#do over: how to stop your nation from exploding (again)

[lilirae00]

Hard Launch - Part 1

Paige x Azzi

Word count: 3k

Warnings: just fluff, enjoy :)

a/n & update: decided to make this a two-parter because I loved the idea of how they handle the launch, so part 2 coming up soon.

——

The Dallas Wings had just closed out one of their biggest wins of the season. The energy in the arena buzzed like electricity still trapped in the rafters. Paige was riding high off the adrenaline and her first career triple-double—twenty-two points, ten assists, eleven rebounds, and three steals—and now she was heading straight into the post-game press conference.

She should’ve been focused on the game breakdown. But all she could think about was the girl in the front row wearing her jersey.

Azzi.

Azzi had flown in earlier that morning, slipping into town just in time for tipoff. And now there she was—sitting courtside like a secret Paige couldn’t keep much longer. Her long legs crossed, curls pulled back in a half-ponytail, and Paige’s blue #5 jersey hanging oversized on her frame like it belonged there.

Which it did.

Paige had tried not to look too much during the game. Had tried not to stare. Had tried to stay composed when Azzi smiled at her after a tough finish at the rim. She didn’t want to give anything away.

But she was already too far gone.

Now, seated at the table with the mic in front of her, bright lights overhead and cameras rolling, Paige took a sip from her water bottle and shifted in her chair. Reporters peppered her with the usual questions—game strategy, her chemistry with her teammates, how she feels about her triple-double.

And then a different voice cut through.

“Paige, there’s been some buzz online recently—not just about Azzi Fudd sitting courtside again tonight in your jersey, but about a photo she posted a few weeks ago. Fans noticed the phone case she was holding said ‘Paige Bueckers’ girlfriend.’ Do you want to comment on your relationship with her?”

It hit like a full-body static shock.

Paige blinked. The words came before she could stop them.

“I mean… it’s not a secret,” she said, her voice a little softer than usual. “She’s… she’s someone really important to me.”

A few reporters smiled knowingly. Some just raised their brows and started typing.

“I guess if you’re asking if we’re together… yeah. We are,” Paige added with a nervous laugh. “And I’m lucky as hell.”

There was a pause. Not uncomfortable—just charged. And then came the next question, and the conference moved on like nothing happened.

But Paige’s heart was pounding like it had just sprinted a full-court press.

—-

She slipped out of the press room five minutes later, ditching the rest of her team’s entourage to head back toward the tunnel. Her hands were jammed in her pockets, and her hoodie was pulled up over her bun like a kid trying not to get caught skipping school.

When she rounded the corner and spotted Azzi waiting near the bench, that nervous beat inside her exploded.

Azzi was standing casually, still wearing the jersey, arms crossed and eyes locked right on her. Paige stopped short a few feet away.

“Hey,” she said.

Azzi tilted her head, lips curling into something equal parts amused and affectionate. “Hey.”

“Sooo… I might’ve… hard launched us.”

“In the press conference?” Azzi asked with a hint of surprise.

Paige nodded slowly. “Like… national media hard launched.”

Azzi walked forward, closing the distance between them. “What’d you say?”

“That you’re important to me.” Paige looked down, then back up. “That we’re together. And that I’m lucky.”

Azzi’s smile deepened. “You are.”

Paige let out a breathy laugh. “Don’t gas me up right now, I’m freaking out.”

“You’re fine.” Azzi reached up, gently pulling Paige’s hoodie back. “You looked hot tonight, by the way.”

“I scored twenty-two points,” Paige said, mostly to hide how much her cheeks were burning.

“And you still couldn’t stop looking at me,” Azzi teased.

“Not my fault you looked like a walking fantasy in my jersey.”

Azzi leaned in, brushing a kiss to her cheek. “I love you.”

Paige stilled. Not because it was the first time—it wasn’t—but because it always landed with the same quiet force.

“I love you too,” she said. “Even when you make me sweat bullets in front of a dozen reporters.”

Azzi laughed and took her hand. “Let ‘em sweat. You’ve got nothing to hide anymore.”

—-

They kicked off their shoes the second they walked into the apartment. Paige dropped her bag by the door and tugged off her hoodie, the post-game haze finally catching up to her. Azzi didn’t say much—just beelined to the couch, where she threw herself down, still wearing Paige’s Wings jersey and looking completely at home.

Paige walked past the kitchen. “You want tea?”

“Nope,” Azzi called, already pulling out her phone. “I want the internet.”

Paige groaned, spinning on her heel. “Please tell me you’re not checking Twitter.”

“I am absolutely checking Twitter,” Azzi said, already scrolling. “We’re trending.”

“Kill me.”

Azzi grinned. “Okay wait—listen to this one. ‘Paige Bueckers dropping “she’s someone really important to me” like she wasn’t about to break every sapphic heart in America.’ And—wait—‘Hard launched like a NASA rocket and I’m here for it.’”

Paige flopped down next to her and let her head fall into Azzi’s lap. “Why do I sound like I was about to propose?”

“Because you kind of did,” Azzi said, brushing fingers through her hair. “You were nervous. But it was adorable.”

“I was losing my mind,” Paige muttered into her thigh. “I think I blacked out after I said ‘important.’”

Azzi laughed. “You said you were ‘lucky as hell’”

“God.”

“You want a massage? I feel like that level of emotional panic requires some kind of body work.”

Paige grinned into her lap. “Maybe. But only if I can pretend I’m not seeing every post about us.”

Azzi kept scrolling with one hand while the other gently worked at the knots in Paige’s shoulders.

She continued to read the tweets out loud so Paige could hear.

@wnbafanatic: UMMM PAIGE BUECKERS JUST CASUALLY CAME OUT AND SAID AZZI IS HER GIRLFRIEND???

@wingsupdates: Paige saying she’s “lucky as hell” re: Azzi has me kicking my feet.

@queerhoops: We finally got the #Pazzi confirmation we needed and DESERVED. 🥹🏀💙

@barstoolcollege: Paige & Azzi might be the power couple of the decade.

@pazzi4life: Yeah okay, fork found in kitchen. We been known, Paige. 🥹

Paige sighed and turned over to sit up beside her. “Okay. Real talk?”

Azzi nodded, instantly setting her phone aside.

“I wasn’t scared to tell our parents when we did. Or our friends. Or the team. I mean, they already knew,” Paige said, pulling the blanket up over both their legs. “I was scared to tell… them.”

“The world?”

“Yeah. The internet. The fans. The media. All of it.”

Azzi watched her, quiet.

“I’ve spent my whole life being ‘Paige Bueckers,’ you know? This brand, this idea, this… golden girl. I didn’t know how people would take it if I let them see you. Us.”

“You didn’t want to break the illusion,” Azzi said gently.

“I didn’t want to give them something to tear apart.”

Azzi leaned closer. “I get it. It’s not nothing, coming out publicly. Especially in our position.”

Paige looked down at their hands. “I didn’t want anyone to ruin this.”

Azzi squeezed her fingers. “Then don’t let them. They don’t get to touch this unless we let them.”

Paige exhaled. “You’re so sure.”

“I am,” Azzi said. “Because I love you. And I’m not scared of people seeing that.”

Paige was quiet for a beat. “I think I am… but I’m done hiding more than I’m scared of being seen.”

Azzi smiled. “Then we’re good.”

They leaned into each other, kissing slowly, wrapped up in warmth and familiarity. The rest of the world faded out with each soft brush of lips, each lazy laugh between kisses. Eventually, Azzi tugged Paige down with her, their bodies curling together beneath the blanket.

Paige shifted so her hand brushed under the hem of the jersey Azzi was wearing. Azzi responded instantly, deepening the kiss, hands moving to Paige’s waist.

“I meant what I said,” Paige whispered into her mouth. “You’re mine.”

Azzi’s breath hitched. “Then show me.”

—-

Paige stirred awake to sunlight leaking through her bedroom curtains, warm and golden across the sheets. For a minute, she didn’t move—just let herself feel the weight of Azzi’s arm across her stomach, the soft rise and fall of her girlfriend’s breath at her shoulder.

Everything was still. Quiet. Safe.

And then it hit her.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, eyes widening.

Azzi blinked awake beside her. “Mmm?” she murmured, voice thick with sleep.

Paige turned her head slowly. “I said it. Out loud. On record. In a press conference. That we’re together.”

Azzi smiled into the pillow, eyes still mostly closed. “You did.”

Paige groaned and rolled onto her back, covering her face with both hands. “I hard launched us in front of the national media.”

Azzi laughed now, fully awake. “And it was kind of perfect.”

Paige peeked through her fingers. “Was it?”

Azzi propped herself up on one elbow. “Yeah. You were honest. Sweet. Brave.”

Paige went quiet for a moment. “I wasn’t trying to be brave. It just slipped out. But then afterward, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the people who are gonna have opinions about it.”

Azzi’s smile softened. “You wanna talk about it?”

Paige exhaled, turning onto her side to face her. “It’s not that I didn’t want people to know. I just… we’re already so visible, you know? Everything we do gets watched, commented on, judged. Coming out—publicly—it feels like giving people even more to pick apart.”

Azzi nodded slowly, eyes full of understanding. “I get it. I felt the same way.”

“When you asked me if you could post the phone case selfie, you were so sure. Were you not worried?” Paige asked.

Azzi smiled. “I was, but I wanted you to know I was ready, even if you weren’t yet.”

Paige’s heart clenched a little at that. “You weren’t trying to speed up the launch?”

“No,” Azzi said immediately. “I just didn’t want you to think I was ashamed or hiding.”

“I never thought that,” Paige said softly. “I’ve just been scared. Not of being with you—never that. Just scared of what people might say. The fallout. The attention.”

Azzi reached out and laced their fingers together. “The people who love us already know. The rest will catch up or get over it.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then we still have us,” Azzi said. “And I think that’s enough.”

Paige nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I think it is too.”

Azzi leaned in to kiss her forehead. “You’ve got practice soon, rookie. Better get moving.”

Paige groaned again. “Think if I fake a sprained ankle, Coach’ll let me skip it?”

“Not a chance.”

—-

Practice was in full swing when Paige jogged into the gym, hair still damp from her shower and a faint flush clinging to her cheeks that had nothing to do with running drills.

Arike was the first to greet her.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Paige ‘lucky as hell’ Bueckers,” she teased, grinning from across the court.

Paige rolled her eyes. “Oh god. Not you too.”

“Rook, the entire internet is quoting you.”

Dijonai walked by and bumped her shoulder. “That was a hell of a hard launch.”

Lyss followed, looping her arm around Paige. “More like a detonation.”

Paige groaned. “Y’all are relentless.”

“Hey,” Arike said, smirking. “We’ve known about you two forever. You just made it public. We’ve been sitting on our hands not tagging Azzi in thirst tweets out of respect.”

“You’re welcome,” Dijonai added with a wink.

Lyss leaned in. “But for real… we’re proud of you.”

Paige looked around at her teammates—all smirking, playful, and totally in her corner.

“Thanks,” she said, meaning it.

And just like that, they were back to business. But Paige felt different. Lighter. Stronger. Seen.

And lucky as hell.

—-

Later that week, Paige and Azzi were getting ready for a charity gala. The apartment smelled like curling iron heat and perfume. Music played low in the background, a chill playlist on shuffle while the girls moved around each other—Azzi perched at the vanity in a silk champagne dress, Paige pacing near the closet in a deep navy suit that clung to her frame in all the right places.

“You’re gonna burn a hole in the floor,” Azzi teased, watching Paige pace.

Paige paused mid-step and met her eyes in the mirror. “You look so good it’s actually stressful.”

Azzi smirked as she added a dab of highlighter to her cheekbones. “We’re just going to a gala.”

“We’re going to a gala sponsored by my team, where we’ll walk a red carpet together, as a couple, for the first time,” Paige countered, adjusting her cuff links. “I think stress is valid.”

Azzi stood and walked over, smoothing down Paige’s lapel with practiced ease. “Then let me help you chill out.”

She leaned in and kissed her—softly, just a breath of pressure—and Paige visibly relaxed.

“You ready now?” Azzi asked.

Paige nodded. “Yeah. Let’s blow up the internet.”

—-

The car rolled up to the venue entrance, where a navy carpet stretched out under bright lights and a flurry of camera flashes. Other players and VIPs were already arriving in designer fits and sparkling gowns, but the energy shifted the moment Paige stepped out in her suit.

A few cameras flicked toward her—then froze when Azzi followed, hand sliding into Paige’s as they walked.

There was no hiding it tonight.

Photographers lit up like fireworks.

“Paige! Over here!”

“Azzi, give us a smile!”

“Ladies, together, please—look this way!”

Azzi felt Paige squeeze her hand.

“You okay?” she whispered.

Paige looked at her and smiled, “yeah let’s do this.”

Paige kept Azzi close, one hand securely on her waist as they posed together in front of the Dallas Wings media wall. When Azzi leaned in to say something, a photo caught Paige mid-laugh, head tilted, entirely smitten.

“Y’all are trending already,” muttered one of the Wings’ PR staff with a grin, holding up her phone.

As they made their way inside, Paige felt the nerves start to dissipate—not because the cameras stopped, but because Azzi was calm. Confident. Like this was just another date night. Like it was safe.

The event buzzed with Dallas media, corporate sponsors, and familiar WNBA faces. Paige and Azzi moved from group to group—greeting Wings staff, chatting with teammates and partners, posing for a few more photos inside.

“Paige, wow,” said the team’s marketing director as she shook her hand. “You clean up nice. And Azzi—so great to finally meet you in person. We’ve seen you at games, of course, but it’s nice to put a name to the face.”

Azzi smiled graciously. “Likewise.”

“You two look amazing together,” the woman added, almost in a hushed tone, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to say it.

“Thanks,” Paige said, squeezing Azzi’s hand. “We feel amazing together.”

A few feet away, one of the event’s older donors—a man in a crisp gray suit—caught sight of them and leaned in toward a colleague. “Oh, that’s Bueckers’ friend. The UConn kid.”

Paige heard it.

Azzi did too.

And while Azzi gave the man a gracious nod as they walked past, Paige didn’t let it slide.

She slowed, turned slightly, and said loud enough to be heard: “Actually, this is my girlfriend. Not just a friend. I know the difference.”

The man stammered—something about meaning no offense—but Paige was already walking away, Azzi’s hand tucked tightly in hers.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Azzi said quietly.

“I wanted to,” Paige replied. “I’m not letting anyone downplay what we are. Not anymore.”

—-

They collapsed into the Uber like they were finally exhaling after holding it in all night. Paige tugged her tie loose while Azzi kicked off her heels and tucked them beside her on the seat, her bare feet sliding over the leather.

Azzi leaned back, dress pooled around her thighs, and opened her phone. The screen lit up instantly.

