#Oh god i just saw the wall of text I just wrote

[viennakarma]

Drunk calls

Fernando Alonso x Reader

Summary: You're drunk on your night out and accidentally call your boss, Fernando.

Word count: 1.5k

Tags: Female reader, drunk reader, fluff, Nando comforting reader, boss x employee relationship, not beta read

Relationships: Fernando Alonso x Reader

Notes: Anon requested drunk reader and sober nano, so i just ran with it and wrote a little something while on hangover from the new year party. (Also that ONE pic George Russell posted of him and Nando!!!!)

Hope you enjoy it, Anon!

Find me on Twitter!

As you left the toilet, you felt your legs wobbly as you supported yourself on the wall. You had been clubbing with your friends for a couple of hours now, but a few minutes ago you couldn’t find them, and you looked all around.

Pulling your phone from your purse, you called your bestie to try and find out where she was. As soon as she picked up, you started talking.

“Hi, Hanna! Where are-” You hiccuped, “where are you? I think I’m too drunk now, I can’t find you or the girls, and my head is pounding already, and I can’t walk straight.”

“Y/N?” A male voice asked.

“Who the fuck are you?” You frowned.

“It’s Fernando, you just called me,” he said and you turned your phone seeing that you had actually called him instead of your friend.

“Oh, shit! I’m so sorry, boss!” You said and immediately hung up.

Fuck, you drunk called your boss on your day off. That was most certainly grounds for a reprimand. You had been working as his assistant for almost a year now, and had only been super professional and dedicated to doing your work. You and Fernando had been friendly and settled into a great work dynamic. So accidentally calling him like this would probably cause problems for you.

You didn’t even have time or energy to blame yourself too long as your phone buzzed with an incoming call from Fernando. You immediately hit decline. But barely a second later he called you again. Shit, he probably would tear you a new one. You hit decline again. You started sweating, god, you needed to go home, you needed to eat and you needed to plan a big apology for the next time you see your boss again.

Then two texts appeared coming from Fernando.

“Where are you?” “Pick up the call”

And then he called you again, and you picked it up this time preparing for him to go off on you.

“Where are you?” He breathed loudly.

“I’m at a club with my friends,” you stuttered a little bit, both because of the alcohol and because you were worried he might fire you on the spot.

“You said you lost them. Have you found your friends?”

“No, not really. But it’s okay, I’m gonna go home already!” You hoped you were sounding a little bit more confident.

“How?”

“What?”

“How are you going to go home?” He asked, voice serious.

“I’m gonna call a cab or something. Don’t worry!” Please, sound sober, please sound sober.

“Send me the address, I’m gonna pick you up.”

“No, no! It’s your day off too, you don’t have to worry I’ll be fine! Really, I promise I’m going straight home right-”

“I wasn’t asking. Send the address.” He cut you off and hung up.

Cursing and sweating, you sent him your location, walking slowly to the exit, still trying to locate your friends. As you made it outside, you leaned against the wall, feeling a little better with the fresh gust of wind outside the packed club. You flexed your knees because your heels were feeling like a fucking thousand needles punching the sole of your feet. You should listen to your younger sister and start wearing sneakers to the club.

After a few minutes, you saw a scandalous rich man’s car pulling up and you knew it’s Fernando. He stopped by the sidewalk and came walking to you. He was wearing slacks and a white button up, simple but classy. You had seen in his schedule before that he was going to go out with friends for dinner. So that’s probably where he came from.

He didn’t look too pissed at you but he didn’t look happy either, his face was rather neutral.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as he stopped in front of you. He was holding a water bottle, which he promptly opened and gave to you.

“I have been better, not gonna lie,” you said, and proceeded to drink almost the whole bottle of water.

“Why are you flexing your knees?” He asked.

“Because the heels are killing me.”

Silently, Fernando knelt in front of you and unbuckled the straps of your heels around your ankles.

“Off, now” he said, patting your calves, then offering you a hand so you could step out of the shoes.

“Jesus, thank you,” you mumbled, relieved to be barefoot finally, “I’m sorry, you didn’t have to pick me up.”

“I’m here already, quit whining,” he dismissed you, holding your forearm, “can you walk to the car?”

“Just give me a hand,” you asked, still a little unbalanced. You jolted a little when you felt Fernando’s hands on your thighs but he didn't touch you, he just pulled the hem of your dress down, since it was dangerously close to showing too much and maybe accidentally flashing everyone.

Fernando circled an arm around your waist, pulling you flush to his side, keeping you standing all the way to his car, holding your heels with the other hand. You looked to the side of his face, and you were suddenly hit with the realization that Fernando is really, really attractive. 

“Damn, you’re handsome!”

It honestly slipped past your lips and you felt your cheeks warm up, embarrassed for saying that out loud, but Fernando only laughed a little, and kept walking you to his car, only stopping to open the door and put you in the passenger seat.

As you took the seat, he stared at your face, trying to catch any signs of something in your face. You blinked, staring into his beautiful greeny brown eyes, and he just huffed, pulling the seat belt and locking it around you.

When he finally started driving, the silence deafening, you looked at his side profile.

“Are you upset? I’m sorry! I promise I’ll behave.”

“I’m not upset. Though I will be a little annoyed if you throw up in my Aston Martin,” he said with a small smile.

“No throwing up happening anytime soon!” You raised your hand, held it in a cross and kissed it, “I’m actually really hungry”

Fernando clicked his tongue and reached for the backseat with one hand, pulling a Burger King brown bag. You smelled the food and you smiled.

“Oh my god! You’re a savior!” You opened the bag, which had your favorite burger and big sized fries, “this is my favorite!”

You ate quietly for a couple of minutes then a thought hit you.

“How do you know I like eating Burger King after getting drunk?” You said, and Fernando looked at you, opened the glove box and handed you a tissue.

“I know you well,” was all he said. He ended up driving you to his place, and you decided to question it.

“Why did you drive me here?” You walked in, sitting on the couch.

“What do you mean?” He looked confused.

“Ugh, never mind!” You stood up but the quick movement made you stumble and Fernando quickly held you in place.

“Careful!” He put both hands on your waist, in a way that felt very intimate.

You turned to face him, and he smiled softly, his hand now on your lower back. Then, you touched his eyebrow with the tip of your finger.

“I like your eyebrows.”

“Gracias.”

“And your beard too,” you cupped his face, feeling the roughness of his beard against your palm.

“Vamos, you need a shower,” he carefully walked you up the stairs and then inside the bedroom, straight to the bathroom.

Fernando turned you around and pulled down the zipper on your back. You gasped, holding the dress in place and turning to face him.

“You can’t undress me!”

He turned around, laughing.

“Ok, get in the shower and I’ll get you some clothes, eh?”

You showered, and when you left, a towel around your body, Fernando had left a small pile of clothes inside. There was a big t-shirt and sports shorts that you dressed. He also left you a toothbrush, which seemed very thoughtful of him.

When you walked back to the room, Fernando had changed into comfy clothes, and he was waiting for you sitting on the bed.

“Are you sobering up?” He asked.

And you just nodded, sleepy, crawling into his lap and snuggling into his chest, pressing your nose to his neck.

“Yup.”

“Then you remember who I am?” 

“You’re Fernando!” He laughed a little, kissing the top of your head.

“No, amor,” he leaned back, cradling your face with one hand, and pulling your right hand with the other, “I’m your fiancé.”

Wide eyed, you stared at the big diamond ring in your finger. Then, you finally remembered, your fiancé, your beloved Nano. Who had been your boss sometime two years ago, and you resigned when you realized you had feelings for him. In the end, he had gone after you because he harbored the same feelings for you.

You ended up laughing out loud, so hard that there were tears in your eyes.

“God, I’m never drinking again!”

“It’s cute that you forgot like this,” he laughed too.

You held his face, kissing him softly. His hand ran up your back, under your shirt. You wanted more, trying to deepen the kiss, but he just held you back.

“Sleep now, eh? Tomorrow I will wake you up with besos.”

[eyrieofsynapses]

why Aurora's art is genius

It's break for me, and I've been meaning to sit down and read the Aurora webcomic (https://comicaurora.com/, @comicaurora on Tumblr) for quite a bit. So I did that over the last few days.

And… y'know. I can't actually say "I should've read this earlier," because otherwise I would've been up at 2:30-3am when I had responsibilities in the morning and I couldn't have properly enjoyed it, but. Holy shit guys THIS COMIC.

I intended to just do a generalized "hello this is all the things I love about this story," and I wrote a paragraph or two about art style. …and then another. And another. And I realized I needed to actually reference things so I would stop being too vague. I was reading the comic on my tablet or phone, because I wanted to stay curled up in my chair, but I type at a big monitor and so I saw more details… aaaaaand it turned into its own giant-ass post.

SO. Enjoy a few thousand words of me nerding out about this insanely cool art style and how fucking gorgeous this comic is? (There are screenshots, I promise it isn't just a wall of text.) In my defense, I just spent two semesters in graphic design classes focusing on the Adobe Suite, so… I get to be a nerd about pretty things…???

All positive feedback btw! No downers here. <3

---

I cannot emphasize enough how much I love the beautiful, simple stylistic method of drawing characters and figures. It is absolutely stunning and effortless and utterly graceful—it is so hard to capture the sheer beauty and fluidity of the human form in such a fashion. Even a simple outline of a character feels dynamic! It's gorgeous!

Though I do have a love-hate relationship with this, because my artistic side looks at that lovely simplicity, goes "I CAN DO THAT!" and then I sit down and go to the paper and realize that no, in fact, I cannot do that yet, because that simplicity is born of a hell of a lot of practice and understanding of bodies and actually is really hard to do. It's a very developed style that only looks simple because the artist knows what they're doing. The human body is hard to pull off, and this comic does so beautifully and makes it look effortless.

Also: line weight line weight line weight. It's especially important in simplified shapes and figures like this, and hoo boy is it used excellently. It's especially apparent the newer the pages get—I love watching that improvement over time—but with simpler figures and lines, you get nice light lines to emphasize both smaller details, like in the draping of clothing and the curls of hair—which, hello, yes—and thicker lines to emphasize bigger and more important details and silhouettes. It's the sort of thing that's essential to most illustrations, but I wanted to make a note of it because it's so vital to this art style.

THE USE OF LAYER BLENDING MODES OH MY GODS. (...uhhh, apologies to the people who don't know what that means, it's a digital art program thing? This article explains it for beginners.)

Bear with me, I just finished my second Photoshop course, I spent months and months working on projects with this shit so I see the genius use of Screen and/or its siblings (of which there are many—if I say "Screen" here, assume I mean the entire umbrella of Screen blending modes and possibly Overlay) and go nuts, but seriously it's so clever and also fucking gorgeous:

Firstly: the use of screened-on sound effect words over an action? A "CRACK" written over a branch and then put on Screen in glowy green so that it's subtle enough that it doesn't disrupt the visual flow, but still sticks out enough to make itself heard? Little "scritches" that are transparent where they're laid on without outlines to emphasize the sound without disrupting the underlying image? FUCK YES. I haven't seen this done literally anywhere else—granted, I haven't read a massive amount of comics, but I've read enough—and it is so clever and I adore it. Examples:

Secondly: The beautiful lighting effects. The curling leaves, all the magic, the various glowing eyes, the fog, the way it's all so vividly colored but doesn't burn your eyeballs out—a balance that's way harder to achieve than you'd think—and the soft glows around them, eeeee it's so pretty so pretty SO PRETTY. Not sure if some of these are Outer/Inner Glow/Shadow layer effects or if it's entirely hand-drawn, but major kudos either way; I can see the beautiful use of blending modes and I SALUTE YOUR GENIUS.

I keep looking at some of this stuff and go "is that a layer effect or is it done by hand?" Because you can make some similar things with the Satin layer effect in Photoshop (I don't know if other programs have this? I'm gonna have to find out since I won't have access to PS for much longer ;-;) that resembles some of the swirly inner bits on some of the lit effects, but I'm not sure if it is that or not. Or you could mask over textures? There's... many ways to do it.

If done by hand: oh my gods the patience, how. If done with layer effects: really clever work that knows how to stop said effects from looking wonky, because ugh those things get temperamental. If done with a layer of texture that's been masked over: very, very good masking work. No matter the method, pretty shimmers and swirly bits inside the bigger pretty swirls!

Next: The way color contrast is used! I will never be over the glowy green-on-black Primordial Life vibes when Alinua gets dropped into that… unconscious space?? with Life, for example, and the sharp contrast of vines and crack and branches and leaves against pitch black is just visually stunning. The way the roots sink into the ground and the three-dimensional sensation of it is particularly badass here:

Friggin. How does this imply depth like that. HOW. IT'S SO FREAKING COOL.

A huge point here is also color language and use! Everybody has their own particular shade, generally matching their eyes, magic, and personality, and I adore how this is used to make it clear who's talking or who's doing an action. That was especially apparent to me with Dainix and Falst in the caves—their colors are both fairly warm, but quite distinct, and I love how this clarifies who's doing what in panels with a lot of action from both of them. There is a particular bit that stuck out to me, so I dug up the panels (see this page and the following one https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-20-30/):

(Gods it looks even prettier now that I put it against a plain background. Also, appreciation to Falst for managing a bridal-carry midair, damn.)

The way that their colors MERGE here! And the immense attention to detail in doing so—Dainix is higher up than Falst is in the first panel, so Dainix's orange fades into Falst's orange at the base. The next panel has gold up top and orange on bottom; we can't really tell in that panel where each of them are, but that's carried over to the next panel—

—where we now see that Falst's position is raised above Dainix's due to the way he's carrying him. (Points for continuity!) And, of course, we see the little "huffs" flowing from orange to yellow over their heads (where Dainix's head is higher than Falst's) to merge the sound of their breathing, which is absurdly clever because it emphasizes to the viewer how we hear two sets of huffing overlaying each other, not one. Absolutely brilliant.

