#so far one of the biggest problems I’ve been having is

[cheonstapes]

miguel o’hara stars in… ‘SUGAR BABY CHRONICLES’ ヽ(´o｀；

･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡. miguel o’hara x fem!reader .｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･

SMUT

REQUEST from my lovely @miguelzslvtz; So I was thinking of an older!Sugar daddy Miguel x reader. The reader is working at small country club and Miguel noticed her. She’s serving him drinks, and taking care of him. He tells her she’s too good to be working there and introduced the idea of being her sugar daddy (basically some arm candy). He invites her over to his mansion for a party and she’s dressed up for him🫶🏻 all night she’s being looked at by other men and woman, he’s being very protective of her. He loves on her all night and makes sure she’s taken care of💗💗spoiled✨

cw; older!miguel, slight age gap (reader is in early 20s, miguel is in early 30s), cumming inside, slight breeding(not really, i just have a problem), sugardaddy!miguel, readers a little bit of a tsundere kinda, miguel’s really in love, cunnilings, shower sex, hair pulling, NAWT PROOFREAD!!

4k+ words (longest fic omg!!)

@cheonstapes; hi again…🤗 these hiatuses are killing me. i’ve been absolutely swamped and i lost so much motivation to write but im glad to say i think i’ve found my footing. i found myself again and i’ll work on balancing everything from now on! i apologise for the mammoth amount of time it took me to do this (this is what i get for working chronologically) and i have not forgotten about your requests if you sent one! pyramids and project ex will still be coming but i want to make sure requests are out of the way as they’ve been there for months and it’s not fair for the lovely people who’ve waited so long. thanks again! i love you all🩷

you loved your job, you really did.

not many people can say that genuinely, but when you’re getting the tips you’re getting, seeing the men you’re seeing, you definitely don’t wanna leave anytime soon. working at such an elite club meant you were among the rich of the rich — the big shots of the city that wouldn’t be caught anywhere else.

at the very least, the uniform was modest enough — obviously though, there would always be a few buttons left undone on your shirt, your skirt pulled up just that little bit higher. that window of flesh, no matter how small, was a guaranteed extra thousand in your pocket by the end of the night — and that wasn’t even counting him.

mr. o’hara. that’s all you knew him by. the man was overtly secretive, often arriving alone or occasionally with a very small group of associates. he was by far your biggest tipper. at times, you wondered if he owned the club due to the pure influence he has on your boss — somehow, much to your excitement, convincing him to bump your pay-check up by a lofty sum. the amount of money you make could send you into an early retirement, but of course you wouldn’t do that. it meant you wouldn’t get to learn more about him, and you needed to learn more about him.

summer was always the busiest, the great weather meaning there was more members than usual coming out to play. although, running around and serving for 9 hours a day was extremely tiring — gruelling even. there was sweat dripping down your face, your black dress feeling like a leather coat with the way it clung to you like second skin.

one last drink. you had one last drink to serve and then you could go on your break. double checking the table number, your eyes widened slightly as you saw him. mr. o’hara was not a small man by any means — the bulging muscles tucked away under his tight dress shirt, shoulders almost akin in length with the table. to put it simply, he was the epitome of sexy. you were barely at his table and you could smell him already, the masculine musk of his oud creating a musky, rose scented bubble that ensnared all your senses.

“‘s that for me, sweetheart?”

yes, yes it was. but he really wanted to hear you say it. your voice was such a sweet caress to his ear — he could guarantee an angel got its wings every time you spoke. miguel usually prides himself on being in control of his emotions, his body — but having a pretty, little thing like you just within his grasp was the ultimate challenge of restraint.

the man felt absolutely helpless, his heart pounding in his chest like a hormonal teenage boy when you placed the drink in front of him. “you know it, mr. o’hara — you order the same thing everyday.” fuck. the sip he was having was definitely becoming more than a sip the longer he held the cup to his mouth — chub twitching against the fabric of his slacks.

you were just the sweetest little thing — much more enthusiastic than the other girls that worked there. he might be just imagining it too, but he can feel deep in his heart that you dress up just for him. miguel knows you want him, and he’s more than happy to give himself to you.

“you know me better than i know myself, dulzura. almost like you’re keeping tabs on me, hm?”

“i mean, yeah, i kinda am. it’s my job, mr. o’hara. you’re one of our most frequent regulars, it’d be crazy if i couldn’t tell you your order ‘fore you give it to me.”

oh…yeah.

in miguel’s defence, it’s been a while….a long while since he last flirted — and having an 8-year-old daughter who’s judging your every move means there’s not a lot of time to work on your game. but he’d be damned if he lost an angel like you, he will be yours. plus, gabi does need a woman like you in her life too.

“do you enjoy it, though? your job, I mean — not keeping tabs on me.”

“you probably won’t believe this, but i actually do. the pay’s good, at least, and i can afford to pay my bills, uni, and still have fun. i’m kinda lucky, i guess.”

“you wouldn’t have to worry about that with me, nena.”

miguel knew he was probably breaking some sorta rule, flirting with staff or whatever — but god you were worth it. if being able to take you home meant that he would never set foot in the club again, then so be it.

“sorry, what was that, sir?”

“…quit your job — not in a ‘you’re bad at your job way’ — i’ll take care of you. i can give you everything, anything you want.”

you couldn’t say you were surprised, especially with the nature of your job — old men say stuff like this to you all the time. but, miguel wasn’t any old man. as much as you loved your job, had a stable income and good connections — the thought of quitting and running away with a man like him? fuck, it was so tempting.

“alright then. i hope you live up to those words, mr. o’hara.”

———————————————————————————

mr o’hara (sugardaddy?)

i’m throwing an event at work tonight, i want you to be there.

sent 16:42

(y.n)

hi, mr o’hara. i’d love to but i finish work at 7,i don’t know if i’ll be able to make it. and i don’t really have anything to wear :(

sent 16:50

mr. o’hara (sugardaddy?)

don’t worry about it, gorgeous. i’ve already got you off work for the rest of the week, and i’ve got you something nice to wear.

sent 16:50

(y.n)

oh, really? well, i guess i’ll see you there then! ;)

sent 16:56

mr. sugardaddy

mmhm, i can’t wait to see you, babe. and call me miguel.

sent 16:56

———————————————————————————

miguel had promptly sent his driver to pick you up in a sleek black sports car, much to the dismay of your co-workers. a beautifully wrapped box was placed on the seat beside you, a bouquet of orchids and a small note that read ‘for you, las flores más bonitas para la chica más guapa - m’

it was hard to not feel a tinge if heat was rising in your face, for someone whom you’re only just getting to know to be so utterly romantic — it was a new experience! relationships had never been something you were particularly interested in, but there was no denying the allure that someone like miguel held and only time could tell how it would all play out.

arriving at his mansion, which was nothing short of jaw dropping — the halls were mostly desolate aside from the quite bustle of the staff that were preparing for tonight’s ball. an elderly woman escorts you upstairs to the master bedroom, your eyes roaming the area as you take in the grandeur of the building — aged walls paired with a modern nueva york touch.

“where’s mr. o— miguel?” the woman turns to you, an indecipherable smile on her lips.

“mr. o’hara is just getting prepared for the ball. don’t fret over him, he’ll join you shortly.” well, it was a bit rude to invite someone over and not be there to greet them but ok! “ah, i forgot to mention,” she opens the door, stepping aside to let you in. “i left you a little something on the dresser. i believe you both’ll be needing it.” the woman winks, silently closing the door behind her — leaving you alone in the large room.

god, even the room smelt like him. a musky wood and cinnamon smell, with the faintest hint of vanilla from the candle burning by the window sill. it wasn’t everyday you were in the presence of such luxury, especially old money luxury. your eyes flitted over to the dresser the woman was referring to, that sneaky grandma.

a box of xl condoms, birth control, towels, all wrapped in a cute gift basket. “seriously? who does she think i am? i’m not fucking on the first date.” wait— was this a date? it definitely felt like one, but it was hard to be 100% sure. this was too much to deal with now, all that was left to worry about was the ball and getting ready.

on the bed behind you lay a beautifully wrapped box, with a red ribbon to top it off. it fell gracefully onto the bedsheets as you unwrapped it, lifting the lid to reveal the shimmering red dress underneath. a sleeveless satin dress, fabric lined with the finest crystals, a slit raising mid thigh, lined a sheer lace. it was the definition of classy, with a hint of seduction.

putting it on felt like a crime, something so beautifully should be preserved and put into a museum. it took all of your willpower to not tuck the dress away somewhere safe and just go and get one of your own — but alas, it was a gift, the least you could do is wear it. the craziest part was how perfect it fit. practically a glove, clinging onto every curve and crevice of your body — extenuating places you never even noticed before.

smoothing out the wrinkles, making sure it was as perfect as possible — fuck, you looked hot. the colour complimented your skin exquisitely, adding a soft glow to your complexion. in the time it took you to get ready, it seemed like the party was already amping up. you could see the surge of people from the window, flashing lights and an abundance of cars being handed to the concierges. you still had yet to see miguel and what better time to look for him than now?

there was a pair of red heels that matched the dress to a T, slipping them on and bouncing down the steps. the butterflies fluttered wildly in your tummy the nearer you got to the party, joining the line of people being checked in by security. though, from the corner of your eye, you catch sight of him. standing there in all his 6’ glory, curls lightly slicked back, wearing a tight button up shirt and those sexy slacks.

something about seeing miguel like this, so carefree and relaxed, set something off inside of you. even though you were supposed to be his guest, you did everything in your power to avoid his gaze — purely cause you don’t think you’d be able to maintain eye contact him for longer than a few minutes without jumping his bones. but of course, fate was destiny’s whore, and soon enough you were being escorted straight into the ballroom.

“were you avoiding me, cielo?”

a hand splayed across your waist, leading you deeper inside the hall as he whispered in your ear. it was obviously due to the fact that you probably couldn’t hear him all too well because to the loud music, but the way his hands caressed your sides, his lips brushing against the lobe of your ear — it felt all too intentional.

“no…i just didn’t want to cut in line. i figured i’d see you when i see you.”

“is that so?” he slid a champagne flute in your hands, grabbing one of his own as he tilted his head at you — a stray curl unfurling down his forehead. “you’re like an open book, cariño. you think i don’t know what’s going on in that pretty little head by now?”

“so you’ve been studying me, hm?” now it was your turn to raise a brow, tilting your head back as you took a long sip of your champagne. it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he had been, it was kinda obvious from all the stares he’d give you and when he’d ‘enquire’ about you from your colleagues.

“mmm, studying’s a strong word. i was simply…observing you. can’t blame me for wanting to know someone as enchanting as you better.”

he had quite the mouth on him, didn’t he? you couldn’t stop the small smile that graces your lips, shaking your head in disbelief.

“you’re so stupid, miguel.”

“if falling for you is stupid, then i’m the dumbest of them all.”

it was so bad, so bad that it was actually good. and that comment shaped the rest of your night together. considering your new arrangement, he took the liberty of introducing you to his circle of friends and their wives — conveniently leaving out that he was your new sugar daddy, but that was a story for another day. miguel revelled in the looks they all gave you, seemingly forgetting they themselves had a date nestled on their arms. he really couldn’t have picked a better dress, but damn if it wasn’t killing him.

you really didn’t know how beautiful you were, and he so badly wanted to show you. the dim lighting was a blessing for the tent in his slacks, giving him a flimsy disguise for the arousal he felt at that moment. after more than a few drinks too, wandering hands and lingering words, it was becoming unbearable. however, scaring you off wasn’t on his bucket list tonight. he didn’t take this long fighting for your attention to loose you on the first date. he vowed to do everything at your pace, leaving it up to you to make the first move.

as the party wrapped up, and miguel said his goodbyes — you stood at the door, shivering from the cold air as it nipped against your bare arms. the fun you had was incomparable to any party you’ve ever been to, but you thought you may have overstayed your welcome. shakily tapping on your phone with freezing fingers, ordering an uber to pick you up —

“leaving already?”

“yeah, i had a lot of fun tonight, though.” it was a genuine smile, one that spoke a million words. “thanks for inviting me, miguel.”

for a man so big he sure did move so silently. he stood behind you, gently grasping your hand in his as she looked down on you. “when i invited you, i didn’t invite you as a mere guest — you’re more than welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

it didn’t even sound like he was simply offering, miguel was begging. you could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice — urging you to stay the night, stay with him.

“miguel, are you sure? i don’t even have anything to change—“

“i’ve already organised sleepwear for you, but you could wear something of mine if you’d like?”

that sly smirk slid its way onto his face once again, rolling your eyes as you walked past him — pulling out your phone to cancel the uber. “fine, i’ll stay. i might take you up on that offer too.”

lo and behold, an array of skincare and pyjamas were set out on his bed as you entered the master bedroom once again — and to top it off, gift bags filled with designer items that you’d never thought you’d ever own. “miguel…is this all for me?”

“unless i have another sugar baby, who else would it be for? ‘course it’s for you, darling — consider it a…’welcome’ gift.”

“more like my entire tuition fee, hell. you didn’t have to spend all this money on me, y’know?”

“cariño,” you could see miguel walking up to him from the mirror in front, his arm slipping round your waist to pull you into his back. “i spend my money how i want, and i want to spend it on you. so i don’t want to hear no more complaining from you, understand.” the small nod you gave earned a small grin from him, a hand smoothing up the curve of your back until it reached the shimmering zipper under your neck.

“you look like a goddess tonight, baby. so fucking beautiful…” his words were whispered softly into your neck, gentle breaths caressing your skin. as he spoke, the zipper slid lower and lower — until your dress was held together by the tips of his fingers. the cold metal of his rings brushed against your bare skin, the tips of his fingers dancing on the curve of your waist as he lets the fabric pool at your feet.

“m-miguel, i’m sweaty from all the dancing! at least let me wash up first, or something.” if you weren’t sweating much then, you were definitely sweating buckets now. the heat radiating from you mixed with the heat simmering between the two of you made for a heady cocktail of unspoken desire — and you silently cursing yourself for almost breaking the number one rule: ‘don’t fuck on the first date.’

“we can use my shower then, it’s large enough for the both of us.” we? oh, you’re definitely breaking that rule now. “i didn’t say this was gonna be a joint effort, did i? i can wash myself, miguel.” you weren’t even convincing yourself with the breathy way you spoke, the way he was caressing you, the pure adoration in his voice was something you haven’t felt before. plus, this is the guy who’s willingly paying you to simply be around him — it’s a win-win situation.

“i know you can, baby —“ letting out a deep chuckle, miguel intertwined your hands and lead you towards the bathroom — “but it’s more fun with two, no?” the gentle pitter-patter of the waterfall shower reverberated through the silence of the room, the sound of fabric rustling followed shortly after. glancing down at your feet, miguel’s clothing was promptly discarded — your widened eyes trailing up his hefty frame.

“fucking christ…”

the man in front of you was nothing short of absolutely beautiful. despite spending everyday surrounded by older men, you never found yourself truly attracted to them until now — or maybe it was simply just miguel himself. “i thought you wanted to take a shower, muñeca?” oh, yeah, the shower. before you could even finish your thought, miguel was already occupying half of the space in there, leaving a small pocket for you to slide into.

the expeditious beating of your heart was muffled by the steady stream of water, but it was more than clear to miguel what you were feeling in that moment. the moment was strangely intimate, and dare i say innocent, for the predicament you found yourself in. his hands gently roamed your skin, barely making contact with any sensitive areas aside from fleeting brushes. he made a point to use his hands instead of a rag, claiming he could ‘clean you better than a flimsy cloth’.

it was truly getting unbearable, utterly frustrating. your subconscious and ovaries were in an intense battle of wits, when a third party made itself known in the worst way possible. you really had forgotten that miguel was as naked as you were until you felt the base of his cock slide between your ass cheeks, chest flush against his back. the slightest hitch of your already shaky breath earned another rich laugh from within him, thick fingers playing with the skin of your tummy.

“you feeling cleaner or what? i’m more than happy to keep going if you are, baby.”

of course you wanted him to keep going! you were already as wet as is, in every way possible. “i..i think you might’ve missed a spot.” the hand on your tummy paused, his breath hitting your ear as he bent down slightly. “i did? i like to consider myself very thorough, cariño — enlighten me.” you did your best to turn with the small space you had, looking up at him with a more confident expression than the one you wore previously.

“here.”

now it was miguel’s turn to be surprised, the tip of his finger brushing against your swollen clit before tapping against your slit. it had been so long since you had a real good fuck, and right now you were genuinely about to give this man some babies if he kept on smiling like that. “mm, looks like i did. forgive me for being so careless. i’ll make sure she gets extra attention.” his words trailed off as he sunk to his knees, the gentle spray of water splattering against his face.

he tapped your ass, lifting you up with one hand as he pressed you against the cool glass, legs resting on his shoulders. his pretty lashes were dusted with droplets of water as he gazed at you from between your thighs, nipping and sucking on the sensitive skin as he kneaded your skin gently. his thick tongue was enough to completely spread you open, eagerly collecting your creamy essence.

miguel was moaning like a pure slut, you would think he got more pleasure in eating you out than you did. his eyes were rolled back, hips absentmindedly bucking to the rhythm of the shower as he sucked on your clit. the position was not uncomfortable by any means, but the unadulterated pleasure you were feeling made it hard to stay upright — nails raking down the expensive marble tiles as you practically grasped for straws.

“grab my hair, darling. i don’t want you to fall.”

whilst his words were slightly muffled, the undeniable concern in his voice had you moaning embarrassingly loud. miguel was clearly strong enough to hold you up all alone, so you surrendered the grip you had on the wall to rake your trembling fingers through his hair — tugging on the curly strands.

“nngh..fuck..”

he fucking whimpered. miguel o’hara, the richest and most powerful man in this city, was shamelessly whimpering between your thighs. that was certainly the biggest ego boost ever, the fact that it’s your pussy that has this huge man so drunk. pushing out your hips, you practically smothered his face — riding him mid-air as you felt the delicious sensations bubbling up inside of your stomach. breathless chants of his name left your lips, panting softly as your head fell back against the panels.

“c-cumming! ugh— fuck, miguel!

the jerks of your body made miguel grip your ass tightly, licking his lips of your release as he shuffled upwards, grinning down at your disheveled form. “you’re breathtaking when you cum for me, beautiful. can’t believe you’re all mine.” he whispered against your lips, forehead to forehead as he kissed you for the first time. it felt like a million tiny fireworks going off inside of you, the previous tension in your body instantly melting away as you leaned into his touch — tongue’s pressing against each other as drooled slipped down your necks.

he kept his mouth latched onto yours as he gripped his leaking cock, dipping the pearly tip inside of your sensitive hole. his movements were unhurried, sloppily kissing you as he dipped in-and-out, in-and-out. it was a steady pace that you soon found yourself liking more than usual, a stark contrast to the inexperienced fucking’s you were getting before. “inside, please…i wanna feel you, all of you.”

you were too dangerous for this old man’s heart. having a pretty little thing like you beg for him to fuck you like you deserved, to mold that sweet cunt into the shape of his cock — it was all too tempting. he was more than willing to do anything his sweet baby asked him to, and he wasted no time in giving in to you. “shit, cielo, no one’s ever fucked you right, huh? she’s gripping onto me like a vice.”

he was right, in every sense of the word. you didn’t know how many partners he had before you, and really didn’t want to find out — but one thing was for sure, miguel knew exactly how to please you. your head fell against his chest, his hand lifting it up by your chin as he pumped into you. “tell me, dulzura, i’m the only one that’s made you feel like this? only man to fuck this perfect pussy right?”

he took the tiny nods and breathy whimpers as a yes, grinning like a madman as he revealed in the satisfaction of ruining you for anyone else — not like he was gonna let you go in the first place. his pace picked up vigorously, finding the perfect balance between pounding into your sore cunt and softly rutting against your ass. the skin where you both combined was tinged red, the on-going waterfall above unable to fully wash away the evidence of your cream on his pelvis.

“only you, miguel — no one…no one’s better than you. i’m yours, daddy.”

those words, hushed and warm, pushed his already inflated ego to the edge. his hips bucked widly, prodding at the spongy spot inside of you as she pressed his lips against yours once more. all sounds were trapped between your connected lips, muffling the choked squeal that left your lips and the guttural groan that left his as he came deep inside you. he did promise to clean you extra throughly, and what better way to do that than flushing out your canal with his cum!

he lazily rolled his hips against yours, ignoring the sticky liquid bubbling on the side of his spent cock. “did so well for me, my beautiful princess. i’m so proud of you.” the fluttering of your heart made you instinctively turn away, cheeks flaring with heat as you pouted — you really can’t believe you fucked on the first bloody date. your little tough act didn’t fool miguel, in fact it fuelled him even more. he continued to praise your very essence, worshiping the ground you walk on despite your protests — smiling softly as he sees your fierce resolve weaken. “there she is, you ready to let me love on you now?”

“yeah, yeah. but first, we need an actual shower. no fucking this time.”

“no promises.”

this was the last place you saw yourself in life, but maybe being in miguel’s arms were where you were supposed to be.

- thank you for waiting and make sure to watch ateez at coachella!!!!!

#cheonstapes #cheonstapes films!🪷 #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o'hara #miguel o’hara smut #miguel x reader #miguel smut #miguel o'hara headcanons #astv miguel #miguel ohara x reader #miguel ohara fanfiction #miguel ohara smut #miguel fanfic

[punkshort]

i’m the anon who asked about the request! if you decide to do it, i’d absolutely wait forever😂 it’s very angsty tho, so the idea was for outbreak joel who doesn’t get the happy ending. reader who was head over heels in love coping with his death, maybe flashbacks to show the moments of reader seeing him die? idkidk the idea is very vague, sorry if it’s too sad!! if so maybe reader seeing him die was just a terrible nightmare & he’s there waking them up & helping them through a meltdown?

i’ve been craving for some emotional torture for wtv reason😭😭 thank you for even considering requests!🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

Thank you for this request! It's my first one, so I hope you enjoy it. Also, I had to take the out you gave me and make this a nightmare because I am a big ol' softie and I won't apologize for it, but I will apologize for taking so long to write it 😂

I hate when you're right

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Summary: After a heated argument with Joel, you finally convince him into leaving Jackson so you could explore a store for new clothes, and what happens could change your life forever.

Warnings: major character (Joel) death - but it is just a nightmare - don't read if you think that will still upset you, angst, language, violence, descriptions of blood/gore/death scene

WC: 2.5K

dividers by the one and only @saradika-graphics

You knew it was childish. You knew it wasn't essential. But you also desperately wanted to feel more comfortable, and was that really such a crime? To want to feel like yourself again? To want to wear clothes that you liked? That fit you properly? Jackson was well stocked with essentials, clothes included, but the clothes the men picked up on patrol were... utilitarian, to say the least. They grabbed the biggest and the warmest clothes so that it afforded more people the opportunity to use them, but you were beginning to grow tired of tucking men's oversized shirts into your pants, the material bunching up at your waist and twisting around as you walked, constantly trying and failing to feel comfortable in your own skin.

You thought Joel would be more open to the idea of heading outside the walls on your day off. You even teased him with the promise of picking up some new underwear, but he didn't fall for it. He fought you tooth and nail the whole evening, his voice lifting over yours angrily to explain how there's been an influx of raiders the past few weeks, that everyone agreed to lay low until they passed through, not wanting to draw attention or pick any unwanted fights. But you persisted. You always did, and you eventually wore him down when you threatened to leave without him.

Why was it such a crime to want to feel comfortable? It was just two people, you could lay low and go unseen, no problem. You've done it countless times before.

You had hoped he would have gotten over it by morning, but you were wrong. He hardly made eye contact with you during breakfast, skirting expertly around you in your kitchen, mumbling under his breath as he sipped his coffee and only shooting you angry looks when your back was turned.

The air was crisp and the woods were peaceful. You thought that would surely turn his mood around. He always appreciated being out with nature, living off the land. As much as he loved living in Jackson, he couldn't deny that part of himself that felt useful, that felt a sense of accomplishment by surviving out in the wild.

"C'mon, are you really gonna act like this all day?" you teased as you held up another shirt against your body before determining it was the right size and then tossed it in a pile with the others.

He was standing at the storefront window with his arms crossed and his jaw clenched. "Don't know what you mean."

You rolled your eyes and looked around the store, spotting a table of underwear with a grin. You lightly skipped over and tossed to the side the pairs that looked far too dusty so you could look at the ones underneath. Clearing your throat, you held up a pair of bright red stain underwear. He turned around and you saw it: it was fast, he hid it well, but you still saw it. That all too familiar excited look in his eye.

"Don't you like them?" you asked with a playful pout. He furrowed his brow at you like he was annoyed, and maybe he was, but you still saw the heat beginning to crawl up his neck.

"They ain't practical."

You gave him a defeated sigh and strolled over to your pile of clothes, your fingertips daintily holding the undergarment out to him. "No? Then what are they?"

His eyes shifted from yours to the red material in your hand and you saw his throat work as he swallowed.

"Useless," he croaked, and you narrowed your eyes at him. You got a little closer, letting the soft fabric glide against the back of his hand when you dropped your arm to your side.

"Oh, yeah?" you said breathily, and you watched his eyelids flutter at your tone. "Then I guess it wouldn't matter if I brought them home and let you rip them off me."

He stepped forward, a growl emitting from his chest, low and deep, when at the exact same time, you both heard shouting outside the store. Swiveling both your heads towards the glass storefront, your blood ran cold when you saw six heavily armed men advancing towards you.

"Shit," he muttered, his arm pulling your shoulder down just in time to avoid the cascade of bullets that rained down upon you. You laid face down on the rough carpet, covering the back of your head with your eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the shooting to stop. Joel tugged on your arm and you opened your eyes in a panic.

"Follow me!" he shouted, army crawling towards the registers, and you dutifully followed behind, your heart racing wildly in your chest.

Once you made it, the counter offering some, but not much, safety, the both of you pulled out your guns and double checked your ammo.

"Alright, when they stop to reload-"

"I know," you said, cutting him off. You've both been in this situation before. You knew what to do.

Holding your rifle upright and against your chest, you breathed deep, trying to steady your hands until the bullets slowed and you heard more shouting. Joel nodded to you and you both sprung up from the floor, pulling your rifles against your bodies in sync and lining up your targets.

Patience is a virtue. The amount of ammunition they wasted on the two of you was laughable when you each caught one of them between the eyes, leaving four against two.

You thought you would be able to get another shot off but Joel tugged your arm and you slinked back to the floor as a shower of bullets rained over you once again.

"You good?" he asked, and you nodded, gasping for air. Your hands began to stabilize when the shock wore off. You were in the zone.

Pressing both your backs against the small counter, you remained calm and waited out your attackers. Glass shards tinkled and scattered behind you. Bullets pinged against the metal shelving, ricocheting into the drywall.

"Assault rifles for two people? Really?" you muttered, more so to yourself, but Joel heard you.

"Told you this was a bad fuckin' idea," he said angrily.

When there was another brief pause, he looked to you again and nodded. At the same time, you rose up and took aim, firing on your attackers once again. Joel made his shot, you didn't. Three down, three to go.

"Fuck," you grumbled, reloading your rifle even though you still had rounds left.

"Focus," he scolded.

The men sounded like they were getting closer. Their voices were louder. Clearer. The shots were deafening. You prayed they weren't inside the store, because you hadn't planned an exit strategy. Without warning, Joel stood up and fired a shot. You heard a man scream and then a loud thud. It sounded like the man was just on the other side of the counter.

"That's not the plan," you seethed at him when he dropped back down next to you.

"Didn't have a choice, he was 'bout to jump us," he sneered.

Two against two.

When the shots slowed down, you held your breath, looking at Joel from the corner of your eye. He held his palm up to you silently, signaling for you to stay where you were. You heard boots crunching slowly against glass and your heart leapt into your throat. They were in the store.

You shot Joel a panicked look but he just shook his head, focusing on their footsteps, calculating how far away they were.

"Come out now and no one gets hurt," a man's deep voice called out. He was close.

Joel clenched his jaw and flared his nostrils. You knew that look. It was the look of a man who was about to do something stupid. But before you could stop him, before you could reach out to him and hold him back, he stood up and took aim.