“Oh my god. We’re everywhere,” she said, scrolling through mentions. “Twitter. TikTok. WNBA Reddit. There’s a clip of you calling me your girlfriend with this dramatic music under it. The lesbians are unwell.”

Paige grinned and rested her head against the cool window, one arm casually draped across Azzi’s lap. “Good. Let ’em spiral.”

Azzi clicked over to her camera roll and scrolled until she landed on the photo—the one from the carpet where Paige had her arm wrapped tight around Azzi’s waist, both of them looking at each other instead of the camera, smiling like the rest of the world didn’t exist.

She held it up. “What about this one?”

Paige glanced over and immediately nodded. “Yeah. That’s the one.”

“We posting it?”

“Together?”

Azzi smiled. “Hardest of hard launches. No going back.”

Paige sat up and reached for her phone too. “Let’s do it.”

They sat side by side in the dark Uber, phones glowing between them as they each uploaded the photo.

Azzi typed first:

“Couldn’t be prouder to stand beside you, on and off the court 💗 #HardLaunch”

Paige stared at her screen for a beat, then typed:

“Took my shot & she said yes 🥹 #LuckyAsHell”

They looked at each other and tapped post at the same time.

Seconds later, their phones lit up in tandem—likes, comments, reposts already flowing in like a tidal wave. But for once, Paige didn’t care what any of them said.

Azzi leaned into her side. “How do you feel?”

Paige turned toward her and answered without hesitation. “Like I’ve never been more proud of anything in my life.”

Azzi’s lips curled. “Not even your triple double last week?”

“Not even close.”

She took Azzi’s hand, threading their fingers together.

“Tonight,” Paige said, eyes locked on her, voice low and warm, “you made me feel like the most complete version of myself. And it’s not because of the cameras or the suits or the headlines. It’s just… you. You make me feel like I don’t have to hide any part of me.”

Azzi swallowed, visibly moved.

Paige leaned in and kissed her—soft, but certain.

They pulled back only when the driver cleared his throat and announced, “You’re home.”

But in Paige’s head, the word didn’t mean the apartment.

It meant the girl sitting next to her.

[melissart-s]

Business man

<<Part 2 || Part 4 (in the work) >>

Now featuring double page!

[soapysoapysoapysoapy]

taking one (& another & another & another) for the team | soap x reader x ghost | inspired by: @softaestluv johnny's pent up blurb

It started as a joke. "I'm gonna die if I don't get my cock wet soon," Johnny whined, sprawled backward over the couch, legs spread, hand draped over his forehead like he was seconds away from his last breath. *"Swear I can feel it in my fucking molars, mate. I'm gonna explode."

At first, you and the others ignored him. Typical Soap — loud, dramatic, a walking sexual frustration PSA. But it didn't stop. If anything, it got worse: every mission debrief, every meal, every late-night sit around the barracks, Johnny lamented his poor, poor cock like it was a national tragedy.

When he started describing how tragic his wanks were — "My hand's too fuckin' rough, not the same, need something wet, something tight—" — you snapped. Loud enough for everyone in the room to hear: "Christ, Soap, I'll fuckin' take one for the team if it'll shut you up."

Johnny sat up like you'd just offered him oxygen.

Which is how you found yourself bent over the nearest flat surface, jeans yanked halfway down your thighs, Johnny pressed tight to your back, rutting into you like a man possessed.

"Fuck—fuckin' hell, love, yer savin' my life," he groaned, hips slamming into you like he was trying to crawl inside. "Warm 'n tight, fuck, could stay here forever."

You barely bit back a moan, hands braced hard enough to hurt. You weren't supposed to enjoy this, just do your duty to the squad’s sanity.

But then Johnny started whining again — not his usual loudmouth bitching, but these needy, half-choked sounds against the back of your neck.

"Need ya," he rasped, like he couldn't help himself. "Need yer cunt, fuck, not gonna be enough, need it again—'m not done—"

Even after he came — hot, messy, filling you to the brim — he didn't stop. Still rocking against you, still murmuring desperate filth into your skin, already hardening inside you again.

You realized then: You hadn't fixed the problem. You'd made it worse.

He barely pulled out before he was pushing right back in, thick and slick with his own cum, grinding into your overstretched walls like he could merge the two of you if he tried hard enough.

"Fuckin' perfect," Johnny slurred against your neck, teeth scraping along your skin. "Mine now, y'know that? Filled you up good—fuckin' claimed you—"

You tried to push him off, half-hearted at best — muscles trembling, brain fogged from how full you felt — but Johnny just wrapped an arm around your middle and held you there, hips rolling slow and filthy, fucking his own mess deeper inside.

"Nuh-uh, love," he muttered, pressing kisses to your shoulder, messy and possessive. "Said I'd lose my mind if I didn’t get to fuck you. Y’think one load's enough to fix this? After all that sufferin’?"

You whimpered, feeling his cock twitch again, fully hard despite just cumming. He chuckled low against your skin, voice dark and wrecked.

"Told ya I'd go mad. Now yer stuck with me, sweetheart."

He fucked you slow the second time — not like the frantic, desperate slamming from before, but a grinding, possessive rhythm, like he had all the time in the world to ruin you properly. Every time you clenched around him, he gasped, praising you in that ruined, filthy brogue.

"That's it, good girl," he breathed. "Take it all, take it like y'made for it. Fuckin' born to milk my cock, huh? Gonna pump you so full you won't remember what it feels like to be empty."

You felt him bulge even thicker inside you, grinding down into your cervix, every thrust stretching you wider, making you feel owned in a way that had nothing to do with orders or duty.

Johnny growled low in his throat, the sound vibrating against your skin. You barely registered it before he was moving — hands gripping your hips, manhandling you onto your back like you weighed nothing.

"Wanna see," he panted, almost delirious. "Wanna see how fuckin' ruined you are for me."

Your legs were shoved open before you could think to protest, ankles tossed over his shoulders. Johnny leaned back just enough to look — and groaned, obscene and ragged.

"Fuckin' hell, look at that," he hissed, watching his cum leaking out of you, your cunt red and puffy, still clenching greedily around nothing. His cock throbbed in his hand, still wet, still ready.

"So messy, love. Drippin' for me already. Y'know what that means, don’t ya?"

You shook your head weakly, breath stuttering in your chest. Johnny just grinned, all teeth and danger.

"Means I’ve gotta fill you up again. 'Til you can't take any more."

Without warning, he lined himself up and pushed — forcing his cock back inside your sore, sloppy cunt in one thick, slow thrust. You cried out, back arching, and Johnny moaned like you were his whole damn salvation.

He didn’t give you a chance to breathe. Started fucking you immediately — deep, grinding strokes that had your whole body jolting with each brutal snap of his hips.

"That's it, that's it," he gasped, head tipping back, sweat dripping down his temple. "Take it all, pretty thing. Gonna make sure yer stuck full of me. Walkin' round leakin' my cum for days."

Your brain barely worked anymore. Just open-mouthed whimpers, toes curling, walls spasming around him like you wanted it — wanted everything he was giving you and more.

Johnny's pace turned frantic again, slamming into you harder, the sound of skin against skin filthy and wet between you.

"Belong to me now," he growled, words punching out of him with each thrust. "No one else. Fuckin' mine."

You couldn’t even pretend to fight it. Couldn’t think past the way he filled you so perfectly, the overwhelming heat, the way his cock dragged along every sensitive spot inside you until you felt tears spring to your eyes.

He buried himself to the hilt one final time, grinding down against you, hips jerking as he spilled deep again, thick and endless. You could feel it — the heat, the stretch, the way he pulsed inside you like he was branding you from the inside out.

Johnny didn’t pull out. Just collapsed over you, mouth hot and messy against your jaw, still twitching inside your wrecked cunt.

"Fuck," he whispered hoarsely. "Still not enough. Need you again, love. Gonna fill you 'til you’re round with me, swear it."

Johnny stayed buried in you for a long moment, hips grinding lazy, slow circles, as if trying to force every last drop even deeper. You could feel it leaking out around his cock — hot, sticky, obscene — and you whimpered, overstimulated and wrecked.

Johnny noticed immediately. Growled against your throat, feral.

"Leakin'," he muttered, almost offended. "Can't have that. Gotta keep it all in, love. Need you drippin’ full for me."

He finally, finally pulled out — and the flood of cum that gushed out made you sob, weak and broken. But Johnny didn’t give you a second to recover. He dropped between your legs, shoving two thick fingers inside you without warning, curling them deep and obscene, scooping the mess back up.

"No wastin' it," he rasped, fucking his cum right back into your cunt with slow, filthy thrusts. "Take it all, greedy girl. You fuckin' need it."

Your legs kicked weakly at the overstimulation, but Johnny just grinned — wild and unhinged — before spreading you wider, his thumb pressing down hard on your clit while he stuffed you full with his fingers.

"Gonna breed you proper," he whispered hoarsely. "Fill you so deep you’ll be round with me. Belly all heavy, stuffed full of my fuckin' load—"

You sobbed, hips rolling despite yourself, body desperate for more even as your mind shattered into static. You should have known it’d be like this — Johnny didn’t do anything by halves.

He leaned down, mouth dragging messy, possessive kisses along your trembling stomach like he could will it to swell.

"Mine," he murmured. "All fuckin' mine."

And that’s exactly when you heard the door creak open. You barely had the strength to lift your head, vision blurry — but you saw a tall shadow in the doorway.

Ghost.

He stood there, silent, unreadable behind his mask — just watching. Johnny didn't stop. Didn’t even slow down. He curled his fingers inside you again, making you cry out, making more of the mess spill down your thighs.

Ghost's head tilted slightly, almost curious.

"Problem?" Johnny barked over his shoulder, voice wrecked but cocky as hell. Like he wanted Ghost to see — to know.

Ghost said nothing. Just crossed his arms slowly over his broad chest.

Johnny smirked and turned his attention back to you, dragging his fingers out with a wet squelch just to stuff them right back in — slow and possessive.

"That's right," he said lowly, clearly for Ghost’s benefit now. "Had to take care of it myself. Filled her up so good she's fuckin' leaking. Ain’t that right, sweetheart?"

You whimpered in response — too broken, too full, too wrecked to argue.

Ghost watched you for a long, heavy moment — chest rising and falling — before he spoke, voice flat and unreadable: "You better clean up after yourself, Soap."

Then, calmly — without another word — Ghost shut the door behind him with a click.

Johnny barked out a wild, breathless laugh against your stomach. "Come to help, mate?" he panted, fingers still lazily dragging through the wrecked mess of your cunt. "Think she needs it. Poor thing's so fuckin' stuffed already, can't hold it all."

Ghost didn’t answer. Didn't need to.

He stalked closer, heavy boots thudding against the floor, until he was standing right at the edge of the bed — looming over your trembling body. You watched through blurred eyes as he popped the button on his cargo pants, dragging the zipper down slowly, deliberately.

Johnny shifted you slightly, spreading your legs even wider, thumbs digging bruises into your hips to keep you open — presenting you like a ruined offering.

"C'mon, Ghost," Johnny muttered, voice rough and wild. "Don't leave the girl waitin'. Look how pretty she is—drippin' fuckin' ready."

Still silent, Ghost wrapped a hand around the base of his cock — thick, flushed, already leaking — and lined himself up.

He didn’t ease in. Just pressed the fat head against your already-used, dripping hole and pushed.

You screamed, body arching off the bed, overwhelmed instantly by the stretch, the pressure, the unbearable fullness of taking another man inside you without even a second to adjust.

Ghost let out a low, broken sound, not quite a grunt, not quite a moan, and buried himself to the hilt in one brutal thrust.

"There we fuckin' go," Johnny whispered against your ear, laughing breathlessly. "Take him, love. Take us both."

You couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

Ghost fucked you without mercy — slow, devastating thrusts that forced Johnny’s mess and his own spit to spill down your thighs in filthy, wet streams. He said nothing — just breathing harshly through the fabric of his mask, hands brutal on your hips, using you like a living, breathing fucktoy.

Johnny kept whispering filth into your ear — encouragements, praises, commands — while Ghost destroyed you from the inside out.

"That's it, good girl," Johnny crooned, petting your hair while Ghost slammed into you. "Take it like you were fuckin' made for it."

You felt your mind fracturing — pure overstimulation, pure broken pleasure — as Ghost fucked you harder, grinding deep, his cock stretching you to the point of tears.

And then Johnny shifted again — ducking low between your legs to lick around where you were stuffed full, his tongue dragging over your overstretched rim every time Ghost pulled out just a fraction.

"Fuckin' hell," Johnny gasped, almost reverent. "Look at that, Ghost. Cunt's swallowin' you like she needs it."

Ghost let out another low, broken sound — and picked up the pace. The bed creaked violently under you, your body jolting with every brutal, punishing thrust.

You could feel it building — some dark, overwhelming climax you couldn’t fight — tightening low in your stomach, burning up your spine.

Ghost suddenly reached down and gripped your throat — not tight, just heavy, possessive — and that was it.

You shattered. Clamping down around him so hard Ghost actually groaned, thrusts going sloppy, brutal. And then you felt it — hot, thick, spilling deep inside you, Ghost’s cock pulsing violently, joining Johnny’s mess inside your ruined cunt.

You lay there twitching, barely conscious, as Ghost finally pulled out — slow, heavy — and watched as his cum immediately leaked out after him.

Johnny's hand was already there — catching it, stuffing it back inside you with lazy, satisfied fingers.

Ghost pulled his gloves back on silently, redressing with mechanical efficiency. Said nothing. Before he left, he pressed one gloved hand to your trembling thigh — firm, approving — and then disappeared out the door without a word.

Johnny leaned down over you, brushing your hair back from your sweaty forehead.

"Told ya, sweetheart," he whispered with a wicked grin. "Was gonna fill you proper."

And from the ache in your gut and the obscene mess between your thighs —you knew he wasn’t lying.

Morning hit like a slow, heavy sledgehammer.

You barely even remembered falling asleep — just flashes: Johnny fucking his cum deeper into you with lazy, loving thrusts while you sobbed into the sheets; Ghost’s heavy hand gripping your thigh one last time before disappearing without a word.

Now your entire body ached. Your thighs were sore, trembling even at the slightest twitch. Your pussy was a wreck — raw, swollen, still leaking a slow, lazy drip of milky white that soaked into the crumpled sheets beneath you.

You tried to shift — to roll onto your side — and whimpered immediately. Everything hurt. You could feel the mess drying on your skin, inside your cunt, coating your thighs.

And Johnny, of course, was already awake.

He lay stretched out beside you, arms tucked behind his head, a smug, satisfied smirk spread wide across his face.

