#‘how would you have done it differently’ how would i have written romance? in a *death game*???

[kayzero]

Feel free to answer this privately!! But Id feel bad if I didn't point this out so.

you shut your fuck

[hamsternella]

maybe headcanons of Bill Cipher being obsessed with us for being Ford's wife, but at first he feels jealous and gradually that changes as he finds we have equal things (e.g. we are blind, and that makes Bill start to want to get more intimate with us as he has with Ford because he finds that we have also been despised/put aside because of that difference), and maybe he wants to make a deal with us but we refuse out of loyalty to Ford and that makes Bill jealous- but now of Ford, not of us lmao sorry if that is confusing or too specific.

Are you going to write any Gravity Falls fanfic on the side? I've seen your poll and I'm very excited

HELLO, and no problem. Here it is, I hope you like it.

As for the fanfic, I do plan to write one. Actually, it's in drafts; I just need to correct what I have written. I don't know if I should make it long or cut it and put it in chapters.

Bill Cipher being obsessed with you [headcanon]

cw: fem!reader, non-con touching, possessed body, jealousy, maybe a bit of ooc(?

The reason Bill begins to feel his plan is threatened is because of you. As much as Ford has him on a pedestal, you are still the main reason for his early accomplishments. The special person who has been with him since his college discovery years.

You're not like McGucket; your judgment carries paramount weight in Ford's most decisive decisions. You're not a mentally dazzling woman, not like him, but your claws keep you firmly entrenched behind Sixer's back. Bill repudiates that—it makes no sense at all!

As if that weren't enough, the affair culminates with you being blind. Can there be anything much more repugnant than a romance fueled by misfortune? Ford is drawn to your sincere heart, and you support him unconditionally because beyond your husband's obsession, your love for him seems to break down the most terrifying walls. And how can you be afraid of something you can no longer see?

Bill feels he has the enemy breathing behind his back. For the first time he thinks he can't solve everything with a kick to the rock in the middle of the road.

The closest thing to a tantrum you get from him —unknowingly— are regular nightmares, a weak body and constant paranoia about unfamiliar sounds and sensations. Your home is suddenly a new world; frightening and strange. Because of this you become clumsy and unpredictable, and even your husband doesn't understand what it is that has you so off track.

Bill can't use his influence on your reality at all, but through Ford and other extensions, as well as fine print manipulations, he manages to reach you without arousing suspicion.

''I've told you many times, Bill,'' sighed Ford with his back turned, both hands placed on his journal. ''I don't think I can go through with this completely until I manage to find a way to help my wife.''

''Isn't this a sign that it's time to get her out of your way?''

"Excuse me?’’ The man turned his attention to the demon; his eyes laden with bitterness and desolation. ''What do you mean by that? I can't abandon my wife, Cipher—she would never do something like that to me.''

''Well,'' Bill chuckled, ''it's not like she's really done anything for you all this time. This project is our thing, Fordsy, and it shouldn't be interrupted by a little stumble that doesn't even belong to us. Or are you going to give up everything you've sacrificed for this?''

''You have understood me like no other, Bill; I admit that there is no person or creature existing on this planet who can do all that you have done for me,'' admitted Ford solemnly. ''But she's my wife—she's been around even before you, when I was nobody. When I had nothing. And even when I came to Gravity Falls and left everything behind she was always there. Bill, I... I can't, I'm sorry.''

Bill held back another complaint, beginning to notice that things were not working out the way he had wanted. Your clumsiness didn't kill Ford's patience or control, but what little sanity —if any— there was in him. It was humiliating; Bill Cipher losing to a human being, a random woman—blind, to make it worse.

The demon was beginning to withdraw in on himself, frustration rising to anger, when Ford's voice from the entrance to the room drew his gaze back. There was a different gleam in his companion's, and Cipher understood with annoyance where the conversation would end up now.

Your husband introduces you to the possible solution to all your problems: Mr. Cipher, a doctor and close friend of Stanford. A mysterious man with a booming voice that makes your hair stand on end, but at the end of the day a man of studies and degrees. Of course you were going to trust your husband's recommendation.

''What a coincidence that you happened to be passing by, sir! Thank you for offering to help me. That's very kind of you.''

Bill starts pretending to be your personal doctor in search of a miracle solution to your problems. It's not hard to avoid contact with you to hide the truth; Ford tries hard to keep the situation straight.

If the demon hated you before, now you better start praying.

Cipher understands that he needs to play along with Ford if he wants the project to stay on track, even if that means starting to help you heal while containing his desire to get rid of you.

Maybe if he possessed Stanford and took advantage of you during your naps.

Maybe.

But he knows better than that—Ford isn't stupid. Not stupid enough, at least.

It was humiliating to have to take care of what he himself had caused, but it's not as if Bill could afford any other way to get back on the project. Ford was all he had. Where was he going to get someone else capable enough? This had been fate; interrupted at the last minute by the appearance of a bad third. This was all your fault. Blind little rat—woman busybody with a sweet smile and giggly voice. Cipher understood why Sixer was where he was with you, on the one hand. On the other it was all the same: a whim that cost dearly. Who needed someone like you? What was the benefit? Sex, maybe? But Bill Cipher was a thousand times better than something so banal! Please…

Bill rolled his eye, snapping his fingers to undo the nightmare you were in. As soon as your dream was undone you let out an exclamation of surprise, jumping on the bed. You brought a hand to your face, feeling the sweat, and almost immediately moved your body to where he lay. Cipher held back surprise, finding himself genuinely intrigued.

''Doctor,'' you whispered hoarsely, ''good afternoon. I... Forgive me, I think I fell asleep—it was sudden, I don't know what came over me...''

''Did you know it was me here with you?''

The smile you gave him threw him off. A ''Well, yes, isn't it very obvious?'' kind of grimace.

''Does your husband know that you have these nightmares during our therapies?''

'Therapies' sounded fancy, but it was shorthand for the tortures Bill forced you to go through; a theater of supposed recovery to cover up his need to hurt you.

“He doesn't know, doctor. I haven't told him, if I'm honest,'' you replied. ''Please don't tell him anything.''

''It would be unethical!''

‘’Pretending to be a doctor is also unethical, sir,’’ you laughed. ''I am blind, not stupid.’’

Killing you was going to be the only solution to all of this—although from that day on nothing else ever happened.

Bill has to accept that you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve. You're not just any woman anymore; being Ford's wife had to have been warning enough for him.

You continue to not remind him of his charade and allow him to continue 'treating' you, while your husband resumes the plans for the portal.

Surprisingly, Bill seems to have found interest in something much more striking.

You.

The nightmares subside, your mood and judgment improve, and Cipher finds a strange pleasure in this new side of you: much more alert, more talkative and wittier. You have your charm.

But it's your husband who pulls the reins. Bill gets it right away.

Evenings with you aren't exactly revelatory like they are with Ford, who always has enough data and information to surprise everyone with. With you it's different; it's something much more intimate and almost forgotten by Bill. He knows so much that it would be impossible to be taken by surprise—but you manage to do it.

He is overcome with a nostalgic and unpleasant feeling, but which ironically keeps him alive as he decides to lie to Ford.

Bill doesn't want to let you go. It's strange. Maybe he got used to another glaring presence besides Sixer? Torturing you a little more in silence to keep you under his care should not be a stupid thing to do at all.

Cipher encounters another particular feeling: curiosity. He needs to know why you know what you know; and what it is, above all else, that keeps you here.

What keeps you with so much power over him, Bill Cipher.

''Are you saying that I have tricks up my sleeve? I don't get it, doctor...''

''Oh! Oh, please,'' Bill interrupted, thunderous laughter bouncing across the room. ''You know I'm no doctor; the title is ridiculous.''

''Should I call you 'Mr. Cipher' instead?''

Bill held back a sigh, rubbing his eye for a moment before orbiting around you. If you had noticed, you didn't say or do anything. Your eyes, white as opaque pearls, remained fixed on a corner of the room.

''Since when did you know I wasn't a doctor? No, better yet, since when did you know I wasn't human?''

''Well, it's not quite like that either,'' you replied under a soft laugh. ''You just revealed to me that you are not human. As for the doctor thing... Well, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think that dream therapies and transverse snoring with citrus scent induction while dipping my feet in spoiled milk is something a professional would recommend.''

Bill pretended not to be offended.

''Besides that,'' you continued, ''I know my husband very well. I know that he hides dangerous things down there, where I cannot reach by myself, just as I know everything that has been happening is not the product of chance.''

''Did you know all this time that your nightmares and fears have been my doing?''

‘’No, not really. You just confessed it to me.''

‘’Oh, come on!’’ Bill shook his fists in the air, abruptly remembering that you couldn't see him. It was strange, you seemed to know the world you inhabited even though your eyes wouldn't let you. The thought made the demon orbit around you again, returning in front of you. Opaque pearls; gaze lost in the open. "I've had a majestic revelation at this very moment! Do you want to hear it, or will your big, bold woman brain let you know in advance what I have to say?”

"I have a slight feeling you don't like me.”

“Yes or no!”

“Of course, tell me.”

"I have to assume you weren't born blind; this must be the product of an accident," Cipher began to say. "That would explain why the hell you do everything you do, and why the fuck you know where I am.”

"That's right, Mr. Cipher," you nodded. "I've had an accident, though I suppose you know that because you've infiltrated me. Either that, or my husband told you.”

"So you did know that I'm a demon?”

“You just—”

“Oh, shut up! Don't fucking say it again.”

Your coexistence with Bill becomes pleasant, despite the early revelation of his nature and his having been the cause of your misfortunes.

Cipher comes to believe that he may have been wrong; maybe you were stupid after all.

But that would be crazy! Unlike with Ford, with you the feelings are extremely nostalgic and warm. There is no trace of some kind of farce or genuine morbid interest behind your words. You believe everything you say.

Bill, who despite not sleeping or dreaming, being haunted by the memory of screams and an old distorted and flat reality, finds in your company a comfort zone that makes him delirious.

Sadly, your heart and your judgment is still tied to Sixer—as if that brainiac cared at all!

Bill begins to drive Ford crazy; he feeds him extensive knowledge, possesses him more often to enjoy the benefits, and then alters his memories, making it difficult for him to know what is truth and what is a lie.

Where he can no longer meet your needs, Bill is always there to dazzle you.

You jumped in your seat, feeling your husband's warm hands wrap around your neck. Fingers, rough from machines and dust, caressed your skin awkwardly, drawing a chuckle from you. His breath came to you from above, as if he had just sighed in delight at your reaction. When you felt him rest his hands on your shoulders, you slowly brought one of yours to caress the back of his. You felt him tremble.

''I thought you were sleeping?'' you asked with genuine interest. ''Is everything all right? All these days you've been doing the same thing.''

''Do you mind, beautiful?''

You stifled a laugh.

''No, Ford, your company would never be a bother to me... Are you smelling my hair?''

‘’I just can’t get enough of you.’’

You felt him circle your body, delineating one of the chairs near you so he could relax his body in it. You didn't last long without his hands—as soon as he resumed his seat, you felt his fingers intertwining with yours. This time it was more consistent and comfortable; not like all those days where it seemed like your husband had forgotten how to use his own body.

''Oh, dear! Seeing you with these two orbs of nerves and membrane is amazing! You look even more dazzling.''

Although the comments without any context or sense were still there.

''I'm not that great,'' you said with a small laugh. A little shy. Ford didn't used to give you so many compliments. “How's your project going?’’

‘’That thing? Good, very good. Excellent, my dear! Maybe you could see for yourself—oh, well, you can't,'' he guffawed. ''Right. Whatever! Hey, uh, can I ask you a question?''

‘’Y-Yeah, sure, honey.’’ You cleared your throat. ‘’What’s the matter?’’

''Hypothetical scenario. You're married, but you're not quite fulfilled. Suppose someone comes along who is much better than your husband,'' he explained. ''He's smart, funny, multifunctional, powerful, extra-dimensional, or very soon will be, and also very stylish!'' Silence. Moments later an exclamation. ''Do you have a favorite color? His favorite color is yellow!''

‘’I… I mean, sorry, but I actually don’t understand at all where’s the question.’’

‘’Don’t be silly! Would you leave your husband for this entity—excuse me, for this person?''

‘’What?’’

‘’The heck.’’

Another booming laugh, and though you tried to accompany it with your own, the sound that came from you was choppy and awkward. This exchange was strange.

''I can't find a reason to leave my husband for this so-called mystery person,'' you replied. ''I am supposed to have married him for a reason which should be more than enough. Ford,'' you rushed on, ''is this regarding Mr. Cipher?''

''Why?'' he asked at once. ''Why do you think of him all of a sudden? Do you feel something forbidden about him in this marriage?''

''But of course not!''

''What do you mean ‘no’?!’’

His hands let go of yours. The chair in front of you seemed to be dragged, the wood against the floor squeaking with the sudden friction. The movement had taken you by surprise.

‘’Ford?’’

''Why are you so happy? Why, huh?'' he sighed, frustrated. ''Haven't I abandoned you every night in a freezing bed, while I prefer the company of machines? Cipher has been very kind to you and kept you company!''

''Ford, what are you—wait. Wait a moment... Bill, is this you?'' You covered your mouth, terrified at the discovery. Your companion didn't respond and you simply let out a shaky breath. ''Are you possessing my husband?’’

‘’Damn, that was fast.’’

‘’That’s awful!’’

"There was full consent!" added Bill with a chuckle. "This is a man-to-man thing, my pretty little fleshbag. Something between colleagues, plain and simple. You needn't fear—Bill Cipher is taking care of everything.”

"But it's horrendous anyway!" you exclaimed with your voice splitting. "It all makes sense now... The words, the touches, the way you acted—it was all a sham! You were using my husband!”

"Oh, please, little one. Wasn't it you who dreamed of being able to touch me?”

"You, not a substitute class using Stanford's body! Have you two been doing these kinds of exchanges all along?”

"It's just that there was a change of plans!”

“A change? What—”

“I mean, I tried to kill you; but it's not that easy now,” he laughed.

You tried to calm your breathing. Your heart was beating painfully against your chest, and your whole body was trembling. This wasn't right, obviously. It was like a vivid nightmare.

“Not that I want to do it, of course.”

“Why?” you asked after a long silence.

You felt the presence of your husband's body very close to you. A pair of hands rested on your cheeks, caressing them with his fingers very softly; the touches getting lost under the trembling of your figure when you heard again a sigh of delight. Something was up.

“You know,” he whispered, “I think we could make a deal. A little, pretty one, and just for you.”

“A deal? A deal with a demon, you mean. No, thank you.”

“Oh, come on! It will be fun!”

“And it makes no sense.”

Bill turned away from you, returning to his chair to take a seat across from your body.

"What exactly is it that Ford gives you that I can't manage to satisfy? Because very soon the little project will be complete, and I will have full disposal of many wonderful tricks to take care of you, my dear," he continued. "An eternity together! We'll be able to create and tell thousands of new stories; to travel across the world and let you experience hundreds of new sensations. We'll be unstoppable! Incomparable!”

"That's not the way things work, Bill…”

"Things work because of the strongest. I will soon be the only one with that title.”

"What will happen to Ford?" you asked haltingly. "What will you do to my husband?”

"He's my co-worker, dear.”

"You're hiding something from me.”

"So what if it is? He doesn't matter here! It's our time... You're mine.”

The way your husband's voice was beginning to distort sent a shiver through your body. You loved Ford—you missed him. The idea that you had been kissing the lips of a man possessed a couple of days ago was turning your stomach. Your silence seemed to feed something inside the demon; his voice thundered, totally changed, across the room.

"A few weeks ago you said you missed the stars," added Bill. "The last time you saw them was when you were a teenager. I miss the stars too—the ones I saw with a different eye. It's not the same anymore. Nothing is, since..." Silence. You didn't dare interrupt the creature who seemed to be drowning in bitter memory. It took him a while to pull himself together; a split laugh piercing your ears like an arrow. "Oh, the misery! I thought it repulsive the way you two looked so united over something so pathetic. Anyway, what does the past matter now, what does misery matter! There's no such thing being with Bill Cipher. You'll want for nothing.”

"I refuse, Bill.”

"And I refuse too," he laughed. "See? We can play the same game, silly. I don't recommend testing my patience, though.”

The touch of palms against the warm skin of your neck took you by surprise. The roughness of those fingers you loved so much were now forbidding you to breathe; the softness of moist lips pressing against yours, taking advantage of the way you parted yours to find a sliver of air. You soon struggled against your husband's body, desperate to deny the foreign tongue that flicked unseemly and inexperienced inside you. Bill was drowning in an unfamiliar feeling that felt too good. You were soft, fragile. Your flesh was tender and warm, quivering like an animal about to die—he was going to devour it to the bone. Was this what Ford had been doing with you? You liked it?

He could kill you. He could end your life when the portal was complete; he could take advantage of Ford, as he had been doing all this time, and keep the prize all to himself. Why was it so hard? What was it you had done to him? Was Ford a victim too? The thought burned like a fierce fury at the back of his mind—jealousy once again. The need to own even the crumbs. Ford wouldn't have the right to be your victim anymore. This feeling was too good for that brainiac to understand, surely he never did.

But Bill understood everything. He was incomparable. He could dominate your life and hold the reins as well as Ford had been doing. No. Cipher was going to do better! Did you miss your husband's domination? Bill would be your ruler; he would destroy obstacles and build better ones to keep you in check. Maybe a little training and you'd become a beautiful little bag of flesh and muscle—tight, warm and obedient. And who knows if you'd end up exceeding his expectations! Who knows if a little gift occupying your orbs would give you the chance to enjoy the same star-studded sky together.

"Don't think too much," whispered Bill pantingly. "There's plenty of other things to do than something as dull as that. Don't worry your pretty little head.”

You shook your head, surrendered to crying. Your husband's hands had left your neck, but now they wrapped around your wet cheeks, offering shy caresses.

"From now on you're going to use it when I say so. Everything will be that way, and you know why?”

A crooked laugh vibrated against his chest, reaching you through his hands.

"Because now you will be my new pet. A special one! The best of them all… You could say ‘muse’, even. Isn't that beautiful, dear?”

A cold kiss. The last one.

“Aren't you, above all, beautiful too?”

[variousqueerthings]

okay I watched good omens s2 yesterday with my partner, and I was genuinely very surprised -- I think if you've grown up through superwholock/merlin/the 100/teen wolf type shows where (with the exception periodically of doctor who) you kind of had to make up the good show that something could have been in your head, that colours a lot of your viewing, and to be honest I thought season 1 of good omens was a fine little piece, honoured the book while modernising it somewhat, it was a nice, fun, low stakes time, with a couple of things I might have wanted a tad different but nothing overall awful.

so I was seeing all this meta and gifsets and discussion, while I was waiting to give s2 a watch with my partner and thought "ah, people have made up the good show in their heads again" not that I assumed s2 was going to be a bad show, but that people were taking extra deep plunges into possibilities, the way fandom does, and that was fine. I knew there was a big ol kiss, I had a sense of some kind of argument at the end, and that it was setting up a s3

I also knew that mainstream reviews were calling it (politely) self-indulgent and dependent on whether or not you enjoy david tennant and michael sheen having a good time for just under 6 hours

all in all, expectations of a somewhat mainstream show without too much to think about, a nice, fun low stakes time, moving on...

