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#this is the one that someone on my server just gave me the names of so i could tear into them and suggest better names for their own fairy
odinsblog · 9 months
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“One weird, silver lining positive from the WGA's strike has been a sense of calm over a reality that has plagued me with anxiety for years — the fact that despite having a great agent, manager, and lawyer, despite having been in hundreds of rooms with top execs and producers, despite having pitched countless networks, and despite having sold multiple pilots and pitches, I still work in food and bev. For so long, it felt like such an embarrassment in so many ways because it felt like I was the only one who was biding time in between sales with a side hustle. When I would tell people at work that I wrote television, they'd look at me like I had ten heads, or like I was delusional. They couldn't IMAGINE someone who *actually* wrote television would also be asking them what temp they wanted their salmon.
But the reality is, TV money goes fast, especially when it's just a pilot sale. And if shit doesn't get picked up to series, that money only lasts for so long. Being responsible meant swallowing my pride and keeping a job that was more consistent and steady but also gave me the ability to take pitch meetings, to write on my down time, do rewrites, answer e-mails, and take notes calls.
And for so long I thought I was a minority in that regard. Like I had done something wrong to not be successful enough to rely solely on my career as a writer.
Yet the strike has pushed SO many stories to the forefront of writers doing the exact same thing I've done, GOOD writers, great writers, writers who shit I watch all the time, whose names I instantly recognize, whose reputations in this industry precede them. So when the studios leaked that the goal was to bleed writers dry, to make it so we lost our homes, I had to laugh. Writers like me will literally do anything to keep the dream of writing alive. It's in us. It never goes away, no matter how many steaks you server, how many martinis you mix, how many cold calls you make, how many Uber passengers you pick up, how many pizzas you have to deliver. We always always always find a way to make it to that next great hope of a pitch, a sale, a green light.
And that's how you know that the CEOs are so fucking out of touch with reality. With the industry. With the POINT of the industry the point for most (not all, but most) has never been to be filthy rich, or own a yacht, or even have a membership to SoHo house. It's been to make something we love. To see it come to life, and make other people happy, or sad, or angry, or scared. To take this story you have kicking around your head and turn it into some epic journey. To be part of the process of making worlds and characters come to life. To tell stories.
The CEO's point has been to make as much money as humanly possible. And so they think that's all there is motivating writers. it's not. It never has been. Just because those CEO's wouldn't wait tables or mix drinks or drive a Lyft in order to keep a dream going, doesn't mean the rest of us wouldn't. The CEO's don't have a dream, they have a lifestyle. And I promise you a dream is a much better motivator than a yacht or a Porsche.
Try to bleed us dry, guys. Just because you'd let your own dream bleed to death, doesn't mean we would. We will always find a way to keep it alive.”
—Stefanie Williams, a tv writer on strike
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inf3ct3dd · 6 months
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streamer!ellie headcanons
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warnings: yo no se
content : streamer!ellie headcanons 🔥🔥
authors note : the streets r calling and they’re telling me to write streamer ellie hcs….
- def started off as a faceless streamer. she wasn’t really comfortable on camera, and she just thought it would be way easier. you can only see her shoulders-down leaving her (deliciosu. scrumptious. yummy) arms in the cameras view.
- her twitch user is “creeperewman” cuz shes like…discreetly hiding her initials and referencing the best minecraft parody ever 😕!!!
- bought the most random shitty mic and webcam and started streaming 🔥🔥 she never got rid of either of them its part of her odd loser charm
“‘fartmaster69:it’s probably cuz your camera’ it’s probably bc of YOUR CAMERA!!! theres nothing wrong w my camera bro 😞”
“don’t listen to them…ur perfect 🤫 IM NOT TALKING TO U GUYS IM TALKING TO MY CAMERA”
- only had a few viewers the first couple times she streamed, and it was some random 10 yr old who kept spamming “yassss” in the chat and some dude who said she was shit at minecraft 😞 he was LYING
- started off doing minecraft speed runs (or trying to) and got like way good over time
- she randomly started getting more and more viewers, because people kept posting abt her and calling her fine on tiktok , making edits of her hands and her voice 😭😭 (real)
- as she got more and more viewers, she started branching out more with the games she’d play. def loves shooter games like cod and pubg, but she’d also play like indie horror games like faith (omg markiplier fans would know)
- she has a orange cat she named garfield (cuz…of course she does) and he’s always sitting on her lap during her streams or messing w her setup 💔💔
- def put stickers all over her headset and showed them off all proud on stream
- designed her own cute banners and stuff for streams 😞!!!
- def had a subreddit/disc server with her viewers where she’d let them give her game recs or make memes of her
- ppl saw her guitar in the back of her streams and BEGGED HER to play it and she had her own lil concert stream !!! she was so freaking nervous and messed up a bunch the first like minute or two but like after that she was in the ZONE
“‘ewswife: i wish i was that guitar’ oh!! you guys are so…kind!!!”
- when she INSANELY hit 1k, she did a face reveal and she hit 10k the same day 😦 the amount of edits that ppl made was actually insane. ESP ONES MAKING FUN OF DREAMS FACE REVEALLLL
- started doing much more random shit on stream after she got more famous. she LOVES cooking on stream, and she’d start reacting to random shit ppl sent her on the subreddit
- she cut her hair on stream once, and everyone in the chat kept spamming “yo bob…is fye” for like 5 minutes 😪
- “you’re at work watching me? i hope you get fired. i mean. i hope you don’t get fired 😞”
- she gets so many thirst comments and like…is terrible at responding to them
“‘ewleftbicep: you look so vulnerable today’ WHAT”
- she has her own apartment cuz of her awesome streaming money 🔥🔥🔥 soundproofed walls too cuz she’s. loud.
- one day, you were walking on campus to a class. you had your headphones on, listening to your main playlist on shuffle, when you got stopped by someone. you pulled your headphones off your ears and gave the man in front of you a confused look. you looked down to his hands, holding a tiny mic, and another dude holding a camera.
“what song are you listening to?” he held the microphone towards you, awaiting your response.
you quickly responded “uhm, last goodbye, by jeff buckley.” and stood there awkwardly, pushing a piece of hair out of your face.
the man quickly thanked you and you walked away, slightly suprised.
- after a couple hours, the video had blown up and the comments were filled with people complimenting you.
pickleluna: jeff buckley girl is so fine
minyonlala: 3rd girl is so bad
rilakkila: I NEED JEFF BUCKLEY GIRL
and unknown to you, someone else found you on their fyp.
creeperewman: guys what is the 3rd girls @. im literally BEGGING BRO PLEASEEE
- ewleftbicep: BEING DESPERATE ON MAIN IS CRAZY
- ewsgirlf: random tiktok girl stole my wife 💔
- elliewilliamsidechick: guys im literally the 3rd girl 😂😂😂
- it didn’t take long for your phone to be blown up with people sending you the video, tagging you in funny comments, and finding your instagram. you watched the video, and saw ellie was the top comment. you checked her profile, and saw how FINE she was, and immediately responded
- y/nmainn: guys 😳😳😳 what if i was the third girl 😳😳
- ellie checked her phone and saw thousands of people tagging your comment, and she wasted zero time following you on tiktok. and your instagram. its not stalking if its in your bio, right?
- you two immediately hit it off, and ellie loved the fact that you had absolutely no idea who she was. to you, she was just some hot girl. not some famous streamer you were obsessed with.
- she didn’t even realize you two went to the same school until she saw you in her astrophysics class one day, and she almost had a heart attack when you waved at her and walked over to sit next to her.
“what a coincidence.”
- she took you out on your first date to a planetarium, and not even a week after, asked you to be her girlfriend.
- she definitely teaches you how to play her favorite games. but she gets wayyyy defensive when you beat her.
“im just letting you win.”
“beginners luck.”
but shes SO COCKY when she beats you
“hey, don’t be so hard on yourself after this. not your fault im a professional!”
“aw, maybe one day you’ll be as good as me”
- definitely helps you build your own pc.
- loves watching you play things like animal crossing or stardew valley, always lays on your shoulder while you’re on the couch.
“why are you being so mean to gaston :((“
“because hes UGLY and he has an ugly house and he’s ruining my village.”
“wowww you’re bullying a little bunny man because he doesn’t fit your aesthetic 😒 so mean”
- if you like more aggressive games like cod, she loves listening to you talk shit while you play and always makes fun of people with you. (she thinks its hot when you’re mean to people)
- her chat absolutely loves you, and every time you stream together its a continuous stream of “me and who” and “when is it my turn 😪”
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fataldrum · 1 year
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Who's Afraid of Bad Attempts at Journalism?
Some of you may have seen a callout post on Medium about Rusty Quill. The author claims to have spoken with a number of people who worked with RQ. The allegations are worth considering, but they should be taken with a heavy grain of salt.
I have trouble taking the callout post seriously for a number of reasons.
The author is head of marketing for Fable & Folly. They initially failed to mention this, but later added this incredibly defensive note: "Editor’s Note: [name] is currently the Marketing Director for Fable & Folly Network, but has worked as an independent creator and journalist for longer." That's a huge conflict of interest.
2. I'm not seeing any evidence that this person is a "journalist." They don't list it on the resume on their website. If they are a journalist, they're not doing it on Medium with (as of this writing) 47 followers.
3. The article title is pure clickbait. It suggests Alex J. Newall is someone to be afraid of and makes vague allegations of RQ showing "aggression," but he's barely mentioned in the article at all. It's an unnecessarily inflammatory title, but that's what they seem to want: to stir drama.
4. The article uses TMA character names as pseudonyms. This was extremely distracting and gave the whole post a weird, cartoonish vibe. As was the decision to use the phrase, "Make your statement, face your fear" to link the post.
5. The article depends entirely on anonymous sources. While anonymous sources are necessary sometimes, the problem is that no one can independently verify what they said. They claim the sources asked to be anonymous because they were afraid RQ would retaliate and ruin their careers, or the fandom would attack them. That may be true. Or it may be because they signed NDAs, which would make it illegal to publicly discuss what happened. An NDA would be a good reason not to come forward, but unfortunately, we can't ask them about it, because they're anonymous.
6. They claim RQ has threatened to sue multiple people--okay, what were the circumstances? It literally never comes back up. Were these NDA violations? Breach of contract? No clue, they don't bother to elaborate.
7. They talk about salaries in different currencies without converting, in the same paragraph. Then they bring up the rates for freelance audio engineers, as if freelancers don't generally get higher rates than in-house staff.
8. The author is finding posts on Twitter and blocking anyone who disagrees with them. I've never interacted with the author, but they found my post and blocked me and others on the thread for daring to criticize the article. That alone speaks volumes about their professionalism. (And also explains why I didn't find any critical comments when I first looked: they're probably all banned).
There are doubtlessly far more issues with the post, but those are just the ones that were immediately apparent.
None of this is to say I think RQ is a well-run company. The dismissive treatment of their server mods alone tells me they have serious problems. But we should all think carefully when we read the allegations in the post, and consider the credibility and motivations of the author.
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pizzaboerr · 4 months
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From nothing to something.
(Sanji x reader, part one)
part 2
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Summary: You work in a restaurant in Loguetown, a group of pirates come in and blow you away, giving you a offer of a Lifetime.
Warnings: Nothing yet, fluff(?)
Word count: 2,3K.
Authors note: Hello, welcome to my first ever ‘Sanji x reader’. I’ve started watching One piece after I watched the life-action. Let me know what you think and what you guys want to see next :) I have a few ideas for a few other stories, for different characters. Enjoy!
P.S.: Sorry if there are sentences that are grammatically incorrect, English isn’t my first language, so my apologies in advance.
~~—~~—~~—~~
One day when you were cleaning the tables in the restaurant you worked at, you saw a group of 5 people, who were waiting to be served. You looked around and sighed. This table wasn’t yours to take but everyone was so busy, so you decided to serve them.
You slowly walked up to them and quickly got your notebook and pen from your apron. “Hello my name is y/n and I will be your server for tonight. What can I get started for you all?” The smile you gave was a little one. To be honest, you never did this, you only cleaned tables and helped when necessary so you felt a little bit nervous.
“I want a beer.” the Green-haired boy asked you.
You nodded, wrote it down and looked at the guy next to him.
“I also want a beer, no make it two!” The guy said. “I want a beer too please” The girl said shortly after.
“I want a big glass of cold milk.” The boy with the straw hat said. You were still looking at your notebook when he said that, which made you chuckle slightly, not because you thought it was funny but because you expected it from him somehow.
“Can I have whatever you would normally get mademoiselle?” You looked up from your notepad because you just finished writing down the glass of milk and looked into the most beautiful blue eyes you’ve ever seen. “U-uh y-yeah sure. Do you want it to be a surprise or do you want me to tell you?” You asked curiously.
“Surprise me love.” He said while he winked at you. You felt your cheeks heat up slightly, nodded quickly and walked away to get the drinks. You smiled when you walked to the bar and made it your mission to prank the blond haired flirt.
When you returned with the drinks, The straw hat asked you about something in the Grand line, hoping you would know. You lived in Loguetown so wasn’t unusual at all for someone asking about the Grand line. You answered the question and gave everyone their beer, gave the straw hat their milk and handed the blond haired man a hot chocolate with whipped cream.
He looked confused at the drink, both boys and the girl laughed hysterically and the straw hat sighed loudly. “That looks good Sanji!” The straw hat boy said excitedly as he looked back at you and said without hesitation “I want one of those as well.” You smiled wildly and nodded. You looked over at the boy named Sanji and when he didn’t say anything and was just slightly smiling at the hot cocoa, you took a breath and smiled slightly.
“You said, and correct me if i’m wrong, Can I have whatever you would normally get mademoiselle” You tried saying it the way he said it which made the green haired boy spit out his beer and laugh again. Sanji gave him a nasty glare and when he looked back at you he smiled.
“And you are absolutely correct, I’m just amazed that this is your choice madam.” He chuckled, grabbed the mug and took a sip. “But now that I tasted it, I understand it completely. this is perfect.”
After everyone finished what they ordered, you walked back to the table to give the check to them. Before you could do that, the straw hat boy asked you another question about the Grand line which you answered with ease. He smiled and nodded to the rest.
He then asked another question, and then another which made you laugh but nevertheless you still answered truthfully. When they got the bill the straw hat laughed, signed the bill and looked at you. “Put it on my tab.” He smiled proudly. You smiled slightly and thanked them for dining at the restaurant before leaving them behind.
You took the signed check and put it in your apron, you knew from the moment you laid your eyes on them that they were pirates, not that that scare you, but you thought ‘Maybe someday in the future this could get you a lot of berries’.
What they didn’t see is that you paid for their meal. You didn’t do the ‘put it on the tab’ thing at the restaurant, but had no balls to tell them or to go to the chef about this and let them handle it. They were sweet and try to make you laugh with any chance they got. Besides you didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.
When you were checking if everyone had left, Sanji stood there, the last one in the restaurant and you smiled.
“I’m sorry Sir, but we’re closing.” you said kindly, pointing at the clock which said 11PM.
“Sorry Madam, I couldn’t leave you here, all alone without offering to help.” He smiled and started cleaning the tables. You were shocked and shook your head softly, while you tried to avoid his gaze. “It’s okay Sir, it’s my job anyways to do so, But thank you.”
“Please love, just call me Sanji, even though when you say it, it has a really nice ring to it.” He winked and just continued cleaning the place, while you just stood there watching him, trying to come up with something to say. “And besides mademoiselle, Is it also your job to pay for guests who clearly weren’t gonna pay?” He smiled while he stopped cleaning to lean on the bar and watched you for a reaction.
You quickly looked at your feet again and blushed. He caught you red handed and you didn’t know what to. The both of you cleaned in silence for a bit until you looked over at Sanji, who was humming while he was cleaning, clearly satisfied with what happened earlier.
“Sanji, may I ask you something?” He looked up from sweeping the floor, smiling and waiting for what you were gonna ask him. He absolutely adored it that you called his by his name, catching him slightly off guard.
“Are you really going to the Grand line? Or is that some kind of hyper fixation of the straw hat boy?” He smiled and nodded. “Our captain Luffy, the straw hat boy as you referred him to, wants to become the king of the pirates and we all think we will be able to achieve his dream by going there, so yes. We’re planning to leave tomorrow morning or the day after.”
You just nodded and continued cleaning. For some reason you felt sad that they were able to leave and you weren’t. You are no pirate, just someone who cleans in a restaurant.
Some time had passed and the restaurant was tidied up and ready for the morning shift to start the day. You got your stuff and walked up to the front door, Sanji following your moves and grabbed his coat. He opened the door for you and waited for you to leave.
“After you love.” He simply smiled. You couldn’t help but blush once again. This man made you feel special but you quickly shook it off, thinking he would do this with every girl he saw.
You closed the restaurant, smiled at him and thanked him for helping you. You took a few steps towards your tiny home and got stopped by Sanji, who grabbed your wrist slightly.
“I’m so sorry mademoiselle, Can I ask you something before we part ways?” You smiled before turning around to face him. “Yeah of course. What do you want to know?” He smiled and took a deep breath, trying to contain himself. He was still holding your wrist, scared you disappear if he let you go.
“Why do you know so much about the Grand line?” His question came out just a little bit louder than a whisper.
You sighed and smiled sadly. “It was my dream to know about the Grand line, I always wanted to go there and help people who need me, or who are seeking for some answers. I realized it probably wouldn’t happen anytime soon, because no one really leaves Loguetown on their own.”