"Mornin’, sunshine," he drawled, voice rough from use, eyes crinkling at the corners with amusement. "Sleep well?"

You glared at him weakly, too exhausted to even muster words. Johnny just grinned wider.

"Y’look wrecked," he said cheerfully, reaching out to brush a lock of hair from your sweaty forehead. "Proper job, that."

You tried to move again — a pathetic, sluggish attempt — and Johnny laughed, full-bodied and warm.

"Aw, poor thing. Can’t even fuckin' walk, huh?"

His hand drifted down — over your collarbone, the bruises he’d left, the fingerprints, the possessive marks — until he palmed your lower belly, pressing down just slightly.

You gasped, muscles clenching reflexively around the lingering mess inside you.

Johnny's grin turned wolfish.

"Still full, are ya?" he murmured. "Good girl. Holdin’ it all for us."

He sat up slowly, bare chest gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat, and pulled back the sheets.

You whimpered as cool air brushed your ruined, sore cunt — thighs automatically trying to close, to hide yourself.

Johnny tsked softly, spreading you open with two rough hands like you were something precious to be displayed.

He hummed low in his throat — a sound of satisfaction.

"Ghost’ll be pleased," he muttered, almost to himself.

You blinked sluggishly at him, confused.

Johnny chuckled and gestured toward the nightstand. There — sitting neatly next to a bottle of water — was a simple piece of paper. No name. No explanation. Just three short words, written in Ghost’s heavy, blocky scrawl: “Hold it in.”

Your heart hammered painfully in your chest.

Johnny laughed again — delighted, wrecked — and leaned down to press a filthy, claiming kiss to the inside of your trembling thigh.

"Guess we’re not done after all, love," he whispered against your skin. "Orders are orders."

And from the wicked glint in his eye, you knew you weren’t getting a break anytime soon.

[kuronarnze]

a/n: hihiii, idk why but ive been liking to write for sae sm lately, im actually supposed to be studying since im having finals, but here i am.. writing a oneshot.. enjoyy the oneshot!!

Itoshi Sae x Reader !

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

In Case You Didn’t Notice

You were just being nice.

Just laughing at his joke, brushing lint off his shoulder, leaning your head on his arm like it meant nothing.

But to Itoshi Sae?

It meant everything.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Exhibit A:

The time you texted him “good luck” before a match.

You: "Good luck today! :D"

Sae: smiles at phone for 3 full minutes

Also Sae: saves the message to his favorites like it’s national treasure

Rin: “You’re gross.”

Sae: “Shut up.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Exhibit B:

Your voice message from 2 weeks ago.

You: “AHH I just saw a cat wearing a sweater Sae you would’ve DIED it looked like you 😭”

Sae: has replayed it 14 times and counting

Also Sae: accidentally made it his alarm tone

(He hasn’t changed it.)

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The problem is, you’re not doing this on purpose.

You’re just friendly. Warm. Effortlessly funny. The kind of person who remembers Sae’s coffee order and the fact that he doesn’t like french fries.

You’ve been best friends for three years now. And Sae is utterly, hopelessly in love with you.

You laugh at his sarcasm.

You poke fun at his grumpiness.

You ruffle his hair when he wins and pull him into hugs like it’s nothing.

It is, in fact, everything to him.

And the worst part?

You have no idea.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Why are you frowning?” you ask one day, leaning against him on his couch.

Sae’s wearing a hoodie that suspiciously looks like yours. He says nothing about it. Just shrugs.

“Not frowning,” he mutters, eyes glued to the TV.

You giggle. “Liar.”

His heart explodes.

He turns to you, and for one second—just one—he thinks about telling you. About all of it.

That every version of his future includes you.

That even your silence is his favorite sound.

That he’s in love with his best friend.

But he just says:

“Wanna stay over?”

You blink. “Oh! Yeah. Sure.”

He nods, like it’s casual. Like he didn’t just spend the entire week hoping you’d say yes.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Meanwhile, Rin is suffering. (Uhm guys so rin is kinda ooc here since i wanted to try writing frustrated rin)

“You are the biggest coward I’ve ever met,” he tells Sae the next day at training.

“I’m being patient,” Sae says, dribbling past him with ease.

“You’re being pathetic.”

Sae shrugs.

“They’re literally in love with you, idiot.”

“I know.”

Rin trips on air. “THEN SAY SOMETHING!”

Sae stares at the goal. Then glances at his phone. Your name is at the top of his recent calls. You called him last night just to say goodnight. Just because.

He smiles (YES HE SMILED. Itoshi sae smiled.)

“Soon.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Meanwhile, You.

You are in denial.

“There’s no way Sae likes me,” you whisper to your friend.

“...Are you okay?” they ask. “You literally wear his hoodie like it’s your job.”

You: “It’s comfy!!”

Them: “He buys you snacks he doesn’t buy anyone else.”

You: “That’s just… nutrition-based friendship!”

Them: “He let you nap on his lap for two hours.”

You: “Bro he’s just soft underneath the arrogance.”

They stare.

“You’re so far gone,” they say.

“I know,” you groan, covering your face. “And I can’t stop liking him.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

You don’t know how it happens. One moment you're watching anime on his couch, the next moment you're laughing so hard you fall right on top of him.

And you freeze.

Chest against his.

Face a breath away.

His hand on your waist.

Sae doesn’t move.

His eyes flicker to your lips.

Then your eyes.

Then your lips again.

“…Hey,” he says, voice low.

You can barely breathe. “Y-Yeah?”

“You ever think about kissing your best friend?”

Your heart slams into your ribs. “Maybe.”

He blinks. “...Really?”

You swallow. “Do you?”

He doesn't answer.

He just leans in and kisses you like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

When you pull back, your fingers are twisted in his hoodie.

“You like me,” you whisper.

He sighs. “Took you long enough.”

You punch his shoulder. “You’re so annoying.”

“Still like me though?”

You roll your eyes and kiss him again.

Rin, somewhere in the distance, senses peace returning to the universe.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Rin's pov !!

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Sae's notes app !

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

HSOSHSOSHOEJSOSIESOOSDI tbh im obsessed with this oneshot HAHAHAHA tysm for readinggg !

THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME USING SMAUS AND OHMYGOSH I WAS HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING THE TEXTS ALL TOGETHER 😭

sosorry if there are any mistakes !!

dedicated to my bbg @yoonlyhan hi! Look its your man sae 🫶 tysm for the kurona oneshot sjsjsjsjjsjskaosos i love the way you wrote kurona ranze 💗💗

Have a nice day 🫶

[greynatomy]

rivals?

alexia putellas x messi!reader

request here

with all the alexia angst being posted (my fault), here’s some fluff

———

In the world of professional football, rivalry between two players are always one that many fans are eager to watch.

In the men’s world of football, there was Messi and Ronaldo.

In the women’s, Messi and Putellas. Two of the most sought after female footballers of this time.

You and Alexia were known as fierce rivals on the field when competing for your country. You for Argentina, Alexia for Spain. Both of your competitiveness fueling debates among fans. Little did everyone know, behind the scenes, you both shared a secret that could rival the on-field intensity.

Away from the spotlight, you and Alexia were much more than rivals and teammates — you were married.

Your love story began when you’d transferred from playing in the Women’s Super League to Barça. From the first time she’d laid her eyes on you, there was an instant connection. At first she didn’t know how to feel about your transfer, only having played against you for the national team, where the rivalry grew and grew, but as you both played for Barça, the understanding and pressure you both experience helped you grow closer.

Late-night rendezvous, secret getaways, and coded messages allowed you to maintain your privacy. It was difficult to keep everything a secret, something you’ve both agreed on. Time moved quickly from the first time she’d seen you in a Barça kit to now, six years later.

You’re both cuddled up on the couch, watching a replay of the match you’ve just played, pointing out the things you and the team could have done better, when you heard some whining on the baby monitor searched up on the coffee table.

With a kiss to your head, Alexia got up to see what the fuss was all about. You watched on through the monitor, seeing how your wife delicately held and talked to your two year old, making you fall in love with her all over again.

“See look there’s Mami.” Alexia points you out, walking in with Rosa in her arms.

“Mami.” Rosa mumbles, arms reaching out for you, cuddling into your body once in your hold.

“How was your nap, bebé?”

All you got was a whine. Alexia cuddles back into your side as Rosa falls back into a slumber.

“I’ve been thinking.” Alexia starts.

“Uh oh. Mamá has been thinking.” You tease, earning you a playful shove.

“Seriously. Rosa turned two a bit ago and I want to be able to show her what her Mami and Mamá do or work. The environment with all the fans.”

Alexia starts to ramble. Saving her from spiraling, you place a hand over her mouth stopping her words.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

With a bright smile on her face, Alexia pulls you in a passionate kiss, careful to not wake your daughter up.

Three weeks later, Spain has a friendly match against Argentina. Everyone played hard no matter that it was only a friendly, the match ending in a draw.

As far as the public knew, you and Alexia were still rivals, enemies, or any other term they use, so whenever they see you conversing after matches, fans and media freak out, like right now.

What the fans didn’t expect was a small child running into your arms with laughter. Standing up with Rosa in your arms, Alexia wraps her arms around both of you, kisses being placed on her cheeks by both of her moms.

To say the fans and media were exploding was an understatement.

“Alexia, they need you for media.”

Alexia settles herself at the table in front of all the press, waiting for the questions to come.

“Hola, Alexia. Great game today.”

“Thank you.”

After a couple of questions about the match, a little kid is seen throwing themselves onto Alexia.

“Mamá!”

A second person is seen chasing after the child.

“Sorry, sorry. She’s gotten fast.”

You run in, trying to grab Rosa from your wife, who is wriggling to make her harder to hold.

“You can leave her here.”

“You sure?”

She nods so you give them both a kiss on the head and walk out the room.

“Sorry about that.”

“Who do we have here? If you don’t mind us asking.”

“Bebé can you tell them your name?”

“Soy Rosa Putellas.”

The room let out a collective ‘aww’.

“So-so she’s your daughter?” A reporter stutters, stunned by the little girl.

“Yes.”

“And Messi’s?”

“Yes.”

The room full reporters burst, questions being asked over the others. Alexia just stands up, walking out of the room.

“I think you broke them.” Is the first thing you say when she walks into the locker room.

“Eh.” She shrugs. “Makes it fun.”

[under0-0s]

Location: Stark Tower, Manhattan Time: 06:43 AM

(Listen to the music to enhance the reading experience.)

The sky above Manhattan is a crisp, unforgiving shade of blue, with the sun gleaming off the glass façade of Stark Tower. Outside, streets are lined with protestors—activists, veterans, former Stark Industries employees, and the occasional overzealous blogger holding signs that read “Weapons Kill, Stark!” and “No More War Profiteering!”. They chant, they yell, but nothing stops the relentless media storm from gathering inside the press hall.

Inside, journalists pack the grand atrium, cameras flashing, live streams running, and news anchors whispering urgent commentary into their microphones. The air buzzes with anticipation, tension so thick it could be cut with one of Stark’s own repulsor beams.

Then, the doors at the back of the stage open, and he walks in.

No Iron Man suit. No Avengers. No handlers. Just a crisp black suit, black-tinted sunglasses, and an air of absolute, untouchable confidence. The world’s most famous (and formerly redeemed) billionaire crosses the stage with a deliberate, steady stride.

He doesn’t acknowledge the cameras, the murmurs, the accusations waiting to be hurled his way. He steps up to the podium, places both hands on it, and leans slightly forward. He removes his sunglasses with an almost bored motion, tucks them into his jacket pocket, and lets the silence stretch—lets them wait for it.

Then, in a voice as smooth as ever, he speaks.

"Ladies and gentlemen, press vultures, corporate spies, government agents pretending to be interns—welcome."

"Let’s skip the pleasantries, shall we? We all know why we’re here. You, sitting there in the press row, half of you already drafting your hit pieces. You, government reps, gripping your pens so tight you’re about to snap ‘em in half. And you, my dear stockholders, wondering if you’re about to get a whole lot richer or if I’m about to tank your portfolios overnight."

"Relax. Breathe. I’m going to tell you exactly what’s happening, and you’re going to listen."

He pauses, scanning the room like he owns it—which, technically, he does.

"Stark Industries is reactivating its Weapons Division."

Chaos. Murmurs explode. Some reporters gasp. A flurry of fingers race over keyboards, headlines forming in real-time. But Tony? He just waits. Lets the uproar fester. Then he speaks again—sharper, firmer.

"Oh no, not the weapons, right? The same weapons that, for decades, kept entire nations from crumbling into dust? The same weapons that made Stark Industries the name it is today?"

"See, here’s the thing—I left the game. I walked away. I thought, naively, that taking my toys and going home would make the world a better place. That if I stopped making weapons, war would stop needing them. Turns out, that’s not how reality works."

"The world didn’t become safer. It became stupider."

A few nervous chuckles from the audience. Tony smirks. He owns the room now.

"Terrorists, rogue states, people who don’t give a damn about peace? They kept building. They kept stockpiling. They evolved. But the people who actually should have had the best tech? They got stuck playing defense with outdated scraps because of ethics committees and policy briefings."

"Meanwhile, aliens rain from the sky, psychos in masks keep popping up, and let’s not even start on the enhanced individuals running around with power levels straight out of a bad anime."

"And through all of that, what did I do? I built my suit. I fought my battles. I was the deterrent. But one suit—one man—isn’t enough. Not anymore."

He steps out from behind the podium now, walking across the stage, gesturing as he talks.

"Let’s get real. I am done pretending that morality alone can keep the world intact. You want a peaceful world? Then you need deterrence. Real deterrence. Superior firepower."

"So, here’s what happens next."

He turns sharply back toward the crowd, voice cutting through the stunned silence.

"The Stark Advanced Defense Initiative is launching immediately. We’re developing next-generation weaponry, AI-guided security systems, and proactive defense measures that ensure when—not if, but when—the next threat rises, the people who should have power actually do."

"This isn’t about war. It’s about control. About making sure the right hands hold the biggest sticks. And no one—no one—is better equipped to build those sticks than I am."

He lets that sink in, eyes locked on the silent crowd.

"I know what you’re thinking. ‘Tony, aren’t you a hero? Didn’t you quit all this? Didn’t you grow a conscience?’"

He lets out a humorless chuckle, shaking his head.

"Here’s what I learned about consciences: they don’t stop bullets. They don’t stop invasions. They don’t stop the people who will always choose violence over reason. Technology does. And for too long, I’ve been limiting what I build because I wanted to believe we’d find another way."

"Well, I don’t believe that anymore."

A heavy pause. He adjusts his suit jacket, smooths out an invisible wrinkle.

"Now, I expect backlash. I expect protests. I expect every morally righteous think tank to line up outside my door with their ethical handbooks, demanding explanations. But let me make one thing perfectly clear—"

"I don’t ask for permission to change the world. I do it."

