#(a few other people have posted this- hopefully I'm not stepping on any toes doing the same)

[shadowxamyweek]

Losing my mind over this.

[thatfanficstuff]

Summer Wedding - Stucky

Grouping - Stucky x Reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. smut including unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), public teasing, oral sex (m receiving), spit roasting, minor knife play and other stuff I'm sure I forgot.

A/N: This is the first fic I'm posting for my summer celebration and it was actually written for boxofbonesfic's Hot Girl Summer Challenge. Not as um...descriptive as I'd intended on making it but I like it. Enjoy.

Word count: 3544

***

The wedding was beautiful, even you had to admit that. It was a relatively simple affair as these things went, though you were certain your uncle had spent several thousands on the flowers that seemed to dot every surface of the grounds of his estate. At least he’d kept your cousin from having a large church wedding this time. There was only so many times that was acceptable anyway, right?

A sigh slid from your lips and you sipped at your drink. You never should have come to this wedding. You weren’t in the mood for it. No, you should have made up an excuse about being sick and stayed home. The only reason you hadn’t was the fact you had no desire to listen to your mother bitch at you for the next six months for missing a family event. Just the thought had you rolling your eyes.

You’d actually been looking forward to the wedding until last week. That’s when you discovered your boyfriends were going on a mission and would not be back in time to accompany you. Not only did you hate going to weddings alone, but you’d already gone through the ordeal of explaining to your aunt why you need a plus two instead of a plus one. And she certainly hadn’t kept that information to herself. Half the damn day had been spent answering questions about your relationship from nosy family members.

Speaking of…Your cousin Natalie sat down in one of the empty chairs that flanked you. She smirked and sipped at her champagne. “So, where are your dates, Y/N?”

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes again. Too much more of that and you’d have a raging migraine. Instead, you kept your gaze on the dance floor and took another sip of your drink. “They had to work.”

“I just find it interesting that you all but beg mother for an extra seat and here they both are. Empty.” She eyed you, waiting for a reaction you had no intention of giving her. “I mean, why lie? It’s kind of pathetic.”

You finally turned your head to her. “Shouldn’t you be doing something wedding-ish? You are the maid of honor, aren’t you? Oh, that’s right, you aren’t in the wedding party, are you?” You sucked a breath through your teeth in mock sympathy. “Sorry.”

There was certain to be a reason why Natalie wasn’t part of her only sisters third wedding, but you didn’t care beyond the fact it was sure to be a sore spot. Frankly, Natalie had always been a bitch, even when you were children. Though, unlucky in the marriage department, her sister Sally had always been your preferred cousin. Maybe Sally had finally gotten tired of dealing with her sister’s shit.

Natalie narrowed her eyes and leaned toward you. “I don’t believe you could get one man to put up with you, let alone two. No one does. We actually had a pool going over whether either of them would show up. And if they did, whether they’d leave with you since you’d probably paid them to be here. I mean, most people just make up one boyfriend. Two really takes the cake. You never could stand not being the center of attention.”

The irony wasn’t lost you that most of your family had no idea you worked with the Avengers. Nor had you mentioned the names of those two boyfriends of yours. Real attention seeker you were. You chanced a glance at your phone to check the time. You had at least another hour before you could leave without a lecture from your mother. You also had zero messages from your boys. Hopefully, that meant they were taking care of business and would be home soon.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” your cousin started whisper yelling from beside you as she froze in her chair. Her eyes were wide and slightly crazed.

Your brow furrowed. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Even as you waited for an answer, your trained ear picked up murmurs beginning amongst the other guests.

When you went to look over your shoulder, Natalie gripped your hand. “Don’t turn around,” she said through clenched teeth. When you went to do it anyway, she snapped again. “Don’t. They’ll see you staring.”

“Who?” Your tone was clipped as irritation crawled through you.

“Steve Rogers and James Barnes just walked in,” she hissed, her gaze locked on them. So apparently she was allowed to stare but you weren’t. By this point, everyone else would be staring as well. The boys were used to it.

You snatched your hand away from your cousin and spun in your seat. As soon as you saw them, a smile covered your face. They had been so certain they wouldn’t be back in time. You knew they’d pushed themselves to be here for you. You ran your gaze over them, taking in the rare sight of them in suits. Even though you’d helped them pick them out, you still licked your lips at the sight.

Steve wore a beautiful bright blue suit that you knew brought out his eyes even though they were currently hidden behind sunglasses. Buck’s suit looked light blue but it was actually a thin blue pin stripe. Both of them looked incredible as always, but you always got a little thrill seeing them dressed up. Of course, that feeling was mutual.

They hadn’t seen you yet, but they were scanning the crowd as they moved across the vast grounds of your uncle’s estate. When your uncle moved to greet them, you stood as well.

Natalie grabbed at your arm. “What are you doing? You’re going to embarrass me.”

Yeah, she didn’t need any help with that. You shook her off and started toward your men. Both of them immediately locked onto your presence and wide smiles greeted you. Your uncle got to them before you could. Steve shifted his attention to speak with him, but Buck’s attention was 100% on you. His gaze trailed over you from head to toe and his eyes darkened.

“We’re extremely honored that you’re here. How did you hear about the wedding?” you heard your uncle ask. He was one of the politer members of your family.

“They’re with me, Uncle Frank,” you said as soon as you were close enough to be heard without raising your voice. “Sorry they’re late. They were working.”

Frank turned to you, his mouth slightly agape and his brows lifted. “These are the dates Margie wouldn’t stop going on about?” Margie was his wife and the aunt you had to beg for the extra seat.

You hummed in agreement.

“Well, I certainly hope so or this is going to turn awkward in a moment,” Bucky said with a lopsided grin. He opened his arms in invitation and you stepped into them. “Missed you, doll.”

You nuzzled against his chest briefly, careful not to transfer your makeup to his shirt. “I missed you, too. So much. I’m glad you’re home.”

There was a tug on your arm and you were pulled into Steve’s embrace. He pressed a kiss to your temple. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey, soldier.” You turned to look at your uncle who was still staring in stunned silence. “Steve, Bucky, this is my Uncle Frank. Father of the bride.”

Both of your boys shook his hand and thanked him for allowing them to come. He hurried back to his table, undoubtedly to announce this strange turn of events. You fell into step with your boyfriends, taking their hands in yours while you walked in the middle. You led them over to your table to find Natalie still in Bucky’s seat.

“Natalie,” you said to get her attention. When she continued to gape at the two men you said her name again.

She smiled at you as if you were her favorite person in the world certain there was an introduction in her future. “Yes, cousin?”

“You’re in his seat.”

She blinked at you for a second before her face twisted in anger. She scrambled from the chair and stormed back to her table with a toss of her head. Steve and Buck chuckled as they took their seats on either side of you. They slid their chairs as close to you as they could get. “Are you two hungry? We already had dinner but I could find you something.”

Bucky squeezed your thigh. “We ate. Don’t worry about us, sweetheart.”

“I’m glad you two made it,” your mother’s voice caught your attention and you turned to find her standing next to Steve. He stood to greet her and you leaned against Bucky, knowing he wouldn’t care to do the same. “If I had to listen to one more person say she made you up I was going to scream,” she admitted as she hugged Steve. That earned another low chuckle from Bucky.

“Mrs. Y/L/N, it’s good to see you again,” Steve said, managing to sound sincere. Not that he disliked your mother, but they’d just returned from a mission. All they wanted to do was stay home for a couple of days and destress. But they’d come here for you and they would be on their best behavior.

“We won’t be staying long, mom. They just got home,” you informed her and braced yourself for an argument.

Instead, she nodded. “Of course, sweetheart. Just make sure to introduce them to Sally before you leave.”

You groaned. “Can’t I just do it at her next wedding?”

“Y/N!” she snapped but you caught the twitch at the corner of her lips.

Bucky snorted a laugh beside you while Steve shot you a chastising look. You smiled. “I will, momma.”