When you told him this, his heart broke. He saw how sad you were ‘knowing’ you wouldn’t be able to leave. He was determined to ask Luffy to let you join their crew. They needed you anyways because they weren’t prepared at all.
“It’s a nice dream to have Madam, Maybe it will happen sooner than you think.” He smiled sheepishly and his hand who was holding your wrist, grabbed your hand and he pressed his lips to palm of your hand. “Goodnight mi amore.” With that he left, leaving you confused and speechless in the streets.
~~—~~—~~—~~
When you arrived at the doors of the restaurant the next day, the captain of the straw-hats was there waiting, with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. “Hello.-“ He quickly looked at your nametag “-Y/n. A little birdy told me that you wanted to enter the Grand line. Lucky for the both of us, we need someone who knows a lot and you are the person for the job. What do you say if I wanted you to be a part of my crew?”
You were absolutely flabbergasted. First of all this was your chance to leave Loguetown, a place you didn’t think you would ever be able to leave. Second of all, you ready for a new and long adventure. And ti feel important made you get excited.
You smiled slightly. “Can I maybe think about the offer? When are you leaving?” There was a tone that sounded hopeful, that he maybe wasn’t leaving today. The captain smiled brightly. “The plan was to leave this morning but for you we could extend our stay one extra day?, if that helps with your decision?” He said, even though it sounded like a question.
“That would be great! Thank you. I’ll find you as soon as I have my answer, What is your name?” You asked excitedly, now smiling excitedly. “Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the straw-hats.” Luffy said proudly.
You nodded and quickly went to work, leaving Luffy alone in front of the restaurant.
~~—~~—~~—~~
The day went slower than normal. You got some time to think about Luffy’s offer. Honestly you knew what your answer was, but didn’t know how to bring it to everyone.
After the shift ended, you had made your decision and had started to make a story how to bring it to your boss. You searched for your boss and after 5 minutes of looking you found him in the kitchen.
“Hey sir, Is there a possibility that we can maybe talk in private please? I have something I need to discuss with you.” You started nervously, trying not to show it to him. He looked up and smiled. “Ah of course y/n. Walk with me please.” You just nodded and followed him silently.
Once you entered his office, you sat down in a chair in front of his desk while he took his own seat. “What is it you wanted to discuss?” He leaned back in his seat and looked at you curiously.
“Well-“ You started off, not fully knowing where to begin. You took a deep breath and looked at your hands. “You know that I know a lot about everything that goes on in the Grand line right?” You looked from your hands and saw him nodding slowly.
“So this group of pirates came to the restaurant yesterday and were asking me questions about it, which I just answered. This morning the captain of the crew came back and asked me to join his crew.” He just smiled slightly, knowing where this was going. “I didn’t gave him an answer yet but I really want to go with them, meaning I need to quit this job.” You took another deep breath and waited for his reaction.
“Very well then. I know how much this means to you and I’m very happy you get to have an opportunity like this. The only thing that I need to know is; Are these people trustworthy?” He asked you while he reached into a cabinet in his desk to grab a pouch, before placing it on the table. “Yes sir, they are, for as far as I know now, trustworthy and kind people. They aren’t like any other pirate group we’ve come across.” You smiled back at him. He nodded and gave you the pouch. “Here are some berries. Enough to keep you going for a while at least. Now even though I hate to say this to you, I need you to grab your stuff and leave. Go on the journey, and when you come back, tell me about everything you’ve come across, pirate y/l/n.”
You smiled. Your boss could be difficult sometimes but seeing him like this made you cry a little bit. You stood up and gave him a hug. “I know this is inappropriate Sir but thank you, thank you for everything you have ever done for me.” With that you left his office, grabbed everything that had belonged to you and left the restaurant without looking back.
You quickly rushed home, grabbed a back, stuffed it with everything you think you needed on this adventure and left your home. Maybe for good. You locked your door, took a few steps back and looked at your tiny house. You took a deep breath and smiled. After you turned around you headed for the docks, to the ship that was gonna become your new home.
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infoactionratio7 · 3 months
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call it fate, call it carmen pt. 3 - c. berzatto
summary: carmy and the pretty girl from the cafe visit one of the chef's favorite restaurants in the city. they end the night with a question of what is to come next for the two of them.
pairing: carmen berzatto x fem! teacher! reader
word count: 2350
note: to read the other parts click here! basically carmy is showing off that he knows a bunch of restaurant owners bc he's famous and thinks he's super cool, lots of food talk, the usual! very cute fluffy nothing crazy. this is the last part el oh el. i hope u all liked this mini series. (sorry it took so unnecessarily long to write i hope u all like it ♡ )
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The smell of aromatic spices and cold air hit you as Carmy led you into the restaurant. The lighting was dim but still pleasantly warm, you were in awe of the decor. The traditional japanese architecture mixed with the modern vibes of all the restaurants you had seen Carmy following on Instagram. The host led the two of you into a dim lighted honeycomb looking wall full of booths, Carmy beamed at you seeing your fascination with the setting. He stayed behind you, placing his hand on your hip as the two of you walked up the steps into the booth. Shivers seemed to run down your spine at the delicate touch.
"Here you are, someone will be over in a second to help you" The host smiled at the two of you warmly, they placed the menus on the table. You scooted into the booth, the wooden walls surrounding you creating an isolated booth for the two of you.
Carmy sat down at the booth, he shook his coat off his broad sholders, exposing the white chef's shirt underneath. Of course he was wearing it, the only shirt you had seen him wear each time you had the pleasure of seeing him. Not that you were complaining, his tattooed arms looked beautiful in the dim light.
"Now" Carmy grabs the menu and says your name softly, "My brother helped this guy start the business, there were a few guys wanting to buy this place up for some laundromat years ago, but they ended up dropping it for this resturant to buy the place." He had been scanning the menu, you had yet to open yours up, knowing he would pick the best option for the two of you. You gazed at him as he intently looked at the menu, there had never been someone who you felt this way about before. It was so simple, to bring you to a resturant and pick out your food. But the fact he was just doing it, because he wanted to impress you made it even more attractive.
The server came up to your table, you ordered water and Carmy did the same, wanting to stay sober for the night to get to know each other better in the right headspace.
"What are you gonna get for us Carmen?" you smiled while his gaze met yours, his blue eyes piercing as they scanned your face. His lip quirked up in a smile, "You know I think that is gonna have to be a surprise. I just know you are gonna like it though." As the server walked up to your table with the water glasses, Carmy brought the menu up to his face, hiding the order from you. You giggled at his antics, making the order a surprise just for you. He gave the menu to the server and the server smiled gently at you, and bringing up their serving booklet to shield their words from the man they mouthed, "You've got a keeper."
As they walked away, you made eye contact with Carmy, "What are you up to Berzatto, you have a sneaky look on your face?" He took a sip of his water then leaned in close to you, grabbing your free hand on the counter "You'll see" He grinned from ear to ear, "now why don't you tell me a little more about yourself huh?"
His hand was so warm, yours ice cold in his palm, the drastic change in temperature came as a shock to you. His touch felt so comforting, the rough calluses from years of working in the kitchen gave you butterflies. He had been through so much in his career, there was so much admiration you had for his past culinary escapades. And the thought of possibly accompanying him in any future was swimming around your head. You forgot where you were for a second, coming to after you felt some pressure on your hand, a squeeze from the chef sitting in front of you. "I lost you for a sec, what were you thinking about?" You realized you had been silent for more than a minute, shaking your head you replied, "Sorry, sorry, I totally zoned out, just thinking about some stuff, it doesn't matter" He looked suspicious but acted like he just didn't care, moving on.
"Oh yeah, let me tell you some stuff about myself um..." You looked up and around trying to think of something interesting, "I used to watch Gilmore Girls and then write down all the different jokes I liked so I could say them at school and people would like me more if I was as funny as I thought they were. It never really worked but my mom said she always liked the jokes!" Blushing, you looked down, laughing at yourself, reluctantly letting go of Carmy's hand and burying your face into your palms. Parting your pointer and middle finger you peaked through. Carmy was laughing, and laughing hard, the man seemed hysterical, his eyes squinting because he was laughing so, so much. "I cannot believe I just told you that, holy shit that's so embarrassing"
"That is so fucking funny, how old were you?"
"I was 6"
He fidgeted with the utensils on the place setting, "I would have loved to know you at six" He laughed and shook his head, "I don't have anything as embarrassing as that to tell you but one time I did drop the whole pan of ricotta polpette during christmas dinner and my mom took every single toy in my room and put it in our freezer in the basement that I was terrified of because I thought a yeti lived there." He looked so happy talking about his childhood, "My brother, Mikey, came with me and his airsoft gun to go into the freezer to help me get them back just in case the yeti tried to attack us."
You covered your mouth as you laughed, he glowed, recounting a simpler time than now. His smile dropped, thinking about the past christmas, not wanting to remember how horrible it ended up. You could tell something was wrong, and wanting to change the subject, you cleared your throat.
"So, Carmen, when am I gonna get to try your cooking?" He lightened up, excited to talk about his career again. "I mean, you bring me out to a restaurant but I want to try some of those famous family recipes. They have to be good it seems like it's important to your family" You smiled at him, giving him a once over, his hair was a mess but he was so beautiful, it just did not matter.
"I promise you can try my food soon, I hope it's not too much for you though, I'm sure you've never had true italian cooking like mine" You rolled your eyes.
"You're from Chicago."
He tilts his head gazing at you, "And?"
"There is no way your 'true italian cooking' is that accurate, come on."
He looked at you like you had just taken all your clothes off, "That is the most insulting thing you could have said to me." He grabs his chest and leans forward with a pained look on his face, "You are breakin my heart already, we've barely been on one date and I'm already close to death." He dramatically gasped and met your gaze with a toothy smile.
"Oh shut up Carmen"
"Never" He says your name, just as the server comes back with a few dishes in hand.
They set a bowl in front of you, full of soup dumplings, but soup dumplings in the shape of little hearts, the thinly sliced radishes around the rim of the bowl as a garnish, also shaped as hearts. You looked up at the man grinning in front of you. There was nothing to say, this was the cutest gesture you had ever experienced on a date in your entire life.
"Carmen are you kidding, these are the most precious things I've ever seen in my life how in the world did you get them to do this, oh my god," He was still grinning, so proud of himself for making you smile. "Like I said, I know the owner." He shrugged and looked up at the server, thanking them as they smiled, and walked away.
"These are too cute to eat I can't" He looked at the dumplings, then met your eyes, "I think the biggest insult to me right now would be if you did not eat these dumplings right now, so please I need you to enjoy them." He picked up the utensils and encouraged you to start eating. While the two of you ate, Carmy told you about the past few months he had experienced, from moving back home to dealing with all the new people in the restaurant, and his mom not reaching out to him so he could see her, the group he had been going to that his sister recommended, and dealing with the money problems at the restaurant. He revealed so much to you, you shared stories about your family. The friends you had lost in your life and some of your biggest hardships, finally making it to teach in the best school you could ask for with all the best kids. You could not help but fall into his eyes, as he spoke about all the experiences he had in his life, he put his whole heart onto the table in front of you. The chef even shared some of his food with you, the gyoza he ordered for himself was delicious. You both finished the food in what seemed like hours. You felt as if you had been in this restaurant for a lifetime, experiencing Carmen.
"You ready," Carmy glanced at you, with the bill in hand, opening your mouth to protest paying for your half, he raised his hand and shook his hand. "I am not letting you pay for this, I will pay and you will be happy and let me treat you to dinner."
"But Carmen you bought me that baklava and I need to repay you please, please, please" You put your hands together begging him to just let you pay for your half of dinner at the very least.
He said your name like an impatient parent, "I will not let you pay, you can pay for the rest of the dates we ever go on if you just let me pay for this one time, okay?" This made you blush, the idea of Carmy thinking about you and him going on more dates than this one made you feel warm inside. You sank down into the booth, and with a groan of protest you shook your head and gave up.
"Thank you, I want you to feel unbothered tonight." He handed the bill back to the server after he had signed his name and got up. He got your coat for you, holding it out for you to walk into it. Getting up he pulled it up and over your shoulders, grabbing your upper arms, kissing the side of your head next to your ear, "Lets get out of here" He whispered and let go of you, putting his own coat on.
The two of you walked out of the restaurant, Carmy angled his elbow out for you to hold, you grabbed onto him and held on tight. You looked at him with a smile on your face, this was the best first date you had ever been on. As you walked the two of you continued the conversation you had not finished in the restaurant, talking about anything and everything. You could see the sign for The Beef a block away, wondering why he ended up taking you back here. As you reached the restaurant, Carmy stopped on the bench in front and sat down, inviting you to sit with him as he pulled out a cigarette, "Do you mind?" You shook your head, sitting close next to him, sharing body heat. He lit the cigarette, took a drag and exhaled. Looking relaxed. You grabbed his arm and rested your head on his shoulder, feeling him tense up before relaxing into your touch.
You looked up at the sky, seeing your breath as you exhaled and breathed in Carmy, he definitely put some type of cologne on but it had faded out so much it was just a hint you could smell. All you could tell was that this was a smell you wanted to be enveloped in forever. You heard your name softly, picking your head up and turning it to face your date. "Yeah Carm?"
He leaned forward and captured your lips in his, the taste cigarette and mint as he held your face with his non-occupied hand. It was like you were seeing stars for the first time, you could feel his excitement as he moved his tongue along your bottom lip. It was a mess of teeth, tongue, and lips. Carmy pulled away and leaned his forehead on yours, beaming. "You called me Carm." Giggling you looked into his eyes, the blue seemed even more beautiful up close, you could get used to this. "Well I think if I'm going to be around you more I might as well call you by one of your oh so amazing nicknames" He chuckled pecking your lips once more, pulling away and taking one more drag of his cigarette. Throwing the butt onto the floor, putting it out with his heel. You put a hand onto his thigh, squeezing.
"I think I really like you Carm"
"I think I really like you too"
The two of you held onto each other for a while, enjoying the sounds of the city as you chatted. Eventually you got up, Carmy walked you home, dropping you at your doorstep and wishing you a good night. As you walked up to the apartment, you realized that finding him was not a coincidence.
It had to be fate.
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anisespice · 14 days
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12:34am — manjiro sano
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Honestly, he should’ve seen it coming.
As soon as they were situated in a secluded area of the quaint, little ramen bar they occasionally visited, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that wouldn’t relent until it revealed itself. The next thing MIKEY knew, right after the server placed steaming food on the table and left the room, a gaggle of low-rate thugs came barreling in, guns drawn and aimed practically in his face with misplaced confidence. He didn’t even flinch, just set his chopsticks back down with a slow exhale through his nose.
“Can I at least eat a little before you try to kill me?” Mikey muttered, disinterested gaze briefly scanning over the opposition, sizing them up. Wack.
“Your last meal’s finna be this bullet, asshole. This what happens when you fuck with the Tokyo Vipers. We don’t care how tough you are, you’re gonna pay for what you did to Boss Nakashima!”
“Who?” Clearly, not the response they were looking for.
A stand-off commenced, his executives quick to pull out their own weapons, choosing a target with full intent to kill. The one guy focused on Mikey remained adamant to land one right between his eyes, resolve unshakable even with two or three guns aimed back at him. He’d give the idiots credit for boldness. Not everyday does the common thug grow the balls to try something with Bonten.
Unfortunately, they chose the wrong night to chase retribution.
“M-Manjiro…what’s happening?”
At the meek sound of your voice, he subtly reached for you under the table. You practically shook like a leaf, doe-eyes wide at the sight of a gun aimed at your lover with hands raised high as if you were also to blame—Definitely not the ‘simple night out’ you anticipated when he invited you to tag along. It was his own fault really, thinking simple was ever an option when it came to his reputation, not even for a night.
“A-Are they gonna kill us?” You cried, scooting closer to lean against his frame for more comfort. It made him relax a smidge, taking it as a good sign. “Please, j-just name your price, whatever the number, and it’s yours! You don’t have to do this-”
“Unless your money can bring back the dead, sweetheart, you can shove it up your ass!”
Mikey felt you jolt. Sparing you a side glance, his thumb caressed your thigh in small, reassuring circles. His poor baby, must be scared out of your mind. The blonde wanted nothing more than to shatter every bone in the bastards who put such an expression on your face.
“Let my girl step out. This doesn’t involve her.”
“The bitch stays. Want ‘er to watch you die.” The assailant hissed, thrusting the gun forward to bump against Mikey’s forehead.
His brow twitched in annoyance, grip around your thigh tightening ever so slightly as his mind filled with various ways to snap the guy’s arm without you bearing witness. The last thing Mikey wanted was you being afraid of him. You were a slice of normalcy in his chaotic life. Call him selfish, but he wanted you to stick around despite the ugly parts of it, hoping to hide it for as long as he could. Evidently, it was short-lived.
He knew he didn’t deserve it. You were too pure for a tainted soul like his, too soft for someone who’d been hardened by life, too—
“Bitch? ”
The whole room came to a halt.
All eyes had flicked over to you, uncertain if that bone-chilling tone came out of such a meek little thing, who not even seconds ago was visibly trembling. Now you were still as stone, delicate features no longer consumed by fear but contempt as you stared down the man with a slight tilt in your head. Even with tears clinging to your lashes, it was very unsettling.
You gave a hollowed chuckle. “Oh, you got me fucked up.”
The assailant blinked. “Wha-?”