(EDIT: AND THEN I WROTE A LOT OF WORDS SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT MY REACTION WAS QUITE DIFFERENT)

as it turns out it seems these things that were being written on tumblr were discussing the actual text of the show and not things you could extrapolate if you squinted and tilted your head a little to the left as I'm so used to doing, so in fact there is much to think about!

and my first thought was "this is like when you read early discworld books that ask a question like a joke, only to find that over time the answer to that question becomes very serious (and also can be funny at times of course)." how terry pratchett would pick and pick at tropes and notions and social ideas and go "oh now hold on, this seems strange..." starting way back when he thought it was odd that women warriors always seemed to be dressed in metal bikinis and then realising he hadn't done a good enough job of subverting the trope, simply by depicting it and calling it a bit silly

why do goblins always get treated as the villains? what's with this divine succession of kings business? where are the female dwarfs? who do we treat as disposable?

good omens season one went: "haha what if heaven and hell were intensely incapable, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncaring of the work they did, and we took an angel and a demon and had them actually care? wouldn't that be... a bit silly?" (and it was)

good omens season two went: "what are the consequences for caring when the people who have power over you are incapable, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncaring? what are the forces that supersede systems built on fear, ignorance, and violent conformity? can people change and break out of/challenge/break down these structures by caring?"

and this was set up with a neat little sleight of hand (to reference aziraphale's switch-and-bait in the episode with the nazi zombies), because the majority of season 2 does feel a bit indulgent: hey, remember those two wacky angel-and-demon characters? watch some more wacky things they did through the ages, watch them take a sojourn through 1827 Edinburgh and do a magic show during the Blitz, and... stop the death of Job's and Sitis' children (actually maybe that whole segment ought to have been what they call "A Clue")

see them try to figure out a kooky mystery, all the while setting up a cute little same-gender romance on their street. watch as everything points towards a happy ending that's all about the two of them realising what they've been to one another all these thousands and thousands (and thousands and thousands) of years- but hold on. lest we forget - and the show has made this point over and over - there are powerful people who control them, who hurt them, and who plan on hurting others, throughout the whole season, and as it turns out they know what they've been to one another for far far longer, and know how to pull their strings...

season 2 then, has to show us these things, not because they're indulgent (well, maybe occasionally, but the apology dance is still important), but because in order to make the ending a tragedy, we first need to understand, properly, the impact that they have had on each other. we need to understand that Aziraphale relied heavily on Crowley to be his moral compass and leaned on black-and-white thinking in order to deal with things, because if it's all grey then where does he fit and what has it all meant and heaven has to be the good guys, even as Job's and Sitis' children are ordered to be killed, it's all he ever had...

and Crowley was always an anchor, needed to trust that Aziraphale was different, needed to bend to every whim that Aziraphale has, because otherwise what's his worth in all this? After having been already deemed worthless by the heaven that Aziraphale needs to believe in?

and that, simplistically described, is the narrative that we're seeing in s2, and alongside that the ways that the changes they have upon each other are noticed, and monitored, and placed under suspicion, and finally... broken up, not by the clumsy, brute force that's been attempted over and over again, but by a promise to return into a violent, controlling system and to "make it better from within"

and all of this is wrapped up in two queer relationships + a third queered-within-the-text relationship that creates the inverse of how it ends for Aziraphale and Crowley (so far). queer love -- whatever shape that has -- is explicitly the shape of non-conformity within this narrative, including within the symbolism of angel-and-demon love of Gabriel and Beelzebub, which in the context of the systems created is considered queer (and one can argue till the cats come home about casting cis actors, about angel-and-demon notions of gender/romance/sexuality, but the "queerness" comes from building something non-conforming to the systems they exist in), and enforced by the explicitly our-world-definition-of queer romance that Nina and Maggie have going on (which, while less high stakes, still contains the background controlling relationship that Nina initially is in)

all of this to say, that I disagree that s2 meanders, or that plotlines happen for the sake of showcasing Aziraphale and Crowley without purpose, or that characters get sidelined (I'd say it sets up a whole host of interesting characters to further get into actually), or that it's strictly mainstream easy-access narrative that's just an excuse for the main creators and actors to get back together.

the love is the point, and this show takes its time to show the love (and the unequal boundary-setting, and the fact that one of them has an undiscussed tragic backstory, and the desperation to belong again, and the fear instilled by oppressive systems, and and and), so that we understand why those last 15 minutes happen the way that they do

it's sleight of hand, and like all good magic, you don't notice until it's happened

[love-byers]

if mlvn is supposed to be the main romance of the show, the no. 1 couple, why would the writers save their big i love you moment for a scene where there is so much distraction

there is so much going on here. el choking, mike shifting around and hesitating, will in the background, light flickering, multiple cuts to jonathan and argyle

and then of course the fact that el is in vecnas mind space which is visually displeasing. it's red, bloody looking, thunder is crashing, the vines are squelching, el is crying, max is dying, and also the depressing music conveniently titled "You're The Heart."

there is SO MUCH HAPPENING!! this moment is supposed to be about el and mike, but it couldn't be farther from that.

and for people saying "well that's just what was happening in the moment!", this isnt real life. the story can be literally whatever the duffers want it to be. they could've written the scene differently so there was more tenderness, intimacy, gentleness, emotion. they could've found time for mike and el to have a sweet moment to themselves where he apologizes, and then when el is choking she simply remembers that moment and all of her memories with mike over the years. but nope, it just had to be the other way.

this scene is an example of exactly how to create intimacy between 2 characters in a scene with multiple other people. they made sure to do it a specific way to build will and mike's relationship.

when joyce is talking to will, jonathan is standing in the background for most of it. they also cut to mike and hopper watching. we are reminded there are others in the shed. they cut to will multiple times as joyce talks.

this next thing may sound insignificant, but it's not. they cut to jonathan BEFORE he starts speaking. he watches will for a second, then starts talking about the day lonnie left. then it immediately cuts to joyce, before cutting back to jonathan kneeling down in front of will. as jonathan talks there are shots of just jonathan, jonathan and joyce, and will listening.

they saved mikes for last. every writer knows whatever comes last will have the most impact.

when mike starts speaking, will is still looking at jonathan. wills head shoots towards mike. only after that do we see mike, and he's already crying.

they don't cut away from mike until he says "you were just swinging by yourself" it cuts to will then. then we're back to mike, and it doesn't cut until he's done talking.

there's no music, no flickering, no one else making noise or talking. there's no noise besides mike speaking, will breathing, and crickets outside. it sounds oxymoronic to say this, but the crickets only emphasize how silent it is in the shed besides mike. it's so silent and calm in there that you can hear the crickets. you can barely see anything behind mike, it's just his face illuminated by the light. mike isn't yelling, he's talking softly. this is gentle. intimate.

then it cuts back to will, and he looks more emotional than he has this whole time they've been trying to break through to him. his eyes are red and glossy, his breaths are shuddering as he looks at mike, like he's about to break and cry.

when it cuts to joyce, it's jarring. it tears wills eyes from mike. because at this point we've completely forgotten that there are other people in the room. it's like mike and will are in their own little bubble, like they're the only two people in the world. go and rewatch the full scene, its striking how different mikes monologue to will is shot compared to the others. it suddenly feels so much more intimate and emotionally intense.

and it doesn't, not for a SECOND, lead you to believe mike is hesitant or struggling to tell the truth. it's like the words are spilling straight out of mikes heart into will's. he does not have to be pushed into this or encouraged. the moment jonathan was done talking mike knew exactly what he wanted to say, and he was already so emotional he was crying.

it's coming from him. from his heart.

looking at joyce

looking at jonathan

looking at mike.

and to any deniers here saying all of this is just because of wills feelings for mike..

that's cruel.

that's actually cruel.

it would be DIABOLICAL for the writers to give byler such a sweet emotional moment like this just for it to end in a character who's already on the struggle bus being completely heartbroken. that is straight up cruel to will.

and it would also be queerbaiting lolz

and before you go, quick question. can you imagine THIS mike avoiding wills hug?

i highly doubt it.

[wordsnstuff]

This might sound strange... writing a romance I started to see romantic potential between my lead and a side character, rather than strictly between the two leads... I'm starting to swerve. How can I suit my writing/mindset to keep the relationship with the side character platonic?

When characters develop minds of their own...

Writing is one of those mediums where people tend to overlook the importance of experimentation. It's seen as a fairly linear process: brainstorm, map the plot, write the draft, edit the draft, publish. If any other type of creation was done this way, most would see the process as incomplete, because experimentation is imperative to creativity. Curiosity is the key to finding satisfaction, and no matter how brilliant you think an idea is at its conception, the best way to do it justice is to question it.

If you find yourself in a situation where your story begins to develop outside your control, don't strangle it back into the shape you imagined for it at first. See where it goes. Let it bleed outside the lines and see what you prefer. You can always return to the original plan. The beauty in fiction is that it has infinite possibility, and if you have the talent to write characters and worlds that determine their own trajectory, enjoy the reward.

In your case, you've designed a romance between two characters but the chemistry of a different pairing has become more compelling, so see what happens. There is a good chance you've simply written a secondary character that serves the story better in a leading role, and there's no harm in experimenting to see if that's correct. If it doesn't work and you're convinced the relationship is more suitable in the platonic category, you will find the reason along the way and that reason will speak for itself as you return to writing the original pairing. If anything, this might become an organic way for you to misdirect the reader in order to make the payoff of your original idea more substantial.

Writing should be an intuitive process. If you're swerving in another direction, satiate your curiosity and then make decisions with all of the information. Just like any other artistic medium, you will only know what's right once you've established what isn't.

Best of luck,

x Kate

[bloatedandalone04]

Fluff → 💕 | Angst → 💋 | Smut → 🔥

All works are written by me and are not given consent to be reposted anywhere else other than my own account (reblogs are fine)

Dom Hayden Blurb

Social Media Au

Fever Dream 💕

➪the one where you and hayden celebrate his birthday.

Open Invitation 🔥

➪the one where hayden’s day off with you gets interrupted.  Done Right 🔥 ➪the one where you and hayden get back to your unfinished business. (part 2 of OI)

Like Fine Wine 💕🔥

➪the one where you can’t resist hayden’s look for his role in ahsoka.

Sweet Spot 🔥

➪the one where hayden goes down on you.

Santa, Baby 💕

➪the one where you and hayden celebrate christmas. Bring in the New Year 💕🔥 ➪the one where you and hayden enter a new year together (part 2 of SB).

The Night has Just Begun 💕🔥

➪the one where you and hayden make a sex tape.

Second Nature 💕

➪the one where hayden is not only protective over you, but the tiny person he helped make with you.

Ride With Me Series 💕🔥💋

➪the one where you and hayden meet and fall in love, despite having a rocky introduction. (racer au)

He’s Got My Name 💕💋

➪the one where everything a.j. does, he does for you. Tattooed On His Arm 💕💋 ➪the one where a.j. finally gets the money for your treatment, but at a cost. (part 2 of HGMN)

The Only One Invited 💕🔥💋

➪the one where you’re with a.j. and ghost, your ex, gets out of prison.

No One Else 💕🔥

➪the one where you throw a housewarming party, and a.j. isn’t fond of all the guys staring at you in his new living room.

Dating Anakin Skywalker would include;

Blurb 1

Cosmic Love 💋

➪the one where you break anakin’s heart after he unknowingly broke yours. Back To You 💕💋 ➪the one where anakin is slipping away and needs you more than ever. (part 2 of CL) The Story of Us 💕💋 ➪the one where things are a a bit different after you and anakin get back together. (part 3 of CL/BTY)

Heartbreak Prince 💕💋🔥

➪the one where you’re a princess and anakin saves you in more ways than one. 

Shadows of Your Heart 💕💋

➪the one where anakin makes it up to you after being distant during a mission.

When Faced with Darkness 💋

➪the one where you and anakin reunite years after he turned to the dark side.

Screaming Whispers 💕🔥

➪the one where anakin is a musician and you’re his muse. ➪Something to Write About. (one shot | part of the SW au) ➪Love & Bound. (blurb | part of the SW au) add ons; one, two

Wrapped Around Your Finger Series 💕🔥💋

➪the one where you and anakin struggle to find time for each other after his first tour wraps up. (continuation of screaming whispers) Series Playlist

Love Language 💕💋

➪the one where you’re all clay needs to keep himself calm before surgery (and after).

Sound of Your Heart 💕💋

➪the one where you take care of clay after his surgery.

In The Way I Need You Series 💕🔥💋

➪the one where clay needs a babysitter for his son, and you just so happen to be more than willing to take up his offer.

Blurb

If I Love You was a Promise 💕💋

➪the one where james’ brother comes home just when things were falling into place. Don’t Come Back For Me 💋 ➪the one where everything falls apart. (part 2 of IILYWAP) Careless Whisper 💕💋 ➪the one where james struggles with getting used to his life without you, even nearly a year after the break up. (part 3 to IILYWAP/DCBFM)

The Perks 💕🔥

➪the one where you get to experience all the perks that come with being james’ wife and biggest supporter.

Dating Luke Reiter would include;

Right Back to the Start 💕💋🔥

➪the one where luke wakes up to the abandoned city of detroit and doesn’t think twice about looking for the one person that always meant the most to him.

Til Morning Comes 💕💋

➪the one where luke is late for work after spending the night in the sheets with you, but quickly discovers that his attendance is the least of his worries.

Teen Romance 💕💋

➪the one where you try to make sam see just how good he has it, and he almost loses both you and his dad before he finally changes his act.

[wetsocksinbed]

in light of Fallout being popular again, this is a list of things I wish Bathesda had done in Fallout 4:

made a way to side against the railroad without having to kill Deacon. Even if you send him to the most distant settlement, he still spawns in the RR HQ and you MUST shoot him. I don’t like it :(

have the option to remove Danse from power armour after saving him from the BoS. It doesn’t make sense that he’s an enemy of the BoS and still walks around in their power armour. Especially since the armour he wears until Blind Betrayal becomes yours if you side with the Brotherhood. It’s physically impossible for you to own it while he’s wearing it.

on that note, I wish Bathesda had written Danse’s dialogue differently once he’s revealed as a synth. He’s still calling himself a solder of the BoS/acting like he’s a part of the BoS months after the BoS kicked him out and literally said they’d kill him on sight. It doesn’t make sense for him to keep speaking that way. I know he sees himself as a solder, but the things he says counteracts everything you do in Blind Betrayal

adding more to that, I wish some of Danse’s romance dialogue was…nicer. Spamming “Thoughts?” only gives you TWO romance lines and they’re both very vague. Nick says nicer things to me and he isn’t even a romance option

MAKE NICK A ROMANCE OPTION

make Synth Shaun a companion 🥺

dialogue between Codsworth and Synth Shaun about pre-war life/Codsworth talking about Nate/Nora (whichever spouse died) to Shaun

i wish you could REPAIR NICKS FACE??? Like Nick has the same face as the Gen 1’s, and you kill plenty of them. How hard would it be to remove a Gen 1 face and give it to Nick so that he isn’t falling apart. You’re telling me that DiMA looks absolutely fine and Nick has to stay looking like someone threw him into a shredder? Bullshit.

personal quest for Hancock, that includes a decent amount of dialogue if you’re romancing him

interactions between the character you’re romancing and Synth Shaun, specifically them treating him like family

[aphrmoosun]

{Noa and the Beast}

Nomae: One shot

• Sipnosis.

Noa is the new leader of the clan, his responsibility was to his own. But an Echo enters their lives and they decide to kill her due to the ancient writings that defined her as dangerous. But when Noa has her in front of him, his world changes completely...

• Pair.

Noa and Mae

• Movie.

Kingdom of the planet of the apes {Half AU}

• Tags.

Nomae, interspecies relationship, interspecies sex, interspecies romance, yes it is a ship fic, smut, romancing, Beauty and the Beast, Half AU, Noa hunt Mae, but the Noa falls in love with Mae, Long One Shot, Writer isn't English Native Speaker, etc

• Other nomae fanfics.

You and Me

No words

_________________________________

DO NOT COPY OR SHARE IT ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!

• Noa and the Beast [One Shot]

**First Act**

_________________________________

The day was coming to an end. Noa was returning home with a successful hunt. He and his friends had managed to catch a pair of rabbits and a adult deer, earning them a warm welcome.

The situation was difficult for the village. Since his father had died, he and his mother were the only hope for their survival. They had to lead the rest to survive, and that was his duty as the new leader of the village.

"Well done, son," his mother said.

Noa sat down beside his mother, hugging her and offering her a piece of food, which she refused.

Their happiness was interrupted by some apes who arrived running and shouting.

"It's an Echo! We've seen one near here!"

Noa managed to understand what one of them was saying.

"Calm down," Noa said, standing up and addressing them. "It's probably just passing through. Echos usually move when it starts to get cold."

"This one is different. We've heard it talk! It was settling near the village."

Another ape spoke up, frightened.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt us."

"You don't understand. Echos are evil, the farther away from us, the better."

"If that means underground, even better."

"Yes!"

Many of the apes supported the idea of killing the Echo.

"We can't act impulsively. We need to think with a clear head."

Noa defended the idea of reaching a consensus.

"You're our leader. You must defend our home from those things!"

The ape began to feel the pressure from his village. Everyone wanted to see how the new leader would handle a dangerous situation.

"Fine! I'll take care of it myself." Noa didn't like the idea, but he said, "Tomorrow, I'll go to where you saw it and bring back proof that the Echo is no longer a problem."

Noa received a big ovation, but he couldn't take his eyes off his mother, who disapproved of his attitude.

_________________________________

**Second Act**

_________________________________

Anaya and Soona, Noa's best friends, were already ready to go after the Echo. They were determined to accompany their leader, not just as friends, but as family.

The plan was to approach the Echo on foot, without horses, so as not to scare it, and kill it with the arrows they used for hunting. But Noa had taken something else from the village - a remedy that they took when they felt pain, in case he couldn't bear the scene, he would give it to the Echo himself.

It would have been just another Echo, but the idea of being able to hear one talk for the first time had haunted him all night. What if he could talk to it? What if it could defend itself by talking? What set them apart from animals if they couldn't talk?

But his village needed him. They had never encountered an Echo like this before, and it was a danger to his people. It was written that way.

When they were far enough from the village, Noa turned to his friends, stopping them.

"I have to go alone from here."

"What? No, we're not going to leave you." Soona approached him, grabbing his hands.

"Soona, I have to do this alone. I'm the leader now, and I have to be responsible for my words and my responsibilities towards our people. And one of those responsibilities is taking care of you too."

"I don't care about your position. We also want to take care of you."

Anaya joined the two, and they ended up in a three-way hug.

"I'm sure I can handle this. But I need to do it alone." He finally convinced them.

Anaya and Soona walked away, and he began to walk forward. He didn't look back, it would be easier to fulfill his responsibility alone and as the leader he had to be.

_________________________________

**Third Act**

_________________________________

He could observe her easily. She didn't seem to have seen him, and she continued with her life as usual. She walked back and forth, going to and from the river near the home she had built.

She was very resourceful. With the help of stones, branches, sticks, and leaves, she had built a kind of settlement near the river. She had everything she needed to survive just a few steps away.

Noa couldn't help but analyze her. From her physical features to her delicate movements. What she seemed to be doing was cooking with leaves and fruits he couldn't recognize.

They had warned him that this Echo was not normal. If she could talk, it was already very different from the ones he had encountered before, but he had never imagined what he had in front of him. If it weren't for her small body, little hair, small eyes, small hands, small waist, the bulge on her chest, and small feet, he could have sworn he was looking at an ape.

But he had to push those thoughts out of his mind. He had come to kill her, and he had already wasted too much time analyzing her.

He raised his bow and placed the arrow right at the Echo's heart direction. His hands were shaking. It was the first time they had shaken like that. He had to admit, this wasn't a normal hunt. He wasn't going to kill her out of necessity, nor did he need her skin or any part of her body. He was going to kill her because he feared her. Not just him, but his people. And that had to be his thought, his people were waiting for him to bring back proof of the event.

His vision became blurry as his heart began to beat strongly, he couldn't look. He released the arrow without being able to see well where it was headed.

"Ah!"

He heard the Echo's despairing cry.

_________________________________

**Fourth Act**

_________________________________

Noa found himself in front of the Echo. His blurry vision and sweaty hands hadn't allowed him to hit his target. His main objective was the Echo's heart, but due to his nerves, the arrow had ended up hitting one of her sides.

She looked at him with open, frightened eyes, trembling while she held her side. She had pulled out the arrow and was trying to stop the bleeding.

Noa could have stood there, watching her die from bleeding, but he couldn't help but approach her and offer her a piece of cloth from his own arm to stop the bleeding.

The human looked at him doubtfully, taking the cloth.

"Why?"

He didn't know what to answer. Why had he attacked her? Why was he helping her? Because his heart was in constant struggle over what was right against his mind.

Echos had to be kept away. They wouldn't approach them, and they wouldn't live with them. Beyond the Valley was forbidden to cross because Echos were there.

The elders of his clan described them as monsters that killed each other, creatures that took everything around them and massacred it. Wild animals that would kill their own siblings for power.

But in front of Noa, he saw a smaller creature than him, harmless, and not having harmed them, alone, and with no signs of damage to nature around her. Not even signs of fires or dead animals.

Noa crouched down beside the human and covered her wound, helping her stop the bleeding.

"I don't know why. Neither do I."

_________________________________

**Fifth Act**

_________________________________

Noa had decided to move the unconscious Echo to the nest of leaves covered by a roof of branches. At least there, she would be comfortable and covered in case the sun bothered her or it rained. But he had to go back to the village, he had to go back to Anaya and Soona, because if he took too long, he was sure they would come to see what had happened to him, and that wouldn't be good.

He had to do it quickly. Kill the nearest animal he could find, so he would have something to feed the Echo when she woke up, but also use a significant part of it to show in his village, her heart.

A hare had been the sacrifice for his plan, he didn't have time to go for a bigger animal, and with the hare's heart, he was sure his village would calm down.

He took long strides, quickly, so as not to take too long. Right where he had left them, Anaya and Soona were waiting for him. They ran to hug him and looked at what he was carrying.

"Did you do it?" Soona asked, stepping back from the hug.

"Yes."

He was lying. He was lying to his friends for an Echo. But he didn't have another choice.

In the village, they received him as the leader he was. With hugs and praise towards him. He couldn't bear the weight on his chest. He was lying to everyone.

