#Chris Newcomer

[lipsyncforyourlife]

[iamnothereorthereoften]

Chris Evans as Judd in Newcomers , 2000

[aeolianblues]

started reading the MTV VMA noms and realised 3 sentences in I do not care

[pretty-little-mind33]

Kraven The Hunter x fem!reader

Summary: You meet a dangerous stranger in the woods...

Genre: SMUT (nsfm)

Warnings: kinda dark but still tame, cheating (reader), unprotected sex (pls use contraceptives in real life!), oral sex (m receiving), praise kink, degradation kink, rough sex, riding, he spits in reader's mouth 👀, kissing (duh), fingering, light misogyny, ik he has a name but i use Kraven in this, bad russian google translate maybe (I AM SO SORRY I DID MY BEST—if you speak Russian and have any suggestions… please 🙏 ) LISTEN…I'M SORRY LIKE I COULD NOT RESIST WRITING FOR HIM…HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? Probably NOT comic accurate…

SERGEI KRAVINOFF MASTERLIST

You don't know what you hate more at the moment—your boyfriend or the continuous sweat forming on your hairline from the dampness and heat. It's becoming dark outside, which should cool the air and help with the heat but not as much with how pissed you are at Chris. 

With a small squeal, you stumble on the roots of a tree, gasping as your ankle twists awkwardly in your hiking shoes and the buzz of an insect flies around your ear. You swat your hand near your cheekbone. You're holding the branches you'd found in one arm now as the stickiness of the air makes your skin feel heavy. 

Screw you bugs! 

Screw you woods!

And most of all screw you Chris!

You're too immersed in your hatred that you don't realize you've fallen into an animal trap until it's too late. You scream, the branches falling from your arm as your body folds and the net wraps around you, pulling you up into the air. The rope burns your exposed skin as you squirm. This had to be a nightmare, some sick cruel joke Chris is playing on you. You half hope he'll jump out from behind the bushes and laugh in your face. 

You wait in silence for a moment but your boyfriend doesn't show up. 

"Help!" You scream out helplessly, "Is anyone there? Please, I-I'm trapped," you call. 

"Hmm, yes, that is the point of one of those," a deep voice drawls from behind you and you wince. You try to strain your neck to look at the newcomer but you can't move enough to see who it is. It certainly isn't Chris. Chris doesn't sound like that.

"Please, can you help me?" you plead shamelessly now. 

Your heart is beating so hard. You hear the creak of leaves and dirt as whoever stands behind you walks closer to you. You feel them turn the entire net around and soon you're face to face with dark piercing golden eyes. A color you can only describe as supernatural. 

"Now why would I help you? You stumbled into my trap—that makes you my prize."

The man is tall and strong. His shoulders are broad and his hair curls messily across his forehead. He's wearing an open vest made of brown leather and adorned with fur, thick leather bracers, and a necklace where three animal teeth hang.

You concentrate on the sharpness of the teeth for a while, ignoring how very much shirtless the man is against them, but eventually you lose focus as with a swift motion, he uses a knife he'd taken from his belt to cut the net and you crash to the ground. 

Immediately, the dirt sticks to your sweaty skin as you scramble up onto your feet. You brush hair from your face and stumble back, almost falling again until the man's large, calloused hand finds your forearm and he holds you still. "Calm down," he says hoarsely, his eyes narrowing and his grip tightening.

"You don't wanna run from me, gorgeous. Clearly, you don't know your left and right around here but I do. So, stay still for me so I can think about what I'm gonna do with you."

He has a thick accent and you find yourself nodding. He drops your arm and you don't move. You look up at him as he looks around, rubbing his hand over his jaw like he's debating his next moves. You can see his knife, which he has secured into his belt again, glistens with blood and your stomach churns. 

"Please don't hurt me," you whisper.

The man stares at you blankly, his eyebrows crease as he looks you up and down. After a moment, the corners of his lips curl upwards and he moves closer. You squeeze your eyes shut, scared, and you gasp inaudibly as a tear escapes you. 

The man's thumb wipes it away, his hand cupping your cheek and he speaks a language you don't understand—russian you assume—"Я бы никогда не подумал причинить тебе боль, (I would never dream of hurting you)," His tone seems sweeter than how he'd spoken before but all hopes of him translating what he'd said disappear when he asks:

"Why are you out here all alone?"

You recover from his touch as it leaves you and you try and explain, "I'm not alone. My boyfriend," you turn to look behind you but all you see is the trees and hear the rustling of animals in the shadows, "is around here somewhere," you finish.  

"He left you? Alone? Now? It's almost dark," the man accuses as if it had been your choice.

"I- I was supposed to bring branches for the fire," you say quickly, gesturing to the branches that had fallen from your arms. The man looks where you're pointing and chuckles darkly. 

"Oh, милый (darling), those aren't branches. Those aren't even twigs."

You glare at him, not finding it funny at all, "Well, I couldn't carry the heavier ones," you defend and the man interrupts with another chuckle.

"Ah," he smirks, "so why was it you who went out? Can your man not care for you properly?"

You scrunch your nose, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The man's smirk turns into a smile, his teeth showing, and you can't help but feel butterflies in your stomach as he smiles. He's handsome—almost too handsome for someone who looks like they live in the woods.

"I mean," he drawls, leaning in even closer, "what kind of man allows his woman to do all his labor, leaving her on her lonesome and vulnerable to bad men like me?" Your breath hitches and your eyes widen when he finishes, "Your man is a pathetic little boy who doesn't deserve a woman like you."

Your mind races. You want to defend Chris, tell this man that Chirs is an amazing, loving, boyfriend—but another part of you can't deny Chris had basically coerced you onto this hike, on your birthday nonetheless, and then promptly abandoned you to fend for yourself.

However, those details weren't what your mind latched onto. No. As you stare at the handsome stranger, his words ring in your ears; "bad men like me"

The man can tell and he chuckles, "Don't look so scared. I like you. You're the most entertainment I've had in a while. Come," he beckons you over, turning around and gathering his net over his shoulder. When you don't follow instantly he calls out, "I can offer you shelter and food, and a fire," he adds with a glance over his shoulder, "Unless you'd rather find your way back to your boyfriend. Your choice, милый (darling)."

So, you end up in the man's home. The man—who had finally introduced himself as Kraven— lives in a small cabin that's obviously been worn out by time and weather. All the furniture looks barely used—as if there hasn't been life inside this cabin for a long time. 

Kraven's hospitality is coarse and oddly demanding as he pours you some honey tea he made himself and hands you some bread. You don't complain, you're starving. As Kraven makes a fire, he mumbles things in Russian and occasionally he'll look over at you, sending a shiver up your spine. Your hair is wet from the shower you just had and the strands stick to your cheeks.

Your mind wanders to Chris. Is he okay? It is a warmer night—so he really shouldn't freeze to death. You feel guilty for having accepted Kraven's offer but your thoughts are interrupted by the fire starting and Kraven stands. He runs a hand in his curls and drops his vest on the couch near you. You look up, suddenly extra aware of how shirtless and toned he is. 

"Продолжай смотреть на меня так, и у меня не будет другого выбора, кроме как трахнуть тебя прямо здесь и сейчас, милый, (Keep looking at me like that and I'll have no choice but to fuck you right here and now, darling)," Kraven says in a growl and the only word you recognize is the last one since he's used it a few times.

"What does милый mean?" you ask, attempting to pronounce the word but fumbling it. Kraven smirks and tilts his head as he walks closer until he's sitting next to you. 

"It's a term of endearment," he chuckles, "like darling—or honey."

You feel your cheeks burn. It's almost worse to hear him explain the term rather than just using it. You look down at your hands, feeling Kraven's warmth next to you. He smells like pine-wood and ashes and the scent is invading. You feel safer near him then you'd ever felt in Chris's arms. Guilt settles in your stomach again. 

"Ты так сладко пахнешь. (you smell so sweet)," Kraven says again and his hand comes up to move some stray hairs behind your ear. The air shifts and sexual tension settles around you and the feeling dances across your skin with fervor. 

You don't dare turn your head to look at him, afraid of how he's staring. "What does that all mean? The Russian?" you mutter.

"It means I want to kiss you, doll," Kraven chuckles and his hand cups your chin and he turns your head so you're staring at him. Your eyes are round and he chuckles, "what do you say милый (darling)? Will you indulge me? I wanna see if you taste as good as I think you do."

Your heart jumps in your throat and suddenly you feel very small compared to him. Your eyes flicker to his lips and then up to look into his eyes. They sparkle darkly and you wonder if anyone has ever been able to say no to those eyes. You surely won't be the first. You nod. 

Kraven leans in and captures your lips with passion so fierce you're afraid your lips will bruise. Still, they slide across his easily and it's as if you've been molded for one another. Kraven's hands tighten in your hair, bunching up the strands so he can control your head movements. Control. His entire demeanor screams control.

"Good girl," he mutters with a smirk against your lips and his hands move to grip your hips. You're wearing some shorts and a shirt you found in the bedroom when you changed from your shower.

You gasp as he helps you up and you straddle him now. With a humph, he lifts up his hips and slides his knife holster to the side so it isn't digging into your thigh or his. He grins wolfishly, continuing to kiss you. His lips trail up your neck and near your ear. 

It never felt like this with Chris. Sure, it had been fine—it had been good even in the beginning—but this? No, nothing could compare to this. 

Kraven's hands are large and strong against your skin as he kneads your waist and ass. "Ты такая хорошая девушка для меня (You're such a good girl for me)," he whispers, his voice hoarse, and as attractive as it is, you whine and furrow your brows.

"Please, don't talk in Russian anymore. I can't understand you," you pout, pulling him closer as you unconsciously grind your hips into his for more friction. "I wanna understand you," 

Kraven grips your hips harder and rolls them onto him, earning him a soft moan that falls from your lips. "Alright, darling, alright," he smiles and kisses you again. "Tell me, do'you want more from me? Seems like you do," he grinds your hips again, punctuating his words as he teases you mercilessly. 

You are at loss for words. This is wrong. You're cheating on your boyfriend, you try to remind yourself, with a man you met in the woods. But if this is so wrong, why does it feel so good? You moan. You desperately want to slide your shorts and panties down to allow even more friction on your clit. Your cheeks burn with embarrassment and you must look so needy. 

Kraven hooks his fingers in your waistband, running his thumb over your hip, reading your mind, "Is this what you want, darling? You wanna rub yourself on me like a little slut?" 

The insult shouldn't be as hot as it is, but when it's followed by a searing kiss, the word is honey on his tongue. You moan and drop your head in the crook of his neck, grasping onto his shoulders as you lift your hips so he can easily slide your panties and shorts down. "Please," you whisper, nails digging into the muscle of his shoulders. 

Kraven smirks and, as he holds your nape with one hand, he uses the other and finds your pussy. He explores your folds, wanting to make sure you're wet and ready for him. He rubs your clit, earning him smaller, more high pitched sounds from your parted lips as your wetness seeps over his hand. 

Kraven teases you for a little while longer, murmuring praises in your ear until he suddenly spreads his legs and you fall to your knees in front of the couch. You gasp, looking up at him from the ground. 

He looks majestic, sitting there, as if the couch was his throne and he was a King. 

Kraven's smirk widens as he fists one hand in your hair, using his other hand to lick his fingers clean of your arousal and then swiftly unbuckle his belt. He stares at you as he does this and tilts his head. "D'you do this for your boyfriend, gorgeous?" Kraven seems amused by the word boyfriend, as if it's some game to him. 

You nod, sinking onto your heels as you watch Kraven pull out his cock. He's big and hard and your eyes widen. "D'you like doing this?" he asks, his voice low. You catch his eye and shake your head honestly. You didn't like giving Chris head—but Chris's dick didn't look like this. Your eyes snap up to Kraven's cock. 

"You'll like it with me," he adds, smirking, and guides your head to his cock. You let him, having no complaints as you take him in your mouth. You're nervous at first, unsure of what to do, but soon you gain more confidence as you try and take him even deeper. 

You gag a little and Kraven just tightens his hand in your hair. 

"You can take it. I know you can, doll. There," he coos, clearly enjoying your work as you adjust your mouth around him. "There, yeah. That's my good girl." Kraven grunts out the word "my" and warmth pools in your stomach. You moan around his cock, sucking faster as if to respond yes, I am yours.

With a pop, he pulls your head away and tilts your chin. He helps you up to straddle him again, keeping you eye level as he positions his cock at your entrance. He squeezes your cheeks, opening your lips, and then spits into your mouth before claiming your lips again. Your eyes flutter shut as you feel him against you and he sinks you down onto him. 

"Can you feel me, милый (darling)?" he grunts, moving you on his cock slowly, torturing you. He chuckles darkly when you whine. 

"Mmh," is the only sound you make as he fills you up. It feels so good. 

"You feel full, hm?" Kraven taunts, moving your hips a little faster as his hands grip your hips hard enough to bruise. He pulls one away a moment and rips your shirt, attaching his lips to your hardened nipples as you squeal. 

"Yes, oh, I feel so full," you whimper, bouncing up on him, helping him so you can go even faster and deeper. "Shit, you're so big."

"Шлюха (slut)," he groans, the word slipping past his lips in ecstasy as he kisses and sucks across your chest. You whine, wanting him to tell you what the word means so you can understand him but Kraven smirks. He kisses your collarbone and then, using his strength, he easily flips you over so you're laying on the couch and he's on top of you now. 

Kraven sinks his cock back into you as he snaps his hips hard. You gasp, wrapping your arms around him and your nails slide up and down his back, and he groans with pleasure at the sting. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck please," you plead, eyes rolling as your body shivers.

"You're so tight around me. As if you were made just for me," he says as he continues to fuck into you. "Does your boyfriend fuck you this good?" Kraven asks, his accent thicker as he loses himself in the pleasure. His hand comes to wrap around your jaw as he holds you in place under him. 

You shake your head. 