She left and Bucky turned to speak in your ear as Steve sat back down. “We don’t have to leave, baby girl.” The nickname shot a thrill up your spine. “I love weddings. The food. The dancing. The clothes. Like this little number you have on. I really love this dress, doll.” You wore a white sundress with tiny blue flowers on it to match their suits that fell a few inches above your knees. It was the first time either of them had seen it.

Steve’s arm settled across the back of your chair and his fingers played with your hair. “Yeah, that dress is something special. It might be a bit too short, though,” he said without glancing at you. Instead, he seemed to be keeping an eye on the crowd around you.

“It’s not too short.” You loved the dress and thought it was perfect.

“Yeah, Stevie. If anything, it’s not short enough.” Bucky’s fingers dragged your dress up your thigh, bunching it up in his hand as he went.

“What are you doing, Barnes?” you hissed.

“I told you I missed you, doll. I want to show you how much.”

You placed a hand on his, stopping his movement. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course, we are. We talked about it all the way home,” Steve answered. He lowered his mouth to speak in your ear. “Talked about how we wanted to please you in front of everyone. With everyone watching because you know their eyes are glued to our table trying to figure out how we managed to land a beautiful gal like you.”

You snorted a laugh that cut off in a gasp as Bucky pulled your dress further up your thigh. “I don’t think that’s what they’re thinking, Steve.”

Bucky kissed the patch of skin behind your ear. “How come he gets Steve and I got Barnes?”

“He’s not the one actively trying to feel me up at my cousin’s wedding.” Your eyes slipped closed as his fingers brushed your inner thigh. Sweat beaded your skin and you wondered if you could blame it on the heat even though it was ten degrees cooler than it had been earlier.

“But it was all his idea,” Buck whispered.

Your eyes flew open to shoot a glare at the blond’s head. “Steven Grant Rogers, What would your mother say?”

Buck laughed, drawing the attention of some of the few people that weren’t already staring. “She’d probably say, ‘good going, Stevie’. She would have loved you.”

“Would—” All ability to finish your sentence or to have a rational thought fled from you when he pushed your panties aside and ran his fingers through your folds. Fuck.

“She’s already soaking wet for us, Steve. Such a good girl,” Bucky cooed.

Steve’s hand fisted on the back of your chair as he glanced around again. “I was wrong. I don’t have the patience for this. I need to be buried in her.” He slid his sunglasses off and put them in the inside pocket of his jacket. He turned to face you, blue eyes burning into you. “You have exactly two minutes to find us someplace private or we’re going to finger fuck you right here until you scream. Your choice, princess.”

In less than a minute, you’d sent a text on your phone and jumped to your feet. Taking their hands in yours, you dragged them toward the house. You pulled them through the large home until you reached a familiar door on the main level. Opening it, you shoved the super soldiers inside. You locked the door behind you and turned to find them already loosening their ties.

“We don’t have time for that,” you argued with a wave of your hands. “I told Uncle Frank we were borrowing his office for an important phone call. We have twenty minutes tops.”

Bucky groaned. “I wanted to take my time with you. I missed you,” he nearly whined.

The corner of your mouth kicked up. “We can take all the time you want later, baby. Right now, just fuck me.” That had him groaning again, an entirely different sound this time.

Steve, however, wasn’t wasting any time. He grabbed a cushion from the couch and tossed it on the floor. “All fours, princess.” He was already undoing his belt by the time you dropped to your knees. He moved behind you and pushed your dress up to give himself a clear view of your ass. He ran his hand over it before giving you a light swat. The mild sting was still enough to have you shifting.

“These have got to go,” he said tugging on the side of your panties. “Buck?”

You glanced up to see Bucky grin as he pulled out a knife and handed it to Steve. He traced your spine with the back of the blade causing you to hiss and arch your back. The sensation only doubled when he moved from cloth to bare skin. The cold steel on your flesh sent tremors through you but you weren’t scared. Far from it. “I think she likes that, Stevie,” Bucky said, a teasing lilt in his voice. “We’ll have to remember that.”

Steve merely hummed before slicing through both sides of your panties and pulling them off as he handed the knife back to his friend. His hand immediately cupped you and his fingers dipped into your soaking wet folds. “Christ, Y/N. I hope you’re ready for me, baby.”

The head of his cock nudged your entrance as if asking for permission but that only lasted a moment. A second later, Steve surged forward filling you with his length. You moaned at the familiar sensation and clawed at the carpet. He paused, giving you time to adjust then he was thrusting into you in long, slow strokes. “Don’t tease,” you ordered.

Steve laughed and increased his speed. When you groaned, Bucky was there rubbing the tip of his cock across your lips. You opened your mouth and sucked at him greedily, needing to taste him while Steve railed you from behind. Only when you had both of them inside of you did you feel complete. Whole. Whatever the fuck was wrong with you, you hoped there was no cure. You would gladly die like this.

The feeling of both of them moving in and out had a perfectly sinful, wanton moan coming from you. The vibration ran along the length of Bucky’s cock and he grunted. His fingers tightened their hold in your hair and his speed increased. Steve mirrored his pace and it didn’t take long for the office to fill with lurid grunts and the sweaty, sweet smell of sex.

Soon, you were so lost in sensation you became little more than a vessel for them to use as you climbed to your peak. Their rhythm stuttered and you knew they were close. You clenched your walls around Steve and were rewarded with a hiss and his grip on your hips tightening. At the same time, you sucked harder on Bucky and ran your tongue along the underside of his cock. “Fuck,” he bit out. “I’m close. Cum, baby girl. Come on.”

Steve’s fingers found your clit. Two seconds later you were screaming around the cock in your mouth as your cunt clutched greedily at the one in your pussy. Fuck. Bucky came next, his load shooting into your mouth and down your throat. As you swallowed his offering, Steve filled you with his cum. You felt it leak around him and drip to the floor.

They pulled out of you at the same time and you collapsed to your side. “Holy shit,” you said between pants causing your boys to laugh.

“Holy shit’s right. Damn,” Bucky agreed. Your eyes followed his movements as he tucked himself back into his pants and put himself to rights. Before you could turn to Steve, you felt fabric between your legs cleaning you up.

A glance showed him wiping away his cum with the remnants of your panties. He gave you a wicked grin. “Can’t have you leaking all over your cousin’s wedding, now can we?”

Your face heated as you thought about all the times they’d made you walk around with their cum leaking out of you. Apparently, that wasn’t appropriate for a wedding but was fine everywhere else. Steve stood and pulled his pants up before doing up his belt. He held out a hand to you. “Let’s get you fixed up, sweetheart.”

They’d barely done anything and looked like they had when you walked into the room. You, on the other hand, probably looked like you’d gone a couple of rounds with a rabid raccoon. Stupid men. Steve made sure your dress was laying correctly so everything was covered while Bucky did the same thing behind you. They both fiddled with your hair for a moment before declaring you gorgeous.

You narrowed your gaze at them, not buying it for a moment. The three of you quickly put the office to rights. There was nothing you could do about the smell of sex in the air but hopefully it would dissipate before your uncle needed to use it.

“Seriously, baby girl. You look fantastic,” Buck insisted when he noticed you fidgeting.

“Yeah, but you guys like it when I look freshly fucked,” you said as you opened the door. There was a mirror in the hallway you used to check your appearance. You actually didn’t look that bad, but you definitely looked a little wild. You shrugged. Honestly, you didn’t care. “All right, we’re saying hello to the bride, then we’re leaving.”

“No argument here.” Steve took your hand in his and Buck did the same thing on the other side.

When the three of you made it outside, you headed straight for the head table. “Sally, this is Steve and Bucky. Boys, this is my cousin Sally and her new husband Ben.”

“Lovely to meet you,” Steve greeted with a smile. Sally launched herself at him and wrapped him in a hug.