(A few other notes of appreciation to that panel: beautiful glows around them, the sparks, the jagged silhouette of the spider legs, the lovely colors that have no right to make the area around a spider corpse that pretty, the excellent texturing on the cave walls plus perspective, the way Falst's movements imply Dainix's hefty weight, the natural posing of the characters, their on-point expressions that convey exactly how fuckin terrifying everything is right now, the slight glows to their eyes, and also they're just handsome boys <3)

Next up: Rain!!!! So well done! It's subtle enough that it never ever disrupts the impact of the focal point, but evident enough you can tell! And more importantly: THE MIST OFF THE CHARACTERS. Rain does this irl, it has that little vapor that comes off you and makes that little misty effect that plays with lighting, it's so cool-looking and here it's used to such pretty effect!

One of the panel captions says something about it blurring out all the injuries on the characters but like THAT AIN'T TOO BIG OF A PROBLEM when it gets across the environmental vibes, and also that'd be how it would look in real life too so like… outside viewer's angle is the same as the characters', mostly? my point is: that's the environment!!! that's the vibes, that's the feel! It gets it across and it does so in the most pretty way possible!

And another thing re: rain, the use of it to establish perspective, particularly in panels like this—

—where we can tell we're looking down at Tynan due to the perspective on the rain and where it's pointing. Excellent. (Also, kudos for looking down and emphasizing how Tynan's losing his advantage—lovely use of visual storytelling.)

Additionally, the misting here:

We see it most heavily in the leftmost panel, where it's quite foggy as you would expect in a rainstorm, especially in an environment with a lot of heat, but it's also lightly powdered on in the following two panels and tends to follow light sources, which makes complete sense given how light bounces off particles in the air.

A major point of strength in these too is a thorough understanding of lighting, like rim lighting, the various hues and shades, and an intricate understanding of how light bounces off surfaces even when they're in shadow (we'll see a faint glow in spots where characters are half in shadow, but that's how it would work in real life, because of how light bounces around).

Bringing some of these points together: the fluidity of the lines in magic, and the way simple glowing lines are used to emphasize motion and the magic itself, is deeply clever. I'm basically pulling at random from panels and there's definitely even better examples, but here's one (see this page https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-16-33/):

First panel, listed in numbers because these build on each other:

The tension of the lines in Tess's magic here. This works on a couple levels: first, the way she's holding her fists, as if she's pulling a rope taut.

The way there's one primary line, emphasizing the rope feeling, accompanied by smaller ones.

The additional lines starbursting around her hands, to indicate the energy crackling in her hands and how she's doing a good bit more than just holding it. (That combined with the fists suggests some tension to the magic, too.) Also the variations in brightness, a feature you'll find in actual lightning. :D Additional kudos for how the lightning sparks and breaks off the metal of the sword.

A handful of miscellaneous notes on the second panel:

The reflection of the flames in Erin's typically dark blue eyes (which bears a remarkable resemblance to Dainix, incidentally—almost a thematic sort of parallel given Erin's using the same magic Dainix specializes in?)

The flowing of fabric in the wind and associated variation in the lineart

The way Erin's tattoos interact with the fire he's pulling to his hand

The way the rain overlays some of the fainter areas of fire (attention! to! detail! hell yeah!)

I could go on. I won't because this is a lot of writing already.

Third panel gets paragraphs, not bullets:

Erin's giant-ass "FWOOM" of fire there, and the way the outline of the word is puffy-edged and gradated to feel almost three-dimensional, plus once again using Screen or a variation on it so that the stars show up in the background. All this against that stunning plume of fire, which ripples and sparks so gorgeously, and the ending "om" of the onomatopoeia is emphasized incredibly brightly against that, adding to the punch of it and making the plume feel even brighter.

Also, once again, rain helping establish perspective, especially in how it's very angular in the left side of the panel and then slowly becomes more like a point to the right to indicate it's falling directly down on the viewer. Add in the bright, beautiful glow effects, fainter but no less important black lines beneath them to emphasize the sky and smoke and the like, and the stunningly beautiful lighting and gradated glows surrounding Erin plus the lightning jagging up at him from below, and you get one hell of an impactful panel right there. (And there is definitely more in there I could break down, this is just a lot already.)

And in general: The colors in this? Incredible. The blues and purples and oranges and golds compliment so well, and it's all so rich.

Like, seriously, just throughout the whole comic, the use of gradients, blending modes, color balance and hues, all the things, all the things, it makes for the most beautiful effects and glows and such a rich environment. There's a very distinct style to this comic in its simplified backgrounds (which I recognize are done partly because it's way easier and also backgrounds are so time-consuming dear gods but lemme say this) and vivid, smoothly drawn characters; the simplicity lets them come to the front and gives room for those beautiful, richly saturated focal points, letting the stylized designs of the magic and characters shine. The use of distinct silhouettes is insanely good. Honestly, complex backgrounds might run the risk of making everything too visually busy in this case. It's just, augh, so GORGEOUS.

Another bit, take a look at this page (https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-15-28/):

It's not quite as evident here as it is in the next page, but this one does some other fun things so I'm grabbing it. Points:

Once again, using different colors to represent different character actions. The "WHAM" of Kendal hitting the ground is caused by Dainix's force, so it's orange (and kudos for doubling the word over to add a shake effect). But we see blue layered underneath, which could be an environmental choice, but might also be because it's Kendal, whose color is blue.

And speaking off, take a look at the right-most panel on top, where Kendal grabs the spear: his motion is, again, illustrated in bright blue, versus the atmospheric screened-on orange lines that point toward him around the whole panel (I'm sure these have a name, I think they might be more of a manga thing though and the only experience I have in manga is reading a bit of Fullmetal Alchemist). Those lines emphasize the weight of the spear being shoved at him, and their color tells us Dainix is responsible for it.

One of my all-time favorite effects in this comic is the way cracks manifest across Dainix's body to represent when he starts to lose control; it is utterly gorgeous and wonderfully thematic. These are more evident in the page before and after this one, but you get a decent idea here. I love the way they glow softly, the way the fire juuuust flickers through at the start and then becomes more evident over time, and the cracks feel so realistic, like his skin is made of pottery. Additional points for how fire begins to creep into his hair.

A small detail that's generally consistent across the comic, but which I want to make note of here because you can see it pretty well: Kendal's eyes glow about the same as the jewel in his sword, mirroring his connection to said sword and calling back to how the jewel became Vash's eye temporarily and thus was once Kendal's eye. You can always see this connection (though there might be some spots where this also changes in a symbolic manner; I went through it quickly on the first time around, so I'll pay more attention when I inevitably reread this), where Kendal's always got that little shine of blue in his eyes the same as the jewel. It's a beautiful visual parallel that encourages the reader to subconsciously link them together, especially since the lines used to illustrate character movements typically mirror their eye color. It's an extension of Kendal.

Did I mention how ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL the colors in this are?

Also, the mythological/legend-type scenes are illustrated in familiar style often used for that type of story, a simple and heavily symbolic two-dimensional cave-painting-like look. They are absolutely beautiful on many levels, employing simple, lovely gradients, slightly rougher and thicker lineart that is nonetheless smoothly beautiful, and working with clear silhouettes (a major strength of this art style, but also a strength in the comic overall). But in particular, I wanted to call attention to a particular thing (see this page https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-12-4/):

The flowing symbolic lineart surrounding each character. This is actually quite consistent across characters—see also Life's typical lines and how they curl:

What's particularly interesting here is how these symbols are often similar, but not the same. Vash's lines are always smooth, clean curls, often playing off each other and echoing one another like ripples in a pond. You'd think they'd look too similar to Life's—but they don't. Life's curl like vines, and they remain connected; where one curve might echo another but exist entirely detached from each other in Vash's, Life's lines still remain wound together, because vines are continuous and don't float around. :P

Tahraim's are less continuous, often breaking up with significantly smaller bits and pieces floating around like—of course—sparks, and come to sharper points. These are also constants: we see the vines repeated over and over in Alinua's dreams of Life, and the echoing ripples of Vash are consistent wherever we encounter him. Kendal's dream of the ghost citizens of the city of Vash in the last few chapters is filled with these rippling, echoing patterns, to beautiful effect (https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-20-14/):

They ripple and spiral, often in long, sinuous curves, with smooth elegance. It reminds me a great deal of images of space and sine waves and the like. This establishes a definite feel to these different characters and their magic. And the thing is, that's not something that had to be done—the colors are good at emphasizing who's who. But it was done, and it adds a whole other dimension to the story. Whenever you're in a deity's domain, you know whose it is no matter the color.

Regarding that shape language, I wanted to make another note, too—Vash is sometimes described as chaotic and doing what he likes, which is interesting to me, because smooth, elegant curves and the color blue aren't generally associated with chaos. So while Vash might behave like that on the surface, I'm guessing he's got a lot more going on underneath; he's probably much more intentional in his actions than you'd think at a glance, and he is certainly quite caring with his city. The other thing is that this suits Kendal perfectly. He's a paragon character; he is kind, virtuous, and self-sacrificing, and often we see him aiming to calm others and keep them safe. Blue is such a good color for him. There is… probably more to this, but I'm not deep enough in yet to say.

And here's the thing: I'm only scratching the surface. There is so much more here I'm not covering (color palettes! outfits! character design! environment! the deities! so much more!) and a lot more I can't cover, because I don't have the experience; this is me as a hobbyist artist who happened to take a couple design classes because I wanted to. The art style to this comic is so clever and creative and beautiful, though, I just had to go off about it. <3

...brownie points for getting all the way down here? Have a cookie.

[aetherdoesthings]

HANAHAKI!READER X ROBIN PART TWO

forethoughts: i think i'm getting better!!! that's a lie i've been coughing all afternoon. oh welp. also lowkey i feel like i'm kinda been teaching y'all about absolutism in some sense through the fic. idk.

notes: fem!reader, hanahaki au (it's in the title), modern au, high school, swearing?

The next day at school, you avoided Robin like the plague. You wore a mask, making people think you were just sick, not batshit crazy for coughing up flower petals. During lunch, you hid in the library, a place you rarely saw Robin in since she was always on the podium eating lunch with other juniors. You were fine throughout the entire day; you didn’t see Robin, you didn’t hear Robin, or ever mention Robin once. 

You had decided to keep a small journal with you ever since you had ‘fallen in love’ with Nico Robin, the goddess herself. You wrote down every moment you coughed, keeping track if your symptoms were getting worse or not. You kept the notebook to yourself, keeping it in your bag. It was also one of those notebooks with those stupid padlocks they sold to kids when you were younger, just so that your secret was well hidden.

Robin had started talking to you on Instagram. Whenever your phone suddenly turned bright, you held your breath, checking the notifications to see if it was Robin. When it was, you’d be happy and jump up and down for a solid minute before finally responding. Your god awful disease seemed to go away whenever you talked to Robin via text too; maybe there was a way to keep your disease under wraps after all.

But there was one key thing that foiled your plan to stay immune to Robin forever. The attendance sheet. You can’t just skip History, the only class you had with Robin and had a goddamn group project with. So you walked into the classroom, taking your seat next to God herself, who was busy talking to her other comrades. You tried not to look at her, staring at the clock, the floor, that mold on the wall that seemed to keep growing. There was 60 minutes to this class. 60 minutes of purgatory. Your heart thudded, trying to leap out of your chest and look at Robin, wanting to express your love to her in the cheesiest way. Your mind rebelled, battling all the thoughts about the Goddess away. No. You had spent the entire day trying to figure out what triggered your coughing and made your throat want to kill itself. Right now, you were sitting next to Robin, and your heart was trying to think of her and daydream about you and Robin making out and having--

“Oh! Y/N! I didn’t see you there.” You nearly jumped out of your seat at her voice, as you whipped your head towards her, that sensation in your stomach burning out. Holy shit her smile was so much more beautiful than you had imagined. The corners of Robin’s lips curled upwards, forming a gentle arc. It was warm and inviting, like a blade of light in the darkness dungeons. Her face seemed to have lit up the moment she saw you, as her cheeks flushed pink, but so faint you needed the sun to see it clearly. You wanted to bask in the radiance that shone from her smile, wanting to feel it and experience it in its entirety.

That’s why you let out a harrowing cough, ducking your head and moving away from Robin. The petal moved up your esophagus, landing in your mask. You left the petal there, as you turned your head towards Robin again. Your stomach dropped when you realized her smile had disappeared. A frown replaced the smile, her eyebrows were furrowed and disappointment in her eyes.

“Oh. You’re still sick.” Robin sighed, a small smile on her face. “Well, I do hope you get better before our presentation. Is it a cold?”

“Y-Yeah, cold.” You nodded your head.

“I see. Do feel better soon, I don’t want our grade to plummet if you can’t present well.”

That sentence drove a knife into your heart, as you looked at your desk. “I hope I do too.”

While Robin wasn’t looking, you reached your hand into your mask, grabbing the petal and shoving it into your pocket. You drummed your feet against the ground, waiting for the lesson to start.

45 more minutes. The teacher had just given instructions on what to do and announcements. Everyone started to pull out their laptops the moment the teacher stopped talking, including Robin. You placed your laptop on the table, opening it and signing in, opening the document you and Robin were working on, as well as the slides.

“Okay, progress seems good. We have three more days until the presentation and we’re already halfway done. We just have to find a modern day example for Elizabeth I for extra credit, and we’re good.” Robin said.

“Yep.” You replied, wanting to limit your speech as much as possible. You had a bunch of tabs opened from last night, but your lovesick mind was too busy drooling over Robin to try and close some of them.

“Do you have any ideas about what modern day example we should do?” Robin asked, looking over at your screen.

“Um, the obvious answer would be Elizabeth II, but she was more of a constitutional monarch than absolute, so maybe we can do Elizabeth II, and just compare personalities and accomplishments.” You responded absentmindedly. When Robin didn’t respond, you looked up from your screen, looking at Robin. Your heart immediately dropped, as your finger scrambled on the trackpad, closing all your tabs you had open since last night.

“You saw nothing.” You simply said after a cloud of silence fell upon the two of you.

“Definitely. Let’s get back to work.” Robin replied, looking back at her screen.

Your cheeks were red, your fingers shaking as you tried to type one word on the slides. If the whole room was absolutely silent, everyone would’ve heard your heart thumping, roaring loudly. You spent your night trying to find out how to cure your hanahaki disease, or at least not trigger your symptoms. Tired and absolutely drained, you closed your computer and just went to sleep, not closing your tabs at all.