"Слова (Words)," he growls but then curses and says, "Words, darling. Tell me."

"N-no. He doesn't fuck me this good," you whisper as Kraven's cock slides into you. You're so wet and he's so hard and this is so so wrong. 

"Yeah? You gonna run back to him now, bunny?" he snarls and nips as your earlobe. He thrusts harder and smirks at the pet name. "Hmm. run little bunny, back to your poor excuse of a boyfriend? No," Kraven grunts, as if he's made a decision, "I'm keeping you, doll. I can take care of you better than he can."

You moan at this and nod, "Please," you whisper, feeling your thighs clench around him as you can feel your orgasm approaching. 

Kraven feels it too. "You're squeezing around me, Шлюха (slut), do you wanna come?" Kraven teases and his thrusts slow. You whine and look at him, your eyes becoming teary from need. You nod.

He laughs and kisses your lips with a grin, "Alright, you can come. Go on, let yourself come all over my cock," he smirks against your skin as his sharp teeth nip at your neck. 

 You whine, letting your body finally relax as you come. You gasp, your eyes rolling from pleasure as your legs feel like jello. Kraven finishes inside you with a grunt and you whimper at the feeling.

He smiles as you sink into the cushions and your eyes flutter. His large hand comes to hold behind your head as he pulls you up and leans you against his chest. 

While Kraven's touch is comforting, it's also possessive and claiming. His thumb strokes over your hair and his lips kiss your head. He's holding you so close you're almost afraid he'll never let you go. You sigh when he slides out and picks you up in his arms as he stands.

"Good girl," he mutters as he walks you to the bathroom and adds, "You did so well for me." You let yourself relax in his arms as he promises he'll be here from now on. You're his now. 

You're so blissed out from your orgasm that your mind doesn't understand what that truly means. Instead, you shut your eyes and let him take care of you and, with a small smile, you think,

Happy. Fucking. Birthday. To. Me.

[lipglossanon]

Out of the Blue

* ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ►*

Office Exec!Leon S. Kennedy x Personal Asst fem!reader

Shoutout to the AO3 user who requested this little ditty 😆 I hope you enjoy it!! 👉👈🥺

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, office sex, dirty talk, dacryphilia, nipple play, mean Leon, unprotected sex

Title from Out of the Blue by Purrple Cat

part ii

* ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ► ◄ ◊ ►*

A recent corporate merger meant big changes for you; you’ve been working as the personal assistant of the (then) Vice President of Communications, but with this new management coming in, that guy had been shifted and you were getting a totally new boss.

Nervously, you’ve been straightening up the office in the hopes of making a good impression— and thereby keeping your position. No one on your floor knew who the new guy was, only a name to go off of: Leon S. Kennedy.

Once you feel like there’s nothing more to be done, you step out of the VP’s office and make your way to the mini kitchen used as a break room down the hall. Hoping that a glass of water might cool your nerves, you don’t even notice the man standing on the other side of the room flipping through a folder.

His eyes track your movements, catching your jittery hands and teeth biting your bottom lip.

You nearly drop your glass when he clears his throat. Whirling around, you give him a shy smile.

“H-hi,” you smooth down your skirt, “you’re one of the new hires?”

A handful of people on your office floor were still coming and going, learning the layout and at times just hanging out in the break room until someone came in to help guide them. You helped a girl just yesterday find her desk, so you don’t think anything of this newcomer.

A slow smile spreads across his handsome face, intense blue eyes staring into your own.

“You can say that, sweetheart.”

You feel flustered at the name but step forward, hand outstretched, “Oh uh, welcome aboard. If you need any help, just let me know. Right now I’m stationed outside the vice president’s office.”

His eyebrows raise slightly, ignoring your offered handshake, “You’re the secretary?”

You ignore the flash of irritation from hearing ‘secretary’ and slowly lower your hand, “I prefer personal assistant.”

“Ahh,” he looks at you amusedly, and before your hand can drop any further he reaches out to clasp it.

He drops a kiss on the back of your hand, eyes still watching you, a smirk playing at his lips.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet my personal assistant.”

You feel hot and embarrassed, but keep the polite smile on your face, “I’m sure the pleasure is mine, Mr. Kennedy.”

:::::

After that mortifying encounter, your days pass pretty smoothly with your new boss. You feel lucky that he decided to keep you on as his assistant even with that awkward first impression.

After a few weeks, you start to catch him staring at you out of the corner of your eye—but when you turn, his attention is elsewhere. He also seems to touch you at every given opportunity. He touches your arm when he’s walking with you or presses a palm into your lower back when he’s moving around you to his seat in the conference room. He gets as close as possible when you’re typing up his reports or dropping something off at his desk for his signature. It always leaves you with butterflies.

Another work week rolls by and before you can blink, it’s been months since you’ve started to work for Leon. A few of your work colleagues like to corner you in the break room to try and get any gossip— who’s he seeing? Did he really come in twenty minutes late last Monday? What do you mean you didn’t hear that Chris saw him at the strip club?

It’s gotten to the point that you start taking your breaks at your desk. Leon notices it almost immediately and makes sure to stop by your desk from time to time. Today is no different.

“Tired of the office gossip?” He props his hip against your desk, arms crossed over his chest as he looks down at you.

You notice that he folded the sleeves of his shirt so you can see the muscles in his forearms flex. Dragging your gaze upwards with a small shake of your head, you smile at him.

“You can say that,” you pinch the bridge of you nose, “it’s all just..”

“Bullshit.”

Your eyes widen as you stifle a laugh, “I was going to say tiresome, sir.”

He smirks, “Sure thing, honey. Listen, I’m going to need you to stay late tonight. I know it’s Friday, but those weekly statistics have to be in before midnight.”

Your brows furrow, “I thought we were good; didn’t I just compile that data yesterday?”

He clicks his tongue, “‘fraid not, sweetheart. That was projections for the latest quarter.”

“Oh,” you chew your lip, “yeah, that’s no problem, Mr. Kennedy. Want me to drop them off on your desk when I’m finished?”

“Yes, thank you,” he brushes a few strands of hair from your face, making your breath hitch.

Before you can say anything, Leon straightens up from your desk and heads back into his office, door shutting behind him.

You press your palms to your eyes, willing the flutter of nervousness to ease. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, you slump in your chair. You sigh and turn back to your monitor. Glancing at the time in the lower right hand, it reads fifteen after four; with everyone going home at five, you have a good feeling you’re going to end up staying even later than you thought.

You rotate your wrists and then go into your emails. Better to get started on it now than later.

::::

Your eyes feel dry and gritty, but you ignore it in favor of finishing out the last of this report.

“Finally,” you whisper gleefully, hitting the print button on the document.

Standing up, you stretch out your arms with a small yawn. Looking at the time you see it’s nearly half past ten. Still plenty of time for you to grab some takeout and crash in your comfy bed. You sigh happily at that thought and gather up the printed pages, heading over to Leon’s office.

Tapping on the door, you open it a crack, “Sir?”

“Come in, sweetheart. I won’t bite.”

You push open the door just enough to step inside. It clicks shut behind you as you walk further into the room. Leon is backlit by the city lights from his windows. You place the bundle of papers down on his desk.

“Take a look at this,” he gestures to his own dimly lit monitor.

Walking around the wide oak desk, you make your way to stand beside his chair.

After gazing at the screen for a second, you turn to him with a frown, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I’m looking at, sir.”

He smirks at you lazily, “Sure you do.”

“Wh—“

He grabs your hips and pulls you down into his lap, your thighs now straddling one leg. Your hands come up to brace against his shoulders while his slacks rub against your bare thighs where your skirt’s rucked up.

“Leon,” you gasp, eyes wide and nervous.

“Name sounds so good in your mouth, sweetheart,” his low voice breathes into your ear.

He drops a soft kiss on your neck, leaving a heated trail up to your jaw. Pulling back, you can see how dark his eyes have gotten.

“Been waiting forever to get you alone.”

“We can’t. I’m your—“

“Personal assistant,” he chuckles meanly, “I know, baby. And I’m going to use you for very personal reasons.”

He grips your hair in a fist and guides your mouth down in his. Your parted lips lets him slip his tongue into your mouth. Groaning, he grabs your ass with his free hand and urges you to roll your hips forward.

You whine, feeling so hot and dizzy, clit thrumming with arousal. You follow the guidance of his hand and start to grind your hips down into his leg. You eagerly suck on his tongue when he thrusts it back into your mouth. You feel him groan low in his chest and it makes you arch into him more.

He tugs your head back to take in your blitzed out expression.

“Baby, we haven’t even started yet,” he coos, “got you cockdrunk already huh.”

“Leon,” you whimper, hips rocking on his lap.

“Gonna get my pants soaking wet baby,” his eyes drop down to the apex of your thighs, “fuck, that’s it, good fucking girl.”

Your nails dig into his shoulders, wrinkling the fabric of his designer shirt.

“Knew you’d be so fucking sweet, always letting me touch you, get so fucking shy,” he growls, pulling your hair harder to tilt your neck back, “gonna ruin this little cunt, baby.”

You whine, humping down into his leg harder, slick pooling in your panties and dripping all over his slacks.

“Fuck, good girl, always so good for me,” he lets go of your hair to grip your neck, “always so eager to please.”

He presses his thumb into your panting mouth; he presses down onto your tongue before pulling his thumb free and smearing spit all over your lips.

You can’t stop whining, tears beading at your lash line.

“Leon, please.”

He lets go of his grip on you, and reaches out to tug open your button up blouse.

“Look at those fucking tits, baby,” he purrs, pulling the cups of your bra down until your breasts are completely bare—aching nipples on display.

He greedily mouths at each breast and sucks on your nipples, teeth catching on the sensitive buds until you’re clawing at his shoulders.

“Good girl,” he praises, feeling you shudder at the endearment, “you’ll be good for me, won’t you?”

“So good for you, Leon,” you promise.

As you speak, he undoes your bra and tosses it somewhere in the office. Then, he drags his fingers across the swell of your breasts. He circles your sensitive nipples, thumbs brushing the slowly hardening buds.

Your breath hitches, arousal pulsing in your cunt, “Leon...”

“Bet I can make you come from this,” he husks, “make a complete mess of you from just teasing your tits.”

Your spine arches, pressing up into his hands, “Ahh, they’re too sensitive.”

Leon completely ignores you and tugs your nipples gently, softly tweaking them before soothing them with slow drags of his index fingers.

Panting, your hands twist in the fabric of his shirt. Your clit throbs with every brush against your nipples, but you can’t stop yourself from pressing up into every touch.

Everything that Leon’s doing is making more slick pool in your panties. You’re so wet, it’s seeping into where Leon’s slacks are pressed against your pussy. You can feel the hard press of his cock against you and it sends a thrill up your spine knowing you’re the cause.

“So eager for me, honey,” he teases, voice pitched low, “I want you to take your clothes off.”

“Yes, sir,” you nervously agree, shimmying out of your blouse and skirt quickly.

“Leave the panties on for now,” his dark eyes locked onto your white panties, nearly transparent from how wet they’ve become.

Settling down on Leon, you straddle his thighs, your legs dangling off the sides of the chair. You bring your arms up to tangle your fingers in his hair. You give a small tug and roll your hips down against the outline of Leon’s hard cock. In retaliation, Leon gives your nipples a sharp tug then tweaks them as you writhe in his grasp.

“Look how wet you are, honey,” he groans, gaze drawn to the slick dripping from your panties, “so fucking sexy.”

Your eyes droop in pleasure at those words a low sigh leaving your lips.

“You’ve been driving me crazy,” Leon growls out, letting his gaze roam across your swollen nipples up to your dazed expression, “always so sweet, making me want to do the worst things to you.”

“Yeah?” You whimper.

“Want you under my desk at the next conference call, sucking my cock while I’m trying to work,” he drags one of his hands from your chest up to your lips; he slips first two fingers into your mouth.

“Actually just want you in here on your knees at my beck and call. Just keep the door locked and nobody’ll know my little secretary is sucking off her boss during work hours,” he presses his fingers deeper into your mouth.

You whine and suckle on them softly. He pulls them out with a soft pop.

“Touch me, please, sir,” you whisper as he drags those fingers down to your puffy nipples.

Leon sucks a hard nipple into his mouth as his right hand teases across the other with quick flicks of his damp fingers. He swaps sides, his gaze watching you bite your lip and toss your head back at the pleasure. Pulling away a little, Leon grabs each breast and presses them inward. He runs his tongue from one nipple to the other more easily, suckling them until you squirm in his lap.

“You’re gonna be working a lot of overtime, sweetheart,” he murmurs into your skin, “my own personal hole to use when I want.”

You keen high in your throat, “Sir!”

Leon groans low in his chest and rolls his hips upward to grind his cock against your hot wet cunt, nearly jostling you from his lap. In the motion, Leon’s sharp teeth tugs on a nipple earning a breathy sigh from your lips. He swaps to the other nipple, using his teeth so you’ll reward him with more of those sounds. After repeatedly teasing each nipple with his teeth, you tug at his hair in a silent plea to slow down. He eases off from biting to soft, gentle sucks.

“Love your tits, baby,” he mouths at your nipples, “been wanting to taste these nipples since I started working here.”

You cry out at the hot, wet suction of Leon’s mouth on your sore nipples. Your back curves forward to press your chest closer to his hungry teeth and tongue. You tangle your fingers further in his hair to have something to hold onto. Grinding your hips down, you feel more than hear him moan. You repeat the motion only this time your clit grinds against Leon’s slacks, earning a low cry of want.

“Leon,” you whimper.

He only hums in reply as he keeps up the hot suction on each hardened nub. You try rolling your hips again only to be stopped by a strong grip on your waist.

“You only get to cum from this,” Leon rumbles, voice deep as his tongue lashes against your abused nipple, “be a good girl for me or you won’t get anything.”

You mewl, clit pulsing in arousal, “I’ll be good, sir, I promise.”

