#Couple-Friendly Podcasts

[shaadiwish]

There are two kinds of people in the world, the ones who do chores to the tunes of music, and others who haven’t discovered how amazing and life-changing podcasts can be.

[ilycosy]

being tara's friend and starring on the podcast!! getting borderline wasted with her and zach during the show and drunkenly admitting you'd have a threesome with the two of them <3

ive been putting this off bc of motivation but x. x we finally got our zachyummy x reader fic !!!! who cheered :3 ??

fyi it's a little implied that tara n reader have alr slept together <3 js for the simplicity , also it's a little choppy at the end but it's js bc idk how 2 end it <//3

you felt a little warm as you sipped on your beer, watching tara banter with zach. you and tara have been friends for years, meeting each other because of jake, but you had only met zach a couple of months ago. you got along well with him, you just weren't as bubbly as tara was.

tara giggled and leaned her head onto your shoulder, listening to jared ask a question. "out of all your friends," he says with a giggle, his face a little red from the beer. "who would you be most likely to sleep with?"

you glanced at tara, watching as she wrinkled her nose and said nobody while zach tried to pry for more. in a split moment of drunken confidence you blurted out, "well, zach, but i think id want tara's emotional support there too." you barely finish the sentence as you feel embarrassment rush through you, zach already whistling and giggling into the mic.

it was the first time tara had glanced at you back that night, smiling to herself as she finished off her bottle.

by the time the podcast ended, tara was offering everyone over to her place knowing that jared had plans. seeing that you and zach were free, you both agreed to come over. huddling on either side of tara in the uber that she ordered, she talked idly so the ride wasn't awkward.

you probably should've noticed that tara was getting touchier and going past the friendly flirting, but you were too tipsy to process. only noticing the tension when tara had backed you into zach, your eyes meeting his equally shocked and flushed face.

you would've felt more shame for how fast you allowed tara to do this if it didn't feel so good, her lipstick smearing against your jaw and face while she left comforting kisses. her hand threaded in zach's hair as she kept him in place, his big hands keeping you spread as he took turns from teasingly licking you and completely working his tongue into you.

"jesus christ woman," he huffs, pulling you closer by your thighs. causing you to slide down so your head is resting in between tara's legs. "i can eat them out myself, get your claws off of'm." he makes no effort to pull away from her hand, which makes her pet his hair.

you sniffle, whining as he continues eating you out. pressing rough kisses against your clit before sucking it, you can tell he's grinding onto the couch from the shifting. "fuck, zach you need to get more fingers in," tara mutters, moving her hand away from his head so both her hands could cup your tits.

he barely lifts his head to see what he's doing before he's listening and slipping in a finger inside, looking up to watch your face screw up and admiring tara's tanned skin against yours.

"good enough for you, ms. yummy?" he asks teasingly, pressing kisses along your thighs and up your stomach as he works in a second finger. "shut up, zach." is all she says before giggling and pulling him into a kiss, both of them whimpering into the kiss as you're trying to keep your eyes open to watch.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

It’s been twenty years since my Microsoft DRM talk

On THURSDAY (June 20) I'm live onstage in LOS ANGELES for a recording of the GO FACT YOURSELF podcast. On FRIDAY (June 21) I'm doing an ONLINE READING for the LOCUS AWARDS at 16hPT. On SATURDAY (June 22) I'll be in OAKLAND, CA for a panel and a keynote at the LOCUS AWARDS.

This week on my podcast,This week on my podcast, I read my June 17, 2004 Microsoft Research speech about DRM, a talk that went viral two decades ago, and reassess its legacy:

https://craphound.com/msftdrm.txt

It's been 20 years (and one day) since I gave that talk. It wasn't my first talk like that, but at the time, it was the most successful talk I'd ever given. I was still learning how to deliver a talk at the time, tinkering with different prose and delivery styles (to my eye, there's a lot of Bruce Sterling in that one, something that's still true today).

I learned to give talks by attending sf conventions and watching keynotes and panel presentations and taking mental notes. I was especially impressed with the oratory style of Harlan Ellison, whom I heard speak on numerous occasions, and by Judith Merril, who was a wonderful mentor to me and many other writers:

https://locusmag.com/2021/09/cory-doctorow-breaking-in/

I was also influenced by the speakers I'd heard at the many political rallies I'd attended and helped organize; from the speakers at the annual Labour Day parade to the anti-nuclear proliferation and pro-abortion rights marches I was very involved with. I also have vivid memories of the speeches that Helen Caldicott gave in Toronto when I was growing up, where I volunteered as an usher:

https://www.helencaldicott.com/

When I helped found a dotcom startup in the late 1990s, my partners and I decided that I'd do the onstage talking; we paid for a couple hours of speaker training from an expensive consultant in San Francisco. The only thing I remember from that session was the advice to look into the audience as much as possible, rather than reading from notes with my head down. Good advice, but kinda obvious.

The impetus for that training was my onstage presentation at the first O'Reilly P2P conference in 2001. I don't quite remember what I said there, but I remember that it made an impression on Tim O'Reilly, which meant a lot to me then (and now):

https://www.oreilly.com/pub/pr/844

I don't remember who invited me to give the talk at Microsoft Research that day, but I think it was probably Marc Smith, who was researching social media at the time by data-mining Usenet archives to understand social graphs. I think I timed the gig so that I could kill three birds with one stone: in addition to that talk, I attended (and maybe spoke at?) that year's Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference, and attended an early preview of the soon-to-launch Sci Fi Museum (now the Museum of Pop Culture). I got to meet Nichelle Nichols (and promptly embarrassed myself by getting tongue-tied and telling her how much I loved the vocals she did on her recording of the Star Wars theme, something I'm still hot around the ears over, though she was a pro and gently corrected me, "I think you mean Star *Trek"):

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4IiJUQSsxNw&list=OLAK5uy_lHUn58fbpceC3PrK2Xu9smBNBjR_-mAHQ

But the start of that trip was the talk at Microsoft Research; I'd been on the Microsoft campus before. That startup I did? Microsoft tried to buy us, which prompted our asshole VCs to cram the founders and steal our equity, which created so much acrimony that the Microsoft deal fell through. I was pretty bitter at the time, but in retrospect, I really dodged a bullet – for one thing, the deal involved my going to work for Microsoft as a DRM evangelist. I mean, talk about the road not taken!

This was my first time back at Microsoft as an EFF employee. There was some pre-show meet-and-greet-type stuff, and then I was shown into a packed conference room where I gave my talk and had a lively (and generally friendly) Q&A. MSR was – and is – the woolier side of Microsoft, where all kinds of interesting people did all kinds of great research.

Indeed, almost every Microsoft employee I've ever met was a good and talented person doing the best work they could. The fact that Microsoft produces such a consistent stream of garbage products and crooked business practices is an important testament to the way that a rotten organization can be so much less than the sum of its parts.

I'm a fully paid up subscriber to Ronald Coase's "Theory of the Firm" (not so much his other views):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_firm

Coase says the reason institutions exist is to enable people to work together with lowered "coordination costs." In other words, if you and I are going to knit a sweater together, we're going to need to figure out how to make sure that we're not both making the left sleeve. Creating an institution – the Mafia, the Catholic Church, Microsoft, a company, a co-op, a committee that puts on a regional science fiction con – is all about minimizing those costs.

As Yochai Benkler pointed out in 2002, the coolest and most transformative thing about the internet is that it let us do more complex collective work with smaller and less structured institutions:

https://www.benkler.org/CoasesPenguin.PDF

That was the initial prompt for my novel Walkaway, which asked, "What if we could build luxury hotels and even space programs with the kind of (relatively) lightweight institutional overheads associated with Wikipedia and the Linux kernel?"

https://crookedtimber.org/2017/05/10/coases-spectre/

So the structure of institutions is really important. At the same time, I'm skeptical of the idea that there are "good companies" and "bad companies." Small businesses, family businesses, and other firms that aren't exposed to the finance sector can reflect their leaders' personalities, but it's a huge mistake to ascribe personalities to the companies themselves.

That's how you get foolish ideas like "Apple is a good company because they embrace paid service and Google is a bad company because they make money from surveillance." Apple will spy on you, too, if they can:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Disney and Fox weren't Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers making goo-goo eyes at each other across the table at MPA meetings. They were two giant public companies, and any differences between them were irrelevancies and marketing myths:

https://locusmag.com/2021/07/cory-doctorow-tech-monopolies-and-the-insufficient-necessity-of-interoperability/

I think senior management's personalities do matter (see, for example, the destruction of Boeing after it was colonized by sociopaths from McDonnell Douglas), but the influence of those personalities is much less important than the constraints that competition and regulation impose on companies. In other words, an asshole can run a company that delivers good products at fair prices under ethical conditions – provided that failing to do so will cost more in lost business and fines than they stand to make by cheating:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/24/record-scratch/#autoenshittification

Microsoft is a company founded and run by colossal assholes. Bill Gates is a monster and he surrounded himself with monsters, and they hired monsters to fill out the courts of their corporate palaces:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/14/patch-tuesday/#fool-me-twice-we-dont-get-fooled-again

To the extent that good things come out of Microsoft – some of its games products, the odd piece of hardware, important papers from MSR – it's in spite of the leadership; it's the result of constraints imposed by competition and regulation – and that's why Microsoft pursued such an aggressive program of extinguishing its competitors and capturing its regulators.

In retrospect, I think one of my goals in that talk was to convince those people doing good work for a rotten institution to go elsewhere and do other things. Certainly, that's one of the goals I pursue in the talks I give today. At the time, some of Microsoft's highest-profile technologists were publicly resigning over the company's war on free/open source software, so it wasn't an unrealistic goal:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030214215639/http://synthesist.net/writing/onleavingms.html

What I did not expect what that publishing the talk on my site and blogging it on Boing Boing would spark a wave of public interest that would get its message in front of several orders of magnitude more people than I spoke to at Microsoft that day. Partly, that was because I released the talk into the public domain, using the brand-new Creative Commons Public Domain Declaration (which was later replaced with the CC0 mark, due to legal issues withBu its drafting):

https://web.archive.org/web/20100223035835/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/

Some mix of the content of the speech, the spirit of the moment, and the novelty of that wide open license sparked a ton of interest. Jason Kottke recorded an audio version that Andy Baio hosted:

https://kottke.org/04/06/cory-drm-talk

My brutalist ASCII transcript was quickly converted to beautiful HTML by Matt Haughey and Anil Dash:

https://web.archive.org/web/20040622235333/http://www.dashes.com/anil/stuff/doctorow-drm-ms.html

For people who needed a hardcopy, there was Patrick Berry's printer-friendly stylesheet:

https://patandkat.com/pat/weblog/mirror/cory-drm/doctorow-drm-ms.html

Multiple people recorded (and sold!) audio versions, and then there were all the fan translations, into Danish, French, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (both EU and Brazilian), Spanish and Swedish. I stayed in touch with some of those translators, and they helped me translate the position papers I wrote for UN WIPO meetings. Those papers were so effective that ratfuckers from the copyright lobby started to steal them and hide them in the UN toilets (!):

https://web.archive.org/web/20041119132831/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/002117.php

Re-reading the speech for my podcast on Sunday, I expected to be struck by the anachronisms in it, and there were a few of those to be sure. But far more clear was the common thread running from this talk to other talks I gave that took on a significant life of their own, like my 2011 "War On General Purpose Computing" talk for CCC:

https://memex.craphound.com/2012/01/10/lockdown-the-coming-war-on-general-purpose-computing/

And my work on Adversarial Interoperability:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

And my most recent work, on enshittification:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/27/an-audacious-plan-to-halt-the-internets-enshittification-and-throw-it-into-reverse/

In other words, I've been saying the same thing – in different ways – for more than 20 years. That could be depressing, but I actually found it uplifting. Two decades ago, I was radicalized by a fear that the internet would be seized by corporations and governments and transformed into a system of surveillance and control. I found my way into a job at EFF, where I worked with colleagues across multiple disciplines – coders, lawyers and activists – to fight this force.