One shot. That was all you heard when Joel slumped to the floor next to you, clutching his stomach as dark red blood poured from the wound. Your eyes went wide and you saw red. Without thinking, you stood up and shot, taking one of the two men down with a yelp. The remaining raider ducked behind a display, and you dropped your rifle in favor of your handgun. Crouching low to the ground, you inched forward, careful of any broken glass that would give your position away. When you were on the other side of the display, you heard the man's labored breaths. He was scared. He was out of his element. And you had him right where you wanted him.

Silently tucking the gun in the back of your pants, you slid your hunting knife out from your ankle holster. You took a deep breath and lunged forward, driving the knife deep into the man's chest.

He dropped his gun and clutched weakly at your hands, but it was no use. His blood poured from the wound when you yanked your knife out with a grunt, and you watched as his hands slowly slid back down to his sides, his eyes still wide open and staring up at the ceiling.

You smirked, feeling victorious for only a moment before you remembered Joel. Dropping your knife, you rushed back to his side, only to find his face pale and his hands stained dark red.

"Joel!" you cried out, pressing your palms against the wound, hoping to slow the bleeding. His eyes drifted towards you, softening when he saw you were alive and unharmed. That you were going to make it.

Panic consumed you. Your heart was slamming against your ribs as you fumbled with your backpack, trying to find your first aid kit through the tears.

"I love you," he whispered, and you shook your head.

"Don't start with that, you're gonna be fine."

"Baby," he said weakly, and you choked back a sob.

"Hold on," you told him, still searching in your pack.

"Look at me," he said, and your hands stilled for a moment before you dragged your eyes back to him, your lower lip trembling as you took in his deteriorating state.

"I need to-" you began, but stopped to take in a shaky breath. "I need to patch you up and get you to the horses."

"No, you don't," he said softly, and more tears spilled from your eyes.

"Yes, I do. I gotta-"

"I ain't gonna make it, sweetheart," he slurred, and you could see by the amount of blood he was losing that he was right. But still, you pressed your palms against the gunshot wound, your fingers slipping through his thick and sticky blood.

"Don't say that. I can't do this without you," you whimpered, and closed your eyes for a brief moment. You felt his fingertips weakly grip your chin and you forced your eyes back open.

"Yes, you can," he said as firmly as he could. He was so pale and weak and it was making your stomach turn.

You shook your head, about to argue with him, but he stopped you.

"You keep goin', you hear me?" he said, and still, you shook your head from side to side, small sobs slipping past your lips. "Don't let this world win. You... go on and keep fightin'. Please. Be happy, baby. For me."

"No!" you cried out, spittle dripping from your lips now, mixing with your tears. "I won't! I-I can't!"

"You can," he repeated, and gave you a weak smile. "I'm ready, baby. It'll be okay."

You squeezed your eyes shut tight, the tears leaking out, hot and angry on your cheeks as you sobbed over him, clutching his hand in yours so tightly, like if you squeezed hard enough, you could give him your lifeforce. Give him your breath. But moments later, his grip weakened and when you opened your eyes, his head slumped to the side and his lifeless eyes stared off into the distance.

"Joel!" you screamed, sitting up in bed, drenched in sweat with tears still streaming down your face. You looked to your side, where he normally slept, but he wasn't there. Panic squeezed your throat, your chest fucking hurt, but you flung the blankets off you and ran towards the door. Still not hearing any sounds, you raced down the stairs, almost tripping in the process but you had a grip on the railing to keep you steady.

When your eyes finally landed on his familiar form stretched out on the couch, his back to you, you allowed yourself to breathe a sigh of relief.

Reality came back to you now. You had your fight about leaving Jackson, but he won and you slept apart. You never left. He never got shot. It was all just a horrible dream.

You stumbled over to the couch, your tears unstoppable, the nightmare too vivid, too real. Your trembling hands clutched his shoulder as you fell to your knees on the floor, shaking him awake.

"What?" he grumbled, clearly still pissed off about your fight.

"I'm sorry!" you sobbed loudly, and when he realized something was wrong, he whipped around to face you.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

"I-I had-" you began, then you hiccupped, cutting yourself off. His face was etched with concern as he forced himself up and cupped your face.

"C'mon, talk to me," he urged, the fear in his eyes reflecting back to you as you looked at him, still not sure what was real and what wasn't.

"I had a nightmare," you finally managed to get out. "About our fight. That we... we went out like I wanted and-and-" you collapsed into another fit of sobs, your shoulders shaking violently.

"Hey, it's alright," he soothed, pulling you up and into his lap and rubbing your back. You pressed your tear stained face into his neck, inhaling deeply, grounding yourself. He was alive. He was here. Everything was fine.

"I'm sorry," you whimpered, your throat still tight but your tears were slowing down. "I'm sorry we fought. I don't wanna go out anymore. I don't need new clothes, it was stupid, I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay," he said, pulling you tightly against his chest, "I'm sorry we fought, too. I just wanna keep us safe."

"I know, you're right," you said, pulling back a bit and wiping your nose with the back of your hand. "Will you come back to bed?"

"Yeah," he replied with half a smirk. "'Course I'll come back to bed, baby. Don't cry, it's alright."

You let him lead you up the stairs and to your bedroom, your side of the bed still damp with sweat but it didn't bother you. Joel was safe and sound and in your arms and you didn't care if you had to wear a potato sack for the rest of your life, as long as you had Joel, nothing else mattered.

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[miracleonice87]

behind the scenes at 30 rock

part of the kissing kelce universe

a/n: the newest installment is here! takes place during Travis's SNL appearance. includes guest appearances from jason, mama and papa kelce, and kelsea ballerini. enjoy!

warnings: mention of pregnancy / related sickness / babies, alcohol, swearing, i think that's it

word count: ~4,000

___

March 5, 2023 

Travis was mere hours from hosting Saturday Night Live, the biggest honor of his entire life and career outside of football. 

And you? You were sitting alone in his green room – an appropriate name, considering how you were constantly green in the gills these days – being sick in a trash can. 

Travis was rehearsing on stage, along with Jason and the cast, while Donna, Ed, and Trav’s management team were being toured around the studio. You had hung back after muttering a lame excuse about needing to call home and walk your parents through how to record the show tonight. Donna had eyed you suspiciously but let it go… and the group left you alone just in time for you to cough up your guts moments after the door closed. 

The wave of sickness lasted for a good three or four minutes, and as you sat up weakly, pressing the inside of your wrist to your sweaty forehead before reaching into your purse for your breath spray, you wondered how the fuck you were going to clean this up without anyone noticing. With a groan, you reached for some paper towels, crumpling them up and shoving them into the bag of the offending trash can, then tied the cheap plastic bag tightly closed and put it in another empty trash bag which, thankfully, you found inside the can. Somehow, you kept the gagging to a minimum as you picked up the bundle of bags and walked toward the door, taking a deep breath in when you reached it.

This is so fucking embarrassing. 

You cracked the door open just far enough to call out to a young PA walking down the hallway. As he drew closer, you called sheepishly, “Excuse me?”

He whipped his head up and stood straight, not having noticed the partially open door until you spoke.

“Oh, Mrs. Kelce!” he said with a polite smile. “Yes, can I help you?”

You winced visibly. “Actually, yes,” you admitted softly. “Please know that I absolutely hate to do this, but… I was just, uh, sick, in here and… I was wondering if it was possible to get rid of this for me?” You held the bag up a few inches and smiled at him apologetically. “I swear I’m not drunk, I’m just, uh… I’m not feeling well.”

He nodded and gave you an understanding smile. 

“Not a problem, Mrs. Kelce,” he said, carefully reaching for the bag. “Trust me, I’ve dealt with much worse than this,” he said playfully, and you were grateful for his assistance and his attempt to make you feel better. “You let us know if you need anything else, alright?” 

“Thank you so much,” you said quietly. You read his nametag before continuing. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, Jeremy. And, um, one more thing…”

He nodded again. “Anything.”

“Keep this between us?” you said softly, lifting an index finger to your lips.

Slowly, a knowing smirk stretched across his lips. “Of course,” he assured. “My lips are sealed.”

You nodded, mouthing a final “thank you.” You closed the door and rested your head against the cool frame, closing your eyes and exhaling slowly, relieved that that hadn’t been as painful as you’d feared, and making a mental note to send Jeremy some piece of memorabilia signed by Travis as a token of your gratitude. 

You jumped when, just a few moments later, a soft knock came on the other side of the door.

“One second!” you called, ducking into the view of the lighted mirror to check your appearance, reaching for a tissue to wipe at the corners of your mouth. 

“Hey, it’s Kelsea,” a voice said quietly. “Can I come in?”

You smiled. Not only was it Travis’s first time on SNL, but it was also the first appearance for the musical guest, Kelsea Ballerini, who just so happened to be one of your favorite artists and one of the most-played on your Spotify account. You had briefly met her earlier and were able to tell her what a big fan of hers you were, and you were thrilled that she was back again, presumably to chat or maybe to take a quick photo before the show.

“Yes, come in!” you called cheerfully as you cleared your throat and tossed the tissue into the trash from three-point range, plastering a mega-watt smile on your features as if nothing at all had happened in the last ten minutes. 

She opened the door wearing a sweats set and carrying one of the SNL bags given to each special guest, and you noticed her freshly finished hair and makeup – the final step before the show would be to change into her outfit, which was sure to be stunning.

As you were about to open your mouth to tell her how beautiful she looked already, she shut the door and said abruptly, “Are you okay?”

Your stomach fluttered, this time due to nerves and not the baby in your belly. 

How did she know?

You swallowed hard and tried your best to play it off. 

“Yeah, I’m fine!” you lied through your teeth with a wave of your hand. “Why do you ask?”

She smiled and shyly ducked her head before meeting your eyes again.

“Well, my boyfriend Chase was just walking past and overheard you talking to the PA about being sick…” You pursed your lips, trying as hard as you could to keep a grin from your face. Kelsea forged ahead. “Now, listen, you do not have to tell me if you don’t want to, of course, but… I doubt you’d be here at all if you had the stomach flu, and you don’t seem like you’ve had too much to drink, so…”

You chuckled quietly, then nodded. After a long pause, you copped. 

“We literally just found out a week ago…”

Kelsea covered her mouth as she screamed silently and began hopping from one foot to the other. 

“Oh, my god, oh, my god! Congratulations!” she whisper-yelled as she wrapped you in a warm hug. In your wildest dreams, you could have never guessed that Kelsea Ballerini would be the second person – well, technically the third, if Jeremy had in fact caught your drift – in the world whom you told that you were expecting. Kelsea pulled away and held you at arm’s length. “Okay, well, I’m glad I asked – I had a feeling so I brought ginger ale and Jolly Ranchers. That’s what helped one of my girlfriends through her whole first trimester.” 

She reached into the bag hanging from her forearm and produced said items, and you pressed a hand to your lips as tears pricked your eyes. 

“Sorry, ignore me!” you exclaimed, laughing as you accepted the items. “It’s the freaking hormones. But that is so sweet of you. Thank you. You did not have to do that – you have a show to prepare for!” 

She waved her hand nonchalantly. “I know, I know, but this is just girl code,” she said decidedly. “I’ll run back out there in a sec but I wanted to make sure you were okay. Here, sit, sit,” she insisted as she motioned toward the velvet couch. 

You did as you were instructed and happily screwed the cap off of the soda, taking a few small sips. The coolness and carbonation of the drink were a welcome sensation on your tongue. 

“So nobody else knows?” Kelsea whispered excitedly, scrunching her nose with glee. 

As you swallowed, you smiled. “No,” you whispered back, and Kelsea squealed. “I’m only six weeks. We’re gonna tell my brother- and sister-in-law and his parents tomorrow when we go to Philly to meet the new baby, but right now it’s just us who know. And you!” 

She clapped her fingertips together enthusiastically. “This is the coolest thing ever!” she exclaimed, tipping her head back. 

“Don’t tell Trav that you know!” you warned as you unrolled a watermelon Jolly Rancher and popped it into your mouth. “He won’t be upset, but then he’ll wonder how you found out, and he’s been so worried about how sick I’ve been. I mean, he tried to cancel this,” you explained, motioning generally around the room. 

Kelsea held up a hand. “I swear on my life – again, girl code,” she promised. “But what I am gonna do? Is tell my boyfriend to keep an eye on you during the show and get you an out if needed. I don’t need to tell him why – he’ll listen.” 

You reached to rest your hand on her knee, squeezing it affectionately. “Thank you, Kelsea,” you said sincerely. “I really appreciate it. I’d say we’d name our baby after you, but that might be a little weird.”

Kelsea burst into a fit of laughter. “Yeah, Kelsea Kelce might be a bit much,” she admitted. “We can workshop it though.”

You giggled, then took another sip of ginger ale.

“Think you’ll be okay to sit through this whole thing?” she asked as you reached for the bag of salt and vinegar chips you’d stashed in Travis’s bag as you were leaving the hotel earlier. 

You nodded. “Usually I’m okay for a few hours once I’ve eaten something. Today’s just been so crazy that I hadn’t even realized I hadn’t eaten enough. I can tell you that won’t happen again,” you told her as you popped a chip into your mouth.

Kelsea tutted. “Girl, I get it. I get hangry so easily, and I’m not even pregnant,” she confessed as you beamed. “Well, I’m gonna get out there, but I’m glad you’re hanging in there. And I’m so happy for you and Travis, truly – I know we just met but it’s not hard to see how much y’all love each other and love your family, and you’re gonna be amazing parents.” 

Tears welled in your eyes once more as you wrapped your free arm around Kelsea’s neck, and she hugged your waist. 

“Thank you,” you managed, voice watery. You sat back and cleared your throat. “Now, break a leg! No pressure, but you’re technically baby’s first concert.”

Kelsea gaped. “I didn’t even think of that!” she said giddily. “Oh, my god, I’m gonna turn it all the way on then.” 

___

Backstage, a few hours later, Kelsea and Travis locked eyes in the moments immediately following the end of the live taping and the chaos that ensued. Over her head, she pointed both index fingers at him, doing her best to make a beeline to him through the sea of cast, crew, family, and friends. Travis danced toward her as though he had just caught a touchdown in the corner of the end zone at Arrowhead. 

“You did it!” he exclaimed, booming voice echoing throughout the short distance between them.

As she finally reached him, she extended both hands to high-five him, then the two embraced giddily. 

“We did it!” she shouted back, clapping him on the back. “You absolutely killed it out there!” 

Travis pulled back to point at Kelsea. “You were amazing,” he praised. “You sounded incredible!”

“Thank you, thank you,” she said, bowing playfully. “God, what a night!”

Travis rubbed his palms together. “What a fucking night indeed,” he concurred. “Now it’s time to celebrate – I’m gonna go find my family and get this freakin’ makeup off,” he laughed, then looked at her pointedly. “See you and Chase at the afterparty?”

Kelsea looked at him as though he were crazy. “Are you kidding? We’ll be there with bells on. I’ll meet you for shots in twenty,” she assured, then her expression grew more serious, and she leaned up to speak into Travis’s ear quietly enough so that no one could hear. “Just make sure you check on wifey first – and make sure she eats something before we go out.”

As Kelsea took a step back, Travis eyed her in disbelief. 

“Wait, how did you-”

Kelsea pressed an index finger to her lips. 

“I’m sworn to secrecy – girl code,” she whispered. Then, as she backed away, she mouthed, “congratulations.” 

He shook his head, a bashful smile on his face, and mouthed back, “thank you.”

___

Another hour into the night, after Travis had made sure you had your fill of the Chinese takeout he’d made certain to have a PA deliver to you right after the show, you were watching him hold court in the middle of Mermaid Oyster Bar in Times Square, simultaneously amused by and in awe of the way he was being doted upon as king of the city, even if just for the night. The poignance and ferocity of your first hug upon finding him after the show rivaled the embraces shared between the two of you after both Super Bowl victories, after your wedding vows, and, most recently, upon finding out you were expecting. 

But never in any of those sacred moments had you been so fucking tired as you were right now. Fighting against the exhaustion that threatened to overpower you at any moment as you watched Travis in a daze, you hid a yawn behind your palm and blinked furiously. In the corner of your private booth reserved for family, Donna sat sipping her cocktail, eyes never leaving you. When Ed got up from the table to meet someone at Jason’s behest, Donna scooted closer to you, leaning in so that she could be heard above the thumping music. 

“We should do a tequila shot together – I know it’s your favorite, and it’s a special occasion!” she suggested, nudging your shoulder with hers. 

You threw her a smile which you hoped wasn’t riddled with the anxiety you felt at the proposition. 

“You’re crazy!” you accused in jest. “It’s been such a long day, I’ll fall asleep if I take a shot.”

Donna nodded decisively, took a generous sip of her drink, and placed her hand atop yours on the table, studying you. 

“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

“Mom!” you suddenly heard from behind you, the single syllable tinged with a familiar northeast Ohio accent, and you and Donna both turned your heads to find her youngest son gaping at you, blue eyes wide with bewilderment and lips parted. “What the fuck?!” he spat as he hurried around to the front of the booth.

Donna guffawed. “Well, now I definitely have my answer!” she said, smacking the table gleefully before throwing her arms around you. “Congratulations, honey!” she exclaimed, kissing your cheek. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!” She reached for Travis’s hand as he tucked into the seat next to you, and you leaned against the table to allow mother and son as much space as possible to embrace behind you in the cramped booth.

“What’s happening?” Jason questioned as he approached alongside Ed, his signature brows furrowed as he looked at you accusingly. Travis and Donna parted and turned their attention to the other two Kelces. You pursed your lips before bursting into nervous laughter. 

“Well… our mother just accused this one of being pregnant,” Travis announced, wrapping an arm tightly around your shoulders as you offered a playful wave, watching Jason’s eyebrows shoot straight up, his color draining from his face at the perceived uncomfortable moment. “And as only Mom could be, she was 100% correct in that assumption.”

“Ayyyy-yyy-yyy!” Jason erupted, throwing his arms into the air before slinging them around both you and Travis at the same time, as Ed clapped in the background. “That’s fucking amazing! Oh my god!” 

As Jason made space for Ed to congratulate the two of you, Donna put a finger in the air. 

“I want to make it clear that I did not ask based on her weight or appearance or anything of the sort,” she insisted, one hand flush to her chest as if reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. “I only asked because she turned down a tequila shot for the first time in the many years that I have known her.”

Jason and Ed cackled, and Travis drew you even closer into his side. 

“Alright nah! That’s my girl,” he joked, pressing a kiss to your temple. “Only eight more months until your next one, sweetness.”

“That is very unlike her, I’ll give you that,” Ed concurred. “So, when are you due, sweetheart?”

You looked up at Travis and shared an elated grin. “Uh, November 6!” you announced. “It’s early – we only just found out last week.”

As Donna clapped furiously and Ed nodded, beaming, Jason held up both hands.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on… isn’t that the first day of Travis’s bye?” he asked incredulously. 

You nodded happily as Travis bobbled his head from side to side, pride and euphoria radiating from him, especially in his alcohol-flooded state. Jason stood still as a statue, gaping. “This is insane! You’re probably gonna get to be with her and the baby for, like, multiple days and not have to work or go anywhere,” he pointed out.

Travis nodded knowingly. “You’re goddang right, brotha – everything’s coming up Kelce! Ha haaa!”

Jason chuckled. “You’re unbelievable,” he said, shaking his head. “But shit, am I happy for you guys! Oh, my god, Ky’s gonna flip!”

Travis squeezed your bicep and implored, “Jason, please do not go back to your hotel and drunkenly call her, okay? We’ve been planning to wait and tell her in person tomorrow when we get to your house to meet Benny, which is when we were gonna tell all of you, but apparently Mom had other plans!” 

Jason crossed his heart. “Um, you might have to take my phone away from me to make sure that doesn’t happen, but I promise I won’t do it on purpose.”

___

You somehow managed to stay awake until four in the morning, largely thanks to the advice Jason had received from Rich Eisen to sleep in for as long as possible that morning in order to prep for the wild night after the show, but you realized you had finally hit your wall when the crew was ready to head to another location and you were not. Travis pulled you into his chest while the group discussed the route to the next party, his big hands resting on your lower back to keep you close. He ducked his head to speak into your ear, as private a conversation as could be managed in the midst of a gaggle of people.

“I don’t think I’m gonna go,” he said simply. 

You shot him a “yeah fucking right” look and immediately shook your head. “No, baby, you’re going – that’s not even a question,” you argued, smoothing a hand across his broad chest. “I’m gonna head back and get some sleep, you’re gonna stay out as late as you can keep your eyes open, and that’s final,” you said, poking him in the sternum. 

His fingers ghosted up and down your spine as you spoke, and he smirked in amusement, knowing better than to continue to fight you on this. 

“Are you absolutely certain?” he asked. “Because you just say the word and I swear to god, we turn around and walk out that door and go back together right now.” 

You shook your head again, toying with his silver chain. “Absolutely not, Trav,” you reiterated. “I’m certain. This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and you’re gonna enjoy every second of it. And to be frank, I’m gonna pass out the moment my head hits the pillow, so it’s not gonna make a difference to me whether you’re there or not. Until morning, and you can go back to holding my hair back for me.” 

Travis giggled, and his long arms wrapped you in an all-consuming hug as he buried a kiss in your hair. “Gladly,” he stated, and you knew he meant it. He dropped another kiss to your forehead and added, “I love you so bad.”

You hummed appreciatively and tipped your head up to peck his lips. “I love you so bad,” you echoed. “This has been incredible, watching you shine. You were amazing, babe. I’m so proud of you.” 

The humility and delight in his eyes was overwhelming, and he cradled the back of your head to thank you with a passionate kiss, the kind usually reserved for private spaces. But this was a special occasion, not to mention how much alcohol your husband had consumed by this point, so you simply smiled against his lips until he pulled away for air. 

“Couldn’t have done it without you, my girl,” he said warmly. “Be safe. Text me when you’re in. I’ll see you soon.”

You nodded, squeezing his waist. 

“I will,” you promised. “Have a ball, 87.” 

_____

But truth be told, Travis did not have a ball once you had left him. Admittedly, he had watched your location on his phone incessantly while you traveled the short distance from the Mermaid back to your hotel, grateful that his mom had accompanied you, having had enough of the party for the night herself. Once he had watched the blue dot representing you reach the front of the hotel, then become stagnant once you had apparently reached your room and minutes later texted him “made it back, getting ready for bed - love you ❤️”, he tried his damnedest to focus on being present and enjoying himself, reminding him that this night was special, just as you’d said. 

But with every drink that was poured down his throat, with every celebrity he tried his best to entertain, with every introduction by somebody he was supposed to recognize to somebody else he was supposed to recognize, his thoughts were always, only, with you – whether you were asleep yet, how you were sleeping if so, if you had had enough to eat, how you were feeling. He’d spent so much time away from you this week because of the rigorous schedule of meetings and rehearsals that he just missed you with every fiber of his being – he swore it had to be biological, because anyone who knew Travis Kelce knew that he loved a party, especially one celebrating him. Though he’d never quite felt this way before, his heart simply wasn’t in it. 

Around 5 in the morning, he locked eyes with Jason and gave him the high sign, hand gesturing at his neck to indicate that he’d had his fill of the SNL pandemonium. Jason gave a knowing smile and nod, well aware of what was coming next – an Irish exit by his younger brother. Travis knew he would be there for another hour if he attempted to say goodbye to each and every person at the party, even just the ones he knew personally, and with his one-track mind focused solely on his exhausted pregnant wife back in his suite, he made the executive decision to dip out through a side door near the bathrooms. He quickly made his way to the car waiting for him, shared a nod with the driver, and climbed into the backseat. 

“How you doin’, man? Back to the hotel, please,” he requested. 

“Of course, Mr. Kelce,” the driver replied. “Do you need to make any stops first?”

Travis smiled softly and shook his head. “Not a one – thank you.” 

Finally, after what had to be the longest day of his life, he snuck back into the hotel unnoticed thanks to the accommodating staff, slipped in the door to the penthouse suite, quickly shed his outfit leaving on only his boxers, and snuggled into bed behind you, pressing his chest against your back. At his familiar touch and scent, you inhaled deeply and moaned softly, glancing over your shoulder and throwing him a sleepy smile.

“Hey, superstar, you made it back,” you greeted him, voice raspy and thick with sleep as your head dropped back to the pillow.

“Mmhmm, and I have been dreaming of this all day long,” he whispered, kissing a line from your shoulderblade, up your neck, along your jaw and ending at your temple. “Go back to sleep, sweet thing. I gotchu.” 

“Mmm, ‘kay. Love you, Trav,” you all but slurred, instantly slipping back into your slumber. 

He smiled so big it hurt his face, completely, wholly, overwhelmingly, blissfully content as his hand settled on your lower stomach where a baby bump was still weeks from appearing, your warm fingers lazily covering his. 

“I love you, mama.”

#kissing kelce #travis kelce #my writing #travis kelce fic #travis kelce fanfic #travis kelce fanfiction #travis kelce fluff #travis kelce x reader

[alessiasfreckles]

amnesia - part 12 (ona batlle x alexia putellas x reader)

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 / part 9 / part 10 / part 11

a/n: sorry for the long wait, not much left now!

--------

The next morning, when you looked on your doorstep, you half expected to find Alexia or Ona stood there waiting. Instead, you found the usual pastry and drink, and couldn’t help but feel the smallest tinge of disappointment. 

You’d been messaging both girls late into the night, about everything and anything, except for what had happened between the three of you. You knew you’d need to talk about it at some point, but for now, you just wanted things to be good. And so did they, by the looks of things. Accompanying the pastry and drink was a handwritten note from Ona, reading ‘Good morning chiqui! We hope you have a wonderful day today. Dinner is on us tonight x’. Interesting.

As you headed to your physio session, you tried to ignore the rising anticipation in your belly, the soft feeling of hope working its way through your body, eager to see the two women, but nervous as well. You didn’t even know if you would see them - there was a good chance they’d be outside for training, or in the gym, and so far all of your sessions had been in the smaller physiotherapy rooms.

When you arrived, the physiotherapist greeted you with an amused smile. 

“You have some admirers,” she noted, nodding towards a beautiful bouquet of flowers that was resting in a vase. You couldn’t help but blush, rolling your eyes fondly at the gesture, already knowing who was behind it. “Today we’re in the gym, but you can leave your things here and we can get them when we’re done.”

“The gym?” you asked, surprised.

The physiotherapist nodded. “Yes. You’re making very good progress - you really only have minimal injuries considering what you went through, and we can move you to the real gym now. You should be able to go back to training with the others soon, maybe in a month or so. The biggest problem is the muscle atrophy from being in the coma, but once we get your body back to where it was before, you’ll be good to go.”

Your mouth hung open in shock, and your face suddenly felt very warm as you realised that tears were gathering in the corners of your eyes. You hadn’t expected to be back so soon, and you couldn’t wait to be able to train with the others again, to get out there and play football, the thing you loved more than anything else in the world. 

As you walked to the gym, you wondered whether the rest of the team would also be in the gym or if they’d be outside. As you got closer, your question was answered - you could hear various sounds coming from the gym, shoes against treadmills, the thud of weights hitting the ground, but also the soft murmur of your teammates chatting, the occasional peal of laughter. That meant Ona and Alexia were probably there, too. 

You took a deep breath before pushing open the door, trying to steel your nerves. At first, when you walked through, no one batted an eyelid, all preoccupied with their own routines. But then Mapi looked up, and yelled out your name.

“You’re back!” she grinned, running over to you. You felt a twinge of guilt, remembering that the two of you had been good friends before the accident, and that you’d been so caught up in everything going on with Ona and Alexia that you’d forgotten about your friendships with the other players. Soon enough you were surrounded by your teammates, including the two you were most nervous about seeing. 

“I’m not back properly yet, but I’ve been promoted to physio in the gym, and I should be able to start training with you guys again in a month or so,” you told your teammates, blushing slightly at the attention you were getting. For some reason you couldn’t meet the two women’s eyes, too anxious about what you’d find there. The team let out cheers and whoops at your statement, people leaning over to ruffle your hair or give you hugs.

After a few minutes, the physiotherapist clapped her hands together. “Okay, okay, in order for her to be able to train with you again, she needs to get fit enough first, which she can only do if you all let her get on with her physio session in peace, okay?”

