can't sleep. Other than your nap session on Saturday you had never really laid down together ready for bed. Something about the shift in dynamic made your heart wrench a bit, you tried to hide it by smiling back at Felix.

"How about yours tonight?"

When you laid down your mind was racing a million miles per second. You never really slept in Felix's bed, he mostly came to yours. You didn't think about it when you answered him but now you realize that you fucked up. You are surrounded by the smell of Felix, its on his bedsheets, pillows, and, most importantly, on the boy curled up behind you latched on like a baby monkey. Felix's arms are around your whole body, one arm across your chest with his hand on your shoulder, and one across your stomach with his hand on your hip. His leg is even draped over your body so you are surrounded by him.

Looks like you aren't getting much sleep tonight.

~✨~

Sure enough you barley slept the night before and you wake up feeling awful. Normally when you sleep with Felix he wakes up before you and is either in the shower or cooking breakfast, but not this time. This time you woke up to find yourself still surrounded by the boy, but something feels different. You wiggled a little and your face turned bright red when you realized that Felix was not only still fast asleep but sporting a rather large erection that was pressed firmly to your backside.

You needed to remind yourself that with was a natural thing that men's bodies do in the morning and it had nothing to do with the fact that you were pressed against him in the night.

Fuck was it hot in the room or was it just you?

You tried to calm yourself down, but how could you with this beautiful man pressed against you like this? You decided maybe you should get up and act like nothing happened. Before you could get up you heard Felix grumble a bit and pull you in closer to himself.

Well there goes that plan.

You resigned yourself to waiting for Felix to wake up.

~✨~

After what felt like forever Felix finally started to wake up. You decided to save him from embarrassment at his current state you would act like you were asleep until he had released you from his hold. You closed your eyes and waited... and waited... and waited some more. Finally you felt Felix shift a bit and your heart almost stopped when he bent his head down and placed a soft kiss on your cheek before getting out of bed and heading to the shower.

You held your breath until he was out of the room and as soon as you heard the bathroom door shut your hand flew up to the place where he had kissed your cheek and you felt yourself smile at the sweet gesture. You giggled a bit until finally letting yourself get out of Felix's bed and walk into your own room to get ready for the day.

~✨~

It was finally Friday. The day you and Felix had been waiting for. You could barley contain your excitement at work and basically counted the seconds on the clock until it was (finally) time for you to go home. You drove as fast as safely possible and when you flung the door open to your apartment you found Felix waiting for you in the living room with a huge grin on his face.

"It's Friday." Felix simply stated, but you could tell he was as excited for tonight as you were.

"I am SO excited 'Lix! Let's blast some jams and start getting ready!" You beamed back at him and all but ran to your bedroom to get your speaker, Felix close behind you.

The two of you wanted to wait until you were completely ready to show off your outfits so you got ready in your room and he got ready in his with the speaker in the conjoined bathroom between the two of you. It took you both about an hour to get ready and you were shouting back and forth about various different things the whole time.

Finally you were ready. You looked stunning with your half-up hair and all the accessories you bought for the occasion. The dress fit you even better than you remembered. Hands down this was the hottest you'd ever looked in front of you roommate.

"Okay, I'm ready Lix, you ready?" You shouted full of excitement.

"Yeah! On the count of three!"

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three!"

You both opened the doors to your side of the bathroom and stopped, eyes wide on the beauty before you. It took a while for either of you to speak, just taking in the whole fit on the beautiful person in front of you. Finally Felix spoke.

"Wow... you look.... WOW!" He was beaming, completely awe stricken at your ensemble.

"Right back at you handsome." You took in the beautiful silver and black suit he now wore. The suit looked like it was made for Felix, the perfect blend of feminine with its silver floral patterning on the cuffs of the blazer and the ends of the slacks, and handsome with its sharp angles.

Felix held out his hand to you. "My lady, shall we?" You smiled at the gesture and took his hand. He put your entwined hands over your head and twirled you around, leaving you both in a fit of giggles. And with that you left to go to the party.

~✨~

Felix's work Does. Not. Fuck. Around. when it comes to parties. They had rented out a beautiful ballroom and had snacks, an open bar, as well as a rather large dance floor. You and Felix decided to start at the bar. As you were grabbing your drinks a strikingly beautiful woman came up and coldly stared you up and down before placing a hand on Felix's forearm.

"Hey 'Lixxie I'm so glad you made it!" You couldn't tell what Felix was thinking about this woman as he let out a small smile when she addressed him. "This must be the girlfriend you've been telling me about!" She gave you a cold smile devoid of genuine emotion as she spoke.

You felt your heart drop. Felix has a girlfriend? He never mentioned anyone to you. How could he even have time for a girlfriend when he was sleeping in your bed almost every night? What the fuck is going on??

Felix looked shaken at the statement for a brief second and before you could clarify that you were just his roommate he spoke.

"Yes, this is my girlfriend, Y/N."

You stared back at him with wide questioning eyes. What in the actual fuck is going on right now???

The woman looked you up and down again, chuckled to herself, then left muttering something under her breath that sounded like it rhymed with lanky witch.

As soon as she was out of earshot you grabbed Felix's arm and looked him in the eyes. "What the fuck was that?"

Felix shyly looked down and took a deep breath before explaining. "That was Megan, she works in the accounting department and she has been trying to get me to go out with her for months and when she wouldn't stop I panicked and said I had a girlfriend. She seemed to believe me at first but I never brought this girlfriend around and so she started to get suspicious. I'm sorry I brought you into this but it seemed like the perfect cover in the moment, but if it makes you uncomfortable I can call her back over and come clean." He looked back up at you and gave you a half-hearted smile.

Felix wanted to be your fake boyfriend for the night. In what world would you ever pass up that golden opportunity?

"No, It's okay 'Lix, we can fake date for the night to get her off your back. She seems like a royal bitch to me anyway and I wouldn't want to make you talk to her more than you already have to." He let out a sigh of relief and smiled at you, then stood up and wrapped his arms around you in a big hug.

"Thank you Y/N, you're a lifesaver." He pulled back a little and smiled at you as he reached up and pushed a hair out of your face. You looked into his eyes and smiled back.

"What are friends for?"

~✨~

The rest of the party flew by. Felix introduced you to all his coworkers as his girlfriend and they all congratulated you two and told you how cute it was that you two decided to wear matching outfits. You ate, drank, and had great conversations but after a while Felix seemed a bit on edge and you decided to see if he was okay before continuing to enjoy the party. You led him out to the balcony where you could only see one or two people sitting around, seemingly bored with the festivities inside.

"Hey, 'Lix, you seem... anxious? Are you doing alright?" You take his hands in yours and notice his shoulders immediately relax a bit.

"It's nothing love, just getting a bit tired is all." He had been calling you cute nicknames all night in front of his coworkers to keep up the guise of being together, but the fact that he called you love while it was just the two of you made your heart stutter momentarily. You chalked it up to the few drinks he had had throughout the night and decided to blow past it.

"Okay, well how about we dance to one song and then head out? The dance floor is too big and the DJ is too good to pass up one dance." You squeeze his hands softly to comfort him a bit and hopefully put his mind at ease. He looks up and softly smiles at you.

"Lead the way."

When you walk inside you guide Felix to the dance floor and start moving around, letting the beat take over your body. You see Felix smile at you as he begins to do the same. Pretty soon the two of you are jumping around laughing hysterically at how ridiculous you must look just jumping and moving your shoulders to the beat. When the song ends you get ready to head out before Felix takes hold of your hand. The beat changed and a slower melody filled the room.

"One more dance?" He sheepishly smiled at you. You walked toward him, placing your free hand on his waist and smiled back at him. "Anything for you 'Lix."

The two of you started with your hands together, free hands on each others waist. But as the song continued Felix slipped his hand from yours and put both of his hands on either side of your waist. Your arms came up and wrapped around his neck, your bodies now pressed into one another, looking into each others eyes. Felix rested his head on your shoulder and let out a sigh.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." He whispered into your ear.

"Me too." You whispered back.

Once the song was over Felix pulled his head back, hands still placed on your waist and smiled.

"Let's go home."

~✨~

The Uber back was quiet, your heart was beating out of your chest as you thought through the nights events. Felix had a hand on your knee and his head rested on your shoulder as you made your way back home. Once the Uber pulled up you said thank you to the driver and walked up to your apartment hand-in-hand with Felix.

After you stepped through the door Felix turned you to face him and he just looked into your eyes in silence for a moment until he softly spoke, barely a whisper.

"Can I kiss you?"

You were sure you were dreaming. There was no way this beautiful, incredibly kind, amazing man wanted to kiss you right now. As if he could tell what you were thinking he took a step towards you and brought his hand up to caress your cheek.

"You are the most beautiful person I have ever laid my eyes on and I've wanted to kiss you all night, well, I've wanted to kiss you a lot longer than that. So, may I kiss you, Y/N?"

"Yes." You whispered.

And with your consent Felix pulled your face to his and gently placed his lips on yours. It was a beautiful kiss, filled with all the emotions you had both been feeling for quite some time.

You pulled away to catch your breath and smiled at him. You thought back to Wednesday and a thought occurred to you. "It is late, we should head to bed."

"Yours or mine?"

#felix fluff #lee felix fluff #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #stray kids soft thoughts #stray kids soft hours #lee felix smut #felix smut #stray kids smut #skz smut

[peachbottom]

Not Hungry

Authors Note: I actually kind of hate this but I spent some time on it so I might as well post it. I wrote this with a similar body type to mine in mind, though it can be pictured anyway you like it does hint at a midsize/chubby reader. Give me feedback if you feel like it. Much love xoxo

Summary: You are self conscious eating in front of people so you decide to wait until you get home to eat. But unfortunate weather has you stuck at Buckys apartment and he is determined to make sure you don’t go to sleep hungry.

Warnings: food, not eating, body image, insecurities, hints at mature themes, pet names, possibly disordered eating habits, barely edited, bad formatting (pls let me know if I missed any)

——————————————————————————

You and Bucky had been together for a little while now, about 6 months. You both agreed to take it slow due to your own situations.

You really did like Bucky, loved him even, but you still had your habits and behaviors that you used to mask your own anxieties.

For example, you don’t eat in front of people. Even Bucky, and not because you don’t trust him but because you get in your head.

You will eat food with him but never a full meal. Part of it is because you don’t want him to judge you for eating too much, too little, too fast, too slow, anything really. People have always had something to say about your body and appearance and you came up with this coping as a way to keep them from having more to judge.

It started in high school when girls would make comments that you eat too much or you always were hungry. That’s when you not only developed insecurities about your body but you’re eating as well. You would notice when you went out with friends they wouldn’t eat much and you didn’t want to be the one eating more than everyone else.