At the time, this was a fringe cause. Most of the traditional activists I'd come up with in the feminist, antiwar, antiracist, environmental and labour movement viewed digital rights as a distraction and dismissed its partisans as sad, self-obsessed nerds who mistook fights over the management of Star Trek message boards for civil rights struggles:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell

I thought I was right then, and I think history has borne me out. The point of waging these fights – both in the wide public sphere and within political movements – is to get people activated before it's too late. Every day that goes by is a day when the internet becomes more inhospitable to political organizing for a better world – more surveillant, more controlling. I believed then – and believe today – that the internet isn't more important that the other fights I waged as a young activist, but I think that the internet is fundamental to those fights.

Saving the planet, smashing patriarchy, overthrowing tyranny and freeing labor are all fights that will be coordinated – Coase style – on the internet. Without a free, fair and open internet, those fights are infinitely harder to win.

The project of getting people to understand, care about, and fight for digital rights is a marathon, not a sprint. When I joined EFF, it was already 12 years old. There were six people in the org then (I was the seventh). Today, there's more than a hundred of us, and we're stretched so thin! The 30+ year old idea that internet policy will intersect with every part of every fight has been utterly vindicated.

Back in 2004, I asked Microsoft why they were willing to fight the US government to the death over antitrust enforcement, but were such wimps when confronted with the entertainment industry's demands for DRM. 20 years later, I think I know the answer: Microsoft understood that DRM would let them usurp the relationship between creative workers, entertainment industry companies, and audiences. Their perfect instincts for seeking out and capitalizing on opportunities to seize monopoly power drove them to make deliberately defective products, in the belief that their market power would let them cram those products down our throats:

https://memex.craphound.com/2004/01/27/protect-your-investment-buy-open/

Here's a link to the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2024/06/16/my-2004-microsoft-drm-talk/

And here's direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they'll host your stuff for free forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_470/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_470_-_My_2004_Microsoft_DRM_Talk.mp3

And here's the RSS feed for my podcast:

https://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/18/greetings-fellow-pirates/#arrrrrrrrrr

[avrelia]

So… I’ve met another strange idea taking root in the AtlA fandom. I’ve seen it a couple of times around here, and I’ve head in on the Braving the Elements podcast from one of the guests.

The idea is that Aang has never seen a girl before Katara.

And at first I rolled my eyes and moved on, but after listened to it said aloud I decided to write a counterargument.

1) Aang was raised in the Southern Air Temple among monks and boys, but we have no evidence that he was locked there.

2) Aang is an Air Nomad. He traveled all over the world making friends everywhere. There is an ample evidence of this in the show: his familiarity with the different places in the world, his friendship with Bumi and Kuzon. He knows dances popular in the Fire Nation. He couldn’t possible have traveled the world and had not meet girls. Because you know, girls are not all locked down either.

3) we have seen in Appa’s memory young Aang at the Eastern Air temple with a grown Airbender nun who was overseeing sky bison babies meet Air nomad kids. Air Nomad men and women did mingle together.

4) we don’t know much about Air Nomad culture from the AtLA show, for obvious reasons. But if you are willing to accept supplementary evidence: in The Rift Comic Aang remembers Yangchen festival that brings all Air Nomads together; and in the Dawn of Yangchen novel we see young nuns hanging out in the Northern Air Temple where men live.

5) also don’t forget, it is from our point of view Katara is the first girl Aang sees in a century. From Aang’s POV, two days ago he was hanging out with his friends. And maybe a month ago he was playing a friendly air ball match with the girls’ teams. Katara is not special because she is a girl. Katara is special because she is Katara.

[aniesvision]

dating? (matt sturniolo x f! reader)

warnings: lying, anxiety, panicking (nothing too bad), mostly just fluff

a/n: hi!! this one is just a cute little short fluff, it's translated from my wattpad account. friendly reminder: english is not my first language, i'm sorry if there's any mistakes ✨

synopsis: your friends were going to have Madison Beer as their next guest on their podcast and you were excited to meet her. Things take a different turn when, finally talking to her, you realize one of your friends lied to her.

colors: matt you nick chris madison ✨

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

Just over two hours after entering the podcast studio, the three boys and the day's special guest, Madison Beer, appeared in the living room.

I had only arrived a few minutes ago and let myself in with the extra key that Nick had given to me once, considering how many times we went to each other's houses (he also have a key to my apartment).

I was practically family now. And, for that very reason, they accepted me only coming here today with the interest of getting to know Madison.

-Hi! It's so nice to finally meet you. -I smile excitedly as soon as I see the girl.

I was a big fan of her work, not the kind who followed every detail of her life or waited anxiously for news stories to find out when the new album was coming out, but the kind who listened to her songs from time to time and liked them. And also related with the lyrics.

Madison gives me a genuine smile, not waiting a second before pulling me into a hug, kindly greeting me and walking with me to the kitchen.

I showed her where the glasses and water were while the boys threw themselves down on the couch I was on earlier.

-The boys have told me a lot about you, especially Matt, you guys make such a cute couple. -She says with a big genuine smile, setting her empty glass on the counter.

-Huh? -I ask, confused. -What do you mean "couple"?

Madison spent her whole day with the guys. They decided to hang out before filming so it'd feel more natural. I haven't been able to talk to any of them yet, considering they were filming and I immediately went to talk to Madison when they were done.

I glance in the direction of the couch, seeing that Matt is looking at us suspiciously. Maybe he said we were dating for a reason, and I'll find out later, but for now I'm going to be the good friend who lies to get in on the act and help him out.

-Matt told me you guys are dating. And I'm sorry, I didn't know you had something, I have a friend who has a certain interest in him and I tried to help her, but neither of us are the type to destroy happy couples, so don't worry, it won't happen again.

Madison explains, making some gestures with her hands and I smile, trying to dispel the feeling of guilt that exuded from her face.

-Oh, it's okay, it's a recent thing, we haven't really announced it yet. -I answer, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. It's so hard to lie, specially about something like this and specially to THE Madison Beer.

-I understand, but now I know, and she knows, and I'm sorry again. -Madison says, but I can't answer as Matthew appears in the kitchen.

-Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? -The boy looks at me with a fake smile and pulls me by the wrist to his room, locking the door as soon as we enter.

He didn't even give me a chance to excuse myself, he just dragged me away from Madison.

-Matt, what the fuck was that? -I ask, disbelieving that I've been taken out of the conversation so abruptly.

I crossed my arms and looked at him in confusion, trying to understand his reaction. He seemed nervous and kept looking down, running his hand through his hair repeatedly.

-I don't know. -He replies, his voice low.

-Why did you tell her we're dating?

I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible, to show him that I wasn't angry, just confused. Annoyed, for sure, but mostly confused. I didn't want to make him feel bad in any way.

-Madison tried to give me her friend's number, and I don't know, I guess I panicked. -Matt rubs his eyes a little.

-If you didn't want to, you could've just said 'no' or 'I'm not interested'. -I uncross my arms, but continue to stare at him in confusion.

-I panicked. -He repeats, starting to play with the rings on his fingers.

I take a few steps forward and take a deep breath. I put my hand on his, squeezing it lightly and making him look at me.

-It's okay. -I smiled, trying to calm him down.

-Are you mad at me? -He asks, squeezing my hand tighter.

-Of course not. I was just confused, I still am, but I think the biggest problem isn't that you said it, it's that Madison is no longer the only one who knows about our "relationship" and maybe we need to talk about what to do now.

I keep making eye contact and standing close to him, not stepping back so he wouldn't think I was somehow mad at him. Matt and I have been friends for a long time, and we both show affection through touch, so hugs, holding hands, sleeping in the same bed and things like that, are normal. But it's always just friendly.

What's not so normal is hearing that he invented a relationship between the two of us so that he wouldn't have to dump a girl and for some reason during his moment of panic I was the person he thought of to say he was dating.

Although we have a very strong friendship, not just me and him, but me and his brothers, I understand that maybe I was a kind of easy answer because I was always there.

Part of me believes this theory, that it was just a mistake out of anxiety, nothing major. Part of me wants to believe that he feels something more.

It's not like I like him, or have a crush on him or anything. I don't feel anything other than friendship for him, I can't feel it.

He's my friend and he should probably just stay my friend.

He really is an amazing person, he's attractive, I can't deny that, he's funny, we have a lot in common, we get along well, I enjoy being with him and he would certainly make a great boyfriend.

But not for me, he doesn't see me that way.

He could've gotten someone's number, he could've gotten along with a nice person, and yet he preferred to lie and say he was dating me.

He preferred a fake relationship to the chance of something real.

He panicked, but why did he panic? It's not as if anyone would think it was that bad to be dumped, it's not. It happens all the time.

I don't know how I'd feel if he told me that he'd got the number of a new girl. That he's going out with her, that he likes her. I don't know how I'd feel if he had someone else in his life. Someone that's not going to be just a friend.

I should be happy, but I probably wouldn't.

It's Matt, after all. He's my best friend, he's the one who's with me in every situation, he's the person I want to be with in my days and rely on for every moment. That's Matt. And I love him with all my heart.

I don't want to distance myself if I know he has someone else with whom he's going to do all the things we do. And even more things we've never done, but in any case, the attention would be hers, it would all be for her.

And as selfish as it is, maybe I don't want that person to exist for him. I want to remain the focus of his attention.

-I don't know what to do. -He says, getting more anxious and pulling me out of my own thoughts, back to facing the situation.

-Matt, it's okay. -I put my hands on his face, forcing him to look at me as I spoke. -It's just a fake dating thing. It's not the worst thing in the world and we'll work it out together, okay?

Matt puts his hands on my hips, pulling me closer.

-I don't know if I want to lie anymore. I can't. I need to tell the truth. -He whispers, shaking his head repeatedly.

I put my arms around him, hugging him and feeling his rapid heartbeat as he tried to take a deep breath.

-Breathe, Matt, I'm here, and it's okay, it's going to be okay.

I keep squeezing his body and he squeezes mine back, only pulling slightly away to look me in the eye.

-I lied to Madison and I couldn't say "no" because I'd feel guilty accepting another girl's number knowing that there's only one girl in this world that I want. -His voice is just above a whisper, a little shaky but firm enough to show how serious he was about his words.

He placed his hand on my cheek, caressing it gently.

-Matt... -I try to say something, but I was so stunned with the confession that I couldn't.