“I can’t believe you came to my wedding,” she squealed before letting go of him to hug Bucky. His eyes begged you to help him but you just smiled. Sally was a bit flighty but she was good people.

She hugged you last. “You should have told me, Y/N. I would have sat you closer to the front.”

“It’s okay, Sally. We have to go. Congratulations,” you said then let her go. When you did, you found that most of the family had come to get introductions or say their farewells. Nicole tried to go in for a hug, but Steve subtly made sure it was nothing more than a handshake. The fact you didn’t introduce her was enough to tell them she wasn’t the kind of person they wanted to know.

When she tried to hug Bucky, you intercepted and hugged her instead. “It was good seeing you, Nicole.”

“You have some explaining to do,” she said in a low voice as she hugged you tighter than necessary. When she released you, she continued to stand by you.

You watched Bucky and Steve say goodbye to your mother and uncle before they turned to you. You held up a finger to tell them you’d be right with them and leaned sideways to get closer to your cousin. “So, just out of curiosity, did anyone in the pool have them fucking me during the reception?”

[heartcal]

rejected ; c.h. (part ii - preview)

yes yes part 2 is finally being posted this week, and as usual, here's a sneak peek of it! the series masterlist will be posted before or after part 2 is posted, and hopefully that'll dispel any confusion related to the original 😗 also i'm still editing part two so this preview may look different in the final edit :^/ but nonetheless it's on the way and this preview is proof :~) let me know if i made any goofs!

summary: he was just a silly little crush that you had in high school, and you were sure that after graduating, you would be over it. so why is your heart beating fast as he sits next to you in your first class on your first day of college? pairing: calum hood x reader (no specified gender) genre: fluff, angst, classmates to friends to lovers au, college au preview word count: 541 words to be posted: ~oct. 31, 2021

intro | part i | main masterlist | series masterlist

“What’s going on?” You hear someone in front of you ask the person next to them.

“Someone’s getting confessed to,” they reply, standing on their tip-toes briefly to look over the heads of the other students.

“Why’s everyone excited, though?”

The other person shrugs, “Not sure, but I think it’s because it’s not going too well.”

Copying the people in front of you, you stand on your toes, lifting your chin to get a better look at the scene outside the door.

You can’t see the girl properly, but the one she’s standing in front of is no one other than Calum.

It wasn’t an unusual thing for Calum to be confessed to. He’s had plenty of confessions given to him, but in comparison to the drama unfolding outside, this was different. In high school, he was quick, but gentle, to let down the other party. It didn’t draw big crowds as it does now (for some reason, you don’t know) but when word got around he was still greatly admired, even if the other party ended up crying.

But right now? He’s just staring wide-eyed at the girl in front of him, eyes occasionally darting around before bouncing back to hers.

You turn around, looking for another exit so you don’t miss your next class, or at least that’s what you tell yourself.

Regarding confidence, that’s what you wanted to do: what that girl was doing to Calum. You wanted the confidence to confess to him, whether it was in public or in private. The scene was making a mockery of you; a reminder that you did not have that level of confidence, and you have a long way to go to get to that part.

Later in the day, sitting in the library with a few books stacked to your left side as a notebook lay open in front of you, your study session was interrupted by the boy who had not left your mind since you saw him being confessed to.

“Hey,” he rushes out, whispering as he takes the empty seat next to you. His notebook and textbook plop onto the table, unintentionally, as he offers the nearby students an apologetic smile.

“Hi,” you respond before quickly looking back at the jumble of words in front of you.

You didn’t need to study, but you did need to get Calum off your mind. His sudden arrival throws the past forty-five minutes of needless studying out the window and welcomes curiosity.

“I need a favor—or, really, just some advice,” he continues to whisper, eyes gauging to get a reaction from you, to let him know you’re listening and willing to help.

You lift your head, making eye contact with a mixture of curiosity and confusion written on your features.

Calum has friends on campus he could talk to for advice, even his friends in other colleges or around town, so him going to you for advice was possibly a step forward in your newfound friendship.

“I’m listening,” you respond, also whispering.

He takes a few moments to gather his thoughts, leaning back in his chair as he nervously drums his fingers on his lap.

He sighs, leaning forward with a whisper, “How do you reject someone?”

What?

[nakedmossy]

Cruel Summer - Part 1 [JJ x Reader]

[A/N: Hi again. I've missed you. It was time for something new. I found this story in a dream. Prepare for a mental trip, it's indicative of the year i've had. This is gonna go in a million different directions and I can't say i'm surprised. Ive written two chapters and i'm already like ...well, fuck it i'm posting it...I needed to get back into writing and this is what I got so enjoy. I have a playlist I used while writing, comment if you want it shared. As always, not that any of us need the reminder....but there will be adult content (whatever that means) and language and NSFW content so...keep me off your screen at the dinner table. Love y'all ...Mossy x]

You ease your car into park, your hand resting on the gear shift, the tires slowly rocking back and forth on the soft ground as the engine dies. Sunlight streams through your windshield as a cloud of dust and sand settles around the car, and you feel a trapped breath release from deep in your chest. The quiet, melodic hum of music relaxes your shoulders and through the trees you can see the water rhythmically hitting the shore.

You haven’t been here in a few weeks and you're starting to feel it; the tight and uncomfortable tensing in your muscles, the locked jaw, the flat expressions. The closer it gets to the anniversary the more you feel the need to visit. But the frequency of your visits is dictated by Her, and She keeps tabs on your whereabouts a lot these days. ‘Its not healthy to spend so much time there’ She would say to you, while pulling a Valium out of her bag to slide towards you. She has your therapist on speed dial on the landline. And she blames you for living in the past. Ironic.

You pull your keys out of the ignition, unbuckle your seatbelt, and let your muscle memory guide you out of the car and through the trees to the edge of the embankment where the sand and the sea grass take over. Flashes of Lacey running down the beach in front of you, looking back over her shoulder and laughing, are burned into your eyelids when you blink. She was everywhere here, every corner of this beach belonged to her. Her towel spread out on the sand at your feet, books with water damaged pages scattered across it, her bag tossed lazily to the side. Her board perched against the log you used to dry out your wetsuits. Her camera.

You close your eyes and listen to the wind move through the grass, her laugh echoing off the rocks. Come on! She would laugh with an outstretched arm. Come take a picture with me.

Her lips were supple and her nose was sun kissed, her hair bleached and tousled from the saltwater. She would motion for you to come over and you would go, because you always did, to fit into the frame next to her, cramming yourself in wherever you could after she found her best angle. She would hold up the camera and wrap her arm around you tightly, the smell of her tanning oil and sweat floating around you in a heady cloud, and at the last moment she would press her lips to your cheek and whisper cheese.

You blink and look at the water again, a seagull squawking as it flies over the empty beach. Reaching into your jeans pocket and feeling for the photo, you pull it out and look down, the moment she clicked the button frozen in time on the paper in your hand. Her side profile was radiant, the wind blowing her hair around her lips which were pressed to your face, you looked straight at the camera with a shy smile, a hidden smile, a quiet smile. An honest smile.

You run your thumb across the picture reflexively before sighing and putting the picture back in your pocket, it was one of the last photos you had together and it was one of the only ones you could clearly make out your own face. That always bothered you. Now you’ll never forget how happy we were today. I love you. She shook the polaroid until it was developed, then pressed it into your chest and winked, waiting for you to grab ahold of it, before turning on her heal and running towards the water.

Your chest burns for a moment before you straighten up and set your jaw. You feel good today, closer to her than usual. Today might be the day. You follow the path through the dunes towards the water and concentrate on the tide, watching the foam and the water snake along the shoreline. It’s windy, but not as windy as it usually is this time of day. The sky, clear and clean of any clouds, is the colour of blue that reminds you what happiness is. Or was, you know, before all the shit happened. When life was something you had the ability to process, sometimes even enjoy.