"Son, are you okay?" His mother was the only one who could feel something in him, and she didn't take long to approach him and ask questions.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be? We've gotten rid of that Echo! Isn't that right?"

"Because it's the first time you're acting like the leader of the clan." His mother hugged him. "I know it's hard, going against your ideals to follow the clan's ideals. No one asks if you're okay when you come back, they just receive you as the leader."

"I'm fine, mom."

She was the only one who could discover everything if she noticed his strange behavior. So he had to act normally... how was he supposed to act normally after supposedly killing an Echo that hadn't done anything to them?

_________________________________

**Sixth Act**

_________________________________

That same morning, Noa had gone back to where the Echo was. He expected to find her where he had left her, but he was surprised to see her standing, trembling, by the riverbank.

"Hey, you shouldn't be there."

She jumped back, trying to get away from him.

"It's okay, I'm here to help you."

"You're the one who hurt me."

Well, he couldn't deny that.

"I'm sorry. Please, let me help you."

"H-how can you apologize for something like that?"

She had started to breathe with difficulty, holding her wound.

"Sh, it's okay. We'll talk when you're cured."

Noa held her wound again, seeing how it was still humid, and proceeded to clean it, forcing her to lie down on the nest.

The ape had brought new bandages in case he needed to change them, so he proceeded to change them.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."

"It's hard to believe. Did you think I was livestock or something?"

"No, my village is scared of you, and they wanted me to kill you."

"And, why didn't you?"

Noa continued to change the bandages, unable to look her in the eye.

"I don't know. I didn't want to kill you personally, without knowing you. But it's my duty as the leader."

That information silenced the human. She grabbed his hand with the one he was using to clean her.

"Well, as the leader, stop. You've done your duty, you've tried to kill me, give them that information, and I'll run away from here. That way, you can say I escaped."

Noa shook his head, turning his hand to hold hers.

"No, you're already dead to them."

_________________________________

**Seventh Act**

_________________________________

Noa had been going back and forth from the village to where Mae, the Echo, was for a week.

During the day, he took care of his leader duties, and at dawn, he would return to the human's nest, where he would cure her, feed her, and take care of her. In those moments, they would talk, forgetting about the ape's attempt to assassinate her. Mae had opened up completely to him.

A human who had lost her family recently and was trying to survive away from the rest of humans who had hurt her. He didn't understand how they had hurt her if she didn't have that physical aspect, only the wound he had inflicted on her. But she explained that the wounds those humans had inflicted on her were not visible on her body, but in her heart.

Noa felt like seeking out those humans and defending the human to make her feel better. But she told him she was already learning to forget them.

"The wound is much better."

He didn't like how she was healing so quickly. Mae would have to leave when she was fully cured, that had been their agreement, but he wasn't ready to say goodbye so soon.

"Yes, I can do things on my own now. You should rest more at night and not come to see me."

"I don't need to rest. I want to come see you."

"Noa..."

"What?"

The ape continued making the meal, actually watching how the fire was made.

"You know I've forgiven you. You don't have to keep feeling guilty. Forgive yourself too."

"I-I can't. I failed my village. But I also failed you. If only I had shot higher, you would be dead and I wouldn't have met you."

"But you're a good ape and didn't do it. If it had happened this way or that, it wouldn't exist anymore. The reality is that we've met."

________________________________

**Eighth Act**

_________________________________

That day, his mother wouldn't leave his side. She observed him closely without speaking, but that made him even more nervous.

"What? What's going on?"

He stopped in front of her.

"Son, you can lie to the whole world, but not to your mother."

"What do you mean?"

"Your nighttime escapes, the lack of sales, your fatigue during the day. Tell me, son. Where do you escape to?"

"Nowhere, mom. Just... I go climbing alone to relax and sleep."

"Yesterday, you slept very late, the sun had already risen. And you started talking in your sleep."

Noa averted his gaze so she couldn't keep reading him like that.

"Your dreams mentioned Mae's name."

"Oh, nonsense. I don't know anyone by that name."

He turned around, trying to ignore his mother's comments so as not to get more nervous.

"Son, do you sneak out at night to see Mae? Is she the Echo you didn't kill?"

"Mother! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"I've known you since you came out of me. Small, hairy, and noisy. Since you were very young, you showed that you weren't like the rest of the apes. You were very analytical and more intelligent than most. Your father knew that you took twice as long to think things through, just like your grandfather."

"Mom..."

"That's why I knew when they asked you to fulfill this responsibility that you would take your time to think it through and not do it, because you're a fair son of mine."

"Mom, I couldn't kill her. She hadn't done anything to us and lived peacefully alone by the river. She didn't pose any danger like the elders make us believe."

"I know, son. I know you very well."

His mother hugged him, and he took refuge in her arms. Taking a weight off his shoulders since he wasn't the only one who knew about Mae's existence.

And not just the two of them anymore. One of the aoes in charge of the birds had overheard their conversation, hiding from mother and son.

_________________________________

**Ninth Act**

_________________________________

That morning, Noa found Mae packed and ready to leave, with her things in a backpack and the fire extinguished.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to leave now, Noa."

"What? No, why? You're still hurt. You can't leave yet."

"I'm not hurt anymore, Noa. You saved me."

"No, no, no, no."

Noa grabbed the girl's hands, trying to stop her.

"We knew this moment would come. I'm very grateful that you gave me the opportunity to meet you."

"No! It's the other way around. I tried to kill you and you forgave me, letting me into your life."

"That doesn't matter anymore, Noa."

"Yes, it does. I came here to kill you because I thought you were an animal, a monster, a beast. And I ended up realizing that the only beast here is me."

"Don't be so hard on yourself."

"I have to be. I can't forgive myself because if I do, I'll think I have a chance with you and it's not like that. I can't, n-no..."

Mae grabbed his cheeks, making him lean his forehead against hers, looking into his eyes.

"You're not a beast. You're my savior, but I have to leave so I don't cause you more problems."

Noa shook his head and leaned in to kiss the human, savoring the sweet taste of Mae's mouth.

They separated as they heard horses and apes cries.

________________________________

**Tenth Act**

_________________________________

Noa was startled. The only apes near the river were from his village. And it couldn't be, they didn't have any nighttime exploration planned.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

He turned to the human, grabbing her cheeks to make her look at him.

"Don't worry, you hide. I'll go see what's happening."

Mae looked towards something behind the ape's back, and he turned to see what had caught her attention, finding his friends.

"Noa."

The two apes ran to hug him.

"You don't know what's going on in the village. Maximo told them about the Echo and they're all coming to kill her."

Anaya explained quickly, without taking a breath.

"How did you know?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Soona responded with another question.

"I couldn't. She was in danger."

"We're your friends! We would have helped." -Soona raised her voice.-

"It's okay, guys. We'll discuss this later. Now we have to help the Echo." -Anaya turned to Mae.

"You have to distract them while I help her escape." -Noa grabbed Mae's hand.

"No!" -Soona refused.- "You're the clan leader, you have to give them explanations after what they found out. You have to be consistent."

The ape couldn't refuse. His friend was right.

"Mae." -he turned to her, grabbing her shoulders.- "You're going with Soona and Anaya, they'll help you."

"I'm staying with you." -Soona gave him her back as he said goodbye.-

He couldn't make her change her mind, as the apes were approaching.

"Echo. It's better if you get on my back and I'll run." -Anaya offered her back to Mae, and she got on without taking her eyes off Noa.-

________________________________

**Eleventh Act**

_________________________________

The group of apes arrived, finding Noa and Soona together. Both apes were standing side by side, bearing the gaze of the rest.

"Where is she?"

"We know, Noa. The Echo is still alive."

"We have to kill her before she attacks us."

"She's a demon."

Several apes spoke at once.

"Silence!" -Noa shouted, making them all quiet.- "She's not a demon! We're the ones who pursued her and tried to kill her without harming us."

"She'll do it, it's written."

"The elders say so."

"The elders are wrong!" -Noa shouted again.- "And the laws are wrong!"

"Noa, step aside!"

Several apes approached violently. He couldn't let his clan lose respect for their leader.

As the leader of the eagle clan and respectful of his clan's ancient tradition, he began to sing. He still hadn't joined with any bird. Due to his father's death, he had decided to wait out of respect for the previous leader. But now... it was the only solution he could think of to regain his clan's respect.

He continued singing, and no eagle came.

"It doesn't work like that!"

"What eagle would want to join you after you betrayed us?"

The apes' voices enraged him. His voice rose above theirs, and a large eagle with a strong presence landed on his arm.

When Noa looked up, he was surprised to see the eagle Sun, his father's eagle. Known as the strongestin its nest and stubborn like his father. Everyone feared and respected it.

_________________________________

**Twelfth Act**

_________________________________

Most of the apes kneeled before Noa, who stood proudly, looking at the eagle on his arm.

"It can't be, the eagle Sun has finally chosen its new master."

"It can't be, Noa, he's a traitor."

"Maximo, stop talking like that about the clan leader. He's already proven with actions that we should trust him."

One ape began to defend him, and most of them joined in. Noa knew he had regained his title as leader.

"We can't forgive his lie!"

That ape, Maximo, ran forward. Noa saw his intention to go after Noa and Anaya, so he stood in front of him, growling.

"You're not going to pass!" -he shouted, making Maximo take a few steps back.- "The Echo is my responsibility." -Noa began to address everyone.- "If anyone has a problem with her, they should come to me and I'll resolve it."

Maximo walked away with his head down.

The rest of the a apes roached to congratulate him on his union with Sol, and Soona stepped aside, observing him. In the end, it hadn't been necessary to help him; he was the clan leader, and she regretted having doubted it.

_________________________________

**Thirteenth Act**

_________________________________

The next morning, Noa met with Mae again. Anaya had told him the location where she had hidden her, in the cave where the three of them used to hide as children when they wanted to escape from their parents or play pranks.

Anaya had confided in Mae about the location, knowing how important it was to her friend Noa.

The ape and the human looked at each other intensely when they met. Mae was sitting on a rock, holding a piece of fruit, and had heard him enter. She was anxious to see him.

"Noa!" -she stood up, looking him up and down.- "Didn't they hurt you?"

"No, no, Mae." -Noa put his forehead against the human's, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent more closely.- "Y-you, are you okay?"

Mae let out a laugh.

"I'm fine. You faced your clan for... for me."

"Yes, for you. But I know that's not as scary as riding on Anaya's back and climbing up here with his rough scaling."

"Anaya took good care of me, you don't have to worry."

"I know."

Neither of them wanted to break the silence that followed. They hugged, feeling each other's skin so close. Mae's breath hit Noa's lips, and he couldn't resist anymore, leaning in to kiss her again, this time knowing every centimeter of her lips and mouth as he introduced his tongue.

"Noa."

Mae whispered the ape's name, and she pulled away, placing his lips on her cheek.

"You shouldn't kiss me like that. And I won't be able to leave if we keep doing this."

"Then don't leave. There's no need, no one wants you to leave. Come with me and live in my village, with my clan."

"No! Noa, I don't want to bring you more problems."

"You're not going to bring more problems." -Noa hugged her.- "Since I met you, you've brought nothing but joy and laughter and good thoughts to my life. You've made me happy, and I don't want to lose you."

"Okay."

Noa shouted happily, hugging the girl and lifting her up.

"You make me so happy, I love you!"

Mae looked into his eyes, unable to respond since she had lost her breath.

The human leaned in, kissing him again, this time with tenderness, and pulled away after a few seconds. As if her lips had given him strength and air to speak, she responded.

"I love you too."

_________________________________

**Final Act**

_________________________________

Mae moved in with them. The village had welcomed her with open arms when they saw her arrive with their leader.

Noa's mother received her literally in her arms, in a strong hug.

"Welcome."

The Echo, the beast everyone had feared, had found a place in everyone's heart. She had sought her place in the village and now fulfilled her responsibilities so that no one would ever have to take care of her again.

A certain leader wasn't very happy about it, since it meant they spent less time together, but he was happy seeing how everyone had learned to love her.

There was even a moment when he felt jealous of the attention she gave to the other apes.

Mae dedicated herself to healing and feeding the smaller or injured apes, or those who were lonely. This made her spend more time with others than with him. But he couldn't say anything, he had to fulfill his clan duties too.

At least he had the hope of ending the day and finding her in his nest again.

"Noa."

Mae sighed in his ear. Noa couldn't help but lie down next to the human and kiss her from her cheek to her neck. He had seen her sleeping already, but he missed her and needed to feel her in his arms.

He placed himself on top of her, lifting her clothes and pushing them aside. It wasn't the first time they had done it, but he had understood that those garments were important to cover the human's attributes. For the apes, it was rare to see those clothes, but Noa's ego grew when only he could see her like that.

Naked, trembling from his kisses and caresses, and so sensitive that she responded to every touch he gave her.

He introduced his virility, making her moan, making them both moan. His thrusts were quick and concise. That night, he needed to feel her with urgency. The desperation in his chest to make her reach climax and hear her scream his name.

"Noa!"

That scream and the contractions of the human's vagina around his penis made him come with a grunt.

"Mae, Mae."

He leaned on her, placing his elbows on both sides of Mae to avoid hurting her, and waited for his heart to calm down after coming.

"I love you."

He heard Mae.

"I love you too."

The ape responded before falling asleep next to her.

His life had taken a huge turn since the Echo, his Echo, had entered it. From believing he was going to kill a beast, to believing he had become one, to falling in love with an Echo. She had saved him from drowning in a life full of desperation and lies. She had entered his life to make the monsters that haunted him disappear. Mae was, is, and will be the love of his life forever.

________________________________

END.

[grandeoatmilklatte]

Catching Up 💍 (Ominis x F!MC Arranged Marriage)

This was a fic request by my darling friend @myrachondria ! Hope you enjoy it baby girl! ❤️

Warnings: Smut, NSFW, 18+ || Characters are over 18 || loss of v || oral || p in v || fingering || a very brief description of a noncon kiss that quickly becomes consensual! ||

Catching Up - Ominis Gaunt x F!MC Arranged Marriage || 3k words

Ominis Gaunt was never grateful to be born blind, but he did take advantage of his disability in this moment, as his cold, shaky hands took hold of his bride’s hands. He was glad he didn’t have to look her in the eyes as he listened to the officiant speak about how beautiful marriage was. The irony of this moment wasn’t lost on Ominis, as there was a time where he actually dreamt of this moment; but Ominis hadn’t had this dream in years. 

Ominis’s bride; however, was born with sight, and thus tried her best to look at anything other than the man standing in front of her. She cursed the gods for playing this cruel joke on her - making her dreams come true, three years after she had given up on them altogether.

What once was a beautiful friendship that danced on the cusp of romance, was now a faded memory shared between two enemies.

They had been best friends since childhood, their wealthy families being very close. Although they were in different friend groups while at school, they still found time for each other. Eventually, they both found themselves fancying one another, these feelings reaching their peak in fifth year. 

Fifth year was going to be different, she had told herself. Fifth year was going to be the year she confessed her feelings for Ominis. Unbeknownst to her, Ominis was also hyping himself up to confess his own feelings, his friend Sebastian encouraging it. 

But those confessions never came. They were doomed the moment the new fifth year showed up. The dissolvement of the friendship started with Ominis beginning to overreact and lash out at the slightest inconvenience. When she pressed Ominis about this, he always claimed to be on edge because of Sebastian, but never went into details as to why Sebastian had upset him. This was out of the ordinary for Ominis, since he had always been one to tell his best friend everything. This unusual behavior eventually morphed into Ominis ignoring his best friend all together, as well as her constantly stumbling into the boys in the middle of a screaming match in the Undercroft. 

Despite the growing distance between them, she was still hopeful a confession of her feelings would turn their situation around. It was the evening of Valentine’s Day, and she was on her way to the Undercroft. She was hoping to surprise the boy, a heart-shaped box full of his favorite sweets in her hand. Her hope was immediately destroyed when she found Ominis and the new fifth year standing in front of the door to The Undercroft, warped in an embrace. 

“What is the meaning of this?” She shouted, which caused Ominis and the new student to pull away from each other. She could see that Ominis’s eyes seemed wet, but paid no mind to this.  

“No wonder you’ve been so distant, Ominis, you’ve been too busy cozying up to the new girl!” She wanted to say more, but she stopped herself as she felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks. She threw the box of sweets on the floor as she left, ignoring the cries of “Wait, I can explain”, “We’re just friends” and “I love you”.

Ominis spent the remainder of the school year trying to make amends, but to no avail. The summer break brought with it various letters from Ominis, none of which the girl responded to, and only one of which she opened. In a sloppy script written by an enchanted quill, the first words on the parchment were “I’m sorry”. She refused to read any further, because there was nothing Ominis could say. The damage was done. 

With sixth year came more aggressive attempts at contact, with Ominis frequently leaving her gifts in front of her room - bouquets of red roses, sweets, jewelry - all of which she’d refuse.

Their seventh and final year brought complete silence. Ominis had finally accepted that he lost the girl he loved. Graduation came and went, and they both worked to forget the love they once had for each other. 

Their commitment to forgetting was interrupted one day, shortly after the girl’s 18th birthday, when she was dragged to the Gaunt home by her parents, where they and Ominis’s parents informed the former friends that they were to be married. No amount of protest changed their parents’s minds. And now here they were, being forced to spend the rest of their lives together in a loveless marriage. 

The bride was ripped out of her thoughts when the officiant spoke directly to her, asking her the question she dreaded answering. 

“I do.” she said through gritted teeth as her eyes bore into Ominis. She knew he couldn’t see her, but she hoped he could feel the anger in her stare.

“I do.” Ominis muttered when asked the same question. He swore he could feel her eyes digging into him as he said it. 

With the declaration that they were now wed, Ominis hesitantly cupped his new wife’s face in his hands, bringing their lips together in a kiss, an expectation they were required to fulfill. Her mind short-circuited as Ominis kissed her. She used to spend so much time dreaming of their first kiss, and despite how much she hated him, this moment was better than she ever dreamed. Ominis too found himself lost in the way their lips moved against each other. As she felt Ominis begin to pull away, she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him back in. They savored each other’s lips for another few seconds before they both pulled away, fearful that this would unearth feelings they worked so hard to bury.

–

As Ominis sat down to dinner, his new wife right beside him, he couldn’t help the audible sigh he let out, though he hoped their guests were too intoxicated to notice. He hadn’t had a moment to process his feelings since their nuptials. Neither of them had, as the couple was immediately forced to pretend they were happy and in love in front of their families.   

But despite the truth of their predicament, Ominis couldn’t help but linger on their kiss. While everything about this day was completely fake, the kiss felt real. Ominis felt conflicted, wanting it to have been real desperately, while also not wanting to resurrect those old feelings. Next to him, his wife was grappling with the same conflicting feelings. She longed to feel Ominis’s lips again, preferably on more than just her own lips. Forcing herself to remember the hurt Ominis put her through, she pushed the thought out of her mind.

–

As Gaunt manor emptied out and the evening came to a close, she was once again met with the same conflicting feelings. She knew that after the wedding day came the wedding night, and she knew what was expected of her. Part of her was repulsed by the idea, angry at the expectation that she was supposed to just lay back and let him strip her of her innocence. But the more she thought of the act, the more she desired it. Her mind betrayed her as it produced lewd images of what his body might look like and how he’d feel inside of her.

“My dear. It’s nearly and we’ve had a long day. We should get to bed.” came the soft voice of her husband from beside her as he held his hand out to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. 

She began to walk ahead of Ominis, refusing his hand and ignoring the inappropriate thoughts that still danced in her mind. They found their bedroom on the other side of the manor, both of their hearts racing as Ominis locked the door behind them.

Several minutes of painful silence passed as Ominis stood awkwardly by the door, eyes directed towards the floor, while his wife stood by the bed. Her eyes took in the sight of the bed - canopied and king-sized with emerald green satin bed sheets and red rose petals haphazardly sprinkled on top. She let out a sigh before she began to undress, removing her shoes, followed by her veil, and then moving towards the buttons of her dress. 

“Are you undressing?” Ominis asked, his tone laced with nervousness.

“Well I have to, don’t I!? How else are we supposed to consummate this ridiculous marriage if I don’t!? You should do the same, so we can just get this over with!”

“You don’t have to.” Ominis spoke softly, his heart stinging at the harshness of her words. Despite how distant they had gotten over the years, Ominis had always hoped that maybe, just maybe she still felt something for him. Her words were a cruel reminder that she did not. “We don’t have to do this. I would never force you to do this. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” The words felt like a knife through her chest. The restraint she had maintained all this time had finally been broken. 

“You don’t want to hurt me!?” she scoffed. “Oh darling, you already have hurt me! You hurt me the day you replaced me with that new girl! Shame you didn’t marry her instead!”

She watched as Ominis’s expression changed from sadness to anger. He began to yell, something she had heard him do to Sebastian before, but never her.