-I lied because I'm in love with you and I do want to date you for real, I'm sorry, I should have just confessed all this before and avoided this situation, I'm really sorry, I'm an idiot.

I giggle at the way he said it. Matt has just confessed his feelings for me and he's so anxious that he looks like he's going to die at any second and I can only laugh. It's so silly. So stupidly silly, the way I've been shoving my feelings down the ground and he was out there lying that he was dating me because he feels the same. And neither of us though of talking about it before acting stupid.

-Then we don't have to do anything, silly. There's no fake relationship to unmask if it's real. -I smile, slipping my arms around his shoulders and getting even closer to him.

-Wait. Does that mean you feel the same? -He asks, his eyes widening in a mix of confusion and surprise.

Without thinking too much, I close the distance between us, bringing our lips together in a long affectionate kiss. We pull apart from lack of air and I smile with our faces still close.

-Do you want to be my girlfriend? Like, for real this time? -Matt asked, with our lips ghosting.

He had a smile on his face that immediately made me realize how much I am and always have been in love with him, I just never wanted to accept it.

-Of course I do. -I accept, with a smile.

He joins our lips in a kiss once more and leaves several kisses on my face, then on my neck and finally back on my lips.

-Matt, everyone's in the living room, we need to go back. -I giggle, with my eyes closed, still feeling kisses on my face with a smile.

-Yeah, you need to talk to Madison more, I forgot you came just to see her today. -He lets go of me, chuckling and taking my hand.

-It's not my fault she's perfect. -I laugh too, interlacing our fingers with a shrug and pulling us towards the bedroom door.

-You're the only one who's perfect for me. -Matt whispers in my ear before opening the door and pulling me into the hallway, his face completely red with a silly grin.

We sat down together on the couch next to Madison and I got back into talking to her again, about the podcast, her music, her day, what she liked to do and things like that. She's such a sweetheart and I was so happy to meet her that my heart was racing. Obviously not just because of that, but honestly this day is just full of surprises.

At some point, Nick and Chris got closer and joined in the conversation too and it was amazing to see how everyone was so comfortable talking to each other.

Madison seemed to be a great friend and I intended to keep her in my life.

While Nick asked about what we wanted to eat and they discussed seating options, Matt wrapped his arm around my shoulders and sank his head into my neck, leaving little kisses all around.

-You guys are so cute. -Madison draws the attention of the whole group to the two of us, making me feel a little embarrassed, but happy.

-It's normal, they're clingy, it's disgusting. -Nick comments, still not connecting the dots.

-Don't say this, Nick, every couple is clingy at first. I think it's cute. -Madison looks at me with a smile.

-COUPLE? -Nick and Chris yell together, confused, looking between everyone in the room.

I hear Matt's giggle, his face still nestled in the crook of my neck. He must have been as embarrassed as I was, but it was still funny.

-Yes, a couple, people who are dating and all that. I think we forgot to tell them. -I say, sarcastically, trying to stay serious and not burst into laughter as I nudge Matt.

-Dating? You two are dating? -Nick asks again, confused. He took turns looking between me and Matt, arching an eyebrow.

Chris was looking at us laughing and Madison was a little confused, but finding the whole thing just as funny. Then Matt lifts his face, showing his big smile and red face, pulls me closer, making me lay my head on his chest this time, and starts messing with strands of my hair before looking at his brothers.

-Yes, Nick, we're dating.

With that, he lifts my face by the chin and leaves a quick kiss on my lips. I could feel my heart beating faster, but Nick and Chris's reactions were so good that I couldn't pay attention to my nervousness.

-AND YOU TOLD MADISON FIRST?! -Nick looks at us indignantly.

-I didn't mean to, but yeah, I guess. -Matt comments, shrugging and running his free hand over the back of his neck.

-Since when? -Chris asks, pointing at the two of us.

Matt looks at me in slight despair. We needed to be cautious not to seem like he lied to Madison too.

-It's recent, we'll tell you the details later, where are we going to eat now? I'm hungry. -I say, trying to change the subject.

And it worked, everyone went back to discussing where to go out to eat and forgot the information about our recent relationship, which was more recent than they could ever know.

-Thank you. -Matt whispers in my ear and I smile in response, snuggling closer to him and enjoying the moment.

I certainly could never have imagined Matthew with anyone else, and I'm glad I realized it in time. It'd be painful to see him with another girl.

tags 💕

@riowritesitall

[sunshinehaze1]

Walking on Sunshine

Pairing: dog walker!Frankie x f!reader

Summary: Fortunately for you, Frankie sticks to a consistent schedule when walking the neighbor’s dog.

Warnings: Mature. meet-cute, fluff, Frankie with dogs

a/n: This was written for @punkshort AU August Writing Challenge. I was given the prompt of a dog walker Frankie AU. Thank you to @80ssong for the beta read and @ak-vintage for letting me bounce around title ideas. 🫶🏻

word count: 1,597

ao3 | ml

Frankie found himself in a fortunate position where his cut of Lorea’s money could sustain him for multiple lifetimes. Despite this financial security, Frankie was a man who couldn’t stand idleness. It was in his nature to keep himself occupied, so he’d visit the hangar to help his friends with repairs and pilot helicopter tours to keep up with his flight hours. Despite his busy schedule, Frankie still managed to find time during the week. Ever since he was young, he has had a strong love for dogs, and the feeling is mutual. To fill his schedule, he started working as a dog walker. It got him outside in the fresh air, with the added benefit of exercise, and allowed him to spend time with a variety of dogs. Frankie has always wanted a dog of his own, especially now that he has retired from the Army and could dedicate the time to train and bond with a new companion. He wanted to wait until his daughter was older, and now that she’s just turned six, he feels ready to commit. Until then, dog walking has helped fill the void.

You were confused when you first saw Frankie walking your neighbor’s dog in front of your house. Having moved into the neighborhood just a couple of months ago, you knew the other dog owners in the area and would have remembered Frankie. Your move started a new chapter in your life following the end of a tumultuous relationship that had run its course. From your desk, you had an unobstructed view of him—his broad shoulders visibly stretching the fabric of a fitted grey shirt, soft brown curls peeking out from under his ball cap, and the cutest butt as he walked past your house. You noticed over the following days that he walked by at the same time—a man with a consistent schedule, which you appreciate. With the hope of a chance encounter, you adjusted your schedule slightly for your mid-day walks with your dog. In the following weeks, you and Frankie exchange polite head nods and waves as you pass each other on opposite sides of the street. 

Your last morning meeting ran long, causing you to start today’s walk late, and you were worried you’d miss seeing Frankie. You put in your AirPods, queued up the latest episode of your favorite podcast, locked up, and headed out. It’s a hot day with the sun blazing, so you encourage your dog to do their business quickly as you feel sweat beading on your back. As you walked, immersed in your podcast, you were distracted by something across the street and didn’t notice Frankie heading your way. It took you a minute to realize Frankie’s charge had gotten loose from its leash and was making a beeline to greet your dog. Frankie runs after the dog, calling its name, and stops short right before you. You barely manage to catch your breath seeing him this close. Seeing him from afar did not prepare you for how handsome he was up close. You take in his bright smile, soft eyes, angled nose, and chiseled jaw patched with a scruffy beard. Frankie apologizes for his charge getting off the leash, but you assure him it isn’t a big deal as the dogs were getting along just fine, as evidenced by their friendly sniffing and wagging tails. You and Frankie introduce yourselves and exchange the dogs’ names. Frankie squats down to say ‘hello’ to your dog, who greets him with relaxed ears, an excited tail wag, and an eagerness to lick Frankie’s face—a promising sign since your dog tends to be more reactive towards unfamiliar men. Frankie chuckles as he stands up, knees creaking. 

He mentions that after seeing you for the past couple of weeks, he’s happy to put a name to the face finally. You feel his gaze slowly drifting up and down your body, admiring you. His smile grows wider when he notices you look down, trying to avoid his gaze. The heat of the sun and Frankie’s eyes burning into you have become too much. You suggest moving out of the sun and invite Frankie for a refreshing lemonade on your covered porch. You still have half an hour before your next meeting. He graciously accepts and follows you back to your place. He takes a seat while you head inside to get the drinks. You are pleasantly surprised that your dog stays with Frankie, which makes you think he must be a good person since dogs are pretty good judges of character.

Thankful to be out of the direct sun, you learn more about Frankie and why he decided to start dog walking. You discuss your work and how you appreciate the flexibility of working from home, allowing you to spend time with your dog and take midday walks. The thirty minutes pass quickly, and you’re disappointed that you have to cut your conversation short. Frankie has a sweet and funny personality, is charming and confident, and you find his voice captivating. You could listen to him read the phonebook. 

Frankie thanks you for the drink, and you exchange goodbyes. As he retreats from your porch down your driveway, you try not to stare for too long, admiring his figure and how he carries himself. Suddenly, he pauses and turns around. You’re worried that you've been caught staring, only to confirm it when you look up and see a smirk on Frankie’s face. Encouraged by your admiration, he steps closer and asks, “I’ve enjoyed this, and I’d love to continue talking. Could I have your number?” 

You can't help but smile brightly as you answer with a resounding "yes." You ask for his phone to add your number to his contacts. When Frankie takes his phone from you, his fingers brush over yours. The contact flusters you, and you attempt to compose yourself, hoping Frankie didn't notice. With a smile that reaches his eyes, he descends the porch stairs with a second goodbye and a promise that he'll be in touch. You watch as Frankie returns to your neighbor's house, and you head back inside to finish your workday.

A few weeks passed, and Frankie started joining you on your walks. You find yourself at ease with Frankie. He’s told you about his time in the army, what inspired him to become a pilot, and his daughter. You loved to see the twinkle in his eyes when he talked fondly of his daughter and told you about their latest adventure or funny things she said. He mentions his desire for a dog, that he’s ready to look at adoptable dogs, and plans to surprise his daughter. Despite going on many walks together, he hadn't made any moves to ask you out. Feeling frustrated, you decide to take matters into your own hands and make a suggestion.

“Frankie, the animal shelter where I adopted my dog, has several currently available. Would you like to meet them and grab a drink afterward?”

Frankie was impressed by your confidence and thrilled that one of you had finally made a move to shift this relationship beyond these walks. Not that he minded them; quite the opposite, he’s had a great time getting to know you and enjoys being in your presence. But it was time to see if things could progress. 

“That would be great! I would love that. My daughter is with her mom this weekend; how about Saturday? I can come by to pick you up.”

You smile demurely and reply, “Saturday would be perfect. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Awesome, it’s a date!”

You’re surprised by how quickly the week has passed, with Saturday arriving in the blink of an eye. It's been hard to contain your excitement. You've dressed casually in a pair of jeans that hug your curves and a scoop-neck top that is low enough to offer a peek of your cleavage. You wanted something practical yet still made an effort to look good, especially considering you'll go from playing with dogs to a bar afterward.