"You know, it’s funny. For years, I’ve been called a visionary. A genius. A pioneer. I revolutionized clean energy, neural interfaces, quantum computing. I built the next century."

"And yet, the moment I announce that I’m reopening Stark Industries’ weapons division? I suddenly become the villain again."

"Seventeen years ago, I stood in front of the world and shut down Stark Weapons. I did it because I saw my technology in the wrong hands. Because I thought if I stepped away, the world would follow my lead."

"Guess what? It didn’t."

"Since then, we’ve seen more wars, more destruction, more threats—only now, instead of Stark weapons, we’ve got unchecked arms dealers, rogue states, and tech that’s embarrassingly behind the curve trying to hold them back."

"You want to hear something terrifying? The people in charge—the ones meant to be protecting you—are playing catch-up with the bad guys. And losing."

"You think peace talks are going to stop biological warfare? You think treaties are going to hold off cybernetic threats when the next dictator with a Wi-Fi signal decides he wants to rewrite history?"

"So, let me make this simple: I’m not asking permission. I’m not waiting for another ‘global summit’ to debate what should have been solved yesterday."

"Stark Industries is officially launching the Stark Advanced Defense Initiative. Next-generation military-grade tech. Weapons that don’t just respond to threats but eliminate them before they escalate. AI-driven strategic defenses. Long-range deterrents capable of neutralizing entire conflicts before they happen."

"This is not war-mongering. This is not reckless. This is evolution. And I don’t do second place."

"You want to debate ethics? You want to call me reckless? Fine. But let’s get one thing straight—I don’t ask for permission to change the world. I do it."

"Questions?"

The reporters explode with voices, shouting over each other, desperate for clarification, outrage, anything—Tony just smirks, raises a hand… and shakes his head.

"Yeah, no. I don’t do Q&As."

"That’ll be all."

With that, he steps back from the podium and walks off the stage, leaving the world to grapple with what he’s just set into motion. The cameras flash. The chaos unfolds. And for the first time in years, Tony Stark is exactly who he used to be—and he doesn’t care who hates him for it.

[ To whomsoever it may concern: @the1-and-only-peggycarter @oh-to-be-a-murderer @multiverse-peterbparker @clintbarton-thearrowguy @over-bi-the-wayside @the-good-redheaded-witch @its-nate-the-sharpshot @pepper-potts-in-charge @serenastark-official @crazyinlovewithmarvel @multifandomer537 @your-fav-russian-assassin @proud-owner-0f-americas-ass @lunamarvels @itsme-donnastrange @playgirlgenius @theoneandonlyjamiestark @emma-hope-stark-official @h-keener-official @project-traveler @the-iron-rose @we-love-redwing @the-best-black-widow ]

[nothingunrealistic]

14. not enough, sheila and susannah

14. not enough

On nights like this, when thunder rumbles like a thousand Yamahas revving and shakes the windows in their frames, and lightning flashes bright enough you’d think it was broad daylight, and rain and wind pound the roof and walls searching for the thousand holes and cracks that’ll let them in to curl up by the radiator, Sheila lies awake and hears crying. The wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney — that was in a story someone read her once, or maybe it was a radio drama, and for some reason it’s stuck. Every storm brings a baby wailing for Mama, or a toddler with a skinned knee, or a child without a friend in the world.

Tonight, though, as Sheila listens, it sounds more and more like someone really is crying, and close by. It’s a rare sound — blubbering is one of the few things scorned equally by Nation’s warden and its inmates. Which means the only girl who’d dare to do it is one who doesn’t know the rules.

She turns onto her side, waiting until the next flash lights up Susannah’s bed. Empty.

Sheila kicks off her sheets and rolls out of bed. The floorboards squeal — they get louder every year, and there’s a few new bad spots just since she got out of bing — but the storm still drowns them out. Past the crammed-in beds, through the door with its shrieking hinges, three steps down the hall to the john, following the sound of sobbing.

There’s one dim light bulb left in the bathroom, the rest broken by lighters or lipsticks or shoes and never replaced. It’s just enough to see Susannah by. The bandage on her arm is the brightest thing in the room. Her head is bowed, and her hands squeeze the sides of the sink nearer the door, and if there were more light, her eyes would surely be red.

Sheila coughs. Susannah jumps about a foot. “Oh! Sheila!” She wipes her hands on her nightgown, all frantic. Not a bit elegant. “I-I-I was just… washing my face.”

Sheila’s learned a thing or two about Susannah since she got here, without being told. First thing: she lies a lot. Second thing: she’s bad at it. “Gotcha.”

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

It’s the bathroom, whaddya think? would be the easy answer. Wouldn’t be real, though, and Susannah might know it. “Couldn’t sleep. Never can when it storms like this.”

“Me neither,” Susannah says, too quickly. “That’s why I’m awake too.”

Another rumble rolls through the room, closer this time, and Sheila wonders if the roof’s finally going to fall in on them, until she sees Susannah putting a hand to her middle. Huh.

“Hungry?”

“Yes,” Susannah whispers. Christ, she sounds about ready to cry again. “All the time.”

“We’re all hungry here. Except when Rat gets something good and shares. Doesn’t happen much.” They’ve gotten used to it over the years, as the food’s gotten worse and the portions have shrunk. But Susannah, for all her troubles, seems to have eaten well enough before Nation; after three days, she must be feeling the pinch. “Want a cig?”

Susannah looks at Sheila like she’s nuts. “I can’t eat a cigarette.”

“You can smoke it. Smoking stops you being hungry, that’s how it keeps you thin.”

“No thank you,” Susannah says, somehow making it sound like fuck you. She’s got potential.

“Suit yourself. I’m having one.” Sheila pulls her pack and lighter from her nightgown. Susannah gives her the kind of critical eye she’s seen on the faces of a hundred nuns.

“Do you sleep with those in your pocket? Isn’t that a fire hazard?”

“This whole building is a fire hazard.” Sheila lights up. “You know why we don’t have billiards anymore?”

“Because it’s not ladylike?”

“Good guess, but no.”

“Because… you were throwing the balls at each other and Miss Asp confiscated them?”

“No. One day I hit a break shot and half the balls exploded. Set the table on fire.” Sheila waits a beat, watching Susannah’s face as she tries to work out whether Sheila’s pulling her leg. “Then she confiscated the rest.”

Susannah giggles, then shuts herself up like she expects a ruler to the knuckles. Could be that’s what she got at that school she says she burned down. Or from her parents, who don’t much sound like they’re full of jokes, any more than that oh-so-wonderful boyfriend of hers. She’s got every bit of the picture perfect family Asp wants them all to have, and she talks like she’s trying to be Betty Anderson. What’s she really doing here with a bunch of delinquents, clinging to Sheila like her shadow when she’s the most delinquent of them all? (No matter what Judith says.) 

And how is it that Susannah sometimes looks at Sheila like she can see right through her, leather jacket and skin and bone all peeled back to show her beating heart? That keeps her up at night, worse than any thunderstorm.

(Put a number and two characters in my ask box and get a hurt/comfort drabble)

[shirecorn]

Hi! I love your art, especially when I see your Vonder worldbuilding on my feed! I just wanted to ask: what made you start wanting to worldbuild (and/or make Vonder specifically)? And what got you interested in speculative/fantasy biology?

I've been worldbuilding since I could talk! There was never really a start to it. I would make stories with my siblings and populate it with new rules for how magic worked. I have 2187493275893 different variations of "dragons" and what they mean, how they work, how they breed, etc etc. I grew up watching national geographic at every opportunity.

As a kid I was raised homeschool fundamentalist evangelical young-earth creationist and told that evolution was invented by the devil, while celebrating what the world had as wonders created to bring glory to god. Scientists were either misunderstanding creation or evil. I was very spiritual so I felt when I was inventing worlds and creatures in them, that I was communing with God. We were both creators, and I was made in his image.

Then got to college, took my first science class and got blown out of the primordial water by evolution. I thought "there's no way deer became whales lol. thats impossible and there would be in between stages all over the place.

Then I looked up "whale evolution" and guess what? there's in between stages. There's thousands of in between stages. There's a fossil record of the nose hole slowly inching up to the forhead to breathe air when surfacing. there's tessellations of the hips slowly disappearing from one ancestor to the next. So then I had to decide if every photo, specimen, paleontological dig, and diagram was a purposeful lie crafted by evil humans who knew more about god than I did and dedicated their lives to sculpting rocks just to spite him and lead christian astray.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist so I was like damn. Evolution real. What do you know.

Then I exploded

My creative potential was unlocked. Everything became possible. I could create imperfect animals that had quirks and holdovers from previous generations. I could mutate and reform and call back and stretch and bend the possibilities. I could appreciate the true beauty of how every animal is an imperfect attempt at fitting in, just as I am also an imperfect work in progress. I learned that what makes you different can be an advantage in the right environment. I learned about mimicry, about complex symbiotic relationships that evolved alongside each other in a beautiful adaptive dance. I learned about the first ancestors of bilateral animals. I learned to love the forces that turned creatures from one thing to another. I looked at all of the world and I saw it not as a flawless portrait of god, but as an active, breathing, and changing masterpiece created by the paint itself.

I loved it. I love all of it.

I started working immediately. My dragons split and split again. My unicorns developed parasites that evolved to feed on their magic. My mermaids started out as fish and turned their swim bladders into resonate cavities with which to sing their siren songs. Hunters hunted and the prey learned to run.

Life cannot be stopped from changing

I cannot be stopped from loving it

I see religion now as something humans created to be a touchstone of community and ritual. It's beneficial to have something to point to for ethics and routine, and an explanation for things we don't yet understand. One day I may find a place that fits and fulfills me.

for now I am free.

[generational-atrophy]

Could I ask for main 8 x telekinetic nation reader? Maybe Y/N waited until they're well into the relationship because they've been shut out and forced to be used as a weapon before.

hetalia main 8 with a telekinetic reader

1k words ~ a/n DIDNT READ THE NATION PART. WHOOPSIESS i kinda wanna do a larger nation reader thing tho.... so ill do that part later :3

tw - none!

America

Alfred is just so EXCITED, I mean, you’re like a superhero! Like something out of a comic book! You’re incredible, he just CAN’T stop gushing about you.

Which, you really have to get him to stop. He can be completely honest about his supernatural identity, so he doesn’t really understand why you can’t. If anyone tried to hurt you, you could just, like, explode them with your mind, right?

He’s very horrified to find out that… that’s not how it works. Although he’s not the greatest at comforting his partners, he immediately sympathizes. The thought of someone treating you like that hadn’t even occurred to him, like, you’re so cute and nice… who could do that?

Whoever did that, well… they’ll never do it again. The two of you will defeat them, no problem!

(Yes, he still thinks his life is like a comic book)

England

Woah, that’s incredible! You’re doing real magic, just like he can! Oh, it’s like a… scientific thing and not magic? Well… maybe the scientists are just trying to rationalize what they can’t understand. Trust him, you’re magic.

Exactly how much can you do exactly? Because if you don’t know, he’s excited to help you learn. He’s trained plenty of magic users over the centuries, you couldn’t be in better hands.

Don’t worry, he would never let anyone take advantage of you again either. You’re lucky that you happen to have someone in such a high position because he is absolutely going to make sure no one uses your ability against you. No, never his darling.

(He’s also definitely gonna lean into the Wizard couple thing now. Expect to move into a super stereotypical witch house with him in the near future)

France

How horrible! You’ve been blessed, and yet people only torture you for it?! Well, now, you won’t have to worry about that at all, Love. He doesn’t see you any differently.

Although he does appreciate you having telekinesis… for the simple reason of when you two are cuddling on the couch, he doesn’t have to get up to grab the remote.

Plus, now he can brag to Arthur about having a super cool magic S/O. He’s gonna be so jealous~

China

Ok, so you have superpowers. So does he, technically, so like, whatever.

Probably the least interested out of all of them. He’d appreciate you using your ability around the house, but if you didn’t, he wouldn’t care (he wouldn’t remember…)

Although, the thought of people mistreating you for it does make his blood boil. He’s had plenty of experience with that himself… and he is absolutely not tolerating it anymore. If any of your former abusers showed their faces around the two of you, they’re getting kicked in the face.

Russia

Wait, you’re serious? That’s… so cool! So, you’re magic, right? Can you make other people like him with your mind? Or make them think HE’S magic so they’re scared of him? No? Oh… well, still, very cool!

He obviously wouldn’t judge you at all. He’s got superpowers too, in a different way.

He’s been mistreated throughout his whole life for his supernatural abilities, so the fact that you were treated the same? It makes him want to rip everyone who did that apart. Which… you will have to stop him from doing (or let him, up to you, I guess.)

I’d imagine some people from his government might try to experiment with you again, but Ivan would absolutely not allow that to happen. He will hide you in a submarine in another country before he lets anyone treat you like a weapon or a science experiment.

Italy

His immediate reaction is gonna be to ask a bunch of invasive questions. Sorry. He’s just curious and has absolutely no social filter.

But as soon as he exhausts himself with his tasteless line of questioning, he’ll basically forget about the whole thing. The first time you use your ability after that, he’ll be scared out of his skin.

(If you don’t tell him it was you, he’d probably order an exorcism on his house…)

He might be meek, but he’d never let anyone treat you badly because of your ability. He wants you to think of it as a gift, not as a curse! It’s what makes you special.

Germany

Wow, that’s fascinating. For how long? How does it work? Does your family have it too? W-

Sorry. His scientific brain will immediately go crazy. He wants to run a bunch of tests and find out EVERYTHING about you. Which is obviously, very, very uncomfortable. He does care about you! He’s just a nerd

But as soon as you tell him about what people have done before, he’ll instantly regret his behaviour. No, you’re not just a weapon to him. Just an incredibly special person.

He’ll be a lot more casual about it after that, but he can’t help staring in awe whenever you display your power.

Japan

Much like Alfred, Kiku is very enthusiastic about the superhero angle of your ability. He’s so lucky to be with someone so unique, that’s all he can think whenever he sees you using telekinesis. Although he does sometimes secretly hope that you’ll get into some anime girl conspiracy plot… just because it’d be cool.

He’s a little insulted that you waited this long to tell him, but he’d never tell you that. Especially after you reveal why, then he feels extra guilty. Now he’ll put in a lot more effort to make sure you know that he’d love you no matter what.

Luckily, he’s still a fierce enough fighter to keep you safe from anyone trying to turn you back into a weapon. Not on his watch.