“Shut up, let me tell you something,” you abruptly stood, nearly giving the Bonten men heart palpitations, fearing your next sudden move might be your last. Mikey, however, merely watched in stunned silence, hand that comforted you now hovering awkwardly as he blinked up at you. Jabbing a finger into the man’s chest, you hissed, “You can come up in here waving guns all you want, but I’ll be damned if some limped-dick, broke motherfucker calls me out my name.”
He gaped, then fixed his mouth to threaten you. “Sit your ass down before I make you regret ever meeting this scumbag, you little—”
With a quickness, you swing with a crisp thwack! to the side of his head. The room clamored about, even Mikey found himself blinking rapidly at not only your swiftness, but your audacity. With the opposition aiming their guns on you immediately, the executives instantly jetted their attention over to Mikey to gauge his reaction. He remained visual unnerved, save for the slight drop in his jaw.
“SHIT—FUCK,” the man yowled, stumbling back. With his ear ringing, vision blurring with tears, it was a wonder where you kept all that unbridled strength. Was this the same person who feared for their life not even moments ago? When he clumsily regained composure, he looked at you utterly stunned. “D—…Did you just fucking slap me? Have you lost your mind, you crazy—?!”
You raised your hand, making him flinch. “Say it again. I dare you.”
Flabbergasted. Shockandawe. Slightly aroused?
That was the consensus of every gun-wielder in the room, some more than others unable to mask the evident thrill from hearing such vulgar and venomous words drip from such a pretty mouth…Mikey being the first in line. Man’s still gawked with a glint in his eye that could only be described as carnal; since when had his kitten grown claws?
“GYAT.” Ran winced, then gave a snicker. That smack alone bounced off the walls, he just knew that had to smart. “Shake it off, buddy, shake it off.”
Sanzu, with a cackle, exclaimed, “Hit ‘em again!” earning a glare from the aggravated assailant, his gun now pointed at you and no longer on Mikey.
Kakucho grew anxious, the others just as on edge. If they didn’t take action soon, someone was bound to get trigger-happy. The situation was already unpredictable as is, but with your newfound attitude, things were sure to escalate fast. He gruffly voiced, “Boss, what’s our move?…Boss?”
Said blonde paid no kinds of attention.
Head void of any thought aside from your angelic form beneath the soft lighting standing your ground without an ounce of fear, one would think Mikey was in a trance. His bleak stare practically singed right through you, calculative as he watched your pristine facade unravel bit by bit—Such vicious words filled with vinegar and oil, a contrast to your usual peaches and cream, such discourtesy when you’re normally so well-mannered.
How long had you been hiding this side from him?
Mikey thought he had you figured out, from the moment you crossed paths he was certain he’d taint you, the walking cliche of a spoon-fed daddy’s girl who wouldn’t harm a fly, who dated bad boys just to feel something. But now? He wanted nothing more than to unravel you further, leaving you raw and exposed to reveal the devil horns you’d kept hidden behind a false halo.
And frankly, he wouldn’t mind an audience.
“Mikey.” Kakucho urged.
Said blonde hummed in acknowledgment, eyes lazily trailing off you and back at his number three, seemingly distracted. With a wordless exchange, he sighed. Just as things were getting interesting… Mikey reached up and gave the back of your thigh a tender squeeze. You turned to look at him, seething as you rebelled against his silent command. Oh, he’ll enjoy fucking that attitude out of you later.
“Sit down, [_____]. Think you’ve made your point.”
You sneered. “Like hell! My point’s been made when I have this dickhead crawling on his knees, begging for mercy—!”
Before you knew it, you’re grabbed by your thigh and pulled down into his lap. You yelped, arms instinctively shooting out to grab onto something until you landed with a small oof!
As you opened your mouth to protest, your breath hitched and the words catch in your throat at the cool feeling of Mikey’s gun now nudging against your clit through the lace of your underwear. A shutter ran through your body. Thankfully, your little display was enough cover for him to swiftly grab it from his side, playing it off as if he were restraining you.
He leaned in to speak low in your ear. “Cover your ears, baby.”
Goosebumps spread like wildfire across your skin, warmth simmering in the pit of your stomach from both frustration and excitement. Doing as you’re told, you pressed hands into your ears but kept your gaze on the offender in front of you. He was yelling about something, booming voice muffled but no doubt throwing out more threats. His group began to shrink within themselves once the severity of the situation caught up with them, and the odds no longer looked to be in their favor. You almost felt sorry for them; almost.
Before the poor bastard even knew what hit him, the smoking barrel of Mikey’s .45 was the last thing he saw before he hit the cold, hard floor with a hole in the center of his forehead. And just like that, bullets rained from every angle on your side of the room, bodies piling up one after the other until none were left standing. As quick as they came, there they went—Nothing more than stains on what was an originally calm evening.
Your heart pounded in your chest. Mikey could feel it elsewhere.
With his free hand having rested on your inner thigh, thumb dangerously close to where his pistol once was, he could feel a subtle pulse in your clit from the thrilling experience. While his men busied themselves cleaning up the scene, gathering corpses and making disposal arrangements, there was nothing left to distract him from prodding.
“It appears I’ve underestimated you. What other sides have you kept hidden from me, I wonder.” He said, tilting his head.
You whimpered as his thumb pressed against your throbbing little button, biting your lip before replying, “I-I just don’t like.. being talked to that way…”
Mikey hummed, nosing at your jaw. “My sweet girl. She got her feelings hurt, hm?”
It was hard to concentrate with him playing with you beneath the table in front of his subordinates, spreaking low and softly as he littered your sensitive spots with nips and warm kisses. With the little sanity you had left, you nodded. To your horror, you moaned quite loudly when he breached past your underwear to slip two fingers inside of you with ease thanks to your flooding arousal. But, you got over it the second he immediately curled them to hit that spongey area of your walls with a precision that nearly made you see stars.
“Your words, [_____]. You had a lot to say earlier, what happened?”
You gripped his forearm for dear life, jaw dropping as your legs subconsciously spread to give him better access. “Y-Yes!”
He cooed, arm flexing as he pushed his fingers deeper while his thumb stimulated your clit. Your back arched off his front, other hand reaching out to grip the table as you whined shamelessly at the ceiling. Neither of you paid any mind to where you were, or whomever watched, too caught up in the moment. Food had long gone cold and forgotten, bullet fragments scattered at your feet and blood splattered all on the walls. Even with his stomach growling angrily, all he could focus on was devouring you. “‘m sorry, baby. Let me make it all better.”
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likes, comments & reblogs much appreciated!
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betterthanyalls · 2 months
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Happy Valentines day!!! This is a gift for my platonic valentine!!! Love u pookie
Fake Proposals
Words: 1.5K
Published: 2-14-2024
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“This is such a bad idea.”
"Oh, c'mon, Peach! It’s free food!”
“If it works, which it probably won’t,” Y/n explained to her boyfriend, "plus, aren’t you a demon? Can you not just disguise yourself and steal the food?”
“Where’s the fun in that? Have some faith, Peaches!” Wukong encouraged, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. He held Y/n tight and guided her into the high-class restaurant that stood tall in front of them. Wukong let go of Y/n, to his dismay, so he could hold the door open for her. He may be an egotistical demon, but he knows how to treat the love of his immortal life.
Y/n smiled at her partner’s kind gesture, “Thank you, love,” and entered the small entrance of the restaurant. When Wukong entered, his hand instantly found its way to Y/n’s, holding her in a tight yet gentle grip. The couple stood near the host stand, waiting for a server to come to seat them. They stood there for around five minutes until Wukong started getting impatient. His foot was tapping rapidly on the ground, and his tail was swaying, brushing Y/n’s leg every few passes. Noticing this, Y/n lightly squeezed his hand in a few pulses. Her eyes watched as Wukong’s tail slowed its sways and his foot stopped tapping.
Smiling softly, the young woman cast a glance at her boyfriend. She saw how he was looking around, trying to spot any servers standing around. Eventually, someone who looked like a hostess walked up to them.
“I am so sorry for making you wait! I was told someone would cover me when I’m on break, but I guess not,” the girl, who looked the same age as Y/n, spoke quickly. Y/n observed how the girl kept taking glances at Wukong, each one longer than the last. Normally, Y/n wouldn’t mind people looking at her boyfriend; he was a demon after all, but this girl had a different emotion in her expression. Y/n read the girl’s name tag and couldn’t help but notice how much the girl looked like Y/n. ‘Analise’, was the name carved into the metal tag. “That’s ok, my boyfriend and I would just like a couple table. Please,” Y/n spoke through a strained smile, moving closer to Wukong.
Wukong, somehow, didn’t take notice of the way Analise stared at him or how Y/n moved closer. “Right away,” Analise glared at Y/n before turning and guiding them to a nearby table made for two. As they walked, Y/n gripped Wukong’s hand tighter. She could see from her peripheral view when her boyfriend looked down at their hands and looked at her face. Y/n looked at him when he mouthed a question, ‘You okay?’. Now that Wukong knew she saw him, Y/n couldn’t ignore the question. Looking at Analise, who was still walking in front of the two, Y/n let out a sigh and shook her head, ‘No’. Wukong’s eyes held hers, filled with sympathy and understanding, and simply nodded. It didn’t take long for them to reach a two-person table in the center of the restaurant. Y/n smiled when she saw the mischievous grin spread across her lover’s lips.
“Here you are, sir... and ma’am,” Analise finished her sentence with resentment. Hearing this, Y/n gave the worker a tight, sour smile before sitting down across from her partner. Analise left the couple to view their menus and choose the food. Scanning the options, Y/n paused when she felt a foot tapping hers. Looking up, she was met with Wukong’s iconic smirk. “So, my dear Y/n was jealous of some random girl?” His tone was laced with tease as he smiled at her. Y/n rolled her eyes and softly kicked her demon lover, a small smile forming on her lips as she looked away to hide it. “Shut up, just stick to the plan, ok?” The young woman spoke through her embarrassment, still not meeting Wukong’s eyes.
Y/n heard his chuckle and the shuffling of fabric. Looking up, she watched as her boyfriend pulled a small black box from his pocket and set it on the table with a mischievous grin. The two looked around, trying to see if any staff was nearby to see the plan in action. “I think that’s the manager right there,” Y/n discreetly pointed to a man standing about a table or two away. Looking back to her partner, Y/n nodded to him with him doing the same in response. Clearing his throat to gain nearby attention, Wukong stood up and took the box. Walking over to Y/n, he knelt in front of her. She could see a glimmer in his eyes as emotions danced like lightning on his expression.
“Y/n M/n L/n, we have been through thick and thin together. I can’t even fathom how you could survive with someone like me and yet you do it anyways. You have always meant the most to me; the flame to my candle, the moon to my sun, the rainbow to my cloud. I can’t explain in words how much you mean to me, it’s simply impossible. You deserve everything in this whole messed-up universe and I will make it my goal to deliver it all to you. Anything you want, it’s yours. I’m lost without you, Peach. I want to be your crutch, your support; the one you rely on when you can’t even rely on yourself. I may not understand everything but I will do anything to let you show me. I am willing to change anything just for you to glance at me. The longing I get when you have to leave from a date or when I can’t look at you for even a moment. Your eyes, your hair, your cheeks, your nose, your arms, your everything. I love every little detail about yourself. All your flaws are gone, you never had any to begin with. I know you might not be able to see yourself the way I see you but I want to let you even get at least a glimpse of how I see you. You are so perfect to me that even the stars moon and sun envy you. You shine your light of kindness and care to anyone, proving anyone can be themself around you. I feel so safe with you and I want you to feel that around me. Y/n M/n L/n, I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I will do anything to make you mine. So, what do you say?”
Shock and embarrassment overwhelmed Y/n. She had expected some cheesy speech, but the way he said it and the way his eyes glowed. Y/n knew he meant every single word and it left her speechless. Her mouth opened slightly, trying to say something but no words or sounds came out. Wukong held an expectant look like he didn’t think this whole spiel would catch you off guard. The whole restaurant was looking at the two of you. The suspense was thick in the air and even the blind could see the anticipation. Finally, Y/n found her voice.
“Yes,” She whispered before making her voice audible, “yes! 100 times yes!” Wukong stood up and brought her up with him before picking Y/n up and spinning her around. Laughter echoed from them as the restaurant erupted into cheers and applause. A huge smile graced both the couple's faces when Wukong slid the ring onto Y/n's ring finger. The duo hugged tightly before feeling a hand on both their shoulders, it was the manager. At first, they thought their plan had been a success until the manager pointed to an extremely small sign across the room that read, ‘NO ROMANCE ON PREMISE!’. “Well, that’s ironic.”
Now walking hand in hand down the dark street, Y/n and Wukong just talked. “I wanted that free food,” Y/n complained. “I know Peach, but I can just steal some food from Pizza Hut or something if you would like,” her boyfriend shrugged. Pausing in her steps, Y/n looked at Wukong with an ‘Are you serious?’ expression. “What?” “Why didn’t you just do that earlier before we got kicked out?!” Y/n exclaimed to her clueless boyfriend. “I…uhhh….” Wukong stumbled on his words, trying to find a reason before Y/n found the truth. “Wait a second,” Y/n spoke, a smirk forming on her face and turning to her lover, “did you just do all this so you could propose to me but not officially?” Wukong was looking everywhere but his girlfriend now and not answering her question. Y/n smiled softly at her flustered partner before taking his face in her palms and giving Wukong a soft kiss on the cheek, ruffling the fur atop his head when she leaned back. Y/n chuckled a little before she turned and kept walking, leaving a stunned Monkey King behind her.
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Unpredictable Part 3-Limoreau x black!fem!reader fic
A/N: AAAH, thank you for all the support on this. I didn't think it'd be a series but I can't stop writing.
Warnings: toxic parents, body shaming, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, and swearing
Words: 7.7k
Series Masterlist
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 “…and that’s how I knew that I was meant to do charity work,” the nasal redhead concluded.
That afternoon, the Si Chi house was packed with pledges in floral or puffy Selkie and Miss Selfridge sun dresses. A handful of servers circulated the foyer with trays of orange juice and mimosas. The combination of Prada Candy and Viktor Rolfe Flowerbomb made my head spin but I smiled through it as I nodded at different pledges’ stories. All of them were desperately trying to toe the line between interesting and bragging because one could never act too important for a potential house.
“That’s great news,” I glanced at her name tag, “Brenda since Si Chi regularly engages in philanthropic work.”
 Brenda smiled widely, making the hot pink blush on her cheeks even more prominent. “I know, that’s why I’m so interested in joining this---your house.”
“Well, we are glad that you took the time to visit us. Would you excuse me?”
As I weaved my way through the foyer, I plucked a mimosa from a passing server and started sipping. Exactly five seconds passed until I was surrounded by a new crop of bright-eyed freshmen.
“Oh my gosh, are you Y/N Y/L/N?” a willowy brunette asked.
“Guilty, and you are?”
“She’s Justine,” a shorter brunette interrupted.
Justine narrowed her eyes and thinly covered the glare with a smile. “I can introduce myself, thanks, Renee.”
Renee shrunk a little in her oversized light blue sundress and I glanced at Justine.
“So, why are you interested in our house?” I asked.
Justine straightened up and smiled like a pageant girl. “Well, I’m perfectly aligned with all the values of Si Chi: Sisterhood, respect, and intelligence. I am all about women empowerment and I respect people from all backgrounds----I’m exposed to a bunch of different people as an actress, anyway.”
“What about intelligence?”
“Well, I think there’s many different kinds of intelligence and, as an actress, I’m emotionally intelligent to the point where I’m exhausted by everyone else’s energy.”
“She really has to prioritize self-care,” Renee added.
“It’s great that you’re aware of that for yourself.”
She had to be one of the least self-aware people I ever encountered and that was a difficult fete. However, her socials had decent numbers and she had been in a few Vought Plus movies, which would help her win Sydney and Lydia, the vice president, over. The next two years with her and her friend would be irritating.
A softer expression slipped across Justine’s face, and she took a step towards me. “I just want to say that I think it’s so brave that you’ve been participating in all the rush events despite your traumatic experience. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to see Luke,” she paused and placed a hand on her chest, “kill himself.”
Though it had been a week since, it still felt like a bomb rolled off Justine’s tongue when she said it. The wave of emotions that I experienced in that time was hard to describe; Shetty said that grief was a rollercoaster, and the influx of emotions was normal.
“As impossible as it may seem, one day you will come to accept what happened,” she’d advised. “You may experience more anxiety but, with your network, I am sure you will be able to cope.”
The network she referred to was strained at best and destroyed at worst. My “sisters” were as supportive as they could be: Alina gave me a Lush self-care kit, Sasha was not nearly as antagonizing as usual, Lydia gave me grief book recommendations, and Sydney let me pick what workout classes we attended. Emma and Cate were the only non-Si Chi people I spoke to since it was way too difficult to speak to the others.
Justine placed her hand on my shoulder. “If you ever need someone to talk to, you can count on me.”
“Thank you for the thought,” I replied, smiling tightly.
“You must be so grateful that Marie was there to stop him,” Renee quipped.
I sipped some more juice to keep the confusing feelings from bubbling up. Nothing could have prepared me for Marie and Andre being propped as the Guardians of Godolkin, which was arguably the dumbest name Vought could give them. The less I wanted to see them, the more I saw their promos and videos. It was horrible that the last time we spoke we had a fight but every time I saw her, I felt a weird wrench in my chest.
At the very least, Emma seemed happy for her.
Then, Coco Allen, a Si Chi junior, appeared from the crowd and squeezed between the freshmen. “There you are, Y/N, I have a crim freshman with a water manipulation ability who wants to pick your brain.”