It had been some time since your last first date, and you anxiously waited for Frankie to arrive. Thankfully, his truck pulled into your driveway right on time. You appreciate his punctuality, as you were on the verge of letting your nerves get the best of you. Frankie is a good guy, and you’re excited about the potential, especially after your last relationship. You swing the front door open just as Frankie begins to knock, his tightly clenched hand frozen midair. You both smiled, caught each other's eyes, and let your gaze wander. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at you, “U-uh, WOW, you look great!” Your cheeks warmed as you heard his sincere compliment, feeling flattered to receive it while wearing such a casual ensemble. Imagine what his reaction would be when you’re dressed up. You thank him sweetly. 

After you lock up, Frankie leads you to his truck with his hand lightly touching the small of your back. He opens the door and helps you into the car as you lift yourself onto the running board and into the truck. Frankie finds it hard to look away from the sight of your figure in your tight jeans. He hopes that this date goes well and that he will meet a dog that strikes him with the same lightning bolts he felt when he first saw you. He’s excited to discover what the future has in store for him. 

Thank you for reading! I'd love to know what you think. Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated. 🫶🏻

[doyouremem8erme]

mutual 1: save me doomed yuri. save me

mutual 2: i think id be happier if my boobs were replaced with small and friendly sharks

mutual 3: who wants to get trapped in a narrative with me. it does have to be weird

mutual 4: (13 consecutive reblogs of fanart of a podcast ive never listened to)

mutual 5: hey check out this insane piano composition youll be zonked out of your gourd

mutual 6: (insanely detailed and vibrant art) drew this in the bathtub lol

mutual 7: what if wolverines invented religion. they could make vehicles out of abandoned shopping carts

mutual 8: i love my blorbos what do you mean theyre my ocs. from my brain

mutual 9: theres something so beautiful aboutmaking fun animal noises. BARKBARKBARK AWOOOOO

mutual 10: (screenshots of a straight couple) theyre lesbians to me. theyre doomed yuri. do you see my vision

mutual 11: i love violence. women who love violence hmu.

mutual 12: the ibm system/360 has an almost sexual quality if i'm being honest

mutual 13: (art that could easily be seen displayed in a museum as a work of a fine master) its the yaoi

mutual 14: my idiot cat ate my entire fucking cake??? (# hes ok)

mutual 15: oh hatsune miku we're really in it now

mutual 16: (image of a character who has killed thousands and injured many more) shes like a sopping wet pathetic cat to me

mutual 17: i think i huave autism

mutual 18: (the same cryptic meme reblogged 50 times, interspersing with the rest of the dash)

mutual 19: for vampires drinking blood is like a sluttier version of eating pussy. especially if its gay

mutual 20: (responding to an incredibly vague and mysterious ask with no context) hello mutual x. i know its you

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

I Believe You, But Tell Me Again

(x)

Summary: Y/N is wondering if Jensen still sees her as he used to.

Warnings/Explicit 18+: Lots of fluffy smut. Sexy af Jensen. Rockstar!Jensen. Definitely a warning. Unprotected PinV sex. Oral (f receiving), Brief fingering, some slightly insecure thoughts, established relationship. Fluff.

Pairings: Jensen x Reader

Word Count: 3,314

A/N: This fic is a request by @lacilou .

I'm not sure if you're taking requests, but I can't get this out of my head. Jensen, in the photo you're using for Off and On Again. Where he's super hot, and he knows it. Kinda cocky but totally in love with the reader (established relationship - married, long-time girlfriend??) And reader doesn't understand why he's so into her, but she KNOWS it even though Jensen has to remind her with "Feel this? It's all for you, "while he's holding the reader's hand over his bulge. If you could throw in "this what you want?" while he's slowly stroking himself as he walks towards the reader, lust in his eyes.

I hope you enjoy it sweetie, and everyone else too.

The dividers below were created by @talesmaniac89

The lights were bright, slightly blinding, as Y/N sat in front of the two cameras aimed at her. There were two cameras so they could decide later on which side was her better side. Or possibly her worse side, depending on the tone of the interview. 

Y/N squinted at the primped and stylish woman sitting across from her getting her makeup touched up. She wondered, would this interview be a friendly one? An interview to say, “Look everyone! Aren’t the Ackles great?” Or would it be one of those interviews that had an edge of nasty hovering just beneath the smile of the interviewer. 

She watched this interviewer, Shauna, pull away from her makeup artist, scowling. “It’s fine, Lisa. Just leave it alone.” 

Uh oh.

The interview started off friendly enough, touching on the things most journalists talked to her about - Jensen’s incredible skyrocketing success, his status as a rockstar icon, what a talent he was. As Jensen’s biggest fan, Y/N always enjoyed those kinds of questions. She couldn’t get enough of bragging about her ridiculously talented husband. 

But then the mood of the interview shifted and Shauna started asking much more pointed questions. 

“Now, Y/N, you and Jensen have been married over a decade now, right?” Y/N nodded. “Is there a secret to your success?” Shauna was smiling, but Y/N could see that her gray eyes were calculating.

It was a question she’d been asked a lot in the last couple of years as their ten year anniversary came and went. People seemed very interested in the fact that their marriage had lasted so much longer than had been anticipated. When Jensen had started dating her, just a nobody from nowhere, everyone had predicted it wouldn’t last. 

People on social media and angry people with podcasts all had an opinion on their relationship.

-- She’s not cut out for the limelight.

-- It’s way too hard for someone like her.

-- She’s not used to the media. She’s gonna break under the pressure.

-- He’s a rockstar who could literally get any girl he wanted. So, what’s up with him picking her?

-- It won’t last. These showbiz marriages never do.

But ten years on, now people were wondering how they actually made it to a decade. “What’s the secret?” They all wanted to know.

“There’s really no secret, Shauna.” Y/N said with a smile. “When two people are madly in love with each other, when they respect each other and work together as partners, staying together becomes much easier.” 

It was a variation on the same answer she’d given dozens of times. It happened to be true, but Y/N was still tired of trying to find new ways to explain to people that they got married because they loved each other, and they stayed married because the alternative was unthinkable for either of them.

Shauna smiled a sharp smile. “And in all those years, you’ve never been worried about the rock and roll lifestyle…leading Jensen astray?”

Y/N kept smiling because she couldn’t falter and let the reporter know she’d scored a hit. They weren’t usually that pointed with the infidelity question. Usually they skirted around it, saying things like, “Does it ever get hard when he’s on the road?” or “You must miss him when he’s touring. How do you keep tabs on him?” 

Y/N’s personal favorite version of this question came from a middle-aged woman reporter with lipstick on her teeth. “Have you ever just shown up to surprise him, or tried to catch him being naughty?” It was said with a cheeky grin as though they were just besties chatting, but Y/N had wanted to snatch the woman bald.

Shauna’s version of the question was the closest anyone had ever come to asking her outright, “Do you worry about your husband cheating on you?”

Y/N kept smiling and shook her head. “No, never. If you knew Jensen, you wouldn’t wonder about it either. He’s the most loyal man I’ve ever known, and the most honorable. I know beyond a doubt that he doesn’t take our vows lightly, and that he would never, ever hurt me like that.”

Shauna seemed slightly taken aback by Y/N’s adamant, genuine answer, clearly expecting some anger or some kind of dramatic reaction from her. When she didn't get it, the reporter just smiled again.

“So sweet.” Was her response, acid dripping from her words.

***

The day of interviews had taken quite a bit out of Y/N, especially the last one, and she was tired as she wandered out to the limousine that was waiting to take her and Jensen back to their hotel, whenever he was done with his part of the press junket.

The limo driver opened the door for her and smiled. “Fatima says Mr. Ackles is almost finished and will be out in about ten minutes. Do you want to wait for him? Or should I take you and send another car for him?”

Y/N smiled back and shook her head. “No, let’s wait for him.”

“Okay, great.” The driver said as he closed the door behind her. 

In less than ten minutes, she saw Jensen push out of the double doors, and amble towards the car. He wore black jeans that clung to his thick thighs, and a gray t-shirt covered by a black, long-sleeved denim shirt. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing the veins and corded muscles in his forearms - muscles he’d gained by long hours spent playing the guitar.

As he got closer to the car, she watched him push a hand through his long hair, sweeping it off his forehead, and she sighed deeply. Good God, he was so stunningly sexy. 

Even when he was just walking, he moved with the same seductive grace he used like a siren song onstage. No matter how many times Y/N watched him in concert, she never got used to that kind of magnetic, cocky seductiveness that poured out of him when he was singing. He knew he drove people crazy. He knew it, and it just made him smile.

He was smiling now as he climbed into the car. “Hey beautiful.”

Y/N smiled tiredly at him, feeling her heart warm at his usual greeting. When he settled into the seat, he reached over and pulled her into his lap.

She squealed lightly as he lifted her, and then chuckled. “You know there are seatbelts we’re supposed to be wearing.”

Jensen shrugged and squeezed her tighter against him. “Nah! I gotcha.” 

Y/N laughed again. “Oh, okay then.” She said, snuggling closer to him. The interview had knocked her off kilter a bit, and it felt especially good to have Jensen’s arms wrapped around her. 

She tucked her head under his chin, and he ran his big hand up and down her arm. “Hey,” he said with concern lacing his voice, “everything okay?”

Y/N nodded. “Yeah, just a long day sitting in the same room, being asked basically the same questions.” She shrugged. “I just wanna get home. Or, well, hotel.”

Jensen accepted her answer, kissing her forehead and then her lips. “Me too.” 

They ordered in their dinner, neither of them keen to face more crowds and questions, and spent the evening watching some trashy reality TV before calling it a night a bit earlier than usual.

Y/N went into the bathroom to get ready. She brushed her teeth and took off her makeup, and as she stood in front of the mirror she looked at her face closely. 

There were some lines there that hadn’t been there when she first met Jensen. She knew there was a gray hair or two hiding amongst the rest that also hadn't existed back then. 

She pulled her silk nightgown tight against her body and could see where she was rounder than she had been when she was younger. Her muscle tone wasn’t as good. 

I should hit the gym more, she thought.

She pinched one of her love handles and pulled at her skin, wondering what Jensen really thought about all these changes. She knew he loved her, knew that he’d always found her attractive. But how was that holding up these days? Did he still feel the same kind of heat for her? Did he still want her as desperately as she still wanted him?

She jumped slightly as Jensen popped up in the mirror behind her to wrap his arms around her waist, and nuzzle his face in the crook of her neck. He wore his pajama bottoms and nothing more. She looked at his biceps flexing around her as he squeezed her back against him, and his round, muscled shoulders, broad and strong, and she sighed. He was still so unbelievably perfect.

She lightly tapped his forearm where it rested just below her breasts. “You scared me.” She said, her voice accusatory.

He chuckled. “Sorry, I thought you heard me.” He caught her eye in the mirror. “But you seemed to be lost in thought.”

He moved his lips to her temple. “What thoughts are swirling around in that beautiful mind of yours? Hmm?” He murmured. 

She shrugged a shoulder. “Nothing.” 

Jensen’s face in the mirror wore a disbelieving look. “Don’t believe that for a second.” He pulled back slightly, and turned her in his arms so she was facing him. A small line of worry was creased between his brows.

“You’ve been quiet all evening; something is obviously on your mind.”

Y/N shrugged again and looked down at their bare feet. “Just tired.”

Jensen put his knuckle under her chin and made her look at him. “Y/N. Tell me.”