Your teammates chuckled and backed away. Only then did you look up at Ona and Alexia, who were watching you intently. Ona was biting her lip, a nervous frown etched into her forehead, whilst Alexia looked more stoic, trying hard not to let anyone see how desperate she had been to see you and how worried she was about you. When you met their eyes, you instantly felt calmer, the bundle of nerves in your stomach washed away and replaced by a soft pang of familiarity.

When you smiled at them, they both relaxed instantly, the line between Ona’s eyebrows melting away, Alexia’s eyes softening as she met yours. They smiled back, and you couldn’t help but think about how beautiful they both were, each in their own way.

As the physiotherapist went through your exercises your mind kept wandering, and you kept catching yourself looking over to where they were going through their workout, Alexia jogging on one of the treadmills, Ona over by the weights. Every so often they would look over at you and your eyes would meet, and you’d smile, blushing, and look away again quickly. It felt like having a crush for the first time.

You lingered when your session was over, reluctant to go so soon.

“Don’t forget, your things are in my office,” the physiotherapist reminded you with a knowing smile. “And don’t worry, we’ll be back tomorrow.”

At home, you put the bouquet in a vase, admiring the flowers. One looked slightly different to the others, but you couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Regardless, the bouquet was beautiful, and your stomach fluttered at the thought of the women buying you flowers. 

By the time evening rolled around, you were starting to get hungry, and you wondered what Ona had meant by her note this morning. Just as you thought about messaging her to ask, the doorbell rang, and you opened it to find a delivery person holding a paper bag emblazoned with the logo of a nearby restaurant. 

As you headed back inside your apartment, you took a quick picture of the bag and sent Ona a text.

[Y/N]: so this is what you meant with your note this morning :)

[Ona]: Yes!! 

Along with her message was a picture. You recognised the background as her kitchen, and on the counter was a paper bag just like yours, the restaurant logo on the side.

[Ona]: Ale got food too, so we’re all eating together but apart :) 

Warmth spread throughout your body, and you sent Alexia a quick message, sending her the same picture you’d sent Ona. As you opened the bag, your kitchen filled with the smell of food, and your stomach growled. You kept messaging both women as you ate, unable to deny the way your heart skipped a beat every time you received a new message from them, a smile glued to your face. By the time you fell into bed a few hours later, you’d exchanged hundreds of messages, and your cheeks hurt from smiling.

When you checked the front door the next morning, you were surprised to find a sweater next to the usual drink and pastry. Picking it up, you instantly recognised it as Ona’s, the one you would always borrow when you were at her place, the fabric soft between your fingers. You brought it up to your face and inhaled deeply, your lungs filling with the familiar scent of her perfume, and your mind filled with memories of the two of you.

You wore the sweater to your physio session, reluctant to take it off. When you arrived, the physio nodded over to the table again with a grin. “Another present for you.”

On the table was a protein shaker adorned with stickers of your teammates, and you couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Everyone had their own drinks tailored to their needs, and when you picked the shaker up you smiled as you realised they’d already filled it for you, a sticky note on the back telling you what was in it. You took the shaker into the gym with you, and when your teammates sidled in slowly, your eyes were on the door, waiting for Ona and Alexia to come through and see you using their gift.

When they did, their eyes scanned the gym, looking for you, and they immediately smiled when their eyes landed on you. You felt a rush at the sight of them and internally rolled your eyes at your behaviour - you were acting like a teenager with a crush rather than a grown woman. Still, you gave them a quick grin before going back to focusing on your therapy, and tried to ignore the way your heart had skipped a beat when they’d smiled at you.

#hannah writes fics #ona batlle x reader #woso x reader #woso #ona batlle #woso fanfics #woso imagine #ona batlle fanfic #ona batlle imagine #alexia putellas x reader #alexia x reader #alexia putellas imagine #alexia putellas fanfic #ona batlle x alexia putellas #alexia putellas x ona batlle #alexia putellas

[ghostly-penumbra]

Ectoberhaunt 2023. Day Nine

"Dragon"

Ao3 and as a stand-alone

“Would you like a drink, Danny?”

“Just some pop, please.”

Danny’s boss snorted but accepted easily enough, handing Danny a can of cool Pepsi whilst he twirled his whiskey.

“So, do you like your job, Danny?” His boss asked without preambles.

Danny didn’t really need to think about it, he answered honestly, “Yeah, it’s chill. The pay is good and I’ve been kinda nocturnal since I was fourteen so the late hours are no problem for me. The tips are great too, and the patrons are… wild, yes,” his boss huffed a small laugh at Danny’s understatement of the night-club goers, but didn’t interrupt him, “but no one has, like, tried to punch me or something, so I don’t mind.”

“That’s good.” His boss said softly and drank some more of his whiskey. “Look, Danny, contrary to what you may have heard of me, I am not in the habit of conquering other realms and enthralling their rulers, so know that you are not my vassal and I don’t want your Kingdom. I don’t even want my Kingdom! I’ve quit! But! You don’t look like you want to leave.”

“I would very much like to keep my job, if that’s at all possible.”

Lucifer Morningstar, owner of the nightclub Lux and Danny’s current boss (so far, at least), put his tumbler aside and gave his full attention to the young man sitting across from him.

“I don’t want you to leave, either.” The Devil said. “You’re a good employee and even Maze likes you!” He said this like it was either the biggest honour or the biggest abnormality.

Mazikeen was cool, even if a tad violent, so he took the comment both ways.

“But you do know that it’s not a good look for the King of Ghosts to be working for the King of Hell, right? No matter that I’m retired or that you are alive.” He rolled his eyes at the last bit.

“Yeah. That’s, I’ll get an earful for that.” It would be from the Observants, though, and he really didn’t care for their opinion, so it would just be a minor annoyance.

“And whether you stay at Lux or not, the pantheons have certainly taken notice.” Mister Morningstar rolled his eyes again and looked at Danny with pity, which, yeah, inter-pantheon relations was not something the Ghost Zone wanted or that Danny was interested in engaging with.

“Ah, yes, the rammies.” He made a face at that. He really didn’t want any god (lowercase g, all of them) snooping in his realm to see what his relationship with the Devil was.

But if shit was going to hit the fan anyway, why not keep his well-paid job?

“It’s not a problem for me,” the Devil kept saying, “I’m happily retired! For you, on the other hand, they’ll see you as my vassal if you don’t really get anything out of this, –no, a weekly salary with legal benefits means nothing to these beings.” He said before Danny could interrupt. “If there was something I could just give you as a boon–” He stopped and a large smile slowly spread on his face. “That’s it! I am a genius!” He stood up and began pacing back and forth whilst Danny just clutched his can of pop.

“Uh, what is it?” Asked Danny, sipping his pepsi.

“I will give you Hell!” Ignoring his employee choking on his drink, the Devil carried on. “We can say you are my apprentice, or you can be my actual apprentice if you want me to teach you the ropes, and I will give you the Key of Hell and you can add it to the Ghost Zone! No one will be stupid enough to give you any trouble for it, and I will finally get my annoying family off my back.”

“But they’ll be on mine!” Danny protested once he stopped choking. “I don’t want to have Hell! I didn’t even want to be King of the Ghost Zone, I was just the dumbass that defeated the old one! I- I just wanna get through college, afford my half-life, and become an astronaut…” He put his head in one hand, the other one holding the can against his forehead.

Why this? Why couldn’t he be fired for sleeping on the bar, like a normal person?

“Oh, please, Danny, you’re a young King, hardworking too; you must want more than that.” Mister Morningstar looked him in the eye not obstructed by pop and spoke slowly, with intent, “Tell me, Danny, what do you desire?”

“To protect everyone I care about, anyone that needs it, to help them.”

“Mm, kind of basic and boring but-”

“And to reach the stars, to sail through them in the infinite night.” Danny blinked hard and shook himself off. “That’s not cool, sir.”

“Dual Obsession?” The Devil said, easily ignoring Danny’s complaint. “Not very common; befitting for a King. So what you want to do is help. You can do it being King of Hell!”

“That doesn’t sound likely.” Danny’s response only made his boss’s smirk return, and then the Devil really began his sales pitch.

How, if Danny became the new King of Hell, he could totally help redeem the souls of the damned, and since he was already King of the Ghost Zone, he could take the damned souls of the innocent there if Heaven refused to open the Gates for them, wankers that they were.

“What do you mean innocent souls in Hell?”

That only made the Devil lean in cheerily, “Oh?” He asked. “Haven’t you heard?”

Sold souls, of course. From people who sold their soul to delay their loved one’s death, to wronged firstborns whose parents wanted power no matter the cost. All of them, in Hell.

“That’s not fair.” Danny said with clenched fists.

“Well, it’s not like I have a neutral realm where runaway, wronged souls could take refuge in.” Mister Morningstar said, knowing he had the young adult hooked.

“I-” Danny tried to speak, but felt his core thrumming writhing him. He wanted to help. “I will… consult it, first, it’s- it’s too much.”

His boss nodded sagely, and once again looked him in the eye. “I will extend your insurance to your family and include dental.”

Danny would still consult it with Clockwork and his friends, but he knew he was sold.

#Danny Phantom #Danny Fenton #ectoberhaunt23 #day nine #dragon #ghostly-scrypts #cross posted on ao3 #CrossOver #Danny Phantom CrossOver #Lucifer (TV) #Lucifer Morningstar #surprise crossover #Ghost King Danny

[lains-reality]

hi!! i’m this anon, https://www.tumblr.com/lains-reality/723844364791676928/hi-i-hope-youre-having-a-wonderful-day-youre

about the difficult circumstances :)

i’ve followed your advice, and just rested. whenever i had moments/situations that brought up stress, i began to exercise this feeling of completion/bliss. ever since then, my health has been stabilizing. i took a break from tumblr/over-consuming, and just asked myself “what am i?” “who am i?”. i would let my thoughts go, attaching no meaning, nor identifying with them. i would observe them- in an almost manner of meditation. i started to feel lighter, as i no longer identified with the body. while doing such “exercises”, i found that i “tapped into the void” within minutes of doing so. it was so peaceful, and i had no urge to affirm- which even though my ego thinks my life is still far from perfect, i could care less.

i feel a sort of indifference to what used to seem problematic. i now understand, that there is no “convincing” myself of something, when i am already it. i’ve been “documenting” what works best for me- just because i might have brain damage lol, but what i’ve found is when i am in full acceptance of both the desirable and undesirable, it happens instantly- or within a day. just now, i noticed my collar bone feeling fleshy or the skin around it inflamed- which was one of the major symptoms i faced when i had cancer. my whole collar bone to face just puffed up like a pufferfish. in that moment, i knew who i TRULY was- I AM. God. i didn’t care if my collar bone wasn’t prominent or not- i just KNEW that it was normal, and prominent. literally not even a minute later, i touched my collar bone while scratching my neck- AND THE SWELLING WAS COMPLETELY GONE, IT WAS JUST BONE.

So, for me- what worked was knowing there was no conviction necessary, i am already everything, the good and the bad. thoughts and day dreams have no effect on me unless i identify with them- or personally give them power. no effort, and just complete ease and bliss. the past, and future do not exist- and only affect the present, when identified. indifference was the “biggest” aha moment for me.

I realized, each time I affirmed/thought of something- then let go, and gave it no more attention, it appeared (instantly). for problems, i just forgot of it. i disregarded it- and then bam. gone. since my last experience with the void, i knew since then that everything was perfect with my relationship regarding the void. i always wake up in it, everything perfect for me- i’m aware, blah blah blah. and that’s how it’s “manifested!”. i don’t even think of it any more. ever since that indifference feeling/knowing came- life has been soooo different.

during times of meditation, or of just observing my thoughts and letting them pass- is when i truly began to understand non-dualism. that’s when the knowing came for me. taking accountability and responsibility, and knowing everything is as temporary as night and day. i still have to “fix” my problems with school and university, but i know that is my ego talking. it is already done because i am it. i’m (my ego) is a bit worried if i will properly fix my problems, but after proving what lester, and all the info i’ve consumed (from blog to blog), i truly understand that there is no problem until i think i have a problem. my problems are as an easy fix as my situation with my collar bone.

i’ve also “fixed” my relationship with my mother, and grandparents. they now truly have realized the abuse that is in my household, and are 100% into supporting me, and protecting me. i was so surprised, because they would usually just ignore it and normalize it. especially my mother. all i’ve wanted was my mom- to actually be a mom. and now she is. even though there were moments where my ego wanted to cuss her out and identify as having a bad mother, i thought of it as nonsense, and now our entire dynamic has changed. i can’t really get into it without trauma dumping- but it’s been my wish since i was a child. she has truly changed and grown. even my therapist was shocked, and happy for me! i’ve been trying to “manifest” a change in her, for about 3 years- and after applying little to no effort, through what i’ve mentioned above- everything has changed.

(also “manifested” appearance changes, health to be completely perfect, my safety, perfect grades (literally all A+ or straight up 100%s loll, my pets health, and many other things. literally we all “manifest” our entire day just by identification)

i believe, or what has been true personally to me, about the reason behind the struggle of changing anything- even after seeing confirmation of one’s true power, is because it wasn’t a “big” enough accomplishment. they/me have put problems and “desires” on a pedestal- thinking it will be a varying degree to alter, than let’s say the weather. but it is all the same. everything holds the same balance. it is just the ego that convinces you that it does not. we literally shape our “today” and “tomorrow” from memory and identification. when i’ve thought/knew what my tomorrow would be- that is how it was.

i just wanted to say thank you to your kind response to my ask, last time. i know that it wasn’t easy- and i’m so sorry if i’ve caused anyone to feel any negative emotions. i also wanted to say thank you to your- and every other bloggers dedication to helping anons, and continuously posting the truth. you, and adasdisciple (idk how to do the @ thing, im so sorry!!!) as well as, 4dkelly something (i hope they may see this! i apologize for not remembering your user😭) have aided in ways not even professionals, or other bloggers have. my life has done a true 180- and i know it’s only going to get better from here on out. i appreciate everyone’s kindness to my first post, it truly warmed my heart to see so many people sympathizing with my ask. not many people have reacted with such genuine sweetness. thank you so much!! i’m fr feeling on top of the world 😋

wow! i'm so proud of you!!! speechless tbh!

i'll tag them here for you: @adadisciple, @4dkellysworld

#lainsmail

[heliads]

sorry to send in two requests but if you've got the time Luke Patterson x reader where she is his tutor for English or something and he develops a crush, so even when he understands the stuff she's teaching him he pretends to be confused so that the tutoring sessions last longer. And then one day he gets a good grade and she's proud of him but that means the sessions are over so he builds up the courage to ask her out? You can put this at the bottom of the list or not even write it because I know how swamped your requests get, but ily.

do not apologize for two requests!! my blog exists for you!! and jatp s2 may be dead but my feelings for that show are not. xoxo

masterlist

Luke Patterson is currently fighting a one-man war against his English class, and he is losing. Badly. This was not supposed to be his problem class, he was thinking the biggest struggle would be math or science, but surprise surprise, there’s no such thing as a class you can just skate through. He tried to skate through English. He tried really, really hard, but instead of Spark Notes-ing his way through whatever classic book they threw his way, Luke’s staring at a bright red D on his latest essay.

This would happen to be the most recent essay they were assigned, the one Luke pushed off until the last minute because he was too invested in getting some good songs down on paper. He hadn’t meant to procrastinate, he never does, it’s just that whenever Luke had a spare hour or two, it’s always far more tempting to head out to the studio and mess around with some chord progressions than to do homework.

This essay had gone just like all the other ones so far this year. The book had been assigned, the essay followed not soon after, and Luke told himself that he was going to start it on time for a change. The only problem was that he came home late that day after a shift at his job, so he couldn’t start it that day, and then he was studying for a test the next day, and after that he was working on songs. Before he knew it, it was the night before and he was speed writing to get everything down in time. Luke doesn’t even think he had time to proofread before turning in that mess.

So yeah, he shouldn’t really be surprised about this grade in particular. Still, he isn’t pleased about it. He doesn’t want to see the look on his parents’ face when he dodges another question about his grades, nor listen to all the other kids in his class talk about how easy that essay prompt was. Everything just makes him feel worse.

And, if Luke’s day couldn’t get any better, his English teacher pulls him aside after class to talk about it.

“I noticed your last few assignments haven’t been going as expected,” she says sympathetically, “is there anything you want to tell me about that?”

There’s a lot Luke wants to tell her, such as the fact that this class is dry as a saltine and twice as bland. They’ve spent the last few classes just going over social hierarchies around the time when the book was written, talk about boring. If Luke wanted to study history, he’d read a textbook.

He can’t say all that without damaging his final grade even more, though, so Luke plasters on a grin and does his best impression of an earnest student who’s just had a bad string of luck. “Not really, I’ve just been so busy recently that I didn’t have enough time to really ponder the prompt, you know?”

Usually, this is Luke’s best strategy for getting out of these kinds of nonsense conferences. He’ll whip out a few key words like ‘time commitments’ and whatnot and his teachers will fall for it every time.

He might have done this too often, though, because his teacher just nods and refuses to let him go. “That makes sense to me. Do you think it would help to spend a little more time exploring the prompt or connecting the book to the essay topics?”

“Sure,” Luke says vaguely. He’s only half paying attention; he just saw Reggie outside the door mouthing the words what did you do?? as dramatically as he could.

The teacher looks pleased by this. “That’s what I thought. I’ve gone ahead and signed you up for some tutoring sessions, you’ll start this afternoon after school.”

Luke blinks. “Wait, what?” Clearly, he hasn’t been paying attention nearly enough. Since when was tutoring on the table?

The teacher spreads her hands. “You need a little more help and organization to stay on track. Tutoring is the perfect answer to this.”

“Is it?” Luke asks feebly.

“Absolutely,” the teacher decides, and that’s that. Luke tries to wheedle his way out of it through repetition of how busy he is, like, all the time, but it doesn’t matter. She’s caught him in a half-lie and there’s nothing he can do to avoid it.

Reggie’s waiting for Luke outside the door when he finally leaves. “What happened in there?”

“Pure misery,” Luke groans, and contemplates giving himself a concussion by ‘accidentally’ falling down the stairs so he can go home without having to go to tutoring.

Unfortunately, Reggie enlists Alex in keeping Luke free of head trauma, and so he finds himself in an empty classroom later that afternoon, mournfully watching all of the other students leave the school with no doubt wonderful plans awaiting them.

Luke’s just starting to wonder if his tutor isn’t going to show up after all (after fifteen minutes, he’s legally allowed to leave, right) when someone slides into the seat in front of him.

“Sorry about being late,” they gasp, “I just found out I was doing this like ten minutes ago.”

Luke breaks his desolate stare out the window to glance at his tutor and instantly, he feels the crushing weight of shame bear down on him tenfold. It would have been one thing to have a total stranger be his tutor, someone Luke could avoid looking at in the hallways and never speak to again, but he knows this girl. More importantly, he’s thought she was cute for at least the last four years.

This is the worst case scenario, then. Y/N L/N is smart, she’s pretty, and judging by the fact that Luke always sees her in a group of friends laughing at her jokes, she’s funny, too. Definitely someone Luke would want to impress through gigs or shows instead of, say, his crumbling English grades.

“I’m Y/N,” she says, and Luke realizes that she’s probably been waiting for him to say something. Great, he can’t even introduce himself properly.

“Luke,” he answers, “but you probably knew that already.”

Y/N laughs, and judging by the slightly manic tone behind it, she’s just about as composed about the whole thing as he is. That makes him settle slightly in his chair, lowering his guard. “I was told that I would be tutoring you when I was trying to leave class. Ms. Brown pulled me aside when the bell rang and told me about it.”

“That makes two of us,” Luke grumbles.

The corners of Y/N’s lips quirk up before she manages to tamp them down again, and if Luke weren’t totally out of his mind, he might even say that Y/N has the same attitude towards their English teacher as he does. That would certainly make this whole tutoring experience a lot more interesting.

“So,” she says, clearing her throat in an attempt to sound official, “you wanted to talk about essay pointers, right?”

Luke starts to say something about how he didn’t want any of this, actually, but Y/N arches a brow and he relents. “Yeah, essay stuff. The last one didn’t go over too hot.”

Y/N tilts her head to the side, contemplating this. “Did you agree with her grading?”

“Yeah,” Luke admits, “she wasn’t wrong to mark me down, I kind of did it the night before in one sitting.”

Y/N frowns. “Really? Why’d you put it off so long? I thought you liked writing. Whenever I see you, you’re always jotting something down in that notebook of yours.”

Luke grins. “You’ve been watching me? That’s creepy, you know.” He’s obviously holding back a laugh, though, so the comment has no trace of a barb.

Y/N rolls her eyes, although her face looks a little hot at the moment. “Just answer the question.”

“Alright,” he says, hands raised in mock surrender, “you’re right, I do like writing.”

“Then why wait until the last minute to do the essay? I mean, I get not having a ton of time to work on assignments, but if you really do enjoy writing, it shouldn’t be all that bad, right?”

Luke groans. “ This is different. It’s not fun writing,” he tries to excuse himself.

It sounds bad even to him. Already, Luke can see how this is going to play out– she’ll laugh at him, maybe, say that someone who just got a grade like him can’t possibly be thinking about writing and fun in any way at all. She doesn’t, though. Instead, she nods and smiles at him. A real smile. Not mocking in any way.

“What is fun writing, then?” She asks.

Luke blinks in surprise. “Well, writing songs is fun, I guess,” he stammers, “stuff that actually matters, you know? All these essays are the exact same, but songs are all different. That’s why I care about them and not some pointless paper.”

Y/N nods. “That makes sense to me. So you release music, right?”

Luke isn’t sure where she’s going with this, but he’s perfectly happy to talk about music instead of that offensive red scribble all over his paper, so he plays along. “Yeah, me and my band. We try to, at least.”

“Have you ever gotten a review that bothered you? Not because they didn’t like it, but because they disliked your songs for the wrong reason? Like you had a whole story in mind for your album but the critics just ignored it?” She prompts him.

“Yeah,” Luke says, eyes widening with irritation, “Man, it’s so annoying. You go to all the trouble of writing out these ideas, and you make them have a really good meaning, too, and then it’s like they never read it at all. It makes me so mad sometimes, I want to write a column or something in response about how they totally missed my point.”

“Like, say, an argumentative essay about the real strengths of your chosen piece of writing?” Y/N says as casually as she can.

Luke’s about to argue and say that’s not like this at all, but on second thought, it is. It totally is. “Wait, you’re right. I never thought about it like that, but you’re right. Y/N L/N,” he decides on the spot, “I really like you.”

She grins back at him. “Luke Patterson, I like you too.”

That settles it for him. Luke had been annoyed at the thought of having to suffer through tutoring beforehand, but maybe he’ll be alright with it now. Y/N isn’t a part of the oppressive legion of teachers all conniving to make his life a living hell because he wants to be a musician instead of a doctor or a banker, she’s on his side. That makes it all better somehow.

And, unsurprisingly, it is better. Luke actually ends up having a really good time in his tutoring sessions with Y/N. They don’t feel like tutoring at all, more like a chance to hang out with a friend. They talk about Jane Austen and tell awesome jokes, read Shakespeare and spend more and more time together. Luke knows this is only a temporary thing until his grades get back up, but it’s too easy to forget that.

Until, one day, it isn’t. His English teacher hands back an essay with a bright red ‘A’ marked on the front, and tells him that she’s proud of all the progress he’s made so quickly. Instead of a sigh of relief, the only thing escaping Luke’s lips is a desolate sigh. After all, if Luke’s improved to this point, that kind of means his tutoring sessions will be over, right?

Y/N doesn’t know that, though. Y/N doesn’t have access to his grades. All she knows is what Luke tells her, and if informing her of his latest essay win means she’ll stop seeing him after school, why should Luke let slip a single syllable?

So, later that day, when Y/N asks him how the latest essay went, Luke shrugs and pretends to be disappointed. “I’d hoped for more,” he says, “she, uh, didn’t like my commentary.”

“Really?” Y/N questions, frowning slightly, “I thought you were really good at that.”

Luke’s eyes widen, caught in a lie. “Who knows with teachers, right?” He laughs weakly.

Y/N pretends to shudder. “I know, right? I feel like half of your grade is literally just how much she likes you. English classes are always so subjective.”

“Subjective?” Luke asks, grinning and propping his chin up on his hand, “Tell me about that.”

Y/N laughs. “Only if you promise we’ll talk Jane Eyre immediately afterwards. Immediately.”

“I so swear,” Luke intones, holding up his right hand with all the solemnity of a president being sworn into office.

Y/N swats him on the shoulder with her notebook, but she obliges, and maybe they don’t talk about Jane immediately. Maybe they laugh a little longer than usual. And maybe, just maybe, Luke thinks that he’s perfectly fine with obscuring the truth if it means he can have more of this when he needs it the most.

The truth, unfortunately, has a habit of making itself heard regardless of who is inclined to hide it. Luke comes into their usual study spot in the library one day to see Y/N waiting for him, not already in her seat like normal but standing tentatively at the side.

He frowns, slinging his backpack down on the ground and pulling up a chair. “Everything alright? You look like you’re about to run. If you’ve got something planned, we can do this another day.”

Y/N shakes her head slightly. “No, I’m free all day.”

Luke gestures towards the table. “Then sit down, my legs are getting tired just looking at you. We’ve got stuff to study, don’t we?”

“Well, that’s what I was going to ask about,” Y/N says, “Ms. Brown stopped me after class today, said she had someone else she wanted me to tutor. I said I was already booked with you and she was confused. Apparently you’ve been doing just fine for quite some time.”

Luke feels his breath catch in his throat. This is not how he’d wanted Y/N to find out. For what must be the hundredth time this year, Luke sends out a silent curse to all meddlesome English teachers.

“Yeah,” he says as carefully as he can, “I have, but only because of your expert tutoring. It’s like antibiotics, you know? You don’t stop taking ‘em when you start feeling better, only when the prescription is over.”

Y/N blinks at him in surprise. “What are you talking about?”

He runs a hand through his hair, trying not to feel like everything is slipping out of control in an instant. “It was a simile, sorry. A bad one. All I mean is that we don’t have to stop this just because I got a good grade or two.”

Y/N almost looks like she’s smiling, but that could just be Luke being delusional. “I thought you didn’t want to do tutoring.”

“I didn’t at the start, but you’re different. We’re cool. We are cool, right?” Luke starts rambling more and more with each passing second, but he can’t help it. He’s overthinking everything. What if he’s literally just been a tutee this whole time, and she doesn’t think they’re friends at all?

Y/N stares at him a second longer, then takes a seat at last. “Luke Patterson, are you telling me that you like my company so much that you’re willing to keep going to extra English practice just to see me?”

Luke can feel his face heating up, but he does his best to ignore it. “Well, when you put it that way, it sounds–” He still has a little bit of self control left, so he cuts himself off before he can make a truly terrible mistake.

Y/N catches him, though. “It sounds like what?”

“It sounds like I like you,” he admits, and Y/N’s smiling at him, so he decides to take the leap of faith and just do what he’s been wanting to do for quite some time. Since the start of this, actually. “And I do like you. I like you a lot. I might not need the tutoring anymore, but that doesn’t mean I want to stop seeing you. So what if we met up sometime soon? Not for English, for us.”

Luke decides that he likes Y/N’s smile more than anything. “Are you asking me out?” She says.

“I am,” he affirms. “Are you saying yes?”

“I am,” she repeats.

Suddenly, Luke feels like the luckiest kid of all. Maybe he does have to throw in a good word or two for meddlesome English teachers after all. Sometimes they have a way of connecting you with the best people in the world.

requested by @thatfangirl42, i hope you enjoy!

jatp tag list: @rogueanschel, @retvenkos, @callsign-scully, @lovesanimals0000, @amortensie

#luke patterson #luke patterson imagines #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson oneshot #jatp #jatp imagines #jatp x reader #jatp oneshot #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms imagines #julie and the phantoms x reader #julie and the phantoms oneshot #jatp luke #jatp luke imagines #jatp luke x reader #jatp luke oneshot

[rallamajoop]

The Baker Incident Report and the Resident Evil 7 Guidebook

While I’m talking obscure sources of RE7 lore, there's a couple more I’ve been poking through lately: the Baker Incident Report file (only available with the RE8 Trauma Pack DLC), and the BIOHAZARD 7 resident evil kaitaishinsho or RE7 guidebook (only available in Japanese, though some translations have made their way online).