“Sure. Will you excuse me?”
“Bye!” Renee called as Coco pulled me through the crowd.
When we got to the less populated living room, I exhaled a breath I did not know I was holding. Then, I turned to the beaming Coco.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. You know I hate entitled freshmen,” Coco mused.
Coco was the only other black girl in Si Chi and happened to be the first one to talk to me when I visited the house last year. She was a little shorter than me with deep mahogany skin that always glowed. She always wore her waist-length jet-black hair in tight curls and accessorized solely with gold jewelry. That day, she wore a fitted white sundress with espadrilles.
“Were there this many last year?” I asked.
Coco shook her head. “But there are a few more black girls so it’s promising.”
“That’s great! I hope I can find them before the event’s over.”
“That would be great.” Coco eyed me. “So, how are you holding up?”
“I’m okay, the mimosas don’t hurt though.”
“They never do. You didn’t have to come today, you know, you could have taken more time, get out of here for a minute.”
I shook my head. “I needed this, it’s a nice distraction or, it has been. Besides, what would it look like if the secretary didn’t attend?”
Coco nodded slowly but I could tell that the gears in her head were turning too much for her to be convinced. “You’re already Sydney and Lydia’s favorite and they might have let it slide.”
I cocked my head at her and she immediately started chuckling half-heartedly.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. The hoops they make us jump through are ridiculous,” Coco reflected.
“It makes sense why you didn’t want to be an officer even though you’re poli sci,” I commented.
Coco grinned. “Hey, I’m making decent connections just by being in this house. This is just a steppingstone on my path to become the first black woman supe president.”
Even though the title was long, if anyone could do it, it was Coco. One time last year I sat in on one of her debates in class and she had a senior in tears and their debate partner ready to put their laser eyes to good use.
“Well, don’t forget little ole me when you’re a big shot,” I teased.
Coco frowned. “What do you mean ‘little’? You have done too much to talk like that.”
I shrugged. “Not that they’re not as important but my four-year plan is less impressive than yours.”
“Oh yeah, the plan where you basically end up a trophy wife? No shade but, I think you’d be way too bored in that role.”
“Hey, I would have a city contract too. Plus, it’s what I want and what I see for myself every time I look into the future. Every step I have taken up until this point puts me closer to that.”
My voice was much stronger than I thought it would be but Coco was always pushing me. Some days it was motivating and on others, it was infuriating.
“Like I said, I’m not trying to crush your dreams or your plan but is that really all you want for yourself? Especially thinking about all the good you’re already doing with your powers?” Coco questioned.
Her words plagued me for the rest of the event and bugged me when we gave our ratings of the pledges to Sydney and Lydia.
“Oh, and Y/N, don’t forget to send me that compilation with all the pledges’ socials,” Sydney requested as I was on my way out of the foyer.
“Of course, you’ll have it by the end of the day.”
Everything was much quieter underwater, except for my thoughts, but those were much clearer. Every time I thought about where I would be in five years, it was the same: smiling at a city event on the arm of some suit. I never saw the man’s face but I knew he had to be somewhat attractive. My eyes fluttered closed at the bottom of the pool and I focused on my future.
It was the same image, complete with flashing cameras and I was wearing a gorgeous rose pink Oscar de la Renta gown. My hair was piled on top of my head in Senegalese twists, and I was smiling widely. However, when I tried to look at whose arm I was on, it was like I could not turn my head. The harder I tried, the sorer the side of my neck got.
After a few more seconds of trying, I pushed myself up to the surface and sucked in the air. The sky was a mix of orange, purple, and blue. Sydney was blasting “My Head, My Heart”, which signaled that she was getting ready to go out with Eric Landon, the president of Sigma Kappa. It would be nice to be asked on a date, a proper one without the expectations of sex later.
My face warmed at the fact that I had never actually been asked out. People constantly told me how good looking I was but that did not translate into boys falling all over themselves for me. There were the occasional fun nights out but it would always end in that same venue. I didn’t think I asked for too much: flowers, good morning and good night texts, respect, intelligence, and ambition. Emma told me I watched too many movies once and while that could have been true, I also thought that it wasn’t too much to ask a guy to hold a door open.
It also did not help that Jordan was the last person I ever got close to being intimate with. I groaned at the thought and dove underwater, making my way to the other side of the pool.
An almost-kiss should mean absolutely nothing but I could not stop thinking about it, just like I could not stop thinking about how Jordan would throw me under the bus to save themselves. I would never do that to anyone, especially not someone I cared about.
But you already did, the voice in my head hissed.
Marie didn’t count, I didn’t mean to do that; Andre, Luke, Cate, and Jordan decided for me. I would have stayed if it was my choice but that didn’t matter to Marie or any of them.
I pushed myself from the side of the pool and butterfly stroked my way to the other side. Thankfully, the water was heated and soothed my aching muscles. As I was about to resurface, I noted a blurry tall blonde figure standing above me. When I pushed up, Cate stood over me, her eyes worried.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Hi, can we talk?”
“Sure.”
A few seconds later, I was wrapped in a fluffy towel and standing across from Cate. Her eyes shifted around for a moment before she suggested we headed inside. When we got to my room, she immediately closed the door behind us.
“Is there any way someone would have listening devices in here?” Cate asked.
“No,” I said slowly.
“Are you sure? There’s shit out now where they put it in the tiniest crevices and you would never know,” Cate argued.
“I would have seen it or had a hint about it. What’s going on?”
Cate finally sat on my bed, and I opted to stand across from her. “Andre and I found some stuff that makes Luke and Brink’s deaths way more complicated.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for one thing, they totally cleared out his room the day after he died and I mean everything.”
My eyes widened. “Even the…special drawer?”
“Yes, and at first, I thought it was protocol but what would they do with all those----”
“I get it, Cate, what else did you and Andre find?”
As Cate continued to speak, I could feel my stomach sink further and further, until I was sure it was somewhere in the house basement. Nothing Cate said meant anything positive for anyone. If there was some kind of lab under us, that meant anyone could become a part of it.
“Have you told anyone else?” I asked.
Cate huffed and leaned back on my bed. “Well, Jordan’s been spiraling about Marie and the rankings, so I can’t get a word in about anything else.”
“They’re spiraling?” I asked.
“You haven’t talked to them since Luke died?” Cate asked.
When she said it like that, it sounded like I committed a cardinal sin. After that day, there was nothing else for me to say to them. Even though I saw them in class occasionally, I never spoke to them and desperately tried to avoid eye contact.
“They could have reached out too,” I muttered.
“You’re such a younger sibling,” Cate commented.
“It’s true!” I whined.
“Well, they’ve been freaking out about the rankings since they fell down to number five and Andre’s number one.”
Being in the Top Five was like Jordan’s lifeline. They’d always shared a friendly rivalry with Luke but I knew they wanted to be number one eventually. They spent almost all their time making sure they stayed in a high position and to drop to bottom of the Top Five must have been devastating.
“Oh no,” I whispered.
“Yeah, and your new best friend cracked the Top 100 and is Jordan’s new nemesis,” Cate added.
 I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a chocolate brown loungewear set. “Neither of them are my friends.”
Cate frowned. “Seriously, what is going on with you? The other night, you and Marie were inseparable, and you and Jordan were bantering. What happened?”
It must have been the fact that I was holding all my thoughts and feelings in because I burst.
“Marie and I can’t be friends since she thinks I’m a shallow bitch who would sacrifice her to save myself because I hang out with people who do. The funny part is that Jordan admitted they would backstab me if they could get ahead, which is definitely not something I would do to a friend or anyone I almost kissed!”
I was panting by the end and my chest felt a lot lighter. However, my nerves began to build when I noticed Cate’s mischievous grin.
“Who did you almost kiss?” Cate asked.
“That’s not the point,” I mumbled.
Cate stared at me for a second before lighting up. “It was Jordan, wasn’t it?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You hesitated which means I’m right. It could have easily been Marie though since you were all over her.”
“Why do people keep saying that? I was being nice!”
Cate held up her hands in a relaxed defense. “Chill, Y/N, it’s okay to like more than one person at once.”
“I don’t like either of them.”
“At all?” Cate quirked an eyebrow.
“No,” I pouted.
Cate looked unimpressed and I felt even more unimpressed since I knew that I liked Marie and Jordan platonically.
“Okay, we’ll save that for later but, I don’t think Jordan would tell you that they would backstab you and they would not think about it. They would do it to other people, but not you.”
“You’re just saying that because they’re your friend and you weren’t there.”
Cate cocked her head to the side. “Think, Y/N, did Jordan really say, ‘I would backstab you if it would save my ass’?”
As I recalled the memory, I slowly rocked back and forth on my heels. “They didn’t say that but, they didn’t answer me when I asked if they would.” “You probably caught them off guard,” Cate reasoned. “I’m sure if you talked to them, things would go okay.”
I hesitated and set my clothes on my bed. “Let’s say that I decided to speak to them, I don’t know what to say. Even if I did, my class tomorrow isn’t with them.
“You’re not going to the Think Brink gala tomorrow night?” Cate asked.
Earlier that day, Mom mentioned something about a gala on the phone but I was only half-listening. In my defense, there was only so much complaining about her clients and Dad that I could stand. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and “Go to Brink gala” was in bright letters on my calendar.
“I guess I am,” I concluded.
“Then, you have some time to figure it out. You might get lucky and not even have to say anything.” I nodded and messed with the charm on my phone. “But what about Marie?”
“You’ll figure that out too. Indira’s taking her to the gala so, you can get both your ‘friends’ back,” Cate said, putting “friends” in air quotes.
“Why did you do it like that? Don’t say it like that.”
“Just because you’re in denial doesn’t mean I am. Think about it, would you be this freaked out if we had a fight?”
The “yes” should have come immediately but it didn’t; it died in my throat, and I couldn’t look at Cate. Why were things different with Marie and Jordan? Why did I stress out about them when I tried to stop thinking about them?
“Can you just make me say the right thing?” I asked.
Cate mulled it over for a moment. “I think it’s best if you do it yourself. If you don’t have a vision about it, something will come to you.”
“Thanks, Cate. If you and Andre need any help snooping----”
“You will be the first person I text,” Cate assured.
“I was going to say that I’ll probably know before you.”
I narrowly avoided the pillow Cate tossed at me and laughed at her effort.
“Maybe you are getting a little too cocky, Y/N.” She stood and walked over to me. “And for the record, I would never betray you in any way, neither would Andre or Jordan. If either of them did, they would have to deal with me.”
“Thanks, I would hug you but I’m still soaking wet.”
“Yeah, that’s smart. I know this might be useless but try not to worry about everything.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to try.”
“You’re taking the meds from Indira?”
“Yes, Mom,” I teased.
“Just trying to help.”
Strangely, that was the first night since Luke’s death that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The trend was that I would strain myself to have premonitions until I was exhausted and tried again in the morning. For once, sleep found me quickly.
After sitting through a two-hour lecture on trauma’s impact on villains and heroes, I was more than happy to wander back to the Si Chi house and decompress. In a few hours, Talia, Mom’s assistant, would arrive with options for the gala. Then, the glam team would arrive and do their best to ignore Mom while they did their jobs.
I needed all the relaxation I could get.
 As I was mentally reviewing which movies I could watch, my phone kept buzzing in my back pocket. I thought it was another flurry of comments on the TikTok Coco and I made yesterday but it was from a strange number.
XXX-XXX-XXXX: Y/N, pls come 2 my dorm, it’s an emergency.
XXX-XXX-XXXX: Im srry we haven’t talked in a while but it’s important.
I frowned and typed back, ????
XXX-XXX-XXXX: It’s Marie. Emma’s in trouble.
My stomach dropped and I replied, B there soon.
As I raced around other people on campus, my thoughts moved faster at the possibility of what could have been going on with Emma. The last time I had spoken to her was two days ago and she was okay then. If anything, she may have been tense because Marie and I were not speaking but she had not said anything else.
I was halfway to their dorm when I ran into something solid.
“Watch where you’re going, Y/N,” Maverick sneered.
“If you put on some clothes, maybe I’d see you,” I shot back as I continued down the hall.
When I finally got to their dorm, I was panting and could barely knock. Marie pulled the door open, pulled me in, and closed the door behind me.
“Did you sprint here?” she asked.
I nodded. “You said…it was…an….emergency…Emma.”
In the middle of me grabbing my bearings, I noticed something tiny next to one of the supports on Emma’s bed. Slowly, I slid to my knees and crawled over to it. When I realized who it was, a choked gasp escaped my mouth.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. She was like that when I got here and I didn’t know what to do so I called you since you’ve known her the longest,” Marie rambled.
Her words barely registered in my brain as I went to one of Emma’s drawers, grabbed a small set of clothes, wrapped her in it, and carefully set her on her bed. Emma was barely breathing and was ghostly pale.
“Emma, I know you’re probably not going to like this but, you’re going to need to eat something.”
She didn’t reply and for a second, I wondered if she could.
I started rifling through all her stuff until I found a box of crackers. My hands trembled as I broke them into small pieces and kneeled in front of Emma. She never looked at me as she nibbled on each crumb I fed her.
Eventually, she grew back to her normal size. As soon as she was, she pulled her knees to her chest.
“I’m sorry you saw me like that,” she muttered.
Slowly, I sat next to her and it was almost the same way zookeepers treated wild animals. If one moved calmly enough, they would not get attacked. Marie sat on her bed.
“It’s okay, I’m glad we were able to help,” I replied. “What happened?”
Emma sniffed. “I opened up to this girl in my class. We’re scene partners for a project and we were talking, and I guess I felt comfortable enough to tell her about how I get small. I thought it was just between us, but she posted this…this video on YouTube telling the whole world about it.”
“Who’s the girl?” Marie asked.
“How do you get small?” I uttered at the same time.
Emma froze for a moment and looked away from me. “I make myself…sick.”
When she said it, I suddenly remembered all those times she would go to the bathroom and then come out a miniature version of herself. However, all those times, it was for different commercials or other work-related events. Then again, there had to be times when she did it at home or at my house.
How did I never notice? “Emma, I’m so sorry. I wish you would’ve told me sooner,” I said.
Emma turned to me with a glare in her eyes. “Really? How would I work that into a conversation? ‘Hey, Y/N, I’m sorry to interrupt but, I make myself throw up to get small’?”.
“We’re friends, friends tell each other this kind of thing,” I insisted.
Emma scoffed. “Please, like you would get it if I told you. You’re perfect, you always have been. Your face, your hair, your body, your eyes, your life!”
“That’s not fair.”
“Emma, I think you need to get help,” Marie interrupted.
Emma’s gaze flickered to hers and I thought she might set Marie on fire. “I need to get help, that’s rich coming from you. You act like no one can see your scars.”
Marie flinched and her eyes narrowed slightly. “I do that for my powers, that’s different.”
Emma laughed callously. “Please, at least be honest. How about this: I’ll go to therapy when you admit to cutting.”
Emma’s voice had no tone and every word she said was like a hammer slamming into my chest. She wasn’t in the right headspace for any conversation and I kept reminding myself as I stood.
“We should talk later when we’ve all calmed down,” I suggested.
“I don’t want to speak to either of you again,” she hissed.
It took more effort than usual to swallow the lump in my throat as I let myself out of their dorm. Just as I was about to lean against the door and wallow, Marie slipped out behind me and shut the door. I took a step back, barely avoiding a pair of girls rushing past.
“Sorry,” she apologized.
“It’s fine.”
Silence filled the space for a moment, and I had no idea how to fill it. Cate said I would know what to say but I was at a loss.
“I’m sorry about what I said…that day,” Marie delivered gently.
My eyes snapped up at her. “Oh.”
She sighed. “I was just angry, and I thought you were a part of it but, Emma kept saying that you would never do something like that. I just didn’t know how to reach out or say anything.”
I know the feeling.
“I accept your apology but I’m also sorry that no one came back for you. I guess it worked out, though?”
Marie sighed and leaned against her door. “Sort of. The perks are nice and I’m in crim now but I feel like everyone’s looking at me and expects something from me; almost like they’re waiting for me to fail.”
“Really? They had me convinced you’d be the black Starlight,” I teased.
Marie laughed half-heartedly. “I still want to be a hero, though, someone like her people can look up to.”
“Anyone in particular?”
Marie hesitated. “My little sister. We were both obsessed with heroes when we were younger, but I was the one who got Compound V. She always looked up to me and I want to be someone who would make her proud.”
“That’s a really admirable goal,” I complimented.
She smiled softly. “What about you? Shouldn’t you be my competition to be the black Starlight?”
My expression faltered and I looked down at my French acrylics. “No, I don’t think I have the showmanship you do. Besides, my goal isn’t to be in the Seven.”
“Really? What do you want to do?” Marie asked.
“So, I have this four year plan and if I follow the steps I am on to a T, I will graduate with a city contract and be engaged to an eligible supe.”
Usually, when I told someone my four year plan, my chest swelled and my shoulders rolled back unconsciously. This time, it felt like I was a toddler showing my mom a drawing I made in school.
“Is that it?” Marie asked.
“I know it’s more traditional and maybe even a little lame but, it’s what I want,” I maintained.
Marie nodded slowly.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, I just imagined you doing something in, like, criminal AI or stopping criminals from re-offending.”
“Both are great, they’re just not me.”
“Which is fine,” Marie insisted.
She sounded a little too eager but I let it go as we started walking down the hallway.
“What should we do about Emma?” Marie asked.
“I’ve never seen her like that before but she’ll need time to cool off.”