Does Robin know I have that stupid love disease? Does Robin know I have a massive crush on her? Does Robin think I’m weird? Does Robin know? Shit. Shit. Fuck. I think she knows. Oh fuck, I’m fucked. Robin knows. She knows I have that stupid love disease. Your mind raced with thoughts, all negative and solidifying your doom. Robin definitely saw the tabs of you researching hanahaki, and now she knew you were in love with someone to the point you coughed up flower petals because of a person.

She doesn’t know it’s her. She doesn’t know I like her. She doesn’t know I love her. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’m not going to die if she knows I have a massive crush on her. You took a deep breath, holding onto those words like it was your life line. Robin didn’t know it was you, she just knew you were in love with someone.

But she’s smart. She’s going to know. 

No she’s not.

Yes she is.

The two voices wrestled in your head, growing louder and louder, shutting down all your other actions. You were certain Robin was talking, maybe to you or to someone else. Your fingers stayed put on the keys, not a single letter being typed out. All you could focus on was the voices arguing about your fate. It felt like drills digging into your skull, piercing through the bone and turning your brain into mush.

You abruptly stood up from your seat, closing the lid as you walked up to the teacher, telling him you needed to use the bathroom. You stormed out of the classroom, making a beeline to the stalls. You chose the farthest one from the door, turning the lock so fast it should’ve flown off. With your back against the wall, you sunk down to the ground, bringing your knees to your chest as you dropped your head, letting your forehead rest on your knees. 

You hated this feeling. You hated feeling helpless and hated having your well being dependent on a person.

You never wanted to fall in love with Nico Robin. You never wanted to have this feeling in your heart, this constant need to see her and hear her voice.

Now this? 

Why did you have to fall in love with Nico Robin? 

There were two ways to get rid of the stupid love disease. You had to tell Robin you loved her, and if she loves you back, you’d stop coughing up flowers. If she rejects you, you’re done for. 

You let out a sniffle, knowing which option would become reality. 

Nico Robin was going to kill you, whether you told her or not. She would’ve never liked you back, not in a million years.

Your fate was sealed the minute you saw her on your first day of junior year.

You were going to-

“Y/N? Are you in there?” You lifted your head so abruptly, the back of your head hit the concrete wall, causing you to wince. Robin? From the gaps on the bottom, you could see Robin’s shoe slowly approach your stall, the tip of her shoes pointed towards you.

[fangswbenefits]

Hey, I’m too shy to write this off anon but I just wanted to say that before I read your stuff, I thought I’ll only be good at writing if I wrote big chunky paragraphs and tried to get my word count as high as I could.

But after I saw your works and see how your format, small paragraph, it was so easier to read and follow. Like I’m a slow asf reader and my attention span is unbelievable — I’m used to reading big paragraphs from novels and irl books but seeing your stuff and the way you format is like… an eye opener (?)

like I didn’t realise there was a possibility that big paragraphs could be overwhelming too but seeing how fast I read your works, It was inspiring and not just that but your writing in general too the way you string words together and how nicely it flows.

Really inspiring. And your smut got me giggly and kicking my feet too. 🫠🫠I haven’t had that feeling when reading a smut in a long time but I guess you have the magic touch.

I came for the Miggy fics but I think I might be tempted to read the astarion fic you got out too.

I didn’t intend for this to be long 😭 but hope you have a good day ruby!!

Hi, friend 🥺🩷 what a lovely ask my god...... I'm at a loss for words tbh!

Okay, so! We have a lot to go through here 👀

I used to have that mindset when writing fanfiction, too, and it all boils down to preference, I suppose. There isn't a set rule as to how lengthy paragraphs should be. But I found myself getting a bit too put off by these walls of text, and my attention span would waver frequently.

So I noticed an increasing trend of even one word paragraphs, and at first I was like "oh... this might be a bit too much", but it fucking works. It evens out the flow and makes it so much easier to stay enganged.

And that's what fanfiction is all about: for those 5, 10 or 20 minutes you get to transport someone into your world and have them get lost in it. Make it count!

When I write, I'm always abusing paragraphs, even when it's not really deemed necessary. I just do it because I would love that as a reader, too, and I want you guys to have the best experience, whether it be from smut or fluff or angst.

Smut is definitely what I feel more comfortable writing. It's just like second nature to me. I picture this scene in my head and then I put it down in words, hoping that I'm skilled enough to deliver something that people might not have known they needed 🫢

I would be delighted if you gave my Astarion fic a try. In fact, give him a try. If you enjoy my writing, you'll definitely enjoy the complexity of this character and how his writer brought him to life so beautifully. The prose might difer slightly from my Miguel fics, but the Ruby essence is still there 🩷

Thank you so much for sending this and making my day 🩷

[redbullcateringfiction]

Chapter 5 -

Cantata

Arabella is the executive assistant for Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff. 10 years into her career, it looks like the tide is changing, and she's beginning to question her relationship with him. Is it something more, or nothing but an idea lingering in her head?

F/M, Fluff, Boss/Employee Relationship, Romance, Pining, Love, Slow Burn

Fifth chapter below the cut or click here for AO3

Click here for the previous chapter on Tumblr, and click here for a list of all chapters

(Total: 21735 words thus far)

Oh? The right time to use a lawyer? You little shit. I immediately went to block his number, but paused. God, maybe he was onto something. He’s right. I can’t talk about my life with anyone, and…would this contract guarantee that he couldn’t say anything? I need a lawyer to read over this contract with a lawyer. I stared at the screen without really doing anything. I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder, I looked over and saw a line of 10 or so engineers. “How’s it going, ATM?” James asked. As one of the trackside engineers, he had been one of those who gifted me the greatest gift any paddock regular can receive: A nickname. 

I suppose Toto and Bono had it easy since it really was just what they had always been called. It was, afterall, really just their names. My nickname was far less affectionate. Both representative of the way the engineers would jokingly ask me to sign off on the paychecks, since they believed I held so much power at Brackley I could do so, and of the way I was also notorious for standing right behind Toto ready to shuffle him off to his next engagement. ATM stood for “Assigned Toto Micromanager.” It did, however, make it impossible to tell over text if they were asking “at the moment” or simply calling me by name. ‘Bono is on the pit wall ATM.’ As in right now or are we just mocking me? Fuck. 

“Good, good. Let’s get the party started,” I smiled. One after another, they filtered through. Of course, at least one of them had forgotten some silly thing they couldn’t bring through customs, turning them into an international smuggler, and I into the negotiator. In many ways, this could easily be one of the silliest parts of my job. Kindly asking a customs agent to overlook the Schumacher memorabilia that brightly displayed “Marlboro” and thus consisted of cigarette advertisements was certainly not in the job description. 

“Now, why would you wear that shirt?” I asked as the offending engineer finally passed through customs.

“I didn’t know it would be a problem!” She answered, throwing up her hands.

“Well, now you do,” I replied, rolling my eyes. She looked tempted to throw me the bird. “Just throw on a sweatshirt.”

“Fine, fine,” She sighed, reaching into her bag and pulling out a sweater.

I put in my ear buds as the line finally came to a close, and I began to walk to the car. I quickly found my playlist. Unlike my father, I was not a fan of Bach, Mozart, or Schubert. Rather Ellington, Corea, and Monk graced my ears. It had pissed off my ex-boyfriend enough that he wrote a song about it. I wish though that listening to that song gave me the giggles rather than could send me into tears. Unfortunately, the song refused to leave me alone. It followed me into stores. It followed me into the paddock. It followed me into every single rewind playlist Spotify gives me every single year. No one allows me to forget that damn song. 

I ran to the car and climbed in, managing to wave down the driver. “Arabella Lazaar, right? Four seasons?” He asked. 

“Yes, yes. Thank you so much,” I answered. I quickly dialed down Toto.

“Hello?” He answered.

“I’m on my way. We have to remind the engineers about clothing requirements at customs again,” I sighed.

“Who was the offender this time?” He laughed.

“Sarah with a Schumacher Senior shirt,” I explained.

“What could be the problem-”

“Marlboro,” I interrupted.

“Ah. Got it. Well, send out the email tonight. Should I meet you in the lobby? I have you checked in already.”

“Already? Sure. I’ll be there in half an hour. Looks like traffic is a mess since everyone’s coming in for testing.”

“Not too bad, Ms. Lazaar. I can make it happen in twenty.”

“Then twenty! He says we can make it in twenty,” I explained to Toto. 

“Then twenty, I’ll see you here in twenty.” I could practically hear him smiling through the phone. “See you soon.”

“See you,” I answered. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” The driver answered. 

~

Cathal Lynch’s girlfriend accidentally revealed through new song

Cathal Lynch, lead singer of Irish pop-rock band Four Odd Bottles, has long kept his love life private. For the past 3 years he has referenced his girlfriend at shows and in interviews, but has never revealed her identity. Fan theories have suggested supermodels, ex-classmates, and that perhaps, she doesn’t even actually exist! However, the release of the band's newest song - 4th From the Gate - accidentally revealed her identity. 

Simple references such as “racing stars,” and “dry tires on a wet pavement,” implied to listeners that Lynch may be dating a member of the Formula 1 community. Fans further found that Cathal’s posts on Instagram seemed to be located near or close to locations where Formula 1 races had taken place. None of this directly pointed to the woman who inspires Cathal’s boisterous love songs. However, several final details collided in the perfect storm to reveal her identity.

At the recent Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, Lynch took a picture with now 6-time world champion  Lewis Hamilton. This picture, taken from within the garage, told many fans that Cathal Lynch was either a big fan of Mercedes-Petronas, or with the recent song, his girlfriend works for Mercedes. Fans recalled that earlier songs had referenced Cathal Lynch’s girlfriend’s long curly hair, her tanned skin, and even that she may be Dutch. In the background of this picture was Arabella Lazaar - Curly haired, medium skinned, Dutch executive assistant to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. 

This afternoon, Cathal Lynch half-confirmed this was a simple Instagram story that showed a long curly hair on his pillow captioned “Always leaving pieces of herself with me. Even the ones she knows I hate.” To many fans, this was all they needed to immediately determine Arabella Lazaar was the woman inspiring Cathal Lynch’s music for the past 3 years. 

Four Odd Bottle’s did not respond to our request for comment.

~

We arrived at the hotel after 10 minutes, on the dot. I thanked the driver and was sure to grab my bags that I had placed in the trunk. As soon as I walked in, Toto was practically waiting by the door. 

“Arabella, haven’t seen you in a while,” He joked. 

“Oh, those two hours must’ve been so tortuous for you,” I spoke, immediately catching myself on the basis it may have sounded just a little bit flirty. Toto didn’t seem to notice though and laughed. 

“You just know they were. Every single minute, I was thinking, oh, how will I know what I am going to do in the next 5 minutes? Oh right, she sent an email, and I am to do absolutely nothing until she tells me what to do.”

“I’m not that bad,” I defended myself.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” He smirked. “Let me take your bags.”

We started walking towards the elevator and he lead me to my room. “I’m right next door, so you can bother me first thing in the morning.”

“And you know I will,” I smiled, taking the key from his hand. “Has someone already checked over your room?”

“I did. I know how to look over my own room.”

“Surprising,” I sassed. I walked in and immediately went to shut the door, but toto caught it with his foot.

“Uh, sorry. Do you mind if I was to finish our earlier conversation?” He asked, sweetly offering me a smile. 

“Oh. Sure. It had already slipped my mind,” I poorly lied. It had stuck in my brain like a leech. “Did you want to step in?” Fuck, why did I say that?

“Sure, sure,” He answered, closing the door behind him. “I just wanted to apologize for interrupting your date last night. I had a few too many drinks at the event, and saw you…and I’m not sure. Something just came over me. And suddenly I recalled you heading up to the room, and I figured, why not just ask? It just wasn’t appropriate and I wanted to apologize.”

“Oh…um…no worries! It wasn’t a date,” I quickly deflected. Why did I say that? Why not just accept the apology? Klootzak. 

“It wasn’t?” Toto asked, seemingly just as surprised at my statement as me. “Oh, well good, I suppose. Not good. Just…yes, okay.”

“Yeah, I was just uh…meeting with my lawyer.”

“Your lawyer ?”

Yes, of course. That was somehow better. I’m planning on suing you, Toto Wolff.

“Just uh…with contract renewal coming up soon. He’s been my lawyer since the incident with Cathal,” I mumbled. I’m very bad at lying. “Just good to have someone on my side.”

“Oh, of course. Well, then, I’m deeply sorry for implying that you were on a date by asking if he was your boyfriend from the Christmas party,” Toto answered.

“Mauricio? No, uh, we split up shortly after that.” Please stop talking, Arabella. Why can’t I just shut up sometimes?

“That's right. Mauricio. I’m sorry about that, though.” Okay, Arabella, take a breath and think for a moment about how you’ll respond. 

“Ah, we weren’t that serious. I’m not bothered. What’s done is done,” I smiled. I do not have the heart nor emotional capacity to tell Toto that Mauricio and I dated for about 3 weeks and had already broken up when I made him come to the Christmas Party with me. I just didn’t want to look lonely. It was a nice deal though. As a massive fan of Lewis, he didn’t mind getting the opportunity to meet everyone on his team. When my ex-boyfriend and I had been together, I rarely let him come to events with me. Of course, the one time I did, all hell broke loose. That’s why I don’t date celebrities anymore. Unfortunately, it being the one time I brought someone with me to the Christmas Party, it had stuck in everyone’s brains and to this day people ask me if Mauricio and I are still together. 

“Regardless, Arabella. That was my point. I apologize,” He smiled. 

“I understand that, and I accept your apology. It really isn’t anything to apologize for though,” I explained. 

“Okay,” Toto sighed. “Can I make it up to you though?”

"Give me a day off, you mean?” I chuckled. 

“We both know you wouldn't accept that. But we have some free time tonight. In exchange for ruining your last dinner, I propose you at least let me buy you dinner. You don’t have to sit down with me or anything, but I can at least buy it for you.”

“Can I think about it?” I asked.

“Think as long as you’d like,” He conceded, throwing up his hands. “I’ll head out. If you want to take me up on the offer, just shoot me a text.”