I’m not the biggest fan of these kinds of ‘canon’ – fans shouldn’t have to go pouring through pages of DLC-exclusive-text-dumps or untranslated supplements to find out WTF was supposed to be going on – and both of these have other problems I’ll get into below. All that said, here's some of the more interesting new info they give us.

From the BIR, the Winters were moved to ‘Eastern Europe’, as witness protection from the Connections. That's still frustratingly unspecific, but more than we’re ever explicitly told in the game.

The lab that created Eveline is in Munich, Germany, per the BIR. This one does add up: close enough to Eastern Europe for Miranda to be involved, but not so close that it would necessarily ring alarm bells for Mia when the BSAA wanted to move them right to Miranda’s doorstep. Mia’s obviously been to the Munich lab, but presumably didn’t know exactly where the mould comes from (something redacted out even in their own reports). The guidebook also places the lab in Europe, but doesn't give a city. The BIR adds that the Connections are active in Eastern Europe, and we know they have facilities in Central America. Presumably there are offices in Texas too ‒ Mia can't be commuting cross continents to get to work every day.

Eveline was shipped to Central America due to an attempted raid by the BSAA, which is far more we learn from the "Orders" file from the game. The BIR goes so far as to imply that this botched operation was indirectly responsible for the whole Baker Incident, with Chris and his team leaving due to their frustration with the BSAA's attempts to cover the incident up. The guidebook, however, tells us Chris Redfield was actually the guy leading the team behind the failed raid. I assume we’re meant to take it that the mission failed because of an info leak, but I’m still amused by just how ineffectual this franchise keeps making Chris out to be.

Post RE7, Zoe is working as a reporter for a small paper in New Orleans. We don't know if she too went through witness protection but her name was listed among the dead at the Baker mansion.

Ethan is called a systems engineer in both the guide book and the BIR (this one does seem to have been spread around fandom more widely).

Eveline was created in the early 2000s, according to the guidebook. This one really doesn't add up for me: if the project started in 2000 and had already advanced through the A-E series by the early 2000s, why did it stagnate there for the next 10 years without further progress? Did Miranda leaving the project set it back so far? They can't have been waiting for Eveline to grow up, she can age 25x faster than usual, and is being deliberately maintained at the age of a 10yo girl. IDEK, I'd be inclined to ignore this one.

The guidebook states that Mia told people she worked for a "trading company," and was often away from home for work, something which had already strained the Winters’ marriage. I'd guess she told people she spent a lot of time accompanying shipments of goods when she was really smuggling materials or taking part in covert operations for the Connections.

The guidebook gives 2010 as the year she started working for the Connections (a year before her marriage to Ethan in 2011, though it doesn’t mention when they met, which may well have been 2010 or earlier). Mind you, this is also the one bit that randomly calls her "a researcher", so take it as you will (more on this below).

Of Mia's involvement with the project that created Eveline, it says only that the Connections' Special Agents Alan and Mia were assigned to transport Eveline to America. No real indication Mia was ever involved before then.

Of Mia's relationship to Eveline, it says that Mia "found Eveline creepy, but felt sympathy for her lonely situation." You and the rest of us, Mia.

Eveline forced Mia to lure Ethan to the Bakers' property in hope that adding Ethan to their family would make Mia more compliant, according to the guidebook. Eveline was especially fixated on Mia, having known her longer than the Bakers, and was frustrated with Mia's continued resistance to her control. Mia seems to have tried to keep Ethan's existence secret from Eveline to protect him, but somehow let it slip. All this is already implied in-game, of course, but it's nice to have it spelt out.

The Bakers feed people infected food because “oral and mucosal infections” are supposedly better for mould-powered mind-control. Ethan is obviously already infected AF well before their attempts to feed him 'dinner' (there's no way his severed hand would be usable otherwise), but IDK, maybe ingesting some extra mould would have made it easier for Eveline to control him? I'm sure a 10yo girl and a family of hillbillies do not have this down to an exact science, and I wouldn't even be surprised if feeding people mould was counter-productive somehow, given their success rate.

So why did none of those infected prisoners join Eveline's "family" alongside the Bakers? The guide book tells us simply that all were "deemed unfit" as family members, and were thus killed, and converted into molded instead.

We get official names for all the molded types we meet in the game (Moulded, Blade Moulded, Quick Moulded and Fat Moulded – pretty self-explanatory).

As a side-note, Ethan himself gets referred to as a ‘molded’ around this fandom a lot, which really isn’t correct. Ethan’s infected by the mold in the same manner as the Baker family, whereas ‘molded’ is a term coined to describe what amounts to mutamycete zombies (see above): the unintelligent, inhuman monsters that made up the generic enemy types of RE7, whose whole bodies are simply “superorganisms formed of countless mycelia.”

The guide book also implies that Jack’s final, mutated form reflects that he’s starting to become a moulded himself, which is a very interesting little detail.

Notes attached to concept art suggest that most moulded are created from dead bodies, covered by mould in bathtubs to convert them. Eveline is also seen spontaneously converting people to shapeless mould though, and clearly converted much of the ship’s crew into moulded-creatures in a very short time after her escape. It’s not super-consistent, but it is all horror-logic at its best (read: the rules are whatever will make this scene scarier).

There’s a bunch of additional stuff in the BIR naming the Connections’ founder as Brandon Bailey, someone who naturally has ties to Umbrella, blah, blah, blah ‒ I’m sure it all means more to fans of some of the older games. I can't pretend to have much interest in this part myself.

So with all that interesting info, what's my big problem with these sources? Well, for one thing, you don’t have to look far into the guidebook to find info that contradicts what we already know – and sometimes even itself. One page clearly describes Mia as a special agent working for the Connections ‒ a description that matches the wording used in the Orders document, and everything we see Mia doing in the game. But then another page randomly tells us Mia was hired as "a researcher" ‒ a description that matches nothing else we know about her (though it's an irritatingly common misconception, and this book may be the reason why). No-one's checking any of this stuff for consistency.

The guidebook also features such other gems as telling us Ethan currently lives and works in Los Angeles, when both Mia’s driver’s license and all geographical logic tell us they’re from Texas. Then there's that weird bit about Eveline being created in the early 2000s... and realistically, I can only assume a lot of what made it into the book may have come from earlier concept notes that were never updated as the story developed ‒ and if you read anything else on the production of this game, you'd know that concepts changed massively as development went on.

But more frustrating is everything the book doesn’t tell us. There isn’t a word said about the oh-so-mysterious "imprinting protocol" that Mia references in the game. How does it work? Is it, as the ending text spiel seems to imply, merely something that can be implemented in a hurry when Eveline needs to be transported across the globe? Can she be imprinted on more than one person at once? Has she ever been imprinted on anyone else? That seems likely, given that the lab’s in Munich while Mia lives in Texas (and if she's really been around since the early 2000s and Mia joined the company only in 2010, she logically must have been), but we don’t find out. Does Eveline get similarly obsessed with everyone she’s imprinted on, or is Mia special? Not a clue.

Since the guidebook was released in March 2017, long before the Not a Hero and End of Zoe DLCs, neither expansion is mentioned in the text. And since we don’t even learn the name ‘The Connections’ until the Not A Hero DLC, the group that created Eveline is referred to simply as the “mysterious organisation” (with quotes) whenever it comes up.

Nothing is said in the guidebook about the new incarnation of Umbrella which was so prominently involved at the end of RE7 either. Possibly, this too was to avoid spoilers for Not A Hero, which does at least give us some info on them – but then, the Baker Incident Report doesn’t mention the new Umbrella at all either, and it doesn’t have that excuse. That omission is all the stranger, considering that Zoe’s whole purpose in writing it is supposedly to expose the cover-up after the Baker Incident – doesn’t Umbrella factor into that at all? It’s like their whole role in RE7 has just wiped clean.

It's also obvious there was so much more lore written for this game that the guide book doesn’t share. Early versions of collectable documents that can still be found in the game files give the D-series head and arm some fascinating backstory, but there’s nothing about them in the guide book, which is a real shame.

Mia especially stands out as a character who must have so much backstory we never hear anything about. How did she get involved with a company as evil as the Connections? How did she justify it to herself for so long – what excuses did she make to herself? Did she genuinely believe they were finding ways to win wars without losing soldiers? Was she gathering evidence against them, was she scared they’d kill her if she left? Not one single word in either the guidebook or the BIR to explain.

Even more annoying to me, though, is just what a wasted opportunity the Baker Incident Report is to add more to Zoe’s story, when she’s one of my favourite RE characters. Included in the text is a letter she received from Mia, giving what should have been the perfect opportunity to flesh out the relationship Zoe and Mia must have built in the three years they spent trapped in the Baker property, the only two (semi-)sane people present – and what does the letter do? Imply they hardly knew each other at all. It’s the most boring possible answer, it contradicts hints from the actual game (Marguerite outright tells us they've been working together, even!), and GDI, you do not get to tell me that my girls didn’t know each other! ;_;

Ethan and Mia similarly get the short shrift. Throughout RE7 their every interaction is building to a big scene that never actually happens where Ethan finds out the truth – Ethan knows Mia’s been keeping secrets, he never stops asking questions about it, and Mia says outright that she wants to come clean. So what does the BIR tell us? Well, post RE7, Mia mentions in an interview that she doesn’t want anyone telling Ethan. Not a word about what changed her mind. Not a word about why Ethan would just stop asking. Total cop-out.

And there’s so much more it could have covered too. There's nothing about Ethan’s ‘military training’. Nothing about the Winters' relationship with Chris. Mia’s conversation with him in RE8 suggests he was personally involved in relocating them to Eastern Europe, but the BIR doesn’t mention that either. The BIR at large is basically just an extended lore dump, and it doesn’t even sound like Zoe’s voice.

So this is about where I finish up with both of these sources: frustrating, inaccessible, inconsistent, and more missed opportunities than real material. There’s a lot in both I’ll happily go on ignoring. But I’ll still pour through them for every last interesting detail, because I am that obsessed with this canon right now, and they’re what we’ve got.

#Resident Evil 7 #Resident Evil Village #Eveline #Mia Winters #Zoe Baker #Ethan Winters #The Connections #The Bakers #RE lore #meta

[littlemonday]

The Emperor, The Ending, and that IGN Article

Note: This analysis was originally written and posted on the Larian forums for Baldur's Gate 3. You can find the original forum post here. This analysis includes a number of outside links to other posts I made on the Larian forums as well as the IGN article I'm referencing through out. If you choose to read the original forum post, I have a number of responses through out the thread. You'll recognize which responses are mine because I use the same name on the forums as I do here - LittleMonday.

This analysis first looks at the ending choices in the game, then transitions into a character analysis of The Emperor. Approximately 3,800 words. Lots of spoilers.

Let me first start out by saying that I love this game. It would be entirely unfair to say that this game is anything less than a triumph. The level of skill that goes into a collaborative process such as the making of a video game with a rich story, compelling characters, complex morality, beautiful animation, and an immersive environment is something that should not be hand-waved away. I’ve enjoyed hundreds of hours playing this game. Having said all of that, here’s (yet another) post of “we need to talk about the ending.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the recent-ish IGN interview with game director Swen Vincke and lead writers Adam Smith and Chrystal Ding, you can find it here. I’ll be focusing on their section of the interview concerning The Emperor and the end game choices.

LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD.

Let’s talk about the critical decision of siding with Orpheus or The Emperor.

I know a lot of people have pointed out that The Emperor joining the Netherbrain in the end if you side with Orpheus makes no sense, and I think it both does and doesn’t. He has always wanted freedom, and it’s almost certain that the moment he leaves the astral prism without Orpheus’ protection, he’ll be enthralled whether he’s willing or not. The explanation given in the article by Swen and Adam, as well as The Emperor in game, as “survival” feels like a 180 when his ultimate goal has been freedom. Why they chose not to focus on the fact that it’s game over for him as far as his autonomy under this circumstance is puzzling. Which brings me to my next point.

One of my biggest problems with the ending is how contrived the choices are. Along with The Emperor’s 180 mentioned above, Swen and Adam (Chrystal doesn’t say much) seem to have rigidly held on to this plot contrivance of choosing to become a monster, and in doing so, forces a binary ending whether it works within the narrative and gameplay or not.

Swen - “One of the basic questions of the game was whether you would become a monster if it would save the world. So that’s where you get that in that moment. And then the interesting bit was, well, if you’re not going to do it, are you going to ask someone else to do it, or [are] you just going to say, ‘F*ck everybody?’ That’s essentially what that moment was.”

Adam - “There was no way to save the city, save the world without giving up your own identity.”

The thing about a binary choice is that it only works if there truly are no other options available, however, the player has a lot more power and leverage in this situation than the game is willing to let them have. The Emperor wants his freedom and will be enthralled voluntarily or otherwise if he leaves the astral prism and cedes power to Orpheus. It’s also worth mentioning that when you help him defeat the Honour Guard, there’s an option to ask him about assimilating Orpheus, to which he answers that it may not work. So, assimilating is a big risk, and should it fail, he’s back to being a thrall.

Then there’s Orpheus. He cannot leave the astral prism without the players freeing him with the Orphic Hammer and cannot take on the Netherbrain unless he or someone else turns into an illithid. The player has leverage against The Emperor to persuade and/or intimidate him to join with Orpheus, and they also have leverage against Orpheus for the same thing. The whole speech Orpheus gives about how the player should have let his Honour Guard kill them and they would have taken on the Elder Brain before it evolved and became a Netherbrain is either a lie or delusion. You don’t even need to metagame to know this, yet the player has zero dialogue available to call Orpheus on this claim. He and his Honour Guard have been imprisoned in the astral prism for millennia with no means of escape, and no way of impacting the outside world. They weren’t going to stop anything, and yet, through the dialogue choices, the game treats this as though it were a given and that The Emperor held all the cards and kept this from you. He didn’t. He truly is the reason you’re alive to face the Netherbrain. Given the gravity of being on the cusp of The Grand Design, calling Orpheus on the impotence of him and his Honour Guard, and also potentially being under threat of having his brain consumed if he does not cooperate, there is plenty to leverage against Orpheus to get him to at least temporarily ally with the player and The Emperor. If you’ve struck a deal with Voss, you have even more leverage.

Beyond the other options that I believe should be available, I don’t think becoming a monster or “f*ck everybody” comes through in the ending at all. It seems like they expect players to side with Orpheus when there are plenty of role play reasons to side with The Emperor, and then no one has to become a monster, and you still save the city. The Githyanki aren’t even doomed under this ending just like they’re not doomed if Orpheus transforms and dies in the end so he doesn’t live as a mind flayer. If anything, the theme of freedom, autonomy, and alliances, I thought, came through more strongly, both with defeating the Netherbrain and with the companion quests. Under this theme, an option to persuade/intimidate Orpheus and The Emperor to work together actually makes more sense because they have to put aside their hatred for one another to accomplish the same goal of defeating the Netherbrain and obtaining their freedom. The intention seems to have been for the player to make a significant personal sacrifice to save the world, but I just don’t think that it was executed particularly well.

I think this is a good time to say that authorial intent should never be the end of one’s analysis of a text. If an author/director/writer/artist/creator tells you what their intention was, it doesn’t mean the text supports that. We don’t always execute something we create the way we intended to.

And that brings me to the next thing I want to discuss.

Let’s talk about The Emperor as a character.

I want to start out by saying that The Emperor is my favorite character. I enjoy a compelling and nuanced monster that subverts our expectations, and I think The Emperor provides a lot of that while also not living up to his full potential. I’ve already written a post on this forum regarding why I think we need to have a fully fleshed-out romance for The Emperor that you can read here. I’ll be focusing on his writing for this. I wrote at length about what I enjoy about the character in another thread on this forum, that you can find here, but I’ll include a quote:

“What’s unique about The Emperor is how he subverts our expectations. Yes, he’s manipulative, but he never mind controls you. He’s this supposedly asexual creature, yet he’s sexually interested in the player character and is heavily coded as a romantic male lead. He’s also supposed to be this heartless and soulless creature, but expresses care for the player character, and if you romance him, he’s sweet, vulnerable, and sincere. He’s supposed to be part of this hive mind, yet he wants his freedom and actively encourages the player character to form alliances to defeat the Netherbrain. He needs to feed off the brains of others, but avoids the innocent. He may want the player character to change into an illithid, but he leaves that choice entirely to you. He’s alien, yet very human and desires allies and companionship.”

I was under the impression from this interview that Swen largely sees The Emperor as a plot device, while the writers saw him as a character, even if he has a specific purpose in the narrative. There’s even a very awkward part of the interview in which Adam refers to The Emperor as “he,” quickly corrects himself to refer to him as “they,” only for Swen to insist that The Emperor is an “it,” even saying that “we often had this fight” when referring to his pronouns. I personally think that’s a bit revealing, though you may disagree.

For additional context, Swen, Adam, and Chrystal all agree that The Emperor is manipulative and self-serving, but that he never lies to you. Swen will later reiterate this very point when talking about Raphael:

Swen - “Raphael… a lot of what he says you can’t trust, but he is honest. And at one point, if you push him on it, he says, ‘All you are to The Emperor is a pack animal that’s carrying him to where he needs to be.’”

There’s another awkward exchange in which Adam speaks to The Emperor being terrified of going back to the Elder Brain. Swen then remarks:

Swen - “he’s not really terrified he doesn’t have that level of emotion.”

Adam - “Well, yeah, but I think that there’s a level of horror in being… Going back to what he escaped from.”

Now with all of that context laid out, I think his manipulative nature is pretty uncontroversial in the game’s text. He is self-serving - he doesn’t really hide that from you - he speaks in partial truths, and you are a means to an end. At least at first. And, this is where I think he becomes a more complex character whether Swen realizes it or not.

As a side note on how he manipulates the player: there’s this strange bit of dialogue with The Emperor in which you can call him on the fact that he’s hidden information from you throughout your entire alliance, and he responds by acknowledging that, saying that he purposefully lead you to believe that the githyanki Honour Guard were evil beings. I don’t recall this at all. He tells you that they would have killed you because to them you are already illithid, which is all true. It’s a strange bit of dialogue in the end that doesn’t follow what’s been established in the game.

That aside, I’ve heard many people hand-wave away all of his behavior as insincere and solely for the purpose of manipulating the player, however, I think that’s, at best, a shallow reading of the text. He may be manipulating the player character, but that’s hardly the only thing going on, where a character like Raphael is truly only manipulating the player character. In the interview, Swen, Chrystal, and Adam all say that he doesn’t lie, however, I think a more precise way of saying that based on what we see in the game, is that he doesn’t fabricate lies. He doesn’t make up a lie out of whole cloth, but rather omits information that he doesn’t think is relevant, or that doesn’t serve his purpose. Perhaps the most infamous example of this is his relationship with Belynne. As long as you remain on good terms with The Emperor, he frames their relationship as two allies working towards a common goal in The Knights of The Shield. However, if you become hostile, provoke, and dehumanize him, he reveals that Belynne was his unwilling thrall.

I’m hardly the first to point out that this cutscene is a bit suspicious. The timing of such a reveal and The Emperor framing it as “why hide” or “will this make you feel better” is an obvious threat to someone who seems likely to betray you the moment they can. The cutscene also has The Emperor casually revealing his identity to someone other than Belynne, much to this unnamed person’s horror. That is already out of line with how he conducts himself. After her death, we can have this interesting conversation with The Emperor in which he further discusses his relationship with her. With hindsight, it’s obvious that when he says their relationship “was not love” it was “deeper,” and that it was “unique,” he is referring to when she was his thrall. But, he also reveals in some dialogue options that she understood his needs, his desire for freedom, and that she didn’t trust a mind flayer at first, suggesting that she wasn’t initially his thrall. He even describes himself as being “haunted” by memories of her. We don’t know exactly what memories are haunting him, but we do know that the dialogue option with the thrall cutscene, he says to the pc “aren’t you glad I finessed my methods?” Even when he calls you his puppet, at no point in the game will he enthrall you or your party members.

It’s worth mentioning that it is well within DnD lore that mind flayers grow attached to their thralls and mourn their passing, but we later find documents in the game, one from a physician, that when The Emperor came to visit Belynne as her condition progressed, that it eased her “body and mind.” We also find a document suggesting that he was impersonating her through magic as one eye witness account described a floating blue figure, but that it turned out to just be Belynne smiling. I bring all this up because what I believe we’re seeing here is an incomplete portrait of their relationship. I think it suggests that they were once genuine allies before he enthralled her, and that he’s mourning more than just her passing, but also the deterioration of their relationship. I think this also helps to explain why he never enthralls the pc, even if it would mean preventing them from taking some very dangerous paths that jeopardize their mission. The Emperor is an unreliable narrator who speaks in partial truths, so I don’t believe that either version of their relationship you get from him is the whole truth, but is not entirely false either. This game very often takes a more-than-meets-the-eye approach to characters and storylines, so this is well within what we have come to expect from this game. She may have been a means to an end on some level, but she was hardly only a means to an end.

As far as that strange comment from Swen that The Emperor “does not have that level of emotion,” we actually feel his fear regarding the Elder Brain as it’s breaking free from the crown’s control. If the pc romances him, we literally feel that he cares for the pc, and in some interactions of this scene he’ll tell the pc that he enjoys their mind, and refers to their relationship as a bond of love. Before the final battle, one of the NPCs invokes Balduran’s name right before battle, and if you’ve allied with The Emperor, you feel his amusement that they have no idea who he once was. There’s even that scene with the Guardian at the beginning of Act 2 in which a successful insight check reveals that he is hiding the depth of his pain. I know there’s that note that The Emperor left for Ansur about no longer feeling his feelings, but he clearly does feel. He even describes the grief he feels over Belynne as “not entirely unwelcome.” The Emperor is an arrogant and prideful character, and he doesn’t seem to be entirely self aware as to his own humanity because he sees himself, as a mind flayer, to be superior.

For most endings, The Emperor will just depart after defeating the Netherbrain, much like the other companions who also go their separate ways. So, I don’t think this is necessarily an indication that the pc was merely a means to an end. However, (big spoilers here) there are two endings in which he does reveal his feelings for the pc. In a solo ending in which the pc doesn’t transform, he’ll tell them “you have become… important to me. And should our paths cross again, I will be glad to see you.” There’s also an ending where, if the pc transforms into an illithid, he will ask to stay together to rebuild the Knights of the Shield. There’s an option to tell him to think bigger, at which point he’ll say to them “Have I ever told you how much I enjoy you? Lead the way…”

I also want to note that right before the above mentioned exchange with The Emperor, the Narrator has a line that in being a mind flayer, all your companions become tools or food, but then contrasts that with:

“Perhaps you are unique among illithid-kind. Perhaps you will retain enough of who you are to resist your nature. A rogue mind flayer. Like The Emperor.”

This is a pretty straightforward acknowledgement that The Emperor does have the capacity for relationships beyond mere tools for his use.

All this is to say that there seems to be some genuine relationship building with The Emperor, which makes it, in some ways, more strange that he’s so quick to abandon the player and join the Netherbrain should you choose to free Orpheus. Many players have noted that trust is one way with The Emperor, and if that’s the angle Swen and the writers were going with him, then why have The Emperor demonstrate trust in the pc’s leadership? Yes, there are moments in the game in which he admonishes the pc, disagrees with them, attempts to persuade them away from a decision, hell even probes their mind if they lie to him about the meeting with Raphael, but he’s actually very reasonable when it comes to the pc’s autonomy and decision making. If you save the Grove, he’ll even compliment you on your leadership. He’s so hands off in so many ways, but when he does interject about certain quests like the Crèche, Ansur, or The House of Hope, those are extraordinarily dangerous quests that risk everything. They risk you, him, and anyone left behind to be subjected to the Grand Design, but he never stops you. He actually does demonstrate a lot of trust in the pc even if they’re not the most reliable at times.

I said earlier that I think the intended ending was to have the player join with Orpheus, then the pc, or one of the companions turns into an illithid. This requires a sacrifice and sets up this dramatic encounter with The Emperor in which he rides in on a red dragon and summons your dream guardians to fight you. This could have been a powerful moment, however, I think it largely falls flat when you have this forced binary decision with a character, who may be unlikable, but is actually pretty reasonable throughout. If you’ve romanced The Emperor, or are at least on friendly terms, this binary ignores the prior relationship development of the pc being more than a means to an end by not at least allowing for some kind of exchange and option for striking an alliance.

But, let’s just say you have romanced The Emperor, but the twist is that you are merely a means to an end. Well, that’s not clearly laid out either. There’s no moment to confront him, and the only acknowledgment of an intimate relationship comes when he castigates the pc and reminds them that they didn’t “reject” him, but “enjoyed” him. (If anything, that implies you used him). He just leaves and that's that. Along with everything I laid out earlier, it’s not so much a twist, as it’s incomplete writing. This isn’t even the only example of incomplete writing. Remember how your companions were able to witness your night with The Emperor but no one said anything the next morning? The so-called fix was to have The Emperor wipe their memories without any regard for the implications. The pc doesn’t have a dialogue option regarding such an action, and the only vague textual clue that this is something he does is that he may have done some memory manipulation with Belynne’s doctor. However, the doctor can still recall a lot of details of The Emperor’s visits, she just has trouble recalling his appearance. He either doesn’t or can’t completely erase her memory of his visits, even though she finds him suspicious and erasing her memory entirely might be safer for him to do. Other than that, it’s just the one line he speaks that was thrown into the game a couple of patches in. Even then the companions still don’t react to the “enjoyed me” line, or the “fornicated with a mind flayer” line if you side with Orpheus. We love hearing our companions react, so why not have that in there? It would certainly be more entertaining at the very least.

Whether these inconsistencies come down to creative differences between Swen and the two lead writers is speculation. No one was in the writing room with any of them, but this interview was, nonetheless, enlightening in some respects. I do hope that at some point The Emperor can be a fully realized character, and one that’s in line with the depth he is given in the game. And I would hope that would go along with additional ending choices that better reflect the narrative that comes before that crucial decision. A binary choice like the one we currently have doesn’t work for many playthroughs, even if it may work for some. I would like to see that someday reflected in our final choices.

Lastly, while I’ve laid out a fair amount of criticism in this post, my intention was not to cynically nitpick every inconsistency. I even deleted some things I originally planned on including here, because I realized that not all plot contrivances actually weaken the story. I want to repeat that I still love this game, and when I say it’s a triumph, I do sincerely mean that. I know all too often fans may request changes to the game or characters as a sort of wish fulfillment, but those changes would ultimately end up undermining the narrative or themes. I’ve tried my best to avoid that here, and I hope I have.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #the emperor #the emperor bg3 #media criticism #media analysis #spoilers #baldurs gate 3

[giac222]

I’m an Ashley Graves lover and defender till the end 🤞🏻🩷.

This is going to be a deep dive and a pretty long post, just a heads up! There’s a point in the beginning where I briefly discuss something else regarding TCOAAL because I felt that it ties in, but this post will mostly be focusing on Ashley + her experiences, and a little about how Andrew isn’t actually a doormat, not even close. 😶

Let’s get into it:

I adore her and I have the biggest soft spot for her, my empathy for her is through the damn roof. She’s a product of her environment, she wasn’t born the way she is (Andrew wasn’t either). It’s frustrating to see people claim she was born evil. I’d go as far to argue that she isn’t completely evil either. Her soul is the color of pitch black according to the demon in the game. But why is that? What caused it? The reason for this is because of how she’s been treated by everyone else around her throughout her whole life. It’s not like she asked or wanted to become a “tar soul”. Her environment made her sour, it made her hate people.. including herself.

After Ashley sacrifices the warden to the demon, when she’s thinking to herself, a text box comes up that says “You decide not to linger on the fact that your soul is apparently a vicious, pitch-black mess.” and after that we see another one that says “Guess you already knew that”.

I was thinking to myself, why the hell am I so attached to this character? Lmao. Why do I have such a huge soft spot for her? Then when I was thinking about it I realized it’s because I relate to some of what she’s been through. Especially her terribly low self-esteem that causes her to feel unlovable, ooo that hit home for me. For quite some time I dealt with that, and let me tell you, it truly is an awful feeling. It can make you very mean and bitter. It quite literally eats away at you. I’m 22 now and I’m able to reflect on those past experiences, that’s when I realized how bad it really was. When it comes to someone having poor self-esteem and not much self worth, it stems from somewhere. People don’t just randomly start hating themselves, there’s something that causes it to happen. It could be from a variety of things such as trauma, childhood experiences, comparison to others, and discrimination.