He moves your hands to drape across his broad shoulders, “Don’t let your hands drop below my shoulders. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

A sharp tug of teeth on your nipple has you arching in pleasurable pain. Your hands slide up into his hair again to hold him in place, worshiping your chest.

“So perfect,” Leon murmurs, lazily mouthing his way up to your neck.

“So sweet for me,” he speaks against your skin, gently kissing across your collar bones before pulling away.

You feel dizzy and aroused, tugging Leon’s hair to pull him into a soft kiss. He groans low in his chest, pressing you harder against him as he licks into your mouth. He teasingly nips at your bottom lip, sucking on it gently before slipping his tongue further in. You moan in response, loving the feel of his slick tongue teasing your own. His hands came up and grip your hair, tilting your head at an angle where he can kiss you even deeper than before.

Before long the kiss became sloppy and wet, but neither of you really care. You can’t stop whining in pleasure as Leon fucks into your mouth, tongue hot as it teases your own. Chest rumbling in pleasure, Leon draws your tongue into his mouth to suck on it greedily. You slip your tongue away to pull his plump bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling gently before softly sucking. You drag your teeth aggressively against Leon’s lip, tongue following in silent apology for the rough treatment.

Leon growls and pulls back far enough for you to let his lip go with a small pout. His cock twitches at how debauched you look. Pupils blown wide with lust, lips kiss swollen. He moves his hands from your hair to grip your hips. You know his hold’s tight enough to bruise but you only moan in appreciation. You dip your head down to recapture his lips, but he pulls back so your mouths only brush across each other.

You whimper at Leon withholding his lips from you.

“I want to hear how you sound once you cum,” he murmurs, lips brushing against yours tantalizingly.

Fingers begin to roughly pinch and rub your swollen, sore nipples. His dark blue eyes never leave yours as you edge closer and closer to orgasm, your cunt copiously dribbling slick.

“I’m so close, Leon,” you whimper, trying your best not to grind down.

Leon smirks, “Guess I should slow down, huh?”

His fingers lightly tease over the hard peaks. His gaze drops from yours to take in the swollen nipples his fingers are touching. He groans aloud as he can’t deny himself another taste. You grip his head as Leon eagerly laps at your nipples, running his tongue across each one before gently biting.

“Please,” you beg, “Leon!”

Leon bites down harder on your left nipple as he gives the right a sharp twist. Your eyes roll back in your head as Leon gets even more aggressive. Harsh bites followed by a hot soothing tongue has your cunt dripping and needy.

“Like it rough, baby?”

You only moan wantonly in reply as Leon never lets up the assault on your abused chest. You continue to gasp and moan in the empty office.

Leon’s being so rough on you and you love it. Want him to pin you down right here and now. Make you cum all over yourself. Make you take his thick cock over and over.

Leon pulls away with a growl, pupils blown, “Honey, you can’t say things like that.”

You suddenly realize you had spoken out loud— babbling, just spouting out whatever crossed your mind. You’re so far gone now, high on arousal.

“I-I can’t help it,” you pant, “it’s so good, sir.”

“I know, my slutty little secretary just can’t help herself,” he pulls away from your chest, “she’s just gagging for her boss’ dick, right?”

You whimper, back arching, “N-no, I’m—“

“Shhh,” he thumbs open the button on his slacks, “was gonna wait but you need it more than I thought.”

He presses the fabric down until he frees his cock. He tugs your panties to the side and presses the fat head of his dick inside your wet hole.

“Was gonna make you cum from your tits but I think this might be a bit better, huh,” he grins, eyes dark and mean.

He doesn’t give you anytime to adjust and fucks up into you, grabbing your hips to pull you down at the same time. You scream from the too much feeling in your spasming cunt.

“Oh,” he groans, “tight as a fucking virgin.”

He smacks your ass with a condescending laugh, “Did I pop your cherry, sweetheart?”

Crying now, you shake your head no.

“Aww,” he mockingly pouts at you, “that’s too bad then.”

Without waiting for your pussy to adjust, he pulls out halfway to bully his fat cock back into your aching hole.

“Sir, please, I can’t,” your breath hitches on a cry, “s’too big. It hurts.”

“Fuck,” he pulls you down until his cock is buried deep in your pussy, “my big cock too much for this needy hole?”

You hiccup a sob, “Please, sir.”

“Mmm you’ll get used to it,” he pulls out til just the tip is teasing your hole then shoves his cock back deep inside your pussy.

You’re crying and clinging onto his shoulders, but a low heat is slowly building in your abdomen.

“There we go,” he coos, “just needed to fuck you a little first, honey.”

He stopped thrusting and you realize you’re the one grinding down onto his dick—a panting mouth, hazy eyed mess.

You whine but can’t stop your hips from rolling down onto the thick cock stretching you out so painfully.

“Good girl,” he smacks your ass again and you moan.

“You can ride this dick whenever you want, honey, just gotta ask,” he smirks, guiding your hips to fuck down harder.

“Yes, sir,” you slur, brain fuzzy from how deep he’s inside your cunt.

“Little slut,” he laughs, thumb brushing against your clit in slow circles, “cream my cock, honey. Want you squeezing on me when I breed that little pussy.”

You moan loudly, hips humping down on his cock, “Leon!”

“That’s right,” he groans low in his chest, “gonna creampie your sweet little cunt.”

His voice and hard cock, paired with the thumb on your clit, is edging you closer and closer to climax.

“Sir, ‘m close,” you pant, tears dripping from your eyes, “gonna cum, you’re gonna make me cum.”

“That’s it, honey,” he tilts his head down and pulls his thumb away from your clit.

He spits on your pussy, globs of drool dripping down the hood of your clit. He brings his thumb back to rub the slippery mess over and over and over into your sensitive bud.

Your back arches, eyes rolling back, as you clamp down on his pistoning dick. Slick coats his cock as you cum, pussy walls squeezing him like a vice.

“Fuck yeah,” he chuckles, thumb still pressing into your clit, “cream my cock so I can fill up that cunt.”

Your thighs jump and twitch from overstimulation as he keeps teasing your clit and grinding his cock deep in your pussy.

“Take it, honey, fucking take it,” he grits out, snapping his hips up into your squelching hole and pumping you full of hot cum.

You moan brokenly, pussy fluttering around his throbbing cock, liking how it feels to get creampied by your boss.

He leans back into his chair with a sigh, “Damn, gotta say that’s been worth the months of us dancing around each other.”

Your head feels totally empty so you only hum in response.

“Did I fuck you dumb, sweetheart?” He smirks, tweaking your nipples making you squeal, “s’okay, we got all weekend to do this. Just need you back in business by Monday.”

[morlao]

Sisterly advice

▪︎Luke Castellan x fem!reader

▪︎daughter of Aphrodite

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

You and Luke have always been close. So close, in fact, that newcomers automatically assumed that you were dating. The surprised look on their faces when the older campers told them you weren´t, was according to your siblings hilarious.

It's evening and you're sitting on your bed, your legs crossed, while Silena is braiding your hair.

Of all your half-siblings she is your favourite one. Loving, gentle and kind. She is the perfect definition of a daughter of Aphrodite, as she embodies everything that comes to your mind when you think about love - and you want others to feel the same way. They should also think of her and not your other siblings with their childish plays and cruel rituals of breaking others hearts. Maybe they themselves don´t understand what it means being the child of love.

Silena´s fingers run gently through your hair, parting it and intertwining the individual strands together.

“So… what about Charlie?”

You don't have to see her face to know that a smile flashes across her lips at his name. “What about him?”

“Did he finally ask you out?”

She laughs, trying to pretend that she finds the idea absurd. “We are just friends.”

You turn around and give her a look that expresses your opinion about it all too clearly. Don´t try to fool me, darling. I see what´s going on between the two of you!

Again, Silena laughs, gently turning your head forward again to finish the braid. “Okay, other topic. What about you and Luke?”

You copy her laugh. “What about us? We´re just friends.”

You could feel her rising her eyebrows. “Let me give you some sisterly advice: Just friends don´t look at each other like that.”

“Who did you quote? That sentence is so cliché!”

She laughs, taking a hair tie from your bedside table and wrapping it around your braid. “Well… maybe it is but it totally fits you and Luke.”

You turn around, giving her a skeptical look.

Silena shrugs and sits down beside you. “I mean… have you seen his smile when he looks at you? Also he constantly finds excuses to touch you. He improves your posture in archery, even though you are at least as good at it as he is. And – “ she looks at you triumphantly, “He gives you a kiss on the cheek every time he greets you or says goodbye.”

You feel your cheeks flush and cross your arms, trying to think of a counter argument. “A lot of people do that.”

“Yeah, but you´re the only one where Luke does that. Haven´t you noticed?”

To be honest: no, you haven´t. But now as you think about it in detail... it is true. When Luke greets one of the other girls, he just smiles at them.

“In addition, he immediately drops everything when he sees you”, Silena adds, “Yesterday he left in the middle of training because he saw you walking by and wanted to talk to you. Or on Friday, he was in the middle of a conversation with Chris and you waved at him. And what did he do? Exactly, he immediately jogged over. Also last week…”

“Enough!” You laugh, trying to make her shut up by covering her mouth.

Silena dodges you, laughing as you reach into the void. "He let you draw hearts on his sneakers! He watches the sunset with you! He bought you a bracelet for your birthday! You know, I could go on with this for hours." She steps closer, cupping your cheeks with her hands. “Believe me, sis: He´s in love with you!” Her voice is melodic, angel like even. Loving, gentle and kind.

You feel the heat rising to your cheeks and embarrassed you pulls away and cover your face with your hands. “I´m pretty sure he isn´t! You´re overinterpreting!”

“Nope, I´m a daughter of Aphrodite, I can feel it!”

“So am I! And I don't feel anything!”

Silena grabs her cherry lipstick. “Your reaction makes me think that you like him too!”

Did you like him? You weren´t sure. Of course he meant the world to you, but did you like him more as than a friend? Wouldn´t that be weird kissing him since you know him for so long?

"I'm not sure", you finally manage to say, rolling off your bed and taking a look at the clock. Fortunately, you can at least put the topic off for today. "Oh, damn! Come on, we are already late!”

Silena grabs your hand and leads you outside of cabin 10. It´s already dark and in the distance you can see the flickering flames of the campfire. Most of the campers seem to have already gathered there, their drink in their hands and a smile on their lips as they talk to their siblings and friends.

“Finally!”, one of the Apollo girls greets you.

Chris Rodriguez grins. “Why are the Aphrodite girls always late?”

That is definitely not true! You're not always late. Just most of the times. God, you hate being a cliché.

Luke lifts his head as he hears his brother say “Aphrodite girls”. He spots you and his face lights up like a Christmas tree. Immediately he walks up to you and hugs you, his lips placing a soft kiss on your cheek.

From the corner of your eye you can see Silena rising an eyebrow, as if to say "Well, what did I say?"

“You look amazing”, Luke whispers in your ear, before breaking away from the hug and greeting Silena with a smile. “Charlie is already waiting for you!”, he grins, nodding towards said boy.

Silena giggles, before walking over to him. Gods, it was so obvious that she was head over heels for him.

Luke takes your hand and leads you over to his place next to Chris, where he had already a blanket spread out for the two of you. “Mylady” He pretends to bow.

You can feel your cheeks blush as you sit down. “Thank you so much, Mister!”

Gods, somehow Luke always manages to put a smile on your face. You sit down and stretch out your legs, feeling the comforting heat of the fire.

As Luke takes a seat next to you, you can feel him slide closer, his arm touching yours. Feeling him beside you was comforting, the closest feeling you had to "home".

Luke Castellan. You tilt your head back and look up at the stars as if you expect to see his name engraved up there. You have always liked his name. Luke Castellan. It feels like a secret incantation on your lips.

You can feel his eyes on you. The flickering flames make his face look almost golden. Golden boy. Why didn´t you notice before how handsome he is?

The next song starts and immediately everyone joins in. They lie in each other's arms and rock back and forth, bawling Country roads.

Well, maybe it was just because Silena had told you, but Luke really seems to find exuses for touching you. He leans against you, his arm around your shoulders - even after the song has already ended. You enjoy feeling him so close next to you. The heat he radiates. His soft skin against yours. The realization hits you straight in the face. You had fallen in love with your best friend.

He looks at you and you can't help but smile. Fascinating how beautiful an evening with a campfire could be. For a moment it feels like gods and monsters didn't exist. For a moment everything seems peaceful.

 “Can I talk to you for a second?” You can feel Luke´s warm breath on your neck as he whispers in your ear.

Your heart skips a beat. Did he notice the way you looked at him? Did he suspect something? Was Silena wrong? “Sure!”

Your voice sounds more enthusiastic than you feel.

Luke takes your hand and leads you away from the campfire, away from the singing and the laughter of the others.

You look at him, smiling nervously. “Sooo… what is it? Or did you just want to escape singing Knocking on heavens door.”

He shakes his head, laughing. “No, why would I want to miss Drew´s wonderful voice?”

You cringe at the thought of your sister singing louder than everyone else – and on top of that terribly wrong. She doesn't hit a single note.

“No, actually… Y/N…” He runs a hand through his hair, trying to find the right words. “Gods, you´re so beautiful.”

It´s not the first time that somebody told you that. In fact, being a daughter of Aphrodite, you had heard it thousands of times already.

Still his words felt special to you. Special because he wasn´t just anybody. Ä

He was Luke. Your best friend Luke. Luke who was always there for you, who comforted you when you had trouble with your family, who managed to make you laugh when you lay in your bed crying your eyes out over something your stepmother had said. Luke who you trusted with all your heart.

“I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go on a picnic tomorrow?” He avoids looking at you.

Why is he so shy about going on a picnic? That's quite strange since you´d done this a few times before. You had even found your very own spot with a fantastic view over the sea. There was nothing more beautiful than watching sunsets while drinking juice and eating biscuits. So why does he seem so insecure?