[azzibuckets]

a/n: in which i neglect all the other series and fics im supposed to be writing to send more angst ur way <3

here we go i guess😃

May 1, 2025

My therapist said it’s good to write down my feelings. Not sure how she’d say if it was letters, letters to you, but hey, something is better than nothing.

i’m already bracing myself

I haven’t been as good as I wanted to be with talking to our team - well, your team now - but it hurts too much knowing that they get to spend every day with you and I can’t.

the way i was just reminded these two won’t be teammates anymore😣

She wants me to move on, I can tell. It’s killing both of us, how I can’t let you go. But I guess writing these letters and stuffing them in my closet are how I’m trying to get my closure and deal with my feelings, so maybe this will help.

bracing myself clearly isn’t working

June 7, 2025

Have I mentioned that Drew hasn’t been talking to me? He blames me for our breakup, and he misses you like hell. I do too.

THAT IS IT. STOP WRITING (jk but still this hurts)

I don’t know if you remember, but it’s our anniversary. I saw that you were at the soccer game with the girls. You looked really good, really happy. I guess it doesn’t affect you like it affects me. And I know that should make me like, mad, or jealous. But I’m glad at least one of us is healing?

OUUUU CESSA WHEN I CATCH YOU ughhh i hate how you’re good at pulling heart strings

I wonder how Jose and Jon are doing. Jon unfollowed me the other day. That one hurt pretty bad. I miss my little brothers, and I miss your parents.

just stab me instead

August 28, 2025

idek anymore…………

What should’ve been. I was nervous the last quarter thinking about what to say to you after the game, but god, Azzi, you couldn’t even look at me. I tried to talk to you after the group pic but you disappeared.

no comment because my tear ducts decided to explode

All they told me was great game before I started crying. I don’t even know what came over me. But your mom hugged me and that made me cry even harder. They told me I was their daughter no matter what, and they loved me. I wrote it down as soon as I left because I didn’t ever wanna forget.

as expected more tears

Azzi, we didn’t even marry each other like we promised, and I still feel like we left a broken family. I didn’t mean for this many people to get hurt, for this many relationships to shatter because ours did.

i…. what?….. noooo…. please?🥺

From,

OH YOU DID NOT😨

October 2nd, 2025

…and I didn’t ask about you this time. I think I’m making some progress.

i mean i love growth, but NOT this kind!

October 20, 2025

I turn 24 today. Damn I feel old. I’ve spent a third of my life now loving you.

well☹️

October 22nd, 2025

I just got your present in the mail. You didn’t have to. I love it. Thank you.

WAIT!

- Paige

A DASH? wow

November 11, 2025

I debated on writing a card, but you didn’t write me one, and I’ve decided to leave the cards (haha) in your hand. So I’m just following your lead. I hope you enjoy 23.

paige 🥺🥺

December 7, 2025

Azzi,

no more “dear”😔

Hell of a game yesterday. Proud of you. National player of the year performance

manifesting of course next season😌

- P

this is getting shorter and shorter just like my life span after reading this

April 5, 2026

oh my god this is WAY too long

LET’S FUCKING GOOOO. Shit, man. Two peat natty champs??? Unbelievable.

again manifesting!

April 13, 2026

Drafted to the Sky????

what’s we are NOT going to manifest

Nice fit at the draft btw

of course she had to comment

and no salutations?😕

May 16, 2026

a whole year i probably would’ve kms

Dear Azzi,

okay we’re back

Fuck, the way you smiled at me after that game. Maybe I’ll have the courage to finally text you. I know it’s probably not the best idea but…I still regret everything. It’s been a little bit more than a year and it still hurts as bad as it did the first day. Is this normal?

i need an interaction next chapter i cannot with the letters 🥺

Love,

Paige

AND WE ARE BACK?

- - -

of course i loved it! the title reminded me of letter from houston by rod wave has the similar heartbreak/angst theme. hope you’re doing well! cannot wait for part 2

-🗑️

[melissart-s]

Meeting old faces!

<<Part 1 || Part 3 >>

[readyforthegarden]

Silver Springs - Part Nine

Masterlist

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Original Female Character

Synopsis: The year was 1976, the season was summer. The days were hot and the nights were hotter. Music was the best it had ever been, especially rock music. Sam Kiszka has been riding the high of being in one of the top bands on the scene, but when his bands tour is accompanied by another up-and-coming band, with a lead singer that gets on his very last nerve, will everything come crashing down or will they end up making music that changes the world?

Warnings: Smut, fingering, oral (f!receiving) unprotected sex , angst 18+ only, Minors DNI

A/N: Sammy Nation....just remember I love you.

WC: 3824

🎶 🎶 🎶

Josh hadn’t been joking about the 6AM pick up, knocking sharply on the door to Harlow’s hotel room at 5:59AM. Answering the door in a long, familiar looking t-shirt while rubbing sleep from her eyes, she let him in. Papers were strewn about, scribbles all over them. Her room smelled like her perfume, burnt coffee and cigarettes. From the looks of the clothes strew about, it looked like her suitcase had also exploded when her notebook did, scattering tops and dresses around the room. 

“The sun is barely up.” Harlow whined, walking into the bathroom and grabbing her toothbrush. Josh leaned against the doorframe, watching her as she continued mumble-mouthed complaints through toothpaste foam. “The water is probably going to be frigid cold when we get there.”

“It’ll have a few hours to warm up.” Josh shrugged. Harlow finished brushing her teeth, grabbing a comb from the countertop and running it through her hair. As she did her hair, the hem of her shirt raised, and Josh caught a glimpse of a small, thumb-sized bruise on her thigh. Clearing his throat, he glanced back around the apartment, noting now that there had been a faint, constant tone ringing in the room. his eyes caught the phone off the hook on the bedside table, pushed across the surface. 

“Didn’t care for you wake up call?” his question caused Harlow to pause. Looking into his eyes in his reflection in the mirror. 

“I didn’t care for the sweet nothings telling me goodnight.” she answered softly, clearing her throat and going back to tackling a small knot at the bottom of her hair. Josh sighed sharply through his nose, knowing his own younger brothers persistence. 

“Today is all about relaxation, anyway.” Josh brought the small smile back to his face.

“Is that why we’re up so early?” Harlow yawned, moving past him and going to her suitcase on the floor by her bed, scrounging through it and pulling out a pair of dark blue bikini bottoms. As she searched through her rumpled clothes for the top, Josh plopped onto the foot of her bed. Her chaotic searching amused him, tossing more clothes up into the air and around the room before she proclaimed triumphantly she found the top, moving back to the bathroom to change.

“Well, the first half one be that relaxing, depending on how you look at it.” Josh chuckled. “We have to hike to the beach.”

“Hike!?” Harlow popped her head out of the bathroom, her bare shoulder giving tell that she was still half dressed. “Josh you said nothing about a hike!”

“It’ll be good for you!” he proclaimed. “Now hurry up, we’re already behind schedule because of your lazy ass.” he heard Harlow continue grumbling as she got dressed, walking out and grabbing a pair of jean shorts off the chair and stepping into them, tugging them up her legs. Josh watched again as she searched for a clothing item.

“Do you see a yellow halter top?” Harlow asked, lifting a few things up and looking around Josh on the bed, digging through the folds and wrinkles of the twisted sheets. Josh looked around a bit before shaking his head. “Oh, I must’ve left it as Sa-“ Harlow stopped herself. “I must’ve forgot to pack it.”

“It’s okay, you know.” Josh said softly. “You’re both very bad at sneaking around.” Harlow turned to Josh, a blush across her face. 

“It just…” Josh stood up, standing in front of Harlow, placing his hands on her shoulders. He bent down slightly, making sure she was making eye contact with her.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” he smiled softly. “The heart wants what it wants. No matter how frustrating or annoying the thing that it wants is.”

“I wish my heart wanted someone like you.” Harlow half-smiled, letting Josh pull her in for a soft hug. 

“You couldn’t handle me, sweet thing.” Josh murmured to her. “Now come on, let’s get going.”

🎶 🎶 🎶

The hike to the beach was an hour long, and Harlow wasted no time in crashing down the pebbled shore into the water. Josh’s beach was part of a river, a large mouth that fed into a small lake. Her sore feet splashed into the water as she tossed her shoes back behind her. The sun was beating down hot on them, 

The two splashed around in the water for a while before settling on a large picnic blanket laying out on a patch of sunny grass. They had stopped at a store on their way to the trail, packing up a small, handled cooler with ice and drinks, and a few snacks. Harlow popped a grape into her mouth as she listened to Josh tell a story about how once Jake had tried drowning him in a lake similar to this, close to their home as children. Her laughter was interrupted but voices coming from the trail, catching their attention.

“Well hey there!” Danny and Sam poked their heads our from a few trees as they made their way into he clearing. Sam was wearing short red swim trunks and a loose, open button down, where Danny had chosen longer trunks, and a tank top. Harlow turned away quickly, looking back out to the water and focusing on a few ducks that were swimming nearby.

“Couldn’t help yourselves, huh?” Josh deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the duo. Danny shrugged as he settled on the blanket next to Josh. Sam stood awkwardly at the edge, not sure if he should sit near Harlow, who refused to look at him, or squeeze in with Josh and Sam. He settled at the edge of the blanket, closer to Harlow but still keeping a distance.

“Not my fault I had the same idea as you.” Danny shrugged, reaching over Josh and grabbing a handful of grapes from the container. Using his thumb, he popped one into his mouth, smiling innocently at Josh. “Harlow, that blue is a nice color on you.”

“Thank you, Danny.” she responded, glancing over to to the curly headed man. As she turned back to focus on the ducks, her eyes skimmed across Sam, who was watching her with a half-frown on his face. She turned away, searching for the waterfowl when she felt a hand on her calf. Snapping her head back, Sam was kneeling in front of her.

“Can we go talk?” he asked softly, blinking up at her. Harlow clenched her jaw gently before answering.

“Fine.” Harlow ignored Sam’s hand to help her up, pushing herself up off of the blanket and slipping her shoes back on, storming off towards the trail. Sam followed her, leaving Josh and Danny exchanging looks on the blanket, wondering if either of them would come back alive. 

Harlow forged a path down the trail, making sure they were a ways from any prying ears. When she was satisfied, she whipped around, hands on her hips. 

“Talk.” was all she said as she stared at Sam.

“Harlow, I’m sorry.” he sighed, stepping closer. Harlow watched him with sharp eyes. 

“You can’t talk to me like you do.” Harlow shook her head. “You can’t treat me like an imbecile in front of your brothers and producers and expect me to crawl into your fucking bed and open my legs for you.”

“I know, I-“

“It hurts Sam,” Harlow took a step closer to him now, he could see tears swelling up on her lash line. “I thought we were past this.”

“We are, I was just caught up in the moment, and didn’t realize I had snapped at you like that.” Sam expressed his regret, his wide brown eyes studying her. “I didn’t mean it towards you, not like that.”

“How did you mean it, Sam?!” Harlow threw out her hands, exasperated. 

“I’m used to working with my brothers!” Sam matched Harlow’s energy. “We talk like that to each other all the time! I was arguing with Jake and it was like if one of them cut in!” Harlow rolled her eyes. “Harlow, please.” Sam was quieter now as he reached forward, taking her hands in his and holding them to his chest, closing the gap between their bodies. “I’m sorry.”

“Sam,” Harlow breathed out, leaning into him. “Stop making a fool of me, please.”

“Never again, baby.” Sam let go of one of her hands, taking the back of her head in his hand and bringing her forward for a kiss. He dropped her other one and grabbed her waist, pulling her in closer to his body as her fingers dug into the material of his loose button down. When they parted, he pulled her towards the woods off the trail, and she followed, stepping over the various failed branches and leaves. 

Sam pulled her far off the path, to the point Harlow was getting concerned they’d get lost, but they stopped by a large boulder. Sam backed her up against it, resuming their kiss from the trail. His lips were hungrier this time, trying to taste every inch of her, as if their one night apart had been fifty torturous years.

“Let me make it up to you?” Sam murmured against her lips, his hands traveling down her bare torso, to the ties at the side of her bikini bottoms.  Harlow nodded and he pulled again, licking and kissing down her front as he knelt to the ground, ignoring the feeling of pebbles and twigs digging into his skin. Pressing kisses to her thighs, he slowly unraveled the knots at her hips, pulling the front of her bottoms down. 

Harlow felt the anticipation of his touch bubbling in her abdomen, something she didn’t think she would ever grow out of, and sighed with relief she didn’t realize she was craving as soon as the pad of his middle finger grazed her clit. Whining softly, she bucked her hips towards his hand, making Sam smile.

“Patience, baby,” Sam looked up at her through his lashes, causing her knees to turn to jello. “Let me taste you.” his large hands grabbed at Harlow’s thighs, parting them as she leaned back against the boulder. The position was awkward, the stone barely grazing her middle back, but was enough to angle her body for Sam to delve into her core, his tongue slowly lapping through her slick folds. 

“Oh fuck,” Harlow moaned. “Sam, oh!” 

“Shh,” Sam pulled away from her, smirking. “Don’t want Josh and Danny to come looking for us, do we?” Harlow shook her head and put her hand on the back of Sam’s ushering him back to her pussy. Chuckling, Sam licked his lips, adjusting his place on his knees and diving back in. Harlow tossed her head back as his tongue gently circled her clit, applying pressure just right to get her to buck her hips, and alternating between flat, long licks. 

Harlow could feel her legs begin to shake as he worked her closer and closer to the edge, her fingers tangling in his hair and cradling the back of his head and his hands gripped her quaking thighs.

“Sam, Sam, don’t stop, please!” Harlow whined in a whispered shout. Her fingernails were scraping against his scalp and the boulder as she held herself up. “Right here, right there don’t fucking stop!” Sam could feel a tired ache setting in his jaw as he continued eating her out, feeling her body trembling above him. “Yes! God!” Sam smiled against Harlow’s pussy, lapping up her wetness as she came on his tongue. 

Sam couldn’t hold himself back, he removed himself from her, palming his rock hard cock in his swim shorts before tugging them down and near-crushing Harlow’s body against the boulder. She brought a hand between their bodies, gathering her slick with her fingers and wrapping them around him with a firm grip, pumping him slowly as he licked into her mouth with a small growl, letting her taste herself.

One of Sam’s hands slid under Harlow’s thigh, hitching it to his hip and removing her hand from his cock, gliding the head through her folds. He moaned as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, gyrating against until he finally pushed in, making her moan. She was already clenching around him, and Sam set at a slow, hard pace.

“Faster,” Harlow breathed. He nuzzled into her neck, biting the skin gently. 

“You really wanna get caught, huh?” Sam chuckled, wrapping an arm around her back and reaching down, squeezing her ass cheek before giving it a playful slap.

“Don’t care,” she shook her head. “Just want you.”