It truly sucks to see how many people online that seem to hate her (not on Tumblr, but almost everywhere else). Her backstory breaks my heart, it’s tragic, and it seems that people completely ignore what she’s gone through and what she STILL goes through.

I also hate that the game has kind of, in a way, become a meme due to the controversy. This game delves into very serious and depressing topics, so for losers online with 0 media literacy to water it down to “the incest game” is sooo agitating. This is just a personal opinion of mine, but I also feel as though the controversy made people play the game for the wrong reasons. Including a lot of “edgy” teenagers 😬. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that, I’ve touched on it before in a different post. I mean the amount of loud and wrong takes I’ve seen about the game… All I can do is shake my head 💀.

So, I’ll share my (maybe?) controversial opinion that some of the “fanbase” is part of the problem too, not just the people who hate the game that don’t even know what’s going on. I’ve talked about this before so I’ll keep it brief, but I feel it fits in the post so I’m including it. But on the game’s subreddit there are people who will reduce the game itself to fap material, and it doesn’t make sense to me because there’s quite literally nothing overly sexual or explicit in the game?? Even in the questionable route vision we don’t see anything explicit, we just know what happens. I’m like have y’all forgotten that this is a PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR game?? How some of these people managed to reduce Nemlei’s work that she clearly put a lot of thought and effort into that covers dark topics and serious issues to fap material is beyond me…. What a way… just what a way. Let’s hope they get weeded out of the fandom before ch. 3 drops 🙏🏻.

Just to clarify so no one gets confused, I’m NOT referring to people who create NSFW art/posts of the game, like duh you guys know I love Ashley and Andrew 🤭🤭. I know what I’m about! 😂. Seriously though, I’m referring to people in the Reddit community who will quite literally just take people’s NSFW art (any fan art in general really) and upload it there without the artist’s consent (edit: I think if they give credit it’s not a big deal, and some artists may not care regardless. Some probably care, some don’t). It just seems like the NSFW stuff is the only thing a lot of them care about, and the shit they say is so unhinged at times I’m like???? Seek help. (Obviously it isn’t all of the members, but it’s definitely a lot speaking from my personal experience there before I left). In a way, I can’t blame outsiders for side eyeing the fanbase if that’s their first impression.

Between the amount of haters TCOAAL has and some of the questionable “fans”…. Yeah, we’re in the trenches 😂. That’s part of the reason why I left the server and now only participate in the Tumblr community. Not even trying to gate-keep or sound like an asshole, but a lot of the Reddit community doesn’t fit the game. I said what I said! As I’ve said before in a previous post, most of the trash takes I’ve seen on the game stem from there, and YouTube too. 😬

TCOAAL is a game that requires you to think and dig deeper, that’s why I love it. It touches on very heavy topics. Tbh it’s not something you can simply take at face value, that just defeats the purpose.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about Ashley! 🩷✨

When you pay attention to all the details and look deeper into Ashley’s character, you see that Ashley has quite literally been treated like shit her entire life by EVERYONE around her except for Andrew. That’s why it’s so easy for her to treat people as disposable, because that’s how SHE was treated her entire life 💔.

This scene specifically proves that:

Andrew really is everything to her. That boy is her sun, her moon, and all of her stars. 🥲💚. We see that he’s her main, and basically only source of happiness. He’s the only thing/person she cares about. I find it genuinely heartbreaking that he has been the only person Ashley could depend on throughout her life. Due to this, it makes sense as to why Ashley goes to such extreme measures to keep him around. if she lost him, she’d have no one else. So of course she’s scared that he’ll leave her. Even though we know he’ll stick by her side no matter what, Ashley does not. She’s quite literally the love of his life but she doesn’t know that. 😩

Then again, Andrew doesn’t show it, so of course she doesn’t get it. He’s never said I love you back to her, the closest we get to that is when he says “I like you… but you’re so exhausting” after their huge fight. If you look closely at his face in that scene, you’ll see gray blush lines on his cheek. Ashley has been abandoned by everyone except for Andrew, she needs validation and reassurance from him to know that he’s there to stay. He doesn’t really give that to her though, but he needs to STAT! As I said, we know he’s in it for the long haul, but Ashley does not.

You see, Ashley operates under the idea that Andrew doesn’t actually care about her. She believes that he couldn’t love her of his own will and that she has to manipulate in order for him to stay. I hold the opinion that she doesn’t do those things because she necessarily wants to, she does it because she feels like she has to in order to keep him around. She manipulates, but she isn’t very good at it 🫣.

Thinking about their huge fight in apartment 302 after Andrew killed that lady (she definitely did not attack him first, but we’ll get into that in a minute). When Andrew’s choking Ashley she brings up the fact that she’s the only one who can make his nightmares go away, but guess what we see in ch. 2? Before going to snoop on the cultist, if you go back to their motel room and you interact with the bed. A text box pops up that says “oh yeah, you tooootally have nightmares as often as you claim.”.. So, we now know that Andrew doesn’t actually have that many nightmares, he uses it as an excuse because he wants to sleep next to Ashley and be close to her.

Back to the apartment 302 incident, when Ashley goes back to that apartment after completing the ritual, she sees that Andrew killed the lady that lived there, he claims she attempted to attack him with the nail gun, but the nail gun was in the same damn spot! People should’ve started side eyeing him at that point in the game. I know I did LOL, “doormat extraordinaire” my ass 😂. Btw, there are people who genuinely believe he tried to sleep with the lady in 302, but she wouldn’t do it so he killed her….. 🤦🏻‍♀️. I wish I was joking.

Anyway, in Andrew’s dream when we go over the justified deaths, with the lady in 302, the first reason he mentions is “Ashley would have wanted to kill this one anyway” then he brings up no witnesses. To me, the fact that the first reason he mentions is Ashley wanting to kill her anyway showed that he killed her for Ashley more than anything. I mean, It did make Ashley happy that she died. He didn’t say anything about getting attacked, although it was obvious that was a lie already lmao. I believe that’s why he got so frustrated, which led to him getting pissed off after Ashley started accusing him of trying to sleep with that woman. Especially because once she started, it escalated quickly and she just kept going.. He was like “girl??? I literally killed this woman for YOU.” I could be wrong, but that was my interpretation on the situation.

Another interesting thing I thought about was how during their argument, Andrew tells Ashley to butt out of his love life, and that she always makes up some bullshit crisis for him to leave/stay when he’s out or about to leave to go meet up with someone. But in the flashback with Julia during his dream, while she’s raising genuine concern and mentions that it could be good for Ashley to learn some independence for her own sake. Also for Andrew to stop cutting things short on her, for the sake of their relationship, and so they can spend more time together. Andrew responds to that with “If your sister needed something, wouldn’t you go?” 👀. Andrew likes Ashley being dependent on him, he doesn’t want her to become independent. During their heated argument he admits to knowing her so called crisis she has before he leaves is “bullshit”. Yet he still chooses to leave to be with her anyway. Because again, Ashley’s the love of his life, people can deny it all they want but the proof is right there lmao. Not to mention he looked so sad hugging Julia until he asked her to tie her hair up… I see right through you Andrew 😂.

Also, him bringing up Nina’s death (Julia’s best friend) and lying to Julia’s face about it like he had no part in it, that was actually scary not going to lie 🫢. Plus him lying about Nina’s death affecting Ashley…like you know damn well. After their huge fight, Ashley said she was glad that Nina choked, which Andrew responded with “I know you are”.

That’s the thing about Andrew, he’s very good at lying and we see multiple examples of this in the game. When they were at their parents house Ashley decided to stay quiet because she couldn’t keep up with Andrew’s lies. In a different post of mine I talked about how “Andy” was a facade, but Ashley doesn’t understand that yet. She thinks he’s changing for the worst, but in reality he’s always been that way. His true colors are just now finally coming out.

Andrew and Ashley both had a shitty upbringing. I mean Mrs.Graves made Andrew take care of Ashley when he was a child, and I remember in a flashback he asked Ashley if she wanted to go with him because their mom gave him money for groceries, like ma’am why are you making your child go out to buy groceries??? Also, at the end of the day, she sold them both to organ harvesters. However, Andrew was treated somewhat better than Ashley during their childhood. We see this through the plushies in the puzzle before the questionable route vision, if you set Ashley’s plushie down at the table she immediately falls off. At their parents new home during dinner, Ashley sat on a mini ladder while everyone else had a chair, and simply the fact that Mrs.Graves gave Andrew their new house address, but didn’t give it to Ashley. They always shut Ashley out, they never cared about her nor did they try.

Now, let’s talk about one of, in my opinion, the saddest parts of the game. The flashback of Leyley’s birthday 🥲.

We see that neither her parents nor her friends cared about her birthday, they didn’t even try. She looked so sad talking about her friends here 😭. The fact that she brought up how her friends are always busy when she asks them for something shows that this is a recurring thing, her friends suck. I am in tearsss. I’m sick rn, she deserves everything and more. Andrew attempted to make her birthday special for her at least 🥺.

Also, I know Julia seems sweet from what we’ve seen, but I’m suspicious of her tbh 👀. We know Ashley hung out around her and Nina. I remember seeing one of the screenshots from a progress report where Andrew asks them if they could invite Ashley to sit with them sometime at lunch, so I’m assuming that’s how their “friendship” started.

Nina had a crush on Andrew, and Julia ended up dating him later on. I think it’s possible they only hung out with her just to get closer to Andrew. Julia wasn’t a very good friend to Ashley it seems, so it makes sense that she wouldn’t be thrilled about them dating. Especially because Andrew is the most important, well, really the only important person to her.

Something else to think about when it comes to people in Ashley’s life outside of Andrew: After Andrew killed the warden to protect Ashley and before they left their neighbors apartment, Ashley tells Andrew “I don’t give a rat’s ass about mom or dad. Or any of my so-called friends anymore.” and “Not one of them felt it necessary to answer my calls…”. When she says this she looks very upset. So, even in present time, Ashley still gets treated like shit by everyone around her except for Andrew, this has been an ongoing thing since her childhood.

Next up is this scene with Mrs.Graves while setting up the ritual:

This was after Ashley says “Lookie ma! I drew a circle!”. Mrs.Graves immediately starts putting her down. Ashley’s response to what her mom said shows me that this is something that commonly happened. I’m sure there were many times in Ashley’s life where she’d attempt to impress her mom and receive praise, but would immediately get shut down by her instead. The more I think about how terribly Ashley was really treated, the more sad I get about it, what the fuck 😭.

Ok, last thing to dissect. I wanted to talk about this comment from a YouTube video that came up under the “all” section on there. Beware, it might make you lose braincells. 💀

“Ashley is heavily sexualized” let me stop you right there ✋🏻 lmao. No she is not. At least to me she isn’t, I never got the impression that the game sexualized her. A lot of male players sexualize her (because of course they do 🙄), but the game? I disagree. You could say Ashley views herself as a sex object, but that doesn’t mean she’s sexualized by the game. She views herself that way because of her low self-esteem and the fact that she doesn’t believe someone could genuinely love her. Not to mention her internalized misogyny. Source? I’m speaking from experience. Having terribly low self-esteem really does drive you to dark places. It can lead to you basing your self-worth on people finding you sexually attractive or just attractive in general, like your self worth is based on your looks alone. That’s how you get validation even if it’s from a not so good place. It wears off pretty fast though, and it leaves a poor after taste. It’s only a temporary “good” feeling. If you don’t like yourself, no amount of attention will be ever good enough for you or truly make you feel better.

“Goth-esque fetish ware”, first of all it’s “wear”, and the “fetish wear” in question is just shorts, a black shirt, and a choker 💀. I cannot lmfao. Does that mean Andrew has “goth-esque fetish wear” too? Bc him and Ashley literally dress the same 😂. Not that this matters, but Ashley and Andrew are more emo to me lmao.

“She’s definitely a manipulative psychopath”… opinion immediately discarded because of this part of the comment alone.

“Her heavily sexualized existence”…. Don’t piss me off 🙄 like??? I can’t believe they said that. People with a brain larger than the size of an atom know that Ashley’s entire existence isn’t sexualized, I’d argue that it’s quite literally the opposite. It’s almost like they want Ashley to be this seductive sex kitten, but she just isn’t that. They project that onto her. I feel like some people think that Ashley simply existing with a bigger bust means she’s automatically sexualized, some men feel this way about women with bigger busts in real life too, so them doing it to a fictional character doesn’t shock me. Worms for brains I swear.

The comment Ashley makes about her “big fat tits” in the motel room during her mini argument with Andrew was literally so unserious. There’s the scene where Andrew was lying on the couch in their parents house when Ashley wakes him up out of his dream, and we see him looking at her boobs from his POV. However, that was literally so mild, you hardly even saw anything lmfao. I feel like Nemlei added that in to show that Andrew’s sexually attracted to her, plus it was a little before the scene where Ashley playfully bites him, and (in my opinion) where they almost fully crossed the line (because of Andrew mind you) before their mom came in. We all saw that pillow placement 😂. There are other signs of him being attracted to her before that as well, like when we see him push the thought of hugging her to the back of his mind “where it may fester with all the thoughts he wish he never had” + that scene in the kitchen where he was sort of touching her butt and had his fingers through her belt loop, but when their mom came in he jerked away and looked as if he got caught.

People will claim that Ashley is the only one that’s incestuous and that she “forced” it onto Andrew, but in ch. 2, we see that Andrew is arguably more incestuous than she is. Ashley loves Andrew to death, but she isn’t exactly horny for him the same way he’s horny for her. Think about their reactions to the questionable route vision. Ashley was pretty chill about it, while Andrew was beat red and embarrassed because his repressed inner thoughts just got exposed. The demon clocked his tea 😂.

I’ve spoken about this before so I’ll keep it brief, when it comes to sex Ashley doesn’t care much about it and views it as transactional, as something she can use for personal gain. As I kind of said already, to me, her viewing herself as a sex object and having that view on sex in general ties into the fact that she has internalized misogyny and her personal belief that she’s unlovable. So, not only does she view herself as a sex object, but you could say that she also views other women as sex objects too.

This is my personal opinion which I’ve shared before, but when her and Andrew fully cross the line (because they’re definitely going to) and he finally shows her that he loves her as well, I think her views on sex may change a bit. That she’ll start seeing it as something out of love that they can both enjoy. As something they can experience together, instead of her ignoring her own desires and being his personal sex object to use to attempt to keep him around.

Do I think that Ashley isn’t horny for him at all? Tbh no. I mean she literally says she assumed it would happen between them eventually anyway, so she’s definitely thought about it before. However, it’s nowhere near Andrew’s level lmao. We know Ashley is a virgin and honestly, I think Andrew is the only one she’d happily lose it to. If she were to sleep with anyone else, I doubt she’d enjoy it and would only use it as personal gain for something. As of right now, she views sex as a way of keeping Andrew around, however, I feel this is because of the fact that she doesn’t actually think he loves her and will stay with her on his own. She loves Andrew and wants to be with him, she wants him to reciprocate her love. As I like to say, Andrew’s her boo 😂, that girl doesn’t want anyone else.

Alright, let’s finish dissecting that goofy YouTube comment.

“practically puts the usually male players protective instincts into overdrive.” I don’t know wtf this means lmao, but it made me cringe. Some men need to be banned from speaking on Ashley until we figure out what’s going on 😂. Bc every time they speak on her I lose braincells. “Protective instincts” yet they quite literally don’t understand anything about her character or her struggles 💀. Maybe sit this one out lmao.

Not to sound like a broken record, but a big part of Ashley’s character is that she has very low self-worth and that she doesn’t believe people, more specifically Andrew, could actually love her (💔). I mean think about how she’s been treated for her whole life, it makes sense as to why she developed those feelings about herself and others. Her mindset is “well people never cared about me, so why would I care about them?”. Having people regularly treat you like shit takes a toll on your self-esteem and impacts your world view. Especially if it happens in your childhood.

Ashley quite literally loves Andrew more than she loves herself. I want better for her :’( and she deserves better too. I don’t care about the Ashley haters opinions. There are people who believe that she’s faking her low self-esteem in order to manipulate Andrew….. 🤦🏻‍♀️. Have you even paid attention to anything in the game?? That’s one of the biggest things about her character like hello?

I should have added this in earlier oops, but I’m adding it in now. After her and Andrew first talk to the lady in 302 and they leave her apartment, Ashley asks why the lady got special treatment but they didn’t, and why she didn’t get any food. Andrew responds with “maybe you just aren’t pretty enough”, he wasn’t being serious, but she took it that way. It didn’t help that he said “I mean… wasn’t she?” After Ashley asked if he thought she was pretty. That’s why Ashley wanted to shoot her after the ritual. You can see Ashley looks upset when she asks “do you really think I’m not pretty enough?”. Then gets angry and says “So ugly am I, that I shouldn’t even be fed?”. This is her insecurity and low self-esteem kicking in on full display.

This is a similar situation to what happened when her and Andrew were looking for something to lock Nina in the crate with at the warehouse. She asked him what he thought about Nina and if he found her pretty. He said “she’s fine… I guess”, which made Ashley unhappy. Even though Andrew wasn’t into her, like at all. Ashley has been dealing with insecurity and low self-esteem ever since she was a little girl 😭. I’m so upset for her like you guys have no idea.

After Ashley traps Nina in the crate, there’s a point where she’s crying and says “It’s not fair!! Why does everyone like her better??” “I’m loud and weird and annoying and no one likes me at all!!!”. 😭. My heart is breaking as we speak. It’s hard for me to believe she said all of that just to manipulate Andrew in that scene. I know in ch. 3 we will be delving more into their childhood, and I have a theory that Ashley was also bullied in school. I mean to refer to herself as loud, weird, annoying, and to say that no one likes her at all. That absolutely came from somewhere, and I don’t think it was just from Mrs.Graves.

So, to see people with the emotional depth of a raindrop get online and say that she’s solely the problem, that Andrew needs to get rid of her, and that she’s simply just evil… is, to put it lightly, very annoying. I’m gonna say something, you know I love both Ashley and Andrew, but we need to be honest! People give Andrew too much of a pass. I mean they literally excuse all of the terrible things he’s done and blame Ashley for “making” him do it. They give him a pass for everything, but have 0 empathy for Ashley despite everything going wrong in her life since she was born. They completely ignore that she’s a product of her environment. When it comes down to it, what good experiences in life has she really had?

Also, Andrew is more violent than Ashley is. I think that’s self explanatory. People seem to forget that she quite literally just wants to live a peaceful life with Andrew. During the “quarantine” while they were still in their old apartment, she says “Aside from the starving, it’s not so bad here.” and “Aside from starving, I like it here”. Ashley doesn’t want to live a life of violence and chaos, and we see this in the room before unlocking the door that leads us to the two burial route choices. If you place the knife down (violence) nothing happens, but when you place the flower down (love) - (my bad guys originally I put heart instead of flower, I changed it!) - the door becomes unlocked. She also gets upset when Andrew tells her that they can’t live at their parents new house, she literally doesn’t want to be on the run and just wants stability.

On Pinterest, I see girls talk about how much they hate Ashley in the comment sections. They literally just do this because they think Andrew’s hot 😂. Especially when they call her a bitch, like grow up 🙄. I’ve also seen people refer to her as a “pick me”?? Literally how? Immature teens need to be banned from playing this game LOL. It’s giving those male celebrity fandoms that dig to find anything “problematic” on a girl said male celebrity is dating just because they’re pissed it isn’t them, they don’t actually care if she’s problematic or not.

It’s literally just misogyny, they do this a lot to women in media. Breaking Bad is the biggest example of this, the people that act like Skyler White is worse than Walter are delusional as hell. Sorry, but If you’re misogynistic, lack empathy and/or emotional depth, TCOAAL isn’t for you 🤷🏻‍♀️. Period. That’s why the game deserves a better fanbase than the one it has outside of Tumblr. It deserves better in general.

They don’t care to look into why Ashley is the way she is. If it wasn’t obvious already, Andrew brings out Ashley’s worst behavior and blames her for making him do bad things. In his mind he can’t be guilty, so he needs something on the outside to blame (Ashley). Mrs.Graves contributes to this btw, during the setup of the ritual before they sacrificed her and Mr.Graves she was pretty much saying “I know you don’t want to do this, I know she’s making you do it!” 🤦🏻‍♀️. She sounds like one of those boy moms that go “my son didn’t do shit!” 😂.

The worst are the people who reduce Ashley to fap material and a “hot crazy girl they can fix or make worse” 🤪, and basically fetishize her (unchecked) mental health issues that contribute to how she acts. Again, she’s had crippling insecurities and low self-esteem since she was a kid, Ashley has had just about 0 good life experiences outside of the ones with Andrew. So it is incredibly frustrating to see. I’m like I hate y’all I really do, read the damn room 🙄. They need to stop projecting their weirdo shit onto her.

People who fetishize mental illness and talk about how they want to “date a crazy bitch” are so gross. If/when they actually date someone with said mental health issues, when things get bad and they don’t fit the fantasy anymore, they’ll get disgusted and drop the person struggling with mental issues like trash. Anytime I see a guy say “crazy girls with mental issues are better in bed!”…. I’m like I know what type of man you are 🫥…. Perish 🗣️.

Ashley and Andrew both have unchecked mental illness, we know this. It’s quite literally not their fault. However, I personally don’t feel comfortable diagnosing them. Every time I see someone online say they were a born a psychopath, sociopath, etc. I lose brain cells. Mind you, I’m literally majoring in psychology and I still don’t feel comfortable diagnosing them.

To wrap things up because I know this post is LONG! I empathize with both Andrew and Ashley because they’ve both been dealt a bad hand in life. Their parents failed them in every way, and the society they live in is totally dystopian. However, when it comes to Ashley specifically? I have all the empathy for her in the world, especially because I understand some of the things she’s dealt with and how painful it really is. Digging deeper into her character shows you that she has quite literally been through hell and back. You can say she’s a victim turned villain, but honestly? I don’t really even consider her a villain, maybe that’s controversial to say but 🤷🏻‍♀️, I don’t think she’s irredeemable either. She’s someone who was hurt very badly, her wounds run deep, and she never really got to heal from any of it.

I just want her and Andrew to have a happy ending, it would be nice for them to experience genuine happiness for once. I would also like to see Ashley gain some self love in ch. 3, maybe Andrew will be able to help her with that in a way as their relationship improves.

Honestly, people who act like the questionable burial route is the “bad” ending are in denial so bad. Nemlei has said that “Burial” and “Decay” aren’t an indicator of a “good” or “bad” ending though. There will also be multiple outcomes to discover. I’m both excited, and scared lol.

I love Ashley Graves so much as a character, she’s so interesting and complex. I don’t play about her 😂. When it comes to defending her I’m on the frontlines lmao. The misogyny/hate when it comes to her is crazyyy. I’ll be the odd one out I don’t care, she’s my girlie 💕. It’s always refreshing to see other people who adore her and actually understand her as a character.

~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for reading ❤️. I think this is my longest post yet 😳.

Also, a big thank you to everyone for all of the notes on my TCOAAL posts! I truly appreciate it. I’m so glad other people adore this game just as much as I do. :)

Unfortunately I’m not able to follow people back since this is a side blog. :/, but I do really appreciate everyone that follows me, I hope you like what I post. 💜

I’m currently working on creating an ooak doll of Ashley! 🤭💕. I’m SO excited to finish it and post her!

I plan on making a post about the Decay route at some point, because I realized I haven’t discussed it much. Probably because that route makes me sad 😓. However, it’s still incredibly interesting and I’m both excited and nervous to see where it goes.

#that one girl who don’t play about ashley graves #ashley graves’s defense attorney #tcoaal spoilers #tcoaal #the coffin of andy and leyley #nemlei #ashley graves #andrew graves #coffincest #gravecest #leyley graves #andy graves #kit9 #i hate reddit #i hate stupid people #this is a pretty long post oops #long post #longer post #just my thoughts

[shadamyheadcanons]

Do you have any ideas for how Shadow and Amy’s relationship would change if Sonic had managed to get Shadow back on the ark in SA2? I’m working on my own little self-indulgent fic myself, but I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

Interesting thought! See, this is a tricky one for me because they canonically act like his brush with death never happened, which is super weird.

There should have been a scene on the ARK where Amy was really upset and possibly even cried after it happened, maybe blaming herself for encouraging him.

There should have been a scene in Sonic Heroes where she latched onto him and gushed about how relieved she was to see him alive while he just stared at her like “???” because he still had amnesia.

She should have been the one to reach out and befriend him, and he should have accepted; not only does she remind him of his late best friend, but she’s seen him at his most murderous and still supported him unconditionally.

She should be even clingier with him than she is with her other friends after what happened. She should have been right with him all throughout Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), guiding him and keeping an eye on him the way one would expect given her personality.

And...maybe this is controversial, buuuuut...it’s always felt a little arbitrary to me that he wound up spending a ton of time with Rouge and Omega and basically none with Amy.

I’m not saying I have a problem with Team Dark. I adore their dynamic and I’m glad he has them, but it kind of feels like they just happened to be there. Sure, he got along with Rouge alright for much of SA2, but she seriously hurt him by spying on him--something she’s never apologized for, as far as I know--and she left him behind to help the others get to the Cannon’s Core.

And that, I think, is where the biggest difference would be.

Shadow isn’t the forgiving type. By the time he’d regained his memories in canon and remembered how she’d betrayed his trust, she’d proven in the interim that she’s ultimately a good and loyal friend. If she hadn’t had that chance, I don’t think she could’ve gotten her foot in the door so easily. And if Shadow hadn’t fallen, he wouldn’t have been picked up by Eggman, so he wouldn’t have met Omega. In fact, I’d go even further than that. Team Dark’s opening cutscene in Sonic Heroes implies that Omega’s there strictly to guard Shadow. Not only that, but I’ve always gotten the impression that that’s why Omega was created in the first place. Mephiles all but confirms this in Sonic 06 by pointing out Omega is perfectly built to defeat and capture Shadow.

“This only proves you were created to stop Shadow, the ultimate life form. Don’t tell you didn’t know.”

So Omega would probably never have been built, at least not in his current form :(

With our favorite murder robot out of the picture and Shadow not trusting Rouge, Team Dark would be kaput, and Shadow really needs someone who’ll reach out to him.

And we all know it would be Amy, right?

It’s not even conjecture. In Sonic Battle, she eagerly seeks him out, even getting irritated when Rouge keeps her away:

On top of that, Amy latches onto Shadow because he’s a hero. I’ve pointed this out before, but the second Shadow becomes the protagonist in ShTH, she’s smitten with him...

...and the same happens in IDW issue 59:

And we can’t leave out The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog:

The social media team gets it.

She’s got a subtle little crush on him already imo even with the few interactions they have. If Amy spent lots of time with Shadow, that little crush could grow to rival another crush of hers ;)

As for Shadow, if she’d reached out to him right away without the time gap from his amnesia, I think his feelings for her--romantic or otherwise--would have been fostered and allowed to grow, fueled by his gratitude. She changed his entire life and would have introduced positivity and companionship into his world. You can’t not feel strongly about someone who does that for you.

Fandom-wise, Shadamy is already extremely popular considering how little time they’ve spent together in canon. It’s the third most popular game ship on AO3, only beaten by Sonamy and Sonadow.

There are more fics for Shadamy than Knuxouge. That’s kind of ridiculous, right?! Shadow and Amy have maybe ten minutes of screentime together! I also think Shadow might have gotten along better with Sonic if he’d gone right from saving the world with him to becoming one of Amy’s favorite people, so I’m willing to bet Sonamyshad would’ve skyrocketed in popularity, too. Not my cup of tea, but I know a lot of other fans like it.

Or...more interestingly...Shadow could’ve been really pissed once he saw up close and personal just how often Sonic ran away from Amy. The Dark Era right after SA2 was when it was worst, too. I imagine Shadow would be furious if he knew the full extent of how badly his favorite hedgehog was being treated. He could have been a godsend for her. You think he’d have put up with this if he’d seen it?

(Tangentially, I think it’s weird that Knuckles was fine with this stuff. I think of him and Amy as sibling-adjacent at times, but sometimes I feel like I have to fudge some details to make it work.)

And how many times did Sonic hurt her or make her cry back in the day?

Shadow’s punched Sonic for less than that. He’s way too loyal to sit there and watch while someone hurts his sweet, kindhearted best friend.