I nodded and he left out the door. I immediately crashed onto the bed, holding my face in the pillow. Perhaps Jeffrey was right. I did, in fact, desperately need someone to talk to. I looked at the text message again and tried to use the little bit of legalese I knew to understand it. I’m nowhere near a professional but this seems reasonable enough. No part of me wants to just sign this…but what options do I have? I downloaded it and sat on it for a moment, staring at it. I decided to call Jeffrey himself. I might not know legalese but I can interpret bullshit when I hear it. 

“Oh, Arabella. I didn’t expect this,” Jeffrey answered the phone. 

“I know. But, do me a favor here,” I spluttered. “Just…explain to me what all this means. I think I get the idea, but just walk me through it, and I’ll let you know if I have any questions.”

“That’s not a problem. Go ahead. What’s your first concern?”

“I’m not sure what section 1.3 really means. I think it’s saying that your retainer is typically 50%  of expected hours, but since the expected work hours here are unlimited…then the retainer is $50,000? But also since it’s pro bono, there isn’t a retainer?”

“Basically. Here, let me walk you through it. So you see…”

~

“Cathal, I can’t do this,” I cried, burying my head in my hands. “The calling, the texting, the death threats. It just isn’t ending.” I thought I would puke as my phone just continuously buzzed. 

“I know,” He whimpered through the phone. “I’m really sorry.”

“Why did you post that stupid fucking photo?” I begged. “Everyone knows it's me.”

“How the fuck was I supposed to know that they could figure out your god damn name from a picture that barely had you in the background? How the fuck was I supposed to know that, Belle?”

“I don’t fucking know! God, fuck!” I screamed. I could feel my chest getting tight, and suddenly I felt the need to lower my curtains. I could not look at Brackley right now. Absolutely not. “If anyone, and I mean anyone, finds my fucking address I will fucking kill you.”

“Then I’m dead. Because I already have the fucking team paying off paparazzi after paparazzi. I fucking care about you, Belle. I do. Do not blame me for this level of insanity.”

“People want to kill me because I’m dating you. Even though, to them, I’m the reason for all your music. Yet, they want me dead for it.”

“None of them are real, I assure you, Belle,” He tried to calm me down. “None of them. They always send bullshit like this and they never mean it. It’s just one of those great perks of being famous.”

“I do not want to be famous,” I complained.

“Really? Running around with Formula drivers and working for actors and actresses, and dating a fucking musician? No part of you wants to be famous? It sure as fuck seems like you do.”

“No, I do not, Cathal. It’s my job. It’s my fucking job,” I wept. I could feel my tears staining the pillow beneath me. Every inch was slowly becoming covered with tears. I touched it. I had cried so hard and for so long that the other side of it was becoming damp. I would surely have to throw this pillow out. I would have to carry it to the trash in the kitchen, and then drag the bag out to the trash bin. I would have to take the bin to the curb, and make sure it didn’t block the garage, so I could take my car and drive it to work in the morning. I would have to stay at work trying to avoid thinking about this or risk dropping into a sad mess of tears. I would have to drive back home, and be careful not to hit my garbage can if it had shifted since they picked it up. I would then have to get out of my car and drag the bin back into the garage. I would have to do all of this without running into paparazzi because I doubt Cathal’s team could stop all of them. I would have to do all of this without for a second having a panic attack. I would have to do all of this without letting anyone know just how much it had fucked me up.

That to me was the most important factor. No matter what happened and no matter how bad this made me feel, absolutely no one would know how fucked up this had me. Whatever pictures the paparazzi took of me, I would look fucking good. This could be the worst day of my life but there’s no reason for anyone to know except me and Cathal. I pulled myself together as Cathal ranted about my hypocriticism. 

“You know what, Cathal? You can blame me all you want. You can say I’m the reason why my life was ruined. The truth is though, I know you better than anyone else. I know you better than all your fucking fans do. I know that you left all those bread crumbs on purpose. I know that you wanted them to know who I was because you thought it was so silly that I didn’t want to be known. You thought it was so weird that someone could date a magnificent celebrity like you and not just want to date them for their fame. You thought it was so absurd. Why don’t you go fuck a groupie about it? Why don’t you pass some venereal disease all throughout Europe about it? I don’t care anymore. I did exactly as I was told, Cathal. Go fuck yourself,” I spoke, hanging up. I turned my phone off. If someone needs me, they know how to get a hold of me without calling or texting me. I cleaned my face up, and put on a nice bathrobe. I threw the pillow out in the garbage, and made sure my house was clean. I then opened up the blinds. Sure enough, as soon as I did, I saw a camera flash inside a car that was neatly parked outside my house. 

At least I knew that when that picture hit the tabloids, it would be a good one.

~

“And there we go. Everything explained. What do you think?” Jeffrey asked, sounding like he nearly needed to catch his breath. I yawned deeply, becoming sleepy after Jeffrey had managed to run through the entire contract in excruciating detail without stopping.

“I think you really like being a lawyer,” I yawned again.

“I do, yes,” I could practically hear him beaming through the phone. 

“Yeah, really boring for me, honestly,” I deadpanned. “Anyway, yeah, sounds good. I’ll sign it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. And after I sign it, how long until it goes into effect?”

“Instantly.”

“Great.” I instantly signed the paperwork and immediately returned it to him. 

“Thanks. Just got it.”

“Okay. Should I go to dinner with Toto?”

“Oh-we’re starting right away. Jesus Christ, Arabella. I’m not a magic 8 ball,” Jeffrey answered. “I don’t know if you should go to- wait he asked you out?”

“Asked me out is a strong sentiment,” I explained. “I really hope the walls here aren’t thin.”

“Is he right next to you or something?”

“His room is.”

“Oh my God, Arabella. That man wants you so bad.”

“Fucking hell, Jeffrey. I set up the rooms. Do you know who is also right next to him? Bono. Do you know who is also right next to me? Musconi. Because we’re all taking the same fucking car in the morning,” I explained.

“So…you want him so bad?”

“No, fucking hell, Jeffrey. It was just luck of the draw, I guess,” I replied. “All I did was say we should be on the same floor. In case something went wrong with the car.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever you say. So, he asked you for dinner?”

“Technically. He’s making up for interrupting our date…that I told him wasn’t a date.”

“Rude.”

“Rude? You gave me the idea with the whole ‘contract coming up’ bullshit. I just went with it. I didn’t want him to feel quite so crap for putting me in this situation.”

“Oh, situation? I’m a situation now?”

“Yes, Jeffrey. Yes, you are.” I looked out the window and could clearly see the signs of the impending dust storm. My family didn’t visit Morocco frequently when I was a child, but since we usually visited Marrakech in May, they were incredibly frequent. The wind would start blowing over the desert, and soon the sky would turn to a bright orange, the sand devouring us whole, while my father practically slapped us with face coverings to keep each of us from falling into unstoppable coughing fits. In a particularly bad one, I would stumble over my own feet trying to grab my sister’s shoulder, just to know I had someone with me. 

“You know, this is supposed to be a mutually positive experience.  You get to complain about work. I get to complain about work. Pretty good deal, I think,” Jeffrey argued.

“I think it’s closer to blackmail. Besides, you have given me very little advice in this situation.”

“Well, what exactly did he say, Arabella? Can I call you Bella?”

“You cannot. I’m not a crusty white dog,” I sighed. That was my go to line when someone asked if they could call me Bella. I found it made them far less difficult about it. “He just apologized and said he would make it up for me. I could pretty much take him up on dinner or just let him buy my room service basically.”

“Does…does he not already pay for your food when you travel?” Jeffrey asked. 

“Oh fuck you and your cleverness,” I sighed. “So…do you think it was a date then?”

“I promise you, I’m not trying to play therapist with you, but two things. For someone who says that she’s positive her boss isn’t into her, and she’s positive she isn’t into her boss, you’re awfully preoccupied with whether this is a date or not. Second thing, how would I know? Arabella, I barely know you and this guy. I can make assumptions based on my own knowledge about how I think things work but I can’t just come outright and say ‘Yes, for sure’ based on 3 hours of talking and maybe another hour of having sex,” Jeffrey explained. “You would actually have better luck with a magic 8 ball.”

“I’m really not into him. Just…curious,” I confidently spoke. “I’m 32 and lost out on my one realistic chance of marriage a year and a half ago. I get my hopes up at the slightest bit of attention even if I try to pretend I don’t.” As I spoke, the confidence quickly wore off. 

Jeffrey took a deep sigh. “Cathal, right?”

“I thought you were joking about Googling me,” I laughed, trying to soften the fact that my eyes were welling up with tears. I was over my ex. I had been for a long time. Nonetheless, the way he constantly crept up in my life had a strange way of never allowing old wounds to heal properly. We weren’t together for some crazy long period of time, but fame just wasn’t really for me. He just couldn’t understand that. Eventually, he was over it. Eventually, I was over being disrespected. Having your business out there all the time makes it impossible to ignore everything. Him being a musician means I constantly notice the way I don’t think he’s over me though. Releasing two breakup albums is a bit much, don’t you think? I could forgive one, but a second that was clearly still about me? Freaked me out a bit, if I’m honest. 

“I wasn’t. It was the first thing I saw. Your name plastered over all those headlines. Pictures of your house, pictures of you at races, pictures of you at Brackley. Just everywhere,” Jeffrey explained. 

“Most people forgot about it a long time ago. It was a Shakespearean tragedy in 5 acts for pop culture nerds. For everyone else, it really wasn’t anything.” I hate to admit it, but perhaps Cathal was the reason why I hated staying in Brackley so much. The way the discomfort lingered, and the way I swore sometimes I could smell him on my couch. It was stained with him, practically. Every inch was Cathal, Cathal, Cathal. Guitars on the walls, albums on the shelves, and a closet full of outfits he had worn while touring. It took months of vacuuming to stop finding his cat’s hair. 

“Not you though, huh? I can hear it in your voice,” Jeffrey answered.

“In my voice? Are you talking nonsense again?”

“Do you really think I’m not at all perceptive? I’m a lawyer, Arabella. Stop underestimating my people skills for once, or I’m going to hang up the phone.”

“Fine, fine. You’re right. It hasn’t really left me, partially, because it follows me around everywhere. You yourself said that you found it just by googling my name. Article after article detailing start-to-finish every aspect of our breakup and potential relationship history. None of that to mention that he’s two albums into the breakup and he won’t stop making songs about me.”

“How do you even know they’re about you?” Jeffrey asked innocently.

“The last album had a song called 100 degrees, which was entirely a reference to the perfect tire temp on an F1 tire. Not to mention the song just literally was about how hot I am but for some reason talking about me like I’m a car,” I sighed.

“I bet that didn’t sell well.” 

“Lookup ‘Cathal Lynch objectifies ex-girlfriend quite literally in newest single.’ That one actually gives me quite the giggle,” I told him, thinking about the article. It had some great one liners, such as ‘ He compares her body to a Ferrari, which considering their recent performance in F1, she will certainly take as an insult.’ They were right. I did. 

“Is he trying to win you back?” 

“More like he’s trying to annoy me. Every single time he puts an album out there talking about me, or mentions me at a concert, or talks about it in an interview, it gets my name right back in the tabloids. He knows I hate that. Thankfully, the press doesn’t really care to get my pictures anywhere but F1 races since they know I’ll always be there, and why waste resources when everyone else has seemingly moved on?”

“Except him.”

“Obviously,” I groaned. “Anyway…you’re right. I’ll figure out on my own what to do when it comes to the dinner thing. I need to be a grown up, I suppose.”

“Yes, you should. Now, do you mind if I have my own little moment here about my life?” Jeffrey asked. What am I supposed to say? No? After bitching for very long about everything in my life? It wouldn’t be fair.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Do you know what I hate? More than anything else?”

“Hmm?”

“So many people think I do DaVinci code type shit, and have the tomb of Jesus Christ himself locked away in a vault in Switzerland just because I work for a Swiss Bank.”

“Really? What’s the weirdest thing you have stored away?” I asked.

“I don’t actually know. We don’t ask questions. One client was storing just a single banana, and got pretty mad when the thing went rotten.”

“Did…did they think you would keep it fresh forever?”

“Somehow, yes. It was apparently one of those super rare plant species and his personal fruit tree had grown that singular one that year. I told him we’d buy him a box of those bananas to satisfy him.”

“What? Really? You just had the company shell out that that money just because this dude doesn’t understand a single thing about safety deposit boxes?”

“Y’know, when I was a kid, my dad made me work at Tesco. He wanted me to see how retail worked because he swore that I would otherwise grow up an entitled rich kid. And when I was a cashier, I would sit there and complain about my managers giving random people free things for things that were their fault. Then suddenly, one day he left early, gave me his pin and told me to handle any problems that arose. One customer in, and I realized how much easier it was to just satisfy them with whatever silly request they had even if it wasn't our fault.”

“Nice story, Jeffrey. My parents own a tiny hotel on an island. We weren’t playing poor, we just were. The hotel to this day barely stays afloat. And whenever someone came in and begged for something free or said they were upset with the way the room was cleaned, whatever, my parents would check and make sure it wasn’t their fault. If it wasn’t, they would happily tell them to fuck off,” I storied back to him.

“Alright, Arabella. Whatever you say, huh? You can’t just let someone have an opinion, can you?” He asked.

“That whole story was an opinion? What are you, a Tory?” I joked.

“Oh, shush,” He laughed. 

“Now you tell a woman to quiet up, huh? Jeffrey…tsk, tsk, tsk.”

“Alright, alright. I get it. Well, run off now and figure out what you’re doing tonight. I’ll let you go now.”

“Oh, really? I thought there would be more.”

“I just didn’t want you to feel weird. It’s supposed to be a tradeoff. I wanted to trade,” Jeffrey shrugged.

“You know you don’t have to say something. You can just wait until something happens and then call me,” I explained.

“Except if I turn on Sky Sports and see Mercedes is at the paddock?” Jeffrey asked.

“Unless it’s the race or qualifying, that’s probably the perfect time to call, actually. I’m an assistant, not an engineer, Jeffrey.”

“Oh, right on. Well, I’ll speak with you later, Bella.”