“You have me.” Sam kissed her, but gave in, picking up his pace, deciding that rutting into her would be better than the sound of their skin slapping together echoing through the woods. The hairy trail to his pelvis scratched against Harlow’s bare skin, her clit rubbing against his just atop the base of his cock.

“God fuck Sam, that feels so good!” she cried softly in his ear. “I’m gonna cum,”

“Fuck you’re so tight baby,” Sam grunted back. “Cum on my cock for me, I need it. Baby cum for me.” Harlow ground her hips against Sam’s thrusts, leaning forward and biting down on his shoulder to muffle her cry as she came. The feeling of the bite coursed through him, causing his hips to stutter as he emptied himself inside her, clutching Harlow’s body to his.

She was whispering something, as the blood rush subsided and he didn’t have his heartbeat pounding in his ears anymore, he tried to focus on the words.

“What baby?” he asked softly. “You don’t have to be quiet anymore, what are you saying?”

“I love you,” Harlow mumbled into his neck, pressing a kiss at the hollow of this throat. Sam pulled back, taking one of his hands and brushing her hair back as he gazed down on her, a soft smile tugging the corner of his lips. 

“Harlow, I-“ 

“Are you guys done making up?!” Josh’s voice rang through the trees. “I’d like to get back to the car before sundown!” Sam squeezed his eyes shut as Harlow giggled, leaning back against the rock and readjusting her bottoms, tying the ties into double knots. Sam stuffed himself back into his short and held out his hand.

“Let’s get back before Josh comes to find us.” 

🎶 🎶 🎶

The next week of rehearsals and recording was better than it ever had been. Sam and Harlow didn’t have to run around and hide, and Sam had been able to keep his attitude in check, save for a few minor slips with his brothers.

They were working on a new song Sam and Harlow had worked on together shortly after their reconciliation, finally working it out to play it in full for recording. Josh, loving the vibes, demanded perfection so they could all record playing together to keep the energy up. After a few tries of the song, he decided to step back, letting Sam take the lead vocals with Harlow.

“All I want is to see you smile” Sam sang into the mic in front of him and his bass.

“If it takes just a little while

I know you don't believe that it's true

I never meant any harm to you”

“Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone” Harlow joined him for the chorus, holding her mic in her hand and the cord in the other, dancing around and grinning as she sang the lyrics to the chorus. Soon Jake, Danny and Josh’s voices followed for the final chorus and fade out.

“Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone!” 

Harlow danced her way over to Sam’s mic, leaning into it and singing with him, keeping eye contact as he smiled back at her, his eyes glimmering with adoration.

“Don't you look back

Ooh don't you look back

Ooh don't you look back

Ooh don't you look back”

As soon as the producer let them know the track was done recording, Harlow spun around, giggling and dancing back over to her stand to put her mic back.

“You guys, that song,” Jake shook his head with a smile. “It’s really good. You I can see, but Sam helped come up with it?”

“Hey!” Sam shouted from behind her, though his voice was good natured. Jake continued to banter playfully with his brother as Josh and Danny talked to Harlow about the song.

Harlow glanced over to Sam from her mic, proud of their song, and hoping to see the same feeling in his demeanor. Sam made a move to walk over to her as he set his bass on the holder, words seemingly at his parted lips when the door to the studio swung open, distracting them.

“Sammy!” A tall young woman, with pin straight raven colored hair down past her bottom, flew into the room. Sam turned away from Harlow, just in time to catch the woman as she jumped towards him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and legs around his waist, and her lips planted themselves right on Sam’s. 

Harlow furrowed her brow, watching Sam and this woman kiss in front of her, the former seemingly not doing anything to stop it. 

“That sounded amazing!” the woman grinned when she pulled away. “I missed hearing you sing, why didn’t you tell me you were back in town, baby?!”

“Baby?” Harlow mumbled under her breath. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned her head, seeing Josh standing there with pursed lips.

“I uh, I didn’t-“ Sam stammered as the woman lowered herself from her arms, taking his face between her palms and shaking his head, making his long hair move around him. 

“Did you guys add a new band member or something?” the dark haired woman glanced behind Sam to see Harlow. “Your voice was really good!”

“Thanks…” Harlow accepted the compliment with a tight smile. 

“I’m Cindy,” she extended her hand out towards Harlow. Her smile was kind and breathtaking, Harlow had a hard time not smiling back more genuinely. Harlow shook Cindy’s hand, exchanging her name as well. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

“You too, Cindy.” Harlow glanced back to Josh.

“Cindy is Sam’s fiancé.” Josh shot a glare over Cindy’s shoulder at Sam, who was standing there, tight-lipped and cheeks red, glancing between Harlow and Cindy. As she swallowed down her anger, Harlow let her eyes flicker to Sam and back to his fiancé.

“Congratulations,” Harlow nodded toward them. “To the both of you. If you’ll excuse me…” Harlow moved around the happy couple, leaving the studio and storming down the hall, finding an empty practice room and locking herself in. She rested against the closed door, doing her best to take slow, deep breaths but failing as she felt her heart cracking in her chest. 

“Stupid, stupid girl!” she hissed to herself under her breath, kicking her leg and sending the small piano bench sailing across the tiny room into the wall, clattering with a music stand as it tumbled to the ground. A soft knock on the door startled Harlow further, and she stopped moving and breathing until a voice spoke up.

“It’s Josh, Harlow.” his voice was low and soft, and she opened the door to him. Pushing it open he stepped inside, watching her pace as he kicked it shut behind him with the heel of his shoe. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Harlow waved him off. 

“No, I should have said something.” Josh shook his head. “We all pretty much thought it was over before we left on our tour. That’s what he told us.”

“I slept in his bed. Fucked him in their bed.” Harlow laughed bitterly. “I’m a fucking fool.”

“You didn’t know.” Josh reasoned with her, reaching out and stopping her from wearing a hole in the already threadbare remnant carpet.

“I told him I loved him. He said he’d never make a fool of me again!” Harlow stared at Josh, tears brimming in her eyes. “At the beach. I’m his lover and his fool, and that’s it.”

“Brandy,” Josh whispered, using her real name, causing the tears to spill over and cascade down her cheeks. Throwing herself into Josh’s chest, he cradled her there, kissing the top of her head. He let her sob in his chest, resting his cheek on her head and swaying her gently back and forth. 

Once she had calmed down a bit, he pulled back, taking her face in his hands and wiping the remaining tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. 

“Let’s go get a drink, okay? There’s that bar down the street, we’ll get nice and liquored up, and then we’ll dance the night away on the bar top until they kick us out.” Josh have Harlow a half-hearted smile and she sniffled. 

“I’d rather just go crawl into to bed.” she murmured. “Can I stay at your place? i just don’t want to be alone.”

“Of course.” Josh nodded. “Jake and I would love to have you. Come on, we’ll call it an early day for us singes, let the back up band do the heavy lifting for the rest of the afternoon.” Josh finished drying her tears, pressing a kiss to her forehead and ushered her out the room and studio.

Harlow laid in Josh’s bed that night, playing with a frayed end of his comforter. As she laid beside her friend in the dark, she wondered, was Sam with Cindy right now? Was she laying in the spot she laid in only days before? Was he making love to her the way he did to Harlow? Did Cindy run her fingers over the birthmark on his underarm, making him laugh and squirm from it tickling?

“Stop those thoughts.” Josh placed a hand over hers, halting her fidgeting. 

“Easier said than done.” Harlow murmured. “I hate this.”

“I know.”

“It’s like…” Harlow sighed, rolling over onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. “Since the moment we met, there’s been this rope or-or chain tethering us together…” Josh watched Harlow as she explained, licking her lips before continuing. “Damn him. Damn everything about him and his fucking lies.” Harlow laid in silence for a few moments, then sprang up, startling Josh.

“What? What is it?!”

“I need paper!” she scrambled out of his bed and Josh did the same, grabbing a pad of paper off his nightstand and thrusting it and a pen towards Harlow. She began scribbling, pacing around his bedroom. Josh watched as she worked, jumping again when a voice sounded next to him.

“Everything okay? I heard shouting.” Jake yawned. 

“Get your guitar.” Harlow commanded the younger twin, not looking up from the page. “We have a song to write.” 

🎶 🎶 🎶

Taglist: @joshsindigostreak @ascendingtostardust @sammysprincess @sammykiszkamyass @belovedsamuel @sunfl0wer-power @indigo-starcatcher @sammyscherub @earthlysorrows @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @losfacedevil @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvff @gretavanfleetposts @sacredthefran @josiee-gvf @joshkiszkatoothgap @madneedshelp @gardensgatedaisy @demonrat444 @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @happy-harpy-stuff @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @jankandjonch @gvfpal

@allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet@gold-mines-melting @earthgrlsreasy @mountain-in-springtime @forcebond301 @stardust-and-shadows @llightmyllovee @gretavangroupie @comesofarsomehow @starcatcherkiszka @indigofallingsky @hellowgoodbye @hearts-hunger

[stellarred]

"Q, WE HAVE TO TALK..."

****

Q threw his arms around Picard and leaned in for a kiss. But, Picard immediately resisted and broke free of Q's tender embrace.

"What's the matter, Jean-Luc?" he asked, his velvety voice quickly trailing off to a small and nervous whisper.

Picard paused, sighed heavily, and then turned to face the entity.

"Q, we have to talk."

The entity swallowed, and his entire body began to feel tense.

Something was very wrong.

"Wha--what...is it, Jean-Luc?"

"I had a conversation with Guinan."

Q's mind began to race, and for the first time in his existence, he felt an uncomfortable sensation coursing through him. Panic. Panic that whatever was wrong, he would lose Jean-Luc to it.

"What did that odious creature--I-I mean, what did she--uh...say?"

"She told me...everything."

"Everything?" Q asked, his voice trembling.

"She revealed your...history, your past dealings with her," replied Picard, his eyes hardening and his lips curling in anger.

"No," Q whispered. His body felt a chill from the neck down.

"How could I have been so...so bloody stupid as to love you?!"

Q's breath caught in his throat; his omniscient brain clawing frantically for a response to calm Jean-Luc down.

Q realized that within mere seconds, his capitaine's heart was hardening and turning against him in front of his very eyes.

A catastrophe in the making.

"I was an adolescent when I tormented her family and people. I was young and I didn't mean--"

" DAMN YOU, Q!! HOW COULD YOU? Guinan has always been a dear friend. Her friendship is priceless to me, and I have been having an intimate relationship with the one person who has inflicted so much pain in her life!"

"Jean-Luc, please listen to me!"

Picard turned away from him. Q's eyes filled with tears, and his body shook with increasing despair. Q desperately tried to reach for Jean-Luc.

"Get away from me! I never want to see you again!" Picard snapped.

"Jean-Luc, stop!!! Let me explain!" Q cried reaching out for him again.

Picard pushed Q's hands away.

"It's over, Q. I may not have the ability to physically resist you. But, my heart will never open to you again."

Q's face, now completely red, suddenly crumpled into a mess of sheer despair.

He vanished into space, and shot across the galaxy and passed two others before stopping at a nebula where he exploded into a fierce wail of sorrow.

Then, Q suddenly woke up next to Picard, drenched in a sweat. "A nightmare. I don't have bad dreams. I don't dream at all unless it's a shared dream with Jean-Luc. How horribly human of me," he muttered to himself..

He looked over and put a hand on Jean-Luc's shoulder. His Favorite was sound asleep and nestled next to him, unaware that his omnipotent lover had just experienced his first and only nightmare.

He sat up in bed.

"What HAS that imp said to Jean-Luc about me? What has Guinan told him?" Q wondered, narrowing his eyes.

****

LET'S ANALYZE!

Picard learned in Q Who that Q and Guinan are enemies with a history.

Did Guinan ever tell Picard what happened? 🤔

If she had, it could've ruined any chance of Qcard ever happening.

Picard has always been close to Guinan, and to let her best friend have an intimate relationship with her enemy when he would listen to her wisdom? How could she let him?

If she did tell Picard, then Picard developed feelings for Q despite Guinan's revelations about Q. 👀👀👀

What if Picard NEVER asked her about Q at all beyond what we saw in Ten Forward in Q Who? It's doubtful, but what if he didn't want to know because of his repressed desires for Q?

Did Picard want to essentially make his own judgement about Q?

What do you think, Qcard Nation?

[p-receh]

I AM CRAVING FOR UR 319 AU RN😭😭 and it brings me lots of questions that i apologize for rambling but—!

ok, first of all—im fucking excited on how u’ll expand this au! i am soooo invested in it and ur world building makes me wanna kneel over and just sob over this brilliant idea of yours!!

then the goddamn flashbacks! it brought more questions on what the fuck attacked the kokotiam gang and, possibly, is the reason for the destruction of the other planets (and tapops, as well?👀) AND HOW THE HELL DID THE ELEMENTALS BECAME HUMAN??

(btwwww, i adore how u make the system of each place just fucking work!! having gur’latan being a cyberpunk city and baraju as a military nation scratched my brain right😭🫵)

then i am also curious on how the hell did solar ended up in the cubulus forces. assuming that the other elementals are in their respective place, what did he do to catch the higher-ups attention? was it his intelligence, did an high rank officer saw his potential, or was it something else?👀👀 alsooo, if the other officers even saw solar’s potential to be part of baraju’s forces—how come he was put in quabac’s and, coincidentally, in where gempa is??

andandandand the idea of gempa and solar slowly becoming close as brothers and meeting the others just makes me wanna kneel down and—gaaahhhhhhhh😭😭😭😭😭

First of all, I give my deepest gratitude to you, rineshower. It's just a simple au concept but you made digest more to this au.

I may be slow, but I always try to myself to learn, to write, and to draw more with this story because of you.

So please don't stop rambling :')

ok, first of all-im fucking excited on how u'll expand this au! i am soooo invested in it and ur world building makes me wanna kneel over and just sob over this brilliant idea of yours!! then the goddamn flashbacks! it brought more questions on what the fuck attacked the kokotiam gang and, possibly, is the reason for the destruction of the other planets (and tapops, as well 👀)

I really want to write an Elemental story since I read some au concept by @/vanillaxoshi. Along with recent essay about the elementals and their headcannon I wrote AND This concept art here made me wanted to make an au concept of elementals as well.

I'm not a fan of Star Wars or Star Trek, mind you, but I couldn't help but to think, "What if Oboi's lived in a deserted planet like Ray's early daily lives from Episode VII? Would that be cool?" (I only watched it once at the theater and never seen it again afterwards by the way.)

Then I read this theory I posted before and it clicked me. "Would that be interesting concept who's the fake ones and who's the real one in the same story? Which one they should protect and which one they should fight for?"

I once made this au from different franchises, never published it cause that one was full of holes and lack of world building, so I remade it with this franchise. Turns out It... Surprisingly works? From the moment I randomly write down the prompt, my mind explodes in possibilities.