“Sounds good, I just have nowhere to go until the gala tonight.”
“You could come to Si Chi for a bit. I can’t promise they won’t try to initiate you, though.”
Marie laughed. “Me, in a sorority?”
“Hey, we’re getting more black girls this year so you never know!”
“Whatever but, yeah, I’d like to hang out with you…at your house.”
Even though Marie rushed the last part, a smile quirked on the corners of my mouth. It would be nice to have a new friend over and it was even nicer that there was no more tension between us.
“You know, Emma never told us the name of that girl,” Marie pondered once we got outside.
“Oh, that’s easy.” I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I reached the right one.
Shelby answered on the first ring. “Y/N, hi!” “Hey, are you on your way to class?” I asked.
“Yeah, if I’m late one more time, Professor Elix is going to make me do an improv one-woman show!” she panted.
“Well, I don’t want to slow you down but, you have class with Emma Meyer, right?”
“Oh yeah, Intro to Stage, why?”
“Cool. She told me her stage partner has an incredible Insta aesthetic, but she never told me her name and I need new inspo.”
“Oh, that’s Justine. I don’t know her last name but I’m sure you’ll find her.”
“Thanks, Shelby. Have fun in class.”
“Thanks!”
I hung up and turned to Marie, whose eyebrows were raised. “What?”
“What was that voice?” Marie asked.
“It was my voice. Haven’t you heard of code-switching?”
“Fine. Did you get the name?”
“Yes, Justine and I’ve met her.”
“What? How?”
“She’s rushing Si Chi.” I couldn’t keep the devilish smile from working its way into my mouth.
“What does that look mean?” Marie asked.
“It means that there are many more perks to being in a top house besides living in it.”
For some reason, everyone thinks that white girls have a monopoly on passive aggression and relational aggression. That was not the case at all; black girls simply are more inclined towards active aggression but we’re capable of both. I proved as much during Brink’s gala.
The ballroom was packed with board members, trustees, alumni, and the wealthiest GOD U students, the latter being my target of interest. They were all easy to approach since I had met them at some function or another.
“Y/N,” Bianca Peterson gushed as she hugged me.
Her Gucci Guilty perfume tickled my nose and I willed myself not to sneeze as I politely pulled away from her. “Bianca, it’s been too long. I think the last time I saw you was at Beta Ro’s Brunch for Boy Scouts.”
Bianca nodded, light auburn curls bouncing around her sculpted features. “Yes, we bonded over jewelry.”
“And you still have fantastic taste,” I mentioned, gesturing to the gold buckle around her wrist.
“Thank you, it was a present from Theo but I gave him a few hints,” she bragged lightly.
“How is rush going?” I asked.
“Pretty well, our pledges are shaping up nicely this year, not that they don’t every year,” she quickly added the last part.
“Of course. Do you have a lot of girls from Counting?”
“We’re interested in a couple, why? Are you trying to poach?”
I shook my head. “Not at all, I just wasn’t sure if you heard what Layla from Zeta Nu discovered.”
Bianca raised a microbladed brow. “No, I don’t think I have.”
I took a deep inhale and slowly shook my head in disbelief. “Oh, well, I should let it come from her then.”
A moment later, Bianca glanced across the room at Layla Ruthers, the president of Zeta Nu, who was smiling politely at a pair of hunched-over old men.
“In case I don’t have a chance to talk to her, what happened?” Bianca asked.
I glanced around us for a moment before leaning closer. “Apparently, a freshman posted a video about another girl’s eating disorder.”
“Really?” Bianca’s eyes widened.
I nodded. “Layla was insulted for the other girl and banned the pledge from rushing Zeta Nu. She even said that no respectable house would accept someone so low-class.”
“Oh,” Bianca uttered.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take up all your time. I should go mingle.”
I made it about two steps before Bianca gently grabbed one of my arms.
“Wait, Y/N. Did Layla say the name of the pledge?”
My eyes wandered around the twinkling lights of the room for a second. “Justine something, I think.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you later.”
“Sure!”
The rest of my conversations followed that pattern. Each girl I spoke to was shocked and horrified by my words. Plus, none of them would dare speak to the other; that would mean another house had better information than them. My final target was easily the most important one: Sydney.
In her ice-blue mermaid dress and intricate updo, she looked more like Cinderella than a gala attendee. She was standing at a table, nodding her head at something a shorter guy was saying.
“Excuse me,” I politely interrupted, “I need to borrow Sydney for a second.”
The guy deflated slightly. “Sure.”
“I’ll see you soon.” Sydney huffed a sigh of relief as soon as we were out of earshot. “Thank you, I don’t know what he was even talking about.”
“Anytime,” I replied.
She snatched a champagne flute from a passing server and downed half of it. “I can’t wait for this night to be over.”
I nodded. “It is morbid despite their attempt to dress it up.”
“Yeah, and my parents won’t stop bugging me about my future. I can only apply to so many internships and not everyone is looking for a telekinetic,” she griped. “Sorry, how are you?”
“I’m alright. Ironically, I think he’d hate the name they picked but I didn’t know him super well,” I admitted.
“Right.”
Here it goes.
“So, I think the event the other day was a success,” I commented.
“Definitely. The house was packed. It’s too bad we can’t accept them all.”
Sydney smiled as she spoke.
“I know. It’s great that there’s so much interest.” I paused for a second. “But, I wanted to tell you that something came up with one of the pledges.”
Sydney gestured for me to continue.
“Even though my social media deep dive on the pledges was thorough, something came up today that I thought you should know when considering the pledges,” I explained.
“Okay.”
“Today, Justine posted a video exposing another girl’s eating disorder. Several of the girls were upset when they saw it.”
“That’s awful,” Sydney responded.
“It’s also so disappointing since I met Justine during that event, and she was saying how women empowerment is important to her. I know that women empowerment is a huge passion for you and a foundation for Si Chi and to imagine a pledge so willing to tear down another woman infiltrating the safe space you building is horrifying.”
Despite the liquor, I could tell Sydney was processing my words quicker than any computer. Her expression shifted from shock to anger to coldness. Then, she finished the last of her champagne and set it on the table closest to us. “Thank you for telling me, Y/N. I’ll see you later.”
As she walked away, I grinned widely at the response. Bid Day was going to be even more fun and interesting than last year. To celebrate, I grabbed myself a flute of champagne and sipped it as I started to wander the room.
“Y/N!”
My body froze at the masculine voice and my mind raced with what to say or do. Finally, I decided to face Jordan. They were in their masculine form and standing at a table by themselves. Though they looked fantastic in their navy suit, they looked like they hadn’t slept in days.
“Hello.”
I practically sang it and prayed for someone to make the floor swallow me.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
“Um, sure.” I walked closer to their table and rested my forearms on it.
 “It’s good to see you,” he started. “Outside of class, I mean.”
“You too.”
Jordan nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s good.” He paused. “I’m sorry about everything.”
I looked up from tapping my nails on the tablecloth. “Wh---”
“Please, let me finish. That day…I don’t know why I didn’t just tell you that I wouldn’t throw you under the bus but I wouldn’t even think about it. How could I do that to my little freshman?”
For the first time ever, my chest warmed at the nickname. However, I tried to bite back the smile that was worming its way onto my face.
I glanced away for a moment, crossing my arms over my purple sleeveless satin gown. “Well, I guess I forgive you,” I playfully grumbled before turning back to him. “But you still did it pretty easily to Marie.”
Jordan’s expression faltered and he sipped some champagne. “Don’t mention her.”
“Why not? She’s my friend and we did a very mean thing,” I argued.
“Look, I protected myself and you that night, I won’t apologize for that. Besides, she’s still here and she’s doing great,” he spat.
“I know you’re pissed about the rankings but, those can change, especially with how hard you work and how powerful you are.”
Jordan scoffed. “That’s how it should work but no one wants to back a bigender Asian.”
His words made me stop for a second. In all the time I knew them, Jordan seemed invincible to punches, laser beams, electric shocks, and words. They made succeeding at Godolkin look so easy but it must have been anything but. Plus, Luke and Brink’s death must have impacted everything else.
“We’ll see about that,” I challenged. “There’s about thirty trustees and every board member in this room. There will have to be a few who will like you.”
Jordan hesitated. “I’m not really in the mood to promote myself.”
“Then let me talk,” I offered.
He eyed me for a while before crossing over to my side of the table and looping one of his arms with mine. “Don’t make me look bad, freshie.”
“I think that’s impossible.”
The first target was easy: a thirtysomething white guy with floppy light brown hair and an oversized gray suit. I focused on him for a moment, gathering as much information as I could.
“Trevor Emerson, GOD U alum and old money beneficiary,” I muttered to Jordan.
“Isn’t he supposed to hate me?” Jordan hissed back.
“He’s overcome by white guilt since his recent discovery that all the black and brown people who built and managed his family’s manor were not salaried employees,” I explained. “He’s dying to look as much of an ally as possible.”
Jordan straightened up. “Good job, freshie.”
“I haven’t even gotten started.” I painted a polite smile on my face. “Mr. Emerson, it’s so nice to meet you, can we bother you for a moment?”
Two guilty and three haughty donors later, Jordan and I found ourselves at a different table. It was the first time that I saw him smile that night.
“You were amazing out there,” Jordan exclaimed.
“Thank you but you also made my job a little easier being talented and whatever,” I joked.
“Seriously.” Jordan grabbed my hand. “You might have saved my ass.”
I tried to ignore the tingle that shot up from my hand into the side of my neck. “It’s okay, I’m happy to help.”
When they announced that the video was about to start Jordan sulked again. “I can’t believe they’re making us sit through this shit.”
“Me neither.” I rest my hand on top of his. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask sooner but, are you okay?”
Jordan laughed humorlessly. “No but schmoozing with you did help a little. I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah.”
When we parted our separate ways, I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress skirt and approached my table. Fortunately, Mom and Dad had not burned down the ballroom with their arguing. In fact, when I got to their table, Mom was on her phone and Dad was rhythmically tapping his fingers against the tablecloth, looking anywhere but her.
“Hi, were you bored with me gone?” I asked, giving Dad a side hug.
“Not at all. I met a few board members and sold a few pictures,” he responded.
I nodded and slowly took the middle seat between them. The video was equal parts patronizing and infuriating. However, my parents’ whispers kept me from focusing too much on the video.
“Y/M/N, can you get off the phone for one second? They’re playing the video,” Dad hissed.
“I am about to cut the biggest deal of this quarter. They can send it,” Mom hissed back, waving a manicured hand for emphasis.
“Mom, people are starting to stare,” I quietly interjected.
“Let them stare. This is what’s paying for you to be here.”
“Don’t act like I don’t contribute!” Their words used to make me flinch but I forced myself to sit up straighter and breathe.
“I’m grateful for it, for both of you, really. You both paid to be here and I thought you would not want to miss the man they’re honoring,” I whispered.
Those words made Mom slowly mutter something into the phone before placing it face down on the table and leaning forward. At that same time, they flashed a picture of Brink and me across the screen. He had been meeting with my small group when the photographer appeared.
Dad squeezed an arm around my shoulder and I softly leaned into his touch.
“Thank God you lost that baby fat,” Mom commented.
“Y/M/N,” Dad said quietly.
“You know it’s true, Y/D/N,” Mom hissed back.
Suddenly, Dad’s arm felt like a boa constrictor, and I gracefully slipped out of its grasp. When the video ended, I drank a fresh flute of champagne. The bubbles instantly went to my head as I giggled at Dean Shetty introducing Marie.
She looked really pretty even though she was nervous.
“Do you know her?” Mom asked over the applause.
“We’re friends,” I replied.
“So why is she a guardian and not you?”
“She was more involved in stopping Luke than me,” I lied.
 When Dean Shetty cued everyone to return to socializing, Mom turned to me.
“Your grades are fantastic and your standing in your house is good,” Mom began. “But eligible bachelors will not notice you unless you stand out like her.”
“Y/M/N, leave her alone. Anyone who doesn’t notice Y/N isn’t worthy of being in our family anyway,” Dad defended.
Mom ignored him. “That girl, Marie Moreau, is not your friend, she is your competition. You are in the prime setting to have everything you’ve ever wanted but she could snatch it from you. You’re supposed to be able to see things like this coming, Y/N.”
“I do see things coming and I know Marie wouldn’t do that to me,” I quipped.
At that moment, Mom’s eyes bore so deep into me that I didn’t think that anyone could claw them out. Her eyes looked like they were going to bug out of her head at any moment and I could feel my breathing pick up.
“I’m sorry, it just slipped out,” I promised.
It felt like forever until she leaned back in her seat and grabbed her phone.
“Make sure it doesn’t ‘slip out’ again. Now go socialize.”
“I need a minute, Mom, I’ve been socializing since we got here.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “This again.”
“What?”
“Y/M/N, please.”
“No, no, Y/D/N, she is constantly using, what, anxiety to get out of speaking to people. You are always too soft on her and make me look like the bad guy. I’m the one helping her be normal,” Mom snapped. “Anxiety didn’t exist when we were her age, we just did what we had to do, and look where we are now.”
I wondered if Emma ever felt as small as I did in that moment. Then, I wondered if she ever made herself small to hide from people, even her mom. Wordlessly, I left the table and tried to avoid any cameras as the tears burned in the corners of my eyes.
I tried to take deep breaths to calm my trembling chest and keep my throat busy. My chest shifted from trembling to heavy and I started looking around the room.
“I hear one piano…feel two fingers…smell three different alcohols…and see---”
“Y/N, are you okay?” Cate’s voice broke me out of my rhythm and I glanced to see her sitting with Marie and Jordan, who was in their feminine form.
My chest felt much lighter and I quickly wiped away my tears. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” Jordan called gently.
Cate pulled me into a hug and had me sit between her and Marie. “What happened?”
“My parents, well, my mom mostly. I guess I got too anxious for her, and she yelled at me,” I rambled.
Cate smiled softly. “Then you came at the perfect time. We were just talking about our horrible parents.”
My ears perked up. “Really?”
“Well, mine are dead,” Marie commented.
I turned to her and placed my hands on top of hers. “What? I’m so sorry. How did it…”
“I accidentally killed them with my powers,” Marie explained.
“That must have been horrible.”
Marie barely nodded and I squeezed her hands. “I just told my little brother to go away during a camping trip. He never came back and my mom pretty much locked me away,” Cate confessed. “I was seven.”
 “What?” I whispered.
“I killed my grandpa with my powers,” Jordan interjected.
We all turned to her and I cocked my head to the side.
“No, you didn’t,” Cate countered.
Jordan smiled. “You’re right, I was feeling left out.”
I didn’t think that I could laugh the way I did but it felt so nice. At least I had friends again.
When I started sipping on the whiskey Cate stole, I saw a brief image flash before my eyes. There was a guy with curly brown hair covered in dirt running away from several bloody bodies. He paused for a moment and opened his hand, revealing a tiny sleeping Emma. When the vision left, Andre was standing in front of us.
“Seriously?” I complained before he even spoke.
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sarioh · 5 months
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rio i miss and love you and your analysis posts. what are your thoughts on the clethubs dynamic this season (in anticipation of the new episode tmrw)
hi aleph thank you so much for giving me a green flag to just drop a 1000 word rant about clethubs also sorry i missed the deadline and also sorry about the length. anyways personally i think clethubs is what you get when you put 3 people who are burdened with Remembering in a world where no one else really seems to. like, of course the other players remember and make references to events of the past, but they don’t remember in the way these three do.
to me this is best explained through a breakdown of Trust and how it manifests between each of them indiviudally. etho, especially, is so distrusted by most of the server. he’s a schemer, he has a reputation of being really unreadable and also unpredictable, but if you actually try to understand him it’s really easy to see that he’s actually the most straightforward person alive. he operates purely on debts and repayments. not debts in a trade sense—those are a business transaction and subject to being logically dissected and exploited. but debts in an emotional sense. etho offered grian mercy in limited life because of the diamond sword in episode 1, which grian had forgotten about entirely all the while etho had been biding his time and waiting for a chance to repay it all season.
cleo is the only person on the server who seems to really understand this part of etho, and therefore is the only person who seems to be able to read his true intentions. not only that, but she's the only one who really seems to approach the concept of loyalty in the same way. in the life series, alliances are feeble and fleeting, and for the most past actions hold no bearing in the future. it doesn’t matter what happened 5 episodes ago—if you’re not on my side now, you’re against me. there’s no such thing for cleo—loyalty and betrayal are not just momentary states of being. if you took something dear from me 5 episodes ago, i will never fully allow myself to need you again. even if we're in the final five and our survival depends on each other.
cleo and etho were direct antagonists in the last season and have no reason to trust each other now, but they trust openly despite it because better than most they understand the burden of a debt unpaid, and the burden of remembering in a way that no one else seems to. to them, loyalty isn’t about who you arbitrarily align yourself with, it’s a gesture. it’s “you gave me an extra pair of diamond leggings 3 episodes ago for no reason when you could’ve given it to your allies and now you have no idea that youre in my good books forever.” you can be on opposites ends of a war from someone but if they extend you a moment of mercy, well, how are you supposed to forget that? how are you not supposed to spend the rest of your life repaying that? they both subconsciously keep lists, not just of people they want to kill (like so many other players seem to), but of people who have extended a hand to them in a time where it didn't really make sense to. of gestures that were silently meaningful towards people they care about. "i trust you because bdubs trusted you" etc etc.
it makes so much sense that cleo and etho would both go immediately to becoming sworn allies this season after being bitter enemies in the previous series. because they both understand that there’s no such thing as fleeting alliances, and when they've decided to choose each other, it’s more than just a shared base or a team name—it’s something unshakable. it’s a thousand debts you take turns repaying.
and then theres bdubs, where remembering takes a different form entirely. for him, remembering manifests as shared history. if i chose you before, really chose you, then i’m going to choose you again and again and again. i’m going to hover in your orbit even if you don’t choose me the next time, because you and i both know what we had, even if we’re not supposed to acknowledge it. “that was a different universe, this is a different world. you’re just cleo” but i’m going to spend the rest of the episode hovering longingly by your base anyways. “this is our old thing, if it comes down to it we don’t betray each other” because the loyalty created its roots years ago and has been growing out of control ever since. you ask bdubs where his team is and he shifts uncomfortably and refuses to explicitly call them his allies, insisting that they just showed up around him but he's not really sure.
and just like etho, the other players never fully trust bdubs. he’s fickle with his loyalty and seems to be a split decision away from turning on his friends at any second, but cleo and etho both know that’s not really true either. their trust towards him comes from that Remembering, that fundamental understanding of shared history.
for etho, it’s the push and pull. it’s the knowing that we go so far back that what happens in between never really matters. you got caught in an explosion or a trap that i set in your base? well, good thing we have a hundred more lives to play with so we can just laugh it off like we always do. a stray explosion or a firing squad aren’t an act of betrayal, any more than a mocking comment about your height or a casual threat of violence. and when it really matters, we both know we’d put down our swords.
for cleo, it’s something unshakeable. bdubs, the known traitor of 3rd life, was fiercely protective of her and her alone. so she’s never wary of him the same way anyone else is—she knows that when bdubs really chooses you, then you’re marked for life.
so yeah. clethubs is three guys who share the burden of remembering. and also have some kind of unspoken understanding of each others motives and intentions that no other player seems to have concretely picked up on. but in a way that ultimately just culminates in them acting like freaks around each other and not actually making any direct effort to team mostly because, as usual, etho and bdubs have no idea how to communicate their intentions directly and sincerely like normal people and instead opt to hover in the fringes of each others alliances and make really weird and loaded comments . Anyways
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Am I the asshole for blocking my friends who I suspect wrote mpreg about “me”?