So whenever you were with Bucky he would always suggest getting food or having a snack. Who knew super soldiers that workout all the time eat so much. Your reaction to this was always say you’re not hungry, you ate before you came over, you didn’t feel good, you had a list of excuses. You never ate more than a couple bites or a small snack of anything. You would always wait to eat when you got home.

Thankfully your relationship was young and you were taking things slow, you had never spent more than a day together and never spent the night at each other’s places. That was until one night when it was quite stormy and dark.

…

You and Bucky were sitting in his apartment on his couch, you had your legs tucked under you and were snuggled up to his side, head on his chest, with his arm around you. You were very comfortable and very warm, your eyes started getting heavy and you felt truly at peace in his arms.

Bucky starts rubbing up and down your arm to get your attention, he turns his head away from the tv screen in front of you and looks down at your curled up form tucked into his side.

“Hey it’s getting kinda late, I would say maybe you would want to go home but I don’t like you going out in this weather. How would you feel about maybe staying the night?”

You reach out for your phone on the table in front of you to check the time. It’s 11pm and it’s storming out. Rain is coming down hard, wind whipping, and it’s freezing out, he has a point you don’t really want to go through the city in this weather at this time of night.

You think about what he said, about staying the night. It sounds so nice being able to fall asleep next to him, but you can’t help but think about the pain in your stomach. Your so hungry, and eating in front of him seems so embarrassing, especially to have to ask for food. You planned to just eat when you went home, when Buck had ordered food earlier he asked what you wanted you said you weren’t really hungry you had a late lunch. The truth was you were hungry and you forgot to eat before you came over, you figured it would be fine though because you could just wait until you got home. Now that won’t be until tomorrow morning.

“Yeah, I mean I would love to stay if it’s not too much of a hassle”

He smiles from ear to ear throwing his arms around you and pulling you into him.

“Oh yeah! I get my girl all night now”

You can’t help but laugh at his goofy reaction, he’s truly such a sweet soul. You are laying half in his lap as he gently kisses your head, turns you around and places you so your head is laying in his lap looking up at him.

“This is so exciting, this is our first time spending a night together. I’ll get you some clothes to change into and you can shower if you want, are you hungry because you haven’t eaten anything all day.”

You simply smile up at him as he softly tucks your hair behind your ear.

“I’m okay, I told you I had a late lunch. And im not ready to go to bed yet can we stay like this for a little longer”

Still playing with your hair and looking down at you with a sweet smile he responds. “I’d be happy to stay like this for the rest of our lives. But maybe you could eat something, even if you had a late lunch it’s been hours and i worry”

He moves his other hand to rest on your stomach, if he had tried to do that at the beginning of your relationship you would have freaked, but he’s showed you that he truly loves every part of you even the parts you are the most insecure about. You rest your hand over his on your belly to reassure him you are fine.

“I’m not hungry I’m fine.”

“But you don’t eat enough, I barely see you eat. Please just have at least a little bit for my peace of mind.”

Just as you go to open your mouth and speak you feel and hear your stomach make horrible noises as if screaming to take Bucky up on the offer of food. You just close your mouth and look away from Bucky feeling guilty for lying to his face and embarrassed for having your stomach be loud enough to drown out the television.

“Let’s go, come on im making you some dinner” He sits you up and stands in front of you with his hands out ready to take yours. You still can’t process what just happened, you are beyond embarrassed. So you look up stunned at not only his reaction but his persistence in wanting to care for you, you take both his hands and stand up.

He moves both your hands into one of his and walks you towards his kitchen island, where he pulls out a chair for you and motions for you to sit. He then rounds the counter and opens the fridge taking inventory.

“Okay so we could do spaghetti, Mac and cheese, a pb&j or a grilled cheese. Pick your poison baby” He lists off all the options and turns to look over his shoulder at you.

You look up from picking at your fingers and see him gazing back at you, waiting for an answer. “Umm whatever is easiest is fine, thank you” your response is quiet but he hears you and starts to take things out of the fridge.

As he makes you food he hums soft melodies of old songs from his childhood. Swiftly and easily moving throughout the kitchen without any hesitation or look of upset.

“Here you go doll, eat up please it’s made with extra love” he places the dish right in front of you and turns to grab you some water. On the plate in front of you is two grilled cheese sandwiches, cut into perfect triangles.

Bucky places water down next to you and then takes the seat beside you.

“Please eat” he says as he places a hand on your back rubbing up and down your spine.

“Why did you make me two, I don’t need that much.” You say in a slightly anxious way.

“Well because I didn’t know how much you wanted and I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable to ask for more if you wanted it, that’s all. Just eat what you want and leave what you don’t, it’s not big deal.”

You look at your plate, you are really hungry and it looks so good. You pick up a half and take a bite, it’s just as good as it looked. But you can’t help but feel awkward just having him watch you eat. “Will you eat too, I feel weird eating alone”

“Of course you don’t have to ask me twice I’m always ready to eat” so he picks up another half and takes a bite.

You both sit and eat in silence for a minute until he places a hand on your knee and asks you a question. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were hungry, earlier or now? I feel like your never hungry, or at least that’s what you tell me. What’s the matter baby, tell me”

You swallow the grilled cheese and take a sip of water to wash it down before speaking.

“I don’t know I feel weird asking for food, I mean I feel weird eating in front of people in general especially you. Your so..you know all muscles and hotness and I’m squishy, I guess I just didn’t want you to judge me.”

The hand in your knee grips a little tighter, “Oh baby no don’t think like that. First of all I think your all curves and hotness so don’t ever think I’ll judge you for what you look like or eat. I love you so much and I don’t want you to feel like you have to go hungry while your with me because you think I’ll judge you for eating. It doesn’t make any sense to me baby, you need to eat that’s what keeps you alive and healthy and full of energy.”

“It’s not that I don’t eat, I just don’t like eating in front of people. Maybe you think I’ll eat too much or that I don’t eat all super healthy food. People can be really mean, and I think I just developed ways to stay safe from judgment.”

He wraps his arms around you and kisses the top of your head, holding you close. “Oh honey, your always safe with me. You could tell me you wanted to eat six whole pizzas and I’d buy them for you, sit next to you and eat seven myself. You are never going to be judged by me, never I promise you. But you have to promise me that you will eat when your hungry because I worry. Can you do that?”

You lean back and look him in the eyes, nodding your head yes. “Yeah I can do that”

At this point you both finished your food and are ready to get settled in for the night. Bucky takes the dirty plate and puts it in the sink to take care of tomorrow.

You follow him to his room where he pulls out some clothes for you. He hands you a shirt and a pair of boxers then leads you to the bathroom.

“Here is all my shampoo and soapy stuff, and I there are some extra toothbrushes under the sink. Help yourself to whatever you need, and I’ll be just out there watching some tv.”

You offer him a warm smile and he leans in, grabs your jaw and places a soft kiss on your lips. He was such a good man and he did everything he could to make you comfortable. It’s like he was your saving grace ready to scrub away all the dirt and scuffs people had left on your shiny soul and bright heart. So that way he can show you how beautiful of a person you are under all the damage people have done.

While in the shower you can’t help but feel like a weight had been lifted off you after your conversation tonight. You know Bucky loves everything about you and it makes you feel like all the bad things people had ever said to you didn’t matter anymore. The one person that does matter is erasing all those negative things they ever planted in your mind.

You wash up and brush your teeth, then put on the clothes that Bucky let you borrow. The shirt hung loose over your body stopping just below your hips, the boxers were soft and comfortable.

You leave the bathroom and walk into the bedroom to see Bucky leaning back in the bed on his phone. He’s wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt, and boy does he look pretty.

“Did you have a nice shower doll?” He asks not looking your way, he then turns his head to look at you. “Oh don’t you look pretty in my clothes.”

You laugh and walk up to the edge of the bed, pull the blankets back and sit down. “Your crazy, James I swear”

“Oh first the clothes now calling me James, ughh you are doing something to me.”

You blush and look at him, both of you with goofy smiles on your face. You and him have never done anything like that before. (taking things slow, remember) So you knew he was mostly just trying to get you flustered, and it was working.

You both get fully under the blankets and snuggle up together, you being the little spoon. You were never a small girl but next to him you felt like it. It felt comfortable and safe, like you knew nothing bad could happen when he was by your side.

He rests his hand over yours on your stomach, giving it a slight rub. “Is your tummy nice and happy, she’s not hungry anymore?”

You laugh at his silly question but you know he’s serious and he really does care. “Yeah she’s good”

“Good, if my girl is happy then I’m happy. Good night my love sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams Bucky, I love you.”

That night you dreamt of grilled cheese, your sexy shirtless boyfriend and his caring heart. The best part is, when you wake up in the morning it’s all real and it’s all yours.

——————————————————————————

Masterlist

#bucky x female reader #bucky fluff #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes x plus size!reader #bucky comfort #bucky fanfic #bucky #marvel fluff #marvel fanfiction

[starlitangels]

One Last Show?

... More Rockstar AU. In the same universe as "Last Night of Tour" but now with the other band ;-) Please welcome Milo and the Wolves to the stage! 5.5k words this was not meant to be this long omg

@palilious and @zozo-01... figured you two would like to be informed that I finished this one ;-)

—

Sweetheart

Milo shoved open the hotel room door and stormed inside. Me hot on his heels. “I am not your parents, Mr. Greer. You hired me for your safety, remember?” I snapped the second the door closed.

Milo scoffed. “And you’re good at what you do—but I’m gettin’ a little sick-a you breathin’ down my neck day in and day out!” His retort fired off his tongue fast, like he knew what I was going to say.

“Look. I’m not here to judge you, okay? If you wanna go out and party, then go out and party. If you’re sick of the rest of the band and want to sneak out to party without them—fine. But you take me with you. I’m not gonna judge you for sneaking out. I’m just here to make sure you’re protected. That’s why I’m the one carrying the gun. So if you’re sneaking out, then dammit I better be right by your side next time. I don’t care about the why or whatever. I’m just trying to do my job. And you make it pretty damn difficult when you go behind even my back, understand?” As I spoke, I pushed myself into his personal space and glared him right in the eye. But didn’t touch. Never touch unless it was absolutely necessary.

Milo bared his teeth at me and looked like he was literally going to pounce down my throat. Insufferable spoiled rockstar who always got whatever he wanted and—

He slouched. “Fine, sweetheart,” he bit out with a pissed off snap in his voice. “Next time, you’re comin’ with.”

I leaned a little closer. “Good.” With that, I whipped around and stomped back to the door, yanking it open. “Goodnight, Mr. Greer.”

He waved me off dismissively. I pulled it shut firmly behind me, but didn’t slam it.

Out in the empty hallway, identical to every other hallway, I closed my eyes for a moment. Trying to calm myself down. I rubbed my eyes and went to my hotel room on the other side of the wall from Milo’s.