Luke seems to notice your confusion. “I meant as a date”, he clarifies.

You raise your eyebrow, your heart racing. “Are you asking me out?”

“Yeah.”

For a moment you stood there, perplexed. Why was it so obvious to the others while you had no idea?

"So... what do you say?" Luke looks at you, biting his lip nervously. He seems to assume that you aren't answering because you're looking for a way to reject him as gently as possible.

Quickly you step forward, brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear. "Yes, I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Really?" Immediately he blushes deeply. That must have slipped out.

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" You giggle, taking his hand. "I've known you for years now. You're kind and brave and one of the most caring people I know."

A laugh escapes his lips. "Wow, if I had known that, I would have asked you way earlier." His hand slowly reaches for your cheek.

You hold your breath as he leans forward and places a soft kiss on your lips. It didn't feel weird at all. The opposite, actually. Seems like sometimes best friends can turn into lovers.

You wrap your arms around him, pulling him closer. Soft kisses become more passionate. His hands run through your hair, slowly brushing loose strands out of your face.

When he pulls away a huge smile creeps across his lips. "I love you, Y/N"

You return his smile, taking his hand and intertwining your fingers. "I love you, too."

As you walk back to the campfire holding hands, Silena beams at you. "I told you, Y/N, friends don't look at each other like that."

You shake your head, laughing. "Your advice really is the best."

[letstalkhockey]

𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙣; 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙊𝙣𝙚

SUMMARY: Inwhich people change, and so does summer camp. Teenagers all spending summer together; with y/n falling in love with no other than Jack Hughes, will rivalry's and rules keep them apart? Or will status and no other than Jack himself, ruin everything?

WARNINGS: 18+ CONTENT *I do not encourage you to go beyond this point if you are sensitive to any further topics. MINORS DNI - Violence, Smut, Indications to smut, Alcohol & substance use, swearing, cheating, mentions to serious topics, etc.

NOTE: Welcome to chapter one; back at it, taking longer than I expected to write this, I made sure it’s something that I love but you guys will too. I’m so excited to begin this journey.🤍

*Also, should i publish this book on wattpad?

MASTERLIST(S): main m.list \ camp films \ playlist

Surviving Camp Michigan; Back at it 3,2k WC

“Fuck!”

You were always early for the first day of camp; early enough to help set up everything, and for a chance to set up your cabins table in the best spot. 

First come - First serve. For the past two years ever since claiming ownership to Cabin A’s captain, and with your spot as one of the counselors, it was always a top priority to get the spot. It was perfect - in clear view for any new campers coming in so that you'd be the first crew that they'd see, unlike Cabin B, C, or D. Which would have been displayed elsewhere. Your cabin A, consisted of an only girls group, Cabin B claiming ownership to a strict ‘boys-only’ policy, Cabin C was more of a diverse group, with boys and girls, but most newcomers would pick either A or B. Camp D? Lets just say, no one joins it. It was more or less a group created by some douche that wanted to make a group just to make a group. The poor guy always ends up alone for the summer, and for the dodgeball torty. Ouch. One summer he managed to win. how? None of us know. 

Each Cabin had a group of 5 counselors, with one team captain, and co-captain. You were captain, and  was co. Each newcomer got to choose which team they wanted to be a part of the first day, which is why it's so important to get the best spot. It was important to get the spot before cabin b, cabin c had always ended up in their own little spot, they didn't care. They knew they'd end up with the picked over groups of kids who had no interest in being involved in some stupid rivalry between A & B, or values either crew had. 

“Fuck fuck fuck!”

You quickly pushed through the crowds of newcomers and parents, apologizing while running, and dragging your bags through the gravel. Just moments prior you were waving your final goodbyes to your parents you wouldn’t see for the next month, although that wasn’t of your concerns at the moment. You were late. Really late.

You pushed through the last few people, expecting to see Lacey, em, liv, and Abby stood behind the table which would hold everything for the newcomers which decided to join your crew. To your suprise, when you reached the camps ground, you were not greeted with your girls. Instead, as your eyes flicked across the table and those who stood behind it, your jaw dropped, and your luggage. “Is this a joke?”

Their stood Will, Joey, Ty, as in Tyler, Chris, and no other than Jack fucking Hughes; stood with a bright smile, each boy clad in a tank top, with obvious cuts on the sleeves to make it look like one. The words ‘muscle MILFS’ plastered on the front, each boy with a number under the writing which you’d guessed to be their hockey jersey numbers. As you made your way over to the table ran by the group of boys you could've sworn you felt your stomach twist in knots. Your hands slammed down onto the wooden table, flimsy table which stood in the middle of the dirt, butting in front of some random kids who were in line.

“Seriously?”

 You yelled at all the boys who stood behind the table, Jack, whom had his back turned for only a second had been quick to turn back on his heels, a shit eating grin plastered on his face when his eyes traveled up and down your frame. “Oh hey, sunshine,” he bit at his lower lip, the asshole laughed.

“Screw you, Hughes. Where is my table?” You continued to make your yelling debut, embarrassing yourself - but infuriated with the now boy, who stood across from you, and with his arms crossed over his chest, he turned his head to the side and nodded towards where your table had been, in the back. The back of the camp. Where Cabin C usually stood, but by the looks of it, Cabin C occupied the second best spot for their table. 

Slowly, you dragged a few feet away from the table, which stood in the one place your always had, you collected your belongings, slowly - defeatedly.

“In your dreams sunshine.” His face lit up with a smile whilst he spoke, “are you looking to join a cabin? Because the one for losers is over that way.” Ok asshole. You hook your  head as Jack pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. And after flipping each boy off you made your way to where each of your girls sat on the table. Some of the other boys stood next to him watched over their shoulders while laughing, it was obvious that they knew what it was they were doing.

“Can you believe this?’ Em spoke from her spot on the uncomfortable bunk bed which she sprawled herself out on when you took it upon yourself to go change into one of the matching t-shirts me and all the girls shared.

“Can i believe ‘Muscle MILFS’ are absolutely fucking us over? No. Or that Cabin C, Mallory Holloway is gaining more members than we are? Absolutely not.”I sighed and pulled the t-shirt over my head, an appropriate shirt, unlike those who’d written muscle milfs, on a goddamn homemade wife beater tank top. 

I wanted to throw my belongings across the room, smashing a couple of things in the process, maybe that would get rid of the anger I had built up. Everything possible that could go wrong, was going wrong. It felt like some bad dream, some sick joke. Or even a curse. Coming to camp has been my outlet, - my world - but the only world I felt like I was existing in now, was Jack Hughes’s.

“Our table has barely had any kids come over, their group either stealing them all or sending them over to Holloway,” Em bit into her granola bar while staying sprawled out on her bed, “what was it Hughes even said to you anyway? He was staring over at you before we came in here. And while you walked over to us.” 

“It was nothing, he was only trying to rub it in my face that he got the best spot, then proceeded to call me a loser because of where we were stood.” I continued to put on my sneakers before checking myself out in the mirror which stood in the corner of the cabin, making sure to fix my ponytail and flatten down the sides of my jean skirt. 

Em hummed while chewing her food, “What a dick.” Em was quick to sit up and throw her shoes on, “None of us can believe Lacey is still seeing Joey, he acted like he had nothing to do with her the moment she went up to him in front of the guys when we got here, they’re not even sneaking around anymore. Everyone knows,” Em rambled on as the two of you exited the cabin, making sure to lock the cabin door behind you before walking back out into the chaos, watching as liv and Abby spoke to a newcomer and an older woman. You weren’t sure where Lacey had run off too, but basing off what em told you, she probably needed a moment alone. 

You and em skipped your way over, your ponytail swaying with each step you took. You made sure to smile bright and big as you walked behind the table where the two other girls had stood. “We encourage you to choose us- oh, here are two of our other counselors, our Captain Y/n, and Em.” Abby and liv were quick to introduce the two of you to the pair which stood in front of you, the mother gave you both a quick smile while the younger girl fidgeted with the accessories sprawled out on your table. 

“Well, I know how camp works, and it’s always important to get the best group. At your guys age I was the same way, a counselor captain,” The woman winked your way as the four of you stood and listened, “And I think this group you guys have will be the perfect fit for Lola.” The woman smiled again, this time pulling her daughter - Lola - into her side.

“We think she’ll be a perfect addition to our group!” Em spoke, grabbing a t-shirt from the table and handing it to the woman. “You can take your right over that way, she’ll be able to meet the other campers and other group members that she will be with. If you need any more information please take one of our pamphlets!” You spoke while pointing with your arm over towards where every camper who has chosen their group either sat, or stood, engaging with one and other. 

The mother picked up a pamphlet - making sure to sign hers & Lola’s name down on the sheet with contact information - before walking Lola over to the group of kids. You looked down at the sheet, which had only 4 names written, 4 out of 20 slots were filled. Luckily for your group, as the day progressed and the three hours of this that you had to collect group members had given you the chance to fill all 20 of those slots. Given the area you were placed, you didn’t think you’d even fill half, but thankfully liv and em are good with game plans; they'd been quick  to make signs and stand at the entrance, which encouraged kids to go straight for your table based off of what they had written on the sign. Promising each kid a freezie when they signed up. Which worked, and each kid got their freezie.

About halfway through that time, Lacey came back, from where? you still had no idea. She looked and acted surprisingly okay. Given the previous situation that happened between her and Joey. At one point, she did catch you up on everything that happened before you got to camp, and even things that happened over the time spent away from camp. 

When everyone had themselves situated into a group, the campers were invited to an introductory in the dining hall by the staff, given the counselors had to clean up everything they’d put out. The counselors were usually always invited to watch it, but seeing as it’s the same every year, none of you had too. You knew the rules, you knew the rivalry’s, you knew the activists since each one of you had a part in organizing them. Plus you wanted to catch up with your girls while you had the time to; as if you wouldn’t have time to before bed. 

The girls offered to go grab some water for every counselor, but seeing as you were late and played no part in setting it up, you offered to stay behind while they ran off to continue to pack everything up and put everything away. You’d collected whatever had been left of accessories and put them into the box which you’d keep in case anyone lost any needed accessory. Then you got on to having to fold up your table, which was not a one person job, but regardless you tried it on your own, but kept failing. On your fifth attempt to fold the extremely heavy table, failing, you heard a snicker come from behind you. Lone and behold, there was no other than Jack Hughes which stood with his shoulder leaning up against the stack of canoes.

“Having a hard time princess?” He said with a smirk plastered on his annoying face. You rolled your eyes before attempting to fold the table, and yet again failing. 

“No. I’ve got it-“

Failed.

It wasn’t long before Jack took it upon himself to walk to the other side of the table, and with you accepting defeat, in one Swift motion the two of you had the table folded up and reading to be carried into storage. 

“Y’know, you could’ve just asked for help,” Jack said as the two of you took a side of the table and began carrying it to the storage cabin. 

“From you? I’ll pass.” 

Jack laughed, shaking his head, “well my group has been done cleaning up for the past half hour, watching you try and do this yourself was just embarrassing.” He spoke while the two of you continued to make your way to the cabin across camp. 

You decided to not say anything, knowing whatever it was he wanted to get out of you he wasn’t getting. You knew he was trying his best to rile you up just to get you in trouble. “Where’d your hot friends go, anyway? ‘Thought they might’ve stayed and helped out.” His voice was cut off by a grunt when you shoved the table with your hip, shoving it into his side as the two of you reached the storage cabin. “Ow.” 

The two of you placed the table against the multiple other tables which stood against the wall, making sure your time in the same space as Jack was short lived, you made your way out while he was still perfecting the way the table stood, making your way back to clean up the rest of the mess you left behind. And as much as you didn’t want to admit it, you knew that without Jack's help you would still be at it with the table.

As you made your way back, it hadn’t been long before the sound of running footsteps had become louder, and louder with each step you took. You knew it was Jack, and you definitely knew it was Jack when his hand reached out and grabbed ahold of your shoulder, trying to stop you in the process of walking back to stop and catch his breath. With a shrug of your shoulder his hand was off you while you kept walking. Hearing his heavy breathing behind you meant he’d still been walking and following behind you, even after you shrugged him off.

“Wait up,” he yelled out while following you. “Stop walking so- so fast.” He said between deep breaths while walking next to you, finally catching up. “I think you forgot something.” 

You turned your head towards the boy whose face has been red, either sunburnt, or sunburnt and mixed with sweat. While continuing at the same pace you’d been, “Forgot what?” You asked.

“A thank you? For my help?”

Oh, he wanted to play that game. 

“Actually, you offered to help, I didn’t ask you too. You helped me carry a table, you didn’t save my life.”

As you reached the spot where you still had things to clean up, he stood in silence, his eyes darting down at you while you picked up things from the grass which most likely had fallen from your table. Collecting pins, and any fallen accessories. Jack stood with his arms crossed, likely he still expected a thank you. When you stood back up and picked up your box, you began to walk back to your cabin. Jack still following you in silence.  The girls still haven't come back with any water, if only they did, then maybe Jack would get off your ass.

“For the love of god,” you turned on the heels of your shoes, now facing Jack as the two of you stood outside your cabins door on the small deck. “Stop following me.” 

He leant up against the railing, with a shake of his head, and his still being crossed over his chest, he looked up from your feet to your face. “I deserve a thank you, princess. Whether or not I ‘saved your life’ or helped you carry a table.” 

You put the key in the cabins door, turning it so that it would unlock, when it did you were quick to open the door and make your way inside of your cabin. Before you could close the door completely, it had been held open by jacks hand, he was a lot quicker than you thought. He held the door open before he walked into your cabin himself, he looked around to each bed, and everything that had been decorations; From the Polaroids on the walls to signs which were hung, one spelling out ‘NO BOYS ALLOWED’, which he laughed at. 