I (21ftm) have two friends who have recently been writing a story together, I’ll call them O and S, O and S are both cis woman my age. They openly discuss the story on our friend groups discord server in a channel dedicated to this story. O draws the character designs while S primarily writes and they added a character into their story a few months ago who I believe was meant to be me, or at least inspired by me, they’ve done this in the past with other friends of ours who have side characters and cameos, I can usually tell because the character has a name similar to their real life counterpart and a design similar as well, such is the case with “my” character, he is a trans man who looks like me and his name is a shortened nickname of my chosen one.
I wouldn’t have an issue with a character inspired by me but they made him gay and began shipping him with a pre-existing male character which made me uncomfortable because I am very much not gay, the other characters inspired by our friends weren’t given love interests or anything so I can’t say they’ve changed the sexualities of those tribute characters. I don’t care if a character is gay, but this character is clearly meant to be representing me and I’m very uncomfortable with this. People assuming I’m attracted to men is a BIG dysphoria trigger to me and they KNOW this because I told them in the past and when they first wrote this in, all my life I’ve had people assuming I was into men because I was AFAB and I’ve dealt with a lot of “comphet” stuff, I’ve been harassed and haven’t been believed when I told people my actual sexuality, the expectation that I would one day get into a relationship with a man and have children with one was treated like an inevitability by the people around me and it scared the fuck out of younger me.
When they first wrote this relationship, i asked them to change it, i said that if they wanted to put this character into a relationship he could have one with a woman instead, they refused and said they liked the rep it gave, though there is already lots of gay rep in the story and I said that it would still be rep because the character is trans but they didn’t change it, so I then asked that this character could be changed so he wasn’t actually related to me in looks and name and they again refused, which made less sense to me because I didn’t (and still don’t) understand what they got out of writing someone who was basically me into a gay relationship. I gave up because I didn’t want to cause drama in the friend group and other the next weeks I spent less time on the friend groups server and never checked the stories channel because I was still extremely dysphoric and upset. It made me feel angry that they didn’t consider how I felt and dismissed my suggestions.
The next time I checked on that server was a month later and they were discussing the future of the story where some of the characters had children, among those characters that had children were the male character my tribute character was in a relationship with, I came into the chat and asked them how that character had kids, O posted a blushing emoji and said he had kids “the fun way”, I asked further and they said my character also had children and at this point I got really angry and just left the server and blocked them.
Later on one of the friend group J (22nb) dmed me saying that I was being dramatic and that I had no right to control what they put in their story, we had an argument and two of my other friends said I was “ruining the fun” and trying to censor their story and it wasn’t “explicitly clear that it was me”. I originally thought that if you are writing something inspired by someone and it’s making them upset you should stop right? But now I’m not so sure and I’m still feeling very down, I don’t know why they decided to write that in, and especially about someone meant to be a tribute to me, it feels like they’ve taken everything I told them about my dysphoria and distilled it down into something to hurt me.
Aita?
What are these acronyms?
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barbiedragon · 9 months
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Hello Fae my love I have a request! ❣️
What about something where modern!Daemon and Reader are exes perhaps, and Daemon sees Reader on a dinner date with someone else and after lots of teasing looks, maybe some bar banter, they end up fucking in the bathroom? dealer's choice on the smut, literally love whatever you write ❣️ thank youuuu! 😉
😍😍😍 I love this, Jo! I hope you enjoy!!
WC: 1.5k
Warnings: P in v, f*ngering, daddy k*nk
*comments/reblogs are appreciated
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You were extremely grateful that the bottle of white wine Criston had ordered was delicious.  It was currently the only thing distracting you from this dreadful date.  Apparently, the man enjoyed whining about his ex and didn’t seem to pick up your cues that you didn’t want to hear about her.  He was handsome but proving to be a major bore, and suddenly, you regretted letting your best friend, Mysaria, arrange this date.  You helped yourself to a stuffed mushroom as he babbled on about Rhaenyra (his ex), and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes.  Your mood perked up when you spotted your ex-boyfriend, Daemon, walk into the restaurant, clad in all black, and his silver hair seemed to glimmer even under the dim lighting.  Your heart sped up, pounding pleasantly in your chest. How long had it been?  Must be at least six months–you thought.
He spotted you, an amused look crossing his face before flashing you a little smirk.  He raised his faint eyebrows at your date and merely shook his head before sitting directly in your line of sight at the bar.  Suddenly, this date got a lot more interesting.  An amused smile crossed your face as you suppressed a soft giggle.  Even after all this time, Daemon Targaryen made you swoon.  It hadn’t been a painful, messy breakup but an amicable one.  He had been traveling a lot for work, and you simply wanted someone who was around more, so you parted ways.  You hadn’t realized how much you missed him until he had walked into the restaurant. 
You continued to drone out Criston as you made a mental note to curse out Mysaria later for thinking you’d have anything in common with this man.  Yes, he was attractive, but he struck you as an overgrown man-baby looking for someone to nurse him rather than be in an adult relationship. You cast a simple glance in Daemon’s direction to find him raising his glass of whisky in your direction.  Heat flooded your face when he gave you a wink.  A moment later, his name popped up on your phone, indicating you received a text from him.  Cheeky bastard.  A thrill ran through you while you used your fingertip to slide open the message.
You look delectable, darling, too bad your date doesn’t seem mildly interested in you. Where on earth did you find this dud?
You gave a soft snort at the message, and that seemed to catch Criston’s attention.
“Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, just…Mysaria checking in on us, seeing how the date is going.” You were surprised at how easily the lie fell from your lips.
“I think it’s going rather well, don’t you?”
“Sure,” you lied before texting Daemon back.
Mysaria.  She thought we’d hit it off.  She was just trying to cheer me up, maybe get me an orgasm or two
You could practically feel those lavender eyes staring you down.  It made your clit throb as you squirmed in the chair, delighted to feel aroused this evening for once.  Your server brought over the main entrees, and each delectable bite of Chicken Frances nestled on top of fettuccine made you forget all about the man sitting across from you even as he continued to drone needlessly on.  You were half tempted to figure out this Rhaenyra’s number and beg her to take him back to save you and other women from having to entertain this douche.
Meet me in the bathroom.  The order was simple and direct. The heat in your cheeks swirled into your tummy, and your hands trembled as you typed out a see you soon.
“Excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom,” you smiled politely at Criston before standing up.  The thin scrap of fabric between your legs was soaked as you scurried off.  Daemon leaned against the red door leading to the bathroom, a smug smirk on his face.
“Eager are we, love?” he teased, hands in his pockets before pushing the door open and pulling you inside. You quickly locked the door behind you before he pressed you against it, then dipped his head down.
The moment his lips found yours, you were gone. All those old feelings flooded back when his tongue slipped inside your mouth. Your hands slid over his defined shoulders, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt.  One hand slipped up your leg, pushing under your ruby skirt as his fingers lightly teased the wet fabric between your damp thighs.
“All for me? I know it’s not for that fuckwit you’ve been having dinner with,” he whispered into your ear as those talented fingers tugged your thong off before delving between your folds.  You let out a soft, needy whine as you clenched around the digits, grateful to have a part of him inside you.
“All for you,” you whined, “Daddy.” It was just like old times again.
His fingers curved to hit that special spot inside you as his thumb grazed across your clit, making your toes curl slightly in your black heels as you grasped his shoulders.  A mewl spilled forth as you shivered into a sweet release, coating his fingers with the sticky aftermath before slipping them out of you.  He licked each digit clean; when he reached his index finger, he made a lewd pop while pulling it free from between his wet, pink lips.
“That’s my good girl, I’ve missed you, kitten.”
Those words woke a primal need deep inside of you as you pushed your fingers underneath the buttons of his black dress shirt, slowly popping them open until your hands smoothed across his pale flesh. Your eyes locked onto his lavender ones, and you were done for. Lust surged through every part of your being.
“I’ve missed you too…now fuck me.”
You fumbled with this belt before he pushed your hand away, pinning your wrists above your head with one of his large hands as the other undid his trousers.  His hard cock came into view, his tip leaking as he freed his grasp from around you.  With ease, he lifted you, guiding his cock slowly inside while you wrapped your legs securely around his waist once he was seated deep within you.  Your dripping pussy fluttered around his girth, growing used to the familiar feeling once again.  As if he was made especially for you.  His mouth pressed against your neck, nipping and suckling hotly at your skin.  A bruise would blossom in the morning. Fingers carded through the silky silver strands of his hair as you shivered with pleasure.
“Fuck me, Daddy,” you begged, yearning for more.  Needing to feel it.
With you pressed tightly against the door, he sped up his hips, plunging in and out of your cunt.  Your nails trailed down the back of his neck, leaving faint pink marks behind from your red-manicured nails.  You bit back moans, not wanting to draw too much attention to what was happening, though you doubted you two were the first to throw down in these bathrooms.  Clearly, they knew what they were doing when creating single stalls.  The pressure built inside you, taking over your entire body until Daemon clamped one hand over your mouth to conceal the loud moan.  You allowed your tongue to dart out, caressing his ring to savor the tangy metallic taste of it, a little bit of your residue left behind. It felt so good to be in his presence again, the man who knew how to make your body sing.  In that moment, you were willing to be his again.  It’s amazing what a good dicking down could do.
Daemon removed his hand from over your mouth, replacing it with his lips as he claimed you with another hungry kiss.  Your lips were swollen and puffy when he pulled away before slipping out of you while helping to place your feet onto the floor.  With shaky legs, you walked over to the sink to turn on the water, letting it run until it was lukewarm.  It was quiet as you gently washed between your legs, using the stiff paper towels to dry up after, and Daemon did the same before tucking himself back into his trousers, a proud smirk on his face.  He moved behind you, slipping his arms around your waist, then kissed the mark beginning to bloom across your skin.
“Leave with me,” he murmured.
You pressed your hands against his that rested gently on your stomach and gave a slight nod.  “Just let me tell Criston I’m leaving.”
You snuck out of the bathroom first and back to the table before grabbing your purse while Criston fixed you with a bewildered look.  “You’re leaving?”
“I am…listen, I need to be honest this date has been painful, maybe you should give this Rhaenyra a call and rekindle things with her?  It’s clear you’re still hung up on her,” you told him honestly.
“If you had been listening to me at all, you would know she’s with Alicent now,” he huffed.
“Good for her!” you replied before you slipped your cell phone into your purse then sauntered off, meeting Daemon at the entrance before placing your hand in his before the two of you left.
He handed his ticket to the valet, and a few moments later, you nestled into the comfy leather seat of his red Ferrari.  His hand settled on your knee as he took you back to his place.  Right where you belonged.
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General tag list: @bloodwyrmcaraxes @watercolorskyy @willowbrookesblog @oneeyedvisenya @aemondx @valeskafics
Daemon tag list: @simbaaas-stuff @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed
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ladykailitha · 4 months
Text
The Magic of Christmas Part 6/8
Angst up ahead. Sorry. I had to rough things up a bit so they didn't get together too soon. But hey, at least it's Halloween. And yes, this was actually something my friends and I used to do for Halloween. It was fun.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
***
October in the Midwest was as beautiful as it was harsh. The temperature would take a sharp decline around this time of year, and if you weren’t prepared you could get caught outside in cold ass weather in a light jacket with no gloves, no hat, no boots.
In short, Steve in this moment.
He had gone off to work assuming it would be as warm as it was the day before. But no. Mother Nature had decided that summer was officially over, autumn was a fleeting season, and that winter was here.
So yeah, he was fucking miserable. He spotted Robin all nice and cozy and protested.
“How did you know it was going to be so cold?” he whined.
She rolled her eyes at him. “The weather app on my phone?”
Steve cursed under his breath. “It was literally sixty degrees yesterday, how am I freezing my balls off?”
Robin made a face. “Ew.”
A dark grin took over his face.
“What?” she asked as he inched closer. “Whatever you are about to do, don’t.”
He pounced and managed to get his cold hands under her coat close to her skin and she shrieked, trying to get away.
He chased her trying to warm his hands up.
Eddie arrived a few minutes later to find them rosy cheeked and laughing their asses off.
“You didn’t have to wait for me outside, you know?” he said, tugging on Steve’s sleeve to guide him toward the doors that would lead into the restaurant.
Robin peered around him as though she was looking for someone. “Chrissy not coming?”
“Yeah, sorry,” Eddie said, “Her finance professor decided that he was going to have pop quiz tomorrow and only gave them two days to study for it.”
Steve grimaced. “I bet it was Callahan. That guy’s an ass. Especially if there are more than three girls in his class.”
Eddie tilted his head to the side. “That’s right, I forgot you must have gotten your business degree if you’re running your own business.”
“Worthless as it is to actual fucking business,” he groused.
They walked into the restaurant and Eddie immediately clocked why they had been waiting for him outside. It was hotter than the Devil’s tit in here and it was crammed wall to wall with people.
“Reservations for four under the name Harrington,” Steve said when they reached the hostess.
She scanned her list. “No one under that name for tonight.”
Steve frowned. “Today is the 11th, right? It is six o’clock right? How is my name not on the list?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the hostess said briskly. “There is no one under that name for six o’clock.”
“How about Buckley?” Robin asked, stepping forward.
She scanned her list again. “Nothing for six.”
Eddie frowned. “Okay, then for what time?”
The hostess blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“You clearly have a Buckley on your list,” Eddie explained, “as you didn’t say no to the name, just the time. So what time is the reservation for?”
“Well,” the hostess said with a sneer, “if you can’t remember the time, how do I know you are the Buckley that made the reservation?”
Robin pulled out her ID and handed it to her. “It’s under Robin Buckley for tonight, if not 6pm then 6:30pm.”
The hostess took her ID and looked from it to her and then back again several times. She sighed heavily. “Yes, we have a reservation at 6:30 under that name.”
They were shown to their seats and sat down.
The food was terrible, the service was worse, and the prices for the food were exorbitant for what they got.
Steve left the bare minimum of a tip, roughly eighteen percent and they were chased out of the restaurant by a screaming server demanding more tip.
“Well that was horrific,” Robin said as they all huddled inside Steve’s car, waiting for the cops to arrive so that they could get the screaming lady away from them so Eddie could get to his van and Steve could drive off safely.
“And who’s idea was this anyway?” Eddie hissed. He had never been treated that badly by anyone in his life. And he was a metalhead in high school.
Steve ducked his head down. “It was mine. But I had heard nothing but good things about it from my colleagues for weeks. I just want to do something unique.”
“That was unique all right,” Eddie growled. “Getting yelled and chased for leaving a decent tip. Congrats, zero for ten would never do it again.”
“I’m sorry!” he cried. “It’s never happened to me before either.”
“Whatever.”
Just then the cops arrived and the server went dashing back into restaurant the second she saw them. They talked to Steve and got his information and his version of events. Ten minutes later, Steve and Robin were on their way home in silence and a very pissed off Eddie was on his way back to his place.
*
“Edward Allen Munson!” Chrissy snapped after Eddie told her about his night. “Are you seriously telling me that you think that Steve, your Steve would deliberately take you to a restaurant were they were rude to you, the food was bad, and then proceed to get chased out said restaurant to humiliate you?”
“Not when you say it like that,” he muttered looking down at his hands.
“You think?!” she screeched. “How could you possibly think that of Steve?”
Eddie picked at the thread of the rip of the knee of his jeans. “It was a lapse in judgment, okay! I don’t really think of him like that! I don’t. I–I don’t.”