People think of Amy as the clingiest Sonic character, but I 100% believe Shadow rivals her in that respect. I really do. He nearly destroyed the Earth for a friend he knew for less than a year. He latched onto Team Dark like a security blanket the second he was dropped on their doorstep. He would have done the same for Amy, and she really could have benefited from that loyalty. Amy lashed out in that era because of frustration and insecurity from being repeatedly snubbed by her favorite person. I honestly think someone stable and steadfast like Shadow was exactly who she needed. He really could have turned her life around and gotten her the respect she deserved, either by standing up for her or proving to her that she deserved better.

And I definitely think he could have dealt with the Black Arms’ invasion much better if he’d had Amy to help guide him through it. She’s reminded him of who he is before. The Miracle of Love ending proves without a doubt that she could do it again.

It would have been great for both of them. I’m sad Sega never let them have that.

Also, Shadow standing up for Amy and later dating her would make this weird scene from Archie #149 absolutely hilarious:

Granted, that applies to shadamy in general.

Ken Penders & Friends: “Ha, wouldn’t it be hilarious if we had Sonic make a skeevy, totally age-appropriate comment in our kids’ comic about Shadow ‘finding a girl?’”

Shadow: “I found Amy Rose”

Sega: “THAT’S NOT FUNNY”

Sonic: “Idk, I think it’s kinda funny :) ”

Penders: “I have never played a Sonic game”

#shadow the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #not a headcanon #ask #amy rose #onesingularchocolatechip #shadamy

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for vowing to kill my friend’s friend after he murdered my boss? 

Pretty much what it says in the title. I (30sM) have known my friend (30s) for about 7 years now, but we only became close in the last 4 or so, during which I’ve become really involved in their friend group. I’ve been going through a difficult time (I won’t get into it, but my family died), and they’ve been a huge support whenever I needed them. My other biggest support was my boss (70sF), who at this point was basically a second mother to me. She was a really wonderful and compassionate person, though I’ll admit her politics weren’t always great. 

The one problem was my friend’s friend (30sM), who I just never got along with. He's really far left, and while I consider myself a pretty open-minded and liberal person, I always thought he seemed way too extreme and even warned my friend about him a few times. He was also having some trouble with mental health issues, which I get, but he was frankly just an unpleasant person to be around. I know other members of our friend group agreed, but I think they all just put up with him for my friend’s sake. 

Long story short, this all came to a head when he ended up killing my boss (and a few dozen other people). Obviously, I was devastated by this, and I figured the least my friend (who is pretty influential in our community) could do was make sure he paid for his crime and execute him. To my shock, my friend refused to do so and even told me not to interfere when I pressed them on it. I was pretty upset, so I swore I would find and kill their friend myself, and even threatened to burn down our city if I had to. I know that was kind of extreme, but I feel like I was justified. AITA?

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[tetradynasty]

So, one thing that I’ve seen is people wondering why Fuuko seems to be doing a lot better in this last time loop than Juiz did in her own, especially considering she had 99 previous loops to practice with.

I think that there’s actually a lot of reasons why.

First, the loop itself. The first 20 loops or so were probably pretty useless. By that, I mean that loops without all of the master rules or any of the foundational ones, like kindness or burn, were probably incomparable to modern loops. There would be so many differences that information you gained there would be flat out wrong in later loops. I like to imagine a scenario where in an early loop Juiz and Victor try to prevent Burn from ever being added to try and depower the Sun.

Then there would be the one-off loops where something went wrong, completely dooming the loop. Somebody killed Tell, and now everyone is mute. Or Juiz trusted the wrong person and they rebelled against her. And you know Unluck ruined at least one loop from how much she wanted Fuuko dead.

Also about the loops, we know there is a bit of variance. The author’s deliberately been a bit vague on how much stays the same vs what differs, but people can be born later or earlier, in different places, and that can really fuck up a plan dependent on careful timing. Trying to recruit negators or manipulate events can pretty easily fail if they appear a couple years before you think they would. The missions are different too, so a mission that’s a cakewalk one loop could kill everyone sent to clear it the next. There’s no relying on a scripted plan, you have to be prepared to improvise a lot.

And speaking of plans, there’s also the underlying goal that Juiz has throughout her loops. It’s not actually to kill God. It’s to make the next loop more capable of killing God. Because her biggest advantage is the ability to carry over knowledge, and unfortunately, a low chance of killing God just isn’t worth it when it means she’ll lose all the knowledge she’s gained if she dies and can’t loop. This means that she can’t take huge risks. Staying alive and keeping all her knowledge is her highest priority.

And one of those risks that she doesn’t take is increasing the size of the Roundtable.

The bigger the roundtable, the longer they have to survive against God. During Ragnarock, we see the process of God reaching Earth takes about one minute. So if Juiz is the only member, that means that it is impossible for God to stop her from looping. With Victor as a guard, that time limit can reasonably be increased by a few minutes, so they can add a few more people. But any longer, and it no longer becomes a guarantee. And that means that Juiz has to deliberately fail any mission that adds seats, to not overstretch.

Now that she’s deliberately failing missions, that puts a hard time limit on how far she can get into a loop before Ragnarock occurs. And that’s not counting any missions that may fail for reasons out of her control, such as underlings getting suspicious of their leader who keeps on trying to fail missions.

And that’s where it starts coming down to human nature, and what I think is the biggest reason Juiz isn’t as successful.

Juiz and Victor aren’t as empathetic as Fuuko and Andy are.

UU is a shonen manga at the end of the day, and there’s a big focus on how teamwork and connecting with other people is the best way to overcome your problems. And Juiz and Victor aren’t going out and building the team they need, because of who they are as a person.

They have reasons for this, of course. Victor is overprotective, stubborn, and willing to sacrifice countless other people to protect Juiz. She’s the only person he cares for after so many others have left him, and is the only person that can understand what he’s gone through. Billions of years of suffering have worn away any softness he might have, any desire to reach out to others.

Juiz has gone through everything along with Victor, with the addition of the fact that Unjustice is implied to only work on people she doesn’t like/hates. So she is encouraged to dislike people she meets, in order to not be defenseless against them.

However, it’s not just all of the disadvantages that Fuuko no longer has to deal with. There’s all the advantages in this loop, that come from everything Juiz has done to increase their odds.

Juiz was the one that put G-Liner into the loop, which allowed Anno Un to save Fuuko in loop 100 and Fuuko to grab a bunch of artifacts in loop 101, creating Andy eventually led to Andy restraining all the master Rules and preventing them from fucking things up before the Union was ready to fuck them up which Victor refused to do, and lastly there’s all the general training and knowledge she gave Fuuko.

So I guess what I’m saying is that yes, Fuuko is doing better than Juiz did. However, that’s based on a hundred loops of Juiz’s hard work.

#undead unluck #undead unluck spoilers #UU

[dreamingofep]

Sinned Awakening pt. 2

An AU Elvis fic

Prompt: Getting promoted to be Elvis’ full time housekeeper, you realize the man holds secrets beyond belief and your undeniable attraction makes you fear the unknown. [Fem!Reader]

TW: Cussing, tension, voyeurism, masturbation, blood/gore

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 5.4K

A/N: Hello everyone!

I hope you like this fic so far! I'm having fun writing it and it's getting more spicy 🤭 Reader is going through it and I'm loving the tension between these two. Please let me know what you think in the comments or send me a message!

Thank you again!

Sorry for any spelling mistakes and overall goofs. 🖤

Your alarm clock seems to be louder than usual and the instant feeling of anxiety fills your body when you open your eyes. You dreaded going to work today and wished you could just call out sick. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind you were going to get called into the office today and get scolded, and maybe possibly fired. How did you fuck up the most simple of tasks?! Clean and get out. But no, you had to become a nervous wreck around Elvis and shatter a champagne bottle in your hands, making more of a mess and bleed all over his suite. 

You muster up the courage to get ready and take a shower. Removing the bandages from your hands, you inspect the damage you caused. The cuts didn’t look as bad as yesterday but hurt when stretched your fingers out and flexed your hands. You decided to wrap them back up to keep the wounds dry and clean. 

Looking at the clock, you decide to get to work a bit early incase management needed to talk to you. Might as well prepare for the worse. The drive to the hotel made your stomach turn, the way the air smelled made you sick the closer you got to the parking garage. 

You get to the locker room at noon and it’s buzzing with everyone about to head to lunch. You take a few more steps into the room and everyone grows quiet, throwing disgruntled looks to you. You have no idea what everyone’s problem is but you quickly make it to your locker and get your things out, trying to act like nothing is bothering you. Your friend, Anna, opens her locker next to you and bumps your shoulder.

“What’s with everyone today?” You mutter, looking over your shoulder and seeing the disgusted stares continuing. 

“Everyone found out about you getting promoted to the penthouse and they’re pissed. Especially the ones that have been here a lot longer than you have.” She whispers. “But I’m happy for you, you work your ass off. You have to tell me, what’s he like?” She says in an excited whisper. 

“Well, he’s a dick. Rudest asshole I’ve ever met,” you snicker. She looks at you with wide eyes and covers her mouth from the the laugh that wants to come out. 

“Really?! What did you say to him? What happened?” She presses. 

“Not much but he was just in a foul mood. He watched my every last move and…” you stop yourself, still very much embarrassed about yesterday’s events. 

“Come on tell me,” Anna says eagerly. 

“I broke a champagne bottle and bled all over his suite, then he kicked me out,” you say with a snicker, the nerves getting the best of you and needing to let out the pent up anxiety. 

She lets out a giggle and picks up your bandaged hands. “Y/n, what the hell. That’s awful! You’re like the biggest perfectionist on earth. What happened?” 

“He made me… so nervous. I don’t know what it was about his presence but it just was so intense. The way he’d look at me gave me chills, I don’t know! I have no explanation other than the nerves got the best of me and it broke me, literally,” you say jokingly as you raise up your bandaged hands. 

Anna laughs at you and you continue to change your clothes. 

“Y/n, get in here,” Tanya’s voice echos loudly from the back office. You stomach drops and you look nervously at Anna. 

“Shit, this can’t be good,” you mutter. 

It feels like a death march, and you try to come up with an excuse for your behavior but nothing is good enough to get you out in the clear. 

You swing open the office door and see Tanya looking down at paperwork. 

“Shut the door please,” she says with the wave of her pen. 

You comply and take a seat in the chair, your leg nervously bouncing up and down. 

“How was your shift yesterday?” She asks, her tone unwavering. 

You swallow harshly and clear your throat before speaking. 

“It went well. Was there any notes Mr. Presley left for me?” You say quietly.

She hands you a piece of paper and you hesitate to take it. 

“He sent this down sometime last night. He was so impressed with you y/n. Left you high praise and that’s really a feat! Not even Laura got such high praise when she worked up there. I’m really impressed too,” she says proudly. 

You exhale a sigh of relief and let out a nervous laugh as you take the paper from her hand. 

“Mr. Presley would like to keep y/n as his permanent housekeeper. She gave wonderful care and service.” -Presley Enterprises

You’re at a loss for words and don’t know how you received such a letter. You could have sworn by the wrath in Elvis’ voice you were going to be fired but the opposite tone was conveyed and now you were his permanent housekeeper?

“Thank you Tanya, I’m glad everything worked out smoothly for him. Was there anything else you needed from me?” You say positively. 

“No that was all. Keep up the good work,” she says cheerfully. 

You excuse yourself and close the door behind you, making a swift jog to the bathroom. How were you able to get such high praise when he made it so clear that he hated you. That you were a complete nuisance to him and had to harshly kick you out! That wasn’t normal and you wanted to ask him what the reason for such crass behavior was. You check your hair in the mirror and slick it back in a tight ponytail.

The locker room clears out and it’s left with you and your wandering thought. The shrill sound of the phone makes you race to grab the phone from the wall. It was too early for Elvis to be calling, it was only 2 o clock, so at least you can take a few more moments to calm yourself down and get ready for your shift.  

“Housekeeping, this is y/n,” you quip. 

“Mr. Presley is requesting your services,” the voice says darkly and hangs up. Your heart races and you scramble to make sure you have everything. You sprint your way to the elevator with your key to get to the penthouse, making sure to not make him wait as long as he did yesterday for you in your nervous state. 

The elevator jolts up and you smooth out your uniform. The doors open and the same man is waiting for you when you step out. You quickly make your way to the door and step inside. 

The decedent smell fills your nose again and you quietly close the door behind you. There’s so much more light in the room today and as you turn around, you realize the curtains are all open, letting in that fresh sunlight. Your eyes dart to the moving figure moving in your peripheral. Elvis stands a few feet away from you in all black again, a white shirt buttoned down to the middle of his torso and his hair perfectly combed back in his signature way. 

Again, you’re heart raced by just the sight of him. You stand there for a second trying not to stare but miserably failing. Nerves rush through you, waiting for him to snap at you for yesterday's mishaps and make you feel incompetent. 

“H-hello, Mr. Presley,” you say intimidated, giving a slight smile at the last second.

“Hello, y/n. I’m glad you’re here,” he says with a grin. He makes his way toward you in a slow, nonchalant manner and raises his hand out in front of him. 

You realize he’s not wearing any sunglasses today and can see how blue his eyes are for the first time. They’re electric, so captivating, and alluring. They’re like clear blue tropical waters, something you’ve only seen in books. No photograph could properly capture this shade of blue and you just wanted to swim in them. This makes your heart beat flutter again and you try to regain focus on what Elvis is saying to you.  

“I’m very sorry for how I acted yesterday. Maybe we can start over. I hope you don’t think I’m a rude asshole,” he suggests with a chuckle. 

You wince and the words he said, the same ones you whispered to Anna a few hours ago, and feel bad that you said it based on your one interaction. But if he admits he was wrong, you’ll take the apology. Looking down at his pale hand, it’s covered in rings that are probably worth more than you make in a year’s salary. You carefully wrap your fingers around his large hand and shake it. He still feels cold like he did yesterday or maybe it was just the coolness of the rings making him feel that way, you couldn’t decipher what was the coldest. You tried not to dwell on it and tried to stop staring at his hands as you noticed the scars and calluses on his long fingers. 

You meet his gaze and smile genuinely for the first time. 

“It’s alright Mr. Presley, I was also a bit nervous yesterday and wasn’t myself.” You assure. You notice he still has your hand in his grasp, rubbing the faintest circle on the back of your hand distracting you from making a coherent thought. Even though his temperature was off from yours, the way his skin felt on yours was obsessional. The way it tingled effortlessly through your body down to your toes and you wanted more. Your heart continues to dance in your chest and you feel his gaze intensify. 

“Are you feeling better Mr. Presley? You were very…cold yesterday,” you say shyly. 

He lets out a small hum before answering, “Never better honey. You definitely brightened up my day,” he says coyly. 

You feel the blood rush to your cheeks. How does this man have so much charm in his body that he makes you feel like a love-struck puppy? 

He finally lets go of your hand and you want it back on you, liking his touch more than you should. 

He starts to walk toward the couch, looking over his shoulder at you before sitting down, “please, sit with me. I want to get to know you better,” he coos. Standing there unable to speak, you nervously smile and shake your head at him. 

“No, that’s okay Mr. Presley I don’t sit down in the guest's spaces when I’m on the clock. I really should get started cleaning.” You defer. 

For a second, his eyebrows furrow in confusion, then his eyes grow soft and almost plead for you. “Oh no please, I insist,” He smiles softly. 

“That’s okay Mr. Presley. If you want, you can ask me questions while I clean, I’m okay with that,” you say cheerfully. Turning to your cleaning cart you left here last night, you grab a trash bag and begin to clean up the remnants of last night's party. You quickly glance over at him sitting on the couch, watching you like a hawk with a smirk on his face. 

“What did you want to know about me?” You ask, picking up bottles and throwing plates away. 

Elvis hums softly to himself, trying to find the words to ask, “How old are you?” 

“I’m 30, but I really feel like I’m 16 still,” you quip cutely. You hear a low chuckle come from him. “How old are you,” you throwback to him. 

“Hmm, I guess I’m 38 but sometimes I feel 33, maybe even 21 at times but based on how many times I’ve traveled around the sun, I’m just 38.” He remarks. 

“Okay, I’ll say you’re young at heart,” You say and you hear him chuckle. 

“What do you like to do for fun?” He asks next. 

This actually makes you pause and think because quite frankly, you don’t know. 

“Well, it’s hard to say… I work pretty much all the time so the days I do have off, I just clean up my apartment or go swimming or something. I just don’t have a lot of time for fun,” you say a bit defeated. He looks at you with sorrow in his eyes, hearing the sadness that is behind those words. 

“I’m sorry to hear that. That’s no way to live,” He noted. You nod in agreement as you tie off the trash bag and reach for another one. 

“Yeah, it’s not the easiest, but I get by and that’s all that matters,” you try to say cheerfully. 

“So do you ever leave the penthouse?” You ask him cheekily. 

He snickers and nods his head, “only when I have to. I just don’t like it. There’s nothing out there for me,” he broods. 

“Ah I see… do you miss being able to walk down the street without being noticed?” 

“Sometimes, but my fans gave me all of this so I can’t complain,” he says stoically. 

There’s a comfortable silence that is built in between you two as you continue to work. He still watches you intensely like he did yesterday, but there was a sense of curiosity embedded in that stare. You move to the next room and he follows closely behind you. This room you assumed could be a guest room since it didn’t seem to have any personal belongings of Elvis’ in there. There were a dozen candle sticks, all in red, lit up making the room feel eerie and ancient almost. You couldn’t pinpoint what that feeling, was but the more you observed the contents in the room, how strange the things he did collect. There were books on death and philosophy. Books on history and myths. It was all very fascinating to you as you carefully move these items out of the way to clean, trying to read the back cover of them. They were all very dusty and old. You had never seen a book made like this. Bound in a light brown cover with red lettering on the front and golden leafed edges on the paper. 

He sits on the edge of the bed as you reach to dust the books and the shelves above the bed, something you didn’t get an opportunity to get to yesterday. His eyes stare at your ass, watching you make the smallest movements as you are focused on getting the job done. You look over your shoulder at him and see where his gaze is directed at. Your cheeks feel on fire being the object this man is looking at lustfully. You haven’t gotten this much attention from a man in years and you can’t lie to yourself, you kind of like it. 

You get off the bed and fix the comforter, fluffing up the pillows as you stare back at him with a similar intensity. 

“Can I ask what you’re staring at?” You jest. 

“Nothing honey don’t worry. You’re just very beautiful that’s all,” he admits with a grin. You can’t help but smile hearing those words come from one of the most handsome people you’ve ever laid eyes on. And even in your drab pale blue uniform that was uncomfortable, he still managed to see your beauty. 

“So you’re married?” He stipulates and the sound of his voice makes you jump after the comfortable silence that was there previously. 

“Huh?” You asked confused. 

“You have a suntan on your ring finger, I assumed it’s because you’re married and don’t wear your ring while you work,” he observes. If you’re not mistaken, you feel like you can hear slight agitation in his voice? His eyes do that thing that makes you want to crumble before him as he expectantly waits for your answer. 

“Oh, well no, I’m not actually married. I’m just engaged and yeah I don’t normally wear the band at work so it doesn’t get damaged… You have good eyes, Mr. Presley,” you say jokingly. 

“Mhmm…how long have you been engaged?” he continues. 

“A couple years,” you say embarrassed. You were the last one out of all your friends to get married and it weighed on your mind. Maybe Daniel didn’t want to marry you after all since he doesn’t even bring up a date or anything. You tried to convince yourself that you didn’t wear your ring to not get it dirty or lost, but as time has gone on, something about it didn’t feel right wearing a ring there… 

“Why is that?” He snaps. You shoot your eyes back to him and he’s now standing up, looking at you like he could jump over this bed and attack you. 

“I don’t know… We haven’t gotten around to setting a date or pick a venue or anything. It just isn’t the right time,” you say sheepishly, defeat tainting your voice . 

Elvis walks around the bed toward you, analyzing every inch of your body until he’s right in front of you. 

“You deserve better,” he mumbles, reaching out and touching your cheek with his cold hand, rubbing his thumb softly there, giving your body a shiver. His eyes drink you in as he stands there with your face in his hand, chest beginning to rise and fall quicker. You watch as his chest heaves, inspecting every detail of your face and trailing down to your collarbone to the swell of your breast. Your skin gets chills as he does this and he notices, bringing a smirk to his face. 

“If only you knew…” he mutters. 

You grab his wrist, feeling your breathing increase with his close proximity making the room spin. Your vision gets blurry and you grab onto him tighter. You wanted him to comfort you in way you didn’t quite know about. You just wanted his body close to yours, like that would fix all your problems. A complete shift in thought compared to yesterday when all you wanted to do was say thirty yards away from him. 

“Elvis, I-I -I should get back to work,” you say a little breathlessly. 

His chest continues to rise and fall quickly and he bites his lower lip, nodding his head to you. 

“Of course, I’ll leave you alone. Leave whenever you would like,” he says quickly. Before he turns away, he takes his hands off of your face and gives the back of your bandaged hand a kiss. His lips barely grazed your skin but the way his lips dragged down along fingertips before he left was all too much to handle. The way your body screamed for more was frightening. 

You had never even thought of wanting another man since you’ve been with Daniel. You had convinced yourself that he was all you needed. But the way that Elvis makes you feel… you may need to question some of that. 

But it's Elvis. Everyone wanted him so it wasn’t like it made you any more special that you found him attractive too. You’re pretty sure your mom even finds him attractive. 

All this weird tension he’s given you today sizzles in your body and it takes everything in you to not follow him to the other room. He quietly leaves the room and turns in the direction leading to his bedroom, leaving you standing there unable to think. 

If only you knew…

His voice lingers in your head like a soothing whisper and you realize you were holding your breath thinking about this. You have to get a hold of yourself. You can’t actually think you can get Elvis Presley. He’s the most lust-after man on the planet and you’re just his housekeeper. There’s nothing there. 

Cleaning the rest of the penthouse felt atomically challenging. Your head couldn’t focus on anything in front of you and it took 3 different tries to not leave streaks on the mirrors. Your mind kept replaying that kiss on your hand, the way his lips felt so plush and soft on your skin, and wanted them to kiss more than just your hand. The way his hand felt on yours, looking at those long skilled fingers enveloping your small fragile hand. Those fingers that have had years of callouses from playing guitar so much and would probably feel amazing if they were running along your back. 

Shit, focus. 

You look at yourself I’m the mirror and see how frazzled you look. The burning want in your eyes for this man is so palpable, you’re embarrassed you’ve gotten yourself like this. 

Checking your watch, it’s 8 o clock, way past the time you thought you’d be done but with all these distractions, you moved at a snail's pace today. You finally finish and do a last walk-through of the space, making sure nothing is out of place. 

“Mr. Presley I’m all finished. Did you need anything else?” You announce loudly, unsure of what part of the penthouse he’s in. You don’t hear an answer and continue to check everything over, even checking behind the curtains for any wandering champagne bottles, then shutting the curtains for the night. 

Passing by the door that you assume leads to his bedroom, you hear noises. Moans in fact. The door isn’t closed all the way and the glow of the tv shines through the crack. Everything in you told you not to pry but the mystery of his seclusion when it came to his bedroom quarters had your curiosity reeling. You slowly tip-toe to the doorframe, pressing your forehead to it to peek in. 

There was a large tv set against the wall with a mirror to the right of it. On the tv was a pornography movie playing with a man and woman touching each other and making all these sounds. The man was teasing the woman, squeezing her nipples and she let out a pent up moan. You couldn’t see anything else in the room until you looked in the reflection of the mirror. There you saw Elvis sitting on the edge of his bed in his robe, watching intently what was on the screen. His hair looked like he had just come out of the shower with some strands falling onto his forehead, making him look somehow even better than before. Your eyes go back to the tv and watch the man continue to tease the woman with his dick, rubbing his length in between her folds. She moans and your eyes flash back to Elvis, seeing his mouth slightly open and his intense eyes looking at the scene unfold on the screen. 

He looks so good like this, the lust slowly dripping over his face and the way his eyebrows started to furrow. You watched as his fingers pulled the robe ties loose and open the garment. He opens it letting the thick material fan open to expose his naked body underneath. 

You have to hold your breath when you see him sitting there. You haven’t seen many men naked, but this was as beautiful as they get. His body was toned and perfectly pale white all the way down to his toes. Your eyes can’t help but stop and stare at his length. It was a lot longer than you expected and made this feeling grow inside you. 

Want?

Need?

Lust?

Jealousy?

You weren’t sure what it was but God he looked so good. He brings his hand up to his mouth and he spits in it, wrapping it around his length and he starts to rub it back and forth in his hand. You didn’t care what was on the tv you just wanted to watch him. He focuses on the tip of his cock, rubbing some of his precum along the shaft. There’s a vein that pops from his neck the longer he does this, making you wish you could just bite there. 

The moans escalate from the movie and his hand picks up pace, making his own delicious moans that drown out the others. Standing there you cross your legs, squeezing your thighs together as you realize that you’re starting to get wet from just watching him. 

“Oh fuck,” he moans, soft and sultry. His voice brings you a zing of pleasure straight to your core. It scared you that this is how this man makes you feel but you can’t help but keep watching the scene in front of you. 

Another moan slips from his beautiful mouth and his hand jerks his length harder. Your breathing picks up and that need inside you grows. You feel so naughty, so dirty for even remotely liking this. 

“Mmm, yes… you like that,” his voice dripping in temptation making you shiver. 

His hand stops suddenly and your eyes travel up to see his face. There you see piercing ice blue eyes looking back at you in the mirror. His eyes look dangerous and wild, hungry for attention and you were their prey. Your heart thumped louder than it ever did before and your stomach flipped. You quickly back away from the door and make a run for it. 

You swing open the front door open and pull the cleaning cart through after you, making the heavy door slam loudly. Your heart keeps ringing in your ears and you feel like you could throw up at any second. The guys standing in the hallway stare at you like you’ve gone absolutely crazy. You advert your eyes away from their gazes and slam the elevator button, making the doors open quickly and you rush inside. Pulling the cleaning cart in just in time before they close and you press the basement button. 

The elevator cart lurches down and you crouch over, hugging your knees to your chest and feeling like you’ve just jumped into the biggest trench you’ve ever seen, and its filling up with water fast. You have to gasp for air and felt dizzy with everything that you just saw. 

But he was so distracting, so beautiful, you wanted more of him. You knew it was wrong. You were still very much engaged to another man. To a man that doesn’t even care to ask how your day was. 

There was too many confusing thoughts in your head and you had to get out of this place and clear it. You finally reach the locker room and change, shredding off your uniform and grabbing your purse before running to your car. 

You drove through the city like a wanted criminal. Almost blowing red lights and switching lanes any time you felt that person was going too slow. You just needed to be alone and gather your thoughts and calm down. Pulling into the driveway, you quickly turn off the car and rush to get inside. 

Locking the door behind you, you let out a sigh of relief that you’re alone. 

“What are you doing home so late?” Daniel’s voice booming in the otherwise silent house making you tremble even more. 

“I uh, I had some overtime today, it’s busy season because Elvis is in town,” you say assuredly. It wasn’t a total lie. The hotel would get fully booked every time he was there for his residency and would have to put in some extra time cleaning rooms and washing towels and sheets. 

“Ah yeah, I forgot that bum is in town,” he shrugs. His tone stings at you for whatever reason and you move into the living room to put your purse down, trying not to make a big deal about it and try to calm yourself down. He sits down on the couch to put his shoes on and you see what he’s wearing. He had his three-piece navy blue suit on he always wore to work and he did look very handsome in it. The blue made his eyes stand out. 

“You look nice tonight,” you say softly. He doesn’t look at you and nods his head as he goes to grab his keys, “thanks, I’m off to work see you later,” he says dryly. 

The slam of the door doesn’t make you flinch and you sit there annoyed more than anything. You get up to lock the top bolt and feel the stillness of the house as you turn around. You’re used to the silence but today it felt different. 

Heading into the bedroom, you take off your uniform after a very long and eventful day. Sliding the skirt off your hips, you feel something odd between your legs. You pull your panties down too and see the slick that has gathered at the bottom of them. Your cheeks redden, shocked that he made you that wet by just watching him. 