“You look frustrated,” my roommate, the band’s manager and the lead guitarist’s partner, remarked. “You find him?”

I inhaled deeply through my nose and sighed out of it. “I found him.”

They smirked. “Did you have to ping the GPS in his phone with your hacker whiz skills?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. Thankfully.”

“Do I want to know where he was?”

I blinked several times. “No.” I turned toward the bathroom. “I’m gonna shower and go to bed. I had to chase that moron halfway across Kennedy and I'm exhausted. Next thing I know I’m going to be hunting him down while he’s getting frisky with a cowgirl or cowboy or someone in Mont Blanc. And if I do, I might actually lose my mind.”

Asher's partner crossed their legs on their bed when I paused in the bathroom doorway. "You ever wonder if he's acting out like this to get your attention?"

I stared at them for a moment. "Wh... why the hell would he do that?"

They shrugged. "I don't know. Because you're hot?" they suggested. I scoffed. "I'm serious! You're attractive and I've seen him sneaking glances at you when you're not looking and he thinks no one else is!" They sat forward on their bed.

"That's not why he's sneaking out. He does this at least once a tour because he gets sick of the band."

"And he always does it in Kennedy."

I shook my head. "Nope. Last time we were in Borden. The time before we were in Mont Blanc. He's only done it in Kennedy once before."

"You've paid that much attention?"

"Had to. It's my job," I said. I ducked into the bathroom. "See ya in a bit."

"Or not! I might spend the night in Asher's room."

"Okay." I shut the bathroom door behind me and yanked off my jacket to reveal my gun holster. After unbuckling that, I stripped everything else off and got in the shower.

—

Baaabe

I knocked on Asher's door with the same knock we always used to signal one of us was there. A pattern Asher had come up with that had taken me about seven tries to actually get right.

Barely three seconds later, the door opened. "Baaabe!" Asher whispered, beaming broadly and ushering me into his room without a moment's hesitation. I fell immediately into his arms and let him kick the door closed as he tucked me into his arms.

We took whatever time we could while on tour to be alone together. It was rare. Most of the time, at least one member of the band or crew was within at least earshot. If not direct line of sight. Most nights everyone slept on the tour bus as it drove to the next city. Not the most comfortable of beds or the best of sleep. Where Milo found the energy to kept engaging the audiences at every performance, I still had no clue. I wasn't the one on stage every night and tours left me absolutely wiped. How the band did it... I didn't know.

Well, except Ash. I knew where he found the energy. He'd been a coffee addict since before the band became famous enough to do tours. According to David—who had known Asher since they were pretty much born—Asher had been stuck on coffee since he was sixteen.

"Did they find Milo?" Asher asked as he tugged me toward his bed. It was a rare night on tour when we got to be alone in a hotel, and we were going to make the most of it.

"Of course they did. Milo could disappear to the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle and they'd still be able to drag his short ass back."

Asher's muscles relaxed under my fingers. "Thank God," he breathed. "Now we get to have fun without the anxiety of that looming over our heads."

I snorted. "As if you were ever actually worried." I tilted up onto my tiptoes—Asher was so tall—and puckered my lips just a little.

He bent down immediately and met them in a kiss, one hand cradling where the back of my head met my neck. Quickly the kiss turned hot and heavy, Asher digging his fingers into my body to keep me close. I felt him bump his legs against the bed.

Before he could react, I pushed him down onto it.

"Whoa—whoa!" He hit the mattress, shaggy warm black curls splaying out over the white duvet with his head thrown back in a smile. "Mmm. Miss me, babe?" he teased.

"What are you talking about? I see you every day."

A lazy, playful smirk bloomed on Asher's stupidly handsome face, white teeth stark and glittering against his bronze skin. "Well sure. But not alone. Not—" He bucked up at the hips and caught mine, dragging me down onto the bed on top of him. "Not private." He kissed me. Sloppy and heavy. "Not like this—with no chance of David or Milo turning the corner and finding us. For the first time in weeks, it's just you and me. All alone. No where to run. Nowhere to hide. No one trying to find us." He pulled back enough to wink. I snickered—

And planted a hand on his chest, pushing him down into the bed and away from me. "Are you gonna behave, Talbot? Or am I going to make you behave?"

A wild gleam flickered to life in his eyes. I felt his breathing speed up under my fingers. "I don't know, babe," he said breathlessly. "I might be feeling a little naughty."

I raised a brow. "We'll see how long that lasts."

I trailed my hand on his chest down his torso, lifting all but one finger to trace the line between his abdomen muscles. His eyes rolled back and his eyelids fluttered.

I paused with my fingertip low on his torso, just above the waistband of his pajama trousers slung low on his hips. "May I slide these off?"

Asher nodded. Fervently.

I didn't move. "Both?"

Another nod.

My other hand rested on his hips. "Use your words, Asher."

"Yes—God—please, babe."

I smirked and hooked all my fingers around the waistband of his pajamas and underwear. "Ready for a long night?"

"I've been dreaming of it," Asher said.

—

Angel

"I miss Tank," Asher remarked, leaning back on the folding chair he'd dragged onto the stage while we were all prepping for tonight's concert.

"We all do," David said softly, setting a hand on my mid-back to edge around me from behind with a case for part of his drum-set in his other hand. "But they made their choice to leave the band behind and we're going to respect that."

"Well duh," Asher retorted. "But, like, remember their energy? I miss the chaos."

"I don't," his partner—the band's manager—muttered. "Do you know how many fires of theirs I had to put out? I love them but they're a troublemaker."

"Besides," Milo threw in, a cord for something wrapped around his arm, "I thought you liked bein' lead guitar now."

Asher opened his mouth, thought for a moment, then closed it. Milo burst out laughing.

I drifted over to where David was setting up his drum set and sat on his usual stool. "Nervous for tonight?"

He glanced up at me, spinning something into place. "Not particularly. All things considered, I have the easy part."

I scoffed. "You do not."

"I keep the rhythm. It's not like I have notes to worry about."

"You have the hard job. You're the foundation of the whole song. Keeping the rhythm can be hard—and also your instrument has more parts than all the others. Except maybe the keyboard. And you have to remember which drum and which symbol to hit when. I think that's a lot to keep track of."

David almost cracked a smile. "Well, one of us is a musician, and one isn't. I think one of us is more qualified to speak on the difficulty of my part in the band than the other."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe. But you have a habit of undercutting for the sake of humility and it's boring." I spun around on his swivel stool while he rolled his eyes and pulled one of his snare drums out of its case.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Curious—since I rarely got notifications right before a concert even as the PR manager—I pulled it out.

Tank: How was the Kennedy show last night?

I smiled. "Hey! Speak of the devil," I said.

David looked up from where he was setting up the snare's stand. "Tank?"

I nodded. "Asking how last night's show went in Kennedy." I was already texting them back.

Me: It went really well! There were very few technical issues (apart from Milo's mic having a funky connection during testing but we got that fixed) and I thought it was a great success. Got a lot of pictures for promo stuff.

David nudged me off of his stool and sat on it himself so he could put a cymbal stand together. I just stood there, watching the bubble of Tank's reply appear with the dots that showed they were typing.

Tank: Sounds great! You should check out the replay of the Dahlia concert of House of Solaire that they did last night. Right after intermission ;-)

Me: Am I going to find shenanigans?

Tank: Mild shenanigans maybe. Nothing illegal. Nothing certain members of MatW didn't already agree to.

They sent a quick follow up text with a YouTube link to The House of Solaire's verified YouTube channel. A specific video on said channel.

I paged through it quickly. Someone had marked "chapters" in the video of each individual song.

Until I found one that was most definitely not a House of Solaire song.

Scrunching my eyebrows, I put a Bluetooth headphone in and started the video from there.

My jaw dropped.

I disconnected my headphone and sat in David's lap, starting the song over. He made a grunt of protest before he realized what I was doing, and watched House of Solaire perform "Tougher than You"—with Tank. On stage.

A wistful, nostalgic look crossed the tilt of David's eyebrows and angle of his mouth before quickly vanishing. "Some things don't change," he muttered, lifting me off his lap to go back to work.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He scratched the back of his head. "We made a fairly decent amount of money in this band before Tank took their hiatus—or retired. Whichever. But in all that time, I've only ever seen them play that one guitar. They could have bought a new one. A nicer one. A better one. They never did. They treated it like their baby. Not surprised they still take meticulous care about it."

I smiled as I went back to the text thread. "Maybe they'll return to performing, one day."

David shrugged. "Maybe."

I texted Tank back.

Me: OMG! So good to see you on stage again! Definitely haven't lost your touch. 100/10 would recommend. Vincent did the rest of the vocals justice, I can give him that. We miss you <3

Tank: I miss you all too. But that's what dinner and the club is for when you all return to Dahlia. You are Going to meet up with me and No One is allowed to protest.

Me: Aye-aye, Captain!

They replied with a single emoji—flipping me off—and I threw back my head and laughed.

Milo wandered over with his gold mic stand in one hand. "Did I hear 'Tougher Than You' over 'ere?" he asked.

I switched back over to YouTube and showed him, Asher and Christian drifting closer over the course of the song.

Asher looked sad. "That's the sound I miss. I can never replicate it."

"You do a good job!" Asher's partner reassured him.

"It's not the same as when they do it," he mumbled, drifting off as the song ended and I paused the YouTube video again.

Me: I showed the rest of the band. Milo was smiling. Asher got kinda sad. Christian didn't react and David seemed a little nostalgic.

Tank: Wow. The big guy reacting visibly? I might pass out of shock XD

Me: We all miss you a lot

Tank: I know. But I'll see all of you soon Tank: Speaking of... what's the MatW tour schedule again? Have a screenshot you can send me?

Me: Of course. Let me dig it up. One sec

—

Tank

"So... who all knows about this?" Sam asked as we took our seats in the stadium. He hadn't been back to his hometown here in Mont Blanc in years—The House of Solaire tours always skipped it, opting instead for Atlanta due to some of Sam's bad memories in Mont Blanc—and seemed a little fidgety. Looking around like he might see people he knew.

In a leather jacket, a graphic T-shirt, jeans, and boots with his sleeve tattoos hidden and his distinct black piercings removed, no one in this crowd recognized him. Despite the fact that Milo and the Wolves and The House of Solaire shared a massive portion of fans.

Then again, this crowd had seen me perform on this very stage a few years ago, and none of them seemed to realize who I was either. One of Sam's flannels hiding one of the tank tops I used to perform in and a baseball cap on my head, I didn't even merit a double-take.

"The PR manager, the manager-manager, the security team, and Milo," I replied, settling into my seat. "That's it."

Sam looked around. "We're on the front row, darlin'. Dontcha think Ash and David will recognize you?"

I scoffed. "David won't be able to see me past the stage lights. He's too far back to make out anything in the crowd. Ash plays on the other side of the stage and won't be looking down here.