“So do you want to tell me what was going through your head?” Chrissy asked.
“All the times that I got made fun of for the way I dress,” Eddie muttered, “the music I liked, the games I played, the art I drew. I could see it all happening again like it was in slow motion.”
She threw her arms around his shoulders. “But Steve isn’t like that. He hired you for you. Your art, the way you dress. Then he liked you as a person. A person who made him laugh, who drew him out of his shell, who looked him in the eye and said, ‘I won’t hurt you.’ Only you did, Ed. So much.”
“I’ll make it up to him,” Eddie promised.
“You better.”
*
Only two days later Robin messaged him to say that one the charities he was on the board for just got indicted for fraud and that for the next couple of weeks Steve was going to be living in the office until got it figured out.
But apparently the universe was out to get Eddie because the next thing he knew Steve was on his way to London because one of the companies Steve’s own company had been trying to buy for literal years was finally willing to sell.
So off Steve went. And Robin went with him. Leaving behind two very bereft artists.
It was getting close to Halloween and Eddie was getting worried. So he called Robin.
“You guys will be back in time for Halloween, right?” he asked nervously. “I’m not DMing a one-shot in your house if you guys aren’t in it.”
“We’re working on it,” Robin promised. “It’s just one of the original owners is dragging his feet on one sentence in one paragraph. And it’s stupid and pointless.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. That does sound bad.”
“I’ll keep you guys posted,” she said firmly. “We’ll make it back even if I have to shank the old bastard.”
Eddie laughed feeling easier about the Halloween party.
“I’ll be your alibi,” he said with a grin.
“You’re on!”
*
They barely made it in town by the 29th. Steve was running on two hours of sleep and bleary-eyed when he fell into bed that night. Robin had insisted that they stay up until at least nine to avoid jetlag.
Something that Steve struggled with mightily, but sleep was bliss once he was allowed to crawl into his bed.
He woke up at eleven the next morning, still tired, but finally alive enough to function beyond zombie-like.
Robin and Steve got to work cleaning the house. Technically Claudia and Dustin lived there, too. But she had recently started dating again and spent most of her time at his place. So in the house hadn’t been lived in during the two weeks they were gone.
They got the dining room set up for the game and then went shopping. Steve was going all out.
He bought ingredients for pizza and as many toppings as he could think of. Sausage, ground beef, bacon, peppers, onions, mushrooms, ham, hell he even grabbed pineapple in case someone wanted it. He was also making two different kinds of sauce. A white cheese and a marinara.
He got everything prepared and in the fridge, then tomorrow he was going to make the dough.
“You have really outdone yourself,” Robin said patting him on the shoulder. “Those little shitheads better appreciate your hard work.”
Steve scoffed. “They won’t.”
“True,” Robin said with a laugh.
*
Eddie wasn’t sure what he thought of Steve’s house. At least from the outside. It was very post modern and a little ugly.
But when he was led in, he fell in love with the place. It was warm and welcoming and so soft.
If Eddie had been a writer he would have spoke to the metaphor of the house being like Steve. Looking pretentious and aloof on the outside, but warm and inviting on the inside.
The guilt from the last time he saw Steve burned in his gut. He had railed against judging a book by its cover for so long, that he forgot what that actually meant.
“So are the kids here yet?” Eddie asked as she took his coat.
Robin shook her head. “Not yet. But they should be in about a half hour. Steve wanted to give you time to set up before they got here to ‘deepen the surprise’ as he called it.”
Eddie grinned. “Lead the way!”
She lead him to the dinning room with the long oak wood table. It was gorgeous.
“We don’t usually eat in here,” she said as he set up. “There’s a lovely little breakfast nook in the kitchen that’s better suited for our eating needs, but I figured that you’d want more space for your game.”
“Brilliant as always, Birdie,” Eddie said, kissing her cheek.
“Oi!” Steve said from the other door to the dinning room. “No stealing my lesbian. You have one of your own.”
Eddie threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, yeah.”
Now that the door was open delicious smells came wafting through the air.
“Holy shit, Stevie,” he gasped. “What are you making? I thought it was booze and pizza tonight, nothing fancy.”
Robin laughed as Steve ducked his head.
“This guy do anything simple?” she asked mockingly. “Never!”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Homemade just tastes better than fast food.” He turned on his heel and walked back into the kitchen.
“Only because you’re a food snob!” she crowed after him.
Eddie shook his head. “I’ve never gotten why people can be such snobs about food. It all comes out the other end in the end.”
Robin snorted. “That’s be we both grew up poor. Steve didn’t have boxed mac and cheese until he moved in with me.”
“But boxed mac is the best!” Eddie protested.
“Only if you haven’t had his grandmother’s mac and cheese. It’s made in a casserole dish with bread crumb topping and extra cheese sprinkled on top at the end for extra gooeyness.”
Eddie straightened up. “One moment please.”
He walked into the kitchen like a man on a mission. “You sir have been holding out on me. You have a grandma approved mac and cheese recipe and you haven’t shared?”
Steve who had started the rant confused, threw back his head and laughed. “Sorry, Eds. I’ll bring to the next movie night. I promise.”
Eddie nodded and then turned on his heel to go back to setting up the D&D game.
Once everything was set up and they were just waiting for the kids to arrive, Eddie took time to suss out how badly he had fucked up.
“You are going to still join us, right?” Eddie asked chewing on his lower lip nervously.
Steve crumpled. “I want to. I do, but I’m so tired.”
“You would have been so tired if you had ordered pizza like the rest of us heathens, you know that, right?” Eddie said, bumping their shoulders together.
“If I’m being honest,” Steve said, scratching his cheek, “I wasn’t sure if you’d still wanted me to.”
Eddie threw his arms around him and sighed. “I’m sorry, Stevie. Of course I want you here. It’s sometimes I get locked into the us verses them mentality and forgot that you aren’t like that.” He tilted his head to side with big smile. “Plus we get to freak out your goblins not once, but twice if you play.”
Steve blinked for a moment. “Nope, you’re absolutely right, that is a fantastic idea.”
Eddie grinned. “You can play until your first death and then you can go to bed. Robin and I will handle it from there.”
“Sounds like a perfect plan,” he said with a smile.
They were close, so close. All it would have taken was to lean forward just a little and they would have been kissing.
But of course that was when the Party decided to arrive.
Steve got down their pizza orders and popped them into the oven. Then he lead them to dining room.
“Why are we eating out here?” Mike asked. “I hate that long table, it makes me feel like a peasant in a king’s castle or some shit.”
“Robin is making the drinks,” Steve said, “which means she needs the full bar to make them. There’ll be a menu and each of you will be given cups with lines on them. Once you hit the top line, it’s water and soda for the rest of the night. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded. Even Mike. They knew that Steve had risked a lot of clout with their parents for this and they did not want to blow that for him.
Suddenly Dustin was tugging on Steve’s sleeve. “Why is Eddie Munson in our house?”
Everyone else turned and looked at the head of the long the table. Sure enough, there was Eddie, waving at them.
“Settle on in, my stalwart adventurers,” Eddie greeted warmly. “Your D&D accouterments are over by the door. You’ll have ten minutes to get ready and then we’ll start the haunted forest one-shot campaign for five.”
Everyone looked around and counted off.
“Are you playing and DMing?” Lucas asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Steve walked over to the door and pulled out a set of brightly yellow dice and sat down next to Eddie. “Nope.”
And suddenly there was pandemonium as they realized that Steve was playing with them.
Steve ended up playing the whole night, having been sucked into the story telling. After it was over and Steve was curled up with Dustin on the floor of the living room where everyone was camped out in sleeping bags including Eddie and Robin, Dustin thanked Steve.
“This was awesome, Steve,” he murmured drowsily. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I knew how upset you were about not being able to meet him,” Steve said, “especially since I work with him all the time for the charity.”
Dustin lifted his head. “So you came up with this as a way to make up for it?”
Steve hummed.
“Thanks, Steve.”
“You’re welcome, bud.”
As they drifted off to sleep, Eddie smiled to himself under the comfort of his sleeping bag. Yeah, Steve was a good dude.
****
Part 7 Part 8
@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @itsall-taken @vecnuthy @bookbinderbitch @redfreckledwolf @littlewildflowerkitten @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @genderless-spoon @anne-bennett-cosplayer @irregular-child @carlprocastinator1000 @mogami13 @samsoble
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lizaluvsthis · 3 months
Text
The Girl in Fatal Lavenders
Fanfic Written and Illustrated by @lizaluvsthis
Idea of creation by @itsajjanea
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Summary: SMG4 has found someone new, much to Three's dismay. He couldn't help it but feel like something is wrong with his new "Girlfriend" and that there is something more going on with her than just being all 'kind' and 'polite' to people, especially with SMG4.
will SMG4 still end up being inlove with the Lavender Girl? or does he end up with Three's open heart
Tags: Enemies to Friends, Sun and Moon, angst, betrayal, catching feelings, comfort, hurt/comfort, drama, enemies to lovers, enemy, fluff, oblivious, slowburn, fruityass, gayness
Relationships:
SMG4/SMG3
Mario & Meggy Spletzer
Meggy & SMG3
SMG4 & Original Character
PuzzleVision(TvAdware) & Original Character
SMG3 & Mario
SMG4 & Mario
Chapter: Prologue...
A month ago…
Down from the hell hold of the monstrous abyss, the flesh and eyes, the wandering of its small parts. Scattering like worms around the floor.
As one of the pieces of rotting flesh makes its way out of the shoes where it happened to appear.
“Why isn’t this quite exciting?” a static audio of the voice played on, whereas he picked up the rotting flesh with his bare gloves. “This shall do with my perfect creation… I’d be dying to see torment with our view… don’t you just love how they suffer?”
TV Adware smiled at the small creation he made, seeing it wiggle out from the pinch of his fingers, he let it go, dropping itself to the ground as he proceedingly stomped at his failed creation.
As it dies and serves up its insides shown.
“Pointless” Adware rubs off the remaining blood from his shoe, scraping it down to the hard and solid ground. He ventured across the remains of each and part of the hell hole in search for a specific object.
The USB…
Searching through the pile of rocks, adware had finally found the missing USB… Thankfully the contents still remain on track and still keep it working.
“If I couldn’t get my hands on reach to the “Content man” then I prefer settling this, with a trick up my sleeve… my fellow friend”
Adware then raised the usb concentrating his power, putting a strong force at the object. The color that was yellow turned to the color of red, switching up to blue.
As it mixed together it formed the glow of lightish purple.
With the usb holding steady in the air, the sides bursted out black ink revealing its form. The black goo is now set free holding itself to the usb.
“My, my little creation. You seemed feisty in your little cage…” the goo shared out whispers in a quiet submerged air.
“This is going to be so… fun…” he smiled, raising both of his hands, pulling out the goo and putting it on its form.
His new creation has now been formed from the goop’s liquid. “I have a mission for you…” he walked around the creation as the goop went inside its mouth.
“Your body is in its human form, tho it wouldn’t last. Temporarily, get us our target little one. His name is SMG4” The creation opened its dead eyes, as Adware gave them the Usb.
“What shall my name be called? Master?” Receiving the usb, she held onto it with a grasp on her left hand bowing down at her creator.
“You will be named- —------” he patted her head.
“Run along creation, you will be starting this…”
The creation looked at the usb, opening her mouth as she swallowed down. Inheriting amounts of content and loads of memes giving its body life.
The dead eyes of hers began to have a sparkle.
“Do not worry master…” adware chuckled, “manners, call me PuzzleVision…”
“I will succeed my duty as a living vessel from this mortal body, and I will give back our target. SMG4…” in her truth of evil, she walked away at PuzzleVision with the devil themself. She smiled.
Seeing a close to broken computer from a feet away, still worked its own power from the software.
With just a little knowledge of memes she had from the computer, they made this as an opportunity to bring SMG4 down.
Logging in from discord, she joins a server located where SMG4 is currently active.
“Welcome to the “House of Memes” Server @----- you’re free to stay in our humble home of meme contents! Please read the #rules and be respectful to everyone, remember to put your intro at #introductions”
They quickly went to the intro channel, typing down the common notes. Name, Age, Hobbies, interests, goals, etc. Sending out the message, surprised for people to get caught up on.
7KNightsWrld: YOO @SuperMayroGlitchy4 look at this!
SMG4: Hey there new member! Happy to have you aboard!
—----: thank you.
This is a perfect opportunity to talk to the man and convince him.
“I hope you’re prepared for this SMG4…”
The creation hummed from their evil idea, and started to laugh. With SMG4 unaware of what will happen- His life is in its debt.
There is a picture from the media where SMG4 is having a gaming night with the orange haired girl, the red fat man, and next to him was the purple and black.
The goop suddenly recognized the faces during their last encounter with them. “Pathetic.”
They looked at the purple man, with his clear face and red eyes. Over with the beard and the hat.
He was the danger. He is a distraction. “Who would’ve guessed that a person like him could ever love SMG4?” recalling the past where he opened up to save SMG4’s life and risked everything just for him.
“Disgusting.” love is never part of them, pain and hatred ruled over the parts.
-
7KNightsWrld: you’re lucky to be here cause SMG4 said he’s been wanting to find a girlfriend xD
SMG4: KN STFU I’M PUTTING YOU ON MUTE-
@SMG4 set @7KNightsWrld on timeout for 24 hours
-
“Perfect… I’ll be his “wonderful” girlfriend…”
Her eyes turned red, craving out of Four’s wants.
This will be… Interesting…
End of Prologue...
--------
Next Chapter- 1 New Person, 1 New Goal
[1ST CHAPTER COMPLETED ]
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somefanchick · 5 months
Text
-Rollo's Angelic Obsession-
(This story is from Rollo's perspective during the events of the visit to Nobel Bell College. I only know information from the English server story and events so sorry if anything is terribly out of character. This fic is cannon for my female Yuu-sona, but I do just call them Yuu in the story. Yuu uses she/her pronouns. Hope you enjoy! TW: Rollo is obsessive and Delulu with a major crush on Yuu. Found the banner pictures in a post by @ raven-at-the-writing-desk, they are not mine. I got the event book 1 transcripts from the Wiki, and the book 3 transcripts from @ kanasmusings!)
It was disgusting. The headmaster of Night Raven called to inform us that his group of ten had grown to thirteen, not including the chaperone. I had requested Malleus Draconia so I could execute my plan, but to add two more students to the group was borderline infuriating. I didn’t even have the time to see how powerful these other students were, or who they were. I had no idea if they would be an issue or if it would be better to rid the world of them like the others. The only information the headmaster gave on them was that they counted as one student, and that one of them was magicless. That last note made me somewhat hopeful.
The portal lit up and all of the students stepped through. I recognized each and every one of them, so I assumed the new ones were tucked behind the others. I even recognize the chaperone. None of them were a threat. None of them were pure. They all would burn.
“I've been expecting you,” I stepped out of the shadows, vice president and aide on my left and right, “ Esteemed guests from Night Raven College, welcome to Noble Bell College.”
Mozus Trein, the chaperone, spoke in a tone much like my own, “Judging by your uniform, you must be the student the headmage mentioned.”
“That's right,” I put my handkerchief over my mouth for a moment before speaking again, “My name is Rollo Flamme. I serve as the student council president here.”
Riddle Rosehearts was the next to speak, “Oh, interesting. Our school doesn't have an independent student council, but it sounds like you all do.”
I removed the cloth from my lips, “Indeed. And while it may sound presumptuous, one could call it the face of our school. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Idia Shroud’s voice was shrill with surprise or fear, “Ack! Immediate encounter with strangers!”
Azul Ashengrotto seemed equally annoyed and used to the outburst, “Isn't the whole point of this social to meet strangers?”
I could hear some of the freshmen mumbling to themselves, about me undoubtedly. I pressed on, “This is our vice president, and this is our aide. When they heard they could meet with such an esteemed group, they dropped everything and came running. The entirety of Noble Bell College welcomes you. Our school is small compared to yours, and you may find it lacking in some ways, but we beg your indulgence.”
Trein looked like he could almost smile, “How courteous. You have impeccable manners for someone so young.”
Deuce Spade whispered to Silver, a guard of Malleus Draconia, I kept speaking, “We couldn't allow you to keep hauling your luggage around, of course. Let me show you to your rooms. I'm afraid it's a bit of a walk. We can use it as an opportunity to get better acquainted, though.”
I began leading the group forward as Idia Shroud made another winey comment. They were infuriating, and I hadn’t even gotten a glance at the unexpected visitors. They all deserved death.
Azul Ashengrotto made his way to the front with me, “So you're a junior. I imagine it's quite an honor being student council president, considering there can only be one in the whole school. I'm sure your academic performance is also superb and will guarantee you a promising future.”
I tried not to grit my teeth, “Noble Bell simply has a smaller student body. I can hardly compare to those of you from the great Night Raven College.”
Ashengrotto coated his words in flattery, just as we had done with their headmaster, “Please, you needn't be so humble or formal. Why, you're technically my upperclassman! Everyone at my school would be overjoyed to acquaint themselves with such a fine individual.”
I hummed as if amusing the idea, “All right, as you wish. I won't stand on ceremony so much.”
Ashengrotto got involved in a side conversation with Shroud. Leaving me to do nothing but move forward and suppress the urge to strike them down where they stood.