Now or never. Your head whips up at the sound of her voice and you see her, standing in the water. You feel the blood rush to your face, your core warming. There she is, running a hand up her stomach towards her chest and smiling at you, the kind of smile that would get good people into bad situations.

Slowly you slide your sneakers off and kick them aside, wiggling the sand between your toes. You’re not wearing a bikini but the beach is empty, so you close your eyes and listen to Lacey laughing from the water, come on scaredy cat, nobodies looking, as you peel your top off and drop it into the sand beside your shoes. You unbutton your shorts next and let them slide down your legs, stepping out of them hesitantly.

Lacey walks out of the water, so you keep your eyes closed, knowing if you open them she will be gone, and you wait for her to bite her lip and smile at you. There. Look at your body. You’re beautiful. Come on. She guides you towards the water with nothing but her own bare skin and confidence, nothing could ever touch her. You know its only a few steps until your feet are in the water, you should open your eyes and look around to make sure nobody is watching, but you don’t get to see her often anymore between the Valium and the other stuff, so you forgo it for a few more seconds. Today is the day, you have to do it. Time is running out. She’s all but told you as much.

“I miss you” You say, but your voice sounds foreign and it breaks and scatters into the wind.

Im right here. Lacey smiles at you like she always did, her crooked dimpled grin, her perfectly straight white teeth, her eyes shining. Now shut up and get in the water.

You feel the warm dry sand turn to wet firm sand beneath your feet, you know you’re close. It’s ours, all of it. The water. Just let go and let the Ocean carry you. You’re weightless. Isn’t it perfect?

Your breathing is shallow and your palms are clammy. There’s a tingling sensation in your thighs and you feel dizzy. You have to open your eyes. No, don’t. Not yet. Stay with me.

The water touches your toes and your eyes shoot open, you recoil and lose your footing, falling backwards. You crab crawl away from the water until the tide retreats and you feel your vision tunnelling as Lacey fades into the sunbeam above the water.

You scramble back to your clothes and pull your shorts above your sand stained underwear, your shirt smoothing your hair down as it settles back over your shoulders. You take a few deep breaths until your heart rate slows down. A tear springs up and sits in your eye for a few moments before falling and drying on your cheek. The beach is the best place to cry. The ocean is loud so nobody hears you, and the sun is hot so the tears dry fast.

You don’t want to turn around and look back at the water, you know she won’t be there. You’re alone, properly alone, just like she said you would be, psychic bitch. If she hadn’t been so charismatic and beautiful and conveniently wealthy, people would have outcasted her for being a freak a long time ago. What with all the tealeaves and palm readings and ‘gut feelings’. But they never did, her family had more money than the Kennedys and she looked like she walked runways for fun on the weekends, so she was untouchable. Your stomach starts to turn as you think about it so you blink the ground in front of you back into focus and start walking.

You have a few minutes of freedom left before She starts calling and asking where you are, so you walk slow to savour it. Who knows when you would be allowed out long enough again to go back.

You emerge from the tree cover into the parking area, pondering how many different routes you can take to get home to elongate the drive, when you hear a car door close. You look up, pulled from your thoughts, and squint to see through the bright sun.

“‘Scuse me!” A voice says, deep and friendly. A silhouette is moving towards you, so you bring your hand up to block the sun from your eyes. “Hey, sorry, do you live around here?”

You blink a few times as the silhouette gets closer and make out the figure of a tall man with wispy hair and baggy shorts.

“Sorry?” You reply, still trying to get a clear image.

“Im just trying to find the Marina but I have taken at least 5 of these side roads and all I keep finding is empty damn parking lots.” The man stops a few feet from you, close enough that you can make out a tan face with a toothy grin, and blonde hair. “First one with a pretty girl though, so I must be going the right way.” He smiles at you confidently, shielding his own eyes from the sun, but still squinting.

You look back over your shoulder to the beach, confirming Lacey is gone. You turn and look at the man who is watching you intently, hopefully, and smile quietly.

“Yeah, it’s uh…its just back on the main road, go 3 clicks south and take a right at the fork. You’ll see a fancy sign for a beach club, it’s just past that.” You look past him to the old Ford truck with rusted wheel wells and smile to yourself. “Assuming you’re not going to the beach club.”

The man laughs and smiles, looking over your shoulder at the beach before his eyes settle back on you. “Nope. Never been to one of those…legally.” He winks and backs up a few steps, then nods and says “Thanks” before turning and walking back towards his truck. He slows as he reaches it and stops, then turns back and pivots before jogging back to you.

You wait and watch, curious. He stops a few steps away and stretches out his hand.

“Sorry. That was rude of me. Im JJ.”

[my-autistic-things]

Guess who's making a "how to manage dealing with a massive list of edits" post instead of working on said edits! Me!

Ok so this has taken me FOREVER to really figure out and implement in my life so I thought I'd make a post about it. This is how I deal with getting edits back after sending in a paper (specifically my thesis proposals) to my mentor.

Step 1. Open the document.

This is the absolute hardest step. No seriously. It is. You get the email back, you see the attachment with their initials at the end of the doc name, you know there's edits in there, the email says "here you go! Good work!" That day, ASAP, download that attachment and open it briefly, to scan just how terrifying this task will be.

Step 2. Close it and cry. (Tears are optional but the soul crushing feeling of being on your 5th round of edits is not).

It's okay, deal with it tomorrow. Seriously, go work on something else while you emotionally recover.

Step 3. Mentally prepare yourself to do the edits.

Put it on your to do list for tomorrow. Then when you don't do it, put it on the next day. And the next day. Even when you know it's impossible to get to, put it on there because the stress will build and you'll eventually get to it and Not forget it exists (vvvvv important).

Step 4a. Actually start your edits by opening the doc.

Don't set out like you're going to do everything in one sitting. Open the document with the intention of Starting, not doing. This is a mental battle. Yes battle. Having a good strategy will trump any "smarts" or writing ability you have.

Step 4b. Get out a notebook to write down what you have to do.

If you have do a split screen and can write in a separate document, go ahead, but I found that the absolute only way I can make progress is if I fullscreen my doc and have a notebook and pencil to write stuff down. Now you have 1) doc open, 2) notebook in front of you. Yes these are considered a whole ass step bc they are.

Step 5. Go through and accept all the edits and write down things to do as they come up.

Skip that "read your edits first!" bullshit, you won't, you'll just get stressed, then you gotta reread it all over when you actually start editing. Dive right into dipping your toe in. DO NOT start fully editing. Look at each revision and decide if it's a Quick Fix (i.e. click "accept change" in Word) or a Task. If it's a Quick Fix, go ahead and do it. If it's a Task, even if it's just revising a singular sentence, write it in your notebook. Don't worry about an order/priority/anything, just write everything down. If you're doc is longer than a few pages (mine is 26 so...yeah) write down the page number along with the Task.

Step 6. Organize your Tasks.

Now you have gone through your whole doc and there's no little spelling errors, grammar mistakes, or simple edits to make. And most importantly, you have a list of bigger edits to do, start to group the Tasks. This is when it starts to get super individualized (to you, your paper, and your mood). I start with going through and marking with a line anything I am in the mood for, can do, or should do today (or first, and by first I mean "now" vs "ehhhh later").

Step 7a. Go through your marked Tasks and make more marks.

Only focusing on the initially marked Tasks, start to group them into stuff you can do together. For me, this is any simple info that needs to be inputted or sentences that need editing. My dash next to these Tasks gets turned into plus mark. Note this is the simplest edits I will need to make. You can also designate the initial dash to be its own grouping, but it should naturally end up like that at the end.

Step 7b. Go through marked Tasks again and do the same thing with a different grouping.

Relooking at my dashed Tasks, excluding my + Tasks, I make more groupings. Now it's more time consuming stuff like finding more resources, or rereading sources to be able to accurately edit the sentence. This new group now get more lines to be an asterisk!

Step 7c. Make even more marks!

