#after i was visibly uncomfortable and said it verbally

[gamingbeats]

i truly wish some days being in a fandom paid the bills

[pablitogaviobsessed]

On the terrace

Summary: you were just chillin' on your hotel's terrace when you saw Gavi on the opposite teracce.

You can find the next part here.

(Sorry for my English, it's not my first language)

It was Champions League final tomorrow and you and your dance company were asked to preform at the opening ceremony. You were happy that Barcelona is playing in the final. After all you were a culer. You could preform and watch the FC Barcelona's match. Your dream came true.

Now you were sitting on your hotel's room terrace in your Gavi jersey, studying a bit for your verbal matriculation examination with your headphones on your head. You weren't listening to music but it muffled the noise outside. Meanwhile Gavi was come out of his hotel room and looked at the view but he saw something or I could say somebody else. It was you. Your face illuminated by the sunset, it was just perfect in his eyes so he decided to stare at you a little bit.

You final done with studying after an hour so you decided to continue to write your love letter for Gavi which you were writing since you were 17. You were 18 now and he was 19. Perfection. You couldn't deny the fact that you had a huge crush on him. He is cute, handsome, those beautiful eyes and his perfect smile. He was perfect in your eyes. A lot people said to you that you only like Barca beacuse of Gavi but no. You've loved it for a long time. Your favorite trio was the MSN (Messi, Suárez, Neymar). It broke your heart when it was over. You didn't plan to give Gavi the letter after the match, but you were thinking of it now. Maybe it is your only chance but it could be so creepy for him. A random fangirl gives him a love letter. A bit weird.

While you were thinking of it, you looked up a bit from your paper to see the view but you saw somebody else. You thought that you were crazy. It was impossible. Pablo Gavi was standing in front of you on the opposite terrace and he was looking at you. Exactly at you. You saw his eyes perfectly, because the street was narrow and the buildings were close to each other. Your were shocked and it was very visible on your face. He waved at you. You smiled and waved him back.

- I though you'd never look up from your books. - he shouted a bit so you could hear him.

- I'm sorry, I was focused on studying. - you shouted back. - Wait, what? What do you mean? You were watching me? - you asked with more shock on your face.

- For an hour now. But i don't mind if i can staring at beautiful girl like you in the sunset. - he answered with a smile on his face. That goddamn smile. You thought you're gonna faint. Not just because of his smile, because of his answer too. He said you are beautiful. Pablo Gavi said that you are beautiful. -Do you mind if I go to your place? - he asked what? You weren't ready for these questions but you would be the biggest idiot to reject this offer.

- Yeah sure. Why not? - you said and he was already on his way to your room. Pablo Gavi was on his way to your hotel room. You couldn't even process these actions and before you knew it he was knock on your door. You quickly run to the door and opened it. There was he. The man of your life. He was standing in front of you. You looked into his beautiful eyes and you felt like you were in heaven.

- Can I come in? - he asked because you were just standing there looking into his eyes.

- Yeah, sure. - you blushed. He came into your room and he went to the terrace and sat in a chair. You followed him and did the same then you realized that the letter was almost right in front of his eyes so you quickly covered it by putting a book on it. You had to turn back by doing this so he perfectly saw the back of your jersey. The number 6 and his name.

- I like the back of your jersey, preciosa. -he winked at you.

- Did you just call me preciosa? - you extremly blushed. He saw the back of your jersey and called you preciosa. What the hell is going on?

- Yeah, but if it makes you uncomfortable then I'll stop. - he rubbed the back of his neck.

-No no no, it doesn't make me uncomfortable. It was just unexpected. - you laughed a bit nervously. After all, Gavi called you preciosa.

- So what brings such a beautiful girl here? - he asked you looking into your eyes. You could tell that he was really curious. He knew that you were in a hotel now, so you didn't live here.

- Well, I don't think you'll believe it, but our dance company got a request to preform at the opening ceremony of the Champions League final. That's why I'm here. - you told him and now you were curious about his reaction.