"If you say so."

The wait for the concert to start always seemed so much longer on this side of the stage. Backstage, I knew Asher's partner was running around frantically making sure everything was ready. Milo was pacing in the dressing room, wringing his gold-painted mic between his hands in order to not mess up his hair. David's partner, the PR manager, would be sitting in David's lap, letting him hold them tight enough to crack ribs if he squeezed just a little harder. Asher would have his head down on the makeup station, practically biting into his own arm to keep from clenching his jaw.

All that was missing was me sprawled out on the couch of the dressing room, spinning one of David's drumsticks between my fingers and needling them all to get them to chill as my own way of coping with nerves.

The band didn't get stage fright, but they were always anxious for everything to go well. Every show.

A playlist of old rock hits and a few new ones was filling the stadium as a crowd of fans filtered in. I kept the brim of my hat low just in case, and Sam looked stubbornly straight ahead. A few stage hands were putting the finishing touches on the setup. A few of them finishing the final soundcheck. The base drum of David's set rippled as it was struck, making the band logo flash in the stage lights.

Then the stage lights turned off and the stage was left empty, set up for each person. Any second now, tucked into the backstage clutter of equipment, the band's PR manager was setting one last thing up, hidden from the others. Aided and abetted by the band's main bodyguard and main manager.

"Waitin' feels long on this end," Sam remarked. "Nothin' to prep. No nerves to work through."

"Yup," I agreed.

"This what it's like every time you fly out to a show on the weekends with Vincent's partner?"

"Yup."

Sam swore under his breath. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "It's always worth it to watch my man perform." I leant close and pecked a quick kiss to his neck so I wouldn't bonk him with the brim of my hat.

We only exchanged a few words for the rest of the waiting time.

Until I snickered.

"What is it, darlin'?"

"Hear that?" I nodded toward the speakers in the ceiling playing the rock music.

"Yeah. 'Through the Fire and Flames.' Dragonforce, right?"

I smirked. "I begged David to let me put this on the playlist when we were first setting it up. Everyone else thought it was a little too much. I'm surprised they left it in the lineup after I backed out."

Sam gave me a look. "They care about you more than you think," he said.

The house lights faded out. The crowd's chattering went silent and still.

"Hello, and welcome!" a prerecorded announcement from a DJ friend back in Dahlia boomed over the speakers. We used to get a new one from him every year so it always sounded just a little bit different. "Everyone give it up for Milo and the Wolves!"

The crowd erupted into cheers and screams and whistles and clapping. Sam dared a glance around at the crowd, slightly curious.

My friends—who had been my only family for so long—ran out onto the stage, taking their positions.

Milo's eyes found mine immediately and he winked before waving at the crowd. "Good evening, Mont Blanc!" he called into his gold-painted microphone. "How's everybody doin' tonight?"

Sam passed me a pair of earplugs as the cheering grew even louder. We both put some in.

"A'right, a'right. Not bad," Milo said, exaggerating his East Coast accent a little. "Who's ready for a great lineup for tonight?"

More screams.

Milo nodded, pacing back and forth. "Good. As most of you know, we're on our 'Winter Solstice' album tour. But we got a few of our more popular hits sprinkled in too. I think you're all gonna have a great time tonight. Should we get started?"

The roar swelled.

Milo sucked the back of his teeth and sighed, pacing back toward Asher. "I dunno, Ash. I don't think they're ready. What do you think?"

Ash leaned close to his own mic. "I don't think they are." He chuckled. "What do you think, Mont Blanc? Are you ready to get started?!"

The cheers and screams were so loud it hurt even with the earplugs in.

This was the crowd I remembered. The House of Solaire crowds were loud and rowdy, but they were a lot of alternative rock fans. This was the true rock-and-roll crowd I loved.

"A'right. I think they're ready, Ash. Shall we?"

"Let's do this!"

Milo glanced back at David, but said nothing.

The same way Sam did, David knocked his sticks together to signal to the rest of the band the rhythm before slamming them down on his drums at the same moment Asher opened on a power chord.

Milo and the Wolves didn't believe in gentle openings. A stylistic choice leftover from when I was writing the instrumentation.

I smiled.

I knew every song. This was their second album without me, but they always sent me the album early. I could play along to every single recording by the third week, usually.

Their fifth song in, they played one of the popular ones from an old album. One I'd written.

Fighter's Spirit

Sam held my hand through most of the concert but let go of my hand so I could pretend his wrist and arm were my guitar's neck to play along out of sheer habit and muscle memory. He didn't seem to mind it so much.

"Baby, you know I got a fighter's spirit— "Can't give up, won't give in— "Know it's bad but ya gotta hear it—"

I'd written it based on something Milo's mom had said to me once. She and David's dad had been better parental figures to me than my own. Marie had once looked me dead in the face and told me I carried the spirit of a fighter lodged in my throat, barely bitten back by my teeth. Gabe had joked when he overheard that I was a wolf in human form, just waiting to bite someone.

And the name of the band had been born.

During a brief interlude so Milo could take a drink of water and work the crowd, Sam turned to me.

"You miss this, don't you." It was phrased like a question, but his voice made it a statement.

I blinked. My eyes were stinging a little. I hadn't blinked in several minutes, it felt like. "I... to an extent." I swallowed. There was a hollow feeling in my chest. One that the cheering around me made yawn wider—though the cheering used to fill it. Because it wasn't for me this time?

Sam squeezed my hand. "You're allowed to miss it, even if you don't want to go back to it," he remarked.

I didn't reply. I did miss this. Severely. But did I not want to go back?

Jury was still out on that.

A heavy bass line from Christian opening the next song after Milo's brief break to take a drink cued me on which song they were starting next.

Asher had written it, but back when I was still in the band and he played the bass instead of lead guitar.

I sang my harmonies and fingered the chords on Sam's arm while he smiled. As if I didn't catch him mimicking David's movements. We were both musicians and we felt our instruments in our souls.

A few more songs passed, Milo introduced the band to uproarious applause, and before I knew it, Intermission had arrived. The band ran off the stage to go dry off the sweat and change out of T-shirts and into dry tank tops. Where the crowd would certainly go wild at the sight of David's arms.

David felt like a brother to me and I'd never been attracted to him particularly but damn his arms were something else.

Of the band, I'd always been the only one to spend the whole concert in tank tops.

People filed out of the stadium for a break.

Sam turned to me. "You can go back, you know," he said softly. "You know these guys would take you back in a heartbeat."

I sucked in a deep breath and sighed. "I know."

"You wanna go back?"

"Yes and no. After Quinn and Nomadic... I just... you know what they tried to do to me. My image and reputation. Backing out of public life seemed the best idea at the time. And Asher's been a great lead guitarist."

Sam made a face. "You know we listen to y'all's albums on the tour bus while we're tourin', right?"

"You've mentioned it before, yeah."

Sam nodded. "Asher's a good lead guitar, sure. But he doesn't have the raw power you brought."

"Meaning what?"

"Asher..." Sam sucked in a breath. "Don't take this the wrong way, darlin', but you play like you're desperately fightin' to get somethin' outta you. It makes your sound heavy and raw. Ash doesn't have that. You can feel the difference between how he plays your songs and how you do. His technique is perfect but the feelin' behind it is all off." He made a face.

I mimicked it. "We'll see."

The rest of intermission was spent in silence between us.

Fact of the matter was, I did want to go back. But I couldn't admit that to Sam or myself. I didn't want to leave Sam. We'd end up seeing each other even less than we already barely could with him being the only one touring.

Get through tonight. Then unpack those feelings, I assured myself.

Eventually the house lights dimmed again. The band came back onstage. With no preamble or gentle opening to ease the audience back into the mood, they rocked into an opening. I smiled at the looks on my friends' faces. Still a little sweaty but mostly dried off. Absolutely high on the adrenaline of performing.

The crowd went nuts the whole song while I laughed and sang right along with them.

When the band reached the bridge of the song, I started to subtly unbutton Sam's flannel I was wearing, keeping it closed so my black-and-gold marbled-looking tank top was still hidden. One of my favorites to perform in, a couple years ago.

They reached the end of the song and I slouched in my seat, slipping the ball cap off my head and handing it, my earplugs, and the flannel to Sam.

Milo waited until the crowd settled a little. "Welcome back! Hopefully, everybody's had the opportunity the make their way back to their seats. Because we have a special surprise in store for everybody."

A few cheers. Scattered, and a bit confused. Most of the crowd seemed to just be waiting with bated breath for Milo to get on with it.

"It's been a couple years since we played this next song on tour. It never felt right, without the writer of it with us. You get to be the first ones to hear us play 'Tougher Than You' live on stage since Tank retired."

I saw David and Asher exchange a confused look.

Milo smiled conspiratorially at the crowd. Caught on the jumbotrons. "Because Tank is here tonight and gonna play it with us."

Asher's jaw dropped open and David's eyes widened as I popped out of my seat and hauled myself onto the stage. I whirled to face the stadium and waved, knowing the cameras were all on me.

The screams were loud enough to nearly knock me over. Milo threw an arm around me, lowering his mic to his side. "They never hated you," he said quietly. "Quinn failed."

I smiled at him and went to go get my guitar from backstage.

David shook his head. "Oh you sneaky motherf—" I didn't catch the rest because I turned away but I didn't need to catch it. I knew.

David's partner was beaming backstage beside Asher's partner and the band's security lead, holding my guitar out for me by the neck.

Grinning, I snatched it and threw the strap over my head, rushing back out with one hand held high, a pick flicking out of my leather cuff and into my fingers. I took a spot on the stage where I used to stand. Asher had taken a few steps back to give me room at his mic, plucking out the rhythm guitar part to remind himself what it was.

David knew this song even better than Sam did. So I didn't bother giving him a chance to count off the rest of the band before slamming into the opening.

Everything came naturally. Easily. Milo sang with the biggest smile on his face I'd ever seen during a show. I was at home, leaning my back against Asher's on the harmony. Feeling the stage lights' heat bead up sweat on my forehead and neck, David's drumbeat strong enough to sway my heartbeat to follow it.

Like I'd never left the stage behind.

Sam was right, I thought as I struck a hard chord. I do play like I'm fighting to get something out of me.

Because I was. I was fighting to get the music I felt in my soul out of my soul so the audience could feel it the way I did.

I'd written Tougher Than You from the perspective of me telling it to an ex of mine.

Now I sang and played it to Quinn, the same way I had onstage in Dahlia with Vincent and Sam and Alexis and Frederick. He'd allowed me to take a step back from the rockstar life—but he hadn't knocked me down permanently. I would always get back up and fight whatever he tried to do to me. I was tougher than everything that bastard could have ever thrown at me. I'd chosen the stage-name Tank as an inside joke. But it felt right now, in a way it hadn't before.

I was at home. With my band on my stage and my audience cheering me on with excitement.