“Nope.”

“Thought I’d get away with it,” He sighed, hanging up the phone. I laughed hearing my phone beep away. As useless as I suppose that conversation was in practicality, in theory, it felt very safe. Somehow, despite the literal contract I had just signed and argument we had last night,  I might as well had been speaking with someone I knew for a decade. Perhaps he knew so much from looking me up that he could truly act like that, or maybe we just truly have the perfect matching energies for a platonic relationship. 

I stared at the door thinking about my next move. I realized that if I did what I wanted to do, I would be locking myself in this room, keeping to my strict comfort zone. I don’t want to do that. I sent off a text to Toto.

Me: I’ll take you up on the offer.

Tags: @daddyslittlevillain

[corpsekittin]

A Curative Spell

Hey y’all~! I know it’s been a hot minute since I last wrote a story and I appreciate all those who have followed me, still do follow me and Like/Reblog the stories I have written. I hope that I can get into writing a bit more actively now though. Hope enjoy what I’ve written here~!

———————————————

Aster Shawcross is a 29 year old gay man has always had a huge kink for gay to straight stories where gay men are against their wills transformed into hot, attractive and homophobic straight men. He never thought that he himself would have to live through such a transformation himself. The stories were supposed to be just fiction - not actually possible.

It all started when his best friend, Connor, got him drunk at the local bar one night after Connor had been dumped by his boyfriend. They'd spent most of the evening getting sloshed and complaining about there being no good gay men.

"I know exactly what I want," Connor said as he downed another shot of tequila. "You know how much you love those gay to straight stories?"

Aster nodded. "Yeah."

Connor smiled. "Well, tonight I'm going to make those stories come true."

Aster looked up in confusion. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"I was given this spell here by the local pastor” Connor said holding up a slip of paper with text on it “he said it’ll cure me if I recite it”.

"Cure you?" Aster asked skeptically.

"Yes, it'll cure me from being gay. It’ll be just like those stories you read all the time! You're my best friend and I trust you, so why don't we try it together? Maybe then we won’t be forever single and actually be happy."

Aster stared at his friend for a moment before nodding. "Okay. It’s not going to work, it’s surely a scam to get you to become a member of his Church but fine, I’ll go along with it."

"Great! Now let's get out of here and go home."

The two friends left the bar and headed back to Aster's apartment. When they arrived, Connor and he began reciting the words on the piece of paper.

"Oh my god!" Aster cried out in shock a few moments after the spell had been recited by them. His body felt like it was on fire. His skin prickled and burned. Connor feeling the same as well.

“Gnh!” Connor asked grunted at the pain rushing through his body.

Aster tried to speak but could only manage to cough. He grabbed his head and fell to the floor.

"A-Are you al-alright?" Connor, who was holding onto the wall slowly sliding down it, said with pain evident in his voice

"I-I think so..." Aster managed to say.

He got to his feet slowly and stumbled over to the couch. He collapsed onto it and lay there panting heavily. He looked up at Connor who was on his knees looking at him with concern.

"He didn’t say it would hurt!” Connor said, regretting his decision. If he knew it hurt this much he’d have never done it. It felt like his body was burning and his head was splitting.

"My...my chest," Aster gasped. "It feels weird."

Connor looked down at his own chest. He too noticed that it felt different. It felt bigger, harder and more muscular than usual.

"Our bodies are growing," Connor said.

Aster looked down at himself and saw that Connor was right. His pants were loose around his waist and his shirt was tight across his shoulders.

"How long does this last?" Aster asked weakly.

"I don't know," Connor said crawling to the couch where Aster was "He didn’t tell me”

They both laid on the couch trying to catch their breath. Their bodies continued to grow and change. Their minds were also undergoing a change as well. Both of them now found themselves thinking about women in a way they never had before. Their views on religion were also changing.

"I used to be an atheist, but now I feel like I should convert to Christianity or something," Connor said.

"Me too," Aster agreed “my mind is screaming that at me for some reason”

Their clothes began to change alongside them. They were both wearing jeans and tshirts when they went to the bar, but now they were both wearing dress shirts, ties and slacks as if they were missionaries for the church.

Both men stood up and looked at each other. Connor was now 6'3" tall and Aster was now 6”0. They’d gained a lot of muscle compared to what that they had previously had but were not super fit. Their hair was now short and brown, whereas Aster had been a blonde and Connor had had dyed his hair blood red. They also looked much younger than they were. Before they were 29 year old but now they looked no older than 21. To boot, their clothes didn’t just RESEMBLE that of a missionary - their clothes WERE that of a missionary. Something seemed off though, because neither of their name tags showed their names. It was someone else’s.

"Hey," Connor said. "Look at this."

Aster looked down at his name tag. "Whoa! My name is not on this."

"Mine either," Connor said.

Adtem looked at the name tag he wore which Said Adam Smith and then looked up at Josner’s name tag which said Joseph Johnson. "This is weird. Why aren't our names on these?"

"I don't kn-," Josener said before grabbing his head

Josener and Adem both grabbed their heads as they felt a ripping through their heads and their mental changes proceeded further. Their memories changed to that of having been raised in a church, having become friends young after meeting in said Church and when of age becoming missionaries. They also had memories of having had girlfriends before but nothing serious and of shunning those who live life as homosexuals. The house had also changed to fit their new lives. The house was incredibly clean, had pictures of Joseph at different ages, him in the church with the other boys, him with a whole new and highly religious family and some of him with his best friend, Adam.

“What were we just talking about?” Asked Adam.

“I don’t remember,” Replied Joseph.

Adam Smith and Joseph Johnson were two of the newest missionaries to the Church. They went to bed, not knowing anything had even happened to them or that they’d been someone else entirely.

Adam decide to stay the night at his friend’s place so that when they wake up ready to spread the word of God and help save people, especially homosexuals, from their sinful ways.

“I hope we find a lot of people to convert to the Lord today,” Adam said.

“I pray that we do,” replied Joseph.

Joseph and Adam happily walked down the street in the southern town they lived in to find those who need guided to salvation.

[yume-09]

Pink

Han Jisung × Reader Phone Swap AU

Word count: 1,332

I was running as fast as I could – I was late for my class and I didn't want to be any later. I woke up late, took too long getting ready and traffic was terrible on top of it all. All this mixed with five shots of espresso wasn't doing my body much good.

I turned the corner and – oh god… I hit something. That's it, I'm gonna fail. There goes my phone, the screen is probably cracked, that's gonna cost a lot.

"Are you okay?" The wall that I ran into started talking to me, I'm going insane. He was quick to grab his phone off the ground, I suppose he dropped his too.

"I'm.. I'm fine." I mumbled as I reached down to pick up my phone. There was a little scratch on the screen that I noticed immediately.

I went to classes, I went to get coffee and to get dinner. I had gone the whole day without bothering to check my phone but when I did –  it wasn't mine. That was definitely not mine, who's even is it? 

His, it was his.

Who would ever have themselves on their lockscreen? Him, this random guy I accidentally swapped phones with. This random guy – who I now realize, as I go through his gallery, is undeniably attractive and I have his cell phone.

I felt guilty scrolling through picture after picture of him and his friends as if it wasn't his fault that the phones got mixed up in the first place. I saw selfies and portraits, thousands of screenshots he was ever so reluctant to delete, music sheets and silly photos from the grocery store. I could see into the kind of person he was.

Why had he not tried to contact me through this phone? He could easily input his number and call me, it wasn't hard. He couldn't have possibly gone that long without checking his phone at least once, well with the amount of friends he has. I might as well do that, I don't want to infringe on his privacy more than I already have.

He picked up the phone immediately.

"This isn't my phone," He spoke over the telephone lines.

"Well no kidding, Sherlock," I laughed.

He made an annoyed grumble, "Well do you want your phone back or not? Cause it seems like you really don't,"

"Only if I get to at least keep your number," 

"Alright, alright, you can keep it," I could hear his smile over the line. I wrote down the number on a small sticky note.

"We can make the exchange tomorrow, 9:00 at the coffee shop next to the school?" I suggested.

"Alright," He confirmed, "So I'll see you tomorrow," He quickly hung up.

There was a sort of anxiety to the situation. What if someone important tried to text or call me? What if he steals my phone? What if he starts sending crazy text messages? I could see that he wasn't that type of guy but questions like that don't just disappear.

I spent most the night looking at his phone and scrolling through his tiktok, his for you page was full of influencers and kpop stuff and of course the occasional vine or two. He didn't post but he had stuff saved, dances and make-up tutorials. I sort of began to wonder if he didn't have a girlfriend for a specific reason.

Just as we planned we met up at the coffee shop. When I walked through the door I spotted him immediately. He was in a black hoodie and black ripped jeans with some absolutely gigantic shoes – which I don’t blame him for wearing shoes like that, he’s not that tall.

“You have the goods?” He asked as I sat next to him at the coffee shop table. He flipped the hood of his hoodie over his head and pulled my phone out of his pocket, “I have yours if you have mine,”

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” I asked with a smirk, taking my phone back and giving him his.

“Done what? Talk to a pretty girl or make a suspicious deal?” He smiles, powering on his phone, probably to make sure that I didn’t do anything odd to his phone. I didn’t do anything odd but he might notice that I saved a few tiktoks and edited a couple pictures in his gallery. He went right to his contacts and smiled big when he noticed my number, and name, already there.

I powered on my phone and everything was intact just as it was when I left it and his name and number were in my contacts. His name was surrounded by soft blue hearts and he had it in a pretty font.

💙𝐻𝒶𝓃 𝒥𝒾𝓈𝓊𝓃𝑔💙

Han Jisung – the man who accidentally stole my phone, and heart, was named Han Jisung. And of course, he had to put my name in his phone in the most extra way possible.

“Promise I didn't do anything weird – unless you consider taking pictures of my dog weird… Actually, can you send those to me?” He assured.

I scoffed lightly, digging through my gallery to find the photos he wanted. There were like ten just of his dog and a couple of him, he couldn't go one night without a selfie? I sent them all to him and then asked if he could send me the ones that I edited of him.

He erupted with laughter like some sort of giggle volcano as he went through his gallery. I had drawn mustaches and glasses on him and left significant text commentary on his photos.

“Minho is not my boyfriend,” He laughed, looking over my commentary and editing, “And Bbama looks amazing with a mustache,”

“You look good with one too – I think I put one on your boyfriend as well,” I chuckled, looking over as he went through the photos.

The best one that I edited was probably the one of him shirtless. I had taken it upon myself to draw a shirt for him since he hadn't even bothered to put one on for the picture. He got a good laugh out of that one, saying something about how it was such a tragedy to cover such nice muscles (I didn't agree.)

We quickly became good friends and we both opted to learn more about each other before pursuing something more than a friendship.

Until, well, tonight.

I opened my door for him as usual, leading him into my home and onto my couch. He let out a little huff as he sat down, sitting in the exact same way he always does and hogging half the couch.He grabbed the TV remote and started playing something, I wasn't sure what, I think he changed it every minute or two.

I was in the kitchen, preparing something for dinner. I set the table, grabbed us plates and called him into the dining room to eat. As as He entered the dining room he looked over at me and there was a certain sparkle in his eyes that I couldn't miss.

“Hey,” He spoke, “I love you,” It caught me off guard that he uses such strong words so quickly but I couldn’t deny that I felt the same.

“I love you too,” I muttered back quietly. He had a smile, ear to ear, that was absolutely smug and goofy – things like this is what made him so attractive. His eyes lit up and he looked so happy.

“So what does this make us?” He asks.

“More than friends, finally,” He let out a soft chuckle and walked up to the table.

“Finally,”

[theslay3d]

Hello, may I request a Percy Jackson request. This is Annabeth with a female reader, who is her platonic mortal best friend, who can see through the Mist and knows about Demigods.

The female reader makes a request to Annabeth, knowing she's dating the Son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson. She wants Annabeth to ask Percy to take them underwater in a giant Air Bubble, to see aquatic life. So, Annabeth asks Percy this favor, and he agrees. Then he creates two air bubble for both of them and commands those bubbles to drift along the sea.

There, Annabeth watches from her bubble, her best friend awe and gush at the sight of the sea and aquatic creatures, practically pressing against the wall of her air bubble in excitement. Afterwards, she thanks Annabeth with a hug

Annabeth Chase x Mortal!female reader

Gender:Female

Warnings:none but like one curse word

Word count:917

A/N ok tbh the location makes no sense but we are gonna go along with it:) when i wrote it i wrote it as if Percy and Annabeth go to college in new Rome so they are in California but imagine what you want.

You slid next to where Annabeth was standing and pressed your shoulder against hers. She kept her head straight and still seemed to stare at whatever she was looking at. You followed her eyes and noticed a messy haired boy standing looking pretty clueless. It looks as if he's looking for someone. 

Yours eyes widened as you remembered Annabeth's description of her boyfriend. “Holy shit is that Percy?”

Annabeth nodded her head. 

“Why aren't you going up to him? He looks kinda clueless as to where you are”

“That's exactly why im not going to him im waiting for him to realize i'm over here” 

You nodded your head at her. “How long has he been there?”

“5 minutes” 

You laughed loudly which made the boy's head snap in your direction. His face lit up and he moved to start walking but Annabeth held up a hand to stop him and turned to you. 

“Well i'll see you next week Y/n”

“Wait! Can I ask you something?”

Annabeth narrowed her eyes but nodded her head yes.

“So I know you're dating Percy who's the son of a sea god and well I was wondering if maybe he could take us both underwater to see all of the sea life?” You rambled off and finished your sentence with pleading eyes. 

“I can ask him” Annabrth said

“Oh! Thank you” You hugged her. She hugged back and moved to leave. 

“I'll text you about it later Y/n”

“Ok!” You skipped off excitingly. 

Annabeth shook her head and finally moved to go see Percy. Before she could even say hello he asked. “That was Y/n right?” 

“Yes”

“I'm surprised you have any mortal friends wise girl” He teased as they both started to walk away.

“Well i do seaweed brain your just gonna have to deal with it” 

He laughed and tucked her under his arm. “Your friend seemed excited what happened” 

“Oh yeah she wanted you to take me and her underwater so that she can see all the aquatic life” 

“I can do that. When though?”