Therefor here we are. I truly at first wanted to give more prompts and I dunno... spoil anything? Yet, my head constantly showcasing scenes and scenarios for me to write it down!

So my apologies for very veeeery long update. I try to write a proper story with minimized the typos. (Again, non native English speaker here :/)

AND HOW THE HELL DID THE ELEMENTALS BECAME HUMAN??(btwwww, i adore how u make the system of each place just fucking work!! having Gur'latan being a cyberpunk city and baraju as a military nation scratched my brain right 😭🫵)

You mean how the hell elementals could lived as a living being without Boboiboy? That my friend is a secret. ;)

Btw that's also how I see most of planets during my speed run of season 2 comic book.

'Gugura background really reminds me of Wall-e, Oh How about Gur'latan one is cyberpunk theme one... Maybe added aesthetics and glory buildings like Capitol from Hunger Games? This all tantrum planet could be perfect if I make it more like a military nation as it's setting, Windara gets me the vibe of slash Professor Layton and Catsle in The Sky theme, and Rimbara... To be fair Rimbara was not to far from most of villages in my country or any country at all lmao'.

then i am also curious on how the hell did solar ended up in the cubulus forces. assuming that the other elementals are in their respective place, what did he do to catch the higher-ups attention? was it his intelligence, did an high rank officer saw his potential, or was it something else? 👀alsoooo, if the other officers even saw solar's potential to be part of Baraju's forces-how come he was put in quabac's and, coincidentally, in where gempa is?? andandandand the idea of gempa and solar slowly becoming close as brothers and meeting the others just makes me wanna kneel down and- gaaahhhhhhhh

Whoaaaaaaaaaa! Nice theory you got there! Next chapter, It will be Solar's point of view!

Why must Solar wanted to join this troops anyway? His shooting skills was more beneficial at Baraju's nations than this lower levels. Most of brave youth generations will said it boldly Baraju's is the perfect place to upgraded your fighting technique... Right?

[helpistolethesecharacters]

Love Conquers All

Zuko x Male Reader

Word Count: 1856

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

Y/n could understand where Zuko was coming from, but he knew he wouldn't be surprised if it didn't go as well as he had perhaps envisioned.

It was all very well and good that he had finally found his way, but he had hurt the Avatars group a fair bit before finding his way. Y/n also knew that as someone who had been a part of Zuko's attempts to hurt them, he had no leg to stand on in helping smooth the situation over. He hadn't been as single-minded in his focus on capturing the Avatar, but he had only cared because Zuko cared.

He didn't think that would matter to them, but then, Y/n didn't particularly care one way or the other how they felt about him. The only person who mattered to him was Zuko. Well, and Iroh, but that was a given of anyone who had met the calm old man.

When they made it to the kids campsite Y/n hung back, staying by the exit. It wasn't that he didn't trust them not to ambush him and Zuko, oh wait, it was that. Never mind.

Y/n watched the exchange carefully. He could feel it in the air mere seconds before she struck.

Faster than their eyes could follow, Y/n moved. By the time that everyone had caught up with the events, Y/n was standing in front of Zuko, sheathing his sword after having deflected Katara's water whip.

Silence reigned for a single heartbeat. Then Katara shrieked in outrage.

"How dare you!"

Y/n was sure she was still speaking, but he had a habit of being selectively deaf when it most benefited him.

And then, with almost no warning she was throwing water at him with increasingly wild movements.

It was no match for Y/n's technique.

It wasn't common knowledge, in fact, he had hidden it for most of his life, but Y/n was an airbender.

Yeah, literally the biggest lie in their world was that there were no more airbenders. The Air Nomads had had the practice of removing non-benders from their society and giving them to the other kingdoms.

What they didn't know was that all it took was for the right circumstances to happen and suddenly you had airbenders in the descendants of those non-benders.

It didn't change much ultimately, they were so few that they wouldn't ever be considered a threat to anyone, not that the Air Nomads had been when the Fire Nation had attacked them a hundred years ago.

What it all came down to, was a confused child suddenly developing powers that no one was able to control anymore.

Luckily for Y/n, the only person who had been around the first time he had bended was Zuko. As secrets tend to do, it had bound the two closer together than anyone would have thought ever since that day.

It was a loyalty that had seen Y/n stowing away on the ship Zuko had been banished on, and one that had been returned by Zuko had never once considered that the apparently Fire Nation child could be the reborn Avatar.

What it came down to, was that Katara was having no luck besting Y/n. Much as he wanted to put her in her place properly, Y/n knew that what they were trying to accomplish here would be hurt by that. From the looks of things though, they might have lost that chance.

Y/n stayed on the defensive, letting her tire herself out instead of outright attacking. He was worried about the look the Avatar was giving him though. That wide eyed expression couldn't mean anything good for his secret. He had always known that it would come out eventually, but he had hoped it would last longer than this dammit!

"Katara stop!"

The kid was trying to get in between then now, but the water tribe girl was apparently past the point of caring. She was just not backing down.

"Wait, I wanna talk to him!"

"No! They need to get out of here and never come back!"

Y/n was sure that her words might have been more intimidating if she weren't so clearly out of her league. He decided to ignore the voice in the back of his head that whispered that if he had used even half of his abilities properly before this they might have caught the Avatar long ago.

The element of surprise couldn't be taken for granted after all, and judging from the kid's reaction just now, all they would have had to do was show him Y/n's powers and he probably would have stayed on the ship that first day.

Y/n pulled himself out of his thoughts with a shrug. It was a bit late for that right now.

The Avatar had managed to get between Y/n and Katara, and seemed to be trying to talk her down from her rage. Y/n watched, only mildly interested. This wasn't how he had thought today would go.

He turned to Zuko, who was still standing behind him.

"Are you okay?"

He just looked Y/n over, head to toe looking for injuries.

"I'm fine, but are you sure it was a good idea to show them that? I could have taken a few hits. I've had worse before, you know that."

Y/n clenched his jaw at the reminder.

"I know. I'm sorry. You know how I feel about you willingly putting yourself in danger though. You didn't even try to defend yourself. Don't think I didn't spot that."

Y/n leveled a flat stare at Zuko.

He at least had the good grace to blush in shame and hide behind his fringe.

Y/n turned back to the group of kids gathered in front of them.

He gave them his best blank stare. He had nothing more to say to them, this was about Zuko teaching the Avatar firebending after all.

Besides, he was sure that anything he said would be twisted around and spat back at him by the water tribe girl.

"You're an airbender!"

Y/n refused to give up his secret that easily.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The little blind girl perked up.

"You're lying. You are an airbender? I thought they were all wiped out."

Y/n stubbornly refused to respond. He could see the water tribe girl's eye narrow at his silence. She was just about to explode on him again when Y/n felt a shift in the air. Less than a second later he felt Zuko's hand on his shoulder.

He slumped slightly. Damn Zuko's soft heart.

"Yes. I can bend air."

The shout of pure joy that the Avatar let out was enough to make Y/n feel slightly guilty about keeping it from him the whole time he had been after him.

"I'm not alone! There must be more, right? Some of the monks survived and hid right? Please tell me!"

Man, this kid was excitable, and as happy as he was, Y/n didn't want to be the one to tell him that he was wrong. He couldn't take the soft option of letting Zuko tell him though, they would probably turn on the both of them and Zuko wouldn't be able to fulfill his destiny.

"No."

"No you're not going to tell him?"

That girl was really starting to get on Y/n's nerves.

"No, they didn't survive."

That shut her up.

It also made the kid tear up, but there was no point building a lie just to make him feel better in this moment. That would be more cruel than the truth.

"The only reason that I exist right now is because of your ancestors though. Your people had a practice of testing their babies for airbending potential."

The Avatar was nodding along. Good, this wouldn't be a surprise to him.

"Well, when they showed to be non-benders your people gave them away. They were sent off to the other kingdoms, not welcome in, nor considered to be, a part of the Air Nomads."

"Air Nomads are airbenders, so if they aren't airbenders they aren't Air Nomads. That's just the way things are."

Y/n grit his teeth. It was an old hurt, but it still stung. He pulled in a deep breath and the only thing that stopped him from screaming about the injustice of it all was Zuko's hand that was still on his shoulder lending him the strength to continue.

"Your people were wrong. Occasionally their methods would be wrong, and they would let a bender slip away into another kingdom. But more than that, its in our blood, in the thing that makes us who we are. When enough of your ancestors were born from the Air Nomads, no matter whether they could bend themselves or not, you have the possibility to end up as a bender."

The Avatar's jaw was hanging open as he stared in horror at Y/n.

"But, they couldn't possibly have known that! If they had, maybe they wouldn't have done what they did."

Y/n's eyes shone with a dark light. This was something he would ultimately have to give up, but it was worth planting the seed if he could.

"So your saying that the only possible use non-benders have is the possibility of benders being born from them?"

The Avatar stopped cold and stared at Y/n in horror.

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Then what? You had no problem with the idea that they would be thrown away like yesterday's garbage up until now. The only thing that's changed is this piece of information."

Y/n pulled back as he saw the tears form in the Avatar's eyes.

"Think on that for a while. You have a non-bender in your group. Do you consider him to be useless?"

The kids all looked like they had been hit over the head.

Y/n was sure that this would be the end of their interaction for the day.

"We'll come back tomorrow. Maybe then we can talk without resorting to violence."

He turned back to Katara who looked like she was getting ready to unleash whatever thoughts had been happening in that head of hers.

"Before you put your foot in it, consider this. We have two things you want. One you desperately need, the other, something you desperately want. Have a good night."

Zuko turned and walked back the way they had come, with Y/n bringing up the rear. He didn't trust them not to attack them from behind.

Y/n hoped that with the reminder that they needed Zuko to teach the Avatar firebending, they would be more open to meeting the next day. If that weren't enough, then there was the added bonus of Y/n being the only other airbender that they knew. He was sure that the Avatar wouldn't be able to resist the pull to be around someone who was like him for long.

Either way, they still had a long way to go to convince them that they didn't want to hurt them and that this wasn't a trap.

'Oh well,' Y/n thought as he lay sleepily beside their fire, 'things always look better in the morning.'

[dailytatsu]

Hello! I love your writing and I recently saw a post of yours about the reader being the God Of Chaos and I was wondering if you could make a part two with characters of your choice, if it’s not that much of a trouble! Remember to drink water and rest well <3

Tysm! I’m really happy to see that a lot of you enjoyed it, and being honest, chaos reader now have a special place in my heart lol

Then let’s write a second part! Hope everyone likes these as well! ( ✌︎'. ')✌︎

Thanks for the request!✨

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[II - HC] God of Chaos! Reader & Genshin Characters

Characters: Bennett, Tartaglia, Scaramouche, Ganyu, Chongyun

Gn! Reader

Sorry for any mistakes!

Request are open!

Genshin Masterlist

<- First part

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BENNETT

First of all, how dare u

This boy already has a chaotic life for you to arrive and making it worse.

But being honest, it wasn’t intentional, just like always.

Besides he’s a kid. The chaos of a kid + chaos of his bad luck, I mean- how were you not supposed to meet him?

That day was really strange, for the very first time the chaos wasn’t attracted by you, but you were attracted to chaos. Like a moth following a lantern on the street, something that you felt like you had to do, some kind of childish curiosity that guide your way to find Bennett in the middle of his adventure.

Poor boy was charging his pyro attack to max until a barrel exploded near him, he flew in the air waiting for a rough landing before his trajectory sent him where you were standing, still looking for the origin of that uneasy sensation of curiosity.

Luckily for him you could see his shadow just in time to react. You looked up because of the strange silhouette on the ground next to you and there he was, surrounded by a cloud of smoke and fire, with his screams getting louder and louder as he falls.

You trapped him in your arms, with the situation turning even more strange when the first thing he said was “nice catch!” with the bright smile of his.

Like if his hair on fire wasn’t a big deal.

It’s raining men ig

Before you could ask anything, a crowd of angry hilichurls appeared from the same direction where Bennett came at first.

The white haired boy jumped off from your arms and tried to grasp your hand to run away together, but instead you pulled him near and then behind you before rising your hand to the front, pointing the stampede of furious creatures about to reach you both.

Not even a leaf fell from a tree before the hilichurls stopped, all of them felt your presence immediately, the primitive sensation of danger that meant a silent threat. Following the message that another camp of them told long ago, ‘get away from that stranger’.

Bennett was surprised, kind of scared at least. He wasn’t sure about how to call that feeling.

Are you a beast tamer?! Maybe an adventurer that discovered a secret about hilichurl’s behavior! Wait- where are you going? Don’t leave him behind, the doubt won’t let him sleep tonight!

You explained to him that it was dangerous for both to be near each other (more dangerous for him than for you), still you needed to get away. To protect Bennett and the other adventurers that were exploring nearby.

But why? He was so excited about meeting someone who could react that fast and precise! Like the heroes in the legends!

Please show him your ways, he’s begging you, how can you be rude to Bennett? That literally illegal.

When he heard that there was a God of Chaos exploring all over Teyvat like an errant he connected two points (even if there wasn’t a single thing to connect in first place).

You’re like him!

Hello ?? You’re literally ?? the most qualified to be part of Benny’s Adventure Team ??

Negative plus negative is positive, isn’t it? Maybe if you roam near Bennett his bad luck can collide with your chaos to neutralize each other!

You told him that you were leaving after that short conversation, but in reality you just hide from his sights and followed him from behind.

That kid really put you on your nerves, running into danger without knowing. Was that what Zhongli have to deal with every time you visit Liyue?

The old man really deserves an apology.

You’re not doing this an habit, of course not! You’re the all mighty God of Chaos, the ultimate troublemaker! How was even possible to think about wanting to protect a human just because he has bad luck? That’s ridic-

“Watch out!” You had to abandoned your hiding spot to reach Bennett again, pulling him away from the place where a bunch of hunter’s traps were. “Barbatos, why all your children have to be like this?…” You whispered for yourself, actually waiting for a answer, maybe a little too much because you didn’t free Bennett. His feet were just barely touching the ground.

“Oh, it’s you! Hello again!”

Enough of babysitting, that’s it, both of you are heading back to Mondstadt. This boy is a danger for himself, who allowed him to be an adventurer in first place?

After abandoned him in front of the city’s bridge you turn back to the forest, believing that it was the end, even if in the process your chaos took the life of some pigeons nearby.

Next morning you were sleeping peacefully on the branches of a huge old tree, feeling the wind of your bard friend greeting you from the distance.

Then a storm started out of nowhere; your fault.

And almost immediately you heard a cheerful voice below you, calling your name like a lost child searching for their parents.

As Bennett climbs the tree to talk with you a lightning strikes near enough to make both of you jump because of the surprise, falling from the branch and meeting each other on the mud below.