“So this is the cabin you losers are in,” he watched you place the box under what he assumed to be your bed. “Jack you have to go.” You whisper-shouted at him, standing up and walking towards him, he only took it upon himself to back up further, his back against your cabins door. Completely shutting it. The strict no boys in girls cabins policy, had been strict. If anyone was to catch him even in your cabin, you would be he one to get in trouble. Not him.

His hands went up in a fake surrender. His laugh echoing throughout the entire cabin. “Fine. Fine, I’ll go. But under one condition.” 

You were the one to cross your arms over your chest this time, looking in every direction of a window, making sure no one had been near your cabin. 

“What!? Do you still want me to thank you? Because you need to go. Thank you, Jack. Is that what you wanted?” 

You felt nauseous those words had even come out of your mouth. You didn’t want to thank him but he had to go. And you knew that was what he wanted.

A huge smile spread out across his face, he moved from the door and opened it, about half way throughout the door he stopped. “See, that’s not so hard,” he smirked. “I’ll see you tonight at the bonfire, princess.” 

And then, he was gone. The door shut after he shot you a wink, leaving you alone in the cabin. You’d forgetting about the girls who’d probably came back with water to an empty space, but you couldn’t even register what was happening. You found yourself against the door, sliding down in and sitting on the floor. Your head leant back against it. Were you falling for Jack Hughes? NO. no you weren’t.

What the fuck.

s: April 30, 2024

f: May 3, 2024

All Rights Reserved @letstalkhockey

[shanastoryteller]

Happy October 3rd to those who celebrate 💀 Can I get a continuation of the Bartender au, where Maes finally meets Ed (and they both bully Roy)

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5

Ed sees his favorite group of assholes trudging in out of the corner of his eye and but has to finish checking out two inebriated women who are very earnestly trying to pay their tab and doing a terrible job of it. After, he catches the eyes of another regular, who only huffs a little bit before getting up and offering to escort the women to their cab. Ed pulls a fresh beer for him when he gets back, then finally makes it over to where the military dogs have claimed their typical corner of the bar.

"Oh come on," he complains, crossing his arms. "More people? You're pushing you're luck."

"He didn't really give us a choice," Jean says.

"We tried," Riza adds.

The newcomer doesn't hold himself like a fighter, which either means they all have one normal friend or he's very good at not looking as dangerous as he is. As an expert in the latter, Ed assumes that's the one.

"Maes Hughes," he says, leaving off his rank and offering his hand to shake, so there's that. His grip is solid, neither too light or too tight. "I thought I'd seen the last of Roy skulking about seedy bars."

"Bit hard to escape that with Chris," he answers. Maes's smile widens to something that looks genuine while Roy chokes on air.

He hadn't told Roy that he knew his mother, but he really should have assumed.

[translatemunson]

thought of calling you, but you won’t pick up • ttfd

chapter four of the tortured firefighters department

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

cw: fem!reader, afab!reader, no descriptions of reader, banter (because i love it), reader is a math and science nerd, chris is here, mentions of food, hints of mental issues, proofread by my bye-lingual ass (let me know if i forgot anything)

You checked your phone again. Last night, Eddie texted that Carla would be joining you and Chris on your small field trip because he forgot he had booked her for the day. You never met the lady, but you were sure it was gonna be fine. With an extra adult ticket in your pocket, you waited.

Fifteen minutes and no sign of them. Maybe you should text Eddie and get Carla’s number? She was probably stuck in traffic, but that information would ease your worries — and you could help her avoid the even worse routes the apps were giving these days. At this pace, you’d wear off the soles of your white Nike Dunk and pull every single thread of your maroon sweater.

You were about to text Eddie when you saw the black Jeep Wrangler parking not a few spots down to your left. No fucking way, you thought as you marched into its direction.

“Let’s go, Chris, we’re gonna be late!” Buck helped the kid out of the car and picked up a small paper bag before closing the door.

“Hey, Chris! Are you excited?” You hugged him and kept your hands on his shoulder, finally looking at the one person you’ve been successfully avoiding. “Thanks for dropping him off, Buckley. Is Carla joining us later?”

“Actually, I’m on babysitting duty today.” He extended you the paper bag. “Peace offering?”

“What is this?”

“The reason why we were late.” He insisted you accept the bag. “C’mon, aren’t you curious?”

“He said you’d like it,” Chris added. 

You accepted the gift, peaking it before opening the bag and finding one of your favorite cupcakes from your favorite bakery. The one from the incident that set the whole “we could be friends” situation on fire.

“Can we call it a truce for today?” It was implied, but he was definitely saying this for Chris’ sake.

“Ok, just today. But this doesn’t make things magically disappear, Buckley.”

“Why do you call him Buckley?” Chris asked you, his head tilted in your direction. “I call him Buck!”

“She’s mad at me, little guy.” He took a step closer to you two, probably testing the waters. “Did you get the tickets?”

“Who do you think I am? But give me one second, I can’t enter the museum with food.”

“Take your time. Wanna see if we can get to the museum before Brains, Chris?” And off they went.

You were almost sure Eddie planned this out. Leaving you to babysit his son and his annoying friend, who everyone under the 118 roof knew you were avoiding. One hundred percent intentional, right? And of course he would be late because he drove all the way to Santa Monica to buy your favorite cupcake — someone gave him a tip.

You started to feel a bit sad for ignoring his calls and texts all week long. But you pushed it away while you ate the cupcake and watched the boys walking to the entrance. With your clean hand, you gave Buck the tickets and told them to go ahead and go all the way back after the main hall: it was smart to take advantage of the morning weather on the Nature Gardens outside and explore all the fossils and animals later on. 

You were just a few steps behind when you caught up with them in the outdoor gardens. As a newcomer to this whole Chris’ babysitter duty job, you left to Buck to finish the small walk around the main paths. It was a good opportunity to text Eddie and say that, even though you offered to take Chris to the Museum, you were only assigned to take care of one kid, not two. In his best single-father in the middle of a shift style, he texted you a ‘thumbs up’ back. Oh he was so hearing about it later.

The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles was definitely packed with exhibitions that could keep a child and adults entertained. You’d been there once, as soon as you moved to LA, almost a year ago now, and the featured exhibitions were different back then, but still a pretty good curating work after all.

However, the moment Chris saw the Dinosaur Hall and the Dino Lab, you knew it was over for any other exhibitions. And could you blame him? The dinos were pretty badass and Chris was a very curious kid, so he kept asking you all the questions you could’ve imagined — and a few more you weren’t prepared for. You acted like his own private tour guide, proud of spending some time researching and studying about dinosaurs the last few days.

You almost missed all the attention Buck was giving to you while you talked. To be honest, you couldn’t tell who was more focused on you: the kid or the annoying adult.

After all that talking, you for sure were starting to feel a little tired and overwhelmed. Even with short breaks for some water, you still felt like you needed a reset. You signaled to Buck that you’re going to the restroom for a second, he kept reading Chris the charts about butterflies and insects.

You washed your hands and used some of the water on your neck, trying to calm yourself down. How did you go from wanting Buckley’s head on a plate to babysitting with him? Life was fast and unpredictable by the Pacific shore. One lady entered the restroom and stopped by the sink to your right, trying to get rid of the chocolate and ketchup in her hands. You saw her a few minutes ago, when you stopped to grab some water.

“Can I just say you are an adorable couple? And your son is so sweet.” Her tone was sweet and definitely meant well. But she was so wrong about everything.

“Oh, he’s not our kid,” you rushed to explain the situation. “We’re just babysitting for a friend while he’s working.”

“Well, just like my grandparents told me once: sometimes you’ll have a taste of what your life could be with a special person at the moment you least expected.”

You smiled at her through the mirrors. “Did they give you any advice on how to know if it’s the right one?”

“No, but you look like someone who knows how to find that answer.” She threw the paper towels away. “Sorry for being so cryptic. Have fun!”

She left before you could even thank her for… well, the advice. Not that you asked for it, but it did show up in a nice time. Or maybe not. You weren’t sure. Did that truce mean you could let yourself feel everything you were repressing for the past few weeks? Not just regarding Evan Buckley and his lack of manners, but about everything in your life.

After all the dinosaurs and lectures about natural history, you decided to wrap up and move on to the next stop on your list. Buckley helped Chris get down the entry steps and you took the directions back to the parking lot close to the museum.

“Thanks for your services, Buckley. You can just,” you motioned your head to his car. “Ok, Chris. What do you wanna do now?” You opened your Uber app to get a ride to the next destination.

“Not necessary.” Buckley took the phone out of your hands and stored it into his jacket pocket. “I’m also the designated driver for the day.”

“What happened to you getting out of my hair?” You crossed your arms over your chest.

“I thought we were in this together.” He gave you the classic — and a little bit sassy — Buckley smile. He paid for the parking. “C’mon, Chris, we have places to go.”

The three of you walked to his car, but you were still not convinced. It was your idea to babysit Chris for the day, all your plans were picked towards your goal: having a nice and chill day with him. You didn’t need Evan Buckley and all his golden retriever energy to disturb your perfect equation.

While you were hating on him, he made sure Chris was comfortable and safe on the back seat. 

“Why are you ruining my plans?” You didn’t move from the driver’s door. Maybe, if you were warned beforehand you’d had to deal with him, you'd grow some patience. But not today, not this fast.

“I’m not. Still your plans with Chris. Tell me where to go next, I’ll drive us.”

“Give me my phone back.”

“Are you letting me be your driver today?” He leaned against the car.

“What choice do I have, Evan?” You rolled your eyes.

“Hey, I’ve told you I’m sorry.” You stepped aside, finally letting him grab the door handle. “Also, none of my friends call me Evan, by the way.”

“And since when am I your friend?”

“Since now. Hurry up, he’s gonna grow impatient and snap at us.”

“He would never do that.”

“Wanna test your theory, future doctor?”

“Not at all.”

He closed the door. You went around the vehicle, still pissed at him for taking your phone from you. You jumped into the car and checked Chris.

“Ok, are we hungry already or can we check out this cool place before that?”

“Pancakes!” Chris shouted from his seat. “Please?”

“Sure! Ok, let me just,” you instinctively reached out for your phone, but it was still being held hostage by Buck. “Phone, please.”

“Here,” he handed it to you, an aux cable attached to it. “Put the address in the GPS, and please play something kid friendly, ok?”

“Excuse me? What do you think I listen to while I’m driving to work?”

“With that sassy attitude of yours? I expect the worst.”

Just to prove him wrong, as soon as you entered the address on the GPS, you blasted one of your personal favorites. “I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain. That's what people say, mm-mm,” you sang.

“That's what people say, mm-mm,” and Chris, in the back seat, joined you.

You were definitely getting under Buck’s skin. The fact that you picked a song Chris knew the words too left him in disadvantage because you were sure he wanted the taste of saying “Told you so” as soon as he proved his point. But he should’ve known better than to provoke you.

“And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate. Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake. I shake it off!” You sang it right by Buck’s ear, dodging his hand because he was trying to get you out of his hair. Well, how does it feel now, Evan?

Your queue was really impressive: it looked like you were up-to-date with what the younger generation was listening to — not that you didn’t enjoy the same songs occasionally, but you never kept your options too narrow. There was just one scary moment where you thought you added an explicit song, but you deleted it in time. 

Buck was too busy following the GPS directions. You were stuck with him for the rest of the day, which was a nightmare by itself, and kinda stuck into the endless LA traffic. Chris didn’t notice the animosity between you because you both toned it down — for him, only for one day. Most of it sounded like some friendly banter.

Under the upbeat pop song you were playing, you could hear him singing another tune, barely familiar, but still unrecognizable.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, nothing.” He made a left turn, but kept on singing it. “If you could see it… been here all along… how could you not know baby.”

Without a warning, you typed the name of the song in your library and gave it priority in your queue. His fingers started tapping in the beat, and he started following the lyrics, saying the right words this time.

“If you could see that I'm the one who understands you, been here all along. So, why can't you see? You belong with me,” you two sang along together. But you really kept your poker face because you couldn’t give him any reasons to be even more annoying.

“Looks like we’ve arrived,” he announced, breaking the spell of one song.

Buck pointed to the restaurant you found a few months ago. It was located south of Santa Monica, a few blocks from the beach, but with the rooftop seats, you could definitely say you were eating by the beach. You parked not far from the entry, and you rushed upstairs to get one of those special tables, telling Buck to help Chris because you didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

On the very edge of the roof, your favorite table awaited you: closer to the corner, with a huge light blue umbrella over your head, the four seat table had the perfect view and vibes. You pulled a chair for your bag and greeted the waiter. She didn’t get why you were in a rush until she saw Chris on Buck’s back.

“Could you just pick a place with an elevator next time?”

“I thought you were the muscles, Buckley. Hey, Chris, let me help you.” You held him tight, removing him from Buck’s embrace and putting him on the floor. “I had to make sure we had the perfect table.”

Three stores of stairs, in a rush, were justified once you got to see the smile on Chris’ face. You could catch your breath later.

+++

Chris ate way too many pancakes. You’d have to do a lot of explaining to Eddie, but hey, if the kid was happy, how could that be a problem?

You had to cancel the last plan of the day — a trip to another museum — and settle down at an arcade close to the restaurant before ending your babysitting duty. Just buying you enough time to Eddie leave the firehouse and be home. So you were watching Buck and Chris playing some games while you tried to schedule some study breaks between classes and shifts.

“What’s wrong?” Buck sat down to your right. Chris was just in your sight, in case he needed more coins or any help.

“Nothing.” You turned off your phone screen, ignoring your packed schedule.

“It doesn’t look like nothing.” He gave you a little smudge on the shoulder. “C’mon, Brains, talk to me.”

“I’m just a bit tired, it’s fine.”

“You know, you can go home now, I’ll take him to Eddie’s. You look like you need a good night of sleep.”

“To be honest, I can’t go back home now because I’d feel guilty. My brain is all mushy,” you pointed to your head, “and I wouldn’t be able to study or relax. I would rather stay here, where my mind is focused on something else.”