“Maybe tomorrow? She's usually free all the time” 

He laughed again as they reached his car and moved to both sides. “Yeah i can do that” 

“Thank you Percy” 

***Time skip***

You were up early the next day. Annabeth texted you last night and told you that Percy agreed to take you both underwater the next day. You planned on where and when you guys would meet.

You walked to the place you agreed to meet and got food for all of you. It would be the first time you ever met Percy and you were nervous. He was a son of the big three as Annabeth told you.

You hoped that he would like you as Annabeth was your friend and you wanted to get along with Percy. 

You finally made it to the spot and saw Percy and Annabeth sitting at one of the picnic tables. You sped up and sat down on the other side. 

“Heyyy i got food” You held it up and handed it to them. 

They both thanked you and you introduced yourself to Percy and he did too. 

You all ate the food talking a little bit but you were still a little nervous about Percy. He was really nice but he had this energy that was just always there. When you thought about it Annabeth had the same energy when you first met so you probably just had to get used to it. 

“So you can see through the mist?” Percy asked as he continued to eat. 

“Yep super freaky when I first met Annabeth and she was fighting this monster with a dagger” You nodded your head at the memory. 

“Yeah I almost stabbed you” Annabeth said. 

“Yeah forget about that” You grimaced at the fear you remembered that shot through you when it happened. 

Annabeth held in a little laugh at that. Percy clapped his hands “Ok you guys ready?” 

You both nodded and moved to the ocean. “So i'm staying up here but you both will be done there and Annabeth has a weapon just in case” Percy said. 

You looked at where Annabeth had the dagger and let out a breath. Hopefully there were no monsters that attacked you.  

After a few minutes you and Annabeth were both under the water(totally not because idk how to explain this)

You looked in wonder at the air bubble you were in. It was very weird yet so cool. 

You looked at Annabeth who was a couple feet away from you in her own bubble and she was staring at you. She looked like she was asking if you were ok so you smiled at her and moved to look around. The bubble moved along with you. 

Fish moved all around you and even went past your bubble. One fish you thought was gorgeous so you moved closer to the edge of the bubble and stared. 

Your eyes widened as you noticed something a little far away. It looks like a dolphin so you pointed at it and Annabeth turned to look. She smiled at what it was and turned back to you.

You already moved on to something else but you looked so excited. 

After a couple more minutes under the water you and Annabeth came back to the surface. 

“Omg! That was amazing. Thank you Annabeth and thank you Percy” You hugged Annabeth and she hugged back. 

Maybe next time you could talk her into letting her friend Jason take you to the sky. 

[empenguin]

How You Met The 141

This is literally just word vomit and when I went to type it up (b/c I originally wrote it in an old notebook) I changed shit idk. its kinda Ghost x reader so that's how I tagged it but eh. for your consideration. 

Warning: its probably really cringey and i can’t proofread for shit

You had been too absorbed on your walk home after taking care of a few things at the office that you hadn't felt your phone buzz in your pocket, had you felt it, you would have seen a text from your housemate Kyle that he was back from work and a few of his coworkers were at the house as well.

Pizza, yes, pizza sounded good. But to have it delivered or to make it from scratch. Scratch would take longer but it always seemed to taste better, scratch it was. As you rounded the last corner you were surprised to see Kyle's car in the driveway. It brought a small smile as you pulled out your keys to open the door. Over the years that you had shared a house the two of you had grown close, you had considered a relationship beyond just friends but you both realized that you were better off in a purely platonic relationship. 

Pushing open the door you froze as you looked inside, there were three men in your living room. On the couch sat a man with a mohawk and a man whose head was covered in a black mask, that once he turned to look at you, you saw had a skull sewn onto it. In your favorite chair sat a man who you vaguely recognized but couldn't place a name to the face, but you were almost sure that Kyle had shown you a picture of the two of them before. 

The man with a mohawk smiled and waved, introducing himself

“Hello, you must be Gaz’s housemate, I’m Soap” 

You reached into your pocket, grabbing your phone, and reading the text from Kyle quickly as you responded.

“Um, Hi” 

You introduced yourself to them and they did in return, the man that you recognized was Captain John Price, and the man with the skull mask introduced himself as Ghost and when  you met his eyes there was something that made you want to look into them forever. After an embarrassing amount of time spent just looking into the man's eyes, you excused yourself and practically ran up to your room. After a few minutes of sitting on the bed and staring at the wall, you decided that you would change into something more comfortable, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and an old hoodie, just pulling it over your head as you heard the knock at your door.

“Who is it?” 

You doubted that any of the men from downstairs would be knocking on your door but it couldn't hurt to be sure

“Your favorite housemate”

Letting out a small huff, you opened the door to see Kyle, stepping aside so that he could come in. he took a seat at your desk, spinning in the chair to face you as you plopped onto the bed.

“Sorry about the short notice, we have another mission soon so it didn't make sense for everyone to go home fully”

“S’ fine, Ky really, I mean it is YOUR house” 

“Still. Anyway, how’ve you been, go on any dates? Met any cute guys?’

“I think you know the answer to that question, but not that you asked or anything but Sarah visited a few times, gave me her number to pass along, and we’ve gotten dinner as well. Not that you asked, I'm just sharing this information, you know as any good friend would”

“I'll take it, but c’mon you can’t stay single forever, you'll work yourself to death”

At this, you let out a subdued snort

“Dude, if one of us is gonna die because of our job, I doubt it’s gonna be me”

He reaches out and gives a light smack on your ankle but you can see the hint of a grin on his face

“You know what I meant. I hear that you and Ghost had a little moment, wanna discuss?”

Now it's your turn to smack him

“I’d hardly call it a moment, i just- he’s got nice eyes”

Kyle lets out a loud laugh

“Are you serious? That's what you're going with? Oh god”

You push yourself off the bed and move to the door  

“If your only going to make fun of me then you can leave and I won't make enough pizza for you I will make enough for only myself and leave the four of you to fend for yourselves”

He rises quickly with his hands up as if he was approaching a scared dog

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, there's no need to go that far”

It was no secret between the two of you that Kyle Loved your pizza, when he was home you would occasionally have pizza nights when you would spend hours just talking as you prepared the dough and each assembled your pizzas, and though the recipe was clearly labeled in the recipe box in the kitchen he always insisted that you make the dough, and it tasted better when you made it, deep down you were sure that it was purely because he didn't want to get covered in flour but after a few times the two of you fell into a comfortable routine, you would make the dough and he would help prepare the toppings, all the while you two talked about anything under the sun. 

You rolled your eyes at him and didn't respond, making your way downstairs with him following closely after you and speaking the entire time mostly ignoring him until you walked past the living room where Soap, Ghost, and Price sat all turning their heads as they heard Kyle ramble on.

“You can just do that! It's like putting a luxury steak in front of a starving man and telling him he can have the ingredients to make one himself but he has to watch as you eat the other one right in front of him!” 

“Oh my god! You're such a baby! Relax! I was joking relax and grab the ingredients out while I get the mixing bowl” 

He relaxed as he set about gathering the flour, yeast, sugar, and wet measuring cup out of the cupboards.

“Do you think three or four batches, usually when it's just the two of us I do a double and we have a bit of leftovers”

He pauses for a moment contemplating before settling 

“ I think four, just to be safe, Soap can really put it away, same with Ghost” 

 The two of you set about measuring the water-to-yeast ratio before setting it aside to activate and beginning to put together the toppings, as you're pulling things out of the fridge you pause for a moment before closing the fridge and moving out to lean on the doorframe and asking

“Is there anything that you guys don't like on your Pizza?”

Price looks up from the book that he was reading, and Ghost and Soap turn their heads to face you. There’s a quiet moment before Soap responds first

“Mushrooms”

You nod 

“Okay, anything else?”

“Jalapenos” 

Price says softly, making a face as he does

“Got it, Ghost? You got anything you don't want?” 

Again you meet his eyes and freeze holding them as he slowly shakes his head

“Okay then”

Returning to the kitchen you see Kyle standing at the counter, giving you a knowing look, you stick your tongue out at him, giving him the middle finger as you do and he laughs, before the two of you set to cutting up the remaining toppings into more manageable sizes and putting them into their containers so that once the dough is done you can simply grab some out of each container and top the pizzas as you see fit. Once that was done you grabbed the pans out of the drawer under the oven setting it to preheat as you did. After you had sprayed the pans with non-stick spray.

By that time the dough was ready and you dumped it out on the counter and began to knead more flour into the dough until it was the right consistency. Before dividing it into sections and putting them on pans, Kyle grabs one and starts spreading the dough on the pans, after that it becomes somewhat of an assembly line, you sauce each pizza and he follows behind you, spreading cheese on each, before moving on to the next topping, and as you are finishing up Ghost walks in.

“Hey, need anything?”

He just stands there for a moment before responding

“Tea?”

You pointed to the kettle on the counter

“There's a bunch of teas in the drawer under there, and you'll have to wait for the water to boil, mugs are in the cupboard just above”

He nods and makes his way over, filling the kettle before placing it back on its stand and pressing down the paddle to start it boiling, opening the cupboard and grabbing a mug out. It was a black one that you had gotten fairly recently, it changed colors with heat, and when it got hot a black and white union flag.

“Good choice” you tipped your head towards the mug in his hands when he tilted his head to the side with a questioning look.

After a minute, the oven dinged, signifying that it was ready and you put two of the pizzas in, and starting a timer, then started some hot water in the sink, and started the dishes. Kyle had left the room a few minutes prior going to change into a clean shirt, as his had somehow become covered in flour, despite him not having any contact with the container except for pulling it out of the cupboard. 

A moment passed in silence as you were putting dishes in the drying rack before Ghost spoke, it startled you when he spoke but you had gotten used to Kyle walking into the room without you noticing and had stopped jumping after living together for a few months.

“You and Garrick seem close”

Its a question disguised as a statement but you understand the meaning

“I’ve lived here for almost three years, we get along pretty well, but as for the real question you're asking, no, we are not a couple. Just friends, close friends, but friends all the same”

You had finished the dishes and moved to pull plates out of the cupboard, placing them on the counter and putting hot pads down on the counter for when the first pizzas were done. Ghost nods and pours himself a cup of tea when he sees that the water had finished, excusing himself once he had finished.

  A moment later, Kyle walked in, now wearing a clean shirt, he noticed the kettle on the counter and grabbed his designated mug off of the mug tree, and poured himself a cup, before grabbing a teabag out of the drawer, leaning on the counter next to you, cradling the mug in his hands.

“Noticed you got Ghost talking”

“Can’t talk to the guests that my roommate brought home?”

He scoffs with a small smile before smiling

“ not saying that just that the Lt isn't much of a talker outside of work, I think that's the most he's spoken to someone outside of the team”

Before you could respond to him the timer that you had set on your phone went off and you pulled the pizzas out of the oven and put two more in, leaving only one more to be put in after. After you had put the next set in you quickly cut the fresh pizzas and announced loud enough that the others could hear.

“Pizza’s ready!”

There's a moment of shuffling in the other room before Soap comes bounding in, ready to eat. 

You gestured to the plates next to the pizzas

“Help yourself, there's two more in the oven and one that hasn't gone in yet so you should be able to have as much as you want”

Soap eagerly filled his plate, Price followed quickly after and you noticed Ghost hesitate for a moment before grabbing a plate and putting a few slices on and sitting down at the table with Soap and Price, Kyle moving to grab a plate and sitting down, you checked your phone. You saw that there were only a few minutes left on the timer so you resigned yourself to leaning against the counter.

Price looked over at you, noticing that you hadn't grabbed a plate

“You not eating?”

You shook your head featuring to the oven

“These will be done in just a minute so ill pull these out and then ill sit down with you guys”

He nods and you look over when you hear a small grunt and see Soap coughing, steam coming out of his mouth, clearly not expecting it to be so hot. You silently watch as they dig in, Ghost pulling the mask he wore up just above his mouth so that he could eat.

When the timer went off again you pull the others out and put the final one in. You cut those and moved the empty pan out of the way, tapping with your fingers to ensure you won't burn your fingertips off, this earns you a glare from Kyle who regularly chastised you for having so little regard for how hot things are. 

After you filled your plate and sat down. By the time you had finished your first slice, Soap had stood up to get seconds and when he sat back down he started asking you questions about yourself, starting with your job. You explained that it is mostly testing product designs and checking to see that they comply with the safety regulations in the US or the UK, your department was created a few years ago when the company merged with the one that you had worked for in the states. Then he asked about your family, and you answered that they had unfortunately died in a pileup driving home from visiting some family in another part of the state.

Then your timer goes off so you pull the last pizza out of the oven and put it on the counter and cut it before sitting back down.

There is an awkward pause before Price interjects, asking about your hobbies. You told him that after graduating high school you had taken welding classes and had actually started as a welder in your company but moved up over time as your supervisors realized that you were good at remembering what was in or out of regulations, so in your free time you sometimes spent some time in the shop working on art projects, which was where you had gotten some of the metal artwork that hung around the house. You also volunteered at the local animal shelter so you could get your animal fix as you still couldn't justify getting one as you thought you worked too much. You explained that there was also an older lady down the road with who you had dinner once or twice a week and she talked to you about her late husband who had been in the Royal army and was convinced that somehow you and Kyle were an item despite you insisting that you were nothing but friends, even talking about dates that Kyle had gone on.

“Did you have dogs growing up?” 

This time its Ghost asking, which you thought from what Kyle had told you was maybe a little odd but you answered him nonetheless

“Yes, but it was always little dogs, every time I mentioned to my mother that I wanted a bigger dog, she would always tell me the same thing ‘poop is proportional’ but I've always wanted to get a bigger dog, partially because I want someone who I can take hiking with me and feel safer than I did when I took my mom's little thirteen-pound dog with me but also cuz ‘scary dog privilege’ you know?”

They all looked at you, clearly not knowing what you meant, so you continued

“Okay so basically the thing is that if you have a big scary-looking dog you are less likely to be catcalled or harassed by men because they assume that the dog will protect you, but it is also if you just walk around with someone who looks scary like when I'm walking alone, even in broad daylight I get at least one or two guys who say something that toes the line of harassment, I've gotten more used to it now but I’d like to be able to walk down the street and enjoy my day without being yelled at. But when I walk to the store with Kyle or go get lunch with some of my colleagues, most of whom are men, it's far less likely to happen.”