You haven’t been this aroused in years and it terrified you that Elvis had that much power over you. He barely even touched you and you were a wreck. You couldn’t even imagine how it would feel if he touched you intimately…

You quickly take a shower and let the hot water run down your tired body. Trying to calm yourself down, you take your time and wash your hair. Turning off the faucet, you wrap your towel around you and scurry to the bedroom to get your pajamas. Reaching into the dresser for a pair of panties, you throw them on the bed as well as your matching pajamas. You pat your body dry and sit on the edge of the bed, thankful for the soft plush mattress to soothe your tired body. 

Unwrapping the towel, you grab the pair of panties you got out and start to slip them on. But something catches your eye; the arousal that continued to leak out of you. Your heart thumps loudly and you let out a frustrated groan. The effect this man left on you is dangerous. Your body could not forget the feeling he gave you by just being in his presence. The nervousness, the intrigue, the lust, all of that burned inside you as you feel your clit begin to throb because of him. Your fingers carefully slide down and find your aching bud. You take a sharp breath in as you discover how sensitive it is.

Rubbing it in slow circles, you feel so much relief, so much pleasure instantly that you’re pretty sure it’s not going to take you very long until you come undone. The amount of slick that came out of you was embarrassing but you didn’t care, you kept focusing on yourself.

Suddenly those long calloused fingers flash in your mind and your heart gallops at this salacious thought. You can’t help it, in this very moment, you wanted to have those fingers touch you in places that hasn’t gotten any attention in ages. Your hips involuntarily grind into your finger and a louder airy moan comes out of you. Your index and middle finger glide through your sopping folds and moan more as you rub them on your clit, sending another shock in your body.

“Oh god,” you moan breathlessly, putting more pressure on your bud. 

You feel that coil in your belly tighten and about to snap any second. You let your head fall back and squeeze your eyes closed, working yourself up to orgasm.

His voice echoes in your head, the sound of his gruff voice making you tingle when you thought of how it sounded when he was pleasuring himself.

You like that?... you hear his voice again and you cry out in frustration.

You feel your walls flutter and cry out, feeling the euphoric feeling take over your body.

“Ohmygod,” you moan out, “Oh my god E-Elvis,” you hiss and you gasp at what just came out of your mouth so easily. You sit there shaking, feeling the aftershocks of your orgasm reel through your body. You felt horrified you just moaned out his name. What the hell was wrong with you?! This should not be happening. You could not be fantasizing about another man, especially one that is Elvis. 

A dark shadow moves in the corner of your eye and you snap your head in the direction of the bedroom door. There’s nothing there but a huge chill runs down your body and your breathing continues to grow heavy. You were being paranoid and the shame and guilt ran through you. 

It was probably nothing. You were the only one home. Just your imagination running wild and making yourself crazy. You get up and shut the bedroom door and lock it for safe measure.

You get underneath the sheets and focus on your breathing. 

You had to get a hold of yourself. You can’t let this get out of hand. You can’t let yourself succumb to his charm. Go to work and don’t get distracted.

Yeah, good luck.

Tagging 🖤 :

@powerofelvis @plasticfantasticIOver @burninlovebutler @neptuneismysister @velvetelvis @ccab @presleyenterprise @elvispresleyxoxo @loving-elvis

@prompted-wordsmith @sillybookmarks @dkayfixates @rosepresley @ellie-24 @rktismylife-blog @myradiaz @lookingforrainbows @elvispresleygf @tacozebra051 @thatbanditqueen

@18lkpeters @flwrs4aust @emma181873 @austinswhitewolf @eliseinmemphis @everythingelvispresley @chasingwildflowers @idontwanttoputanything @ohjustpeachy @elvisalltheway101 @austinsmutler @kingdomforapony @generoustreemystic @kendralavon7 @lettersfromvenus @claire-elvisgirl

@ashtag6887 @burnthheparaphilia @richardslady121 @jacqueline19997 @returntopresley @iloveelvis @rjmartin11 @that-hotdog @louisejoy86

#elvis presley #elvis fanfic #elvis presley x reader #elvis presley smut #elvis presley fanfiction #elvis x oc #elvis x you #elvis x y/n #elvis x reader #elvis presley imagine #austin elvis imagine #austin elvis x reader #elvis fic #elvis fans #vampire elvis fic #vampire elvis #samfangirls #sinned awakening

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for 2023: 60K - 80K Words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

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drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I’m sure everyone saw this one coming. If there’s one thing buggachat’s good at, storywise, it’s capturing raw, tumultuous emotions, frantic breakdowns as the characters desperately try to navigate bad situations. This was a real treat to read, as I’m betting most people reading this will agree, given just how popular the fic has been. It also has a ton of fanart, both by buggachat and by random fans, if you go looking for it (there’s a drowning in plain sight tag which I’d advise perusing). 

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The Rules of Engagement by @overworkedunderwhelmed

When tragedy sends Adrien Agreste racing back to Paris to run his father’s fashion house, Marinette doesn’t expect much from her very new, very rich boss. At least not until she is set up on a blind date with a very familiar face.

Much to her surprise, Adrien Agreste was hiding far more secrets behind his stoic business-like mask of temporary CEO. Maybe as many secrets as she had been trying to hide for years.

As they grow closer, Marinette fears her mask isn’t nearly as foolproof. Day after day, it gets harder for her to keep all her secrets well hidden from the surprisingly sweet man who insisted on staying by her side as often as possible.

Only she couldn’t afford to fail. Not when her biggest secret could spell the end of the job she’d dreamed about for years.

They might not be superheroes in this universe, but secret identities are still active here. Both Marinette and Adrien used to be involved with the Ladybug and Chat Noir movies, and both kept that a secret - Adrien especially, since if his father found out about it, there could be some bad repercussions, as he voiced Chat Noir without Gabriel’s permission. Marinette, meanwhile, is well known for making cosplay (calling herself “Ladybug” after the movie), and has been in contact with “Chat Noir” for quite some time before the story starts - not that she knows he’s the actual VA.

It’s mostly an Adrienette fic with the two of them getting to know each other after their unusual “first” meeting, where Marinette pretended to be Kagami in order to scupper the date with Adrien and get Tomoe off her back, with some intrigue and drama thrown in. Lila’s skulking around causing problems for the people around her, but she’s honestly not the main focus here. 

---

call it even by @anna-scribbles and @sha-nwa

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world.

Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir.

(adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

This is one of those fics where Adrien and Marinette are REALLY going through it emotionally, with them starting off with wildly different perceptions of each other when untransformed, and then reckoning with the person they love the most being someone they think of as a villain, with all the betrayal and doubt that involves. Especially with Adrien having been lied to extensively by his father, and not knowing who or what to believe.

---

Miraculous Conception series by @ladynoirfanao3

Summary of the first story, The Power Of Creation:

Everyone knows that Ladybug's cure fixes everything after the destruction wrought by Shadow Moth's akumatized villains. After an akuma with an unfortunate power leaves Ladybug and Adrien in an awkward position, Marinette has never been happier to simply forget. However, she soon discovers that her miraculous ladybugs have a limitation on their curing ability, a limitation that puts her in a situation she never expected to be in.

So basically, Ladybug and Adrien run into each other just as an akuma makes everyone in the vicinity extremely horny, and when they both start remembering things again, they’re in a pretty... compromising position. But it’s just an akuma so they put it out of their heads, until Marinette discovers she’s pregnant and has to decide what to do about it, whether to keep the pregnancy, tell Adrien she’s Ladybug and is having his baby, what to do with the earrings when she’s too pregnant to be Ladybug, etc.

I really enjoyed it! Just watching Ladybug and Adrien try and navigate the situation, especially with secret identities thrown into the mix.

The main fics in the series are basically the same story, it’s just that the first one is from Marinette’s perspective, while the second one is from Adrien’s. The Power of Creation is rated M while the Power of Destruction is rated E, but for both fics it’s just rated that for a single sex scene that occurs in the fic (with it being the same sex scene in both fics, just told from two different perspectives).

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I Put A Spell On You by dazaimaru

Friday, October 25. 6 days until Halloween.

It’s their first high school Halloween dance, and Marinette and Adrien are ready to throw on some non-superhero costumes for once--that is, until an akumatized witch spoils the party and threatens to reveal what lies underneath everyone’s disguise.

With Hawkmoth taking full advantage of the spooky season, the days leading up to Halloween are certainly going to be thrilling! Especially considering Marinette’s growing feelings for a certain black cat…

This one’s mostly just some really cute Lovesquare shenanigans around Halloween, with some really fun sequences like Marinette and Adrien getting body-swapped and Marinette temporarily becoming a vampire (and also Marinette repeatedly stunning Adrien with her outfits. I was just waiting for him to pass out from blood loss from a nosebleed).

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Through the Looking Glass by @jheqiawrites

Adrien is a lonely child, cut off from the outside world by his parent's strict rules. But when he discovers a window in his closet and sees a young girl looking back at him like his reflection, maybe he has hope for friendship after all.

Poor Adrien here, he makes a long-time friend (who everyone thinks is an imaginary friend), and has several great years interacting with her as his parents grow more concerned with him not growing out of it... and then Emilie dies, Gabriel orders the window destroyed, Adrien’s put on medication to suppress his “hallucinations” (which also makes him forget Marinette) and he’s just kind of left like that for the next several years, until he’s an adult.

Luckily, while Adrien forgot Marinette, Marinette never forgot him, and he’s not too difficult to track down...

This is some really cute Adrienette, if you want a “forgotten childhood friends-to lovers” Adrienette story, you should check this out!

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Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien discovers something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster.

Marinette was so excited to have her first pet. If only it would stop escaping!

At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor.

(Adrienette Never Met AU)

Funnily enough, this is based on a true story. Specifically, the author’s own experience of having her hamster run out and be found by a neighbor.

Anyway, this is adorable! Marinette and Adrien become smitten with each other extremely quickly, with Marinette’s hamster keeping giving them reasons to talk. Very effective wing-hamster, that one XD. 

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec #drowning in plain sight #call it even #adrienette #ladynoir #marichat #ladrien #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng

[skyebounded]

eenie meenie miney mo

gif credit: @madmaxmayfleld

© Skyebounded, do not use my work, but you may share it.

.main masterlist. .stranger things masterlist.

premise: He's your friend, nothing more, but that doesn't mean that you can’t have some fun…right?

Warnings: it’s just smut if I am being honest. fingering, oral (f&M receiving), vaginal sex, dirty talk (kinda), swearing, and lets be honest there is probably more.

WC: 10.2k of pure smut.

A/N: This bad boy took me way longer than it should have. special thanks to my favs @23victoria​ and @ccosmic-illusion​ for their help and motivation, and to @anothernightsky​ for absolutely loving the idea and nursing it with me (even if she demands a series out of it)

If you had to choose, you know exactly what you would do. Billy, well he was hot, like extremely hot, exuding the very energy that he knew what he was doing, and knew how to do it well. If given the chance, you would undoubtedly sleep with him. Yes, you would loathe yourself after the fact, but at least it would be worth it. Other than that, he wasn’t the one for you. He was an arrogant asshole with a nice ass, but a pretty one at that. 

Eddie, well Eddie was one of your closest friends, your best friend if you will. Not to say that you didn’t find him attractive, but that didn’t mean anything. You had never really thought about him that way, simply because you had never really seen him that way, not fully. Eddie was the kind of guy that you only ever really hung out with, watched movies, and that sorta thing, he was good fun, he just wasn’t the fun that you wanted. You wanted the one and only, Steve Harrington.

You’d had the biggest crush on King Steve since, well since forever. How could you not, he was by far the hottest guy at school, he had perfect hair, not to mention dreamy eyes, a great ass (not as good as Billy’s but still pretty good), a gorgeous smile, the list could go on and on forever. He was all-around perfect. The only problem was you were nowhere on his radar, far from actually.

 You were not the kind of girl that Steve went for. You were no Nancy Wheeler. Not popular, not a cheerleader, not some ditsy girl who threw herself at him any chance they got. Nope, you were the polar opposite. You were like Eddie. A nerd, or freak if you will, and perhaps that’s why you were such close friends. You had so much in common. 

None of it stopped you, however. Despite knowing that he would never actually choose you if it came to it, it didn’t deter you from dreaming about it every…waking… minute. In fact, it was all you thought about. Steve Harrington owned your mind, your thoughts, hell if he wanted he could own your entire being. He was all you had wanted for as long as you could remember.

    “Okay but did you see him in those jeans today, like oh my god is he trying to kill me?” you exclaim, as you prop yourself up onto the table, leaning back on your hands. “Oh and not to mention the fact that he actually laughed at my jokes today. Like really laughed,” you continue, eyes wide as you explain, “I couldn’t help it, I made a joke about Mrs. Higgins today, and he heard it, and laughed. He even turned around and said ‘that was a good one’! Like Eddie, do you know what this means?” 

    “Of course, he laughed, you’re funny,” he states. 

He was too busy cleaning up from the campaign from the evening to expand on his response any further. He was collecting all the miniatures, and character sheets that had been tossed to the floor in excitement when the battle had been won. You know that you could have been helping, but your mind was so far from the chore, that you couldn’t be bothered. 

“Well yeah, I’m funny..But see he’s never laughed at any of my jokes before, so like what’s changed?” You ask rhetorically, letting the question fade. Eddie just hums along in response. You're not sure if he had tuned you out or not, but you didn’t really care. 

“I’ve seen him talking to Anna Wilkinson lately, you know her right?” you ask, and he doesn’t respond. 

    “She’s in my chem class, total idiot, but hey she's got nice tits I guess,” you continue. You look down, grabbing your boobs and giving them a squeeze, missing the way that Eddie watches you with a raised brow. 

    “I mean if that's all he wants..I mean mine are pretty good..right?” You look up at Eddie, who now had both brows raised, and a slight smile on his face. 

    “Are you asking me if you have nice tits, y/n?” 

You pretend to think on it, your head bobbing around, humming whilst you do. 

    “Yeah, that's exactly what I’m doing, Eddie,” you respond, the sarcasm laced in your tone. He just stares at you for a moment, the smile growing on his face. 

    “Let me get a better look,” he jokes, but you hop off the table and make your way over to him, your hands still cupping your chest. 

“Well?” his eyes drift down from your face, slowly making it towards your chest, a breathy chuckle leaving him as he meets it. 

    “Oh definitely, best I’ve ever seen, by far. Annie, Abby, whatever the fuck her name is doesn't even stand a chance,” he says with a wink, and you can't help but blush at his comment. 

    “Thanks,” you giggle. 

Eddie purses his lips and gives a curt nod, before going back to cleaning up. You’re silent for a moment, watching the way he bends over to grab the discarded pieces from the floor. Standing up and using his shirt as a means to hold everything.

    “Do you think he’d fuck me?” you blurt, not entirely sure where the question came from. It wasn’t like you hadn’t thought about it, but something had triggered the topic.

“Why wouldn’t he?” he asks, turning to look at you.

“I don’t know, part of me feels like I’m not fuckable, you know?” you say with a shrug. 

He chuckles, making his way over to the table, releasing his shirt and all the contents in it clattering onto the linoleum surface.

“Trust me, you’re fuckable,” he remarks as if it was a stupid question, which it was to him. He steals a quick glance at you as you sit yourself back up on the table, his eyes roving over you before he stops himself, knowing that he shouldn’t be looking at you like this, especially not so obviously. “Extremely fuckable,” he mutters, more so for himself, but you still catch it, and a small wave of heat rushes through you, as you subconsciously squeeze your legs together. You don’t say anything, not sure what you would even say, instead you let the conversation die. 

“Do you plan on helping me at all or…?” He looks at you, brow raised. You look around only spotting a few other scattered items. 

“No, it looks like you’ve got it handled,” you joke, letting a grin take to your lips. Eddie just hums, his lips pressed together as he nods. You could see the smile he was trying to hide. Jumping down off the table, you collect the rest of the things from the ground, using your shirt the same way Eddie had. Bringing them over to him and dropping them onto the table. 

“Thanks.” 

“Yeah..” you couldn’t help but study him as he organized the loose papers, pushing them into his worn binder. 

“So…would you?” You ask, your voice holding a sense of anticipation to it. 

Eddie’s pointless organizational task halts, his famous brow shooting up in amusement. He cocks his head slightly, just enough for him to get a good look at you. 

    “Would I what?” 

He had an inkling of what you were referring to, given the topic of the evening, but he wanted to hear you say it. Looking at him, you were tempted to just come up with something random to say and avoid the topic as a whole, but your curiosity got the better of you.

    “You know…” you say, your tone sounding a little more whiny than intended. Eddie fully turns to you now, a smirk plastered to his oddly kissable lips. He was waiting for you to ask him, wondering if you would actually say it. You sigh, mentally preparing yourself for what the response would be. 

“Would you, you know…?” you ask sheepishly, gesturing to the length of your body. 

It doesn’t help when you spot his tongue brush across his lower lip, a sure sign that he was enjoying this. It always was. The sudden feeling of embarrassment creeping up on you, heating your cheeks. You were certain he could see it, because his smirk only got bigger. Eddie chuckles, knowing that you weren’t going to go into any more detail than that, so he figured he would just humor you. His teeth cheekily sinking into his lower lip as he shamelessly checks you out, his eyes drinking in all of you. 

    “Let me get this straight. You, Y/n want to know if I, Eddie, your best friend who just so happens to be a guy, emphasis on that part, would…if given the chance, fuck you?” he asks in a matter of fact tone. 

“Yes?” you lilt.

Eddie’s eyes narrowed, waiting to see if you would say anything more on the topic, while he debated on what answer he should give you. The slightest upturn to his lips on one side makes you feel nervous. 

“Absolutely, don’t even have to think about it.” he replies, flashing a quick smile. He stands there, staring at you for a moment longer before he's back to doing whatever he was doing earlier. It would have been an understatement to say that you were stunned. Suddenly feeling that familiar blush creep into your features once more. You had never thought about Eddie in such a circumstance, but hearing what he had to say made you all that much more curious. It wasn’t like you wouldn’t, if given the opportunity, but it wasn’t something you thought about, other than that one time.

           “I would fuck you, you know..just-“  you remark. You don’t know what came over you, why you felt the need to tell him that, but you couldn’t help it. He doesn’t look up at you, or even in your direction. He just chuckles. 

            “I know,” he says, stealing another glance at you, but this time you were looking at him with a deadpan look. “And I am very flattered.” he adds. The air is silent for a minute before you break it once more. 

            “Have you ever thought about..?” you start, watching as his brows shoot up as he fights back the amused look on his face. Of course he had, perhaps almost every other night, as much as he hated to admit it, it was a common re-occurrence for him. 

           “Thought about what?” he prods. 

Panic sets in, and you decide it's better to not ask what you were thinking. Quickly finding the hem of your shirt of greater interest.

     “Nothing, never mind, it-it was stupid.” You quickly pull your gaze from him, but he does nothing of the sort, eyes still glued to you as the fascination sets in, that he doesn’t even bother to stop himself.

“Eddie, do you ever things about what it would be like to fuck each other, no strings attached…No never…You?  He jokes, saying the last bit sarcastically, clearly lying. He had totally thought about it. He’s not sure if he meant to say that as loud as he did, but there was no taking it back now, so instead, he turned back to the table, now resting his hands against it, as he silently berated himself, rapidly tapping his index finger against the surface, hanging his head low. 

Shocked that he had said exactly what you had been thinking, you turned to him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

    “That..wha-what you said.” you say, pointing your finger at him for emphasis. “That’s what I was going to ask.” 

You watch as his tongue darts out just past his lips. Resting there as he processes it, slowly bringing himself to look at you. Nothing is said at first, nothing but the same awkward air settling between you. You’re not sure how long you’ve been staring at him, waiting for either one of you to say something, anything.    

Sitting in silence, you watch as Eddie’s beautifully dark orbs rove over your figure, taking note of the way your hellfire shirt sits perfectly on your frame, or the way your jeans hug your thighs. He knows he shouldn’t be looking at you like this, admiring you so sinfully, but since you’ve mentioned it, it's all he can think about.

His eyes meet yours and suddenly you become hyper aware of the very fact that you were so close to him and yet not close enough. It was your turn to shamelessly take in Eddie. Eddie was attractive, you had always thought so, but the thing that always seemed to stop you was the fact that you had only ever seen him as a friend. Someone you could hangout with, without the pressure to do anything more than just hangout, except now, now it was on your mind. Wondering what his lips tasted like, or what he would feel like underneath you or even on top of you. The way his lips would feel against your skin, the way his hands would feel gripping you tightly, or even no! Stop! 

         “I mean, not like I’ve fantasized about it or anything, but.um...” he says, pulling you out of your shameful series of thoughts. Your eyes snap to his, your face flushing as you wait for him to finish the topic, wondering what he was going to say next. Your brows shoot up expectantly, wondering why your clothes suddenly feel tighter and scratchier against your skin. 

          “What If,” he pauses, biting the inside of his cheek as he mulls over what to say. Eddie’s not quite sure if he should finish his train of thought, expose himself and the very thing he had been dreaming about since, well since forever. Growing wary of the silence, you take to speaking your mind. 

          “What if we hooked up? Like right now? I mean just to see what it’s like..could be fun,” you suggest, completely stunned at where it came from. The growing grin on Eddie’s face was indication enough that he was all for the idea, but that didn’t stop him from giving his two cents. 

          “Are you sure you’re okay with that? I mean our whole dynamic changes then..” 

you could have been mistaken, but it almost sounded like he was eager to do it despite the consequences. You couldn’t lie, the thought of the consequences hadn’t even crossed your mind, and even after he mentioned it, you couldn’t even bring yourself to consider them either. 

           “Nah it will be totally fine, nothing has to change right? I mean it’s just an experiment of sorts. It’s for fun.” You say, reassuring yourself more so than him, you think, giving an awkward shrug in the process. He gives you one last look of skepticism, before he moves over to you, practically gliding across the space, your eyes trained on his every movement. 

           “Exactly..” he mutters, and you find gaze glued to his lush lips. 

           “Should we go somewhere or?” You comment, looking around at the empty theatre department. It was late, inching closer to the ten o’clock frame, so the chances of someone coming in was slim, but there was still a possibility. 

            “Nah, we’ll be fine here, unless you want to,” he shrugs. Shaking your head, Eddie takes that as a sign to proceed. Moving closer to you once more, you instinctively move your legs apart, just enough for him to stand comfortably between. 

            “You’re sure right? Because if you’re not, just tell me.” 

Not even for a minute do you consider the possibility of calling it off, telling him that you made a mistake and that it’s a bad idea. No, you were far too eager to know just how fun this could actually be, and unbeknownst to you, so was Eddie. 

           “Yeah I’m sure, are you?” Brow raised, a challenged look in your eye. Eddie just chuckles like you had asked your second stupidest question of the night. 

           “Extremely.” 

A wave of heat rushes through you, mixed with the shivers that trail down your spine at his blunt comment. You had always known him to be as such, blunt, but for once it had some type of effect on you. 

Eddie’s calloused hands find you jean clad thighs, slow to inch their way up further, as he takes his final steps closer, face inches from yours. Its only then that you consider that maybe their should be some type of rules, some semblance of boundaries, as dumb as it sounded. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t kiss,” you speak softly, you can't help but feel the slightest bit of disappointment at your own suggestion, considering the fact that his lips looked absolutely delicious at this very moment. Pillow soft and begging to be kissed, but yet something about it felt too personal, too intimate. Eddie felt the slightest pang of hurt at the comment, but he shakes it. 

“Way to suck the fun out of it,” he sighs, hoping that you would change your mind. “You do know that friends kiss all the time, right?…besides, I can see how much you want to kiss me..” He suggests, his eyes trailing down to your lips as he licks his involuntarily. Even if he was joking, he was still correct, you did want to kiss him, desperately to feel his lips against yours.

“You wish, Munson. I’ll tell you what you can kiss me, just not on the lips.” 

A look of utter intrigue takes over his features, as he thinks of all the other places that he could kiss you. To him, you were ultimately giving him permission to kiss ever single fucking inch of your body without problem, and though he would love to kiss you like normal people do, he can’t help but feel some type of way knowing that he could kiss anywhere else. 

He holds his hands up in surrender with a frown, accepting that you aren’t going to change your mind, at least not without a little more persuasion. 

    “Fine you win, everywhere but your lips it is,” he says, “Any other fun things that you want to take from me?” 

Heat creeps to your face, as you suddenly find it hard to look at him. His hands find your thighs once more, this time slightly higher than they were. You couldn’t think of anything, or perhaps you just didn’t want to find anything else, so you just shake your head. 

    “Excellent.” 

    “So..what do we do?” you ask, your gaze straying from his. Eddie cocks his head, not sure what you fully meant by the question. 

    “Y/n, If I have to explain to you how to have sex, then maybe we shouldn’t be doing thing.” He shrugs, an amused frown on his lips. You scoff, rolling your eyes at his comment. 

    “You’re so funny, but that's not what I meant asshat, I meant how do we start this?” you huff. Eddie just chuckles.

    “Do you trust me?” 

It was your turn to find his question incredibly stupid, considering you were about to give yourself to him. 

    “That’s a stupid question, Eddie. Besides we both know that I only trust you as far as I can through you, and I can’t even pick you up.” 

He nods along, “Touche, okay then just relax and I will get us started, yeah?” His finger finds your chin, tilting it up ever so slightly so that he can meet your eyes, his brown orbs boring into you with a sense of anticipation. He gives you a quick wink, and lets go of your face, his hands coming down to the hem of your Hellfire shirt, the very one that was currently driving him mad. 

He was so thankful that you couldn’t see or even feel the semi-hard on that he was already sporting just beneath his jeans, because if you could... Slowly inching his hands underneath your shirt, you take over, pulling it from your form and tossing it to the floor. 

Eddie stares at you, clearly in some type of trance as his eyes rove over the curvature of your breasts held tightly by your little sheer red bra, the perfect contrast to your skin. His lack of words was starting to worry you as he just stood there, staring at you so plainly.

    “Damn, you're pretty,” he mumbles, looking like a child in a candy store, completely unable to pull his eyes away from you. He blinks a couple of times before he's somehow managed to pull himself together. Quick to resume his actions, his hand finding your jaw, guiding it so that more of your neck is exposed to him. His other hand falls to rest on the table, fingers hanging off the edge as they rhythmically tap against the side. Eddie presses a soft innocent kiss just below your ear, letting his lips and teeth glide over the curve of your neck ever so gently. His breath hot against your skin, mixed with the sharp pang of his teeth just over your pulse point was making your head foggy, and your legs weak. 

Eddie doesn't miss the way your nails do their best to sink into the wood of the table as he begins to lightly suck on your skin, assuredly leaving marks. If there was any part of you that was thinking logically, which there wasn’t, you might have told him to cut it out, but you couldn’t deny just how wonderful it felt to have his lips on your skin. 

His hand falls from your jaw, instantly finding your hip gripping it tightly as if it was his only anchor to reality, the slightest bit of sting from coldness from his rings against the burning contrast of your skin. Nipping at your neck, smoothing over the purple welts with his tongue. You let your mouth hang open as a moan leaves your lips. Goosebumps lining your skin with every touch, every little graze from his teeth, or from the way his breath fans across your heated skin. It felt strange to have your body reacting the way it was, considering the nature of everything, but it felt good.

Placing open mouth kisses along your collarbone, as he lowers himself just enough to kiss the soft skin on the tops of your breasts. Nipples hardening as a sense of avidity consumes you. You watch closely, hungrily, as his tongue darts out, tracing your nipple through the thin fabric of your bra, flicking his tongue over the hardening bud, as his eyes drift up to yours, catching your heated gaze, as he bites down on it, sending you into a fit. 

A groan from the back of your throat is ripped from you, as you gaze into his lustful brown eyes, the subtlest smirk on his lips, currently wrapped around your precious nipple. 

    “Fuck,” you breathe.

Eddie’s hand slides down to your ass, gripping it tightly as he suddenly pulls you forward on the table and into him. It's now that you can feel him pressing into your clothed core. You feel your walls clench at the slightest bit of pressure to your cunt. You needed him, needed some type of friction from him, and at this point, anything would do. Slowly rocking your hips against his, listening to the way he groans against your skin, and reveling in the way that it goes straight to your core. Eddie slowly begins to push you back against the table, leaving wet kisses down your sternum, his hand grazing the side of your body just right.

You let your eyes fall shut when your head hits the table, your back arches as something sharp digs into your spine. 