“I know what you mean,” he leaned his body back, his eyes staring something beyond what you could see. “I support you distracting yourself, but this won’t go away just because you’re ignoring it, you know? Are you sure you’re ok?”

Being ok was a concept you weren’t sure about the past few days. You wanted to be ok, to look ok to everyone around you, but it was hard. You were just faking until you made it. The PhD program was starting to wear you off, and even though you loved it, the thoughts of giving up were taking every single inch of your notes and books.

But what would be your excuse to leave it unfinished when numbers, probabilities and hours of understanding the impossible things were half of your life at this point?

“Did I hit my head or something? Do you have a fever? Why are you being nice to me?” You swiftly tried to change subjects.

“We’re on a truce, remember?”

“Maybe we could be on good terms again,” you suggested. “I mean, if you ever eat my cupcakes again, Bobby will need to hire a new firefighter.”

“So we’re good?”

“We’re good.” Your screen lit up with a notification. “Eddie is gonna be stuck with an emergency, but Carla is on her way to the house. Should we just go?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go get him and then we drop him off.”

“Great.”

Chris black out as soon as Buck started the drive back to the Diaz house. The radio volume was low, and the orange and pink tones of the sunset were being replaced by the dark blue of the night. You found it hard to keep your eyes open for too long, and only noticed you took a nap when Chris was calling for your name, wanting to say goodbye before going inside.

“Thank you for today, Brains!” He hugged you, and it made everything worth it. “Can we do this again soon?”

“We’re gonna chase all the dinosaurs in LA, I promise.” You gave him one last huge and walked back to the car, watching Carla and Buck talking by the front door.

And there you were, back in the car with Evan Buckley. If he wanted to make a comment about how he was right, he let it slide. You connected your phone and entered the address to your house on the GPS. He took your phone from your hands, declaring “Now that everyone in this car is over 18, we can play the good stuff.”

“Are you sure you are old enough? Give me that back, Evan!”

“Hey! I’m driving. And you challenged me. I’m gonna show you what I usually blast in my car.”

You expected anything from Evan Buckley, even the worst genre of music, but nothing prepared you for when you listened to the introduction of ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’ blasting through the speakers.

The playlist had completely changed and moved away from what you played when Chris was in the car. Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, even a little of Led Zeppelin, just to enjoy some classics you never thought Buck appreciated. But he was more than just a firefighter with a sassy attitude, some wrongs and lots of muscle.

You look around, panicking a little when you notice you’re entering your building’s garage. You were definitely expecting to be dropped off at the front of the building. What the hell was going on?

“What… How did you get the access?”

“So, funny story. Maddie told you about the place, right?” He turned his head to check your reaction. “Well, I was the one that mentioned that a unit was available when I was complaining about my ex neighbor… So yeah, we are neighbors.”

“You’re annoying, you know that, right?”

“I thought Maddie told you.”

Well, she almost did, but she was interrupted by your neighbor himself that night. Shit.

“For how long did you know this?” You pointed to the garage and between you two.

“For a few weeks, when I saw your car after the cupcake incident.”

“I pledge the fifth.” You disconnected your phone from his car. Well, it would only get awkward if you walked to your apartment in complete silence, so you asked, “Wait, so you were texting and calling me from across the hall? You’re unbelievable.”

“What? If I knock on your door, you’ve got a restraining order against me.”

You left the car at the same time, and walked to the elevators.

“I bet I could convince Sergeant Grant to arrest you.”

“You’d make her dreams come true.”

Same elevator, same floor. You took opposite directions: his place was to the left, yours to the right, on the corners of the building, just one unit between you. You waved him goodbye and entered your home. To your right, your kitchen and dinner table. The glass doors to your balcony were opened — your mistake when you left in a hurry that morning — and it felt more like home than you expected.

Under the stairs, your notes and books were scattered. Sundays were for studying and writing the thesis. Your gray couch held the books you were searching the other day, too busy to put them back in the high and long bookshelves you had on the wall. Your television was the least used electronic in the place.

You walked upstairs and threw yourself in the bed. Maybe you should’ve picked up his calls before, but now it wasn’t a problem anymore.

author's note: are we watching the beginning of their friendship? I THINK SO! yes, i love a slow burn, but i swear it's gonna be worth it, ok? hope you're enjoying this series as much as i am. also: i published a blurb, so check the series masterlist bc i kinda loved it, not gonna lie. ALSO, my lovely friend, casey, made a playlist for the series. just check the masterlist! see yall next week!

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Stranger 3

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Destroyer!Chris

Summary: A stranger buys the farmstead nearby and disturbs your sleepy village life.

Part of the Backwoods AU

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

Your grandmother sends you into town for groceries. Mads, the old welder from down the road, drives you in with your wagon, dropping you off on his way to the next county. His son lives in the next hamlet with his new wife. Their wedding was the last big event in Hammer Ford.

Mads helps you unload the wagon from the bed of his truck and bids you a goodbye. You hope he enjoys his visit with Matthias, he seems to miss him. You wave at his departure before you set off down to the grocer.

You mill the aisles as you follow the list your grandmother gave you. Nothing beyond the usual haul. If only her old car hadn’t broken down. It seems everything around you is at a limit. You feel it all commingling as inevitability looms. Something’s gotta give. 

You turn into the dairy section, searching out the plain Skyr. You squint at the selection, looking for the decisive blue banner. You reach for a container but quickly shy away as another mirrors your movement. You back up and stare at the rest of the selection, waiting for the other shopper to grab their yogurt and go.

“You like this stuff?” The rocky voice rolls through you.

You wince. It’s familiar. Well, around here, it’s bound to be. You peer over at the other customer. That man. The newcomer. The one you brought the pie too.

You shrug and claim a container of your own and put it in the wagon. You just want to get this done with. You have to drag the wagon all the way back to your grandmother’s. It’s better than walking both ways but still a trek.

“Is it better than Greek?” He asks.

You tug the wagon across the aisle and look at the cheese. He sighs. You hear the dull clack of the plastic tub set back on the shelf. His shadow lurks behind you.

“Did I do something? Say something?” He wonders as he steps in front of you.

You ignore him and grab a brick of cream cheese. You add it to your load. His sole squeaks on the floor and he rests his hand on the shelf.

“Look, I think maybe we got off to a bad start. I’m Chris, what’s your name?”

You blanch and blink at him. Why is he bothering you? Can’t he see you’re utterly hopeless?

You mutter your name, thinking it might just make him leave you alone. He’s being nice but you’re not ready for this. Entirely unprepared for him or a conversation. He’s a stranger, even if you do know his name.

“I like that,” he says, “pie was good.”

You frown and shake your head before you realise what he means.

“Grandma baked it,” you say plainly.

“Oh. You live with her?” He wonders.

You nod and grab the handle of the wagon again, “excuse me, sir.”

You bow your head and try to step past him. He doesn’t move. His cart is on the other side of the aisle, penning you in.

“I’ll have to say thank you. It was very nice of you to walk all the way up there.”

“Sir,” you look down at the list, a subtle way of saying you’re busy.

“You walk all the way here?” He leans to look around you at the wagon, “I could give you a lift back. I still owe you.”

“It’s okay,” you barely get your voice above a whisper. You don’t know what’s wrong with you. He’s being perfectly pleasant but you just want to disappear. “Thanks.”

“Right,” he crosses his arms, “well, just try not to get lost in the woods.”

You wince and peer up at him. Your cheeks burn and you drop your eyes shamefully at the allusion of your previous gaff. You don’t think you’ll be taking the same short cut again.

“I’m kidding,” he says, “sorry, I… I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Look, if you don’t need a ride, maybe I could buy you a slice of pie from that bakery down the road. Then we can call it even.”

You rock back and forth. You push your hand down to hide the tremble in it, pressing the list against your stomach. You take a breath and look him in the face, just for a moment before you shy away and end up talking to the collar of his shirt.

“Even?” You echo.

“Sure,” he agrees, “pie for a pie.”

Your cheek pinches at the bad pun. You nod and sway, glancing back at your wagon.

“I gotta finish,” you crinkle the paper as you wave it.

“Right, me too,” he drawls, “I’ll meet ya there?”

You sniff and nod. You got his name, that means you can appease your grandmother, and you can get him to leave you alone for good. Even, done. No more reason to bother you. Besides, you wouldn’t mind sitting down before you head back down the country roads.

“Okay,” you murmur softly.

“Promise,” he insists.

“Mhmm,” you hum and put your nose down to the list, “excuse me, I gotta grab more sugar.”

“Of course,” he sidles out of the way, moving to stand behind his cart, crossing his arms against the bar, “what kinda pie do you like?”

You hesitate before dragging the wagon forward. Your mind is racing. You’re already regretting your surrender.

“Apple,” you utter and roll down the aisle. He repeats the word in his silty tone, toying with it as he hums.

You turn down the next row as you hide behind the list. You think of just heading out with what you have and seeing if you can’t get a head start before he can catch up. No, no. You already made a mess of this. It won’t take much more for him to realise you’re a disaster better left alone.

[honestsilasbirchtree]

June 15, 1952

The waffle house had been nameless for the entire eight years it had been in operation so far. Lizzie Dixon, 22, had been working there for three of those years. She could now begin preparing orders based on the sound of the cars pulling up and the tops of hats and hairdos that she could see through the blinds.

All of her lunchtime regulars were currently in, the dishwasher was out for a "smoke" again, and absolutely nothing was going to surprise her. She thought about dropping a milkshake glass for the hell of it.

"The back of that greasy kid's head looks like it could use some sparkle! Why don't you give it a hurl!"

Lizzie jumped at the sudden loud voice by her ear and dropped the glass, just missing her foot. The shards scattered. "Oh-! Oh no, no..." The dishwasher, finally back behind the counter, turned around at the sound. "Whoa, Lizzie, what happened?"

"Where have you been?" Lizzie snapped. "Don't just-- careful stepping through, oh, come on, get a broom or something, I have to take this gentleman's order--" She turned back to find herself face to face with a pale stranger in a suit and hat.

"Shucks, you missed!" he continued. "Better luck next time, huh?"

Lizzie allowed herself a smirk at that. "I might like that, but I like working here more, I'm afraid."

"Oh, you do?" said the stranger. His voice seemed strangely loud and shrill no matter what volume he was speaking at. "I see, got to comfort yourself somehow after your big audition flopped. Don't worry, that whole rodeo will fold a year from now anyway! BIG shooting malfunction! You're better off out of the, haha, line of fire! Trust me!"

Lizzie's eyes flicked over to the ad taking up most of the far wall at the end of counter--a flirtatious blonde cowgirl, SLUGGER COFFEE, 'Start Your Day Like a Shot!' She really hoped he was talking about cameras. "...I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Silas Birchtree, travelling salesman and so much more!" he doffed his hat. (For a moment, she heard some kind of buzzing.) She could see his eyes better now, wide and avid to a near painful looking degree, just like his smile. "Now, Lizzie, can I just say--"

"Hey!" A redheaded young man wearing a blazer in an unfortunate color took a seat at the bar. "Is this fella bothering you, Liz?"

"She hasn't been interested since you called her "Lizard" the first day of junior high, Chris!" the newcomer shot back. Heads all through the establishment were turning. "Take your comedy act somewhere else! I'd suggest the middle of the road, but if this one horse town ever gets anything resembling actual traffic, I'll eat that horse myself!"

Lizzie wanted to sink into the floor. Chris flushed red and balled up his hands. "Why don't you get bent, you creep! Who d'you think y--"

"Hey, ain't you supposed to be dead?" an old farmer at the other end of the counter called out. "We had a burial and everything, I saw." This set the gathering crowd murmuring.

Birchtree flashed a megawatt grin his way. "Normal human man, right here!" He thumped his chest hard. "Aren't you supposed to be cutting back on the drink, Ray? Then again, the doctor has bills to pay, too! Wanna bet you can help finance his new car?"

Ray's brow furrowed. "Say, how'd you know all that? What new car?"

"An excellent question! My unearthly knowledge comes from above!" Birchtree threw his arms wide, shouting to the whole restaurant. "An all-knowing entity of awesome power has chosen me to be his herald! He's seen your mistakes! He watches your dreams! He foresees the terrible way that you will die, yes, each and every one of you!" Now he was standing on the counter, with a sea of open-mouthed faces around him. "All of these secrets and more I will share with you rubes, if! You! Follow me outside!"

He stepped down from the counter and strode out the door, a throng following him out and down the street to Orchard Lake's central square. Lizzie let herself out from behind the counter to join them, still trailing broken glass underfoot.

"Hey, where are you going?" the dishwasher shouted after her. "Hey! Lizzie! What are you doing? Come back!"

[plagueplanethq]

Mortarion by Miguel Iglesias

Vorx begins to wonder if it has been some kind of cruel dream. He begins to wonder if the newcomer was a phantom sent from the heights, just another trick played by this world that loathes them. But then the cowled figure re-emerges, unbowed, tall as a sheaf of uncut corn. He looks barely troubled by his exertions. His hood has fallen back a little, revealing grey, smooth flesh. It is the most beautiful face Vorx has ever seen – like theirs, but as hard and clean as a stone.

From “Unification” by Chris Wraight

[stephaniebrownslover]

HIII WELCOME MEE

FIRST I WANT TO SAY I REALLY LOVE YOUR WRITING STYLE. YOU'RE ONE OF MY FAVORITE CP WRITERS IN TUMBLR (Seriously, no joking)

Can you please write Kate x Nina's relationship for your main AU?

(Also it's one of my fav ship, I wanted to read my fav ships hcs by my fav writers)

I WAS ALMOST FORGET, HAVE A GOOD DAY/NİGHT :3

HIIIIIII AGAIN LOVELY PERSON!!!!