They're all looking at you now with varying levels of anger on their faces

“Jesus” 

Price has set down the slice of pizza and just looks down at the table, they've all stopped eating now.

The rest of dinner is significantly quieter but goes smoothly and they polish off all of the pizzas, Kyle and Soap disappear into the living room to find something to watch on the Tv, Price helps collect the plates from the table and you start the dishwater and have done half of the dishes before you realize Ghost is still sitting at the table, he's replaced the mask over his face but is just sitting at the table.

“You alright there Ghost?”

He looks over at you, nodding before standing and pushing his chair in, and walking over.

“Anything I can do to help?”

You wait a moment, before handing him a pan that you had just washed and rinsed

“Could you pop this in the oven to dry off?” 

He does so and waits for the next one, and stays until he has put the last one in the oven, managing to balance them so that all the pans are drying in the still-toasty oven. You wash the last dish, setting it in the drain rack and wiping down the counters, clearing off the crumbs that were left over, and then rinsing the rag and letting the dishwater out, hanging it up to dry out on the bar above the sink. 

“Thank you for dinner”

You turn, leaning against the counter, looking up at Ghost.

“Thank you for helping clean up”

“Course, any time”

[tealcaste]

hi tumblr time for my daily licorice rambles /hj

anyways so ive been looking at those character playlists recently, and decided to look at licorice ones because how. how bad could they be? (spoiler alert: they were bad. i saw that one "Cause I'm a Liar" aka that one kokichi song on a licorice playlist. A FUCKING LICORICE PLAYLI)

Anyways, ever since i've decided to look for silly little songs that. ACTUALLY relate to licorice (or just songs that remind me of him for some reason), and decided to share it here :33333

(get ready for a massive wall of text)

(also prepare for a lot of grammar + spelling errors fireemoji)

(but then again i wrote most of this at 3am so bear with me plea)

disclaimer if youve never heard of any of these songs just. just listen to them and you'll understand what i mean when i say those songs fit Licorice Cookie plea

i think tbis is the firsr post im actually using capitals yahoo!

alsp ypu xan. feel free to disagree on some songs fireemoji

ok first of all without a doubt, anything from the "People Who Can Eat Are The Luckiest People In The World" album by AJJ can. justifyably fit licorice cookie. SPECIFICALLY Brave as A Noun and Survival Song. I dont know how to explain it but.. the lyrics just.. sorta scream licorice cookie?? Mostly in Survival Song but i added Brave as A Noun since theyre basically just a long song split unto two parts if that makes sense...

BUT HEAR ME OUT ON LICORICE WITH TGE SONG RANDY'S HOUSE. PLEASE. the line "And I hope that our candles flicker and die, so that our hearts don't burn to the ground. Down, down just like Randy's House." jusr fits licorice so muxh i donr know how to explain it... just tge whole aong in general is just so. licorice cookie.

OK next song is "The U & I in Suicide" by That Handsome Devil. Maybe its cuz this song is about death?? But just the whole tone of the song is sorta off putting which imo just.. fits soso much, and this song fits Licorice. The. the lyrics n title r sorta slef explanitory so erm

ok next songs may b a little biased or smth cuz i am a massive Will Wood fan but you cannot deny that. That some willwood songs just.. fit Lico.

I have no idea why but the sonf "BlackBoxWarrior - OKULTRA" by Will Wood just... heavily reminds me of Licorice?? For no apparent reason?? Maybe its just cuz of the energy of the song if that makes sense??

also one of my friends recommended me this (ty E you're a cool pookie) but "Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Bones)" by Will Wood and The Tapeworms is just. Licorice Cookie i dont think i need to explain this one

There are a bit more Will Wood and The Tapeworms songs but they sorta jjst follow. the sssame reasons as BlackBoxWarrior -- OKULTRA so errmmmmmmm

aNYWAYS I'd. id like to mention that j feel like "Kiss Me, Son of God" by They Might Be Giants sortaa fits him... liek tthinj abt it... id like to imagine tbag lico sometimes wondee what it would be liek if. he had been taken seriously aand so hed sorta imagine just. being above everyone abd i feel like that song sorta.. helps explain that??

I also think "Losers" by The Cardigans would sorta fit him..LIKE THE LINE "You were that you were special ; I'm just like you." JUST.. OH KY GKD??? THATS SO???? I dont know how to explain it but its just so... licorice cookie for me i dont k ow how to epxlain it.... sksnakdmaknd

there are some other somgs but like. they sorta follow the same reasons as the songs I've mentioned soooooo

anywyas as mentioned earlier.. feel free to disagree with any songs!!! and also if you have some songs tbat reming you of lico feel free to share :333

[why-even-ask]

@atlas-slut-of-the-people You know that I said over my main (vaporwavehistorian) that I would read your werewolf AU whenever I'd have free time. The free time was during the psychology class at 8:30 AM. I underlined some parts and even took notes like analysing a historical text. It was absolutely amazing. No regrets.

And as you can see, it was quite an emotional read. You have no idea how much it took for me to hold myself from screaming at the end. The last sentence oh my fuck. The last sentence!!!!!😭😭😭😭

Okay as for the underlined parts and short comments (I'd have liked to comment on AO3 but I only have the paper in my hand right now so I'll write them here as an analysis and I'll leave kudos once I get to the computer):

-The way Jack comes in like that and asks for a piece of toast, I underlined that part and wrote "I fucking love this lad :) <3".

-"Would you kindly fuck off you undead meatloaf!" I'll probably use that nickname for myself lol

-Lyrics to the songs written next to their respective mentions, along with "Good choice!"

-"I'm sorry I called ye a meatloaf, Jack!". Drunken regret: werewolf edition.

-The paragraph with "dear reader", directly addressing the reader. "Broke the wall, gave me shivers in 8:30 AM class."

-Okay this one I loved so much, the end of 6th chapter. As the woman dies and the Little Sister is on the run, the werewolf is described as a "big dog". The usage of a more childish description for the werewolf while mentioning the Little Sister's experience is very nice!!! I noticed it right away and it's quite impressive, I'll tell you.

-"Who'd wanna see the Rebellion leader bloody and naked?" got me laughing in class. Congrats!

-"Forced meat? Forced ta' do what?" Same as above!

-The part where the undead are arguing about ways to end Atlas' curse, how they all hop in with their "suggestions"... Holy fuck it gave me shivers.

-"ALRIGHT YA BUNCH A' BASTARDS, PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" is probably gonna be my way of addressing my friends from now on.

-Okay, so this one's in the photo: the way you still described Atlas' eyes as beautiful despite all the chaos going on (and as he was still a monster). What a word to describe violence. Eye of the tornado. Moment of bliss.

-The love confession. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME AT PSYCH CLASS AT 9:30 IN THE MORNING OH MY IT HURTS". Because it did hurt so fucking much. In a good way. In a great way.

-"As if maybe, just maybe, Atlas was still in there." Mannnnnnnn :(((((((((((

-"Close your eyes, Atlas." as it fades :(((((((( The same with "The pain was too much, he cried." I don't know why but physical pain in stories hit home quite much and the way it's very very primitive with the reaction, crying, is just... That's how it is :(((( Sometimes ya cry like a baby when you can't handle it.

-"Then I saw Jack. He wasn't decaying! He was smiling." with an all-caps note of DON'T DO THIS TO ME.

-The very last sentence underlined very very hard, huge letters spell out: "OH MY FUCK YOU DIDN'T NO YOU DIDN'T".

Overall: I'll probably have a good cry over this sometime but I have a class soon so I can't now. It was cathartic, oh my God. Thank you very much for this.

I'll read the Bronx werewolf one tomorrow on my trip, most likely.

[apoptoses]

“You and @desertfangs have been the only ones to make any comment on that fic at all and it feels so awful” okay first of all HOW??? It’s honestly shocking to me because it’s... perfect? Literally doesn’t get any better than this, Devil’s Minion-wise. It has all the components that make their relationship so complex, fascinating, and fun. With top tier writing at that. And absolutely mind blowing smut. Their interactions feel lifted right off the text, so like... what else do y’all want?!! And even kink-wise I don’t feel like it’s too extreme or anything tbh, Angle of Incidence felt a lot more experimental to me for instance (my dyslexic ass thought it was Angel of Indecency for the longest time and it somehow worked??? lmao). Anyhow this is officially a PSA from DA to the good people of tumblr.com/AO3: don’t be a fucking prude and read this, your experience in this fandom will be better for it (nothing wrong with being a prude btw, but being an Armand/Daniel fan and not tolerating even the mildest of kinks is... certaintly a choice). I hope this doesn’t discourage you from posting! Know that there are tons of people who love everything you put out there. Banger after banger, every single time 🥹

“His backlog of films is just so fucking perfect and his looks are incredible and ugh! I just love picturing him as Daniel”, just saw your post and dear god it’s doing things to me. Specially eyeing that one with Madchen Amick because the Devil’s Minion vibes are off the fucking charts. Madchen with her pale face and reddish hair and feline features... oh I’ll be looking into it. 

“are you a succession fan? haha Is this a kendall roy reference?” lmao it’s ALWAYS Succession reference babes, I’m absolutely insufferable about it. Sundays are just not the same anymore, LIFE is not the same 🤧

“They're part of him, they're a symbol of the walls he has up and the defense mechanisms he hides behind, so any time I have him remove them around Daniel he's being the most honest.” Exactly! And the fact that he allows himself to be completely bare in front of another creature (human or not) is a huge thing for him. Daniel is so doomed yet so lucky, and I get the feeling he knows it, even if he can’t fully explain why at this point. 

My cats!!! Light of my life, fire of my loins. No pictures available atm sadly as I’m in class rn but one of them is named after VC’s Pandora  and she’s the baddest bitch in the game, just like her namesake xoxo DA ❤️❤️

I have no idea! Angle of Incidence was so extreme, I thought if people enjoyed that then nothing I wrote could put them off but fate as it flows is just flopping in terms of audience response. I feel like I've done something wrong but I don't know what.

VC tends to be a surprisingly tame fandom but if people have read my other stuff and liked it...idk I really have no clue. My confidence is really off now, I have to admit. I have two completed things on deck and the idea of posting them is now excruciating lol But I deeply appreciate your encouragement.

The Madchen Amick movie is wild because if you blur your vision a little and ignore her boobs she even LOOKS Armand-y at times. It's a good one for visuals of them together but if you want him with the most Molloy-vibes action-wise I'd say you gotta watch Sex Lies and Videotape and Crash. They're both perfect erotic weirdo movies, I could scream about them for days.

You love Armand/Daniel AND Succession, you're perfect DA lmao Please respond asap with which Succession character is your favorite, I need to know. My life is so empty without Tom Wambsgans filling my Sunday nights, for real.

Pandora 🥹 I don't even know her and I love her already!

[kithtaehyung]

okay Ryen, work was a shitshow but I’m here now to give you my thoughts because I’ve been thinking about it all day (thanks for that btw lol)

First, I absolutely love how oc describes her prior encounters with Jin as her being the initiator because it made it that much better seeing him as the controlling hot mf this time around. I absolutely love this Jin he’s delicious

Second, fucking hell Yoongi is so goddamn sweet it’s tooth rotting. All of oc’s thoughts toward Jin and then she’s thrown by whatever she feels for yoongi. He’s too good… way too good

Third, oc is a straight goddess for this. My knees hurt just reading this. Give her a fuxking medal! Like no lie if I’m either jin or yoongi I’m literally giving that woman the world. The whole video thing at the end was cute too I love oc.

Fourth, the moments in the middle of all the action are so perfectly realistic and it’s a fantastic touch. Like yes oc is a straight up Queen but that lil break was so expertly sewn into the story. Well done because damn 👏🏼

Fifth, the Yoonjin interactions and conversations are such a mood. Like funny but destructively sexy. To be a fly on the wall during the conversations they had/have about oc 😍 god what that car ride home must’ve been like 🫠

Sixth, the ending text messages… fucking kill me please because that was just a curveball that had me unable to sleep for like an hour. (No pressure but if you wrote that I’d die 🥴)

Finally, you are a monster but like a monster that you love and cherish (like Jimin on stage). I’m so increasingly impressed by your work and by your dedication to everything you write. I know you’re still unsure about this one which is why I really wanted to come here and write this all out. (It’s much longer than intended sorry don’t hate me)

Also, congrats on that job you deserve it 👏🏼😘

-🦊

Oh my goodness, fox🥺🥺 I’m so sorry work was a shitshow.. that’s never ideal, or fun😔 but what the heeeeeck?? This is amazing commentary and encouragement you’re so wonderful!

YES like reader has been the one in control and the one to act first when it comes to hookups (which is hilarious because later they say they’re terrible at making the first move when it comes to like, feelings🥹 a true player istg) and then getting completely thrown off by yoongi.. it’s almost like yoongi’s feeling a little jealous seeing them👀

Reader is a baddie!!!!😩😩 we all know she knows and I would give her the world. If she steps on me I would say thank you<333 and the break was much needed holy hell. I would be exhausted by that point but what a fcking queen😭 yoonjin convos were one of my faves to write because.. they’re children LOL so petty!! Definitely roomies that are clearly good friends. The car ride home… who said they left reader’s apartment…..🤪

Idk if you saw the visuals for Hit;Play jihope (if it happens!!) but… yeah. I don’t even wanna begin to describe how filthy that would be🥴😈 to be compared to jimin on stage??😵‍💫 What a fcking honor holy shit! Thank you so much.. I really do love writing, and this was clearly self-indulgence but also hopefully fun for yall. You’re so kind for encouraging me bc yes I was still very unsure about it all of today. I’m starting to appreciate it, though, especially since you all have been so gd lovely.

[aibloomie]

I AM GOING TO SOB AND CRY IN THE CORNER I JUST SAW UR RB ON THE SLOWBURN FIC AND ......