Milo was right too. They never hated me.

As we hit the last note of the song, letting it sustain over the absolutely wild crowd, I panted with the biggest grin on my face.

I could get used to this feeling again, if I let myself.

Asher slung his guitar down its strap until it was upside-down on his back. I did the same, knowing what was coming. He crushed me into a hug, holding me tight. I ignored the slight stinging in my eyes. I was a damn rockstar—I wasn't going to cry onstage.

"God, I missed you, Tank," he said.

"Missed you too, buddy."

Milo rushed over and hit the hug on my side.

Next thing I knew, David was there too, arms encircling all three of us.

The crowd was still going wild.

When the cheering started to die down, I ran my guitar offstage and went back to my seat. Sam handed me my earplugs first, then my hat and flannel. Thankfully, the people sitting on either side of us respected us enough to leave us alone. And, to their credit, still didn't seem to recognize Sam.

—

Angel

"Tank!" I shouted, running across the backstage area after the concert was over. They held their arms out, letting me slam into them in a hug. "That was incredible!"

They laughed. "Thanks. Glad I could make it in time for Mont Blanc."

Sam chuckled from behind them. "Surprisin'ly, me too," he said softly. "Good reason and good way to come back."

I smiled at him too. "Thanks for accompanying our guitarist here," I teased. "Heaven knows they need it."

Tank glared at me playfully. I beamed.

David pressed a kiss to my head as he passed by. "Don't mind my menace too much, Tank," he remarked. "They do enjoy teasing."

Tank shrugged. "Feels like home, Davey."

That earned them a growl and an eye-roll.

I kept holding onto Tank in a hug. "So! What did you think?"

Tank glanced at where Milo, Asher, and Christian were helping the crew disassemble everything. "I'm gonna be honest, I missed this like hell. I wanna come back."

Asher's head whipped over at those words, smiling.

"I don't know if I'm ready just yet, but if you ever want me back..." They sniffed and wiped a quick, small tear that had escaped their eye. "I thought this was going to be one last show with this band. But I don't know if I'm ready to fully give it up."

"We'd take you back in a heartbeat," Milo said.

"Less!" Asher agreed.

Tank smiled. "When I'm ready, I'll let you know."

Sam kissed the side of their head. "There's my darlin'," he said quietly. "I knew the rockstar was still in there."

They laughed.

—

Tag list: @zozo-01 @thegoldenlittlerose @shellssstuff @darlin-collins @icedunderwaterroom @ajfromabove

#Redacted ASMR #fic #Redacted Audio #Redacted Milo #Redacted Sweetheart #Redacted Asher #Redacted Babe #Redacted David #Redacted Angel #Redacted Darlin' #Redacted Sam #Starlit Fic #*gasp* Starlit is actually writing a little bit again!? #Yeah... I've been blocked for a while...

[fanficwriter101]

Redemption

Pairings: Jey Uso x Reader

Note: I am not new to writing. I have been posting stories on other sites, but this is the first time I’ve posted on here, please don’t judge me too hard. I am still getting used to this place. 😅😅

*************************

“Hey, (Name)” You hear Dom say as he approaches. You were backstage watching Jey’s match against Drew McIntyre. “Hey, Dom” Your eyes never leaving the tv screen as you responded. You knew Dominik feels compelled about being here with you because of the tension going on between you and the Judgement days recently, but that didn’t stop him from checking up on you.

“I just want to know how you’ve been doing, after…You know…” You pressed your lips together and nodded in response as he awkwardly trailed off. You let out a quick sigh before speaking, “I’m fine, thank you”

“You know the guys? They still care about you…I still do-“ He trailed off again. Talking to Dom again after everything feels like it never happened. He sure knows how to make a person feel good, even though technically he should be upset, too.

“Hey, Dom!” You and Dominik turned your heads to follow the direction the voice was coming from, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who it belonged to. Finn Balor and Damien Priest were on their way over to you and Dom as you felt your stomach drop. Although you can imagine what Dominik is feeling after being caught talking to you.

“What are you doing, man? We have to head out there and help Jey Uso in 5 minutes” Finn says. You didn’t look at either of them as Damien stared you down. “Unless (Name) would like to join us instead, it really doesn’t matter to me” You quickly look over at Damien, a little taken back by his suggestion.

“I mean, it would be a good thing for her. She needs to redeem herself after all” Damien shrugged his shoulders as he said. Finn and Dominik both turned their attention towards you, looking for some kind of agreement. You looked away in discomfort. It was hella awkward to say the least, but they aren’t wrong. You weren’t even faithful to them. After Jey Uso left the Bloodline, you wanted to follow in his footsteps and leave the Judgement day, too. That explains why they’ve been in a losing streak lately, all because you were out canoodling with Jey Uso. But here they are, trying to recruit the very man you’ve been trying to run away with.

What makes this so complicated, is the fact that nobody in the Raw brand likes Jey, so he could very well join the Judgement day because of it. But then where would that leave you? You’ve set your mind on leaving the group, but if Jey joins, what was the point of all that talk about wanting to leave the stable? You might as well go out there and redeem yourself right now.

You couldn’t help but to drop your head in disappointment because you don’t have a damn clue on what to do anymore.

“Come on guys, let’s go. We need to head out there” Finn stated, breaking you out of your own thoughts. Damien nodded his head preparing to leave, but Dominik was a little hesitant. He looked back at you wondering what you were planning to do.

“Come on Dom” Damien stopped in his tracks to tap Dominik on the shoulder. “(Name) please consider it” He told her. You look back at him confused as he continued. “About redeeming yourself. Then this will all be over” He gave you a little smile in hopes it convinces you, before walking away. Damien looked back at you for a moment before he too, stepped away.

Now you were alone, lost in your own thoughts again. Until you heard the commentators talking about Jey Uso, which brought your attention back to the tv screen. Drew wasn’t playing around, he was throwing Jey around like some ragged doll which ultimately causes you to stress. However, that stress didn’t last too long after seeing the Judgement day making their way out into the ring.

The three men surrounded Jey, probably trying to convince him to join their stable again with a mix of their support thrown around here and there. You watched on as you noticed Dominik creating a distraction for Jey to get the upper hand. Even though you weren’t sure what was being said in that ring, your heart still sank. Jey wasn’t doing anything to convince you otherwise, he let them do their thing as if the Judgement day has successfully tamed him.

You found yourself looking away, seeing as you couldn’t handle it anymore. The man you have admired and fallen in love with, is now joining the stable you desperately wanted out of.

“Jey…why-“ You were suddenly cut off when you hear a loud pop from the fans, making you turn your attention back to the screen where you witnessed Jey super kicking Finn, Damien and Dominik in the face. You were so shocked you couldn’t wrap your head around it.

“Jey…” A smile creeped up on you without realizing, but it also disappeared just as quick when Drew suddenly kicked Jey in the face, ultimately claiming his win in the process. It was a bad match for Jey, but nothing could compare to what is about to happen to him right now.

The Judgement Day all slid into the ring just as Drew slid out from there, making you panic. Is Drew not going to help? What is going on? You didn’t even think about it too much, you just ran off.

At this point, Jey was getting beat up by three members of the Judgement Day, and there was no sign of reinforcements on Jey’s behalf. Drew was walking down the ramp looking back here and there, but made no effort to intervene.

When your music finally hit, you ran down the ramp with a steel chair in your hand. You passed by Drew, giving him a quick look before focusing your attention back towards the ring where you ended up sliding into. Finn and Dominik were very pleased to see you, as they showcased this through the big smile on their faces, whereas Damien appeared neutral and then there was Jey, who stood there staring at you helplessly.

“Good, you brought a chair” Finn walked over to you and patted your back. “I knew you’d come around, (Name)” Dominik added, he was holding Jey from behind, locking him in place.

Even though Finn and Dominik seemed to be happy, Damien doesn’t seem to feel the same way. “Hold on, guys” He began. You looked over at him as he motioned you to come over. You oblige and slowly made your way past Finn. “I still don’t trust you” He then pointed at Jey. “Hit him with the chair to prove yourself to me”

Jey was staring hard at you. Not that he was scared of being hit by the chair, but being hit by you? Betrayal cuts deeper than any steel chair to the ribs, well, maybe the chair would hurt a little more but the betrayal still definitely hurt.

You turned your head sideways, locking eyes with his gorgeous ones. He was frowning at you at this point, as you prepared yourself to strike.

“What are you waiting for? Do it!” Damien cried.

You ignored his outburst as your eyes lingered off into the lights of the arena, only to look back at Damien before hitting him in the rib with the chair. This prompted a loud pop from the crowd as Damien fell to his knees clutching his body in pain.

Finn ran right over, took your chair away and started scolding you. You didn’t want to hear any of it and swung your hand, slapping him across the face in the process. Earning more cheers from the crowd. Both Dom and Jey watched on in complete shock. He eventually lets go of Jey to confront you but you grabbed his arm and stared straight into his eyes. You opened your mouth and apologized to him before spiraling around, forcing him into an arm bar.

Jey eventually ran over to the both of you to pull you away, while Finn and Damien pulled Dom out of the ring before staring down at you. Damien was making that thumb down sign across his neck, indicating that you were cut from Judgement Day. You merely shrug your shoulder and wave to them goodbye, although it was a little hard to look at Dom, he was one of your bestest friends. But you did what you had to do for your own happiness.

You were so caught up in the moment you didn’t even notice Jey staring at you and calling out your name.

“(Name)?”

You eventually snapped out of it and looked at him. “You aight?” You nodded in response before kissing him, surprising him in the process. But he quickly wrapped his arms around you and kissed back. When you pulled away, he noticed tears in your eyes and questioned you about it.

You lift your arm to move his hand from wiping your tears “I’m fine. I’m just happy you didn’t end up joining them”

Jey gave you a funny look. “Now why would I do that? We had plans to have you drop them so we can be together, remember?”

At this point tears were coming like crazy and you pulled him in for a hug. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that”

“Nah, I’m happy you found the courage to walk away when you had the chance, baby”

#jeysuso #wwe x reader #jey uso x you #romance #the judgement day #wwe raw #dominik mysterio

[crepes-suzette-373]

In chapter 1066, Shaka explained this story about the Void Century. It was a big dramatic reveal scene, and most of the chapter was about Ohara and their research efforts on the Void Century. In the cover, sensei chose to depict a zoomed out view of the Germa castle, with all its "66" banners.

Is this a coincidence or a hint?

Based on the fragmentary snippets that we've heard of Germa's history, it sounded almost like... Germa's destruction is a "smaller scale" version of what happened to the ancient kingdom. They were able to continue to exist somehow, but their history was so obscured that barely anyone know the truth about them.

Even someone like Brook was only able to vaguely know that "they conquered North Blue".