- So you're not just beautiful but a dancer as well. Tell me more about your little secrets. - you giggled a bit by his reaction.

- I don't have secrets.

- Oh yes you have. Such as your name, your number or you Instagram account. Anything that keeps me in touch with you. - it was so clear what he wanted but you didn't want to believe it.

- Well, i could give them. My name is Y/N L/N and I'm from (you're country). But for my number and insta I need your phone. - you smiled at him he gave his phone to you and you wrote your number in it and search for you Instagram account. You had a few ten thousands followers. After all you were a dancer. You were a bit famous. You gave him his phone back an he immediately stalked a your insta a bit.

- Wow, you are a really succesful dancer as I see. -he scrolled down your account. Your face now was clearly red. - I'm really looking forward to see you dance tomorrow. - he looked up at you. - I'm so happy that you support Barca. This is the best case scenario ever. - you smiled at him. - But now unfortunately I have to go back to my hotel room. Pedri is gonna kill me if he can't find me there. -he stood up. Before he could go to the door you grab his wrist and you don't even know why.

- Gavi wait! - you stood up too.

- What is it? - you couldn't answer. You really didn't know why did you stopped him. You guess you really didn't want him to go.

- Well maybe it's a bit embarrasing but... if i have a chance finally I'm gonna ask. - you took a deep breath. - Can I get a hug? - you looked to your side and blushed. He didn't even answered, just hugged you. You hugged him back. You felt so safe and calm in his arms. You felt like you were in heaven.

-It's the least I can do. But now I really have to go. - he pointed to the door.

- Yeah, sure. Go back before Pedri finds out you disappeared. - you both laughed and he went to the door and walked out of the room.

- See you tomorrow, hermosa bailarina! - he winked at you and closed the door. You could scream because of the excitement but insted of screaming you opened the groupchat with your teammates in it and told them everything. You were really looking forward for tomorrow now.

[mattsdae]

so mean

// matt stone x fem reader , mean dom!matt , degradation , verbal humiliation , man handling , generally rough sex , dacryphilia , cunnilingus , vaginal intercourse , fingering , cum eating (kinda?)

nsfw under tab

matt has a special ability that isn’t too impressive. if anything, it turns most people away from him and he understands why. telling someone your talented at being an asshole isn’t the best look. he isn’t always a dick, though. he’s actually really respectful to people, but whenever they turn their back, it’s free game.

you always liked that about him. it was funny seeing him go from sweet and respectful to rude and down right mean as soon as they get out of ear shot. sometimes you’d hit him on the arm or tell him to shut up, but you always laughed. he loved making you laugh, especially at other peoples expense.

sometimes you wondered if he talked about you before in the same manner. most people would be insecure about the idea, but you found it strangely attractive. he was mean and you liked it, even if it would be directed at you.

“matt? matt stone?” a man came up. matt paused and nodded. people didn’t stop him often, but when they did, he was always sweet and respectful. even when they’d turn their backs, he didn’t say much. he only liked talking shit about people he felt deserved it.

“dude, it’s such an honor!” he grinned and held out his hand. matt shook it and nodded.

“nice to meet you,” matt responded. you knew how much he hated being hyped up. it was sweet at first but people often went a little too far with their praise, sometimes bombarding him with compliments on the show. he was a normal dude, so hearing strangers praise his work was a hit jarring, even after being in the business for such a long time.

“oh my god, do you think you can do me a huge favor?” and there it was, the final nail in the coffin. you already knew what was coming. matt nodded awkwardly as he pulled out a thick pile of papers with a show title on the front. you looked away to hide your smile. “do you think you can read this over and tell me if it’s any good? i really want to pitch this to comedy central and i just wanna know if it has any potential.”

“uh, yeah, sure,” matt looked visibly uncomfortable, but people like this were never socially aware. the man quickly pulled out a pen and wrote his phone number on the front.