Can your Tasks be further grouped??? Probably! If you have a short paper, maybe you only have like two groupings, but maybe you have like 5. Who knows! Get creative with your marks! The Tasks I'm designating as last/a lot of work and comprehension are an asterisk with a circle around them. If it's been a few weeks since you asked for edits, you probably will need to work A LOT harder on paragraph and key sentence revisions if you out those first than if you put them after you've been immersed in your topic for a couple hours.

Step 7d-z. Keep making groupings depending how many Tasks you have. I'd suggest keeping it to 2-5 Tasks per group so it's manageable but not excessive. For this particular round of edits, I have 5 groups and that's perfect.

Step 8. Find the easiest/quickest group and do all those Tasks.

My first grouping I made of sentence edits will be the easiest I think, so I'll do that first! If you're motivated and inspired to do a harder group, go for it! But again, do something that will allow you to start really working without being overwhelmed.

Step 9. Cross off all the First Group Tasks you've done!

Yes this is its own step! Cross them all off! You did a good job! Erase them! Get a Sharpie and black that line out of existence! Yay!

Step 10-?. Keep doing the Tasks in each group until you're out of groups and Tasks!

Step 11-?. Cross off the groups and Tasks! Seeing your progress visually makes a big difference! You got this!

Step 12. Read over any non-task comments your teacher/mentor has made and/or your entire paper. Make sure everything makes sense!

Step 13. Save the doc with the date you finished your edits (or fudge it and say sorry forgot to send it to you lol) and send it back to your teacher/mentor (if applicable; if you only get one round and it's not a proposal or something then you'd just submit it). In your email, briefly go over what you did. This is when grouping tasks really comes in handy because I can reference "oh yeah all these edits were x type of edits" and I can say "I accepted all your in-text edits and made the sentence changes you suggested. Additionally, I added abc sources and rearranged the order of the paragraphs specified." This also avoids your mentor re-reading everything and giving you MORE edits on everything (bc they will; this round my mentor is editing his own words from past sentence edits at various places lol) and just focusing on the key changes you made and need feedback on.

Step 14. Take a nap! Seriously! Reward yourself for doing such a Big Thing and take a break! Don't immediately go onto the next assignment, make sure your brain separates *chunk of edits* from *other simpler assignments* so it isn't mentally a whole block of *work*.

I hope this helps somewhat??? Or someone can reference this when coming up with a way to tackle feedback that works for them. I'm starting grad school next year (hopefully) which will actually be a reduction in long-term research projects lmao but I will be having more Giant papers that will receive feedback. Having a system, or knowing options is so incredibly helpful for me because when I read what other people do I can be like "nope not doing that" and it can help narrow down what would work for me. Most importantly, just break up your work into a lot of different sections! It helps with (poor) executive functioning, motivation, and brings it out visually so you can mentally tackle what you're doing instead of "ahhh ~lots of edits~"

[hopevalley]

Had to wrack my brain to remember points 3 and 4. All I recall is something about LL's return being favorably viewed on Twitter, but as I only use Twitter to check in bi-annually on the #henrigail thread, I'm not tapping into an unbiased opinion base. Random YouTube WCTH video comments are ~99% in favor of bringing her back, with just a few righteously indignant holdouts. I do not have a finger on the pulse of any other social media, so don't know what the fandom at large think.

If LL is re-hired, but not given as much decision making power as before, perhaps we needn't fear the show becoming as egregiously Abby-centric as it once was. It's become much more of an ensemble, and even if she does comes back, I feel pretty confident that won't change.

Oh, this is a super fun topic, actually. I haven’t really had a chance to talk about it, or about what I’ve seen. I’m not very active on Instagram these days so I have no idea what they’re on about there; if anything they’re probably the least specifically-biased group of people, but only because their opinions seem to vary wildly from one post to the next!

I do know that Reddit is very much in favor of Lori returning, but maybe 75% of them don’t actually want her back, or her character...they just want a Henrigail Moment (and then Abigail can get kidnapped and forced to marry a mountain man, as they said). I don’t really “get” that sentiment, because I don’t get how you could ship something when you don’t even like one of the characters involved in the ship, let alone wish bad things to happen to them, but... (shrugs)

I feel pretty confident if they bring Lori back that they won’t let her get her hands in the WCtH pie like they were before. She’s already on thin-ish ice with most fans, after all, and they wouldn’t want to tip the balance right out of the gate. I don’t see this series going on forever, either (perhaps ending with a S10), so I think we’re safe from Lorigail. People seem to (overall) like the new ensemble setup, so hopefully we keep it. It might actually make her a good character again!

I personally just...don’t care. I would rather she not come back (mostly because I don’t want to watch henrigail play out—sorry!), but I’m not vehemently against the concept of the character of Abigail returning to the show, either. Heck, I’d be willing to make a tradeoff. She can come back, but they have to also bring my girl AJ back...and make up for that terrible S5 storyline they gave her. ;P But please...no weird love triangles...unless she wins lol this is the fate of liking an unpopular character.

Anyway, I think most people are at least open to the idea of Lori being rehired and bringing Abigail back to the show, but they’ll have to really be careful about what they do and how they do it to avoid stepping on too many toes. They could do a fair job with it, though.

[leahhale]

9-1-1: Josh Russo

@bitweird1 requested: “Thx!❤ Could you do one where the reader works with him as a 911 operator and they aren't dating but they both like eachother and the reader gets hurt or is in a dangerous situation and has to call 911 and Maddie is the 911 operator that answers and Maddie has to tell Josh and he gets worried but the reader's ok in the end and she only has a few scratches?❤🥰❤ (And I'm Bi too!, sorry I just wanted to add that in there😂) (Not to the request but the ask)”

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The familiar voice of your coworker, Maddie, met your ears and you breathed out a sigh of relief. That question, one that you repeated on auto-pilot again and again and again each day, never bothered you. Neither did Maddie’s voice; it was actually comforting and calming, a much welcomed sound in the middle of a hectic day or at the end of a painful call. But now? Now that was the last thing you wanted to hear, the last question and voice you wanted to hear. You just wanted to get from the bank to work in one piece and go about your day as normal, you didn’t want your day to be thrown off track and deal with all of this stress.

“Maddie? Oh, thank God! It’s me, it’s (Y/N). I’ve been in a car accident, I don’t think it’s too serious, I can still feel my toes and wiggle them. I’m too scared to look down, my arm is covered in blood and—“ You rushed out in a quick breath, unable to look down at yourself for a second time after seeing blood in the first glance. Looking out the hole where your window to your left should be at the red pickup truck that hit you and the enraged man stepping out of the driver’s seat, your heart rate picked up and you couldn’t seem to bring in enough air to your lungs. You hoped he would focus on himself and his car and leave you alone to wait for help. “I’m on the corner of South Azure Avenue and Pepperbrook Way.”

“I’ve dispatched the 118 to you, hang in there, Buck will be there soon. Oh, and I’ll tell Josh,” Maddie informed you, hoping her brother would be a familiar face to help you calm down. She was right, knowing Buck and the other team members of the 118 would be the ones to find you and help you put you at ease. It was easier to talk to and be treated by familiar faces, your best friend’s brother would surely crack a joke or two to take your mind off of this crappy situation. But on the other side, the thought of Josh made your stomach flip, made you worry about what he would say or do. You didn’t want to hear a “why are you telling me?” on the other end of the line.

“Tell Josh what?” He asked in passing, conveniently always right where he needed to be. With a look over Maddie’s shoulder at the screen, he was able to scan the information and recognize your personal cell phone number. He nodded slowly to himself, his brain taking a few seconds to truly process the information he saw: your name, your phone number, car accident, driver injured. He stilled, breath catching in his throat and fingers tightly gripping the back of Maddie’s chair. He was already moving, on his way out the door when he shot a glance over his shoulder to Maddie. “I’m taking my lunch break,” he said, sounding distant and distracted.