“I NEVER loved her! It was you who I loved! It was always you! She never loved me either! She loved Sebastian! The reason we spent so much time together was because she was helping me deal with Sebastian. You have no idea what he was like in fifth year! He did terrible things! I was losing my second closest friend and it was unbearable!”

She stared at Ominis, and dumbfounded expression on her face as she absorbed his words. He loved her. He wasn’t in love with that new girl. He was distant and cold because of Sebastian. She had heard rumors in her sixth and seventh year that Sebastian may have had something to do with his uncle’s death, possibly being the one who committed the act. But she never knew for sure. Now everything made sense.

“I…I had no idea…” was all she could muster as her eyes went to the floor. A feeling of guilt rose up her throat like vomit. 

“Of course you had no idea! You never let me explain myself!” Ominis shouted. 

Her cheeks were wet from the tears that were running down her face. She struggled to form a sentence. “I..I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

A soft sigh made her pick her eyes up from the floor. Ominis’s face had softened into a solemn expression, and his eyes were starting to water. 

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t open up to you the way I should have. I was just scared to involve you in Sebastian’s issues. I didn’t want him to hurt you as well. I couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt, but in doing so I hurt you anyway. I didn’t mean to push you away, I just didn’t know what else to do.” 

Ominis let out a soft gasp as he felt his body be pulled against hers as her arms wrapped around his neck. She was hugging him. The most physical touch they had in years. Ominis couldn’t control the movement of his arms as they wrapped around her waist.. They held each other for several minutes, too engrossed in the feeling of each other to want to let go. All of the feelings they had locked away began to flood back to them.

“I love you.” He whispered against her neck. “I loved you in fifth year. I still loved you when you shut me out, and I love you now. It’s okay if you don’t love me, I don’t deserve it, but now that we’re married, I hope you’ll give me a chance to at least make this marriage bearable for you. I promise I-...”

Ominis was unable to finish his sentence as he felt her lips press against his. He kissed her back, with much more fervor than he had earlier. With his hands still on her waist, his fingers grazed the buttons of her dress, fighting the urge to undo them. The fight was short lived however, when his new wife’s hands moved to his chest as she began undoing his tie, followed by the buttons on his shirt. 

Ominis felt like he couldn’t breathe as his hands came back to her waist, now completely bare. He followed her lead as she walked backwards towards the bed, leaning back on to it and pulling him with her so that he was above her. Ominis brought his lips down, landing on her collarbone instead of her neck. He didn’t mind the error, eager to kiss every inch of her body. His lips lingered on her collarbone for a moment before he brought them upwards. He sucked and nipped the skin on her neck, hoping that he was leaving a mark, before bringing his mouth back to her collarbone, and then down her chest to her breasts. His hand cupped one breast as his mouth latched on to the other, his fingers and tongue playing with her nipples simultaneously. Her soft moans serving as an approval of his actions. He switched positions of his mouth and hand, making sure both of her breasts received the love they deserved, before continuing his exploration, his lips moving down her stomach creating a trail of kisses as her hips slowly bucked upwards. 

Ominis continued downward, pausing just above her center. He could hear her breathing speed up, the sound making his cock leak with need. He took a deep breath before bringing his mouth down, wrapping his lips around her clit and sucking.

The sounds that fell from her lips were heavenly, making Ominis grateful he wasn’t missing his sense of hearing instead. Eager to draw out more heavenly sounds from her, Ominis continued, his lips and tongue sucking and licking her clit as his index finger slipped easily inside of her. After a few pumps of his finger in and out of her, he added a second finger. When her legs came up to rest on his back and her fingers came down into Ominis’s hair, he knew she was close, and he took this as a sign that he should work her harder, which he did willingly, resulting in several more desperate cries from his beautiful wife. 

With one final moan of his name, she reached her climax. Ominis took another moment to be grateful he wasn’t missing his sense of taste either as his tongue lapped up every drop she gave him. He moaned against her as he tasted her, and wanted to taste her forever. 

When he had finished, Ominis’s lips moved back up her body, leaving a path of wet kisses until he reached her mouth. He kissed her passionately as his painfully hard cock bumped against her. She sat up slightly, reaching a hand between their bodies to gently squeeze his cock and rub his tip against her entrance, a desperate moan falling from her lips as she did so. His hand replaced hers as he pushed his tip against her wet entrance. He waited for her confirmation before proceeding, which came in the form of a simple sentence. 

“I love you, Ominis.”

He slid inside of her, slowly, but deeply, not stopping until his hips were flush with hers. Ominis took a moment to let both her and himself adjust to the new feeling, asking if she was okay before he continued. When she gave him a breathless yes, he slowly pulled himself almost entirely out of her before he pushed back in, just as deeply as the first time, but with a bit more force. 

“Does it hurt? Please tell me if it hurts and I’ll stop.” He whispered. 

“No. It doesn’t hurt. I promise. Please keep going.” she moaned. 

Ominis, eager to please his new wife, did exactly what she asked. What started off as slow movements quickly became hard and fast thrusts into her, a symphony of moans from both of their lips bouncing off the bedroom walls. Her second climax came quickly with another whimper of Ominis’s name. Feeling her release around his cock rapidly pushed Ominis towards the edge, with him falling off completely a few moments later. Ominis let out a desperate cry of her name as he fell off the edge, stopping his movements and spilling his release into her. 

As his cock throbbed within her, he reflected on how grateful he was to be married to the beautiful woman beneath him. The girl he loved, that he was convinced he had lost, was now his, body and soul. This marriage wasn’t going to be an unhappy one, as he had feared. It wasn’t going to be a marriage forced into existence by his family. Although this marriage had been arranged by their parents, this was going to be a marriage that would be full of love and respect. Ominis made a vow to himself to never hurt her again, and to love her until his last breath.

Once Ominis had come down from his high, he gently pulled himself out of her, collapsing on the bed next to her. After several minutes of laying next to each other in pure bliss, the newlyweds cuddled under a blanket, their limbs intertwined. Ominis’s wife ran her hand down her husband’s cheek before speaking. 

“I can’t believe we’ve been given a second chance, but I’m so grateful for it, and I won’t waste any second of our time together. I promise to love you with every piece of me, for the rest of my life. I love you, my darling husband.” The word “husband” felt different on her tongue. Earlier she dreaded the word, but now, she couldn’t wait to use it every chance she got.

Ominis smiled as his hand held her hand, still stroking his cheek. “I love you too, my darling wife. Now, we should get some sleep. After all, we need to be up early tomorrow.”

“We do? What for?” 

Ominis chuckled. “We missed out on quite a bit of time together my dear, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

She planted one last kiss on his lips before she rested her head on his chest, the lovers quickly falling asleep. 

—

[pls-hold-me-im-justa-weeb]

Zoro x Fem Reader fluff and NSFW! S/O is a sweet and gentle lover, being like the opposite of Zoro. She always takes care of Zoro, like giving him blankets during naps, water and towels and massages during his training, etc. But Zoro hasn’t done much for her as a lover, which everyone but S/O reminds him. Zoro tries making it up by taking her to a flower field date. S/O is so happy, playing with the flowers that Zoro couldn’t help but fall in love with her innocence and kindness even more.

S;DUFDFVHJDOI;FDS;SDJF;OS THE WAY I SQUAWKED AND FOLDED FOR THIS REQUEST because I relate to it sooooo much oh my goodness gracious. I was so excited to write this and kept thinking about how to approach it, (which you can tell from how long it is... I got SUPER carried away lol)!!! Thank you SO MUCH for this request!!! I also used post timeskip Zoro because he seems more serious and stoic, and just imagining him being soft and blushing and in love just sidfjduhgsdijfo;i ugh okay? I headcanon that Sanji hides the sake and beer from Zoro just because he can. I don't know yet if it ever actually happens, but I would not be surprised.

🍶 Wordcount: 6.2k (DO NOT EXPECT THIS NORMALLY PEOPLE, I JUST HAD FUN WITH THIS AND WENT OVERBOARD BY A LOT)

Warnings: light angst, kinda cheesy romance (leave me alone I'm a romantic), kinda ooc fluffy soft!Zoro (because I'm a SLUT for soft zoro), SMUT - (oral/fingering, f!receiving, penis in vagina sex, squirting, mild choking m!receiving, f!reader getting railed by Zoro)

There is a section written in green from Zoro's POV.

Okay I'm literally so proud of this piece. That's it. Thank you, and enjoy.

ALL CREDIT TO ARTIST BUT I CAN'T FIND THEM but it's the perfect image for how I describe Zoro looking at you adoringly :3

-----

"All I'm saying is that if I had a lover like her, I'd give her everything and anything" Sanji quipped from his place in front of the stove.

"I didn't ask you, ero-cook. I love her and she knows it. That's enough. Stay out of my relationship" Zoro snapped from the pantry, searching for some alcohol.

"You should say 'our' relationship, idiot marimo. It's you and her together."

Zoro slammed shut the pantry, rattling the wall. The cook hid all the alcohol from him again.

"I don't want advice from a love sick fool who can't get a woman to save his life. At least I have a girlfriend" he spat, stalking towards the door.

"Yet you're arguing with me, trying to find alcohol to go drink alone instead of spending time with her. After everything she does for you." Zoro spun around angrily, hand on one of his swords, but was interrupted by the door to the eating area opening. You stood in the doorway hesitantly, immediately sensing the tension in the air, and the way it thickened at your presence.

"Oh. Uh. I stashed an extra bottle of alcohol away for you for when San-... uh... you couldn't find any... so... here" you held out the bottle. It was a bottle of decent sake you had swiped and stashed last week for the inevitable time the cook hid all the alcohol from your boyfriend, which you had seen the blond doing earlier.

"Thanks" Zoro muttered as he took it from your hand. He walked out the door, leaving you with the cook. You didn't miss the glower the cook sent towards the swordsman's back at his dismissive attitude, but you ignored it. You walked into the kitchen, distracting Sanji from his annoyance with a sweet request for two cups of water. He quickly got them for you with an exaggerated flourish, causing you to giggle. At the innocent sound, his smile turned sad before he became serious.

"You do too much for him and don't get enough in return" he muttered. Your heart clenched.

"He loves me in different ways, away from where people can see. Unfortunately, it's hard to do that on a ship" you said, shrugging off the comment. You knew it was true. You knew he loved you, he just... had lofty goals. It's hard to find time for romance and giving your lover attention when you're training constantly to be the worlds greatest swordsman, and first mate to the future pirate king. You knew that going into the relationship, and you were content with giving him attention so he knew he was loved.

"Besides, if he knows I love him, that's all that matters to me" you said.

"He doesn't even take you on dates when we go to islands" Sanji said quietly.

"It's pretty hard to do when he has the directional sense of a rock, and he somehow usually manages to get into some sort of trouble" you dismissed easily. The cook sighed, turning back to the stove.

"As long as you're happy, but I'd be glad to kick his ass for you if you ever feels like he needs it" he offered. You snorted, grabbing the waters as you made your way towards the door.

"You'd do it if he even looked at you wrong, let alone pissed me off" you teased, opening the door. Sanji waved goodbye with a sweet smile, knowing what you said was one hundred percent true. You rolled your eyes, making your way to the deck towards Zoro. It was evening, the sea breeze sweeping away the heat of the day, cooling the air to a comfortable temperature. The sun was starting to set, the sky turning gold with strokes of pink and red towards the horizon.

Your boyfriend was enjoying the last vestiges of sunlight on the deck, sprawled on his side with his head propped in his hand. You stood and admired his features for a second. His short green hair seemed more vibrant in this light, and his eyes closed gently, the scar over his eye shining with the different texture. The light hit his exposed chest just right, highlighting and shadowing his muscles that he worked so hard for. He brought the bottle of sake up to his lips and took a swig. You watched as his chiseled jaw moved as his throat bobbed. His earrings glinted in the golden light at the new angle. You swallowed, feeling butterflies erupt in your stomach.

"You just gonna stand there?" he asked, lowering the bottle from his lips. A drop made its way down his chin but he wiped it off carelessly with the back of his hand. You cleared your throat, flustered that you had been caught staring. You made your way to sit so he could see you with his good eye. You silently held out the glass of water, glancing at him quickly.

"You good? You look like your blushing" he said, letting his fingers linger over yours as he accepted the glass of water. One of his ways of showing innocent affection.

"Yeah... You just... You're so beautiful" you breathed honestly. Zoro blushed slightly and grunted, looking away from you. You giggled quietly, able to read his reactions like a book. He was surprised and flustered.

"Not my choice of description" he mumbled. You decided to tease him further.

"No? I could say you're pretty, or stunning. I could say you're handsome, sexy, strong, amazing-"

"Shut up!" he swatted your thigh lightly. Now he was beyond flustered, blushing all the way to his ears. You dissolved into laughter, falling onto your back as you clutched your stomach. You missed his gaze, staring openly at you with awe, but he controlled his expression quickly before someone saw him. Your laughter eventually faded, and you eased yourself up to lean on your elbows to watch the sunset. Streaks of purples, oranges, pinks, and reds painted the sky.

"Tomorrow we should arrive at a spring island" you said quietly. Zoro grunted quietly. To anyone else, it sounded like a simple acknowledgement that you spoke, but you heard his silent invitation to continue.

"It's famous for the flower fields that grow wild there" you said, awe and excitement coloring your voice. You didn't notice his curious glance towards you.

"Yeah?" he prodded. You sat up fully, hugging your knees to your chest, your expression dreamy as you let the visual of the current sunset coloring imaginary wildflower fields form in your mind.

"Mmmhmm. I told Chopper I'd go with him" you said quietly.

An idea bloomed in the swordsman's mind, but he kept his expression neutral.

"For medicinal herbs?" he asked. You nodded.

"I'm excited" you said dreamily. Zoro hummed, a plan forming behind his neutral face. He'd need to ask some favors, which he hated, but to see you smile it was worth it.

----

The next morning you woke up with more energy than usual, the excitement to visit the wildflower fields evident in your actions. All morning, you asked Robin about her flowers, and she lent you a book about the flowers you were likely to see on this island. You devoured the information until Luffy exclaimed loudly that he could see land. You worked off your extra energy running wild around the ship with him and Chopper, feeding each other's childish excitement. You didn't see Zoro anywhere, but assumed he was training in the crows nest.

The ship finally docked, and you waited impatiently for Chopper to finish gathering what he needed before the two of you leapt off the ship.

"Oi! Wait up! I'm coming with you two" your boyfriend called out, sounding exasperated as he slung a bag around him. Your happy surprise showed in a small squeal and a jump into his arms once he caught up. A wide grin donned your lips and you laughed as he tsk'd at your behavior and pushed you back by your forehead.

"Did you shower?" you asked, surprised. Normally it took you promising alone time or a bottle of sake to get him to shower regularly.

"So what if I did?"

You shrugged, grabbing his hand as you turned away.

"C'mon! Let's go! And don't let go of my hand. I don't want you getting lost"

You lead the way through the town, the three of you stopping to buy some drinks before continuing. Chopper got chocolate milk, Zoro got sake, and you tried a popular local flower tea. You asked the shopkeeper directions to the flower fields to make sure you were going the right way. He nodded, but leaned forward, indicating at your hand in Zoro's.

"The fields are a tourist attraction, but there's a place that's out of the way and much prettier, if you're looking for a more secluded area." You opened your mouth to say it didn't matter, but Zoro leaned forward, intrigued. You realized he probably wanted to take a nap in the quiet area, so you nodded and asked for directions. You thanked the shopkeeper with a few coins as a tip for his information, and set off with Chopper and Zoro in tow.

"You didn't have to give him money just for telling us that" Zoro griped. You rolled your eyes.

"You just say that 'cause you're in huge debt to Nami" you teased. He bristled slightly.

"He offered up the information for free!"

You shrugged.

"You repay kindness with kindness. That comes in different forms for different people"

Zoro grunted, having no reply to that. Chopper spoke up.

"Ooo you're so nice! But the directions the man gave you leads to a different area where the herbs I need don't grow. Is it okay if we split up? I'll be fine by myself, and you can go enjoy the beautiful area."

You hesitated. You told Chopper you'd help him find herbs, but the offer to spend alone time with Zoro without other people disturbing you in a flower field sounded too tempting. Your boyfriend squeezed your hand.

"He'll be fine. Let's go. You're excited right?"

You exhaled, and ran your free hand through your hair before smiling down at Chopper.

"You sure?" He nodded determinedly at your question, then ran off with a quick goodbye and a promise to be safe. You watched him for a bit, but turned around when Zoro tugged on your hand.

"C'mon. Lets go" he urged. He began leading you, but you quickly stopped him, a smile tugging on your lips.

"That's the way we came from, babe. This way."

He huffed in embarrassment both at his mistake and your pet name, but let you lead him. You reached a fork in the path just outside the town. One sign indicated the path lead to the flower fields, but you headed down the unmarked path, following the shopkeeper's directions.

"Oi. The sign said the other way. You sure we're on the right path?" your boyfriend asked. You glanced at him with a single raised brow and a smirk.

"I love you so much Zoro, but I'm surprised you even realized the sign was referring to the other path"

He blushed and spluttered, indignant at your quip and flustered by your easy admission of your feelings towards him. You cut him off with a soft laugh.

"Hurry up! I can smell the flowers already!" You broke into a quick jog. The swordsman easily kept pace with you, staying by your side even as you let go of his hand. You focused on the path ahead of you, missing his quick, adoring glance at you. There was nobody around, after all.

A few minutes later, you rounded a corner of a rock face, and your view exploded in vibrant colors. Shades of purple, pink, yellow, orange, green, and blue dotted the field sprawled in front of you. You gasped audibly, in awe of the view in front of you. The air was thick with the sweet scent of flowers, the breeze wafting their perfume around you as it brushed the petals and bowed the thin stems in waves. A lone apple tree stood in the middle of the field, matching the rustling of the field as the breeze threaded through it's boughs. The field led to a cliff, which looked out over a hidden cove. The beach below was white sand and turquoise waters.

You stepped forward hesitantly, unwilling to crush any of the beautiful plants. A warm hand landed on your lower back, nudging you forward. You couldn't tear your eyes away from the flowers.

~~~~~~~

He wished you could see yourself from his point of view. His life had been dark and full of violence, but you brought innocence and raw love to his life. You were the light to his shadows, the food for his soul, the gentleness to his calloused fighting.

Your awe at the flower field in front of the two of you froze your entire body, your hand curled in a gentle fist against your chest, over your heart as if checking you weren't dead. You were hardly breathing, as if unwilling to disturb the beauty in front of you.

Tears shone in your eyes, overwhelmed by the excitement and unfiltered, pure awe of the beauty in front of you. You took a small step forward but stopped. He placed a gentle hand on your lower back, nudging you slightly forward. You deserved to experience the beauty he could never bring you as a person.

You deserved everything his crewmates said you did. The open affection, the love, gentle smiles, and innocent caresses, returning the small gestures and kindness you unthinkingly did for him. You massaged his muscles when he over trained, patched up his minor injuries after a fight, and brought him water and fresh towels when he was working out. He wanted to give back. To run a finger over your cheek before kissing you gently, to play with your hair, to cuddle you when you frowned.

Yet, selfishly, he couldn't bring himself to be seen doing it. He couldn't let anyone know you were his weakness, that he loved you enough to give up his dream of being the worlds greatest swordsman for you. It wasn't that he didn't trust his crew, he did. It just terrified him knowing how deeply you affected him- how much he loved you, and how much he would sacrifice for you. He would even destroy the very sun if you asked.

He let his gaze wander over your face. Innocent and pure adoration, the tears in your eyes at the view that surpassed your expectations. You looked beautiful, but he couldn't bring himself to say it because he was falling even harder for you. He nudged you forward gently again with the hand on your back.

She deserves everything.

"Go on. You deserve it" he said quietly.

He met your gaze, letting himself show his affection for you, removing the wall he put up to keep his expression neutral. Fresh tears gathered in your eyes, and he chuckled at your innocence.

"Get out there or I'll carry you" he teased. With a nod, you shuffled forward, and crouched to gently caress the delicate petals of a flower. He could hardly tell them apart, but you had been studying them all morning. You sniffed the flower, and you gazed at the field before suddenly taking off. Your unabashed, pure and kind laughter carried over the field, making him smile at your innocent joy and excitement. You opened your arms as you spun, as if to hug the breeze that tangled it's fingers through your shining hair. Your face turned towards the sun as you breathed deeply, a smile never leaving your face.

He couldn't help the answering smile that graced his own lips. Your beauty and joy sent his heart fluttering as he made his way to the lone apple tree to set up the meal he had packed the two of you, courtesy his begrudging ask of Sanji. He wanted the best for you, and even he had to admit the cook was good at his job.

He was supposed to stay and watch the ship today, but he asked Franky to instead. The damn cyborg had even started bawling when he explained begrudgingly that he wanted to take you on a special date. He considered asking Brook to be nearby to play some of your favorite songs, but he really wanted it to be the two of you during this date, so he asked him to do it tonight, back on the ship. He asked Robin and Usopp to work together to buy some seeds and plant you some flowers from the area in a small planter, so you could always have a little bit of this spring island with you. He even asked Chopper to make an excuse to find the herbs somewhere else. It was lucky that the shopkeeper guided the two of you away from where the reindeer actually needed to go.

He flicked open the blanket, spreading it on the ground beneath the tree. He saw a few ripe apples in the branches, and picked them easily. He heard your footsteps approaching, but didn't look back, focused on reaching the last apple, just out of his reach.