UR SO AAAAAHHHH ur so perceptive n thank you for the absolute wall of text that is your commentary on the fic, AAAAHHHH "the dialogue felt so natural" IM GONNA COMBUST THANL U SO SO MUCH

"you characterized wanderer so well, i’d have to say this is likely one of the best writings and portrayals i’ve read about him !! the flashbacks and how he starts to link his growing affections to the reader with his past memories just…oh my god"

^ no words omg AAAAAHHHH this is such a huge compliment,,, when i tell you i just malded n my heart felt so full

side note: i personally don't like to dwell on Wanderer's more well-known personality traits (like his snarkiness n his arrogance) because he's clearly more than that uwaghhhh so i jus wanted to encapsulate it in a fic

IM SCREAMING AT YOY HUGGING YOU TIGHT u r like so cool ...mm.... combusting rn from ur sweet words i literally have nothing to say AAAAHHH

— @mhiieee

OMG NO NEED TO THANK ME 😫 THANK YOU FOR WRITING THAT i enjoyed reading it so much

AND I LOVE GIVING FEEDBACK <33 like yes if i read any of your writings then you will 100% be getting a reblog from me no matter what

you literally wrote his character so flawlessly I WAS IN AWE 😵‍💫 you put all aspects of his personality into it and just…nothing could’ve prepared me for it

[the-art-in-arthesia-is-loud]

incorrect quotes or whatever

ermmmmm WhaATTTTTTT........ :////// /j

also for some reason it's mostly trojan....and tempo......oh boy lol

———

Technicolour: I’m going to defeat you with the power of friendship! ... And this knife I found.

~

Destonio: You wanna see how hardcore I am?

Destonio: *punches wall*

Destonio:

Destonio: Take me to the hospital.

~

Fate: If you can’t beat them, dress better than them

~

Tempo: You’ll have a hard time believing this because it never happens, but I made a mistake.

~

Spinel: So apparently the 'bad vibes' I’ve been feeling are actually severe psychological distress

~

Galactic: Fool me once, I’m gonna kill you

~

Destonio: Fuck.

Ars: We've got to work on your cursing.

Destonio: Why? I'm pretty good at cursing already.

~

Galactic: I know you’re deflecting by making jokes about how hot you are.

Trojan: It’s not a joke.

Trojan: *sniffles*

Trojan: I’m a legit snack.

~

Pupa: Name a more iconic duo than my crippling fear of abandonment and my anxiety. I'll wait.

Pamolia: You and me!!!

Pupa, tearing up: Okay.

~

Trojan: Must be hard not being able to laugh

Tempo: I do have a sense of humor you know

Trojan: I’ve never heard you laugh before

Tempo: I’ve never heard you say anything funny

~

Tempo: Trojan...

Trojan: Oh no, 'Trojan' in b-flat.

Trojan: You're disappointed.

~

Dark Ars: Someone will die.

Ars: Of fun!

~

Trojan: Bad things keep happening to me, like I have bad luck or something.

Shifta: Subject Trojan, you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass.

~

Tempo: Trojan, stop! This isn't you, you've gone mad with power!

Trojan: Well of course I have.

Trojan: Have you ever tried going mad without power?

Trojan: It's boring.

~

Tempo, addressing the squad: And if you have any suggestions feel free to put them in the suggestion box.

Satellite: But – that’s just a trash can.

Tempo: It sure is!

~

Aleph: So are we flirting right now?

Pupa: I AM LITERALLY STABBING YOU

Aleph: That doesn’t answer my question

~

Trojan: You're right.

Tempo: That's... That's an unusual phrase for you. Did you just learn it?

~

Fate: I made tea.

Tessi: I don’t want tea.

Fate: I did not make tea for you. This is my tea.

Tessi: Then why are you telling me?

Fate: It is a conversation starter.

Tessi: That’s a lousy conversation starter.

Fate: Oh, is it? We are conversing. Checkmate.

~

Trojan: You love me, right, Tempo?

Tempo: Normally, I’d say yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere and I don’t like it.

~

Tempo: Is something burning?

Trojan: Just my love for you.

Tempo: Trojan, the toaster is on fire.

~

Spinel, trying to cheer the group up: Things could be worse, you know!

Galactic: How?

Spinel: How what?

Galactic: How could they be worse?

Spinel: They couldn’t, I lied.

Galactic:

~

Pupa: I prevented a murder today.

Pamolia: Really? How’d you do that?

Pupa: self control.

~

Destonio: I’m going to take you out

Technicolour: great, it’s a date!

Destonio: I meant that as a threat.

Technicolour: See you at five!

~

Destonio: In light of what you did for me, you can hug me for four to five seconds.

Fate: FORTY FIVE SECONDS?!?

Destonio: No! Four to five seconds!

Fate: Too late!!!

~

Abstruse: *Gets down on one knee*

Arghena: Oh my god, it’s finally happening.

Abstruse: *Falls over*

Arghena: The poison is kicking in.

~

Tempo: Trojan... Why did you draw a pentagram on the floor?

Trojan: Your text told me to satanize the house before you returned.

Tempo:

Tempo: I wrote sanitize, Trojan.

~

Trojan: What’s up guys? I’m back.

Lucas: What the- you can’t be here. You’re dead. I literally saw you die.

Trojan: Death is a social construct.

~

Tempo: Terabyte, keep an eye on Trojan today. They're going to say something to the wrong person and get punched.

Terabyte: Sure, I’d love to see Trojan get punched.

Tempo: Try again.

Terabyte, sighing: I will stop Trojan from getting punched.

~

Ars: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, Ana?

Ana: … No.

Lucas: I do!

Ars: I know, Lucas.

Lucas: I’m sad!

Ars: I know, Lucas.

~

Trojan: How's the sexiest person here~?

Tempo: I don't know, how are they~?

Trojan, flustered: I-

Terabyte, from across the room: I'm doing great, thanks!

~

Ars: Lucas and I are having a baby.

Abstruse: That's gre-

Ars, slamming adoption papers on the table: It's you, sign here.

~

Galactic, in a high voice, holding barbie: hey ken! I was thinking about going back to school and starting a career!

Spinel, in a deep voice, holding ken: nonsense, barbie. you’re staying home and having my kids

Satellite: what the fuck are you guys doing?

Galactic: playing systemic oppression

~

Tempo: We need a distraction.

Shifta: Is anyone here good at jumping up and down and making weird noises?

Trojan, whispering: My time has come

~

Ars: Lucas, what do IDK, LY, and TTYL mean?

Lucas: I don’t know, love you, talk to you later

Ars: Ok, I love you too, I’ll just ask Aresi.

~

Ars: You have to apologize to Alxaid

Destonio: Fine.

Destonio: 'Unfuck you' or whatever.

~

Moonlight: In your opinion, what’s the height of stupidity?

Ad Astra: *turning to Fate* How tall are you?

~

Technicolour: I’m kind of crushing on someone, but I’m worried about telling you who it is, because you’re not going to like it

Primeval: Just rip the bandage off.

Technicolour: It’s Destonio.

Primeval: Put the bandage back on.

~

Pupa: HELP! I TOLD PAMOLIA I’D COOK DINNER TONIGHT BUT I CAN’T COOK!

Spinel, pouring milk directly into the cereal bag: And you thought I could help?

~

Terabyte, whispering to Logos, who’s on the phone with Eimi: Ask them something!

Logos: How are you feeling?

Eimi: Fine.

Terabyte: Something personal!

Logos: At what age did you first get your period?

~

Tempo: While I’m gone, Trojan, you’re in charge.

Trojan: Yes!!!

Tempo, whispering: Shifta, you’re secretly in charge.

Shifta: Obviously.

~

Abstruse: Is stabbing someone immoral?

Eimi: Not if they consent to it.

Pupa: Depends who you’re stabbing.

Ars: YES?!?

~

Fate: I just ended a four year relationship.

Hikaru: Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?

Fate: Hm? Oh yeah, I’m fine. It wasn’t my relationship.

*Destonio crying over Lumine on the edge of a cliff.*

~

Primeval: How did none of you hear what I just said?

Logos: I’ve been zoned out for the past two and a half hours.

Technicolour: I got distracted about halfway through.

Eimi: Ignoring you was a conscious decision.

~

Trojan: *Screams*

Ana: *Screams louder to establish dominance*

Ars: Should we do something?

Lucas: No, I want to see who wins.

~

Tempo, about Pamolia: Apparently we’re getting someone new in the group.

Trojan: Are we stealing them?

Terabyte: New or used?

Tempo: Wonderful responses, both of you.

~

Aleph: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no clue what to put in them. Suggestions?

Destonio: Put spaghetti in it.

Aleph: I'm currently taking suggestions from literally anyone but you.

Pupa: Put spaghetti in it.

Aleph: I'm currently taking suggestions from anyone but you two.

Pamolia: Put spaghetti in it.

Aleph: I'm no longer taking suggestions.

~

Ars: You lying, cheating, piece of shit!

Lucas: Oh yeah? You’re the idiot who thinks you can get away with everything you do. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

Ars: I’m leaving you, and I’M TAKING ABSTRUSE WITH ME

Ana, picking up the monopoly board: I think we’re gonna stop playing now.

~

Trojan: I think we're missing something.

Galactic: Teamwork?

Shifta: Cohesion?

Tempo: A general sense of what we’re doing?

~

Ars: Why are Fate and Destonio sitting with their backs to each other?

Ad Astra: They had a fight.

Ars: Then why are they holding hands?

Ad Astra: They get sad when they fight.

———

okay okay thats all ehehehehe

[lumienn]

Sooo here's my 'Mutual Feelings' story.

I was around 17-18, fresh out of school and into my very first anime and fandom (on Instagram bc I didn't know about tumblr back then). I wanted to be friends with this villain fan (VF for short) who was so cool - they made immaculate video edits, drew fanart and just the way they wrote and talked was so interesting. It set them apart from everyone else.

Anyway, it was a small and relatively tight-knit fandom where everyone knew everyone else- so it wasn't hard for us to start talking. And we clicked far better than I thought we would. We started RPing as a rare pair from the fandom. While RP was never really my thing, I had fun building the plot and surprising them with twists here and there, and their reaction made it worth it.

Over time, we began chatting about things other than RP and the fandom. We grew very close, and I never understood why, but the longer talks made me feel euphoric. VF (they went by she/her at the time but now go by they/them) had always been open about being bi- this was my very first direct exposure to someone who was openly queer. And in fact, the fandon itself had a few prominently queer fans which made me rethink a lot of my then-conservative views.

A year into our friendship, we were now the closest duo in the fandom and everyone knew it. By this point we had told each other our real names and countries where we lived - we'd also swapped numbers and often chatted over Whatsapp. I loved nothing more than talking to them. Getting their text notification was the highlight of my hour. And when they told me they loved me (platonically, I'd already established to them that I was straight) oh my God. My heart rate was through the roof. I was giggling like an idiot and rereading the message for weeks straight.

Looking back, this should have been a fucking clue.

VF had been paired with an OC account since before I joined the fandom, but around this time, the OC fan broke it off with an angry post on how they no longer cared about her and only wanted to spend time with someone else - here she described my account, and I could identify it because it was a unique one - and promptly deleted it a few minutes later.

You guys. I felt so SMUG. This should've been the second fucking clue.

So VF was upset about this character breakup, but they acknowledged that they hadn't been too responsive to her ongoing RP so that was kinda warranted. They didn't know I saw the post, and just told me not to worry about it. There was some other drama going on too, where I loudly and publicly defended them, and we ended up cutting off a couple of people we thought were our friends.

So now there were a few new entrants into the fandom and they'd seen all this going down. They were on our side, so we started talking to them too. Then one day, out of the blue, one of them asked me out.

I was pretty surprised - we'd only ever talked a few times, and they didn't know anything about me. I just kinda ha-ha'd it away awkwardly and tried to get out of the situation. And then another one of the newer fans asked me whether I and VF were together. I said no, but that we were very close friends. To which she replied saying she was glad because she had a crush on VF and wanted to ask them out.

Unfortunately, she was not joking.

She asked VF out.

VF said yes.

.......

..

.

Just like that, my whole world came crashing down.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this much pain. I couldn't even think. I remember how I was supposed to. be studying when I found out about this, and I just. Put my phone down and stared at the wall in pure rage for half an hour straight. Then reread the text. Then wall stare. Then- well, you get the point.

And I had an identity crisis on my hands to boot.

I was straight, for fuck's sake!

Right?

It hurt. A lot. Then I had to come to terms with the reason why I was jealous of their girlfriend but never their friends. Drumroll and trumpets, y'all.

I'll spare you the details on how it felt when VF talked about their gf, or when the gf talked about VF and posted cheesy stuff for them. I'm sure you already know.

Anyway, I was crazy enough to go back to the person who asked me out, and say yes.

You can imagine how that went.

Now here I was, 'dating' someone who I had no feelings for, while VF was being all supportive and wanting to compare notes between us and them and gf.

And you guys. I hated it. I hated pretending so much. A few days later, I broke up with the poor dude and wallowed around. I wish I had the strength not to look at gf's posts, but unfortunately I didn't. I seeked them out, felt worse, and wallowed more.

This story doesn't really have a happy ending- I never confessed my feelings to VF, and we never got together for real. They broke up sometime after, but by that time I had left that fandom and was becoming more active on tumblr.

I was terrified of admitting my sexuality to anyone. Oftentimes I denied it to myself, pretended I was straight like I 'used to be' (ha) and overhyped boys/men in my life. Yet... somewhere deep inside, I was thrilled to finally have a name to things I'd felt over the years but couldn't quite put my finger on.

It took me a long time to accept who I was (am).

And by the time I was confident in myself, VF was dating someone else and I had missed my chance.

We still keep in touch. They've moved fandoms too, and are still out there making awesome art and being their awesome self. I grew out of my crush, but I'll always fondly remember them for what they brought into my life- my bi awakening of course, but also in a large part my love for making stories and putting them out there for people to enjoy, and for inspiring me to start drawing. So there is a silver lining to the cloud.

Anyway, that's my story!

(Also I'm slightly terrified of VF coming across this post.. but VF, if you're seeing this, hi. I'm not a clown, I'm the entire circus for putting this out to the general public instead of just telling you. I'm sorry. Thank you.)