She knew, Maddie knew everything around the office, but mostly because she was good friends with both you and Josh. She knew about the crushes you were both harboring for one another but wouldn’t act on because he was your superior and that was frowned upon, no matter how professional you two would be at work. She was sick of hearing both of you say some version of that, sick of the excuses you both came up with to justify putting off the inevitable and hiding the truth. You knew how important it was to separate your home and work lives, every first responder did; it was what you had to do to survive the job. It wasn’t like two 9-1-1 dispatchers would face the same problems as two officers or firefighters in a relationship in the same job.

You couldn’t bring yourself to get out of your car, even though you knew your neck and spine and head were okay, not until after Hen and Chim poked and prodded you to give you the all clear. The questions, the pressure to various parts of your body, and the bright light shining in your eyes were nothing to you, you barely noticed it when you were too occupied thinking about Josh. He was probably going about work as normal, you’d see him in a day or two when you went back. Buck lead you to the ambulance where he sat with you while Hen cleaned and bandaged the cuts on your arms and chest from the shattered window and you thanked every higher being and star in the sky that no glass got stuck in you. The cleaning solution hurt worse than the impact, now that the adrenaline was wearing off and you were aware of all that was happening.

Meanwhile, Josh was stuck behind some woman at the nearest stoplight who was texting instead of paying attention to the light, causing him to curse loudly and he slammed his palm against the center of the steering wheel to honk the horn. His knuckles turned white while he drove, his grip tightening as his mind raced with thoughts about you. What happened? Were you okay? What if the worst happened? That was normal, normal things to think and worry about in regards to a coworker, nothing more. It was friendly concern and friendly racing to an accident scene to check on you. Normal. Friendly.

Buck’s jokes were met with half-hearted laughs and distracted nods, not that he noticed because he was laughing at his own jokes like they were the funniest thing he heard. Hen laughed, too, not because the jokes were funny but because Buck was kind of her friend and she wanted to be supportive. Okay, it’s because his jokes were so awful that it was impossible not to laugh at. Buck and Hen bowed out with a pat on the leg and a friendly smile when Josh showed up, barely remembering to put his car in park as he pulled up to the scene. He had to resist the urge to pull you into his arms, to hug you, to make sure you were safe and you had to resist the urge to get up, to fall into him, to hold him close until you forgot your morning trip to the bank. You and him had been dancing around each other for too long, even Carrie from accounting and Joe the janitor would roll their eyes at you two when they caught an almost intimate but utterly awkward encounter.

“Maddie told me you got in an accident, I had to… I had the afternoon off so I thought I’d stop by to check on you,” he lied as he took a cautious step closer and suddenly you could see everything Maddie told you, everything you couldn’t see, no, refused to see, before. You could tell when he was lying, knew his voice and ticks from his calls when he tried to reassure people things would be okay when they clearly wouldn’t be. And… Screw it. Now was as good of a time as any to take a leap of faith, to take a risk and reap the rewards. It wouldn’t be easy but it helped to still have post-car accident adrenaline coursing through your veins making you feel like maybe, just maybe, everything would work out.

“I’m fine, just a few little scratches. No stitches, no broken bones,” you reassured him with a warm smile as you got up from your spot sitting on the edge of the ambulance. Holding up your arms to show the few bandages, you proved that you were truly okay. You boldly took a step forward to get closer to him, to close the respectful work colleague gap in favor of breaching into the I-want-more zone. “Since you have the afternoon off,” you began, a hint of sarcasm and knowing to your voice, before adding on, “let’s go to lunch. A date.”

“Will I get a kiss at the end?” Josh asked with a wide grin and a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. He offered his hand, which you gladly took, and led you away from the accident scene. Or a few feet away from the ambulance, which allowed Hen and Chim to clean up and pack up their gear. The other paramedics across the street were dealing with the angry man, having a much less pleasant time than anyone else. You felt bad for them, knew their job was hard enough without the difficult, whiny assholes yelling and waving their arms around.

“Only if you take me home,” you answered, happy to finally be going on a date with the man you had spent too much time staring at from afar. The nights in bed spent thinking about break room conversations and morning walks in when you happened to park next to one another. The pre-planned conversations and moments you rehearsed saying “good morning, Josh” in the mirror no one would ever know about. You were stopped by a woman who came to stand in front of you, block you from leaving. “I was hoping to do this later,” you offered up hopefully only to be met with an amused laugh.

“Uh-uh, honey, no special treatment. You have to answer questions, fill out your report,” Sargeant Athena Grant said and you groaned in response, reminding her of the times she would tell her teenage daughter no and be met with an attitude. You knew you would have to fill out an accident report, answer questions but you hoped you could go to the station after lunch or later in the day. Anytime other than now when you were about to finally go on a date with Josh. You were so close! At least Athena had the decency to look a little guilty from pulling you away at the worst time to take care of the worst paperwork after the worst morning.

“Go, I’ll wait for you,” Josh promised, grateful to take a minute to call into work to take the rest of the day off. He didn’t even have to come up with a lie, everyone in the office was so happy that you two finally made a move. The betting pool, after way too long, finally closed and the one patient winner was thrilled to win the whole pot. Yeah, Maddie was the worst friend for getting $300 richer betting on your love life. And if Maddie greeted you the next day with a knowing grin and nudge, you couldn’t bring yourself to mind one bit. Especially not when you caught Josh smiling at you from his desk.

[unusualvisionsblog]

Sky full of star: Chapter 1

My first original series/ book! Ah I'm super nervous and excited. Its pretty cringy I guess but I hope y'all don't hate it yeet.

Summary : Kathleen Hunter, 23 and a redhead is a daring and an ambitious flight attendant who wants to travel the world. But when her jobs brings her to a new love and brings back an old flame, what will Kathleen do?

Warnings : none actually, cringe probably, swearing later.

There might be a few spelling mistake since I posted this at like 1am yeet

Word count : 1615 or something

So here we go oof

CHAPTER 1

Never had she hated her life more. Her alarm didn't ring and she had already stubbed her toe on that darn bedside table. Ouch. She really couldn't  afford to be late today.Sighing deeply, she checked the time. Today was really important for her,  because if this flight went well, her career would really take a jump. Being a flight attendant was definitely not an easy job. She had to deal with rude passengers and crying babies. She looked at herself in the mirror, biting her lips in criticism. Her strawberry blonde hair were a mess but there wasn't enough time to do a decent hair style.

Kathleen would never believe anyone whenever they complimented her on her looks, because having been called plain and boring by her mother for 23 years, it was hard to believe anything else really.

But when someone else would see her for the first time, they would notice how the  loose tendrils of her silky hair would cover her face and how her alluring blue eyes would peek out and how they would shine brilliantly when her pink lips uplifted to form a sweet smile.

Putting her hair in a quick messy bun, she got dressed and grabbed a coffee before leaving. She quickly reached the bus stop and waited, tapping her feet constantly and after every two sips, checking the time. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice a group of suave business men and women heading towards her  when suddenly "BAM!". A young man talking to his colleague bumped into the frowning woman. At this sudden motion, Kathleen stepped back, dropping the hot coffee on her uniform. Now this really was the cherry on top of an already bad day.  She crossed her arms, glaring right into the brown eyes of the fair young man, "Excuse me, are you actually freaking blind? You've completely ruined my day AND my coffee!"

Taken aback, "I apologise for the coffee but this is just as much your fault as it is mine" the man huffed, his brows creased. This only infuriated Kathleen more and she was more than ready to retort back,"Hah! You- " when the woman next to the man interjected,"David we really don't have time to argue with random people on the street, you're getting late!" and with that they all moved forward with David looking over his shoulder and scowling at the woman one last time, muttering, "God what a horrible start to the day."

Having finally reached the airport, Kathleen quickly changed into her second set of uniform and did her make up before getting on board the flight.