~~~~~~

"What's all this?" you asked breathlessly. Zoro didn't look back. You slid off your shoes before stepping fully on the spread blanket, placing them neatly next to Zoro's boots.

"'s for you" he said before jumping a little to grasp the apple he was trying to pick. As he pulled it from the tree, the branch shook, raining petals and leaves on the two of you. You giggled. He turned around, gaze landing on you, and froze. His eyes were wide and his mouth parted. A blush was coloring his cheeks a red under his tanned skin. He had only reacted like this the first time he saw you naked in his bed. You noticed he had a leaf stuck in his hair, and you chuckled as you reached out to pluck it from his head. He started a little, and pulled you close with an arm around your waist.

"What's wrong?" you tilted your head.

"You..." he trailed off, plucking a light pink petal from your hair.

"Me?"

"God I love you so much" he breathed. Your eyes widened, and you gasped lightly. It was kind of rare for him to say it, preferring to show you. He took a deep breath, exhaling as he cradled your cheeks in his hands. His thumbs drew matching gentle circles on your cheeks, and he lowered his forehead to yours, eyes closed. One of your hands came up to cradle his, the other resting on his hip.

"I know I should be more open about it. I'm a selfish bastard because I just can't let people know that you're my weakness. I can't let them know that I'd give up my dreams, to be the best, for you. Because when I'm with you... nothing else matters. I'd tear down the sun and the moon if it meant you would always be happy and safe. I can't show it because I can't lose you."

His voice sounded strained, as if it caused him pain to speak like this. Your voice caught in your throat, unable to form any words. You could only surge forward in a desperate kiss, which he matched in fervor. You couldn't get enough of him, shoving your tongue into his mouth clumsily to explore it. He grunted in surprise, but quickly adapted, returning the favor quickly. Your hand that was resting on his wrapped around to thread through his windswept hair, and the one that was on his hip slid to his bare chest, trailing down to his haramaki. He groaned into your mouth, his own hands skimming down from your face, featherlight touches down your shoulders and sides until he reached your hips. He broke the kiss, breathless.

"You drive me insane, woman" he muttered as his hands cupped under your ass. He tapped his hands twice, and you took the hint, looping your arms around his neck and jumping to wrap your legs around his waist. He lifted you easily, and you kissed him again. He moaned into the kiss, and you answered with a groan. He knelt smoothly on the blanket, lowering you to your back gently. You broke the kiss, looking at him softly as he hovered above you, hands caging your head.

"You drive me insane too" you muttered with a smile. He smiled lovingly at you.

"Pretty sure that's part of the boyfriend job description" he answered, leaning down to nose your jaw. You huffed a laugh as he tickled your neck with butterfly kisses. You rarely saw this side of Zoro, and each moment made you fall more in love with him. Usually it was desperate, passionate kisses that lead to fucking, and while that was nice, this felt more like you were going to make love. You dragged your hands down his chest, reveling in the warm touch and the chiseled muscles.

"Zoro"

"Hm?" He broke away from your neck, meeting your gaze. Your hands drifted to the front of the shoulders, flexed as he held himself above you.

"I want you" you whispered. His eyes flared with lust.

"Whatever you want, princess" he muttered, lips brushing yours with his words. He covered your lips with his, slightly chapped and tasting like the sweet sake he had on the walk here. You groaned, and you let him explore your mouth with his tongue, running over your teeth and tangling his tongue with yours. Your hands threaded through his hair, scratching his scalp the way he liked. He broke the kiss from your lips and started kissing down your neck, gently biting in places before licking and kissing it as if in apology. A hand wandered under your shirt, caressing your belly, sides, and breasts.

"I don't tell you nearly enough. You're beautiful"

Your breath hitched, and you raised a hand to cover your mouth in shyness. He sat back, and pulled you sitting upright with his movement. He helped you strip from your shirt, decorating your chest with soft kisses. You tilted your head back, a blush on your face, unused to the loving attention. Normally it was pawing and tearing at each other's clothes in desperate lust when you finally got some privacy, but this... this you liked. A lot.

You moaned lightly as his hands deftly removed your bra, then eased you back down gently onto the blanket. He cupped your breasts, thumb rubbing gentle circles over your nipples as his tongue laved over the other one. You moaned quietly, raising a curled hand to your lips in embarrassment. Zoro caught it before it even reached your shoulder, and popped off your nipple to catch your eye as he hovered over your chest.

"Let me hear you. Please." His voice was deepened with lust. You nodded at him, sure your blush was prominent. He huffed a small chuckle, letting himself look at you with all the love he had, a genuine close-lipped smile curving his lips softly.

"Let me take care of you today" he said, kissing the back of your fingers.

You tangled your fingers with his, gazing at him, "Z-zoro".

He leaned down to kiss your lips chastely, before allowing himself to travel down your neck and chest, planting soft kisses on your skin. He whispered praises unabashedly, knowing he could show his love for you openly here. It was safe. His hands kneaded your breasts as if to ground himself.

"I love you so fucking much"

"So beautiful"

"I love how you do so much for me"

"I love how you show me you care for me"

"I love how innocent and carefree you can be"

"I'd give you the world if I could"

He slowly made his way to your shorts, nipping lightly at the skin of your tummy before sliding his hands down your sides and removing your shorts and panties. You lifted your hips to help him. He hummed in appreciation at the sight of you laid bare in front of him, better than any meal he could ever taste. He gently spread your legs, and you tried to keep your thighs closed out of embarrassment. He soothed his warm calloused hands on the outside of your legs, from hips to ankles. He easily placed your knees on his shoulders, and eased himself forward. You parted for him automatically.

"There's my good girl" he cooed. Electrifying heat pooled in your lower abdomen at the words. His words were usually somewhat degrading, which you loved, but his praise trailed heated fingers down your spine. You moaned, and you could feel him smirking against the fat of your thigh as he kissed it. His fingers slid their way over your slit, finding your hole and collecting some slick so he could rub your clit. You hummed at the sensation, breath starting to come faster as you began to lose yourself to his ministrations. His fingers were gently drawing circles on the outside of your clit, making sure you didn't get too stimulated right away.

His face lowered in tandem with his fingers, his tongue quickly finding your clit as his fingers prodded at your hole. One slid in and out a few times before the second finger joined and together, they prodded up into that one spot that sent your toes curling, right as he flicked his tongue expertly on your clit. Your orgasm was sudden and blinding, squeezing around his fingers and your hands finding their way to his head, bringing him closer. He groaned into your cunt, lapping at you like his life depended on it. Your moan was loud, head thrown back and back arched sweetly for him as your thighs squeezed around his head. He only eased his onslaught of pleasure as your thighs loosened their grip and you were pushing away his head.

Your chest was heaving from your pleasure, and he was catching his breath from being happily squished between your thighs. He licked the shiny release he could release from his face, dragging the back of his hand across the rest of his face.

"You like being praised that much, princess?" he teased, a smirk on his face as he shed his coat and haramaki with practiced movements. You could only stare as his muscular frame rippled under his tanned skin. He leaned over you, caging you with his hands on either side of your head. He chuckled, but it was different from the dark laugh that promised difficulty walking the next day. There was a light blush on his cheeks, and he looked genuinely happy. You looked in awe, having never seen this expression on his serious face. He brushed his lips on your cheek, then pulled back.

"You deserve to hear it."

You couldn't help it. At those words, tears brimmed your eyes. Zoro panicked. He sat back on his heels and immediately brought you to his lap, holding you.

"Oi! Wait! Don't cry! Did I hurt you? What's wrong?"

You shook your head, a watery smile breaking through.

"Just... who are you and what have you done with my Zoro? You're all sappy!"

He rolled his eyes and flicked your forehead gently.

"I'm tryna be romantic for once, treat you like you treat me constantly" he muttered, scowling as he looked away. You dissolved into giggles.

"There you are! There's the man I love." He huffed.

"Did you wanna fuck or not?" he asked bluntly, shifting his legs so you could feel his hard length trapped in his pants. It sent the heat of arousal swirling through your veins again.

"I wanna make love" you cooed with a smirk in his ear, pressing your chest against his bare skin. He hissed out a breath.

"Lay down then, princess" he growled in your ear. You could feel him smirking against your cheek, "Let me make love to you" he teased, throwing your own words back at you. His fingers trailed down your spine, landing on your hips. You shifted off his lap and made yourself comfy on the blanket. He stood quickly to removed his pants, but you didn't miss the quick scan of the area to make sure you were alone. Not that he cared if people saw the two of you fucking, he just didn't want this experience ruined.

He sank down and crawled over your form, spreading your legs wide to kneel between them. You absolutely loved when he fucked you in missionary. He was so big and strong, and he stretched you out so well. He surrounded you and was inside of you, and it was both a calming and euphoric sensation.

He stroked his large cock with one hand, the other balancing his weight by your head. You dragged your fingernails up his arm, landing on the back of his shoulder.

"Please, Zoro" you murmured. His silver eye widened a little before his lips curved up softly. He lowered himself in a sort of half one-armed pushup to rest on his elbow. You didn't miss the casual show of strength. Showoff. He eased the tip into your wet pussy, and you hissed in a breath through your teeth as you turned your head into his forearm, biting lightly. Zoro laid kisses on your neck and jaw, distracting you from the stretch. His other arm came up to the other side of your head.

"Good girl. Doing so well" he murmured in your ear. You shivered, the words in his deep voice making you groan. He took it as an invitation to continue, and he slowly began to sheath himself into you. You were soaking. His praise, kisses, godly body, and obvious love all affected you deeply.

"Shit. So tight and wet"

Your hands curled into claws, lightly scratching down his back as you whimpered. He shushed you, caressing a finger down you cheek.

"So good. Taking it so well" he murmured before kissing your lips. You could only moan into the kiss. You raised your legs to rest on his sides and hips. He reached deeper and you moaned loudly at the sensation.

"Good fuckin girl. Doing so good for me. Took my whole cock on the first try" He moaned into the flesh of your throat. You whined, arching your back. The new angle hit something devastating deep inside, and you mewled.

"Look at you, so beautiful for me"

"Zoro~ move" you moaned. He started slow, letting you get used to the stretch, but quickly built his pace to a steady, smooth one that sent you keening. His thick cock was dragging along your walls, pulling out enough so his tip was pushing gently on your g spot, before pushing in smoothly with a roll of his hips that had his cockhead pushing that one spot deep inside. Your breath was heaving, interspersed between moans and calls of his name. It was so good, but you couldn't quite reach the peak.

"Please, let me cum" you begged desperately. Zoro grunted above you, raising himself so his palms were beside your head. He hardly broke his rhythm as he looked at you with a dark smile.

"I thought you wanted me to make love to you" he teased. You reached up, cupping his cheek with a hand.

"Romance me later. Fuck me. Now"

"As you wish, princess" he mocked.

He pulled out, kneeling in front of your hips as he slung your legs over his shoulders. He simply picked up your hips, and started slamming his cock in and out of your pussy. Skin slapping together echoed across the field, and your wails followed. With your back bowed off the ground, you had no control over your hips, but the angle was incredible. Your hands gripped the blanket uselessly, unable to hold back your moans and sounds of pleasure. Above you, Zoro was grunting and swearing under his breath. You could tell he was getting close, seeing you bent so sweetly under him.

"God fucking damn it. You're just sucking me in" he growled. You tightened at the praise. You heard him chuckle darkly.

"That's right baby. Feel so good, tightening on my cock like that. I want you to cum for me, like that. Needing me to hold you up like this. You look so pretty, under me like this"

As he spoke, the knot in your abdomen tightened to dangerous levels. Your legs tensed until you were practically hanging from his shoulders. At the new tension holding you up, Zoro could wrap one hand around your thighs holding them together as he held you up, lightly choking himself with your calves on the sides of his neck as he brought one hand to snake around to your torso. His warm hand pressed down on your lower abdomen, and he could feel his own length as he pistoned in and out of you. A new sensation began to build.

"Z-Zoro- something- ah! please! I'm gonna-"

"Go ahead. Cum hard on my fucking cock"

His thumb reached down to draw circles on your clit, and at the rough touch, you exploded. Your mouth opened in a silent scream, and Zoro kept your thighs tightly against himself, slowly only slightly as you tightened around him enough to start to push him out. Your back bowed further, and you felt yourself wetting his torso as you squirted. His body shuddered as his hips stuttered to a stop, a loud groan leaving him as you unwittingly limited the blood flow to his head with your spasming calves. Had your eyes been open and focused, you would've seen his eyes fluttering and rolled back in his head, cumming hard.

Both you were breathless as Zoro lowered your hips back down to the blanket, collapsing beside you, uncaring of the mess.

"holy shit" you breathed. Zoro started to chuckle at your swearing, and you joined, giggling as you rolled to snuggle onto his shoulder. He held you close, and you reveled in the touch. Suddenly you sat up, looking concerned and turned his head to the side to look at his neck.

"Did I choke you? I just realized that maybe my legs-"

"I'm fine. I liked it" he took your hand in yours, looking sheepish, "It's almost like being squeezed by your thighs when I eat you out."

You blinked at him, easing yourself back down.

"Huh. Who would've thought you had a choking kink" you muttered to yourself. Zoro swatted your bare ass lightly in retaliation, but didn't deny your words. He wasn't a liar. The two of you laid there in easy silence, listening to the breeze and inhaling the sweet perfume. You shifted, feeling the uncomfortable squelch of drooling cum from your pussy.

"Let's get cleaned up" your boyfriend suggested, sitting up. Clear droplets rolled down his torso with the movement, and you watched their movements.

"I don't think I've ever cum that hard" you said quietly. Zoro handed you a napkin he produced from his bag.

"Me either" he admitted. You giggled, still somewhat delirious from the post-sex high.

"What did you pack?" you asked curiously. You were starting to get hungry, and you were thirsty from your heaving breaths. Zoro silently handed you your clothes, and you took them gratefully. He began pulling out a meal and drinks from his bag, and it was obvious Sanji packed it with care. You smiled softly, understanding the sentiment. Zoro sucked up his pride to make you happy for a day.

You crawled over to him, still naked, and pressed your chest to his slightly sweaty back as you hugged him. He grunted at your sudden affection, and you leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

"I love you, and I know you love me too. I see it in the small things, the things you can't hide. We love each other, and that's what matters. Don't let what they say get to you. I'll start telling the crew to stay out of it too" you said, determined. He somehow slung you around him and into his lap, an innocent smile on his face.

"Whatever you want to do. As long as you know that I love you"

You smiled easily in return, kissing the tip of his nose.

"Get dressed. You're naked" you said, crawling off his lap. You weren't sure if you could even stand up after that round.

Zoro landed a solid swat to your bare ass retreating from him, "you're one to talk"

------

That evening back on the ship, Brook played your favorite songs, and you were surprised when Zoro thanked Usopp and Robin in front of you. They had gone above and beyond, creating a tiny greenhouse planter for your soon-to-be spring flower garden. Sanji asked if you liked the food, and you thanked him. Even Zoro held his tongue, simply nodding at the cook. That night, as you lay in bed with your boyfriend, you ran your fingers over his earrings before trailing your touch down his jaw. He opened his eye curiously.

"Thank you for today" you murmured. You didn't know how to begin describing how much it meant to you, so you simply kissed him gently, trying to pour your emotion into the kiss. He cupped your cheek, pulling back from the kiss.

"I love you" he muttered. You smiled softly. His walls were up again, but you could never doubt his words. He never lied. Not to you.

"I love you too, Zoro"

[valkyrieromanoff]

IMAGINE PEDRO PASCAL X ACTRESS!READER

Summary: You and Pedro answer some internet questions.

Warnings: Implied romance, friendship,fluffy

I was up at the crack of dawn watching The Graham Norton Show due to my unhinged obsession with Pedro Pascal. That's where my hypothesis about Helen Mirren became more credible. I really hope you enjoy it, though.

"Hello, I am Pedro Pascal." He introduced himself, waiting for you to do the same. "And my name is Y/N, and today we are going to answer some questions from the Internet." You said as Pedro shook the jar with the questions written on small pieces of paper."Let's see what the first question will be." He said, turning the jar over so that you could pick one up. "What was the last song you listened to?" He leaned over to your side, reading over your shoulder. "Do you remember?"

"Let's dance by Bowie. I listened to it in the car when I was coming here." You said, leaving the paper on the table. "Whenever I'm feeling down, I put this song on, and everything is better. What about you?"

Pedro paused to think, looking distractedly to the side. "Someone sent me this video with the song Hey sexy lady and this has been on my mind since then."

"I think I know which video you are talking about." You laughed, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled and laid his head on your shoulder. "Well, next question. Are you good with accents?"

"Are you?" Pedro asked, as you shook your head negatively. "Come on, it shouldn't be that bad."

"The best I can do is a terrible British accent." And I'm not being modest; it's truly terrible." You rectified it, laughing. "But you, on the other hand, are good at it."

"I try; I've done a few different accents." Pedro said, moving his shoulders as if to ask something. "This is the way." He said it in his SNL Valley Girl accent.

You smiled as you shook the pot and motioned for him to take the next question.

"Recommend a book." He read, then tossed the paper aside. "I think I've mentioned this book before, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is a landmark in Latin American literature and well worth the read. Besides dealing playfully with social and economic problems, it talks about family, friendship, and love."

"That sounds interesting." You commented. "I would recommend Normal People by Sally Rooney. It's a great book, which in addition to telling the story of Marianne and Connel, deals with topics such as mental health, social classes and makes us reflect on how we impact people's lives and how they impact us."

"Nice." Pedro agreed, waiting for you to take a question.

"What is your celebrity crush?" You asked, and you can't deny that you were curious to know his answer.

"Tough question, there are so many people I admire." He began, adjusting his glasses. "However, if I had to pick one, it would be Helen Mirren since Excalibur. Oh Morgana Le Fay has awakened something in me.""She's wonderful." You agreed, taking a moment to decide. "My celebrity crush is Tessa Thompson; that woman is amazing. She could punch me in the face and I'd thank her for it." "Whoa!" Pedro muttered in surprise. "I don't even know what to say." He joked as you pushed him lightly to the side.

"We only have two more." You commented, looking through the last few papers. "Let's see what the question is." You said, unfolding the paper. "Were you a good student? Were you Pedro?""I was a student." Pedro paused. "Maybe I got into some trouble." He joked, holding your arm as he laughed, "But they were always normal things, like skipping class or forgetting to do an assignment.""I guess I was a good student; I got good grades; I was a little nerdy; and I never got into any trouble." You spoke, throwing a lock of hair back."So, you were a good girl?" Pedro asked and you bit your lip."You could say that." You mumbled, holding the jar for him to pick up the last paper.

"What's the one thing you wish you could tell your younger self?" He read, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I would say that everything would eventually work out and that some things tend to take longer to happen. And to never, no matter what, stop being who you are."

You smiled, gently touching his shoulder. Pedro stared at your face and returned the smile.

"I'd tell her to not be so hard on herself and to try to enjoy the moments without worrying so much about the things she can't control." You said sincerely. "Well, it looks like the questions are over."

"It was a lot of fun answering them; I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did." Pedro spoke, smiling. "Until next time." He said, and made the peace sign with his fingers.

"Bye." You spoke, waving to the camera.

[swga-ficrecs]

long fic recs

this is a list of fics that are, well, long regardless of the trope and plot. for voracious readers who aren't satisfied with short-length writing. all these fics are considered holy grails because i don't read long fics if they aren't well-written. all fics are finished unless noted otherwise.