Previously I assumed that World Government destroyed the empire, but I now consider the possibility that the other North Blue kingdoms just allied together to defeat it. A mirror of the Void century history, but localised in the North Blue instead of the whole world.

Judge had said he wanted revenge against the North Blue kings. It would stand to reason that he might have wanted to do that because the other kings banded together to take down Germa 300 years ago.

Germa might have been allowed to continue to exist as a smaller kingdom because WG is not involved in the destruction. They just turned a blind eye towards its destruction.

That being said, though, I have been suspecting for a while that Germa is hiding knowledge related to the old Void Century kingdom.

Germa has been a kingdom of science for generations, but lineage factor and cloning was Vegapunk's discovery. So what was Germa doing before?

Very likely, it's something more similar to what we would call "engineering" in our world. Back in MADS, Judge was seen building that spear that would eventually become his main weapon.

Not to mention that even in the drafts, sensei had planned for Judge to be titled "Earl of Mechanisms". Both of those, plus the snail ships and the raid suits, they all seem to suggest that Germa's main scientific endeavours before were machinery and gadgets.

So, when did Germa develop the snail ships and why? If these were newer, then I would be wondering "What did the Germa kingdom look like before they made the snails? Just normal ships?".

However, if these ships have been around since their land's destruction 300 years ago, then was the Germa empire's eventual goal to conquer the entire world? Why else would they need the snail ships that can climb the Red Line otherwise? Did maybe the old empire had wanted to make All Blue? Perhaps due to their knowledge of the Void Century?

This assuming that All Blue here is not a specific location, but just "the open sea" in general, not blocked by the Red Line.

Something about all this is just so weird.

I had the vague idea that Sanji is going to ironically be the one to "fulfil the goals of the old Germa empire", which was originally not evil whatsoever. I just don't know what the hell that "goal" is. But if their goal was in fact "All Blue", then it's an even more insane irony. It also fits the samurai conspiracy I had (TL;DR, basically "unification").

Another thing related to the machinery.

Is it possible that Germa had been the one to send the ancient robot up to the Red Line? Nobody knew who sent this robot, and it just died midway because it ran out of power.

It's possible that it was done by some other unknown entity. For example, from the same island as Professor Tsukimi who built the small automatons, since that shows that there's someone knowledgeable in robotics. Or maybe the robot just woke up on its own and started moving around. Especially with the revelation in chapter 1111 where it woke up apologising to Joy Boy.

But if Germa is a nation with very advanced ability in mechanics, it could be that they found the ancient robot and reactivated it. They just might not have known how to refuel/charge it up, so it collapsed midway.

It's rather unlikely, but it's not impossible.

This is also somewhat related to how the snail ships were able to climb the Red Line. If the old Germa's ambition was something to do with the Red Line (like, perhaps destroying it), then it's not unreasonable to think that they would try to send this powerful looking robot to do the job.

#one piece #germa kingdom #germa empire #germa 66 #analysis #theory #conspiracy theory #vinsmoke #vinsmoke family

[starpirateee]

Hi! Can I suggest something kinda dumb that's been in my head forever? Pete coming out to Ted as bi and being really nervous, and then Ted's like " oh cool me too. Wait you didn't know that?" And Pete's like "???"

Idk that's just really funny to me lol

First, anon, this idea is anything but dumb! Second, it would be my genuine pleasure! Bisexual brothers for the win tbh 😌

And forgive Pete for not being able to work this out with his incredible logic, it's the tism (and the anxiety) ((see: just like me fr))

"Ted… I've gotta tell you something…" Pete had been holding this back for a month or more, waiting on the right moment to just come out and say it. Part of him didn't even know what he was worried about, Ted had literally never judged him for anything before, why would this be so different? He was one of the most laid back people he knew, but there had to be a line somewhere, right? Maybe this would be the line, maybe Ted wouldn't be cool with it…

He found his brother on the sofa, halfway through some probably shit movie he wasn't even paying attention to. Swallowing back his nerves, he forced himself to breathe and rationalise the situation. No, he was not admitting to having committed a crime. No, he was not about to say he wanted to elope to another country with nothing but a girl and a dream… How bad could it really be?

Ted paused the movie, turned around, and raised an eyebrow. Pete was known for being a nervous wreck; he overthought like the best of them, and he'd set himself into more than enough spirals that were all decently hard to pull him back from. This was another one of those occassions, apparently. He looked tense, and there was something about the way he was avoiding looking at him that made him believe it wasn't just something interesting on the floor. "Uh, okay? What's up?" He asked, preparing himself for some long story that he'd have to deep dive through.

"I- uh…" Pete hesitated, drawing in a breath, and taking Ted up on the offer of the other side of the sofa. Even when he sat down, he was stiff as a board, worried that somehow this would go wrong. Eventually, he just decided to jump into the deep end and see what happened. "Fuck it. I'm… I'm into guys. And girls! Both! I'm… Bisexual. I might get a girlfriend one day, but- uh, maybe not, y'know..?"

It was silent for a few moments. Pete was starting to let those moments bleed out into eternity, thinking it better to absolve himself in the silence. It was better than rejection!

And then Ted hummed, breaking that precious silence like glass. Pete held his breath subtly, kneading his hands against the fabric of his trousers.

"… Cool."

But that wasn't the reaction he was expecting at all.

"Huh? That- that's it..? What, you're just cool with that?"

Just one word. The word 'cool'. He could forgive Ted for being vague at the best of times, but not right now. At least it didn't sound like a bad thing… He had prompted for more, though, and he was hoping that it was going to continue to be a good thing even with that much needed clarification.

Ted scoffed, vaguely amused. "What's your problem, kid? D'you think I was gonna judge you or whatever?"

"Uh… Yeah?"

For some reason, Ted was expecting it to be glaringly obvious that he was on his brother's side here. He thought he made it obvious enough, in any case… "Pete… Jesus…" He tried not to laugh- after all, this was probably serious for Pete, and he'd probably been thinking about how to say that for quite a while, knowing him. "I probably kissed more guys in college than you'll ever even get with. I'm the last person who's gonna judge you for swingin' both ways."

"What?"

"Yeah, man. Kissed 'em, hooked up with 'em… Hell, I even had a half serious relationship in high school with some poor kid, who pretty much had to dig a ditch just to bury his religious guilt. Sure that guy's got a wife now…" He paused, thinking about that. He'd seen him around- he was sure of it, the guy hadn't changed in the slightest- and there was always some woman with him. Well, repression did normally only lead to more repression…

He shrugged, waving a hand dismissively. "Ehh, you get my point. Good for you for working that one out for yourself, I guess, but there's literally nothing to be nervous about… Actually, I can't believe you didn't figure me out a long time ago, you're smart enough."

"You never said anything…"

"Didn't think I had to. People tend to figure that shit out eventually."

The signs were there, weren't they? Sometimes it was in the way Ted talked about his co-workers, or the knowing glances he'd shoot someone from across the way… Pete laughed. All of the signs had been right there the whole time, and here he was thinking Ted was going to judge him for liking guys… It was funny, now he thought about it, and it did make sense. He shook off some of the tension in his shoulders. "How- uh… How'd you figure it out?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"No, go on! I wanna know!"

Ted sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes it was hard for him to admit he was just as nerdy as his brother, once upon a time. He'd strayed so far from that path that nobody would believe him if he told them how he'd chosen to decorate his college dorm, or how much he made from selling his comic collection.

"… It was fucking Knight Rider. Hasselhoff."

Pete blinked. He said nothing for a while, expecting there to be a different answer, but Ted didn't look like he was going to say anything else. "Wait, are you serious?"

"I don't know what you were expecting me to say, honestly… Yeah, my answer is David fucking Hasselhoff. No, I'm not gonna tell you how many times I watched Knight Rider…"

"Oh my god! You're such a fucking nerd!"

#starkid #peter spankoffski #ted spankoffski #nova's tags → #bisexual pete is canon to me. bisexual ted is also canon to me #i cant believe ive never put the two of these things together and had a mutual coming out #thats adorable and also so funny #thanks anon for this absolutely legendary suggestion #the world can pry fruity ted out of my cold dead hands #there is not a single straight man with the surname spankoffski. rules are rules.

[that-ari-blogger]

Chekhov's Gattling Gun, Part 2

Usually, the climax of a story is the climax of someone's life. Right? There will be moments afterwards, but this is the main thing to happen to the protagonist, and they will spend the rest of their time winding down.

And yet, life doesn't work that way. Happily ever after can happen, but its usually more complex. New problems come into being and old ones might fade without every really being addressed. So, what if there was a climax to a story that mirrored this? How would that happen?

It would probably be about how to move forwards. It might suggest that there will be more trouble ahead, you just need to bear this with a smile and move on with your life. Push through to a greater tomorrow.

Maybe the antagonistic force is centred around regression? Maybe they want to preserve the past at any cost, even killing those whom they claim they want to protect.

You might end up with something like The Trial, from Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Stray Gods pays homage to a ton of Ancient Greek stories. The Odyssey is a notable one, as Adrift is a reference to Odysseus and his journey. But this moment is, at least in my eyes, reminiscent of the Orestia.

The Oresteia details the death of Agamemnon after the Iliad (because he was a wanker), and the consequences thereof. You can see the theme of choice and consequences pretty boldly there. The story is named after Orestes, the exiled son (it's complicated) of Agamemnon, and the murder spiral that leads to the invention of the Athenian justice system at the hands of Athena. Overly Sarcastic Productions has a fantastic video on the subject.

In any case, the story's climax decides how Orestes will go forwards, specifically alive, because of a murder he committed in revenge, because its technically a tragedy. This is reflected in Stray Gods, with the climax featuring a trial, with Athena serving as a judge, over a murder that the protagonist "committed".

The difference here is Athena's position in this. Because Calliope was killed on Athena's orders, in an attempt to preserve the past. This is a complete heel face turn from the Oresteia. Now instead of changing the world for the better, Athena is trying to keep it the same. But I would argue this isn't out of character.

There is another theme at work here, and I will get there in a moment.

Before that, however, the callbacks. My favourite is Freddie's moment, because it is Freddie, not Grace, that is Athena's antithesis. Grace falls in the middle of themes, unable to choose, unable to decide. She gets swept up in a murder plot, in which everyone is thinking grand scale, and wrapped in complex relationships with the past and future. Athena wants to control the future to hang on to the past, for example.

And Freddie doesn't care about that. Freddie is there for Grace, that's it, she's concerned with the little things. She believes that life will find a way, and you just have to ride the waves. It is notable that this is a version of the song where you, as Grace, have very little say in the events. Grace has relinquished control and will do as Freddie says. She will make her move, and await the result.

"Only, if only you knew

that you can't force the future"

I also love that little look at Grace as she says that, I take it as acceptance and forgiveness, momentarily, for the revival against her will.