As tiring and exhausting this job was, Kathleen really did love being a flight attendant as it was the only way she got to travel the world. She'd been to France, Germany, Italy, India.. the list goes on and on.

She had met people who had impacted her life throughout her journey and she was excited for her next one and if this went well, there was going to be a sweet sweet salary bump for her.

Having helped all the passengers in the economy section feel  comfortable, she moved to the business class where she finally got a chance to talk to her  best friend, Tracy Sawyer. Tracy smiled brightly at her as she walked towards her, "Omg, are you excited?! This is your first flight with you in charge!! You are so going to kill it!"

"Wow you have way more confidence in me then I have  for myself." She chuckled in reply.

"Okay first shut up, you're definitely getting that raise and second you have got to see that hottie in first class, single and wohoo he is a snack!"

Raising her eyebrow, "Don't you have like a boyfriend Tracy?" She questioned.

"God you are so dense, Kathy he isn't even my type, I was talking about you! You've been single for like 8 years!"

"3 not 8!"

Tracy rolled her eyes in reply, "Whatever you're serving first class today! See you around love! First seat on the right" She said winking at Kathy and moving to the next section.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't  even a least bit interested in checking out this so called handsome single man. She took a deep breath and walked right into the first class section and with a bright smile turned towards the right side, " Good morning and thank you for choosing Blue sky airlines, how can I help you today?" She lifted her eyes and that's when her smile faltered. They were the same brown eyes that had glared right back at her in the morning.

"You- it was you at the bus stop wasn't it? Screaming at me?"squinting at her with his lips pressed

" I-i act-" she stuttered.

" Do you know that I am the CEO  of  Timetrend?"

Wide eyed, her breathing became rapid but she could not speak.

"This is an interesting turn of events" with a smirk on his face.

At this point Kathleen composed herself, "Sir allow me to apologise to you profusely, I truly am very sorry." But let's be honest, they both knew she wasn't.

"Well I guess you can make it up to me by getting a glass of champagne or is that too much for you?"

Biting her lips to prevent her from making the situation worse, She replied, "right away sir."

She cursed Tracy severely in her head. And to make matters even more abominable, there was only one first class passenger. And he was a pain in the ass.

He couldn't believe his bad luck, imagine having the same clumsy woman as your flight attendant. At least here he had an advantage, he could order her around completely although he wasn't actually that cruel. He was having a hard time  trying to control his laughter looking at the flustered girl who was so composed before.

As much as he tried to distract himself, he was extremely bored, he had finished all of his work so that he could spend time with his girlfriend on the flight. Well Ex girlfriend now since she broke up with him yesterday. He was upset sure but not heartbroken. He didn't really love her and she probably didn't either although she tried to but the effort was only one sided. He didn't have time for relationships. He was a busy man after all.

He tried to sleep but he just couldn't. He heard the sound of her heels and guessed that she was making the rounds again. He sat up straight and decided to order another glass of champagne, this was a long flight after all.

" Do you need anything sir? " She questioned, still afraid to meet his eyes.

"Yes, I'm bored."

At this her eyes shot up, with eyebrows raised but she quickly hid it with her normal smile

" Well we have a wide range of movies, if you'd like. We also have mag-"

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean no, I want to have a conversation. Tell me something about yourself."

" Are you drunk sir?"

" No of course not! Who gets drunk after two glasses of champagne?"

" Well okay, what would you like to know?"

"For starters, tell me your name."

And somehow, to both of their surprise, they were able to keep an interesting flow of conversation going without any awkward silences or anything of the sort and soon they were laughing like old friends. Well actually Kathleen was laughing, the closest David came to laughing was giving her a genuine smile. Soon Kathleen returned to the other attendants for the rounds, returning soon enough to first class, with smirking glances from Tracy.

"Kathleen, might I ask you why did you choose to become an air hostess? You don't have to answer." He added cautiously

"One  call me Kathy, I actually do not like Kathleen at all.

He chuckled slightly taking a sip of his drink

"Two it's not really complicated. I mean I didn't always want to be an attendant. I wanted to  be a pilot. But you know financial issues."

"Oh. Yeah I get that"

There was a comfortable silence between the two before Kathy had to leave again.

"We'll be landing soon, so I'll take your leave." She smiled at him warmly. There was something so innocent about her smile that he couldn't help but smile back.

She got up to get back to her seat with Tracy when a sudden turbulence caused her to stumble forward but before she could hit the floor,a pair of strong hands grabbed her waist and prevented any accident that would end up with her having a huge boil on her head. She felt her heart pound as she looked into his brown eyes slightly converted by his brown hair for what seemed like 10 minutes but was actually 5 seconds? She was being ridiculous! She shook her head and smiled at him,thanking him and went on her way avoiding eye contact.

-----

He really couldn't help but smile at her and he was pretty astonished about himself. They were getting ready to descend, when there was a slight tremor and he realized that it had completely shooken Kathy and she would probably fall down but before that he grabbed her firmly by the waist and immediately stood up. He didn't know what happened but something in her blue eyes pulled him towards her. He saw a strand of her glossy red hair on her soft pink cheeks, he was having  a hard time fighting the urge to tuck it behind her ear. He didn't even register the fact that he was staring at her before she blushed and pulled away. For the first time in his life, he felt flustered at the sight of her. He probably was just tired. Hopefully.

#love #angst #romance #chicklit #original #fiction

[frogsandfries]

Aggghhhh........

I kinda messed up some of my linework. I say this all the time, but I hate drawing. I'm trying to at least work on my lineworks more consistently, but that wasn't the case when I drew this big, rather sloppy batch of lineworks. I think I was still working for the credit card division when I inked these while I was at work because work from home, just try to stop me. Anyway, the way they are inked is sloppy, way too loose to do me any good when I'm trying to color them as pixel work.

I know I have no one to blame but myself, and I've definitely agreed to turn this around and keep my final inks much tighter and cleaner.

As such, sometimes I do spend a couple hours just loosely sketching, and then wrestling with myself to go back and even start to clean up my pencil work. I'll go back and forth, loose pencil, tight but messy pencil, mostly erased tight pencil, and by the time I get to inking, it's such a relief. It especially feels good to have a whole big bunch of new lineworks, even if seeing the disparity between lineworks and colorwork makes me feel bad.

I should take advantage of this unusually event-free weekend and go into the office--we haven't spent much time in there since my partner got his new situation. We keep our primary "desktop" in the living room for "TV" purposes.

I've been having a..... poor quality week. We have like, the Worst Possible case of bedbugs and it's got me super wigged out. We've been dealing with them since we moved, but we just saw them for ourselves and had a pest control person up here. Not that he ever does anything, which is bullshit. But basically, I'm dressed from toe to wrist but my hands are still getting bit to hell and it's hotter than shit.

We're waiting to contact the office for follow-up until we have the clothes all sanitized the best we can.

In the meantime, I basically get up when my partner gets up, take off my sleeping arrangement, trying to keep the bugs in the bedroom the best we can, I get changed and catch a few more hours on the extra couch, but I've still been pretty groggy.

Overall, I haven't really been interested in working at my desk this past week. I definitely need to. I have a bunch of frames just languishing, waiting for me to clean them up. I know it'll be really gratifying to see them cleaned up, but I just don't want to gather the reserves it'll take to do that.

Hopefully tomorrow, I can get sat down and work on some of that. Maybe while I'm at it, I can do the other office-y stuff: Get some more posts queued up, get some more lettering done. My graphic novel Tumblr is starting to get a little attention--mostly three or four or so of the same accounts kinda just spamming me, so I'm not sure what that's about, but any likes are a good step. Reblogs, of course, are superior. I think it's too early to tell if this is a waste of my time, but either way, by the time I know, it'll be too late, right? It's going to take a while for me to get to a point where there's even enough content for people to know whether or not they are interested in the story.