✒️ unfinished

yoongi

third wheeling by @untaemedqueen  i absolutely love everything about this. it's a lot of my favorite tropes in one giant fic. the characters are complex and fleshed out, the pacing is good, and i love the writing style. the smut is well-written and, though the catalyst for the plot, well-paced that it doesn't feel like a smut-centric fic.

suit & tie + drabbles by @jungshookz this is is a long fic but in bullet points, so i can only imagine how long this could've been if it was written in full sentences. another fic where yoongi does a 180°, but their dynamic is adorable from the beginning. not a lot of drama, a good fic to go back to if you want something lighthearted. you can probably tell by now that i love ceo fics.

desolate by @angelicyoongie this fic is long but has a very straightforward style of writing that's easy to follow and understand. it's one of the few hybrid fics i've read where they fight for a hybrid's right to freedom. i love how much yoongi opened up and changed throughout the fic. it's one of those fics where the idea of a hybrid isn't romanticized.

the deal by @untaemedqueen a great introduction to syndicate fics if you're looking for one. this is a chaptered fic that isn't too long and is easily digestible. it doesn't touch on mafia-esque activities so much. i have a thing for romance fics where the stone cold character evolves into a romantic, and this tickles that itch.

jimin

balletteacher!jimin x ballerina!reader by @jungshookz ✒️ this bullet point mini-series should be considered a full series already, considering the length of each drabble and how many of them exist. this is a forbidden romance between a teacher and a student with different personalities, so it's interesting and endearing how they developed their feelings over time.

i want to be with you by @oddinary4bts

a lengthy oneshot of strangers-turned-lovers and how love grows slowly between two people who are worlds apart. very well-written, i dreaded how quickly i finished reading it. i love how human jimin is in this fic. the oc is very relatable as well—very realistic and not overtly romanticized. i can easily identify myself in her if i were in her shoes.

taehyung

maybe i do by @chateautae another fic that is a mix of my favorite tropes. this fic has fewer but longer chapters. another smut-filled fic that doesn't feel overworked and serves as a good break between dramatic scenes. i love how both characters developed throughout the story.

jungkook

please love me by @ahundredtimesover i loved the complexity of the characters and how they navigated through their situation. they both had to do a lot of growing up in this fic, and it was done in a well-paced manner. the drabbles also give a lot of insight to this universe. i go back and read the drabbles a lot.

evolution of a lover's heart by @jeonstudios

a heartwrenching masterpiece. i waited a long time for this to be finished, and it did not disappoint at all. one of the most emotional and resonating fics i've read so far. my heart feels for both of them so much. the kind of love that people wish they would have.

the boy with galaxies in his eyes by @oddinary4bts

an emotionally captivating and heartwrenching oneshot that i never expected to read. both characters were well-written and well-fleshed out, it was easy to fall in love with them and understand their actions. the writing itself was really magical too—flowed so smoothly, it didn't feel as long as it actually was. an absolute hidden gem that everyone should read!

4-7-8 by @jiminrings

not the longest of fics, but a great read nonetheless. i read this a while back, and it was only after i reread it that i was able to truly appreciate the characters and their development. it has a very realistic plot that tugs at my heartstrings. everyone deserves this kind of partner and love.

our first and last by @thedefinitionofbts ✨️

if you love the concept of alternate universes and soulmates, this is a must read. the author utilized scientific concepts that i had a hard time grasping and, at the same time, supported the plot really well. i'm so glad i came across this fic.

multi-member

sanguis duology + (ongoing) oneshots by @borathae absolute monster of a fic, probably one of the longest ones i've read. even though i was annoyed at mc's stubborness, i think it was a driving force throughout the fic. i also never imagined the pairings in this, but i enjoyed the ride. there were some parts where i felt the author could've woven details better to make the story smoother, but it's charming in the sense that i need to think and connect the dots from previous chapters.

a place called home by @agustdakasuga i keep re-reading this fic every few years. i loved how each hybrid came into her life and how they eventually stayed. i also appreciate how each hybrid's personality isn't necessarily stereotypical. great pacing in each chapter, good to read if you like chaptered fics that aren't very long.

the road to you by @bonvoyagenoona

a slow burn masterpiece. this fic is a rollercoaster of experiences that is complemented by terrific writing and pacing. it's very instrospective, which is something i personally like. it has a little bit of everything and a good amount of smut, but it all works wonderfully together, the words flew by quickly.

[physalian]

Writing Tone #2: Avoiding Manufactured Sincerity

There’s a scene in season 5 of My Hero Academia where two beloved teachers have been brought to some high security prison to interrogate a captured villain that turns out to be a brainwashed childhood friend of theirs. The scene is really dramatic, these two teachers are screaming at this guy, heartbroken, and when I saw the episode (shortly before quitting the entire show mid-episode over how bored I was) I was not at all as outraged and horrified as they were.

It was so tonally jarring, and so unfounded within the plot, that it was almost uncomfortable to watch. The villain they’re interrogating isn’t unfamiliar, but the plot-twist-surprise childhood friend is a stranger no one but these two care about.

I didn’t care, couldn’t empathize with why they were upset, knew nothing about their relationship with the guy beyond the ham-handed flashbacks given right that moment. I wasn’t prepared to mourn the loss of this random character, wasn’t primed ahead of time with the idea that this was a possibility to dread the scene before it happened. I was just waiting for it to be over and when it finally was, the impact it had on me was a resounding: Well that was weird. Now back to the plot.

Unfounded sincerity is the uncomfortably ugly step-sibling of plots that are starved of sincerity—look at most of Phase 4, but really, starting with Thor: Ragnarok in the MCU. Many Marvel properties are afraid to embrace the emotional moments and resort to bad jokes to laugh at themselves before the audience can laugh at them. Because how dare a late-stage superhero story about mythical gods be at all sincere in its relationships, its quiet moments, its tragedies. Nope, time for jokes.

Unfounded sincerity is when a story goes far harder with the drama, the love-declarations, the angst, the humor, where it’s trying really hard to convince the audience to care and it just isn’t working.

This happens when arguments start out of nowhere, as well, when characters explode at each other in a heated screaming match that hasn’t been left to fester for nearly long enough, undercooked and hard to swallow.

This happens when characters fall suddenly, madly in love with each other with zero dubious intervention to explain away the sudden passion.

It happens particularly when characters care a whole heck of a lot about someone the audience doesn’t, at the expense of characters the audience is invested in.

It happens when characters have emotional breakdowns and start crying over what ends up reading like spilled milk. When stoic and strong characters break over something they normally would never, for ~drama~.

This is usually both a tone and pacing issue, and a serious case of telling. The author hasn’t done any of the work ramping up a situation or relationship for proper delivery of these emotionally charged moments that are written like critical character beats we’re supposed to care deeply about.

So how does this happen?

1. The author *really* wants this scene, but writes it too early into the story

Unless there’s foul play involved, or this is a romantic comedy that isn’t supposed to be a realistic and healthy depiction of how romance works, characters suddenly declaring love for each other at the cost of their own well-being, their own character arc and journey, and their other motivations can be very frustrating to read.

But the author wants to get to the Good Stuff, so they coast on the “male + female leads = relationship” expectation without writing the why (and so ensures the rise of so many gay ships in the process). Or the male + male leads” or what have you.

2. The author cannot fluidly change tone and characters explode, instead of simmer

An argument that comes out of nowhere can really take your audience out of a scene. Your characters suddenly look ridiculous and your audience can’t follow what’s going on or why they’re so upset. This is different than a character exploding seemingly out of nowhere, but who we know has been building resentment for dozens of pages and loses it over something otherwise inconsequential.

These scenes are painfully, obviously there for manufactured drama and don’t feel natural. These characters don’t feel like people, but playthings, action figures manipulated by the hands of the author.

3. The characters involved are underdeveloped

As in the My Hero scene mentioned above, of the three characters in the scene, the “friend” we’re supposed to care about is a non-entity. The two teachers could have lost their minds over this guy’s sudden death, or the reveal that he turned traitor, or that he murdered younglings and puppies and kittens, to the same emotional impact, because we don’t care about this guy (or, I don’t, at least. I didn’t, and shouldn’t have to read the manga).

You can of course have characters who grieve non-entities, like the fridged wife trope. The difference is the audience knows we’re not supposed to know or care about that lady and the character she never was. This happens pre-plot, not mid-season 5. The frigid wife is the catalyst for the character we then come to know, not a character whose death radically changes our heroes from the people we’ve already established.

4. The tonal jump is just too extreme from the established rules of the story

Abrupt changes in tone can be very tricky to pull off, and almost always fail when it surrounds an abrupt shift in character dynamics (as opposed to something more plot-related). As in, your lighthearted comedy suddenly stops the plot so two characters can scream at each other, when this level of emotional charge hasn’t been established as a possibility.

Or the aforementioned emotional breakdown that just leaves audiences uncomfortable like the awkward friend trying to soothe a weeping companion.

—

Unfortunately, the fixes to these situations are either delete that entire scene, or go back and do a lot of rewriting so there’s enough build-up to justify its existence. Go back and write in that simmering resentment, all the little frustrations, a pre-existing tension within the relationship that is always primed to snap.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and there’s a reason the “slowburn” is so popular. Setting out from the beginning to write a fast-paced, passionate romance tells your readers to expect exaggerated displays of emotion.

My favorite musical is Moulin Rouge. This movie is insane. Everyone is hyperbolically emotional and nothing is half-assed. The dances, the belting singing, the costumes, set-design, editing, the declarations of love– they’re all dialed up to 11. So characters screaming their love or rage from the rooftops is a *lot* but you’re prepared for it from the opening scene, knowing exactly what kind of movie this is.

Even if you don’t start your story with the level of drama it will eventually reach, there should still be some sort of progression when it comes to character drama.

Last Airbender didn’t open episode 2 with the emotional intensity of Zuko and Azula’s last Agni Kai… but it did show you that this isn’t just a lighthearted comedy in episode 3, with the reveal of Gyatso’s body and Aang’s violently emotional reaction.

Speaking of episode 3, they didn’t throw in Gyatso out of nowhere. We know from the show so far that a) Aang is the last of his kind, and b) he doesn’t know this. Everything leading up to this reveal is lighthearted, sure, but with that undercurrent of dread, waiting for Aang to see for himself, waiting for that other shoe to drop.

So some things to keep in mind are:

Prime the audience with dropping that first shoe, make them aware of the building tension (romantic, aggressive, grief, or otherwise), even if not all the characters are aware.

Build that tension. If your characters will eventually explode, let them be mildly irritated first, then annoyed, then frustrated, then angry, then raging until they can’t contain it anymore.

Make sure every party involved in this dramatic moment is someone the audience actually cares about, not just someone they’re told to care about.

TL;DR: Don’t pull the trigger prematurely. It’s most obvious with suddenly passionate arguments, characters flinging insults and hurts the audience isn’t prepared for and doesn’t know about, in effort to move the plot along before it’s fully cooked.

So unless there’s some drugs or fairy magic involved, or one of these characters has a gun to their head forcing them to do this right now, people don’t just explode in a rage without some buildup first. People can explode in a rage over a seemingly inconsequential and unrelated thing, but they’re likely already upset and this one little thing is the final straw. Audiences love the anticipation of what that final straw will be, and whether the explosive drama is rage or romance, “slowburn” is immensely popular for a reason.

[lunamochii]

'No more running away.' || atsumu x f!reader

synopsis;

Atsumu doesn't know how to express his feelings and keeps on hurting you.

cw // slight angst, tsundere atsumu, fluff at the end, timeskip tsumu.

¤¤¤

"I love you, Liselotte."

"I love you too, Sieg."

You finish the cake and the soda you bought on your way home from your work, you also finish the romance anime you are watching and damn did that made you feel more depress than ever. Switching off your computer, you look outside from your window and taking a look at the red hue sky.

"I also want to love someone or be love by someone..."

Then you turn to look at your reflection at the mirror beside you and can't help but laugh to yourself knowing full well why anyone wouldn't want to date you. You got up and decided to wash all the dishes and utensils you used.

When done you decided to sleep and while passing by your fridge you saw the tomorrow's date and just shrugs. It will be the same as last year, you will be alone.

You woke up but you remain laying down on your bed not wanting to get up, then your alarm go off and instead of turning off you let it be.

"Ah... I'm sick of this."

Despite all that unwillingness you were on hours ago, you found yourself standing outside the gym. Getting here wasn't that hard as you did your best to ignore all the decorations and the vendors who were selling those heart shape designs. Couples laughing and hugging on the park, side of the street.

"Oh! Your here early, manager!"

You turn around and saw Shoyo and you greeted him with a smile, right. Today is no different from every other days you've live up to.

"Morning, Shoyo."

The two of you walk together inside the gym and you let him take over of the conversation as he talk about how in the past he never gets a single thing during valentines but on his way here, girls were giving him gifts and everything. That's when you notice on how bulky his bag is.

"Oh.. I didn't prepare anything for the team.."

Shoyo immediately catch on and stop on his tracks as he search something frantically on his bag and when he got it he immediately handed it to you

"I actually prepared this for the team! This is yours!"

You carefully took it from his hands and saw it was a cupcake shape in a heart and your name is written on it.

"Shoyo... pfft- hahaha this is so cute! Thank you!"

You hug him and Shoyo breath out seeing how your mood went up, the moment he saw you standing outside the gym he knew something was off and his glad he did prepare those cupcakes with the help of his sister.

Both of you got where to the others are and Shoyo handed his cupcakes and the others saw how he got you a valentines gift, others followed suit making you smile warmly and thank them wholeheartedly.

"Hm? Aren't you going to give our cute manager here a valentine gift Miya-kun?"

Meian the captain of MSBY team tug on the setter and Atsumu answered him with a scowl on his face, ever since you took the job on being the manager of this team. Not even once did Atsumu Miya smiled to your way.

"Ehh should I really? I don't see a reason to give her anything though."

Right. His not wrong too, why would he give you something right? It's not like you two are that close. You only became their manager just a year ago. You also know how much he hates you, despite your spiraling thoughts you manage to smile.

"You didn't have to say it that way Miya!"

"Captain, it's okay. I'm okay. You guys can proceed on practicing, I'll just put your gifts on the locker room."

The voleyball players watch your disappearing figure and they couldn't even say anything. Then their heads turn to Atsumu who was also taken back by what he said and see how sad you look, made him mentally punch himself.

"Miya! You could have worded that nicely!"

Meian angrily said and Atsumu grit his teeth, everyone here knows how much he likes you. He likes you so much that he goes crazy whenever you show your support on the team. He likes you so much that everytime he look over to where you usually sit during one of his matches, he always feels like he can smash the opponent with just his serve.

"Why do you care? It's her own fault if she gets hurt by just that!"

"Miya!"

The others quickly held back their captain from attacking their setter

"What has gotten into you TsumTsum? You like he-"

"I don't!! Like?! More like, I hate her!!"

The sound of water bottle dropping on the wooden floor grab everyone's attention and they spotted you standing there completely dumbfounded. Atsumu's breath hitches seeing you.

"Haha I never knew you hated me that much. Don't worry, I will do my best to stay out of your sight."

No. You should always be at the line of his sight. He doesn't hate you. Don't make that kind of face.

"Let go of me!"

Atsumu storm out of the court. Why is he so mad? Is it because Shoyo manage to beat him on giving you a present? Because the others got you a lot more beautiful gifts? He kick the vending machine. He didn't mean those words. He didn't mean to hurt you.

¤¤

Weeks have pass ever since that incident and you live up to your word, doing your best to stay out of his sight. Making the setter get more agitated, his not doing that great during practice match. His serves doesn't feel that great and their coach have been reprimanding him. He knows he needs to be on his best since they have a upcoming match.

"Thanks!"

"No problem."

He glances at the side and saw you interacting with the others and the sight of you smiling, smiling to the others and not him, it sure made him more agitated. When it was time for their practice, he keeps on missing on the timing.

"Atsumu, set your personal matters aside. I don't need a player who gets distracted easily."

"Sorry coach.."

Grabbing a towel and a water bottle he sat down on a corner, he watch the others play but his eyes search for you and when he found you, a smile appeared to his lips but it disappeared quickly seeing how you laugh and smile fondly towards Kotaro.

"Isn't your birthday the same day our match is?! We should all go drinking after!"

Kotaro suggested but you feel the need to decline, for you it's just another normal day. You got used spending it alone that you even decline the company of your closest friends.

"Ah, Sorry! I made plans with my friends that day so I can't!"

Lies drip from your lips effortlessly

"Ehh really? Too bad, let's go drinking the other day then!"

"Hahaha okay okay! Now, go back to practice."

You push him back on the court and you let out a sigh, you start to pick up the used towels and water bottles and when you were about to refill the bottles, you saw Atsumu staring at you. You bowed curtly and ran away. Ran away from him and that hurt Atsumu.

¤¤

"Can't be help. They were prepared this time, the defeat you experience today only means that you guys still need to keeps on improving. You all can go home after stretching."

You couldn't bring yourself to speak seeing how devastated they look, despite doing their best they couldn't win against the opponent. Meian, being the captain steps up and clap his hands getting the attention of his members.

"Okay, we just need to train harder! Le-"

"My toss was perfect. So why couldn't you hit it perfectly?"

The cold voice of Atsumu followed by his words stop the captain, they all look at him and notice how his glaring hard at Kotaro.

"Huh?"

"Or are you too busy flirting with our manager that you couldn't focus on our game?"

"That's going too far."

Kiyoomi who is usually silent steps up

"Yeah, Bokuto-san was playing just as usual. It's just our oppone-"

"Really? Because every time out he always manages to flirt with her. Maybe his too engrossed with her that *SLAP*"

Atsumu felt his world stop as soon he felt the stinging pain on his cheeks, his eyes slowly drops on the person who just did that to him and his world crumble upon seeing your tears racing down from your eyes to your cheeks

"I know you hate me but you don't have any right to blame other people for the loss you guys got today!"

His hand mindlessly reach out to you but you slap it away and glared at him

"You're the worst."

¤¤

"She's not coming today too..."

Shoyo feels defeated seeing how their training is coming to an end but they didn't see you again. It's been four days and no one got the guts to voice out the reason for the thick air around the team. Atsumu resorted to practicing alone, Kotaro refuses to speak to the setter too despite the convincing of their captain.

"We can't blame her. Atsumu's words were really harsh."

Shion, the libero of their team speaks up and Shoyo silently agree. He might have known Atsumu during his highschool days but he knows he didn't mean any of those words. Atsumu may deny it but Shoyo sees how the setter looks at their manager.

Wake up, eat, sleep and repeat. That has been your routine for four days.

Atsumu's words really did a unthinkable impact to you, despite him showing not any ounce of an interest ever since you join the team, you still like him. Yes, you like him. During your highschool years, you watch one of his match during nationals and you were drawn to him seeing how he passionately loves to play voleyball. You couldn't be more than happier when you were accepted as a manager of the MSBY, knowing you applied for this job to be close to him but who knew he would be like this? Who would have thought that ha hates you.

"Let's just go to sle- *ring ring*"

You let out a grunt and reach out to your phone, not bothering who's the caller only to be met with your friend's loud voice

"Oi! How dare you ignore our messages and call?! Don't tell me you didn't do anything during your birthday?!"

You groan and check to see who and saw it was one of your very close friend, well, after that day you decided to block anyone who tries to call or text you since you wanted to be alone, it was only today that you lifted that block.

"A hello would have been good." You muttered and got up from your bed

"Dress warm and come down. We are all waiting for you."

"Huh?"

You immediately ran out from your apartment and there they are, you saw your friends holding a bottle of beers and snacks. When they spotted you, they all grin at you.

"Hurry! You have made us waited for days already!"

You stare at them blankly before laughing and going back inside to change into warm clothes, you pick your keys and immediately went out. When you got to them, they all jump at you and greeted you belayed happy birthday.

"Okay! Let's get drunk!"

>>

"I DON'T WANNA BE SINGLE ANYMORE! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE ON WHAT TYPE OF MAN YOU GIVE ME GOD!"

Your friends bursted out to laughter after hearing what you scream, you guys are currently sitting by the riverbank enjoying the drinks and foods they brought with them. You all catch up to each other's lives and it didn't matter if you guys barely texted to each other because at the end of day, all of you will find it's way to each other and will always end up sitting together and talk about how's everyones life.

You guys drink and talk for 2 hours before deciding it is time go home, they all walk you back to your apartment since you were the one who is very wasted. They wanted to walk you towards your apartment door but you ushered them to just go home already. Since you didn't wanna bother them any longer plus you didn't want to let them see how mess your home currently is.

On the other hand, Osamu manage to knock some sense on his twin and Atsumu found himself standing by your home's door. When he was about to knock, he heard steps at his right side and when he saw you, he took a step back

"Atsumu? Hmm can't be him. Who are you?"

You walk up closer to him but you're too drunk to see clearly, Atsumu caught on the smell of alcohol and he curses when you stumbled on your feet and landed on his chest.

"Why did you drink so much? You can't hold your liquor that well."

"Hahahaha right! You can't be Atsumu, that man hates me. He don't care a thing about me."

You said with your eyelids half close and slowly inhaling his scent and somehow it brings you comfort. Atsumu couldn't say a word as he search for your pockets, when he got your keys he inserted to your door and open it.

He tried waking you up so he could help you walk inside but you didn't budge. Atsumu ended up carrying you into his arms and when he step inside your home, he notice how you toss the MSBY jacket on the side. Several cans of beer lying on the floor, trash that weren't taken out. A total mess.

"Atsumu why.... why do you hate me?"