Y/N was caught completely by surprise as her eyes welled up with tears. She didn’t know where these doubts were coming from or why she was feeling this way. Maybe it was just one too many snide questions.

Jensen’s face crumpled as he saw her tears. He cupped her cheeks and brushed them away as they spilled over her lashes. “Baby.” His voice was worried and confused. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong? What happened?”

Y/N shook her head. “No, nothing happened. Really. It was just this reporter.” 

Jensen waited for her to continue, but his worried expression darkened slightly in anger.

Y/N bit her lip and debated what to tell him, how to explain the feelings she barely understood herself. Finally she just went for the honesty they’d always had with each other; they’d never been afraid to ask for what they needed from one another, and what she needed was reassurance.

“Do you still want me? I mean, the same as you used to.”

Jensen seemed completely taken aback by the question. Clearly that hadn’t been where he expected this conversation to go. He shook his head.

“Why would you even ask that? Of course I do.”

Y/N frowned. “Don’t just tell me what I want to hear. Please, tell me the truth. Are there things about me you’d change if you could?”

Jensen’s expression turned thunderous and he dropped his hands from her cheeks to grip her upper arms. “Y/N.” He said firmly. “What the hell are you talking about? Where is this coming from? Of course I don’t want you to change.”

“I don’t mean my personality, or whatever.” Y/N explained wiping her tears away with both hands. “But my face or my body, the way I look. I know it isn’t the same as when we first met.”

Jensen shook his head, his voice incredulous. “Well no, you don’t look exactly the same as the day I met you over a decade ago.” He blew out an exasperated breath. “But you know, I’m pretty sure I don’t either.”

Y/N felt her skin flush. “But you’ve just gotten hotter.” She frowned. “Guys do that.” 

She opened her mouth to say something more, but Jensen slammed his mouth down on hers, sweeping his tongue into her mouth and invading her completely. She let out a little whimper as his hands let go of her arms to grab her ass and press her hard against him. He kissed her long, deep, swallowing every soft moan.

When he pulled back his voice was husky with want. “Baby, I don’t know where these questions are coming from, but I know the answers.” 

He grabbed Y/N’s hand and placed it on his hard cock where it tented his pajama bottoms, obviously not restrained by underwear. She bit her lip as he closed his eyes and groaned when she wrapped her fingers around him. 

“Feel this? It’s all for you, all because of you. Fuck, Y/N do you see what you do to me? Still? Always?” He pushed aside some of the bottles and jars that littered the countertop and lifted her onto it easily. His hand slipped between her legs and he groaned at her bare, wet pussy. “Believe me when I tell you that I want you. Every day. All the time. Years don’t change that.”

He shook his head. “In fact they just make things better cause now I know what happens if I do this.” 

He dipped his head, sucking her satin clad nipple into his mouth, while his thick middle finger slid inside her body at the same time. A strangled cry left her lips and she thumped her head back against the mirror.

She felt him smile against her. “Exactly.”

He took his hand out of her to tug on her nightgown. She shifted slightly so he could pull the silky material over her head as he continued.  “And yet, your body’s always a revelation to me. It never stops fascinating me.” His eyes followed the path of his fingers as he trailed them down her arms and then over the soft swell of her breasts. Gooseflesh erupted on her skin and her nipples puckered.

He circled his forefinger around the tight little bud, before dipping his head once again to flick the tip of his tongue against it. 

Y/N moaned deeply and wrapped her fingers up in his honey brown locks. “Jensen.” She gasped as he sucked her breast into his mouth and drew on it deeply, causing her cunt to clench and quiver.

He pulled her forward, to the edge of the counter, and then dropped to his knees. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and pulled her wide open so he could reach his tongue up to tease her hole. Y/N plunged her hand back into his hair and tugged on it before pushing his head harder against her dripping pussy. 

“God, fuck Jensen, yes.” She rambled.

He hummed against her folds before nibbling at her clit, making her knees try to lock around his ears. But his superior strength kept her legs spread wide so he could feast. He breathed hot against her, alternating between flicking his tongue against her clit and sucking it between his plump, luscious lips.

It wasn’t long before Y/N was bucking against his mouth as she rode out her climax while he lapped up her juices. She panted desperately and tugged on his hair again, begging him. “Please Jensen, fuck me. I need to feel you, need you inside me so badly.”

Jensen stood and scooped her off the counter, walking back into their bedroom. He laid her out on the bed, making sure her head was propped up on the pillows, before stepping away from her. He moved far enough back so that she had an unencumbered view as he slowly lowered his pajama bottoms. 

His cock sprang free to lean, hard and dripping, against his stomach. Y/N felt her mouth go dry and a keening moan erupted from her throat as he gripped himself in his fist, pumping slowly.

He walked towards her one slow step at a time. His voice was a growl. “Is this what you want?” She nodded, biting her lips and trying desperately not to come again, just from watching him.

“Tell me you want it.” Jensen ordered.

Y/N nodded again, almost frantically. “Yes, fuck. I want it. I want your cock.” She reached for him as he stood barely a foot from the side of the bed. “I need it. I need you.”

Jensen climbed onto the bed on his knees, grabbing up her wrists with both hands and pressing them into the pillows on either side of her head. He stared into her eyes as he spoke. 

“And I need you too, Y/N. I need you desperately, obsessively. I need you every waking minute. I need your love and your kindness. I need your good soul and beautiful heart.” He entered her in one hard thrust and she cried out. “But I also need your soft body. I need to sink into you. I need to feel you move against me. I need to hear you say my name like a moan. I need to feel you clench tight around me.”

He began moving slowly, sliding in and out of her with silky, unhurried movements. “I will always love you. I will always want you. And I will never need you any less than completely.” He cupped her cheek with one hand. “Do you understand me?”

Y/N nodded and gasped as his cock slid over her sweet spot. “Yes. Yes.” Was all she could manage to chant. But it satisfied him and he began to move faster.

He switched positions slightly so he could lift her hips off the bed, hooking her knees over his forearms. He began to slam into her, hitting that same sweet spot over and over until Y/N was screaming out her overwhelming pleasure and falling into euphoria. 

Jensen continued to jackhammer into her, grunting harshly with each thrust. He pounded into her pussy over and over until she was once again on the precipice of bliss. As his hips faltered, he dropped one of her legs so he could slide his thumb between their bodies and swirl it against her clit. She screamed again and fell for the third time, clenching around him and pulling his climax out of him, along with her own.

The familiar aftermath of damp skin pressed together and lungs starved for oxygen, brought Y/N a kind of all encompassing satisfaction and peace. When Jensen finally rolled off of her, she rolled with him, so she could slot herself up against his side, wrapping one arm over his ribs and laying her head on his chest as he ran his fingers teasingly up and down her back making her shiver.

They were both quiet for a few minutes before Jensen broke the silence. “Y/N tell me the truth.” He said, and Y/N could hear the protectiveness and anger on her behalf permeating his tone. “Did someone say something or do something to hurt you today?”

But she just shook her head. “No, it wasn’t any different than a million other interviews really.” She shrugged. “Something about it just hit me, I guess.”

She raised up on her elbow, chin in her hand, to look at him. “But if you tell me you love me as truly, madly, deeply as you did the day we met, then I believe you.”

Jensen frowned slightly. “Are you comparing me to a Savage Garden song?”

Y/N giggled, but ignored the question, kissing him softly before laying her head back down on his chest. She smiled against his skin as she spoke. 

“I believe you, but tell me again.”

Jensen’s breath ruffled her hair as he sighed contentedly. “I will love you, and desperately want to devour you, every single day of my life - for the rest of my life.”

Y/N nodded, and her voice was full of confidence as she snuggled closer. “Thought so.”

Jensen RPF and Any/All Characters: @lyarr24 @lacilou @deans-spinster-witch @globetrotter28 @suckitands33 @akshi8278 @evznackles @jackles010378 @impala67rollingthroughtown @krazykelly @candy-coated-misery0731 @envyaurora95 @spnwoman @deans-baby-momma

Any/All Fics Regardless of Character or Fandom: @kazsrm67 @slut-for-evans-stan @sexyvixen7 @nancymcl @waywardcheshire

Everything Incl. Fan Edits: @k-slla @leigh70 @eevvvaa @kickingitwithkirk @foxyjwls007 @notinthislife50 @roseblue373 @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @avanatural @mrsjenniferwinchester @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone

[whoistartaglia]

genshin men as types of influencers—part two

part one

cyno has a prank channel, but “prank” is a loosely-defined term. sure, he acts like everything he’s filming are pranks, but are they really? he laughs at them meanwhile the person being pranked ends up more confused than anything else. the ends of the videos include an in-depth explanation as to why the prank is funny and why the audience should be laughing (they’re still not).

dottore has a very bland account dedicated to his research and experiments. this includes hours long, unedited videos of him going through the procedure, and barely explaining anything at all. he doesn’t get a lot of views, except for one random video with millions of views, likes, and comments. it’s definitely not pinned on his channel either.

albedo also has an account dedicated to his experiments, except that his videos are more like tutorials. he’ll explain the procedure, what materials you’ll need, and go through step-by-step on how to set up and complete the experiment. struggling high school and college kids love him, and he even takes his time to respond to some comments.

heizou is the host of a true crime podcast. what started out as him bragging about his escapades turned into biweekly uploads about true crimes around teyvat. sometimes he’ll bring on co-hosts, other times it’ll just be him. heizou knows the ins and outs of the detective side of things, and he’s such a naturally-gifted narrator that he’s swiftly amassed a legion of loyal fans.

tighnari has an account dedicated to nature and the environment. you’ll find several videos of animals, wilderness survival guides, and even a glimpse into his own day in the life. he most certainly has a couple rants about travelers and adventurers getting a little too friendly to hostile animals—he tells his audience to learn from their mistakes, no matter how funny the story may be.

kazuha posts pictures of short videos of his travels over teyvat, and his account is very aesthetically pleasing. he has an overall neutral color scheme and the photos he takes breathe serenity and peace—even if his day-to-day life can sometimes be anything but. he always includes where he’s currently visiting and comments on the county in the caption.

lyney posts card tricks. he is able to captivate his audience with such tricks, even fooling the most keenest of eyes. his shuffling is also impressive; can he split the deck and have the cards arranged in whatever order he wants in under a minute. his audience begs for a tutorial that lyney will never give—a magician never reveals his secrets, after all.

[two-white-butterflies]

do i wanna know? | m33

Description: Max Verstappen begins dating Tony Stark's daughter.