“just gimme a call when you read it! thank you so much! and put in a good word for me, will you?” matt nodded as the guy walked off. you held your hand over your mouth.

“this motherfucker really said put in a good word for me,” matt finally started. you bursted out laughing.

“i was trying so hard not to laugh,” you said though giggles. he shook his head and started walking.

“it’s almost admirable how dense that dude is. i mean, does he know how many of these i get?” you shook your head. “think about it, how many scripts have i read that’s been given to me by fans,” he airquoted. he knew people who truly enjoyed the show would never do something like this.

“none-“

“fucking goose egg,” he interrupted. you laughed again as you started heading into the restaurant matt’s been talking about. “you see me with my girl, obviously dressed up for a date, and you think it’s a good time to give me a shitty ass script?”

he laughed as he went up to the host stand, giving the name for the reservation and asking her to throw away the script. you chuckled again as you were seated.

“sometimes, i feel like i can be too much of an asshole, but shit like that makes me feel like i’m too nice to people.” you nodded as you glanced over the menu.

“you are an asshole, but you get away with it ‘cause you only talk shit to me,” you chuckled. he shrugged as the waitress came up and asked for your drink order.

“i hate being rude, but i can’t not talk shit about people like that! they act like i fuckin’ own the place,” he laughed after she left. he shook his head. “knowing my luck, i’ll tell someone to fuck off and they’ll go to tmz.”

“since when did you care about tmz?” you laughed.

“i don’t! but i don’t need random people speculating about my personality! anyone would get pissed off over constantly being given stupid script after stupid script. and to ask me to put in a good word to?!” you laughed.

“you’re still stuck on that?” you ask as the waitress put down the drinks.

“of coarse i am!” he said before ordering for you and him. “what good word would i put in? oh, this guy that randomly walked up to me in the street and harassed me into reading his script actually has a good pilot! you should make this into a show, mr.comedy central! fucking pathetic.”

you laughed along, but the last sentence made your chest flutter. even though most of what he said was true and not exactly mean, you still found yourself getting a little wet at the way he spoke.

“one day, i’m gonna have to actually take someones script and call them a few days later and just tear into it. tell them how unfunny the jokes are, how unnatural the dialogue is, or just tell them it’s shit and to never make another person be forced to shit through 20 pages of garbage.”

“that’s so mean!” you respond with a smile. “you’re gonna make them cry, matt.”

“good. maybe they’ll stop being a lowlife and leave LA instead of taking up space.” you rolled your eyes with a smile. he moved on after that statement, instead focusing on you and how your day was. the food was good, the conversations were better and by the time you got home, you were all over eachother.

“matt,” you pulled away. he had you pinned against the front door within seconds of getting into the house and he instantly went in for a messy and desperate makeout session. “you know how you’re an asshole?”

“i guess,” he chuckled. you looked away and let your hands run up his chest.

“do you think you can do that to me?” you look up and smile. he looked away with a smirk before finally returning to your gaze.

“you sure about that, sweetheart? i don’t wanna make you cry,” he teased and leaned closer, keeping eye contact as he tilted his head. “why? do you want me to.”

you nodded quickly as he started kissing your neck, his hands grabbing at your hips and pulling you closer. you moaned as his hands explored your chest and waist. he smiled against your skin.

“you gotta tell me if i’m going too far.. you know how i can get,” he said and glanced up towards your face, seeing your head fallen back and mouth agape. “talk to me, princess.”

“okay, i’ll tell you,” you responded, feeling your stomach warm up at the sterness in his voice. he nodded and kissed you on the neck gently.