But I also find the wording fascinating. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and yet the response to her is "if only you knew." Wisdom should have gotten her this far, but something is holding her back.

Look at Apollo's body language here. This is the tune of Phantom Pains, a song notable for its deeply morose atmosphere, and now Apollo sings the tune with a bit more oomph, but his posture is... relaxed? He stands there, chest bare, heart open, holding out a hand to Athena.

And look at Athena's response to it. She's expecting a fight, something to stop her. But instead, Apollo is calm, and quiet. He's reassuring in posture, in contrast to what he's saying. Apollo means no harm here, there's a care for the enemy there that I really like.

"You're lost, little boy.

You've lost all perspective

You're ready to throw this away,

You call that wise."

For a woman who's whole thing is reason and debate, Athena's response to Apollo's question is fascinating. She doesn't answer it at all. Apollo asks if she is still a voice of wisdom, and Athena's response is an insult.

I think she knows she's losing it, and like Apollo does earlier in the musical, she is lashing out. "The best defence is a good offence" is a sentiment with debatable success in war, but in conversations like this, it is foolish.

Pan represents living in the moment. He is a smooth talker, here for the dancing type of character. But if you linger around a beach long enough, you will probably get an idea of what the waves are like, and what might happen when the wind changes.

"I'm here for the dance,

But I don't want to dance

with blood on my hands."

Athena is trying to keep everything the same, to crystalise a singular moment in time, and while all the other idols are suffering, so the obviously don't want to stay motionless, Pan is the truest embodiment of what Athena is trying to protect. Athena wants the carefree life of dancing, and that moment personified looks back at her and calls her out for destroying it. The dance isn't fun when people are being killed.

"Lost little girls, they dream up a future.

They're sure how they feel, sure their vision's true"

Who, exactly, is Persephone talking about here? Because it could fit Grace, as a compliment, to say Grace is sure of herself. Or it could be directed at herself and Athena.

Persephone was a character who saw everything as a threat and a weapon to be used against her, she tried to get back a past that was lost. But here is Athena, dressed in armour for a trial, ready to fight at the slightest hint of trouble, trying to hold on to a moment that has long passed, if it ever existed at all.

This reading is made even more apparent by Persephone's words in a different version of the song.

"A great shiny throne, but still in the darkness.

Kill her today, and Athena... that's you too."

The fact that they're standing in front of Hades' empty throne is poignant, because its a symbol of an empty ambition. Persephone has brought Athena to a baren kingdom and effectively said "this is what I wanted, you are the same as me."

I mentioned another theme in effect here, and that would be trauma. Athena has repeatedly taken the fall for the idols, over and over again, for hundreds of years. And she may be an idol, but she is very human. Of course, she is going to slip up from time to time, but she has internalised it in a martyr complex.

When Athena is challenged on her views, the screen goes red to mimic her blind rage in possibly the least subtle metaphor in the entire musical.

I wouldn't exactly call this a cycle of abuse, but it's not spontaneous either. Athena is lashing out at those closest to her, because she is scared, and she can't get through to them. Athena is lost, and the rest of the idols are getting caught in the crossfire of her own mind falling apart on itself.

"This lost little girl,

she's got a few tricks now.

She's taken some punches,

she's made some friends."

Once again, this melody comes back, now accompanied by a drum to hammer home the anger and the betrayal. The power of the muse has always been to empathise, not merely to make people sing. The music is a gimmick, this is what a muse does, and this is why Grace was chosen. Grace takes all of the pain and fear and throws it back at Athena, calling her out for it.

But the repeated wording here is important. Grace knows Athena is lost, and is trying to talk to her, maybe to help her, maybe not. But there is that recognition there. Grace has empathised with Athena, and is weaponizing that.

This is backed up here, in another version of this segment. It's a call back to The Ritual.

"I won't have you dying for me.

That's not how this should work,

I need you to see,

That you're lost in a moment, lost in a song"

I love that Athena is represented in the same way Ares was. All red (Ares had a bit of orange, but you get the point), and where Ares held Aphrodite in his hands, under his control, Athena now holds all of the idols. Their fate is up to her, and they're begging her to not destroy them.

The moments when everyone comforts Grace is cathartic for a number of reasons. First, up, it is a relief from all of the red and horror movie soundtrack of Athena's delusions. But more importantly, this is the moment in which you realise what you have achieved here.

You have saved Aphrodite and Eros from self-destruction. You have brought Asterion and Hecate together. You have made Apollo and Persephone get over themselves. And, maybe, just maybe, you have reconciled with your oldest friend.

You have made everyone in the trial room a better person by your actions, and now they stand up to help her in return. And this fading reveal that they are all still there, still behind Athena is empowering.

It doesn't matter how much the matron of the idols can posture, they have all changed. And now they are offering that aid, that chance to change and be better, to Athena. This is not a story in which everyone gets a good hit in on the villain before they are dramatically killed by the hero or fall from a great hight; this is a story about healing, and it would be callous to not extend that healing to Athena.

I love all the little callbacks in this one scene, the eye is Medusa's thing, the lighthouse for Apollo. I don't need to point them all out. What I want to talk about is the general mis en scene. There is a distinctly storybook aesthetic that these characters are holding onto. In contrast to Athena.

You would think that Athena, the person trying to get back to the past, would be associated with this aesthetic, but no. Athena has been cast out of this idyllic world by her own hand, and everyone else is trying to get her to see that.

"My Olympus is gone,

And you're all looking on,

At a stranger wearing my face.

My Olympus is gone,

now I'm some other one.

Just how long has she been in place?"

This is the Adrift tune again. I think that's so cool. This is Athena in the same place Grace was at the beginning of the musical. She's lost, and she knows it, and she doesn't know what to do.

Athena is in a rut of her own actions, and it's heartbreaking.

Look at the scale of Athena here. She is dwarfed by her own statue, and her own helmet. She is fragile, and small, next to the enormity of her image. And that image is covered in enough blood to drown someone. All of this serves as a fantastic metaphor to show just how crushed Athena is by her own guilt.

"I was wrong and now I don't know what the right thing is.

I leave it up to you what to do with this."

"I forgive you, Athena"

Final Thoughts

Bloody hell, this was long. Thank you for reading this far.

I really love this song, and while I think The Ritual is my favourite, The Trial definitely wins my award for being the most technically impressive, both on a musical level, and on a storytelling and visual level. There is so much cool stuff going on here that I didn't have the brain capacity to talk about in full.

Which brings me to my final thing. I would like to know what you think of Stray Gods, and I would like to create a little collage of opinions other than my own. So, send me a message or comment on this post your analysis, or even reblog this. It could be of a single line, or an entire song, or the entire story. And in two weeks time, when I put up my own final thoughts on the musical as a whole, I will show some other views as well, as a kind of collaborative discussion.

I'm going to be using It's Time to frame my analysis next week, so stick around if that interests you.

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#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...? #greek mythology #stray gods #stray gods the musical #stray gods grace #greddie #grace #stray gods spoilers #stray gods the roleplaying musical #stray gods athena #stray gods the trial #part 2/2

[jooillusion]

I was watching a drunk scene in a movie, and my brain went to you being at a friend's apartment party with Seungmin.

Both of you are way too drunk and decide it would be a good idea to try to soober up in the bathroom. After almost flooding the place, you both end up sitting on the ground with your faces way too close to each other and many hands.

Everything that might happen next will be blamed on the alcohol when the topic of why the bathroom was locked comes up the following morning ✋️

( I'm sorry if this is too specific, I've been thinking about this since I saw the movie, and tipsy seungmin seems to be funny )

drunkfessions with seungmin <3

warnings: alcohol consumption, an unholy amount of cursing, making out, suggestive(?) kinda

pairings: o.de x reader ft. jungsu

don’t be sorry if it was too specific, it helps me think better love :) also what movie was it because now I’m curious!

“dude, trust me I saw it on the internet.” seungmin slurs over his words, the seriousness in his eyes comical. he holds up a shot of sink water way too close to your mouth. your face scrunches up in disgust, pushing away the tiny cup. “cmon, I already took my shot.” he’s pouting now. his voice is loud, booming over the music that plays outside of the door. you don’t even know why you let him drag you to the bathroom, ignoring your instinct to run after he closed the door behind you. he saw you sitting on the couch, head in hands as the headache started to develop in your head. he told you to follow him out of the kindness of his drunk heart.

when your neighbor jungsu invited you to his party, you thought it would only have a few people due to the size of his apartment. oh boy were you wrong. the apartment was crowded with people. you knew he would’ve invited seungmin, which is one of the reasons why you came.

however you were familiar with seungmin but not drunk seungmin. he was sweet, honest, and overall chill. but you should’ve known not to follow him inside of the bathroom judging by the way he downed almost half a bottle of alcohol by himself, his sloppy dance moves that you had to witness due to a sudden dance circle surrounding him, and the way his voice shouted damn near every three minutes to get the party hype. but you can’t turn back the times now that you’re here.

“okay well there’s another method I read.” he says, pushing the pop up drain down to stop further water from entering the drainage underneath. he watches as the water slowly fills up the sink.

“where are you even getting this information from?” you cross your arms and raise an eyebrow.

“you ever heard of reddit?” his attention leaves the running water to turn towards you laughing your ass off. he doesn’t care though, only trying to defend his case. “if you put your head under cold water it help! seriously!”

“you actually believe that shit?” tears of laughter start to prickle at the corners of your eyes. he shoots an offended glare towards you, watching you wipe your tears.

“you’re fucking telling me slenderman didn’t have you shitting your pants when you were at least ten?” though he’s drunk, he’s terrifyingly serious, only making the situation more amusing.

“and who the fuck is that?”

seungmin sighs, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighs. he explains the ridiculous character that sounds made up from his first sentence. you’re biting your lip to keep yourself from laughing, especially when he says that he had to sleep with his mom for days after he found out.

“dude I’m serious! he could still be out here creeping outside this house and we’ll never know…” he puts his arms around his biceps, shivering dramatically. you roll your eyes at his shenanigans, finding him obnoxious but cute at the same time. he’s about to explain another story, but the sound of water dripping onto the floor catches both of yours attention—well yours as seungmin pays it no mind, still trying to get his point across. you’re reacting fast out of panic, grabbing the decorative towels that sit on the counter, pushing seungmin out of the way.

“what the fuck- oh…” his eyes widen at the filled sink and he’s following right behind you quickly. you turn the sink off, trying to clean up the water from the counters so you wouldn’t have to face the guilt destroying somebody else’s belongings. seungmin is trying to be kind enough to help, but the alcohol in his system doesn’t help his situation at all, only making him slip and fall on the small pool of water on the floor. the panic hits harder watching him land on the floor.