He look down at you and couldn't help but lean down and kiss you on the forehead

"I don't hate you. I like you."

¤¤

You woke up with a major headache and it got worse when you scan your home and see that it's very clean. You don't even remember how you got home, maybe one of your friends clean your home for you. You gotta thank them some time.

Today, you decided to go back to work since you can't keep on being like this. You hurriedly took a bath and just slip on anything comfortable. That's right, this heavy feeling will eventually pass. Right now, you gotta focus on getting yourself live! Before you can leave, you decided to just sneak and watch them in secret. Your heart and mind is still not ready to face them, or him.

"Nice kill!"

"High five!"

Smiling Atsumu. What a rare sight and sore for your eyes, he is smiling but not towards your way. You aren't the reason why his smiling..

"Hng!"

You slap both of your cheeks stopping yourself to think anything further, this is a small step you are taking in order for you to let go of your feelings to him. You resume watching them play in two vs two although you don't know the other people on the court. They all look like they are close, maybe highschool friends.

You grab your phone to look at the message that just pop and it's Shoyo texting that the team misses you and it'd be nice if you come so you will meet his seniors and other friends. During these days Shoyo and the others keeps on texting you, even Kiyoomi who you took as someone who really don't care of his surroundings.

'I will try.'

You hit send and as soon your message was delivered you heard someone scream from the court, you're glad they can't see you from this seat since you decided to take a seat on the second floor row seats.

"She's coming! Finally! She's comingg!"

"Eh? Who's coming?"

"Our manager!"

They gathered around Shoyo and saw your reply, all of them keeps on texting you but you only replied to Shoyo. Atsumu grip the ball that is on his hand, remembering he stayed in your hour for an hour after he was done cleaning. Since it was only the time he could admire your face from a closer look.

Your debating whether you should go down or not but seeing the expression of the team being excited of you coming back, you just have to thicken your face and hope your gaze won't meet Atsumu's. On your way down, you notice people coming so you took a turn to the right but you ended up bumping to someone.

"Ow... I'm sorry!"

"It's my fault, I was on my phone."

You look up and the both of you have same expression

"Sachiro?!"

"Ms. Birdie!"

You quickly smack him on the shoulders and he laugh loudly, you can't believe he still remembers that nickname he gave you.

"Can you please forget about that?! It's the most embarassing moment of my life!"

"Ehhh? But remembering your devastated face is quite fun."

Well, who wouldn't be devastated when the pet bird you just bought from a pet store flew away from the cage just because it wasn't lock securely and he just happen to be passing by and witness it all.

"Sachiro!"

"Okay okay! Pfft-"

You rolled your eyes but you soon join him to laughing and when you both calm down, you decided to ask why his here

"Oh my friend invited me. He plays for Adlers but today they all got the gym for themselves and all the team we all fought during highschool are here."

So that's why there's so many people! You also notice the twin of Atsumu standing on the side while talking to some people.

"What about you?" He ask

"Oh... I'm actually the manager of MSBY and I was just sneaking around since something happened and uh..."

You look away and Sachiro is quick to sense that something is going on but he decided not to pry further.

"That's nice! Are you leaving or going in there?"

"Oh uhm... I'm going."

Sachiro smiled and you both walk towards the entrance of the court and your heart began to pound very loud that you unconsciously grab on to his jacket, when the both of you immerge from the entrance. Instantly eyes are on you or maybe on your hands grabbing tightly on his jacket.

"Sachiro! Why are you with the manager of the jackals?"

"We're friends and we bump to each other."

Korai ask then his eyes darted on the hands of the woman trembling while grabbing a good hold of his friend's coat. Shoyo manage to let him in on what happened to the jackals lately and he turn his attention to the jackals setter and oh boy the ball is near to exploding.

"Are you that nervous?"

Sachiro turn slightly to lean down and whisper to your ears

"Huh?! I-I'm not! Hey everyone!"

Your hands let go of his coat and ran towards where your team is and Shoyo is the first one to jump at you and hug your frame tight until it led to a group hug. Then, Shoyo began to introduce you to the other people and you met his seniors and the other players. Some of them have drop playing voleyball upon graduating from highschool and some didn't.

"Heya~ you're the only who haven't tasted my new recipe."

"Osamu!"

The black haired man grin and handed you his newly made onigiri, you can say that you're close to him since the team sometimes eats on his restaurant here in Tokyo.

"Oh my! This is yummy!"

"Heh- then I'll add this to my menu. Oh, you got something in your face..."

You were about to get it but he beat you to it as he took it with a swipe using his thumb and your cheeks turn red seeing how he lick his thumb.

"Osa- What the fuck is your deal?"

Atsumu came infront of you and push his twin away from you and several people immediately hold Atsumu back and Osamu ignored his twin as he look at you

"You should just forget this stupid asshole and get it with me."

Before you can even say something Atsumu was already screaming his twin's name and was about to punch but Osamu is quick to dodge it as he ran away laughing.

"You. Come here."

Atsumu said as soon he return from chasing his brother, he tug on your hand and led you at the locker room. What even happened? You ask yourself. Why are you alone with him in this room? Should you say sorry for slapping him? But why would you? Wh-

"Everytime I land my gaze at you, you're with a man. What's with you pulling men from left to right?"

Your eyebrow raises and you immediately meet his eyes

"Are you telling me that I'm a slut?"

"What?! How did you- fuck!"

"Don't curse at me! I get it. You're mad because I slap you. Well, I'm sorry! But you're still an asshole!"

Atsumu groan as he pace back and forth trying to come up with the best words he can. Osamu, that idiot just had to add fuel to his jealousy. Why is he so jealous?! Why?!

"Why do I like you so much?!"

"What..."

Your breath hitches when he suddenly look at you and immediately his right in front of you. Your back press agaisnt the door with his right arm place right above your head

"What did you do to me? How come I like you so much that it irritated me so much not being the first one to give you something during valentines."

His minty breath fans your face as he reach for your hair and starts to play with it, being this close to you is making him go crazy, he can't even think straight.

"I like you so much that I hate how you smiled brightly towards Bokuto and how his the one who gets to bask on your warmth."

He place his right hand on your cheeks and you are looking straight on to his eyes, he leans down and you swear to God that your heart is about to burst out from your ribcage

"I like you so much that seeing other men touching you is making me go crazy.."

His lips hovers over yours and you were the one to close the gap. Maybe you are crazy. Maybe you like him so much too that you lost all the right to think straight.

"Shit"

Atsumu's arms immediately wrap around your waist and press your body more towards his. He lick your lower lip and you immediately let his tongue in, you moan out through the kiss and Atsumu almost punch the door.

"I need to breath.."

"More.."

He claim your lips again and you hold on to him for a support, his fingers running through your hair as he kisses you deep and full of love. He didn't even notice his tears streaming down to his cheeks. You immediately pulled away and cup his cheeks

"Why are you crying?!"

"I like- no, I love you. Please, I love you so much. I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being a dickhead to you. I'm sorry for being an asshole."

"Atsumu..."

He place one hand over yours as he kiss your palms then it trails down towards your wrist and he looks at you, with teary eyes

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me? Hm? I will do my best to change. Just... just let me love you."

Now, it's your turn to cry and you punch him on the chest as you sob uncontrollably. He let you punch him and when you stop he hug you tight, burying his face on the crook of your neck

"Idiot. You're an idiot! Why weren't you honest from the start?! Do you know how hard it is for me to endure with the thought of the person I like, hates me? You're an idiot!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry.. it's just... I didn't know any better. You... you were just so amazing. You were always there for us, supporting us. That I started to doubt that if I would be like that too. Be there for you, support you through your decisions. I... I got scared that if I let you know how I feel, you would distance yourself to me.."

So that's why you sometimes catches him glancing from you but you really didn't pay any attention to it.

"I'm just a manager. It is my duty to keep the teams spirit."

"You're more than that! During our darkest moment in court, you always manage to cheer us up. Your inspiring words are one of the reasons that keeps us winning our fights."

He grab a hold of your hand and kiss your knuckles as he looks at you

"You're my world... you are my light. I love you. Can I be your lover?"

You look at him with mix emotions and you ended up laughing with tears, guess you can call this a tears of joy now.

"Very cheesy isn't like you Tsumu."

His smile widen and engulf you to a tight hug. He pulled away and cup your cheeks as he capture your lips to kiss you tenderly. He press his forehead to yours and the both of you are smiling, he kiss your nose and you both giggled

"Let's go? The others must be worried."

You nodded and the both of you walk out of the room hand in hand and you notice how silent the court is

"Did they left?" You ask and squeeze his hand, seeing the lights on the court were turn off

"I think? Let me check my pho- Congratsulations!"

All the lights turn on at the same time and when your eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, you saw a banner stating

'Congrats on not being a coward anymore Atsumu!'

Your gaze drops on his arm that is wrap around your shoulders making you stand close to him

"Ah to be young..."

Meian wipe the single tear on his eyes, he saw you on the second floor and knew right away that this love chase has to end. So he ask Shoyo to text you convincing you to come, he knows you will. He also ask Korai to have his friend approach you. Lucky, he says since you and Sachiro had some connection. Then when he notice Atsumu glaring daggers towards your direction, he got Atsumu's twin on his plan and that's how it went.

"What the hell! You guys were evesdropping!!"

"Please forgive me hm?"

Osamu said mockingly and Atsumu started to chase him again and you just stand there laughing. Hearing you laugh is enough to make Atsumu feel things, he went back to you and kiss you infront of all the people and it did shut you up. He embrace you with one arm and look at the people, grinning from ear to ear.

"Atsumu Miya is officially taken."

¤¤¤

You were woken up when you felt something wrap around your waist, slowly your eyes flutter open and was greeted by a snoring Atsumu. A soft smile grace your lips, fingers lightly stroking his face. It has been five months now ever since you guys started dating. He also successfully persuaded you on moving to his house here in Tokyo. A lot has happened ever since you guys started dating, you are still their manager but Atsumu is thinking taking a break from voleyball. He reasons that he wants to start planning for your guys future.

"G'morning babe..."

"Mornin' Tsumu."

You kiss him on the lips and he smiled and pulls you even closer, today he got a day off and it means he doesn't have to participate to the practice. You were also given a day off so he suggested you guys go on a date today.

"Where do you want to go?" You ask, your fingers now playing on his hair

"Anywhere as long as I'm with you."

He replied and it made you feel butterflies in your stomach. You pinch him and he laugh at your reaction, he will never get tired of seeing your flustered face.

"Be seirous!"

"I am serious, as long as I'm with you anywhere is fine."

He moved and now his on top of you and you felt his fingers rubbing circles on your thighs, he leans down and lick the mark he made last night. You let out a whimper, his hand moving slowly to where he kept on touching you last night also.

"Again? We were on it till 3am..."

"Promise, We'll get up after."

He said but you know better than to trust his words but you just let him. You love it anyways.

The end.

[frootiest-loopdee-doo]

Fop Peri fic concept incoming

I’m just gonna start posting the fic ideas I get bc 80% of the time I don’t write them, and I don’t mind letting other people have and use them. Hell, you don’t even have to credit me. I’m stalking all the FOP tags so if you write it I’ll see it. I won’t ask for credit, I’ll fucking SAVOR reading it.

Fic idea #1 Dale/Peri

“Peri’s Master Plan” or “I Can Fix Him” is what I’d call this.

First, Peri becomes dev’s babysitter. This can be set before the finale, or it can be au where dev never lost peri, or it can actually be after dev left peri. It just changes the setup a bit. If Peri is still Dev’s godparent he’ll have to be extra careful when hiding all of this from him. If he’s no longer dev’s godparent, this is his way of staying in dev’s life bc he cares abt the little shit!

His reason for becoming dev’s official babysitter even if he’s still dev’s godparent probably would so that he doesn’t have to hide whenever he’s with dev and also because Dale doesn’t screen the sitters ever so Dev probably has had some pretty awful ones.

Basically, dale starts hitting on the “babysitter”. Peri is initially disgusted, as you’d probably expect. He puts up with it though, for Dev.

Peri remembers a romance book about a beautiful female protagonist falling in love with and “fixing” an evil older man, and gets an idea about how he can help dev! If it’s in a human book it has to be something that could actually work with humans right? Why would it say it’s written by a bestselling author otherwise? This is a great idea!

Peri starts to go along with it, flirting with Dale, doing whatever it takes to make the guy fall in love. Peri overtime uses this as leverage to try and teach Dale why child neglect is bad (crazy idea). Dale does fall in love. Does peri? It can go either way. I’d say yes, I think that’s the most interesting way this can go.

Different routes this story could ultimately take, options A. B. and C.:

A. Dale changes for the better, though slowly. Maybe Dev Dale and peri do sort of family bonding. The huge conflict here though is that Peri definitely isn’t allowed to be in a relationship with a human, much less his (former or current) godchild’s dad. Will love prevail? Find out next time on dragon ball z ass fic here.

B. Dale’s treatment of dev seems to improve, and Peri is feeling pretty awesome about that. However, when talking to Dev, Peri realizes that Dale is only being a better dad when Peri is around- basically faking it to keep seeing Peri. Big angst. Peri confronts Dale- and honestly you can go as light or dark on the angst in this confrontation scene. Me personally, I’m depraved so if I ever write this it will probably be as dark as possible (I’m mentally unstable friends!).

C. Peri succeeds for the most part, but he doesn’t love Dale truly. This is eating away at him. He stays for Dev. He’d planned to leave when Dale got better, but as he understands the human condition more he realizes that the odds of Dale continuing to be a better dad are very low if he leaves. Angst, angst, angst.

Obviously Peri would try to hide the relationship from Dev at least at first in pretty much all of these. Dev would probably find out by accident. This could be done differently though, maybe dev knows early on. Maybe peri doesn’t hide it well.

Also, obviously you can take a different route than A. B. or C.

Feel free to be inspired by this rant. Feel free to steal the ideas here. Again, if you do, I’ll probably find it. I’ll probably read it. I’ll probably be very happy. Don’t worry about credit. Actually, don’t credit me even if you want to 😭😭😭

[valiantartwritingweasel]

Infatuation ❦

The slowest slowburn that ever burned. (If you can even call this a romance)

When “reaction time of a turtle” and “I say three words a day” meet and they start to admire the other in odd ways you also have to squint to see it

Side note: English isn’t my first language and I’ve never written anything this long before

I know there’s a gazillion ways to portray Dottore but in this he’s pretty calm (and odd) 

Gender neutral casual brainrot <3

TW: It’s boring and unreasonably long (almost 7k words man) and I lost the plot like three times

❦

The trip had been way longer than you had expected. You figured: ‘Hey just a few days’ but no, it had been weeks by now and to top it all off you were in a wildly different climate than what you were used to. The warm heavy air stood in stark contrast to the cool clear air back home. And of course there was the stark difference between your usual chillouts at the facility that stood in contrast to the overgrown jungle you were traversing right now. 

You had been given a mission. The Doctor had given you the simple task of retrieving something that you could only describe as a “metal thingy”. Said thingy was now sitting neatly in your pocket as you stomped your way back through the dense forest. You wouldn’t call yourself angry. But you wouldn’t consider yourself calm either. Definitely agitated enough to mutter various disagreements to yourself. Laughable of him to call this task “simple”. 

If his definition of “simple” was it, to have you follow some dusted old map that showed just enough trees and mountains to somewhat navigate the way to some old dusty ruins, only for you to then fight your way into said ruins, to be then met by various doors with fifehundredsixtyseven puzzle mechanisms to solve, to be then met by more enemies, then yea sure, it was simple indeed. 

The whole thing was so hard to overcome that you had even wondered whether or not you were even supposed to come back alive or if he had just used an excuse to send you off to death for the heck of it. Fair guess maybe if you thought about the way your coworkers whispered about the man and his crazy ideas but you did find the metal thingy and it was too strictly guarded for you to take it as something as simple as “send that one to death for fun”. Again. Nothing about this had been simple.

There was nothing you could do about this now though. The job was done and, even though you needed four days for the task instead of two as he had asked of you, you were on your way back to the Port. The probability that someone had watched you during the task was incredibly high too, now that you thought about it. Running was not really an option. Not that you really considered it anyway. Sure, the facility was strange and the vibes felt off sometimes but you kind of faulted your coworkers for you to think that way. They always spun the weirdest stories, similar to teenagers who had just found out that graveyards exist.

You shook the thoughts out of your head and straightened your back to look ahead of yourself. Figuring out how to get back was more important than those tales.

❦

Not only had you reached the Port with no further difficulties, as luck would have it the doctor hadn’t been there ever since you left. If luck chose to stay, then you had a good chance of Dottore not finding out about you exceeding the time limit at all! Not that you necessarily believed every rumor you had heard but that didn't mean that you had to test them yourself.

Instead of worrying about it, you spent your time at the Port in relaxation, leisurely strolling through the streets and eating some local delicacies. You had to admit that Sumeru had started to grow on you. If you ignored the insects and the crushing heat, it had some really pretty plants and buildings. 

You also found a talent in befriending strangers and deeming them your new day-travel companions. You had spent the day doing just that and were just in the process of waving your new short-term friend goodbye as he sailed away from the Port and back to his nation. When you could barely make out his blue hair amidst the waves, you figured you could end your day as well. You turned around, only to be met by a person standing right behind you. “Oh” you coughed embarrassed as you glimpsed at their face. It was Dottore, just inches away from you. “You’re back” you choked out in surprise before you bowed your head a little. “Do you have it?” was his one simple question. “Yeah. Yes, it’s in my room”. A sharp “Get it” was all you needed. He was intimidating indeed. With another nod you took a step around him and hurried off to the house that you stayed at. He caught you so off guard that you had found it hard to focus on any other thoughts except the mission now. You were in and out of your room in mere seconds and were already running back to the docks with great speed.

Upon return you couldn’t spot his figure among the docks so you beelined for his ship instead. The scrap was sitting neatly in your hands and you were careful not to drop it.

You walked on board and wasted no time to enter his little office. He was sitting behind his desk, his hands neatly held beneath his chin. For a second you thought about the way he looked a little out of place in all the wood works around him but you shook your head and wasted no further thought on it. You walked towards him and held out your hands to place the thing on his table. “Here it is.” you eyed him with a hint of curiosity. Why was that thing so important to him? He reached out and took the thing into his hand to eye it before he mumbled “It’s a core”. His tone was…condescending. You could tell that he wasn’t impressed by the fact that you did absolutely nothing to understand what it was for in the first place. You coughed up a little air to cover up the embarrassment creeping up on you and nodded. He continued, “Did you run into trouble?”. His head shifted, indicating that he was, probably?, looking at you. “Well” you started, scratching your head, unsure whether or not you should lie about how much you had actually struggled “some here and there. It was pretty guarded.” He simply nodded before he shifted his attention back to the core at hand. “Dismissed.” You did a small courtly bow before turning to leave his office. You took a deep breath as soon as the door closed behind you. That went…okay. Not as bad as you thought it might. You exhaled the air and shook your head. 

❦

The past few days had been a blur but the one thing that caught your attention was the way your superior had been switching his demeanor every now and then. He went from being calculated and calm to giggly and a little crazed. It was so weird. The shift was never dramatic but it was enough to make a grown man uncomfortable. And you weren’t the only one who noticed. Sometimes you could hear the soldiers whispering, always wondering and fantasizing about the reason for his behavioral change. Though, they spun the regular odd stories that sounded almost fanatical, so you paid them not much mind. 

You were walking around the Docks when you caught a glimpse of the Doctor on his little boat. As if he had sensed your presence his mask matched your gaze and he waved you over immediately. If your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you, he was smiling the smile that graced his features every now and then. An odd grin did he have. You sighed but made a point to not let it show on your expression before you walked towards the bridge. You had stepped foot on it and taken a solid two steps on deck before the boat started to move. Instinctively your hands took hold of the railing. Huh. It seemed like you were done around here. You looked towards the Docks as the ship slowly brought distance between itself and the port. The last thing you saw was a woman dressed in white and a thing floating next to her as they watched you sail away. 

❦

The journey had been pretty boring. It was just you, some fatui soldiers and Dottore and no one was doing much for morale. You could’ve sworn that you once read something about pirates and how they always made sure to include entertainment on long journeys to ensure the mental well being of their crew. Well, this boat had no such policy. No one ever said a word and if they did then only in murmurs. Some of the soldiers just seemed on edge by the Doctor's presence, others just seemed uninterested. You were just bored. 

It took a few days of being on the boat before you finally managed to convince a few soldiers to play cards with you. The day had been nice, the waves played in calm rythms and while the sun was out it wasn’t grilling you alive. Multiple soldiers had moved to the deck and were actually starting to enjoy themselves. You sat among them, in the midst of three soldiers, playing a round of OOH. The rules were pretty simple. You had to slap cards on the table and if you threw the right one you had to yell OOH. You had trouble remembering who came up with that. The soldier next to you had just slapped his cards on the table and was about to let out a glorious “OOH” when Dottore passed your table. As if on command, all four of you kept still with held breath as he passed by. Not only was it unusual to see the man outside of his quarters, it was also obvious that something wasn’t right. He was emanating a weird aura and it almost looked like he was vibrating. It was so odd..Everyone could tell that something was off. And suddenly, as if someone had struck him, the blue haired man crumbled into pieces adorned by dust.