Bro. Bro stop saying things like this because I'm literally about to cry. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH

I really love and be surprised when people like my writing because of my self-esteem issues lol you have no idea how your kind words make me so happy and and make hate less from my writing style so thank youuuuuuu

I appericate you so much and and you're so sweet and nice and cool and awesome and cool and kind and sweet and and and

Okay I think I'll have an heart attack sorry if İ bothered you but I'm truly so grateful for your kind words<3333

I love NinaKate so much so of course I can do it for you even if I'm dying lol

(Ps: it wasn't seasonal allergies, turns out, it was the beginnig stage of pneumonia and bronchitis lol)

Also you can check this non-canon NinaKate headcanon post I made some time ago too!!

Okay but I can't get over how nice the words you say, really, I'm thinking about it since I saw the ask.

Sorry it's more like how they became friends and Nina and Kate lore but it would be so long that I had to split it into 2 parts. Hope you don't mind.

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT AND DAY TOO!!!!

Holy shit it's angst, I really didn't mean to...

NinaKate Romantic Relationship For My Main AU-Part I

They seeing each other for the first time

Nina has been known among the proxies since the night when Zalgo controlled her at the age of 15 and helped her find Jeff. Slenderman didn't want to take her with him because he didn't see any benefit to himself since Zalgo had reached out to her first, but he hadn't given the order to kill her yet just because he was curious about what would happen.

Nina was unaware that it was a ritual to summon Zalgo when she practiced one of the love spells she found on the Internet at the age of 13. Zalgo, seeing potential in her because of her obsessive love, followed her for 2 years, did not leave her alone. And since he decided it was the perfect time to take her with him, he took control of her body at the age of 15 and had her kill her own family.

Regaining control while plunging a knife into the heart of her younger brother Chris, Nina then felt so bad that she ran to the woods near her home. Zalgo led Nina through the forest, aiming to convince her that all this was Slenderman's and Jeff's fault and get her to the stage of wanting revenge. There she met Jeff, but Zalgo's plan backfired, as she hugged him and cried instead of hating him as he expected.

Kate had never seen the newcoming stray killer that Slenderman wanted to get rid of face to face before, but she had heard about the descriptions of her appearance and that she was a weird person in general. Since she was already someone who had been drifted away from humanity for a while, she had no reason to meet her, and these rumors didn't help either.

Kate, who was only 16 years old, had been a proxy for two years and had no one because of the fact that Masky and Hoodie were too focused on their own worlds and she didn't like them either. Rouge, Cody and Toby were not yet a proxy. So he was alone with Hoodie and Masky, who didn't even want to talk to her because they were afraid of her, and she wasn't looking for any human relationship.

She had experienced a hellish life until she was 14, but since she became a proxy, she has literally not been a human being. Although she had all the necessary human characteristics, she was not treated as a human, she did not think like a human, she did not feel like a human. That's why she was Slenderman's favorite proxy, since the whole purpose of her living was to fulfill his duties. The fact that she unconditionally accomplished everything he said made the others even more distant from her, but there was no problem for Kate. After all, she was no longer a human being.

It's been a month since Nina started staying in the same cabin with Jeff. Actually, she could have gone back to her old life since Zalgo destroyed the traces of that night, but Nina didn't know about it yet. Since no one else was trying to communicate with her, she thought that Jeff was the only important thing in her life, and she was holding on to him with all her strength. Although Jeff felt sorry for her at first, they started arguing because he was getting overwhelmed by her sticky attitude.

One day, when Jeff was drunk and really hurt Nina's feelings, Nina ran away deep into the forest to calm down. After walking for a while, she realized that she had lost. Moreover, this time, since both sides considered Nina worthless, there was no one to guide her through the forest. Nina was completely lost. She crossed to the foot towards a tree and let the tears flow, which she could no longer hold back. She was crying not only for this moment, but for everything. Most of all, because she was a bad person, and the fact she deserved all this.

Kate was returning from a mission. She was incredibly injured, and if people really cared about her, they wouldn't have let her walk on her own. Actually, Hoodie, with whom she had gone on, had offered to help her, but Kate's snarling with hatred indicated that she had responded negatively to his offer, and Hoodie's fear of Kate had caused her not to insist any further. After all, Kate knew that no one really wanted to deal with a non-human proxy who was at the age of 16.

That's why Kate was staggering through the forest alone, trying to ignore the pain and depth of her wounds. She just needed to get to Jack's cabin. Ann had just arrived, and Kate still didn't trust her. She had many reasons not to trust a zombie. Smiley hadn't started working for Slenderman yet either. So Jack was the only one Kate could go to, and despite her bleeding wounds, she was trying to get there as quickly as possible.

Kate, who was trying to walk, heard a crying sound. It... it was a human cry. She didn't know what she had to do. She kept walking, thinking that she didn't need to do anything because she knew she wasn't a human. But there was something in that crying sound which bothered her. This stranger's voice was filled with more pain and anger than she had ever heard before. Although Kate was not ready to face an enemy, she decided to check the source of the sound.

The person crying was none other than Nina, whose name was mentioned only with hatred and contempt.

Their first real meeting

Kate watched Nina for a while without making a sound. She did not know why she was crying, and frankly she had wondered what made her so sad. Because as far as she heard from others, Nina was a person who was cheerful enough to annoy and never got upset. And obviously, Kate was surprised to encounter a sight that was the opposite of the rumors she had heard.

Just when Kate decided she had watched enough crying and was getting ready to leave, Nina, who heard the sounds Kate was making, shouted in that direction. Kate would never normally have made such a fatal mistake, her injuries had made it difficult to control her body and she hated it. She hated being weak.

When Nina screamed again, Kate knew she had to do something. Her first thought was to quietly leave the environment, but she was not in a good enough condition to do so, and Nina was not an enemy. So, Kate thought it would be enough for her to just say hello and introduce herself.

When she appeared, Nina tried to suppress her sobs and stand up, but she fell to the ground since she sprained her leg. While Kate was only frowning at this situation, Nina was thinking about how useless and incompetent she was, which is why her crying became more intense.

Not knowing what to do, Kate slowly went up to her and held out her hand to her. On her first attempt, she had pulled her hand out regretfully before she even reached the halfway point, but when she saw how upset Nina was, she tried to overcome her hesitation. Kate was sure that she had been disturbed by the sound of her crying, and that she had been so kind as to make her cease her voice. However, in reality, it was just a proof that her humanity had not completely died.

Although Nina wanted to hold her hand, she suddenly saw how badly Kate was injured, and Nina immediatly pulled the hand she was holding out to hold Kate's and took support from the tree. She then stated that she did this because she did not want to hurt her any more, but was grateful for the offer of help.

Then nervously asked if Kate, who she knew was not the enemy, could take her back to Jeff's cabin after someone checked Kate. Nina didn't know where she was supposed to go, but she was sure that the person in front of her knew. She had seen the proxy mark on her wrist from her torn clothing.

Kate only responded with a shrug and started walking slowly. Nina also went after her, hoping that this was a signal for her to follow the proxy. Along the way, although Kate occasionally looked at Nina, Nina didn't mind it. Nina had noticed that she was an observant person, and she even thought it was cute.

After a walk, they arrived at Jack's cabin, where Nina randomly asked Kate questions to distract her own mind from sad topics, and Kate sometimes gave audible answers, while most of them were in body language.

Kate knocked on the door and asked Jack if he could take a look at her wounds. When Jack called her in, Nina was standing in front of the door because she didn't recognize him. But later, when she saw Kate making a movement signaling for her to come inside, she entered the cabin and closed the door.

After first Kate's wounds were taken care of, and then her own leg, Jack insisted they should stay here. He said it was too late even for a proxy and the killer to be roaming the forest, and explained that he had enough places. He also mentioned that Kate wouldn't need to come all that distance for her check-up the next morning.

Nina, who heard the word , only burst into sobs. Killer. That's how people must have see her now. As someone who takes lifes of innocent people for no reason. She knew that her idol was a murderer, but she had convinced herself that his victims were for a purpose. That's why she hated herself while glorifying Jeff in her eyes.

While Jack was trying to calm her down, Kate also bizarrely asked why she was crying. Nina was angry at being asked so clearly, so she yelled and told what had happened to her. She said how she had a wonderful family, but now they're nine floors underground because of her own stupidity. And what a terrible big sister she was.

While Jack was patting her on the back just to calm her down, Kate said it wasn't her fault. She even tried to explain that she was aware of what Zalgo had done, and that Nina was considered lucky to have survived with this much, as Kate was someone who had seen even worse.

Nina, on the other hand, was only more annoyed and asked how she was considered lucky. Her life was completely ruined, she had nowhere or no one to go to. Then Kate told her that the cops weren't after her, that she didn't have to live this life like herself. She sat down next to Nina and controlled herself, even though she wanted to put her hand on Nina's back.

Nina was surprised now. She asked Kate about her own story. Nina wanted her to tell her why Kate was here, why she was a proxy. And Kate just paused.

She said she didn't remember.

She mentioned that she had no memories of before the age of 14. Hearing this, Nina felt an incredible sense of pity for the young proxy standing in front of her. Nina may have had bad memories, but at least she had good ones too. She thought what a terrible thing it was to not know who she was. Not being aware of the existence of anyone who loves her. Not having a real life.

And quite instinctively she took hold of Kate's bony hands, which were like ice.

Kate didn't know what to do. She reflexively withdrew her hand, but she also knew that Nina had not done it for any malicious purpose, and her apology was a proof of this. Then Kate said it was okay for her to hold her hand and placed it back on her own lap. Nina grasped her hands tightly once again.

She told Kate that not having a past did not pose any problems. And Nina even got a little overexcited and said that if she wanted, they could build a future together as friends.

Kate, on the other hand, was literally shocked. While Kate was content with just nodding, Nina excitedly let go of Kate's hands and clapped her owns in the air. This was how their friendship, which was quite meaningful for both, began.

The beginning of their friendship

That night they stayed in the beds that Jack had made for them. Nina was acting incredibly protective of Kate's injuries, and Kate felt that day for the first time in years that she was worthy of being cared for as a person. Of course, this feeling was not long-lasting, but it was enough to create an involuntary smile on her lips. And that was enough for Kate for now.

Nina was constantly jumping from topic to topic while talking, occasionally not neglecting to ask Kate questions about her own thoughts. Nina realized that she was someone who didn't like to talk too much, and she didn't see extra talking as a problem because she knew that Kate was really listening her. 

Kate, on the other hand, was starting to feel more and more comfortable answering Nina's questions. Maybe this could have been due to her slowly creeping sleep, which came under the influence of medications. After saying goodnight, she finished talking. However, realizing that Nina may have thought that Kate was bored with herself, she offered that Nina could come to the proxy cabin for a few hours tomorrow if she wanted.

Nina instantly accepted this with the joy of having found a new friend. Although she was physically hurt while sleeping that night, she was emotionally relieved. A voice inside her was saying that they would both be good for each other.

Kate kept her promise. After the necessary check-up the next day, they set off for the proxy cabin. Nina was upset that Jeff hadn't called her even though she'd been away all night, but she didn't care about it as much as she usually did. Because she was no longer alone, she had a friend.

It was good for them that there was no one in the cabin. Both Kate didn't want to deal with others, and Nina wasn't ready to meet someone else yet. For a while they just hung out doing nothing and just chatted.

Kate then timidly asked Nina if she liked to play video games. Nina mentioned that she sucked at games and explained that's why she only watched other people play. Kate, on the other hand, in an even more shy manner, said that Nina could watch herself if she wanted to.

They played games for hours that day. They did not stop playing until nightfall came. And then Kate offered to take Nina to Jeff's cabin before it got too dark. Nina was actually staying alone in the same cabin with Jeff and Ben. Because they were considered one of the first inhabitants of the forest, and apart from the proxy cabin, other cabins had enough place for maximum 4-5 people.

Kate was very angry when she saw that Jeff was rude to Nina while dropping her off at the cabin, but when she saw that Nina was generally happy, she didn't say anything to avoid upsetting her. Then, when she was going to say goodbye to Nina and leave, Nina stopped her and gave her her number. Nina didn't have anywhere to write, so she asked if it would be a problem if she wrote in Kate's hand, and when Kate said yes, she wrote down her number. Then Nina asked for her own number and registered it.

After saying goodbye, Nina was waving enthusiastically to Kate from inside the cabin. Kate, too, shyly waved to her gently. When Kate turned around, she couldn't help but smiling.

When Kate came to the place where she was staying, she had a strange feeling inside. She wasn't sure what it was, but she liked it. Then, while she picked up her phone to check if there was any important message from Masky and Hoodie, she saw Nina's new message.

"Hiiiii, thx so much for helping me!!!!! Hop i can see ya soon sweetie :3333"

That day, Kate had found a real friend for herself. Maybe it could have been her first friend in her life. And she was glad of it.

Nina had found herself a true friend. Someone who really cared about her and doesn't use her for her own interests. There was a pleasant feeling in her.

Holly hell how long this shit is-

Also Nina's message might be out of character, English is not my main language and I'm not used to writing like that.

Sorry for shitty writing but I'm sick as hell

[cherrylng]

Muse interview - Matt Bellamy [CROSSBEAT (March 2000)]

“My most fundamental motivation for going into music was to give eternal life to human emotions.”

Muse, a trio of explosive lyricists who mix cross-cultural blood with modern sensibilities, have finally landed in Japan! Matthew Bellamy's spirituality, the heart of a band that respects Radiohead but aims to be ‘somewhere different’. Interview: Sumi Imai

“I think music is best listened to when you're alone. Because it's music that makes you connect with something beyond the material.”