Pairing: max verstappen/nepo-baby!reader

y/n_stark: happy father's day, so much to be thankful for ✨ tagged: tony

192 comments 182,390 likes

tonystarkisasigma: #1 alpha male

maxverstappen1: Happy Father's Day - f1forzaferrari: ariana what r u doing here 💀

schecoperez: ¡Feliz Día del Padre! - ilikesmootheis19: BYEE WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE

danielricciardo: pls tell ur dad to give me a seat 😇 - y/n_stark: will do!

yukitsunoda0511: happy birthday

alonsohamiltonworld: friendly reminder that tony stark owns redbull and alpha tauri, that's why the drivers are kissing his @ss

Y/N STARK ALLEGEDLY DATING AN F1 DRIVER. by deuxmoi (podcast)

Deuxmoi: So allegedly a famous billionaire superhero nepo-baby is dating an F1 racer. My bets are on Y/N Stark, because her dad is the only superhero with kids. As for the F1 racer, we're not sure - some people in my dms say that it's Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc or Max Verstappen.

y/n_stark: first time in the redbull garage, totally in awe ✨

928 comments 128,349 likes

maxverstappen1: 💙🧡 #OrangeArmy

landonorris: aww missing you here - ynfans: YA'LL BE SAYING IT'S CHARLES, DANIEL AND MAX BUT IT'S OBVIOUSLY LANDO BYEE

tony: ❤️🔥

ynfans: a thread on how y/n stark is dating lando norris

Y/N was in England the same time Lando was in England. (picture proof: she's the one who took the photo)

2. Lando commented "aww missing you here" to her post 3. They would make a cute couple. I rest my case.

9 comments 100 likes

carlandoisbae: bitch bffr

grimes49r: "(shes the one who took the photo)" girl just kys 😭 they're obviously not dating

y/nfans: ok, if she's not dating lando then she's dating charles ya'll stfu because idgaf

avengersassembleconspirancy: I'm praying for the driver that manages to date iron-man's daughter.

10 comments 1,293 likes 12 retweets

peterparker1001: praying for max verstappen 😁 - ynismymommy: I CHECKED HIS PROFILE? HE INTERNS FOR TONY STARK, AND THEY'RE LIKE CLOSE CLOSE 😭 - ilovecaptainamerica: someone is getting fired 💀🤣

y/n_stark: since the cat is out of the basket 🤷🏻‍♀️💕 tagged: maxverstappen1

2911 comments 292,201 likes

maxverstappen1: 🧡💙

peterparker1001: really sorry mr verstappen 😕

starkfashion: how did ur dad react? - y/n_stark: we'll know in a few minutes 💗💕

tony: I feel sorry, - peonysandsuid: me too, she deserves better -- tony: for Max

maxverstappen1: Cheers to more laughter ✨ my lucky charm ❤️ tagged: y/n_stark, tony, redbullracing

819 comments 912,384 likes

carlandolover: bro tagged his entire family 🥶

verstappenleclercbonus: bro isn't scared of tony stark 🥶

y/n_stark: handsome and spectacular 💕

danielricciardo: aww cheers mate 🥂

lokiandthorareinnocent: bro said, i'm the boss now 🥶

AITA FOR ACCIDENTALLY EXPOSING MY BEST FRIEND'S RELATIONSHIP?

I, student, M have a friend - 23, F, and she's been in a relationship with a very famous guy for over a year now. She's very private and lowkey with all the things that she does. Now, instead of using my alternate account in commenting something - I used my real account and their relationship got exposed. She tells me that it's perfectly fine and that she doesn't blame me but I feel really bad. AITA?

3 upvotes

aragornofmirkwood: nta divorce the alternate account

benelopecruz: if she says that she doesn't blaim you, nta

maxverstappenisnomber1 max verstappen after pulling tony stark's daughter

starkfamily99 tony stark after a broke man *worth $60 million* dates his daughter

starkfamilyisworld how i imagine tony talking to max: "100 Million, stay away from my daughter"

y/n_stark: SMASH. WAIT WHAT WAS THE GAME?

193 comments 293,129 likes

y.nbutterflyworld: this is how i know tony stark is a good dad 😭 his daughter's type is SO far away from what he looks like. Sis has no daddy issues fr 😭

next part

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 3.2

The thing is Paul just physically can't say what he feels. It's just an impossibility for him. So if he says reading a negative article about himself “doesn't help” or “it's not good” but it “doesn't get home” I just assume he means ‘It hurts, but I can't think about that too hard or I'll go into a self-hate suicidal spiral again’. 

I always love how Paul says Linda. “Linder is er, nature mad.” 

She!!

Hearing Paul talk about watching Mary be born makes me wonder if John was there with Sean? Also I wonder if Linda would talk about the experience so glowingly. Probably. She's tough as nails. I had a lovely experience, personally, after the epidural lol

“Dear friend . . . I'm in love with a friend of mine.” This is such a strange and beautiful song. It's a man who has to apologize to his friend for falling in love with someone else. At least, that's my interpretation. What's everyone else's?

I understand why he's so closed off. I do. But when John is going off every five seconds, we're missing half the picture here and it's turning out warped. They really are such a good study of attachment honestly.

“Nothing will ever break the love we have for each other.” White-knuckling my way through this section with this quote clenched in my fist.

Yoko, talking about John fighting with Paul: any couple will go from swearing to kissing and it's like that. What favors are you doing yourself here, babe? Maybe John's the PR mastermind between the two of them.

I find John's comparison of working with his romantic partner to being ambidextrous very confusing. Does he mean just doing two things at once?

“If I can't have a fight with my best friend, I don't know who I can have a fight with.” -- Intro slutty gender-fluid Wings Paul my beloved -- “Tell me why, why, why do you treat me so bad? So bad? When you're the best friend a man ever had?” I heard on some podcast somewhere. Someone was going on about how forward-thinking the Beatles were to refer to the women in their songs as “friends”. And I was like, nununununu do not give them that credit.

This is just soooo. In this era? 90 minutes in the middle of a recording session?

John: Sorry, my estranged fiance is calling, gotta take a break. Guitarist: again? Drummer: how estranged can they be if they call every three minutes? Yoko: should we just record the other parts or . . . John: (receiver cradled to his cheek, lovesick grin on his face) Hey, how was Heather's school program? Haha, yeah, I bet she was.

Okay, so you've made up with Paul and now you're done being homophobic? *Cardi b voice* well that's suspicious. 

The fact that John's asking Paul to play on stage with him in 1972?? Ugh! If it was just about legalities and money and shit I would be genuinely so pissed at Paul for not going. If only because Come Together sounds incredibly lame without his bass and piano. But also for the obvious fix-it reasons. I have to remind myself of how truly awful Klein was. By being the only one to stand firm against him, Paul actually ended up saving them all from a lot of trouble. But gosh would this have been good!

Things normal people say, for sure, for sure.

Okay in my head it went like this. John calls George and bitches about what an egomaniac Paul is because he won't do anything with him as long as Klein is involved. George gets off the phone and calls Ringo and they make a bet as to how long it is until John decides they should get rid of Klein. 

“Where's your audience, Paul?” “In the theater, Dave.” As he should. The cuntiness is unparalleled. Yeah, maybe people like to see a family friendly eclectic magic pixie sexy hard rock floor show? Ever thought about that, Dave?

Anyway, he seems genuinely pissed when the interviewer even mentions the other Beatles and he refuses to even admit he still talks to any of them. Why? 

John's just so benevolent and selfless. He's completely straight, of course, but he's always offering to do gay shit. You know. To be nice. 

I forget that not only was May their literal employee, but she was ten years younger on top of that. And yet, she managed to do so much good in that relationship. I have so much respect for her. 

There's obviously a lot going on behind the scenes that they don't say in interviews. Duh. But I wonder what it is that caused Paul to be so open and happy in this interview where he's asked about the other Beatles compared to before. I wonder if he and John had a really lovely talk, or if he's heard a demo of “I know, I know.” Or maybe it's just he's so reassured that they've got rid of Klein that he feels safe acting open to a reunion on record. Who knows, Yoko. 

So so smart to pair “In My Life” handwritten lyrics with the matching lyrics of “I know I know” playing at the same time. I forget about that connection (“I love you more”) because it's so overshadowed by the “than yesterday” right after. I seriously wonder if John thought he was being so obvious with this one the way he was with HDYS and half hoped people would ask him if it was about Paul and he could make up for the whole thing. Because it's just so heavy-handed. It's beautiful. I love it. I'm sure Paul loved it. But yeah. John's just beating us over the head with the references here. 

I also wonder (very tentatively!!!) if Paul was maybe a bit more emotionally vulnerable with John than we usually think. I would never think this except for the “you know I nearly broke down and cried” “I'm sorry that I made you cry” and “no more crying!” I don't know. What do we think? 

His little baby smirk. It's so silly and cute. He's being very positive about getting back together, and the interviewer asks if John would initiate that. Just a very coy, “a, well, I couldn't say.” I wonder if at that point if he'd said on live tv that he wanted to get together again if it would've happened. Seems like it might have, but I understand him being scared. 

Elton John taking pictures like a fan and John: I wanna impound all those photos till I get me green card. What a random idea for a commercial. I love it, obviously, it's hilarious. I wonder who thought of it. 

This doc is so good at implication. The smirk as “loving in the palm of my hand” plays. That's not a reference to hand jobs, is it? Certainly not talking to someone with beautiful hands?

Everyone go look up Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five on YouTube. The singing sex is something else, yeah, but I'm always so blown away by the piano part. The fact that he's self taught and doesn't read music and this man will go on to compose symphonies. 

[maximumzombiecreator]

Heya, you made a post recently about players getting the wrong expectations from AP podcasts for their own performance and experiences in D&D. The way you described it was almost exactly like something I recently saw at the table, complete with the getting into their own head and thrown off from unexpected interactions and then frustrated. Do you have any advice on how to deprogram, so to say, someone from this mind set and help them enjoy their time with the game more? Apologies if this is something you already wrote about and I just missed it

I ended up writing like 1500 words on this so let me put it under the cut.

So, there are a couple different approaches to this that I think work. The first, if they're willing to play a different RPG, is to play something with a different "play posture." That is, rather than playing a game where the players have a single PC over whom they have agency and nothing else, play a game that is more collaborative or where a player is expected to control multiple characters. For instance, I like introducing players like this to Blades in the Dark, where I'll have every player make two characters in the crew to begin with, and the core mechanic of flashbacks encourages players to take a greater amount of narrative control. I find this pushes them far enough outside their expectations that they're forced to take it on its own merits, and this helps them develop a more at-the-table style of play. Then when they take that back to more trad-style games, they can use the skills they developed and find a greater comfort level.

That said, playing another, stranger game after getting frustrated at their first game is a lot to ask of someone, so it's not at all something I'd take for granted.

In terms of helping at the table, the first thing is to recognize when it's happening. I tend to ask new players to my table what TTRPG experience they have, and one very big reason is that if someone is coming mainly from actual plays, I know to watch out for this.

What I try to do when this happens is pull back the abstraction level and talk about what's happening in a "discussing the characters" way. In particular, what I am most looking to avoid is making the player feel embarassed. That can make them defensive and blame others, or it can make them spiral and want to quit, it's a terrible feeling. So, for some specific examples of things I'll notice and ways to respond:

If the player is freezing - I'll pause the active roleplay, briefly summarize the current situation, and ask how their character is feeling. "So, Alice sort of came into this conversation expecting to bond with Bob, and got a lot of, I think, unexpected hostility back. What's Alice feeling in that moment?" By describing the situation, I am helping to clarify to all players what the current scene looks like. Maybe Bob's player doesn't realize that he's responding to a friendly overture by being a huge dick. Alice's player might be freezing because she came into this with a scene idea that isn't happening, but by making clear what the current scene is and asking her feelings, I'm giving her a chance to make a character choice even if she doesn't instinctively know how to turn that into a productive scene. Even if she decides Alice is feeling like "I want out of this conversation" I can then frame that as creating a tension between these two characters going forward. My goal is, basically, to frame this as a successful scene, just not the one Alice's player planned. To be clear that she didn't fail at making a roleplay scene, she succeeded, it just wasn't the scene she expected.