“holy shit! are you alright-” and you’re slipping right after him. you try to catch yourself, flailing your arms but it’s no use, bracing yourself for the impact of the hard floor and the embarrassment that’ll definitely creep up when you leave the bathroom.

the floor isn’t what you land on though. a groan is forced out of sengmin’s mouth as your body lands on top of his. and he saw it coming, his arms wrapping around your body in an attempt to catch you, the impact of it all coming down harder than he expected. you’re laying onto his chest, your cheeks burning in embarrassment especially since his arms aren’t unwrapping you. you hear his heartbeat speed up, your head lifting up to meet his eyes. he’s just as affected.

his eyes are too busy admiring you up close, his eyes trailing down to your lips, parted trying to steady your breath. reality hits him when he realizes he’s been staring for too long, almost pushing you off of him when he sits up. you catch your body from being rolled over, sitting up looking at seungmin. you’re unable to tell if the blush on his cheeks are from the alcohol or the moment you two just accidentally shared. the silence in the air is as thick as the tension, seungmin clearing his throat to kill it.

“hey um…I’m sorry if I made y-you uncomfortable,” he awkwardly scratches the back of his head, his eyes meeting yours. “I didn’t want you to hurt yourself y’know?” you’re just watching him speak and he’s waiting from a response from you.

“I was just trying to help you out. If you don’t want to be around me I understan-” you’re cutting him off, finally listening to your instincts to shut him up with a kiss. he’s almost immediately reacting, as if he was waiting for you to shut him up, his hand coming up to your cheek to stroke the soft flesh. the alcohol in your system only encourages you to be bolder, straddling his hips.

“you talk too damn much.” you say between kisses. his lips curve into a smile, his hands pulling the jacket off of his shoulders and tossing it next to him. he pulls away once the air starts to give out. you reach up behind him to twist the lock on the door, placing your index fingers between your lips and signaling him to be quiet.

he nods and immediately dives back into your lips. you’re getting bolder by the second, tongue sliding between his lips and licking inside of his mouth. seungmin is not complaining at all though, being just as hungry as you as the kiss turns sloppy, his warm hands running underneath your shirt to massage your hips. you’re both too far gone and too busy with each others lips, the party long forgotten.

the sound of knocks on your door pull you away from your sleep. you figured that you’d ignore it, but it becomes too annoying when the person seems to not give up until you answered. you sigh out of frustration, walking to the door and being greeted by jungsu with an equally sleepy seungmin next to him.

“the fuck do you want?”

“well good morning to you too, sleeping beauty.” jungsu laughs, his grip on seungmin’s arm signals that he dragged him here out of his sleep. “care to explain why you two disappeared for a while,”

your eyes suddenly widen. seungmin looks at you with the same look. the thoughts of yesterday slowly started to make their way back into your mind. you both look like your hands were caught in the cookie jar and you’re eyeing jungsu, your mouth ready to come up with an excuse but his mouth speaks faster than yours.

“and why my bathroom door was fucking locked for almost an hour? and I know it wasn’t because of reddit.”

I’m not sure if I did this correctly but I wrote this within two hours before work so sorry if this feels rushed </3

please remember that this is a pure work of fiction.

#xdh hard hours #xdh imagines #xdh smut #xdh x reader #xdinary heroes hard hours #xdinary heroes hard thoughts #xdinary heroes imagines #xdinary heroes smut #o.de x reader #o.de smut #love mail ୨୧

[acourtofthought]

Nesta slammed into Lucien, grabbing Elain from his arms, and screamed at him as he fell back, “Get off her!”

Nesta, however, whirled on him. “She is no such thing,” she said, and shoved him again.

“If you bring that male anywhere near her, I’ll—”

I gripped Nesta’s arm to keep her still

Nesta bristled, teeth flashing. I gripped her harder, and threw a new wall of air around us—holding her there.

My eldest sister merely said to him, “Get out.”

“Well, find one and leave.”

“We’ll judge what she needs.”

Nesta snarled, “Don’t you even attempt—”

“What did you do.” The words were as sharp as a blade. Elain sidled toward Nesta, who seemed to be at a near-simmer

Rhys, Amren and Cassian are the three characters in the series who seem to have a good grasp of who Elain is underneath her reserved demeanor. Feyre and Nesta's judgement is clouded because of the years they spent protecting her but outsiders usually have a less biased opinion.

Rhys tells us that a part of Elain's personality seems to be fear of letting her sisters down so she doesn't make waves. She stays quiet, fades into the background, and avoids things that would upset others (another reason I think her "claiming" she belongs in the NC doesn't carry much weight). No, Feyre and Rhys weren't specifically talking about Lucien at that moment but if it's a personality trait that someone has, it usually applies to all areas of someone's life. Not to mention that conversation quickly turns to Feyre thinking about Elain and Lucien.

I think Elain has a million emotions going through her head when it comes to Lucien but is it any surprise that when Nesta was so very Anti Lucien for many books, Elain never let on what she might have been feeling for him? The majority of their interactions involved the sisters hovering, monitoring, limiting Lucien and Elain's interactions so even when they had a moment to themselves, it was probably awkward because they were so use to someone dictating how they were to behave.

Feyre wasn't quite as bad as Nesta however she too dictated when and where and how and often looked to Azriel and Cassian to help Elain rather than look to Elain's actual Mate. Cassian and Az helped Elain because they knew it's what Feyre would have wanted. Lucien wanted to help Elain because it's what he wanted instinctively. Feyre all but threw Az in Elains direction in ACOWAR.

There has been a shift though. In ACOFAS, Feyre started suggesting Elain consider getting to know Lucien and stopped thinking about Az and Elain together (though Nesta still hadn't come around). And by the end of SF, Nesta finally seemed to letting her guard down when it came to Lucien, even striking up a conversation with him at Solstice. In the Feysand Bonus Chapter, Feyre also had the thought that if Elain had been using the gloves Lucien gave her, she wouldn't have gotten her hands cut up. I always wonder why so little attention is paid to this line. The Az POV is always the focus but Feyre mentioning the gift Elain's Mate got her a year ago in her Bonus Chapter isn't nothing.

I'll always wonder what Elain and Lucien's current relationship would have looked like had the others not meddled in it so much but, the fact that as of SF we now have both Feyre and Nesta accepting of Lucien is a major hint for an Elucien endgame. I think we'll finally see Elain begin to face the complicated feelings she has for her Mate and now, the focus will be on her emotions and hers alone. Not worrying about how Feyre or Nesta feel about him frees her up to focus on only her thoughts on the matter.

(post created after an ask from @lloorryy 😊)

#pro elucien #elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #elain x lucien #lucien and elain #elain and lucien #lucien x elain #nesta archeron #feyre archeron #acosf bonus chapter #pro lucien vanserra

[twistedisciple]

Few could mistake the appearance of a Hound or ignore the corner he claimed. Where others carried themselves wary and on edge, a certain Fell Dragon seemed all too pleased with this new arrival. Though it would be remiss to call Griss a perfectly kindred spirit, both were given a wide berth by the tent's inhabitants, and that berth grew wider still as the dragon approached him. 

“So you have finally made your way here, Griss. You did well to last as long as you have, though I admit it is somewhat of a shame.” He looked at him steadily, a face entirely wiped of enmity, only rapt attention. Amicable? Threatening? That was for Griss to judge. “Had you spelled allegiance to a different house, I would have enjoyed the chance to defeat you myself.” 

Rafal smirked, cocky and assured. Pointedly omitting the early circumstance of his own defeat. That failed to be the crux of the next matter and, after expressing his unique greetings, a spell of quietude wormed itself between them owed predominantly to himself deep in thought. A longer moment than anticipated.

“. . .On the way here, I was approached by a foul woman.” 

An understatement, an offender of discretion lacking clear identity markers at that. Even as he did it, he did not know why he tested Griss, or realize that he watched his reaction with every syllable. The other's name had surfaced, as had his part played in the intelligence thrown around of Rafal that few others could know. But still it was not tantamount to hurt; still it was not betrayal. Even if he would not ever lay claim to the term, the Fell Dragon possessed no right to brandish it between them.

Betrayal, after all, was a crime only between friends. Not a lord and a knight from two different worlds playing at patchwork fealty.

“A Mage Dragon by all appearances, she spoke of both you and I with special awareness,” he finished evenly, pivoting on his heel. Both dragon and topic to dissolve on an air of enigma. “I only thought you should know.” 

“There you are, L—“ Griss clamped his mouth shut, teeth snapping down on his tongue (unintentional and not sharp enough to draw blood, but a pleasure-punishment for speaking out of turn anyway), although his lips still formed their smile. Like Zephia, Lord Rafal had come with his own agenda, his own questions, and his own evaluation of his performance, so the Hound swung his legs over the edge of the cot and offered his full attention like the very beast that gave him his name. For now, he detected nothing in the dragon’s face that suggested he’d come for anything but the follow-up for a job - and one that Griss had done exactly as it’d been given to him: make it to the next round. No more, no less.

As Lord Rafal spoke, Griss’ attentive eyes remained fixed on his face even as the rest of him swayed a little side to side to satisfy his need for constant motion. Some mute unconscious thing could read the lines and shadows there, but it was quiet, easily drowned by an epiphany the dragon gave him instead. He stopped abruptly, eyelids flaring.

“What?” It had never occurred to him that he could have picked a different house. “You coulda said that earlier!” He clasped the thin edge of the cot and leaned forward eagerly. With the sliver of uncertain tension broken, the two of them now smiling in their own ways, they almost looked like everyone else in the medical tent. Friends seeking out the company of friends, sharing the tales of their conquests and defeats between spells of laughter.

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna make me wait ‘til next year… What do I gotta do to feel your axe arm?”

He knew, even as he went on with his theatrics, groaning and sighing and complaining about his missed opportunity, that he’d picked the Black Eagles because of Zephia. And he’d promised he’d never leave her side, no matter what. Maybe if he was a different person, he would have thought he might have a chance to convince her to support a different one next year. But he wasn’t, and he didn’t. It was no source of regret, no source of resentment; it was simply what it was.

Even when Griss had little reason to bring her into the conversation, she appeared anyway - conjured by Lord Rafal, instead. Mention of a ‘foul woman’ had settled him back down, and he cocked his head to the side with real and obvious confusion, even though his intuition had grasped the connection between Zephia’s meeting with him earlier and this one, and stuck him like a pin. Then Lord Rafal identified her as a mage dragon and all but drove it home. Griss stiffened with the realization, just slightly, because he’d seen Lady Veyle’s face in this fair-haired child of Lord Sombron, and he didn’t like it.

“Wonder what she did to ruffle you,” Griss muttered, still staring up at him, glazed eyes unblinking, still wearing his half-formed smile. “And why’re you telling me? You want me to do something about it?”

#rafent #toaboel2024 #// I needed to get an idea of what zephia was going to tell griss in their other post-boel interaction before writing this one #// this is the gradlon equivalent of meeting someone’s parents #boel mini: rafal