Muse, who hail from Devon in south-west England, were discovered by Maverick in the US as ‘promising newcomers’ and signed independently, followed by individual record deals in five countries around the world, including the UK, Germany, France and Japan, making their debut on an international scale not seen in recent years. Now, Muse is coming to Japan! At just 21 years of age, their first album ‘Showbiz’ strikes the listener's soul raw with instinctively stirring dramatic sounds and melancholy melodies. Matthew's (vocals/guitar/keyboards and lyrics/composition) singing, which is sensitive yet expresses emotions that seem to rise from within, dark, edgy and loud guitars, and melancholic and beautiful melodies have often led to them being described as ‘the three-piece Radiohead of the new millennium’, but of course they are no mere followers. Their music has the shadowy danger and tension of Radiohead, the dynamism, drive and gloss of Mansun (for the second album) and the bare intensity of Nirvana…… They create a unique "Muse world" by weaving in exotic elements (including flamenco-style guitar!). At the age of 14, Matthew joined the band of his secondary school classmate Dominic (drums). Two years later, Chris (bass) joined the band, which became the original Muse and continues to this day. We caught up with Matthew after he had been back home for a while, amidst a packed schedule of European tour dates.

You have always liked Spanish and South American music, as well as classical and choir music. I think that this diversity of musical influences is what sets Muse apart musically from other bands. 「Yes, that's true. Since I was a kid, I grew up listening to all kinds of music, regardless of genre. When I first learnt to play guitar, it was blues and slide guitar, and I started to get into rock when I was 13 or 14. When I graduated from high school, at the age of 17, I spent about four months travelling around Europe on holiday. I wanted to learn a lot of guitar music there that I wasn't used to hearing before. I went to Greece and Italy just to listen to the different kinds of folk music from different places. It was an experience that opened my eyes to the possibilities of what I could do with the guitar. I also used to play classical music like Rachmaninoff and Chopin on the piano. So maybe I'm trying to fuse all kinds of music.」

You started your first band at the age of 12, and it all started around the same time (1991 or 1992?). Was it grunge or something like that? 「Oh, no, no (laughs), it was actually a jazz-ish band.」

Oh, really? 「I was playing the piano in a boogie-woogie or rock ‘n’ roll kind of way. Then I started playing electric guitar and joined Dom's (Dominic) band. His band was so cool at school, everyone wanted to be in it (laughs).」

Wow (laughs). I heard that they played songs by Mega City Four and Senseless Things. 「Yeah, Dom's band used to play that kind of stuff, and we used to cover other British indie bands like Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Wedding Present. I started learning those songs when I joined that band.」

I see. By the way, you said, "The only bands that really mattered in the 90s were Nirvana and Radiohead during 'The Bends' era. What made these two bands stand out was their pure vulnerability in exposing themselves and innovation". You seem to be obsessed with ‘innovation’, but if there was a ‘new sound’ that Muse could present to the current scene, what would it be? 「Well, I'm not very good at describing what I do in words (laughs). But…… When I mentioned Nirvana and Radiohead, I think I was trying to talk about the ‘guitar music’ they produced. In terms of guitar-based music and its development, from Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, the Beatles and the Who to the Sex Pistols…… I think they're important bands to put in that queue. But yeah, it's hard to talk about ourselves because we're just starting out (laughs), we've got a long way to go.」

So what do you want to create in the future? 「I want to be honest about what I feel at the time. This time I've incorporated classical piano music and organic Spanish elements, but I want to combine these atmospheres in modern rock. There are so many different kinds of music in this world. Music has a long, long history. Different countries have different music. I think it's important to keep an open mind and listen to everything, to get in touch with what's happening in the world, past and present, and to develop what you create.」

I see, I understand. By the way, when UK bands expand into the US, the usual pattern is for them to establish themselves in the UK to some extent, then play small shows in the US…… But you guys are doing a big expansion on your own with your record company in the US. Many of your favourite bands - Nirvana, Primus, Rage, Smashing Pumpkins - are from the US, but do you think success in the US is important for you guys? 「Hmm, it's a challenge for us. It's a big country and I think it takes time to become a thing. The fact that the US music scene/rock music has been so creative for the last five years or so is what I'm really interested in. I think the next couple of years are a good time to bring song-oriented music to the US scene. There's been a bit of an emphasis on heavy metal music over there for a while now. But (success in the US) has never been the most important thing for me. I'd rather be successful in my home country, the UK, than the US.」

I see. But when you went to the US, you were greeted with limousines and champagne, which is unbelievable hospitality for a new British band. 「Hahahahaha (laughs), yeah, yeah.」

When it comes to being treated so well since your debut, do you take it easy and think, "I'll just take what they give me"? Or do you always calmly tell yourself, "Don't get carried away by this. Keep your feet on the ground"? 「Yeah, I don't think we take the situation too seriously. So it's more like ‘enjoy it while you have it’. We know it's all just for the moment, it won't last. We know it's just to make a good impression on us. We know we haven't earned it yet. Anyway, we don't even know if that's what we really want to get. It's just a bit of fun. It's not like I believe life should be like that or anything.」

Hmmm… that's rather cool (laughs). By the way, what ambitions did you have when you were 16, when all three Muse members were together? 「At the time…… I was like, "We're going to be the biggest in the world" (laughs), hahaha. But that kind of thing changes as you get older.」

And now? There are bands like Manics [aka Manic Street Preachers], who made their debut with the enthusiasm of "We're going to be number one in the whole world" (laughs), and then there are bands like Elastica, who say "If we can do what we love, sell 10,000 copies of our albums, and can make a living, that's enough". 「Yeah, it's possible for those two extremes to coexist inside of you. For example, to put it in an extreme way, a part of me thinks, ‘I'm happy just to exist’. Music gives me so much joy that I enjoy just being able to spend time with it, to focus on new ideas and creating something. My main motivation for continuing with music is to keep having the opportunity to create new things and to communicate with other people through it. I think that's the most important thing. There is more than one way to maintain that situation. I think I'd be just as happy if I could just make a living or if I was the most famous person in the world.」

But when we get too big, for example, there are some things we can't control. Like the suffering that fame brings, not to mention the example of Kurt Cobain…… 「Yeah……」

Also, I don't know if you've seen this, but from the Radiohead documentary video— 「Yeah, I've seen about half of it.」

From that you can also get a sense of the kind of madness they put themselves through. Do you have any fear or preparedness for that sort of thing? 「It's easy sometimes to take your situation and everything too seriously. It's easy to get depressed and wallow in self-pity, but I think that's boring. For example, I don't think the situation in that video was actually as bad as it appears on the screen. I think they were deliberately shot to look like they were in a bad situation in order to portray the image they had at the time. I know, I've been on tour for a long time now, and it's actually not that bad, I enjoy it. I mean, I try to enjoy it as much as I can. That's what life is all about. I don't feel the need to dwell on the bad aspects of it, because it's the most enjoyable experience of my life, even though I don't like some of it. I don't think that feeling will ever change.」

One of the unique characteristics of Muse's music is that it is full of deep, intense and real emotions - in the overall sound, in your guitar and piano, and of course in the songs. 'There are many ways that people do and create music - as a means of self-expression, as a means of communication, as a therapeutic role, etc. What is the greatest significance of music for you? 「Well, I guess…… The most fundamental motivation for me towards music was to give eternal life to human emotions. I mean, the feeling that after we die, the feeling remains in the world. That's the first thing, or in other words, I believe in the existence of the soul. Sometimes people can be confused by the body. They feel frustrated by the material world. Art and music express our emotions and show us that there is more to life than material things. Music is a way of connecting with people in a different way beyond the material world.」

You mean a spiritual way? 「Yeah, I think that's probably what it is. I think art exists to express what we feel inside and to communicate with people beyond natural phenomena, if there is such a thing as spirituality. Everyone expresses themselves in different ways, but most of the songs on the first album are about my relationship with the outer material world.」

Hmmm. On a different note, there have been a lot of comparisons to Radiohead, but I was impressed by how you coolly analysed and answered, "Well, I don't mind, I've never really been a fan of Radiohead. If you think about the fact that Thom Yorke was influenced by Jeff Buckley and that our album was produced by John Leckie (who produced ‘The Bends’), it's an understandable comparison." I think there are a lot of bands who, when they're as young as you are, would be very dismissive, but you handle it well, probably because of your own respect for them. 「Yeah, it's certainly partly because of the respect for what they've achieved. And I understand the comparisons for the reasons I've just mentioned. But the comparisons don't mean that we're treated as a copycat band.」

Yes, that's right. When you said that, you also said, ‘But if you see us live, you'll see that Muse is more of a rock band’, 「Yeah, it's just that if you see us live, you can better understand what we actually sound like as a band. On the record we're more experimental, we use different instruments, we sound like a five or six-piece [band], but live it's just the three of us, and I think the emotion hits you harder. And we're definitely from a different generation (to Radiohead)…… So I think we're appealing to a different generation.」

Oh, a different generation…… So what do you actually think of 'OK Computer'? Considering the sound and structure of that album, I thought that what you said earlier meant that yours is a more straightforward and powerful rock. 「I think 'OK Computer' is a good album, I just don't listen to it too intensely. It probably didn't have the same influence on me [as 'The Bends']. Maybe it's partly because I listened to 'The Bends' at a certain time of year that it appealed to me more clearly. I think 'OK Computer' is a good album, but it doesn't resonate with me the way 'The Bends' does. I think it's probably a generational thing, an age thing.」

Oh, I see. Well, this is just my personal impression, but I feel that Radiohead's sound is largely a journey of self-exploration towards inner chaos, while Muse's sound is more outward-oriented with ‘the intention to connect with the listener’. The guitars and singing seem to speak to us. For example, in your live performances, are you conscious of the presence of the listener in that sense? 「Yes, for example, I've loved going to gigs since I was a kid, and the most exciting thing was when a singer would perform to me as if they were talking to me. I'm very conscious of people as 'individuals', not as a ‘crowd’, and I try to be conscious of that. I try to imagine that I'm part of the audience, and I try to put myself in their shoes. I think music, especially albums, are best listened to when you are alone. Because music makes you feel you are not alone and connects you to something beyond the material. I don't think Muse's music is appropriate to play when you're all gathered at a friend's house having a drink and having a good time. I don't think it's the right music for that kind of background music. I think it's more the kind of music that you can listen to when you're alone and feel something different…… I mean, I hope so (laughs).」

Translator's Note: The earliest Muse interviews that can be found in Crossbeat and Rockin'On were all released on their March 2000 issues, with INROCK only releasing theirs on April 2000. But out of three, I think Crossbeat has the best early interview by far, thanks to how good of a journalist Sumi Imai is. Their interviews just reveals Matt and his bandmates in a way that most other western music magazines and newspapers don't.

Or it's just because Japanese interviews tend to reveal the conversation of questions and answers as it was recorded back then, so there's no backfilling of sorts at all.

[noctuadora]

I love Claire Redfield a lot; and it saddens me whenever I read discussions about how Capcom treats her character rather poorly in actuality.

RE2R is my first RE game (RE7-RE8 introduced me to the franchise, but I only watched it), and I hold it close to my heart (even though Leon’s story triggered some bad memories in me oof). To be honest I didn’t expect to love Claire, because just like the other good chunk of newcomers, I came to the franchise because of the pretty boy. But surprisingly, at the end of my playthrough, I ended up loving Claire a LOT. (And as for Leon, I became a little less of a simp. Got a love(70%)-dislike(30%) relationship with this dude).

I think what made me love Claire is that while she is not professionally trained to become a cop/agent (in other words, an ordinary girl/civilian), she’s resilient, courageous and protective—not to mention highly empathetic (she’s not afraid to show so much emotion). She’s quite sassy, and has a good sense of humor. She’s relatable, AND CUTE! I love the fact that this loving girl can turn badass when someone is in need of her help.

She’s awesome.

…Now, I’m just gonna do a disjointed rant below (opinion-heavy).

Being in the fandom for more than a year, I read a lot about Resident Evil, and also learned of its underlying issues (inconsistencies, favouritism, odd storywriting, shipwars, etc.) which made me frustrated more than anything.

As much as I love Claire & Leon as a duo/ship, I have beef with Infinite Darkness because of how they handled Claire (and same goes for Death Island). Not only that, but the fact that even though Claire was a huge part in Sherry’s story, we have YET to see them reunite (the Teppen card is cute, but seriously, you make them meet THERE?).

I also found it odd how Claire (in the OG RE3 epilogue) just went and left Leon and Sherry behind almost immediately. I get that she urgently had to find Chris, but… um. (I swear to gOD IF CAPCOM DOESN’T FIX THIS PART I WILL SCREAM BECAUSE HOLY SHIT I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT LEON SAYING “As LoNg aS we StIck ToGetheR, wE’LL bE FiNe” IN THE REMAKE IS ALL FOR NAUGHT/IRONIC)

Sometimes, I find it hard to keep loving this series (but then again, there’s always some ups and downs…). I just hope Capcom realizes that some (if not most) still care about Claire. I mean… she was ranked 3rd in the latest Capcom character popularity poll.

I made this post cuz I’ve been lurking around Reddit to read Resident Evil topics (because REtwt is unserious 70% of the time) and I came across this thread discussing as to why Claire’s being sidelined (more often than not) and man… I wish they’d actually improve their writing on Claire (AND Jill/Rebecca). Chris and Leon are cool and all, but… give some care to the girls as well.

[tyanis]

Poll: Which TEAM of male Resident Evil characters are surviving a hike without any significant incidents?

Upon waking in the morning, the men see Jake and HUNK standing at the edge of the campsite. They greet the two men but are met with silence. After a long beat, the newcomers quietly integrate themselves within the group.

It's all very awkward.

Anyway, it's time to go hiking!

Now, a lot can happen out here in the wilderness. Be it stumbling upon some poison ivy, becoming a snack to a swarm of mosquitoes, falling off a cliff, or a bigfoot encounter, the woods are a dangerous place to be hiking alone.

With all this is mind, the men decide to travel in pairs. After a very convoluted and dumb discussion, the men split off into teams of six seemingly at random.

Read all that as: I used a random number generator.

Team 1: Luis & Chris

Team 2: Leon & Steve

Team 3: Krauser & Piers

Team 4: Carlos & Jake

Team 5: Ethan & Wesker

Team 6: HUNK & Heisenberg

Winners go on to face the winners of the female poll so make sure to vote in both!