It felt like everything stood still. Everyone's eyes were focused on the spot the man had been standing in. For a minute not even the waves uttered a word. Then chaos broke out and spread like a wildfire. Every third soldier on deck started yelling and accusing the other of treason. All you could do was stare at the crumbled pieces lying on the floor. What was going on? Did he just evaporate- The only thing that finally pulled you out of your shock was a chair that launched past your head. As if awoken by a splash of cold water you shot up from your seat and ducked away into your cabin while you tried to not get into the punchline of a soldier. You figured someone should stop and calm them down but you also figured that it wasn’t going to be you, so instead you locked your door and sat down on your bed. Blurring out the sound of the fight was easy but figuring out what event had just taken place was a hard one. To you it did look like he…died? And an even bigger question, if he had died, what was the cause of death?

❦

The rest of the trip had been awfully awkward and uncomfortable. Even more so than it had been before. After all, your superior had just disintegrated into thin air, leaving the rest of you without a leader. Of course the soldiers manned up, the fight hadn’t gone on for too long but the tension had been on edge ever since.

After the incident the tales about the Doctor had only grown even more ambiguous and fanatical in spirit. Some soldiers uttered rumors about a hitman, others blamed the gods, a fraction wondered if he simply had a stroke and a really small percentage told verses about his life potion juice running out. You paid no mind to them but did in fact wonder along with many: Who would have to pay for the sin of Dottore vanishing? Returning to his facility and having to say that you lost the second Harbinger sounded awfully insane.

So imagine how surprised you and your fellows had been when the man who welcomed you back at the facility docks had been none other than Dottore himself. He stood there in all of his glory, waiting for everyone to see him before he turned around and went back inside. He didn’t take the time to answer questions and everyone was ordered back to work. So all you could do was return to work, everyone feeling dumbfounded and exhausted. All of that ruckus for nothing.

❦

Days went by quite uneventful. The only thing of note you found out was the fact that it had been a known fact, and not a crazy tale, that the Doctor could, in fact, multiplicate himself. You also learned that he had apparently given those segment things up, so to say, which resulted in his copies “passing away”. No one of the attending boat crew had to die for their sins that day. 

You had just thrown on your clothes, ready to face another hard day of making sure everyone was staying hydrated, when you were called into Dottores’ office. You wondered, like any other time it happened, why would he? But you shrugged it off, nodded to the informant and proceeded to make your way to the Doctor’s office (HA). 

You knocked on the door. A low “come in” came in response. You opened the door, stepped inside and made sure to close the door before you walked fully into the room. Your eyes landed on the man sitting at his desk. He had one foot placed on his knee and his head placed on his hand while he held something in his free hand. 

“Sit” It was a clear order that you followed by taking a seat on the free chair on the opposing side. With less distance between you, you could see that he was holding the core that you had retrieved for him weeks ago. “It’s useless” he said before he slammed the thing on the table. He slid it over to you harshly enough for it to make a nasty squeaking noise. He retracted his hand from the object and leaned back into his chair. 

You had your hands in your lap and went stiff in your seat, staring at the core. Were you supposed to give an answer to that? You directed your gaze towards Dottore who was looking at you as if he was waiting for something. You choked down a little spit and answered “Why?”. Clearly you lacked in the thoughtful response department. He let out a sigh “It’s not powered. It doesn’t turn on. It’s useless”. You blinked at him and tried to shoot an apologetic smile “My bad. Is there something I can do to help with that?”. You weren’t sure if you read him right but he seemed to be somewhat satisfied with your answer. Or at the very least it looked like he accepted it as a valid one.

“Nothing you could do right now. I will call for you if that changes.” You nodded but he continued without wasting much time “Get me a coffee”. Taken off guard you let out a surprised “What?”. It took you a long second to remember your place and added “What kind?”. His short lived answer was “Just coffee.” before he waved you out.

You stood up so fast that you almost knocked your knee into the table. But you caught yourself and hurried out of his office and into the kitchen. The whole process of the art of coffee making went past you like a wind. You were used to the task but not to the receiver. Why were you suddenly on coffee duty for the Doctor? It was so odd. Him having an assistant like that had been rare. It was also odd that you had never seen the man as much as you had ever before over the course of the past few weeks. If you had to guess you’d say you’d have seen him like twice a year before that, and that for multiple years. Now you had even seen him die. Well, technically. You took a long exhausted breath while you rubbed your hand on your forehead. It was all so much, especially considering that being Dottores direct assistant probably carried much more weight and consequences with it than just being his subordinate's subordinate. With another deep breath you tried to ground yourself. The thought of having to spend less time with the fanatical workers around you didn’t seem all that bad at least. You took the cup of “just coffee” from the stove and made your way back, careful not to spill any.

He took the coffee without another word, only dismissing you with a wave of his hand. 

❦

Ever since that day you had been in and out of Dottores office on a regular basis. At first it was delivering coffee, then it was messages and then it turned into you running medical files from one room to another and sorting through various of his documents. You could say that the job sounded important but most of the things you sorted through looked quite boring. Of course you never looked past page one but still, most of the headlines and titles sounded like they were about various diseases and financials, so really really really boring. 

You had just put a ton of medical files into chronological order (the Doctor seemed so tidy and clean, why was it such a mess?) when you heard footsteps approaching. By the way they sounded, you could guess that it was the man himself walking into the room. You had memorized the pattern of his footsteps so well, you guessed right almost all the time. Prepared for the interaction you turned around and greeted the man with a bow of your head. He nodded in return and motioned for you to come with him. Then he turned around and walked out of the room. You, of course, followed suit, by now being used to following his silent orders without question. 

You walked with him all the way back to his office, only to be met inside by the man you had mentally deemed the most annoying man you had ever had the displeasure of meeting. Pantalone, the absolute chaotic man of unreasonably high expectations of the world and an unreasonably high drive to start yapping about it. You suppressed an eye roll at the way he greeted you with his fake little smile and his fake little wave and instead greeted him with a fake little smile and a fake little wave of your own. You figured both of you were aware that you detested each other. Dottore paid no mind to the interaction and placed himself behind his desk. He did not sit down but instead stood behind his chair. Pantalone made no move to sit down himself and stood across on the other side of the table, not even glancing at the chair placed before him. You crossed your arms and stood off to the sides. You would've been annoyed at their stupid nonverbal petty fight over who’s cooler, if you hadn’t been wondering about why you were even here in the first place. Sure, Dottore had wild ideas and weird tasks for you but their importance was never as high as listening in on two harbingers. 

The man grinned a half crazed grin towards Pantolini and said “Let’s talk business”. And thus the most boring two hours of your life had begun.

Not only did you not understand more than half of the things the two men mentioned and argued about, you had also started to feel your heel painfully pushing into your leg. No matter what, you would never ever get used to standing around for such a long amount of time, especially not when that time was filled with awkward silence on your side and a strong yearning to step outside the room. Dottore had just been muttering down some reasoning when Pantalone cut him off. “This is not a risk worth taking. Think it through some more and then call for me again. As of now, I am not on board.” With those words he turned, gave you a courtesy fakey smile and sauntered out of the room. You watched him close the door with distaste. You did not stare for long as a sigh caught your ear and a loud metal clunking on wood directed your attention back to the Doctor. Your eyes wandered to his face and…you were looking at Dottores face. You were looking at Dottores' face. Yₒᵤ wₑᵣₑ ₗₒₒₖᵢₙg ₐₜ Dₒₜₜₒᵣₑₛ' fₐcₑ. You could not help but let a gasp leave your lips. It took much out of you to close your mouth in an orderly fashion. His eyes met yours. Much too enamored with his eyes and the burning red color of them, you failed to recognize the irritated expression on his features. He was staring daggers into your soul. 

You came back to your senses by rapidly blinking the embarrassment off your face. 

“He’s insufferable,” he muttered. You nodded in agreement. You didn’t listen enough to know what had bothered him about the man this time but you did overall agree with the statement. “Greedy, greedy, greedy man” he continued to mumble as he slid his mask to the side of the table before he sat down on his chair “Coffee”. You nodded again and hurried off into the kitchen. You were used to getting orders in short sentences now. He knew you knew what he meant seventy percent of the time and he knew that you actually had the courage to ask if you didn’t. Sure, he didn’t hold you to the standards of a genius but he held you to the standard of being honest and.. pretty normal. Which he found had always been hard to find, being the man that he was. 

❦

Days had passed and you were seeing less and less of your coworkers. In turn you had spent much more time at the side of Dottore. You were still in your position of being his assistant. Nothing bad had happened to you ever since, contrary to some peoples’ belief, and you were even starting to have some sort of conversations with the blue haired man. It wasn’t all too much compared to general standards but in Dottores’ standards it was quite a lot. Though it was almost never a conversational exchange. Sometimes he just asked you a question that you had time to think about for the entire day and other times you made the mistake of asking him about one little thing he may take interest in only for him to go on a tangent about said thing for hours. He gave you access to so much knowledge and you disregarded half of it. Not that you didn’t care at all. You just couldn’t remember most of the things he said. You would've had to have some sort of degree in math and science to follow most of his monologues. But you liked listening to him. He had a unique voice and you enjoyed the sound of it. 

He himself loved to talk about his interests, especially when talking about them made him seem like a smart man. Which it did. Most of the time. Sometimes, when you tried to listen and understand what he was getting at, he sounded so smart and eloquent one second, only for him to throw in some wild theories the next second, all while using the vocabulary of a madman. He was either serious or he enjoyed confusing you on purpose. Neither would surprise you. 

You had also learned that, while yes the man seemed somewhat put together, he was indeed a little crazy as people had said. Both intentionally and subconsciously. Most of the time he tried to gaslight you into thinking he was normal but sometimes he couldn’t hide his little grin that reached his eyes in a crazy light whenever he thought a bit too hard about surpassing the gods. Which, oh right, you also found was a fair factor for you to deem him as at least unhinged in spirit. You sometimes thought back to the tales the people had spun about him and while you could see now why they had gained such popularity through the facility, you did not deem them to be fair assumptions about Dottore. He was odd and fairly annoying at times but not creepy. You respected him, of course, but sometimes you felt like you were a rich prince's butler, not the subordinate of a “mad and creepy” genius. 

All of these thoughts and more were rushing through your head while you were once again watching Dottore fly around his lab. He was yapping about some nectar (or something?) while he played around with some chemicals. Or as he would call it, “conducted experimental research”. You were just off to the side, watching him swirl around while listening to his voice. Nothing else occupied your mind. Just you, Dottore and your thoughts in one room. 

Dottore on the other hand, had sensed that you had been absent minded for a while. After he had started to talk about the process of mashing up cashews into soup, he knew with certainty that you weren’t paying attention to his words anymore. Yet your eyes were fixed on him. He still had your attention and that pleased him enough to keep yapping about whatever came to his mind. 

❦

There was one day you remembered vividly. It could’ve easily been a boring day, easy to be forgotten and mushed in memory with all the other days. But the universe and all the stars that resided over you did not like that idea.

You had brought Dottore his seventh cup of coffee that day. A small voice in your head reminded you that more than five cups a day would be too much caffeine for one person but the last time you voiced those thoughts in the Doctors’ presence, he broke a pen. So you figured you wouldn’t do that again. The man had been on edge the entire day, brooding over something he disagreed with. You guessed that it had something to do with Panini but decided not to inquire about it further. You had never been on the receiving end of Dottores’ anger and you liked it to stay that way. His eyes were fixed on his desk and yours were fixed on his. He had stopped wearing his mask around you more frequently. Only when he needed you to focus on something else than his eyes did he put it on. And it worked. 

Now he was bare faced and you were busy watching him, sitting on the chair in front of his desk and letting time pass by with great calm when he muttered “What’s the craziest thing you would do?”. So it was one of those days. You were distracted and answered with half of your mind intact. “You.” The questions he asked were always phrased somewhat simple minded but you liked to think about your answₑᵣₛ… Everything in your body stood still for a moment. Even your heart acted still, waiting for you to process your answer. The more the realization came through, the more your eyes widened. “ᵒʰ” the sound that left your lips was barely audible. You looked at Dottore and your eyes met his. He certainly looked pleased with your answer, the anger that had distorted his features before had resided. He looked… well definitely not as offended as you think he could potentially have been. 

Initially he figured you’d come up with an interesting answer based on creativity, one that could help him take his mind off of things, not the quick unthoughtful one he had received. He could’ve argued that he didn’t like to be called crazy. But then again, who was he to argue now that you had helped him change the topics that had been plaquing mind?

❦

The grin that had plastered itself on Dottores’ features after your simple minded answer followed you into your dreams longer than just one night. The image of it sat deep in your mind and left you to wonder. It didn’t make him look cheerful nor did it make him look intimidating. The first adjective you would plaster on it would’ve been “desirable” but you felt odd just thinking the thought. You shook your head and stared at the ceiling. The only sound that hollowed through the room was an odd whirring noise that could be heard throughout most parts of the building. There was no clock in sight but you didn’t need one to know that you had been lying half awake throughout most of the night again. Which Dottore had been entirely at fault of. His grin was one thing but the man had assigned you to a new room as well. It was closer to his office and further away from the bustle of the facility. He successfully kept you away from the loud bustling of the other workers. In order to keep you focused or whatever. But you needed more time to get accustomed to the lack of voices that had always trailed past your door well past midnight, creating an unwelcome but familiar soundwave to fall asleep to. Without the ruckus outside everything had suddenly been too silent, making way for more room in your head which it could now fill with annoyingly loud thoughts that pestered you through the night. You groaned and pulled your pillow over your face after yet another mental image of that stupid harbinger. “How annoying” you muttered into your pillow before you rolled around to try and find a better sleeping position. 

❦

While you had spent your time going through countless sleepless nights, it seemed that Dottore had not been affected at all. You hadn’t really been counting on him losing his shit over your previous comment but it was still a humbling experience to see him so overly calm and collected, no matter how deep of a look he took into your eyes. 

Honestly, nothing had changed at all. Except for your eye bags of course but you had only yourself to blame for that. Neither your job nor Dottores’ attitude had changed. 

Not until you had entered his lab one day, not without invitation of course, only to see him assemble something that looked like a…marionette? You figured that’s what it had been based on his older clones. You never knew the difference before the incident on the boat but since then you had once caught a glimpse of one singular unfinished clone lying around the lab. You hadn’t taken a closer look at it but the vague image of it still resided in your memory and it fit the image of the half assembled doll you had laid your eyes on that day. The Doctor, who had been standing next to the marionette, waved you over. Once you came close, he immediately put you to work, shoving various body parts and limbs into your arms before informing you about all the places you needed to attach them to.

While you had hardly been able to keep up with his instructions, you didn’t fail to notice that the doll did not look much like Dottore. Of course, it had no head but still you were sure it carried little to no resemblance. No, the doll did not resemble Dottore at all, you just couldn’t figure out who it it looked like instead. It seemed awfully familiar but you couldn’t put your finger on who exactly it reminded you of. 

Nontheless you focused on your work, assembling the limbs with great caution.

Not once did you question his intentions. Any and all information you received, he had laid out on his own accord. And while yes, some might argue that that came from a lack of intelligence on your end, he felt like it came from a place of trust instead. You did not question his intentions because they did not seem a threat to you. All they were to you was just another task, another part of being his assistant. 

He used to think he’d appreciate it if you had a more curious nature but after some time had passed the little curiosity you exhibited had been more than enough for him. You only asked questions when you were curious, never just to fill the silence. Sure, it had been disappointing to see you not take interest in his creations at all but he enjoyed knowing that you didn’t care. He enjoyed the authenticity. He had craved it ever since he was young, ever since people had started lying to him. But you never did. You never lied. 

❦

More time had passed, although you had no way of telling how much time it had been exactly. You had quickly lost count of the days and never cared enough to ask. You had not seen any coworkers at all ever since you moved rooms but you honestly could barely care less. The last time you had crossed paths with one, it was a woman, one of those fanatics, she had whispered warnings to you. Warnings about the Doctor and his weird habits. You had half a mind to agree with her that, yes, the man had the oddest habits indeed, but you had mentally clocked out once she had started to mention his unstoppable desire to peel off the first layers of fat his victims carried under their skin as, according to her, that was what had granted him immortality. After that revelation you figured that you did not care if you would never come across any of your coworkers ever again. You understood why they were thrown off by their superior. Of course you did, you had spent most of your time with him by now, he was odd for sure.  But you would never get used to their spooky tales about his person. Safe to say, you would gladly live without them. 

The more you grew accustomed to your new life, the more satisfaction he experienced. He enjoyed watching you settle into your new life and he enjoyed your willingness to solve whatever problem he threw your way. Of course he would have to be careful not to overstep the line of using your talents to his advantage but weirdly enough he didn’t feel the need to do so. Your presence made him feel pleased enough as it was. To his surprise, he found that he did not want to jinx that. He liked having you close, without having to use an ounce of force for once. 

You stayed out of your own will and he found peace in that. 

❦

It had been months since he had recruited you into his close vicinity and he hadn’t regretted it once. He found that you were reliable, smart and talented with your hands. One time, it had been a few days ago, he had watched, mask placed on his features, as you carefully knitted another marionettes' limbs together. He found the way you moved your delicate fingers satisfying to watch. When you were done with your stitches he had carefully taken your hand in his own and moved it closer to his face as he inspected it. “Close enough”. He didn’t mean to say it out loud but he figured it didn’t matter. One look at you let him know that you were so distracted by his action, you clearly did not care about anything beyond that. He gave a sly grin as an answer to your awestruck expression. Then he placed a delicate kiss on your fingers before letting go of your hand. He proceeded to not waste more time on more unnecessary gestures and focused on inspecting the marionette instead. You had done excellent work on the limbs, much as he had expected. “Wait in my office” he mumbled the order absent mindedly while he was gazing down at the doll. He watched you leave through the corner of his eyes. Then, when you had finally closed the door of his lab, he picked up the marionette and carried it to a closet that he had kept locked for no one but him to see.

He opened it and placed the marionette next to the other few that had been in there. He hadn’t perfected any of them yet but he knew he was getting closer. Of course, the goal had initially been for him to reach higher levels of humanity but after he had lost all his process he felt inclined to be bored at the thought of doing it all over again with the exact same recipe to follow. But replicating someone else, well you, now that sounded interesting. Analyzing you had been a fun activity for him over the past weeks. You had many good qualities, good morals and a cute face. Which personally he did not care for but it did cross his mind once, so he figured that would be a popular opinion among others as well. Overall he felt that your presence, may it be through more individuals, would not cause as much terror as his own always had. 

He closed the closet and locked it tight. Then he took off his mask and stepped towards the door to his office. He had already found out so much about the way you answered and thought about things, yet he felt inclined to find out even more. 

You had been standing in his office for a minute or two. It bored you but recently you had found that most things did. After the minutes had passed the door opened and the Doctor came walking in, carrying a sense of purpose in his steps. The door closed easily behind him as he disregarded his mask on a nearby shelf, only for him to step towards you. You didn’t have much time to formulate any coherent thoughts or figure out a reaction to anything, as he had simply waltzed over, cupped your face in his hands and proceeded to place a calculated kiss on your lips. 

Ever since that day, all the barriers of distance that may have stood between you two before were gone. Instead you had only spent more time at his side now and he had welcomed that change with a multitude of questions to ask you. Of course, sometimes he still digressed into monologues of his own, but he had found a liking in listening to your thought out answers and views as well. It surprised you but you didn’t mind. The only struggle you found with that had been the lack of stories you had in mind whenever you thought to answer with something from your life. Most of the stories you knew were about him after all and even those you barely remembered.

He seemed pleased with you either way though, so you figured it didn't really matter. 

And with that, unbeknownst to you, he had found the perfect subject for his studies. You on the other hand had found solace in your work and his presence now, never wasting a thought on anything that didn't have anything to do with your new routine. 

❦ - le fin

I’m thinking their voicelines about each other would be among the lines of like

You about him:

“The Doctor? Oh *ahem*, yes I would consider him a trustworthy companion. Don’t give other peoples’ comments about him much thought. He’s pretty normal, all things considered. I would know, I’ve worked with him for a while now. Anyway, I should take my leave now. Good luck. What?.. Oh no, i can't stay, I'm really busy. I'm sorry. See you”

Him about you:

“Yes, they have been much help to me over the past few years….What? You want to see them? They're busy, try again another time… A message?....No, you can’t take them with you. Find someone else to do your work for you. Now leave.”