If the player is getting frustrated - I'll usually try to tweak their out of character frustration into in character frustration. Pulling back to discuss the scene again, I'll say something like, "So, Charlie is really stonewalling Alice here, not giving her any information, and it seems like Alice is getting frustrated by that. What does that look like, what does she do?" Again, describing the situation sets a ground level clarification for all players, but it also lets Alice's player save face. She's not getting frustrated, her character is, and that's good drama! It also gives me the chance to cut the scene short if it's not going to be productive. I can turn to Charlie's player and say, "So, seeing Alice react that way, does Charlie respond any differently, or is he gonna keep stonewalling her?" And if the answer is the latter, I can tie a neat little bow on the scene and move on. Once again, I'll frame this as a successful scene, as establishing a future drama.

If the player is shutting down - I'll look to give them an outlet for their desire to play their character, but ideally one that they don't expect. Come to them proactively with a roleplay scene that they can respond to. If I'm playing with players I know well, I'll usually have one or two I know can be prompted to be an accomplice in this. In a moment of downtime, I'll ask Alice's player what Alice is doing, and then prompt the other player. "Dan, you notice Alice getting pretty deep into her cups, she seems troubled, what do you do?" I may need to nudge Alice's player a few times in this scene, if she's really shutting down, but I find for these players asking the one-two combo of "What are they feeling?" and "What does that look like?" gives enough to keep things moving. If I don't have an accomplice I can trust in the party, I'll try to do the same with an NPC. In this case, I do feel I need to keep things shorter, but it's vital to keep the player from detaching entirely because things aren't going how they'd like. If I'm doing it with an NPC, I'll try to create a specific unusual context to give the player something to respond to. It won't be an NPC coming to them to ask, "hey buddy how ya feelin'?" it'll be the barkeep asking for a hand moving some huge kegs, or a travelling scholar asking for directions, and sharing some philosophical musings, or whatever. I'm looking to pitch them a softball, but one they haven't already formed an opinion on. I'm trying to get them used to roleplay as listening and responding.

If the player is doing alright, but demotivated by things not going how they want - I'll try to catch this at the end of the session with a bit of retrospective. I'll call out a scene they were in that didn't go how they wanted, praise some specific aspect of what each character did in the scene, and ask how they felt about it, and what they think their characters will do going forward. "That scene where Alice went to try and talk to Eve about the heist plans, I love how Alice is watching the other characters and picking up on their skills. Eve's response was kind of unhinged but in a really interesting way, I feel like it comes through that she's a bit unstable. How were each of your characters feeling about that interaction? Do you think they'll approach each other differently after that?" I want to place attention and importance on scenes that might feel like treading water, and to make them into narrative fodder that the player is going to reflect on, rather than dismissing as being bad or wrong.

All these also apply if it's a scene with an NPC they're having issues with, except that I am usually more malleable to adjust my reactions if I feel it's appropriate, or to clarify where the NPC is coming from if I think the NPC's reaction shouldn't change. Overall, I'm really trying to coax my Alice into a place of understanding that scenes that don't go they way she wants are still great, honestly even better, because the chaos and variety of play, the unexpected responses, are what make TTRPG storytelling good. I want her to feel like she didn't play wrong because things didn't go like she wanted, and neither did the other players, and to teach her to respond and react to the unexpected.

All of this, of course, comes with the caveat that this is what works if the player is otherwise fine, but a bit actual play-brained. A fairly frequent comorbidity, however, is the player with main character syndrome, whose frustration comes in part from everything not warping around them and the other players not being wowed by their cool, badass character. When this happens, I have less success deprogramming people (and honestly, less energy to commit to managing their play experience), but it's still possible. The biggest thing I'd add, in this case, is that I will really try to frame my prompts in such a way as to encourage Main Character Alice to appreciate the other characters more. Rather than just asking her how Alice is feeling, I'll specifically ask about how Alice is perceiving and responding to the other characters, and make her spotlight more dependent on reacting to other PCs. This can go badly, if she reacts to other PCs by belittling them or otherwise sucking, but once that happens it becomes a "talk about it out of play" issue entirely and I don't think there's any point addressing in game.

[thewitchinthecloset35]

Beginner Witch Starting Points

° . * • ☆ Research starting points ☆ • * . ° The following list is of topics that I believe are good research starting points for beginner witches. I've laid it out in a couple lists of what I consider the most important to research early down to things you may want to research depending on interests.

Important to research early

♡ How to read critically and cross-reference

> Research is huge in witchcraft, knowing how to find the right information and triple check it's not wrong is very important

♡ Witchcraft vs paganism

♡ History of witchcraft

♡ Open vs closed practices

♡ Cultural appropriation

♡ Discernment/Mundane vs magical

> Always ruling out mundane explanations or options before considering magical

♡ Types of witches

> Such as sea witches, kitchen witches, green witches

♡ Types of magic/practices

> Such as art magic, lunar magic, chaos magic

♡ Types of spells and rituals

> Such as spell jars, candle spells, sprays

♡ Basic spell work

> Such as cleansing, grounding, protection, warding

♡ Understanding Intention

♡ Altars and Tools

> Such as wands, tarot decks, bells

Researching interests

♡ The elements

♡ Symbols and sigils

♡ Item associations and correspondences

> Such as crystals, herbs, colours

♡ Dream interpretation

♡ Religions and deities

♡ Shadow work

♡ Whatever has caught your eye during researching so far, research some more

° . * • ☆ Practice starting points ☆ • * . °

As soon as you feel like you've got a good grasp on witchcraft, you'll want to start practising. With everything you've come across, it might prove overwhelming or confusing as to where to start. Some topics are more advanced than others and aren't considered beginner-friendly. Therefore, having practised and got a hold of some basics is a great way to begin your journey, and is always recommended by other practitioners. That way, if you accidentally step too deep too early, you're already equipped with the information, tools, and experience you need to look after yourself.

It's easy to get excited and rush through it to what you may truly want to do, however, I suggest practising the following topics until it becomes a habit and you can throw up protections and wards like second nature without any notes. It depends on how much time you can dedicate to this daily and whether there are any reasons you might have to slow down, such as being broom-closeted or having children. I would suggest 1 to 2 years overall for researching all the topics in-depth and practising it until you have at least one method of each nailed down confidently with no doubts in your ability or knowledge - and be honest with yourself on that.

Where to begin with practising witchcraft

♡ Grounding and meditation

♡ Cleansing

♡ Protection

♡ Circle casting

♡ Warding

♡ Enchanting items

° . * • ☆ Where to get information and resources ☆ • * . °

The internet is amazing for allowing people to write their own informational posts, blogs, and to make their own videos. Sometimes a simple google search for what you’re after will bring you loads of results, which is also why reading critically and being able to cross-reference is so important. You can find resources and information anywhere, such as:

♡ Youtube

♡ Tumblr

♡ Websites

♡ Books

> Ebooks, audiobooks, physical books

♡ Podcasts

♡ Pinterest infographics

♡ Discord servers

♡ Amino communities

This is an updated version of my old post https://thewitchinthecloset35.tumblr.com/post/656426177696874496/beginner-witch-friendly-research-points

[joeyalohadream]

Clegan Modern Neighbors! AU

This will be a multi-chapter buck x bucky modern AU and they're neighbors! I'm excited and also nervous for this one, but eager to share. I have it all mapped out, but figured I'd get the introduction out there to see if there is any interest.

Title: The Boy Next Door

Introduction –

The unit next to Bucky’s own in the quaint lakeside apartment building near the marina in Manitowoc has been vacant since the red eviction notice was hung on the door back in May. Now, only days away from August beginning Bucky notices a change for the first time in weeks.

He exits the elevator upon his return from the marina, sweat soaked and sunburnt from working in the hot summer sun all morning. As he walks past the vacant 6B, he notices that the door is ajar. His footsteps halt out of curiosity, but as he’s about to give a gentle knock, the door swings open and he smiles as he’s greeted by Robert Rosenthal exiting the unit.

“Rosie, my favorite landlord!” Bucky moves to close the space between them to go in for his typical enthusiastic full body handshake but is swatted with the clipboard in his friend’s hand before he can make contact.

“Keep your sweaty paws to yourself Egan,” Rosie grumbles, but still smiles and nods in lieu of Bucky’s preferred physical greeting.

Bucky throws him an exaggerated pout but backs off with his hands raised placatingly. Rosie and he have known each other since their days playing high school baseball and while Bucky loves to push his buttons, he can acknowledge that he’s a little more than ripe at the moment.

“So, what brings you up to my floor? I haven’t seen you around much since that yahoo finally moved outta here.”

Bucky had been more than happy to see his last neighbor go. Bucky had lived in this building, in 6A, since he returned from college six years ago and he was proud of the work and care he’d put into it to make it a home. Other than his ma’s house, no place was more comfortable to him than the little nook he’d carved out for himself in this building.

He'd gone through many neighbors over the years. It’s a small place, typically attracting young couples on their way to saving to buy their first home. Most of his experiences had been positive. He’s a friendly guy and he always wants to make new friends, so the forced proximity of sharing this corner of the hallway with 6B inevitably leads to some meetups.

The first neighbor Bucky had had was a man, a couple years his junior, by the name of Curt Biddick. He’d moved in to get a break away from his parents, who he had since learned came from old money, and a lot of it. He and Bucky had become fast friends, a shared love of food, alcohol and sports had led to many an evening in each other’s spaces.

Once Curt had finished his culinary classes at the technical school downtown, he’d reconnected with his family and eventually moved out to a large house right on the water. Bucky spends almost every weekend over there lazing about the beach and the pool and utilizing all of Curt’s waterfront toys.

When Curt isn’t helping his father run the two restaurants he owns, he’s collaborating with Bucky on his podcast, and Bucky couldn’t be more grateful to Rosie that he’d leased 6B to someone who grew to be one of his closest friends.

While his first ever neighbor turned out to be a blessing, his last one was a curse. A man in his mid-thirties had moved in at the beginning of the year and at first, he’d seemed decent. He had no interest in small talk, but he wasn’t rude about it. The most Bucky got from him was a head nod and an occasional, “hello.” Which was fine. Bucky was aware that despite his roguish good looks and his undeniable charm, not everyone wanted to be his best friend.

But after a month had gone by, he noticed that the guy from 6B was no longer a loner. The door opened at all hours of the day and night and Bucky noticed an endless string of visitors. Some around his age, some significantly older, some men and some women. The loud music started soon after the visitors, followed by constant shouting and what sounded like a not insignificant amount of potential property damage. The smell of cigarette smoke creeped into the hallway constantly, and despite indulging in the habit himself on occasion, it bothered Bucky endlessly that Rosie’s pride and joy was being treated like a bar.

He’d tried to speak with his neighbor about the disturbance one time, but when he’d answered the door, it was clear that something chemical had taken 6Bs ability to even stand up straight. He’d been angry the moment he’d opened the door and noticed it was Bucky and not one of his usual visitors. Bucky had made it back into his apartment with a crumpled shirt and a clenched fist, proud of himself that his famous temper was still controllable when he really wanted it to be.