“Ah, but where are my manners? I've gotten ahead of myself,” Ashengrotto pulled himself back to me, “Apologies for the belated introduction. I'm-”
“Introductions won't be necessary,” I waved it off, bringing my handkerchief back to my lips, “I already know who all of you are. You're Azul Ashengrotto, housewarden of Octavinelle and a merman from the Coral Sea,” I kept going, “And you're Idia Shroud, housewarden of Ignihyde and affiliated somehow with the Shroud family. And you-!” I quickly kept myself from flying off the handle at the sight of that Fae, “You are Malleus Draconia, scion of the ruling fae in Briar Valley and one of the top five mages in the world. Correct?”
I felt sick as he smiled, “Indeed, I am Malleus Draconia.”
Sebek Zigvolt butted into the conversation, “Of course the great Malleus would be known even in such a tiny burg!”
I lowered my handkerchief once more, “You are Sebek Zigvolt, and you hail from the same land as Malleus. The one next to you is Silver. And over there chatting with our vice president is Riddle Rosehearts, housewarden of Heartslabyl, Rook Hunt, vice housewarden of Pomefiore, Jamil Viper, vice housewarden of Scarabia, Ruggie Bucchi, Deuce Spade, and Epel Felmier. I thoroughly perused the documents Mr. Crowley so kindly sent, you see.”
Ashengrotto’s eyes were almost wide, “It's like privacy's a foreign concept to that man-”
Shroud gave me a dirty look, unacceptable, “That could get you sued in this day and age.”
Silver almost smiled, “You must have a very good memory, to recall so many different names.”
“It's simply because I was eager to meet such talented mages,” And that’s when I saw them, “But who have we here? You two there. Might I ask your names?”
The first unknown student was a monster. A tiny mythical beast that resembled a cat with fiery blue ears. A familiar that was almost pure magic and fur. Disgusting, “I'm the great Grim, future great mage!”
But the one standing beside him was something else. A woman. Her hair looked silky like a festival scarf. Only one of her eyes was covered by her bangs, but the other one looked like it had seen so much, yet so little. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It made sense that she couldn’t use magic. She was an angel. I couldn’t help but wonder what the school had prepared for her to wear later.
When she spoke, it made the bell seem like nothing in comparison, “I’m Yuu. Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm. Nice to meet you Rollo.”
I loved the sound of my name on her lips, “Ah, you must be the student attendants Mr. Crowley mentioned,” I tried not to smile, “He said you couldn't use magic. I certainly wasn't expecting you to bring a familiar.”
“A familiar-?” The wretched thing spoke, “Wait, are you talkin' about me?! It's the other way around! I'm the boss, and Yuu's my hench-human!”
“I hate to say it,” She rolled her eyes at the creature as she whispered, it was almost as if she had been speaking to me alone, “But at this point I almost can’t debate that.”
“Heh, what a dependable companion you have,” My sarcasm was almost indistinguishable from my normal speech. I let my voice soften as I moved closer to the magic-less angel presented to me, I almost let a smile slip for her alone, “Yuu, I imagine it must be taxing living among mages all the time. I entreat you to forget about school while you're here and enjoy a moment of respite in Fleur City. And I hope the rest of you will enjoy the social.”
Her eyes seemed to widen. She looked shocked at my words. She must be so used to brash animals that it sounded odd to be treated properly.
“I actually-”
Malleus Draconia didn’t hear her and spoke over her. I wish I could have killed him in that very second, “I'm truly grateful for your hospitality.”
I moved my handkerchief to cover my scowl, “Think nothing of it.”
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I stood by the statue of the Righteous Judge while the pests changed in a building nearby. I had made sure that there was a separate space for Yuu to change. I couldn’t let any of those monsters see the angel in her purest form. Her exposed body would be a gift from the saints above. A gift that I had to keep from being tainted though those devils that called themselves her classmates.
The brats talked loud enough for me to hear them. It was all I could do to keep from lighting the building on fire with them inside, “All this goofing around-”
Trein approached me, “Hello, Flamme.”
I put on my ‘show’ once more, “Ah, Professor Trein. What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to thank you for your generous hospitality. Clothing is an embodiment of the culture it comes from and can provide us with a glimpse into different time periods. This is a fine opportunity for my student to get a hands-on history lesson,” Trein was respectable, for a mage.
“Please, think nothing of it,” It was easier to show him hospitality, “Perhaps we should have arranged attire for you as well, though. That was a grave oversight on our part.”
“It's quite alright, I assure you. I don't need the other teachers poking fun at me for dressing like the students when I get back.”
I hummed, “Sounds like you're on friendly terms with the rest of your faculty.”
He released a dry laugh, “Hardly. They're a raucous group and a constant source of embarrassment.”
We broke into humble laughter. I watched as the brats came out, commenting on how me and their professor ‘got along’. 
The familiar came bursting out of the building, laughing, “I'm all done changin' too,” He turned towards the building his master was changing in, “Whaddaya think, Yuu? Isn't my getup way more stylin' than yours?”
“I don’t know about that,” She looked amazing.
The others on the council had scrambled to find female festival clothes for her, and I hated that they couldn’t do better. It wasn’t nearly extravagant enough. Dark blue high-heeled boots, thin black pants, a flowing black and purple asymmetric skirt, multi-blue corset with hot pink lacing, a flowy off-white shirt, bracelets and golden bangles, and a silk chiffon scarf in a lavender color that flowed off her head. She was a saint.
The familiar ran over to her, “Oh, you think you can go toe to toe with me? Don't let one set of cool threads go to your head!”
She smiled and scanned herself over, “I’m just glad it wasn’t too extravagant. Those extreme duds might look fancy, but I prefer something simple and somewhat practical. And this fits the bill.”
She was right. A simpler ensemble let her natural beauty shine though.
Sebek Zigvolt scoffed, “You're both equally unbecoming.”
Trein looked like he could almost smirk, “Goodness, don't you all make a striking ensemble.”
Rosehearts smiled as he dusted off his outfit, “The clothes have a very classical design, I note.”
I removed my gaze from Yuu and addressed the group, “I believe they're patterned after designs that are over 500 years old. Supposedly people in those days had a tradition of wearing new clothes and shoes on festival days. And the outfits grew brighter and more elaborate as the years went on. People would emulate those in prominent positions, such as nobles, royalty, merchants, knights- Which led to the outfits you're wearing now. There were simpler styles that rose to oppose this trend. Though more people gravitate towards the extravagant style in the modern age.”
Ruggie Bucchi was checking himself out, “I getcha. Everyone likes getting fancied up, even if it's once a year.”
Rook Hunt’s accent was almost insulting, “It must have been quite exciting for everyone. I can tell this festival was beloved then as it is now.”
I couldn’t help but mutter into my handkerchief, “Indeed. More's the pity.”
Zigvolt noticed my slip up, “Hm? Did you say something?”
“No, nothing at all.”
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I had been tasked with visiting all the Night Raven groups between duties, and I had the misfortune of never running into Yuu. However, the Topsy-Turvy Festival was a mandatory event for all students and chaperones from the visiting schools. It was the last bit of normalcy before I burnt the magic away from this world. 
I locked my eyes on Yuu and approached the Night Raven group, “There you are, Night Raven College.”
Trein did his own kind of smile, “Hello, Flamme. Are you here to watch the festival as well?”
“Yes, this is part of my duties as the Student Council President,” I realized that it may benefit me to stay closer to the group, ‘keep your enemies close’ and whatnot, “May I take this opportunity to sit with you? I’d like to hear about your experiences, too.”
Ashengrotto put on that sleazy grin, “Yes, you’re very welcome to! Please have a seat.”
The fae questioned his classmate, “There’s not enough space, correct? What will we do?”
He smiled as if it was obvious, “Simple. We let Grim sit on Yuu’s lap instead.”
Zigbolt seemed shocked, but Trein only nodded, “Yes, that will do. I’m interested in hearing from Noble Bell College students, too, so please feel free to join us.”
“No way!” The ungrateful monster yowled, “I’m not sitting on Yuu’s lap!”
Shroud smiled creepily, “How about you sit on my lap instead?”
“That grin’s freaking me out,” Grim pushed Yuu onto the bench, “Sit on the chair properly, Yuu! Imma make space for myself.”
I took advantage of it all and sat beside Yuu, “Pardon me. I’ll be taking this seat, then.”
I tuned out the others and focused on Yuu as she watched the mages and the festival goers. There was a slight sign of joy, but she remained mostly neural. She did make a point to try and hold in some laughter at Zigbolt’s outbursts. 
“Hello, everyone! All eyes and ears on me, please!” The same Jester I had seen every time the festival came into town spoke, it seemed he was leading this year, “Come one, come all. Forget about all your work and worries for today, and let’s enjoy the festival. Welcome to the Topsy-Turvy Festival!”
“Topsy-Turvy Festival?” The familiar spoke. Ignorant as a newborn baby, “That sounds weird. Will everyone be upside-down or something?”
I covered my mouth with my handkerchief, “No, he’s just talking about the participants in general. It’s the one day people get to live their lives without titles or status. The weak can become strong, anyone can pretend to be king, so on and so forth.”
Negative emotion coursed through me as I realized Malleus Draconia had sat on the other side of Yuu, and now he was speaking, “Ah, so ranks are put aside for today?”
I grit my teeth behind the cloth I held, “Yes, that’s right. That’s why everyone wears masks for the festival.”
Past Malleus Draconia was Ashengrotto, “I see. I think I understand the appeal now. You get to live as freely as you want today.”
“I saw lots of stalls selling masks, too. There’s a kind of romance to hiding your identity behind a mask,” I swear Shroud was smiling.
Grim spoke up and pointed at some performers, “Everyone looks like they’re having lots of fun!”
The Jester kept going as performers kept prancing, “It’s our long-awaited Topsy-Turvy Festival! But let’s not forget that it’s the ‘Kindly Bell Ringer’ who loved this festival the most!”
Yuu and the familiar spoke in unison, although Yuu’s voice was quiet – as if it was for me alone to hear, “‘The Kindly Bell Ringer’?”
Malleus Draconia spoke again, “Oh, did you not know?”
The little beast was the only one to respond, “Nope, I didn’t!”
Ashengrotto rolled his eyes, “You didn’t even bother researching about the City of Flowers, Grim?”
“I’m not interested in anything except for the food.”
Shroud smiled, “I’ll praise your straightforwardness.”
I then tuned out, I had heard this story a million times. While I did love the tale, it was hard to stand it being said from the lips of a jester and his ragdoll puppet. I but in for a moment to tell the animal what a ventriloquist was, but then I resumed just watching Yuu’s reactions out of the corner of my eye. 
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The Night Raven students had turned the festival into a horror show of magical fireworks and mage tricks. It was despicable. Although it did give me a moment alone with Yuu while we said on the Night Raven bench. She was watching the fireworks with a neutral smile. Her lack of ‘joy’ made my heart beat loudly in my chest. Part of me was afraid she was going to hear it over the commotion of the festival. 
I tried to make conversation, “Mages are quite a handful, don’t you think?” She turned to me, her eyes were mesmerizing, “It must be difficult for you to keep up with noisy mages who don’t understand the severity of it all. It would be nice if magic didn’t exist so we could avoid all this fuss. Don’t you agree?”
Her eyes widened, but she just chuckled, “Yeah right. I’m used to it by now.”
I was almost speechless, I couldn’t keep the horror from my face, “You’re ‘used to it’? Oh you poor thing! I can’t blame you for becoming numb to the absurdity after spending everyday practically swimming in it. Mages will use magic to deceive people around them. They cloud the eyes of the righteous. Truely how vexing. But rest assured. This kind of world will soon vanish.”
She froze, “Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?”
As soon as the words left her lips, her familiar called out, “Yuu! Stop standing around and spacing out over there. Behold! I’ll show you the Great Grim’s Special Golden Fire!” The monster sent out a spray of golden fireworks. 
I used the distraction to slip away. Maybe she didn’t understand right now because she had become accustomed to the horrors of magic, but one day she would. She was too pure. She was an angel. She would be saved from the dirt and grime of magic once it all burned away. 
Then she would be mine.
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bfpnola · 3 months
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when i was 12, i was ambitious. a heart of gold, in the words of earth, wind & fire, i truly believed that nothing could stop me so long as i gave it my all. no obstacle was too large, no goal was too distant. now, at 20, my dreams are shattered in many ways. yet in many ways i am still grateful (and i am aware that i have so much left to live). i owe it to the family i have created to tell this complex truth over a neatly told lie:
for the nearly 8 years that better future program, inc. (bfp) has existed, i have run it almost entirely alone. each time that we gained momentum, it was as though the narrow visions of others dragged us right back to the depths of the void. and i was the one always left to pick up the pieces. you see, for nearly 8 years, i fought and cried, chased and fell, lived and died. but it was through my struggles that i made lifelong friends to kiss the very scars this organization has graced me with. i will always hold a place in my heart for the volunteers who showed up, who bleed alongside me as these words rip into our spirits.
you see, i am writing this because i am a changed person. called every name in the book right down to ngger whore*, something about my soul is hurting. my children and i, my wonderful children, have spent 8 years begging our white peers to care. it does something to you… to look into someone’s eyes, to say that you feel as though you could die, that the world has cursed you with this endless sense of urgency, and for them to only center their themselves whiteness in the end. even in the home we had created, we could not escape white supremacy. i refuse to sugarcoat just how heartbreaking a revelation this was. in the words of one of our truest and most gentle-hearted allies, internally, we had become parasitic, only existing to serve the needs and wants of our white members. and of course, we were disposable. when cycles of harm were disrupted, they left us without a single word of remorse.
my children and i, we are a broken people. torn from our homes, our hearts cracked open, we are a people whose throats are hoarse from screaming, who eyes flood like the mississippi river, whose soles are calloused from chasing after dreams (after humanization) across red-hot coal. we are burnt out.
so where does this leave us? what does any of this mean? crucial details highlighted below:
better future program, inc. (bfp) is changing. our nonprofit status will remain. but our volunteer positions will not. our liberation library will remain. but our discord server will not. we will no longer accept donations. our current funds will be redistributed through mutual aid networks. our 3,000 free resources will still be available. but our capacity for material change has truly been diminished. we hope to continue to provide marginalized youth with educational materials for as long as we possibly can. and so we will do so, for as long as we possibly can.
you see, my children and i, we are a resilient people. borne of slave ships and reservations, occupation and colonization, abuse and grief, we are survivors. our hands grasp one another’s tightly so that we may never lose each other in this world. we have held hands since before we ever even met. as we venture back out into our local communities, we will never stop being intentional in our relationships (in fact, we already have a new project in the works so that may stick together). better future program, inc. (bfp) has still given us so much. and for that we will always be grateful.
if you have any further questions, which i imagine you might, feel free reach out through [email protected], instagram (@bfpnola), or tumblr (@bfpnola), as these socials will remain available.
thank you so much for supporting us for as long as you have. it’s time we take a new path.
sincerely,
reaux (she/they)
founding executive director
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damianwayne0 · 4 months
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Minecraft || (4)
(part 4) part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 5 | part 6
Jason who had held nearly 10 trader captive. With name tagg of course , was just chilling in his wooden mansion. When he suddenly hear the bell ringing. He comes at the door to see his adoptive brothers . As soon as he opens the door they let themselfs in
Jason was already stressed from coming back from nether and now his three idiots brothers are at the door, for who knows what.
Jason: *cough* *cough* what do you guys want?
Dick: little wing not even a hi?
Damian, ignoring dick says : we don't want anything. Its all drake who brought us here.
Tim to Damian: hey! Don't blame me.
Tim to Jason: umm someone actually stole my 6 stacks of cobble stones . Did you stole it?
Jason : why would I steal your cobble stones? I can mine them myself.
Dick, crossed arms : hmm He has a point tho.
Damian : why should we believe you Todd?
Tim , agreeing: why should we?
Jason, sassy: well I don't know and I don't care.
Dick : let us check u then.
Jason , shrugging: sure. Go ahead.
2mins After searching the whole mansion.
Dick , exhausted : what the fuck dude, all this big mansion but you ain't got anything?
Tim , penting : And you should lesh your stupid dogs.
Damian, sparkling eyes : How many more pandas do u have?
Jason, shrugging : ten or 15 something like that .
Dick , confused: if I didn't take , Damian didn't take, Jason didn't take it then who took it?
Tim , frustrated: i don't know! Who could take my cobble stones!?
Jason : seriously no like seriously? Who broke my beaken?
Both dick and Tim point at Damian.
Damian, raised an eyebrow: what? Ain't my fault that you had a chicken stuck underneath it.
Jason, long gasp : You freed the chicken!? How could you!? I killed the zombie kid that was on it with my bear hands!
Tim , squinting his eyes : you kept it as a prize?
Jason : yeah do you know how many times I died trying to kill that motherfucker!?
( side note from me : Won't lie I died like 20 times because the zombie kid was on my spawn point)
Jason, looking at Damian: now back to you, you ugly ass gremlin! Who gave you permission to destroy my stuff!?
Damian , clearly not interested: First of all you can't call me ugly when you look like something Grayson drew from his right hand. Second of all did you forgot it's my server?
Before Jason could pounce on Damian, Dick stopped them. Tim cleared this throat to get their attention.
Tim : let's go to Y/n house maybe she can help us?
Damian: beloved will definitely help your ugly ass.
Tim : you-
Dick , interrupting Tim : Than what are we waiting for let's go.
Jason : yeah I am coming also . Sitting here all day hurts my butt .
Damian, mumbles : like you have one.
I hope you guys liked this part 4 . Don't forget to like and comment. Part 5 will be coming soon ✨^⁠_⁠^
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