“good girl. go to the bedroom and get ready. i’ll be up there in five,” he said and pulled away, smiling at your reddened face. “and if you’re not ready by the time i’m up there..”

he trailed off, looking you up and down like a piece of meat. you nodded and scampered off to the room, blushing harder when you heard him chuckle behind you. once the door shut, you immedietly started pulling off your clothes and throwing them to the corner.

you knew this would end like every date night, so you already had your pretty stuff on. he always gawked over you when you wore pink, so the pink bralette and panty set was an obvious choice. after going to the bathroom and touching up your makeup, you got back in the bed and kneeled.

waiting was possibly the worst part. the time between getting ready and him walking through the door always invited insecure thoughts. it sucked, but as soon as he enters the room, it always disappaited. you smiled when he opened the door, still dressed in his slacks and button up. it all fit him perfectly.

“aw.. i see what you’re doing,” he said. you felt your stomach tense. his voice was more gravely than normal and he sounded like a movie villian. “you trying to look all cute so i’ll be nicer to you?”

“no, i just-“

“did i tell you to talk?” he cut you off and glared. you shut your mouth and swallowed, shying away from him. his dress shoes clicked against the hardwood before entering the bedroom. for once, you felt truly intimidated by him. “why do you look scared? i thought you asked for this.”

he stood over you, head held high. you looked down and jumped when he grabbed your jaw, making you look back up. he leaned down, his face right next to yours.

“is this okay?” he said gently, completely opposing his original tone. you nodded. “use your words.”

“yes, it’s okay.” he nodded and leaned back. he looked over you, making you feel the need to cover up. like a predator looking at its prey, he seemingly drooled at the thought of destroying you.

“you look so pretty. touched up your makeup too, hm?” he said as he ran his finger along your jaw, glancing at your lips. “too bad it’s gonna get ruined. go ahead and get on your knees in front of me.”

he stepped back and smirked as you immedietly followed. you looked up at him again, now feeling even smaller than before. he crouched down and untied your hair, letting it down before twirling it with his finger. looking up at him was intimidating enough, but now that you two were eye to eye, you felt like you were gonna cry.

he looked at your lips for a moment before his hand found its way to your jaw, rubbing his thumb on your lower lip. you looked at him as he made you pout. he smiled.

“you are just too cute,” he said before tapping your lip. “open up.” you did and his slid his thumb past your bottom teeth and let your lips close around it. you kept eye contact as you sucked.

you knew matt, arguably better than anyone else, but the look in his eye was something you’ve never seen before. his gaze was piercing, almost daring you to disobey. he didn’t say what he’d do if you weren’t ready in time, but the look in his eye made you question if you wanted to find out.

“you wanna suck me off?” you nod, his finger still pressed against your tongue. “go ahead and ask.”

you looked at him, confused. he rose his eyebrow at you before rolling his eyes and standing, combing his fingers through your hair. you gasped when he gripped onto a chunk and pulled your head back.

“am i gonna have to spell everything out for you?” he said. your stomach flipped. “go ahead and ask if you can suck me off.”

he glared, arms crossed and everything. your lip trembled as you looked down. your hands formed into fists. you still felt his eyes on you as you tried to speak. a tiny whimper came out when he hooked his finger under your jaw and made you look up again.

“can i.. please?” you ask, embarassed to actually say it. he tsked and shook his head.

“you’re gonna have to try harder than that, baby.” you swallowed and blinked, letting a tear fall. he smiled. “aww, are you really crying? come on, you can’t even take a little teasing?”

you wiped your face and sniffled. you heard him laugh above you as you tried to speak again, stuttering through your words.

“wow.. can’t even speak clearly. it’s gonna be a long night if you can’t follow these simple orders.” he tilted his head again and smiled, teasing. you whimpered and looked up at him. he leaned forward a bit and cupped his ear.

“can i please suck your cock?” you asked. he smirked and stood straight again, rolling his shoulders as he unzipped his pants.

“good girl,” he said. even though you were eye to eye with it, you were still a bit suprised by how hard he was.

you knew he was good at being mean, but you didn’t expect him to enjoy it this much. he wasn’t exactly kinky, always just going along with what you wanted. it was a nice change of pace, though. you leaned towards him, only to be pulled back by your hair. you looked up, teary eyed again.