[tf2humbug]

The year is 1974. The Gravel Wars are over, Grey's robot menace is subdued, and Miss Pauling is finally getting a handle on her new role as President and CEO of Mann Co. when a wholly unexpected threat emerges in the form of a doomsday cult calling themselves Rise & Shine. Convinced that the end is near, they want nothing more than to purify the world of the taint of weaponry and violence through... more violence. (But it's okay when they do it! Don't ask.) The destruction of Mann Co.—the world's largest supplier of guns, ammunition, and novelty hats for some reason—is their #1 priority.

This new enemy is decentralized and mobile. A threat could pop up anywhere in the world, so Team Fortress must step up their game. Mann Co. pays the bills, and the boss lady says these Risers must be stopped.

You are the Driver.

Wherever the team needs to go, you can get them there. You also provide vital support in battle, which is no longer confined to neat little bases. You're an expert navigator, capable in every kind of terrain, always on your toes. You know how to drive most land vehicles, and the ones you don't, you're pretty sure you could figure out within 15 minutes. For this job, you stick with the company car. 

Your vehicle, aside from a setting for awkward road trips, is a home away from home once your mission begins. When fully set up, it's the place where your teammates can top off their health and ammo or, in worst case scenarios, respawn. Guard it with your life.

So that's my basic concept for a 10th class. It also comes with further plot developments and a new game mode. The mode would basically play like hide-and-seek, but with guns and explosions. I guess this is a mod proposal? A new comic pitch? I dunno. In any case, I want people to be able to play with the idea, so if you want to be a Driver for your own self-indulgent purposes or just tinker with my base concept, knock yourself out!

The Driver can be male, female, or neither if that's what you prefer. In my mind, she defaults to female, so that's how I'll refer to the character...

Driver's a new mercenary, relatively young. (I'd say she's older than Scout by a few years, for reference.) She has a military background as an ambulance driver during two tours of duty in Vietnam, as well as a delivery girl in the civilian world. Generally a non-combatant, she's still seen more than her fair share of blood and guts. She's prepared to defend herself and her vehicle if necessary with a trusty handgun or tire iron, but her specialty is in providing support. Violence is a last resort.

Aside from her considerable driving prowess, she has skills in automotive repair and emergency medicine. (She's trained in CPR and first aid, which might not actually be very useful in the world of TF2.) Physically, she's unimposing, with health on par with Sniper or Spy. Her safety depends on staying close to her vehicle because she's a sitting duck without it. Her vehicle is an extension of herself, and it makes her mighty.

Oh, and there's the map. Driver has access to a unique map HUD for use in hide-and-seek "Mobile Mode." With this, she can provide direction to her teammates from the safety of her vehicle or decide to strategically reposition herself based on her readings.

I think I'll leave it at that for now. I'm happy to answer questions anyone might have about this concept. I'll post more stuff about Driver, her vehicle, and the game mode soon. Hopefully this will be fun for someone other than me!

[mikototsu-trash]

There's hardly nothing and I'm a slut for them so hopefully you don't mind headcanon stuff how do you think a confession would go between yatamoto with normal yata and fem!yata?

I know your struggle myguy, I am also a slut for yatamoto, and I am always happy to discuss myheadcanons about them!!

I have written a fic about the beginning oftheir relationship, titled Better, which is basically about Misaki and Rikio realising theirfeelings for one another after Saruhiko leaves Homra, and the support Misakireceives from Rikio makes him realise that his feelings for his friend are alittle more than friendship, but I also think this is only one of the many waysa confession between them could go. 

I think the other most likely way their relationship would beginwould be a very slow progression, both of them sort of crushing hard on oneanother and both of them denying it vehemently to themselves, passing it off asplatonic, possibly with a dash of internalised homophobia on Misaki’s end, and a lot of “oh he’d never like me back in that way” from both of them.They’d spend a lot of time together as friends just the two of them, and they’dbe very close, both physically and emotionally, having an understanding of oneanother that nobody else in Homra could really get close to having been childhood friends, and they do a lot of playful roughhousing and friendly affection that of course is totally friendly yepp they’re just proving that guy friends can totally be affectionate with one another of course it’s nothing else nope. 

Of course, they’d slowly start torealise that the happiness they feel when they’re together and the desire for intimacyand closer contact and dreams and intrusive thoughts about kissing and cuddlingand all that mushy stuff meant that yes, indeed, they do have crushes on eachother. And of course, they’d come to that conclusion separately, without evertelling a soul about it, and then they’d quietly die on the inside about theirrespective unrequited crushes that both of them thinks they’ll never have achance in hell of seeing realised. They’re both idiots, naturally.

Over time though, the friendly affection would evolve until one night while they were drinking together and maybe watching some sports game or playing video games together, one thing would lead to another and somehow they’d go from leaning against each other on the couch to kissing, and both of their hearts would be going a million miles an hour as they couldn’t quite comprehend oh my god this is really happening and when the kiss broke Misaki would be dying with embarrassment, and Rikio would see him bright red and apologise, thinking he’d upset him or pressured him or something, and Misaki would quickly protest and tell him no, don’t be an idiot, I liked it, which would prompt Rikio to quietly and awkwardly ask if he wanted to do it again, and the TV would quickly be forgotten about as they basically spent the rest of the night letting out all the pent-up makeout energy from the past few months and sharing all those kisses they’d been wishing for all that time. They’d end up staying over together, sleeping cuddling all night with the windows open and the air conditioning on the highest setting because they really want to cuddle even though it’s sort of way too hot, and then as one of them prepared to go home the next morning, there’d be the awkward do you want to do that again sometime conversation, probably initiated by Misaki, which Rikio would eagerly agree to, and then confess he’d sort of wanted to do that for a really long time, and Misaki would confess that yeah, so had he, before they kissed each other goodbye. 

Things would continue like that for some time, with both of them dancing around the idea that they’re really together because they’re dorks and they’re still afraid even after the makeouts and the cuddling that the other doesn’t want to Make It Official, until finally after like a month Rikio asks what they are to each other, are they just friends, are they boyfriends, and he admits he’s had a crush on Misaki for a long time and Misaki would agree he’d had a crush for a while as well, and yeah maybe they should admit they’re The Big B word even tho Misaki stutters over saying it for a while, and Rikio can’t quite believe Misaki likes him back because he thought he was way out of his league, but they’re both so happy that they’re like hugging each other and laughing between kisses even if they can’t quite believe it’s happening. 

I’ll put the fem!misaki stuff under a cut bc this post is getting p long

So I don’t imagine things would be too different with Misaki as a girl, because I don’t think Rikio would treat her particularly differently- she’s always been a tomboy and she’s always been able to hold her own amongst the guys. One thing I can see being a little different would be that he’d be a little more hesitant to make the first move- he’d be more concerned about pressuring her and her not wanting him and I think fem!Misaki would be just as vehement about the way people treat women as her male counterpart, so Rikio wouldn’t want to be seen as too forward or disrespectful (of course this is mostly just excuses he’s making for himself to justify his fear of asking her out.) I imagine Misaki would also have some insecurity surrounding the girls that always flock to him in the summer- she has a lot of body image issues, and she’d think Rikio would never want her when he has the pick of all these way more attractive girls.

I think Rikio would also be more cautious because he’d have been under the impression that she and Saruhiko were a couple- they lived together and they were very close and the way their friendship ended was very reminiscent of a breakup, so he wouldn’t want to step on any toes by pushing her into a relationship when she wasn’t ready so soon after a breakup. Once again, I think it’d be Saruhiko leaving that prompted them getting closer- he would do a lot to help her get through it, and they’d spend a lot of time together, probably involving him hugging her a lot when she was upset (to her great embarrassment) and him planning for them to do a lot of things together to keep her mind off it that feel a lot like dates, and she doesn’t want him to think he’s a rebound or anything, but eventually like before things would develop and tension would mount up until they end up kissing and they don’t really remember how it happened but they’re glad it is.