 His little slice of comfort he’d created for himself in this building was slowly becoming a burden and he spent more nights sleeping in one of the many spare bedrooms at Curt’s place than in his own apartment.

Only after Curt offered him a permanent relocation, “You know I got plenty a’ space to spare Bucky,” did he finally gather his wits and speak to Rosie.

While Bucky had been away at college studying Sports Broadcasting, Rosie had apprenticed with his father who owned several residential properties in Manitowoc, including this one. He completed some maintenance and management courses at the same technical school Curt ended up attending and eventually was given ownership of this property. Bucky had rented from him during his first month of ownership and the improvements that Rosie made hadn’t stopped since. He put his trust in his landlord and friend, shared his concerns about his neighbor and after a couple weeks of police reports and confrontations that improved Rosie’s already impeccable reputation in Bucky’s eyes, an eviction notice was slapped on 6B.

Thankfully Bucky never saw him again after that, and other than the very occasional disheveled visitor that somehow makes it passed the digital locks into the building to knock on the door to the empty apartment, Bucky has had his little slice of paradise back.

Taking in the clipboard in Rosie’s hand and only just now noticing the smell of fresh paint permeating through the door, Bucky hopes that still stays true.

Rosie heaves a sigh, “I had some contractors come in early this morning to put a fresh coat of paint in the unit. The cigarette smell really lingers and it’s made it tough to rent.”

“I’ll bet,” Bucky grimaces. “Think the paint will do the trick for ya?”

Rosie shrugs with a smile, “Doesn’t much matter actually seeing as I rented it two days ago, even with that stench.”

Bucky blinks in surprise and scoffs, “Let me guess, they wanted lower rent and a fresh paint job to sweeten the deal?”

Rosie laughs and shakes his head, “That’s honestly what I expected, and I probably would’ve gone for it at this point. But no, not at all. This guy just looked around and said it was fine. He even asked if he was allowed to paint the walls or if it was against the lease agreement.”

“That right?” Bucky was skeptical, but he had already decided to be very picky about who got to be his neighbor from now on.

“Yeah, man,” Rosie continued. “I was standing right next to him, and the smell was bothering me so it had to bother him too. But he just asked if he could paint. I’m sure he figured it would help with the smell and didn’t want to push.”

“But why wouldn’t he want to push?” Bucky questioned the odd behavior. “I wouldn’t want to pay my hard-earned money for a place that smelled like a bar, no offense, and I definitely wouldn’t spend my hard earned money to also offer to fix it.”

Rosie laughed but nodded too. “Yeah, Bucky I know. But that’s honestly one of the reasons I rented it to him so quick. I think he’s just a genuinely good dude. He’d already passed the rental background check with flying colors, and he seemed a little desperate to get into somewhere near here. I didn’t want to lose the business.”

Bucky nodded along but still had his doubts. “You say he seems like a ‘genuinely good dude’? Well, I say he sounds gullible as hell and a little naive.”

Rosie puts one hand on his hip and waves his clipboard at him with the other. “Alright Bucky, that’s enough of that.” He scolds. “I know your last experience with a new neighbor was worse than bad and I sympathize with that, especially considering I rented the unit to the guy.”

Bucky immediately moves to defend Rosie. Despite the truth of his words, Bucky doesn’t have any ill will towards the other man, only gratitude for how quickly he righted the situation.

“I’m not done yet,” Rosie cuts him off with another swing of his clipboard. “But this new guy is not like that. I’m willing to bet my reputation that this one is going to work out for both of us. I’ve only met him in person once, but I can already tell you’re going to like him.”

Bucky trusts Rosie, he really does but he’s going to go into this new situation with both eyes wide open. The last occupant of 6B seemed perfectly normal at first too, so Bucky is not just going to take Rosie’s word for it.

“Alright, I’ll keep an open mind,” Bucky relents a little, letting Rosie lower his clipboard. “But then why’d you have the apartment painted if the guy agreed to take it as is?”

Rosie rubs the back of his neck and shrugs, “I felt bad renting it to someone like him without at least trying to improve it a bit. Plus, I take pride in this place, and it’ll help me sleep at night.”

“Someone like him?”

Rosie looks a little flustered, “He’s like, really nice Bucky. Kind, you know?”

Bucky narrows his eyes, “Would you have painted it for someone like me Rosie?”

Rosie laughs and pats him on the shoulder, pulling his hand away with a grimace when it comes away wet and Bucky laughs in return. “Course I would Bucky.”

“You’re good people Rosie,” Bucky answers. “Well, when’s my future neighbor move in, huh?”

Rosie looks at his watch and does some mental math. “He’s coming by for the paperwork and the keys in an hour, but he said it’ll take him a couple of days to actually move in.”

Bucky sighs and nods, “Alright well, I’m going out with Curt and Kenny for drinks tonight so I’ll probably miss him. I’ll roll out the welcome wagon when I see him around.”

“Thanks Bucky,” Rosie says with a small smile. “I know you got used to the solitude, but you can trust me on this. You’re gonna like 6B.”

“Only time will tell Rosie,” Bucky backs away towards his own door. “Catch ya later!”

He watches as Rosie waves his clipboard at him and then makes his way down the hall towards the elevator. Bucky enters his apartment and pulls his shirt over his head, dropping it into his hamper once he reaches his bedroom. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and shoots a quick text to Curt.

Getting a new neighbor in the next couple days. Still up for drinks?

He undresses and turns the shower on and waits for the water to warm. His phone buzzes and he laughs as reads the message.

Aw, no neighbor will ever compare to your first 6B 😉 But if they turn out to be like the last one, I’m ready to kick some ass.

Noted, tough guy. Drinks?

Satisfied with the water temperature, Bucky goes to put the phone down when it buzzes in his hand.

As long as you don’t mind being a third wheel!

Bucky grins and replies immediately.

You gotta actually ask him out before I can be considered a third wheel Curtie.

I’m playing the long game Bucky, you know that.

Eager to wash off the mornings grime, Bucky sends another text.

Where and when?

He waits a moment and grins at his phone as he reads Curt’s response.

The Wharf at 5! Second shift starts at 4 and Benny hired a new server we gotta check out. Well youuuuu gotta check out. I’m telling you, Bucky… you’re gonna swoon.

Only time will tell, see you at 5!

He shoots the text back and drops the phone onto the counter, finally hoping into the hot stream of water. Two new people to meet apparently in his very near future. He’s as skeptical of Curt’s matchmaking skill as he is of having a new neighbor so he’s not feeling overly confident on either front.

Only time will time.

[greywolfheirs]

Hey @ those of you with access to The Magnus Protocol early episode releases who maybe weren't around for TMA early releases, there are a couple things to know

First, you get early access and that is for you and others who paid for that. Posting spoilers where everyone can see is kind of undermining that entire concept and making you paying extra almost a moot point. However, exciting stuff is happening so it totally makes sense that you want to talk about it right now immediately, and feel free to join private message groups and discords for that!

On tumblr there's a special tag (#tma vague) where you can post VAGUE things like context-free spoilers or just you screaming into the void (a popular one is a post that's just like: the magnus archives sure is a podcast!). Looks like people are already using #tmagp vague so that's cool to use too :)

Anyway, just a friendly heads up for new Magnus enjoyers! I know you want to talk about the cool stuff, but you're paying extra for this stuff and posting about it for people who haven't paid kind of takes away the value of what you paid for

(Edited bc apparently the RQ discord got shut down :/)

[phxntomsdusk]

Saw the event, Congratulations!!!! Do you think I could request cc!Ted with the Friends to Lovers trope? Or! Reader is Charlie’s sibling? Either way have a wonderful day!

Totally friendly way - CC!Ted

summary: ever since Charlie introduced you to his friend, Ted, the two of you became best friends! Except.. do friends look at each other that way?

warnings: none <3

tags: @ax-y10 , @joviepog , @idontreallyexistyet , @pheliiaa , @rqvii , @ivvees-blog , @haunted-headset , @average-vibe , @vibestillaxxx (ask to be added!)

word count: 712

Having a famous content creator for a brother was interesting, to say the least. Constant screaming from the other room, cameras shoved in your face, your own name trending on Twitter. And of course the infamous nickname; slime-sib. It was possibly the dumbest thing, but it wasn’t the worst, besides what else would they call you? You were Slimecicle’s sibling!

Being his younger sibling had its ups and downs, growing up with a free at home comedian, constantly having something to watch on YouTube. And of course new friends.

When he was on the DSMP you knew some of his friends, such as Tommy, Wilbur, Phil. You never spoke to them outside of Charlie’s streams, but they were extremely nice to you either way. When he met up with Tommy, you were there. The QSMP, you knew some of them, but struggled to communicate because of language barriers outside of the server.

There was one friend that always stood out to you though, Ted. Ever since he had introduced you two, you grew practically inseparable. Ted quickly became your closest friends, spoke about you on the podcast, and would honestly talk about you more than Charlie ever did.

Charlie was aware of the fact that you and Ted were so close, he would even make sure to tease the both of you as much as possible. Whether it was calling you two partners, taking secret pictures and acting like you were on a date, or straight up posting about how you two were dating. Even though you weren’t.

It had been around two years since you guys first met, and honestly, it felt more like it’s been two years since you had gotten together.

Everyone treated you like a couple, even random strangers who saw you in public!

If you happened to go to a restaurant together, with Charlie, the two of you were treated like you were dating. If you were just out shopping, you could get a random comment about being a cute couple. The two of you were quick to deny these claims, but there was always the same comments every single time.

“You know, it’s so annoying lately.” You sighed and looked up at Ted, who was currently walking you home. “What is?” He chuckled softly, his arm wrapping around your shoulders.

“The constant looks! That old lady in the store asked when you were proposing, Ted. Can people not be just friends anymore?” You sighed as you made your way onto your porch, grabbing your keys from your pocket and turned to look at him. “I mean.. you get where I’m coming from, right?”

He was hesitant for a second, sighing under his breath and shrugged. Now, it was no lie that Ted had gained feelings for you. It was quite obvious at this point; but you were oblivious.

“Yeah, but— do friends look at each other like this?” His voice had gotten quiet, furrowing his brows as he moved his arm from around your shoulders. “What do you mean?”

He got caught up with his words, his hands moving around a bit as he struggled to think. “I just.. Y/N, listen.” He sighed and placed his hands on your shoulders, looking down at you with a more serious expression.

“We look at each other like we’re a couple, we hold hands, we cuddle on the couch, we go on practical dates. And you’re trying to tell me that you don’t feel the same way?” He had leaned down a bit closer to you, your lips merely inches apart as his gaze diverted down to them.

Was he being serious? Did he actually feel that way? “Never said I didn’t.” You spoke quietly, your gaze doing the same as his and went down to his lips.

Within a moment he quickly kissed you, his hands going down to gently hold your sides. Your own found their way to the sides of his face, smiling into the kiss as you leaned into it. It only lasted a few moments, before he pulled away and smiled at you.

“Can I spend the night? In a totally friendly way?” His tone teased you, earning an eye roll and a nod.

“Yeah, yeah. You can in a totally friendly way.”