“i’m taking the lead, remember? just open your mouth and let me do the work.” you nodded and parted your lips, almost instantly gagging as he forced himself down your throat. you pulled back and coughed while he laughed. “okay, okay, i’ll be gentle. just wanted to see what you’d do.”

you glared at him and he mouthed sorry before tapping the head on your lip. you opened again and he took hold of your hair, guiding you forward. other than the rough start, he was still pretty tender, refusing to let you sink too far. you pulled off.

“matt, please-“

“you got mad about gagging just a second ago. just wanna make sure you don’t choke again,” he smiled. you whimpered as he guided you again, slowly pushing you lower. “you think you can get it all?”

you nod as he slowly pushes you further and further down, grinning as tears welled up in your eyes. eventually, your nose met his naval and you swallowed around him, making him moan. he pulled you off roughly and made you stand.

“go lay down,” he said and pointed. you nodded and went to the bed, laying on your back. he slipped off his shoes before climbing in after you.

“you aren’t gonna get undressed?” you asked. he looked back, confused.

“why would i?” he said as if it was a stupid question. you nodded as he kissed down your neck, slowly slipping off each strap of the bralette.

“i just thought-“

“did i give you permission to talk?”

you shut your mouth and he went back to touching, running his fingers over the lacy fabric of your bralette.

“you know, i thought you’d be better than this,” he studied your face, making sure he didn’t hurt your feelings before saying more. “you can barely follow orders, you always talk.. can’t even listen properly.”

you nodded along, whimpering as he exposed your breasts and let his fingers trail lower as he kissed down towards your nipple. he licked over the bud in the stripe, smiling as you shivered. his hand slid underneath your panties as found your clit, circling it slowly.

“i didn’t think you could get so wet,” he said as he plunged his fingers inside you, making your back arch. “it’s okay, baby. i know you like getting treated like dirt, no need to be ashamed.”

you squirmed as he kissed lower and lower, eventually reaching your hip. he used his free hand to pull down your panties and discard them. he looked up at you. even at a stereotypically submissive position, he still looked just as dominant as before.

“i think it’s cute. getting wet every time i shit talk must be torture. do you think about it often? me treating you like nothing more than a play thing? a pathetic mess i can touch whenever i want.” the words slipped out like nothing as he fingered you, curling them into your g-spot. his kissed moved from your hip to your thigh, biting and licking along the skin.

“matt, please,” you whimper, squirming. he glanced up at you and tilted his head.

“what? you want me to fuck you?” he asked. you nodded.

“i’m not gonna ask you to say it ‘cause your last attempt was a little pathetic. don’t want to set you up for failure, you know?” he chuckled as his mouth made its way to your clit. you gasped as he fucked you with his fingers and flicked his tongue. your hand reached down, grabbing onto his hair. he moaned, causing you to shudder.

he loved eating pussy. if he could list it as a hobby without being weird, he would. from all the practice he got from constantly giving you oral, he became pretty good at making you cum. it got to the point that he was seemingly too good, making you feel close to orgasm within the minute at times.

“i’m gonna cum, please,” you moan. he pulled away as you said it, chuckling as your hips bucks and you whined loudly.

“relax. i’m gonna let you, just not right now,” he said with a cocky smirk. “who knows, maybe we’ll do this a couple more time..”

“no, matt, please. just fuck me already?” you begged. he leaned back on his knees, thinking.

“you’re gonna have to ask a little nicer than that if you want me to listen,” he teased. his thumb circled around your clit, just close enough to feel, but not satisfy. you rolled your eyes.

“can you please have sex with me?” you said sarcastically. you covered your mouth as you said it, freezing up when you felt his hand pull away. your eyes shut, almost scared to see the look on his face. you whimpered as he grabbed your jaw roughly, squeezing.

“you really got an attitude problem, huh?” he nearly growled into your ear. your hands grabbed his wrist, whimpering. “are you gonna knock it off or will i have to teach you a lesson about respect?”