“Sorry, my bad.” Bennett and you said at the same time, to later laugh because of that.

It seems that both are more alike than you would expect

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TARTAGLIA

How do I explain that this guy already knew about you-

As you may suspect, yes, his only reason of wanting to meet you was to fight you.

The first step for taking the thrones of gods is beating one of the youngest, isn’t it? It would be a good start, and you’d be also one of the best opponents he ever fought! The only thing still needed was a way to make you accept his challenge.

Tartaglia’s first try was by attacking you without hesitation, not even a warning, just shooting an arrow for behind and waiting for you to counter. And yes, that didn’t go as planned, the rope of his bow snapped even before aiming.

It wouldn’t be that easy, the distance is always boring for a fight, why not just attacking directly?

Because you learned from Morax that you must not hurt mortals; the reason of your trip was for appreciate the human’s life, to understand why you exist, to have a reason to not end with everything that crosses your path.

To convince yourself that you’re not only destruction.

But it was hard to stay calm if he constantly provokes you to fight back. Always dodging, always running away, always breaking his weapons.

Barely holding yourself to not to break his Vision at this point.

Dodging one of his attacks again you ended up on top of a nearby structure by the side of the road, watching him from above and begging for him to stop for once.

Tartaglia clicked his tongue in annoyance, you would escape again. He was as sick as you of that senseless hunt. Maybe was the stress what impede him to think wisely, because his next strategy was like a death wish.

The water blades disappeared from his hands and, for the first time, he had a casual talk with you. Smiling and waving his hands to look relaxed.

Then he mentioned the incident with Osial, a event that almost became a tragedy. And the only reason you knew about that was because Morax told you about it, about his contract and the reason why he left his position as an Archon the next time you visited him.

It was your fault, isn’t it?

“… what?”

"As you heard! The conditions for summoning Osial was ideal, bringing back a sealed god filled with hatred and hungry for destruction couldn't have been possible if you hadn't been around Liyue that day.” His hand lifted to pointing at you, also smiling as your expression turned into a concerned one. “Oh, our God of Chaos, you were successfully satiated as the catastrophe filled the ocean! Bring us back the destruction, because it's the only thing you ever knew!”

He was obviously just mocking you, but still Tartaglia managed to actually make you think about it.

Your fault. Your chaos.

And even with that, Rex Lapis didn’t seal you or tried to eradicated you like the burden that you are for every nation.

It’s just a matter of time before you destroy all humane existence when you get bored of your fantasy of not being a spirit of chaos.

An infinity of negative and dark thoughts began to fill your mind.

It was sad, it was so sad that the erosion already began to have an effect on you being so young. You were afraid, you were concerned, the stress ate you inside while you tried to convince yourself that it wasn’t like he said.

Your mind collapsed, and you left the wrath take the control for the first time in centuries.

A fight? That’s all he wanted? Easy, that’s easy, just kill him and everything will end. His annoying voice won’t torment you ever again, his words won’t hurt ever again.

It’s easy, so easy. Mortal life is so easy to end.

He’ll defeat the gods, he’ll take their thrones and will witness the world’s end in the final battle he planned since his first encounter with the traveler.

But that day Tartaglia noticed the difference between your strength, it wasn’t huge, neither significant enough. But you were stronger, and it’s well known that wrath and despair can provide extra energy when it’s needed.

The perception of time disappeared, the world did too. Nature, men creation, everything will succumb against chaos, existence itself will be reduce to ashes.

That’s why you exist, to make sure there’s not too much heroes trying to make the nations a boring place. You just need to accept it!

But…

‘There’s no other way?’

The question sparkle inside your mind, bringing you back out of nowhere. There’s a lot of irregularities in the ground nearby, the land was broke for something that impacted with an inhuman strength, even the structure where you step on top was gone, just the remain of a building was left.

And your hands were holding something bland and soft, the warm sensation on your palms and the strange movements caught your attention to look down. Your hands were strangling Tartaglia.

From the other side his hands were trying to remove yours, his strength was minimal, not even able of closing his fingers around your wrist.

A expression full of pain and regretting of his decisions, question by question filling his mind while the air became harder to get.

A broken bow, his Vision has been thrown away. Now it was a human versus a god.

You took a step back, afraid of what you were about to do. You have to stay calm and quiet forever? To prevent catastrophe, to bring peace to mortals? Who’s the one you have to blame for creating you? How you could think that coexisting with humans was possible? Even if you say that you don’t want to make any problems you would stay near them.

“Just… leave me alone.”

Was the last thing you said, a whisper that wanted to apologize for a whole eternity, a regret that couldn’t be forgot. And then you left that place, escaping one last time.

But wait for him, Tartaglia thought, he didn’t need your compassion.

Sooner or later he would have his revenge.

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SCARAMOUCHE

Finally! With Shogun Raiden’s gnosis on his possession and the all mighty hero of Mondstadt weakened there’s no way things can go wrong for him!

A little delay in his plans, but still a smile remained on his face. Kunikuzushi couldn’t wish for anything else right now.

But you already know what is going to happen next.

In this world exist Murphy’s Law?, because anything that could go wrong went wrong after he claim for victory. Even being far away of the factory it seemed that the karma reached him immediately.

He just got his guard down for a couple seconds, and then, whoshh. Now you see it, now you don’t. The gnosis disappeared from his pocket, not here, not there. The annoyance filled his chest and then a irritated growl came from his throat.

What in the world happened?

Scaramouche looked to a huge tree in front of him, and there you were. On your favorite place to sit, above from everyone else in a branch. Holding the gnosis as the board piece it looks like, playing throwing it up a little and then catching it again and again.

Who you think you are to act that carefree on his presence? If you wanted to die so bad then you could just have asked for it.

Even if he called you and made a question first you counter it with another one, what was he doing with that thing?

You were sick of those who defy the gods thanks to his ‘workmate’.

Scaramouche ordered you to give him the gnosis back, threats and insults came out from his mouth as a distraction; in reality, he was just ready to set the first hit from behind.

But something made him stop just in time when you talked again.

“I don’t care what you are planning, but if it involves the ones who I’m in debt with, you will surely fail.”

“Another clairvoyant? Hah, your type are more words than an actual subject matter, but I have to admit it, they’re also very skill to escape.”

“It was a warning.” You said, throwing again the gnosis, this time to his direction.

Scaramouche reacted in time to rise his arms but in midair something caught the chess-like piece before his fingers. Surprising him again and making the irritation event more unbearable.

It was a tanuki. The same that looked behind a second before running even deeper in the forest.

The chaos isn’t necessary a huge disaster; a little accident, an inconvenient, a failure, it depends time and place to be considered like a catastrophe.

Scaramouche had a killer gaze just for you in his face, in respond you smiled at him, then covered your mouth with both hands to fake surprise.

“What a shame! Better luck next time, gods defier.” Your laugh could be heard all over the woods, like a spectral echo that chased him his way to get back the gnosis.

He got it back after a few minutes of a stressful walk through the forest, found the tanuki dancing on a stone before disappearing again. When he got closer he found that piece, making sure it was the real one and not just another trick.

The following days he received endless reports of Fatui soldiers and entire camps being reduced to rubble aside lost or destroyed materials; it was a higher level sabotage done by who they said was someone of relatively young appearance in strange clothes, the one that enjoyed staring at them until something goes wrong.

Nobody could defeat them, not even get closer. And with that, Scaramouche knew they were talking about you.

Was that what you meant with “warning”? Who are you exactly? Not even holding a Vision, how could you… ?

A quick order was enough to deliver him a book full of ancient legends, part of the Fatui private collection. Texts that were lost and the world had forgotten, his only hope was that you weren't exactly mortal, and if that was the case they could take advantage of your nature.

Hah, he found you.

God of Chaos, a body sculptured by the blood and bodies of the ones who died in middle of the wars. At first they were just a being full of anger and affinity for taking the life of every living being on earth, until the same hand that created them gave them a human heart of their own. Made without any prior basis, without being the remains of the deceased. Something one of a kind, the mortal heart of a god.

When human emotions filled the vessel they were released into the world, to mourn over the spilled blood and to know how everything of their existence originates. Born from the red that stained the fields and being the bud that seemed withered, the same that now has the deepest roots ever found.

Hmm, that brings back some memories…

But hey, that vital energy could be useful.

Don’t be surprised if one day you wake up chained and feeling dizzy as Scaramouche drains your life. You know what? Just wait for it! Running away as you did with that idiot won’t work this time.

Every possibility can be foreseen, every inconvenience can be solved. And if you think that you’re an exception then you’re stupider than you look.

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GANYU

Bold of you assume that Zhongli didn’t introduce you to everyone the first time you travel to Liyue.

The difference between your meeting was that it had to be really short. Ganyu is always busy so you couldn’t know her better before her duty called for her again.

Obviously you heard a lot of stories of her childhood thanks to Cloud Retainer. The day she knew about it Ganyu avoided you, next week she apologized with you about it. It was very rude, please pardon her.

Such a big sister vibes ngl

An Adeptus working that hard to human’s matters. It was so cool to follow her from a significant distance to see how was her routine.

If you could only live that peacefully near humans without causing any problem! What a dream! The envy was killing you.

Ganyu didn’t mind about you stalking her, the feeling of a companion was always present and she also knew that you had to keep some distance from everybody to not cause any accident. She appreciated your consideration.

Until a soldier from the millelith arrested you for harassment, wait- you’re innocent! Don’t get closer, hold on! Hold on!

The handcuffs broke almost immediately, though.

When Ganyu resolved the misunderstanding she hold your hands to apologize again, it had to be really stressful to be aware of any chaos you could create accidentally.

What if you… wait for her on the surroundings of the city?

Please, she have a lot of work, don’t interrupt her, she’s begging you.

Ganyu thought you heard her request, but she knew that you were just hiding when a window opened out of nowhere and a lot of documents flew away in the room.

You appeared hanging upside down from the other side of the window, jumped down and entered to pick up the documents. You hand her over all the pages and then you leave through the space on the wall.

“… I’ll be in Huaguang Stone Forest… ”

“Thank you.”

Even though you both agreed that you would return to the stone forest, she couldn't help but feel guilty as the hours passed, did you feel like a nuisance? Maybe she should apologize. Again.

When another successful day at work ended, she realized that repeating the same words over and over was not the best way to show her regret. That’s why a better idea formed in his head as she approached the abode of the rest of Adeptus.

Ganyu found you being scolded by Mountain Shaper for unintentionally releasing the trespassing intruders along with other creatures from their amber prisons.

After rescuing you again, she was able to propose her idea to you. With a calm and charming voice she asked you if you would like to learn about Liyue's traditions from the human perspective.

Sure, Zhongli could tell you about the beginning of traditions and festivities, but the way to celebrate them and pay tribute to the Adeptus was something that only a person who had lived among mortals for years could explain to you.

Your eyes shone in gratitude but no words really came out of your lips, kind of embarrassed you said some nonsensical things and then another amber cracked when you brushed its surface.

Mountain Shaper kicked you out without thinking twice.

But hey! The next day your classes on Culture from the Mortal Perspective began! A quick but calm walk through Liyue that got spread when a bunch of kids recognized you.

How could they not remember the person who plays with them every time they get a chance?

Ganyu sat by the side of the road on an empty bench, watching you scamper the children who seemed happy at your mere presence. Like the occasional accidents of a child, the curious and outlandish nature cannot be controlled, only accepted.

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CHONGYUN

Don’t move! The future best exorcist in the world, Chongyun, will put an end to your legacy of misdeeds and pranks! No evil specter that causes bad luck will survive to-!

Just by lightly tapping with your fingertips you were able to break the seal of the talismans that surrounded you out of nowhere. Pushing back the boy who was convinced that he had beaten his yang.

how dare u interrupt him.

Another of Xingqiu’s pranks? Isn’t this going a little to far? He hadn’t learn about not believing everything his friend says smh.

Let’s just mess with him a little.

‘Measure your words, human. In the presence of the God of Chaos, the first thought that should run through your mortal instinct is to beg for your life, since those who dare to defy them will be punished and displayed as a trophy in the infinity of the abyss from which the catastrophe came out.’

You took a few steps closer to him, while Chongyun kept backing away. The scene was so dramatic that you had to stop when the boy summoned his sword.

Haha jk, nice to meet u.

It's nice to know that there are still such dedicated exorcists out there.

But wait-, so you're not an evil spirit? A God? Why is there a god causing accidents all over Liyue!? That makes no sense! If you think you can deceive him by pretending to be a deity then he shall punish you severely for disrespecting them!

After a detailed explanation of your identity, Chongyun's mood plummeted again due to another failure as an exorcist.

He sat silently on a rock and remained silent, his expression showed so well his disappointed that it made you feel like it was your fault.

Ohno, a sad human child, your weakness-

At the end you sat next to him to listen to what he had to say.

Did he really want to see a spirit so badly? Those things are horrible, wearing strange clothes and yelling all the time, buagh! The thought of it gives you chills. But there's nothing you can do, after all they are drawn to your chaos.

When you finished talking so indifferently about what you lived through from day to day, you looked back at Chongyun, finding his expressive eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.

Are you a magnet of evil? Chaos and destruction? Demons and spirits alike appear wherever you go?

Then you stopped him, it wasn't something to take so lightly; there’s also the chaos of the butterfly effect, natural disasters, unforeseen events, influencing the mood of evil people, losing your favorite pair of socks-

But you attract spirits, right!? You have to help him! How can you say ‘no’ to that face?

The next day he took you to one of his commissions as an exorcist, a house that had numerous reports from its previous tenants. He stayed outside and asked you to come in first, obviously you refused, if your chaos broke something inside you would have more problems besides the ghosts of the house.

He insisted a little more, it worked. Now you were waiting to feel the presence of some spirit trying to attack you. You could feel it, their energy was spread throughout the building, but still there was no movement. Neither hostility, neither terror, just the presence of a soul.

When it was Chongyun's turn to enter you explained this to him, his yang was also easy to perceive, you could describe it as a blizzard in the middle of the storm. But despite this, that presence didn’t react to his energy, nothing changed.

Then you understand it, your energies neutralized each other. Your chaos and his yang ended in a stalemate that went nowhere.

“I was really hoping to see an actual spirit and not only stay still in the middle of the entrance… “

“Well, I can still curse you. Want to try?” Chongyun crossed his arms, annoyed for your jokes.

“Maybe I should exorcize you instead… ”

“Ohh, so the little exorcist wants a deity to be his personal dummy? Let’s make a pact then. Promise me your soul.”

“I-I thought you said you weren’t actually a demon!”

When you stroked his hair he couldn't help but think about how much he still had to learn, so much so that even the gods were taking pity on him.