    “Oww!” 

Propping yourself up on your elbows, slightly peeved at that stop if Eddie’s actions, your lips already in a downturn. 

    “What? What's wrong?” Eddie asks, his brows knitted together and eyes narrowed as he scans over your face. 

    “This table is not it, Eddie, there is shit all over it,” you remark, pouting slightly, your bottom lip jutting out. 

He takes a quick glance behind you, picking up the culprit that had undoubtedly caused the problem. Humming as he examines the figurine. 

    “Hmm, I see…” he pauses, aimlessly scanning the room, “Okay give me a second, I have an idea.” 

Reluctantly he pulls away from you, giving you a once over with a smirk before he's disappeared behind one of the stage curtains. Faint sounds of him shuffling around are the only indication that he was still there. You had no idea what he was up to, but you hoped that whatever it was, he would do it quickly, because you were getting impatient. You didn’t want for whatever haze of ‘fucking your best friend for fun, and there is totally nothing weird about it at all,’ to wear off and for you to come to your senses. 

    “Eddie, what are you doing?” you call out. When he doesn't answer, you hop down off the table in search of him, disappearing behind the same curtain. Your eyes widen as you see what he was doing, making a makeshift pallet on the floor with blankets and pillows from different prop sets. 

    “And Voila.” 

You stare at him blankly, your brows slowly knitting together the longer you look at him. 

    “What the hell is this?” you chuckle. 

 “Listen, If you don't want this, I guarantee someone else will,” he remarks, gesturing to his body and the pallet with a cheesy grin. 

    “Oh I’m sure they would,” you joke,  looking back down to the makeshift pallet. If things were different, you might have considered his gesture a romantic one but as of right now, it was a simple solution to a problem. 

“Alright, milady, lay down!” 

“Oh my god, you're such a dork,”  You say, missing the little bow he gives you as you move past him. lowering yourself to lie down, using your elbows to prop yourself up as you look up at him.

The air holds a thickness to it as you both stare at each other expectantly, waiting for something to be said or done. Eddie moves forward, falling to his knees in front of you, his eyes trained on yours. Placing a few kisses on your sternum, moving down as he sucks, kisses and licks at your skin.

    “Eddie,” you moan, gathering all of his attention. 

    “Yes?” he asks coolly, despite actually freaking out on the inside.

Looking him up and down quickly, you sigh, “This is hardly fair, you’re still fully clothed.” 

You watch as the corner of his lips tug upwards, and a cheeky grin takes over, the slight alone making your core throb. 

    “If you wanted me to take my clothes off, you should have just asked, darling.”

You watch in awe as his tongue glides over his teeth, his hands finding the bottom of his hellfire shirt, and pulling it off in a fluid motion. You’d seen Eddie like this countless times, shirtless, hell you had even seen him in nothing but boxers before, and each time you took a moment to look him over, to just admire him, but this time felt different. This time you couldn’t peel your eyes from him, you wanted to see every inch, wanted to trace your finger over every tattoo, let your tongue glide across his skin even. You let yourself indulge, admiring his lean frame and the few tattoos that lined his skin for a few moments, curious if you would ever get to experience this again. 

He begins to crawl up the length of your body, using his arms to cage you, as he just barely hovers above you. The familiar chain and guitar pick dangling just before your eyes as a silent taunt, convincing you to grab it. Heartbeat hastening as you take in the scent of him, the musk with the subtle sweet elements, as he comes to a stop, face inches from yours. His sights set on your lips, wondering if he could get away with stealing a single

kiss, or if it would end up in you hitting him and being mad, risking all of this to come to an end. Wetting your lips, you nearly forget about the one rule set in place, thinking that maybe, just maybe it would be alright, that you could do it, and things wouldn’t end badly, but the thought is cut short when you feel the clasps on your bra break free. 

Eyes wide as you stare at him, wondering how you didn’t notice his hand now placed on your back.

    “Would you look at that..” he starts, brows raised in a sense of amusement, pulling the straps away from your arms as he pulls the thin fabric from your body. Looking down at you, shamelessly taking in the sight, he pulls his lips into a thin line. 

“Yep I was right, you have the best tits, Anna Wilkinson never stood a chance,” he says, pulling his gaze back to yours. Rolling your eyes, you give him a playful shove. 

“You are so goddamn cringy…just shut up and fuck me already,” you say with a smile, chuckling at the way his eyes widen. 

“Well, aren't you romantic?” 

Eddie’s index finger comes up to the top of your forehead, pushing your head back as a means to tell you to lay back down. Rolling your eyes you oblige, chuckling softly to yourself. 

    “One of us has to be, and from the looks of it, it has to be me.” 

Eddie rolls his eyes. Bringing himself to hover back over you. Moving down your body slightly, taking one of your breasts in the palm of his hand, palming it all while listening to that little gasp that leaves you at the contact. 

    “Eddie?” you whine. 

    “Y/n…?” he retorts, mockingly. 

    “Hurry up..” you demand. 

Eddie, brings your perky nipple between his index finger and his thumb, looking up at you, pushing his lip out to mock you. 

    “Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners? Usually when you want something, you say that pretty little word, you know the one…it starts with a ‘p’..” he says, grinning wildly.  

You scowl back, not wanting to give him that satisfaction, but when he squeezes your nipple, you cry out a please, one to which he chuckles at. 

    “See that wasn’t so hard, now was it, baby?” 

He leans down, running his tongue over the bud, before he sucks it into his mouth with a soft moan, using his other hand to palm at your other breast, kneading it, taking in every sound that leaves your lips. Your hips move involuntarily, grinding against his to gain some friction against your aching cunt. Eddie groans loudly, pulling his mouth from you as he looks up at you like you had just done something unspeakable to him. It was almost like a switch had flipped in him. 

His fingers move to your pants, quick to undo the button of your jeans. He grabs your ankle, pulling the lace from your shoes as he pulls them off and tosses it behind him, moving to the next one.

“Thanks”

Eddie jerks your pants down your body, and tosses them to the ground.

“Anytime.”

He lowers himself so that his lips hover just barely over your navel, eyes glued to yours as his tongue darts out across your skin, letting it turn to open mouth kisses down your body. 

    “I’m going to be honest, I want to eat you out.” he states plainly, his fingers toying with the thin cotton fabric of your panties, waiting for any objections to leave you at his request. 

    “Well, then do it, Eddie,” you say, pushing your legs further apart, indicating that you wanted him to proceed. “I'm not stopping you.” 

Eddie bites down on his lower lips, biting back the shit eating grin that was taking over his lips. 

    “Oh trust me, nothing is stopping me other than these obnoxiously cute panties you’ve got on here, I just wanted to tell you.” 

He says, giving a brow wiggle to emphasize his point. Looping his fingers around the band on your panties, pulling them down your legs to expose your cunt. A wide grin expands across Eddie’s lips, running his tongue over them as he looks down at you. 

    “I know I said it already, but you are so fucking pretty…Can I-”     “Have at it big boy.” you chuckle at the way his eyes sat open wide and his mouth slightly agape. If you didn’t know any better you might have thought that he had been wanting this, waiting for a lifetime just to see you like this. He doesn't hesitate to touch you, running his fingers through your folds ever so sweetly, circling your entrance. Your eyes screw shut when you feel one of his fingers sink into you, curling it to brush that spot that drove you wild. He watches in awe as he slowly works it in and out of you. Taking note of the way your breathing changes when he moves his finger a certain way, or the way that your walls clench around his finger when he curls it. 

He pulls his finger from you, positioning himself between your legs looking up at you with an eager smile.

Feeling your face flush, you turn your head slightly, pulling your gaze from him slightly embarrassed to be watching him do such an intimate thing to you.

Eddie slaps your thighs, demanding that you look at him as he rises slightly from his position. Eyes darting towards him in surprise, as he gives you a look of challenge. 

“If im doing this,” he starts, his voice now low and gruff. He holds up two of his fingers, gesturing back and forth for your eyes to stay on him. You didn’t even realize it until it was too late, but a whimper escaped you at his blatant demand, the way he so casually told you that he wanted you to watch him devour you. He gives you that look of ‘do you understand’ and you are relieved when the subtle nod of your head is enough for him. He holds those fingers up close to his mouth, spreading them slightly before he sticks his tongue out between them with a wink. A crude gesture. 

He’s back down between your legs, slinging them over his broad shoulders, kissing, licking, nipping at your thighs as he makes his way up to your cunt, licking a strip from hole to clit, with the flick of his tongue. Your legs tense as the sensation, but quickly relax as he continues.

His tongue darts inside of you, watching your brows crease with a grin on his face. He never thought he would get to see you this way, even though he’d been thinking about it for years, but here you were, actually laid out in front of him, completely at his mercy and he loved it. 

One hand flying to tangle in his precious dark locks, the very ones that no one was allowed to touch, except you on a few rare occasions, one of those being now, whilst your other finds the blanket that you were currently situated on, gripping at it tightly when he switches to sucking harshly on your clit. 

Low groans leave Eddie every time to tug on his hair, urging him closer to your needy cunt. His hips rut against the pallet hoping to relieve some of the ache to no avail. He needed you, but not before he finished devouring you. 

    “Shit you taste good.” he hums.

With each greedy swipe of his tongue your legs begin to tremble, slowly starting to close around his head, your hips starting to rise to meet him. His right hand snaking around your waist to pull you back down and keep you there. 

His left hand dragging up your inner thigh, his ring clad fingers teasing your entrance before he slips a digit in, noting the way your mouth falls open and a moan seeps out, drawing in his attention. God, he hated that you took away the one thing he had been wanting to do for ages, especially when that very mouth was making such sinful sounds, even more so because he was causing them. There were plenty of things he wanted to do to your pretty little mouth, but right now the only thing he could focus on was kissing them, and it drove him crazy. 

    “Does that feel good?” he smiles, watching as your eyes fall shut. 

With a few pumps of his finger, he quickly adds another, curling them perfectly inside you. You kick your head back while letting out a loud moan at the added sensation. 

“Fuck, Eddie!”

He chuckles lightly, watching you squirm. “Didn’t I say eyes on me?” he goads, “Because I will stop.” 

Your eyes shoot open, darting down at his smug face. “There’s a good girl.” he coos, clearly satisfied with the way things were going. 

The mixture of his precious mouth sucking, and licking at your clit in a perfect pattern and the movements of his fingers, soon has your vision blurring and legs clenching around his head, as your orgasm hits you. You clamp your eyes shut, as you call out his name into the open air, reeling as your body jolts with each wave of pleasure that he was giving you. 

Eddie doesn’t stop, he watches eagerly as you writhe and come completely undone, his tongue still slowly toying with your cunt.

    “Eds,” you whine out, hoping that he would get the hint. 

With one final flick of his tongue he pulls away from you, a wolfish grin on his glistening lips. He brings his fingers to his mouth, sticking them in his mouth as he cleans them off, before pulling them back out with a pop. Watching you carefully as you catch your breath. Your eyes widen as you watch him, completely speechless at his actions, opening your mouth to say something only to be cut off by him. 

           “Did you really think I was going to pass on that opportunity?” He asks brows raised. 

Clamping your mouth shut you look away, heat filling your cheeks. 

            “Fuck.” 

Your eyes dart back to him, concern filling your features, and Eddie has to bite back the smile. 

“What? What’s wrong?” 

“Well I am now missing a ring, and I’m 98.7% sure that it’s stuck inside your cunt.” He states, an amused look on his face. Panic starts to set in as your hand darts down to the apex of your thighs. 

“Are you fucking serious, Edward?!” You pause, your face contorted, as you stare at him, taking in the shit eating grin growing on his glossed lips.

“No im fucking kidding,” he chuckles, holding up his hand and the so called missing ring, as he slides it back into place. “Could you imagine,” he adds, wiping his brow as if to say ‘disaster averted.’ You’re up on your knees in front of him instantly, about ready to hit him for his foolery. 

“That was not fucking funny!” You exclaim, to which Eddie rolls his eyes plainly. 

“Eh, that’s debatable, but it’s neither here nor there so let’s just move on, shall we.” 

God you hated him, thinking that such an action would be considered funny. As the panic starts to die down, you can still feel the sense of desire still weighing heavy on you. Finding some of your confidence, you lean closer to him, your hands resting on his belt as you unfasten it and look up at him. 

“Woah, you can't look at me like that,” he remarks, feeling his pants grow slightly tighter at the sight of you. 

“Like what?” You feign innocence.

“Like that, you’ve got the ‘please let me suck you off look,’ and it’s doing things to me.” 

You feel your pussy clench, the thought of him in your mouth was one that you weren’t opposed to in the slightest. 

    “And what If I wanted too?” you ask sheepishly, batting your lashes at him as you tug his pants down, leaving him in just his boxers. 

“Come on sweetheart, you’re killing me here,” he sighs, feeling his heart banging against his chest like it wanted to break free. You were in fact, slowly by slowly, killing him. Making him unbelievably hard with each and everything that you did, and he hated it, well as much as he could. You loop your fingers around the band of his boxers, waiting for the go ahead, before you proceed, pulling down his boxers to let his cock free.  

It scared you the way your body instantly reacted to him, to the sight of him alone. It was a lie to say that you weren’t eager to know just how good he would feel inside you, stretching you out perfectly, and all for him nonetheless, your legs feeling sticky hot.

Swallowing hard to take a minute to admire him, hard, perfectly curved, and leaking drops of precum down the shaft, that you couldn’t stop yourself from tasting. Your eyes meet his quickly before you take him into your awaiting palm, leaning forward to lick up the mess, your tongue swirling around the tip before taking him onto your mouth with a moan. 

    “Fuck baby,” he moans. It was a soft and earthy moan, delicate and yet gruff at the same time, music to your ears, and you hated to admit, but you could listen to it forever. Your tongue glides over the prominent vein as you licked at the entirety of him. He stares down at you in awe, like he had never seen anything prettier in his entire life, and truth be told, he would argue that he hadn’t. As you take him further into your mouth, gagging slightly, as he slowly thrust his hips forward with a deep groan. 

    “mmm, s-shit… s-sweetheart… s’fucking, fuck.” 

He could feel himself nearing the edge, especially when you started to use your hand to work the rest of him, or the way spit began to dribble down the sides of your face. He wasn’t going to last, and he was going to be damned if he was going to spend it in your mouth before he got the chance to feel your precious little cunt wrapped around him. 

With nothing but sheer willpower he eases you off of him, looking down at you with a pout on his face. He runs his thumbs across the sides of your mouth, wiping away the spit. 

    “You keep doing that and I am not going to last at all, and I fucking hate that because that felt so damn good, but we agreed that we were going to fuck, so,” he explains, raising his brow. 

    “Shame, I was having fun.” 

Eddie gives a breathy chuckle, as he pushes you to lie on your back, lowering himself with you the entire way. Kicking off his shoes and the rest of his clothes, it’s finally dawned on you that you were both now fully exposed, and there was no going back now.

    “So..” 

    “So…” you respond, finding it hard to meet his gaze. 

Eddie clears his throat, biting at the inside of his cheek. “Is this how you want to do it, position wise I mean, because I am not opposed, I just want to kno-”

    “No I like this, it's a good solid position you know.” you shrug, blush creeping to your cheeks. “Or I mean, I could…I could ride you if you want that too?” 

You felt utterly stupid even suggesting it, but the way his eyes light up has heat pooling in your belly. 

             “Yeah? Yeah that sounds good too.” 

Eddie felt like a damn child at Christmas with the way you wanted to ride him. God he was in heaven. He does his best to keep his cool, acting like it didn’t really matter to him in the slightest, but he wasn’t as good at it as he originally thought. His dark eyes were wide, longing almost, and his lips pressed into a thin line. 

             “Well then, let’s try that.” 

    “Alright then, let's do this, sweetheart,” he says with a click of his tongue. He looks down momentarily, his smile fading and his brows knitting together. 

    “Fuck, um I don’t have a condom..” 

You roll your eyes, “I have some condoms in my backpack,” you say, pointing to your bag leaning against the table. It caught you by surprise, the fact that he didn’t at least have one on him. Not that you thought about it a lot but you would have Eddie pegged as someone who would never leave the house without one. You would like to say you knew all about his sexual exploits, but it dawned on you that there could have been plenty of encounters that he had failed to mention, so the thought of him without the necessary ‘tools’ to fuck someone seemed strange. 

             “Why don’t you have one? I thought you were fucking girls all the time?” You ask, watching as Eddie pulls himself up from the ground and hurries over to your bag, pulling it open to search through the pockets. 

He looks back at you, amusement written on his face. 

             “Yeah, um that’s why I’m out, dummy.” Flipping through the bag he sighs, “Where the fuck are they?” 

    “Back zipper, behind my textbooks.” you call back, “Well, it might just be me, but you should probably replenish your stash.” 

He opens the zipper, letting his mouth fall open at the sight. 

“Why would I need to do that when you’ve got enough for both of us right here. There’s no fucking reason I should need to have any of my own, but that’s besides the point. What.the.fuck. Are you doing, that you need this many condoms..in your backpack?” he asks, holding up a handful, dropping a few. 

“What?! A girl has to be prepared,” you argue, “never know when I’m going to need them, you know, and thank god I had some.” You say, brow raised as if to emphasize a point. 

He shakes his head in disbelief, brows knitted together, and eyes narrowed on you. 

“You do realize you don’t need condoms to mind-fuck someone, right y/n?”

He throws them back in your bag, keeping a hold of one of them as he makes his way back over to you, falling to his knees as he slowly shakes his head. 

            “I mean thank god, Steve can’t get you pregnant now, you know with all the fucking you guys do…in your head…” 

    “Ha ha, very funny, Munson.” 

Biting at your lower lip as you impatiently watch him roll the condom on. 

            “I’m just saying, better safe than sorry,” he shrugs, giving a little pout of his lips. Rolling your eyes, you prop yourself up on your knees, pushing him down on his back. Swinging your leg over his midsection, you line yourself up, his cock nudging your still sensitive clit, and you hiss at the contact. 

             “Yeah well.. anyway, ready?” You weren’t entirely sure if you were but there was only one way to find out. Eddie’s greedy hands find your waist as he pulls you down, his tip just barely inside you. 

             “Yeah, you?”

You nod your head, letting yourself sink down onto his length, grabbing onto his arm as you focus on the way he is stretching you out, filling you up deliciously.

    “Damn, you’re tight.” he says through gritted teeth.  Your head falls back and your lips fall open, soft whines leaving your lips as you work your hips to better take him. 

            “No, y-you're just s-so big.” 

Eddie’s head falls back with a soft thump and you’re not sure if it was because of what you said or something entirely different. “Y/n..” it’s like a reverent lullaby the way he says your name. “You are killing me.” 

As he bottoms out inside of you, you both still, almost too scared to move, too afraid for it all to come to an end. Looking down at him, your best friend, hair a tangled mess around his head and face, pupils blown, neck perfectly on display adorned by that damned necklace, and his lips. Lips that had just spoken your name ever so sweetly. You knew that everything was going to have to change, maybe not for the worst and maybe not for the better, but definitely change. There was no going back now and nothing could change it. 

It was involuntary, the way you clench around his cock, watching as his eyes fall shut for a brief moment. You don’t know what was happening to you, the way your pulse quickened at the sound of his soft, beautiful moan, or the way that a strange sensation, one that you could almost, almost, describe as butterflies filled you. It meant nothing, because why would it? Why should it mean anything?

You hadn't even realized that he was staring back at you, watching intently on the way your chest was heaving, the way your breast moved with each rise and fall of your chest. Letting his eyes drift the length of your body, stealing a glance at where you were so perfectly connected, as he lets out a shuttered sigh of relief. 

He notices the part of your lips, pink and still slightly swollen, as you breathe softly. He had never wanted anything more than to kiss you, feel your tongue collide with his, it was nothing shy of torture. 

His eyes drift up to yours, the glazed over looks piques his interest, and he’s forced to wonder just what that pretty little mind of yours was thinking. He squeezes your thighs, pulling you from the haze, and your eyes meet him, locking as you feel the embarrassment fill you. 

             “We gonna do this?” He says softly. 

             “Yeah of course, I was just adjusting.” You chuckle, giving him a wink.  Before you have any more time to think about anything else you start to move, finding a suitable rhythm to have both of you moaning. His fingers press harder into the flesh of your hips as your ass comes down against his lap, as you keenly bounce on his cock. 

              “Fuuuuck,” he groans, “you’re taking me so well.” 

Why? Why did he have to say that? You whine, feeling that familiar heat building inside you once more. Eddie meets your thrusts with ones of his own, each one bringing pleasure and pain as he begins to hit every deep spot inside you, ones you had never managed to do yourself. 

              “S-shit Munson,” you cry out, your head lulling back on your shoulders, as he drives into you. Part of you just wanted to let go, let him fuck you senseless. To just lie back and enjoy it all, and strangely enough he sensed it. “Eddie, give me more, p-please.” 

Eddie groans knowing he wasn’t going to last much longer. “Anything for you, sweetheart.” With one fluid motion he had your back pressed firmly against the pallet, your hands falling above your head, and he can’t help but admire the way you look. 

Eddie grabs your ankles, slinging them over his shoulders providing him a whole new angle to fuck you. Deeper and harder. The stretch of him, stings, burns even causing your vision to start to blur. Fuck it was perfect, well almost. 

               “Better?” He finds it hard to speak, his pace quickening as he drills into you, relishing in the delicious pull you were giving him, your walls clinging to him like a vice. 

               “Oh f-fuck Eddie, yes..yes..” it had never felt so right to say his name in such a manner, and it scared part of you to your core. He watches in awe at the way your tits bounce with each thrust, and the way your arms tangle lazily around each other, your teeth coming out to sink into your bottom lip and your eyes fall closed. 

The poor boy had almost thought that he had finally died and had gone to heaven, but he knew it wasn’t, because if it was, he would have his tongue shoved so far down your throat at this point. Truth be told, he was going to be damned if he didn’t get to kiss you at least once at some point. 

“Fuck you look so goddamn pretty, so perfect” he didn’t want you to catch the last part but you did, you heard all of it. Eddie, nearing his climax, snakes his hand down to your clit, thumb massaging tight circles into it, ones that make your body squirm, ones that match the pace of his thrusts. You can feel your sweet release burning deep in your stomach, while your head begins to spin. The drawl of his cock, moving in a sweet yet simple pace, and the tempo that he was keeping with the pad of his thumb, was rendering you completely drunk. 

    “Mmmm fuck…..baby…” Eddie groans, lowering himself down to you, the familiar chain dangling in your face. His lips were so close to yours, his labored breaths fanning across your face, his eyes meeting yours. You hadn’t noticed it until then, and perhaps it hadn’t always been there, but in this exact moment, his eyes held a deep sense of adoration in them, like he was looking at something that meant the world to him. His eyes flicker down to your lips, and before you can process, his lips are pressed against yours. Shocked, your eyes widen, and your breath hitches. Nothing was working, your body had gone numb as you felt your release take over. Every part of your body sets a flame, as your back bows off the pallet and your eyes fall shut. 

Your cunt spasms around him as his own release gives, his hips stuttering with each thrust. Your name tumbling from his lips against yours. Somewhere deep inside of you surfaced, taking control as you reach up and grab the guitar pick that was dangling in front of you, and use it to close the gap between you and Eddie. Crashing your lips against his in a heated and messy kiss. The one simple rule, now a distant memory.  

Eddie’s hips halt as he stills inside you, bringing his arm around to rest under your back as he deepens the kiss. He didn’t care if the kiss was a result of your shared highs, and would most likely last only a second more before you both pulled away and would pretend that it didn’t happen. You on the other hand, had no idea what possessed you to kiss him back, especially like you did. At some point in the night you had lost all sense of logic and reason. You would argue that some ulterior force hijacked you, making you think that whatever this was, was the right choice. 

You pull away from him, still too stunned to say anything, and from the looks of it, so was he. Pupils blown, and a look of surprise on his face. The room is silent except for the sounds of the pair of you fighting to catch your breaths. Both of you are far too afraid to make any sudden movements, as you fight to meet each other’s gaze. It felt like a lifetime had passed by the time Eddie pulled out of you, discarding the spent condom, and plopping down beside you. 

Staring up at all the stage lights wondering who was going to speak first and cut the tension, and you felt relieved and nervous all at the same time when you heard Eddie’s mouth open. 

    “Well that was..” he says, clearing his throat. He fights the urge to look over at your still figure, as you do the same. 

    “Yeah…yeah it was..” you croak, your voice broken. 

The silence settles again, and you can’t help but wonder what was going on in the beautiful head of his, not that you knew even what was going on in your. Neither of you had ever been at more of a loss for words than you were right now. This was a first. 

    “So how’s Rebecca?” You ask, unsure of why you thought that this was the topic that most definitely needed to be brought up at this moment. 

Eddie bursts out into laughter as his hand flies up to wipe over his face.

    “Really!? Now? This is the conversation you want to have now of all times?” He chuckles, finally looking over at you to see that you were already looking at him with wide eyes. You giggle, feeling slightly embarrassed but relieved that the tension had been cute. 

    “Well believe it or not Eddie, I have never been in this position before, so I’m not really sure whats good in the state of post best friend fucking conversations?” you huff a laugh, rolling your eyes as he gives you a suggestive look. 

    “Well we both know you're lying when you say you’ve never been in that position before..” 

Grabbing the pillow beside you, you swing it at his head, laughing when you hear the muffled sounds of a grunt. 

    “Ha ha ha.” you say sarcastically. 

    “Rebecca is great by the way, thanks for asking.” He says with a wolfish grin, “I don’t really think it's going anywhere though but who knows. I mean we’re not really out of the ‘hey can I buy some weed off of you?’ ‘Sure thing’ ‘you’re so cool Eddie’ phase just yet, but things seem to be turning around, maybe sooner or later I’ll find some courage to actually talk to her, but I seriously doubt it.” he jokes, to which you roll your eyes.

    “Well if it means anything, I don’t like her, so.” you smile back. 

    “Oh, well then in that case, I am just going to have to forget about her it seems, you know since you don’t like her.” he deadpans, the sarcasm heavy in his tone. 

    “Good, I’m glad you get it.” You let your gaze linger on him a moment more, letting it drift down the length of his body, biting at the inside of your cheek.

    “Getting a good look?” he asks, watching as the blush creeps to your cheeks. 

    “Oh shut up.” you retort. 

You locate your clothes quickly, and slip into them, aware that his eyes are trained on you every step of the way. 

    “Getting a good look?” you mock, turning to see him blatantly staring. 

    “Yeah well it's not everyday you get to see your best friend naked, so I figured that I would commit it to memory, you know, just in case.” 

Eddie looks at you, the familiar glint of mischief behind his eyes. Grabbing his clothes you toss them at him, your hands falling to your hips. 

    “Mhm, just in case of what, Eddie?” 

Eddie drags on his clothes, standing up to tower over you, fixing his belt while he looks down at you, eyes narrowed with that mischievous glint. 

    “Just in case, you die but your face gets horribly disfigured and they come to me needing to ID you, but all that's left is your body, and then I can tell them ‘yep officer, that's her alright, I’d know those tits anywhere, they’re better than Anne Wilkinson’s.’” 

You shake your head, biting at your lower lip to hide the laugh that was begging to escape. 

           “So you see, I’m just looking out for you, baby.” He winks. He begins to pick up the blankets that you were just using, unable to stop yourself from admiring the expanse of his back currently covered by his denim vest, or the curve of his ass, as he bends over. Stop!  

Your stomach flutters, and you swallow hard, clearing your throat as you make your way back to the table, picking up your backpack, and plopping it down on the table, grabbing out a few spare condoms. Eddie makes his way over to you with a smile, as you hold out your hand for him. 

    “Here.” 

Eddie holds out his own hand, skepticism on his face, as he waits for you to reveal yours. 

    “What are you giving me?” 

You drop a handful of condoms into his awaiting palm, with a smile of your own.

    “Wouldn’t want you to be unprepared for any other sexual voyages you encounter now would we. It’s like what you always say, better safe than sorry.” 

You sling your bag over your shoulder, beaming at him as you make your way to the door, leaning against the frame. 

    “Now will you please take me home? I need to shower.” you quip, folding your arms over your chest. 

Eddie flashes you the cheesiest smile, sliding the condoms into his pocket. 

    “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

 thikkiesixx here you go doll!

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