“n-no, sir, i’ll stop.” you looked up at him with teary eyes. you could see the frustration in his eyes from the disrespect. normally, he’d laugh with your jokes, but now he saw it as pure disobedience.

he let go, pushing your head back into the pillow. you rubbed your chin as he pulled away, pumping his cock a few times before lifting your hips and positioning yourself.

“if you cum, i’m gonna punish you. understood?” he said in a low tone. you nodded, not trusting your vocal cords enough to make a proper response. he lined himself up and plunged inside you.

“fuck!” you yelp, arching your back. he held your hips against his, gripping hard as he started attacking your neck again like a wild animal. he was still for a few seconds as you adjusted, but quickly picked up a brutal pace. you almost couldn’t make any noise, all the moans getting stuck in your throat as he fucked you without any regard.

he pulled away from your neck and glanced down, putting a hand against your stomach and chuckling. you whimper as he presses down, feeling himself inside you. you couldn’t pull away if you wanted to, only able to twitch every few seconds as he gripped harder and harder, holding you exactly where he wanted.

“does that feel nice? knowing i’m the only one that can make you feel so good you can’t even speak? what’s your name, baby?” he leaned close, listening, but all that came out were choked moans and whimpers. “that’s what i thought.”

“please, please, i’m so close-“

“i already told you no.”

“just- please, matt.”

“what did you call me?” he asked with a particularly hard thrust for emphasis. you whimper.

“s-sir,” you respond. his chuckle makes your skin tingle as he fucked you, almost like he had this pent up for years. he pressed against your stomach harder, moaning as he felt himself. you cried out.

“fuck, i’m close,” he moaned against your shoulder before biting down. you sob as he does so, squirming under him. you throbbed around him, desperate for release. he knew you couldn’t hold off much longer, but that was the fun of it.

“i’m gonna.. please,” you cried.

“if you hold off until i’m done, i’ll make you cum, promise.” you nod, still whimpering. he bit down harder as his hips started to stutter and he pulled out, cumming all over your pussy and stomach. he moaned as he pumped out the last few ropes.

“matt..” you whine. he lets go of your shoulder, licking over the teeth marks before looking down at the sight. he chuckled and went back down, licking up his own cum as he went down.

“you wanna cum? you think you can beg for it?” he asked as he licked everything up, ignoring your throbbing core.

“i-i can’t. please, i’m so fucking desperate i can’t even think right, fuck,” you confess. he chuckled and licked over your slit, smiling as you shuddered and nearly came just from that.

“you’re a quick learner, huh,” he joked before finger fucking you again and suckling on your clit, his tongue swirling. you sobbed as you clinched around him, your back arching as you moaned louder and louder, heat bubbling in your belly.

“fuck!” you squeal as you came. his fingers curled as he passaged your g-spot, pushing every ounce you had out of you. you sobbed, covering your face as he pulled away, swiping his thumb over your clit. you shuddered and squirmed.

he looked down at you, smiling at his work. you were absolutely wrecked, bite marks littering your shoulders and red dots along your hip from where his fingers dug into you. he slowly ran his hand up and down your thigh as you caught your breath.

“was that mean enough for you?” he asked. you nod, unable to form a proper response. “i wasn’t too rough, was i?”

“nahhh,” you say. he chuckled. “why didn’t you take off your clothes?”

“‘cause i thought it was hot. you being fully exposed but you don’t even get to see me shirtless.” he slid to the edge of the bed, slipping off his slacks and unbuttoning his shirt as he looking through the dresser for something to sleep in.

“it was kinda hot..” you mumble. he chuckled and pulled on a shirt before sitting beside you on the bed.

“you need help getting cleaned up? i don’t think my tongue did too good of a job.”

“yes, please..”

[bottomtim]

[steddie, rated T, 1k, pre-relationship, hospital bedside bonding, smitten losers in their pre-crush era]

Steve is trying to relax further into the uncomfortable chair at Eddie’s bedside, sipping orange juice from a plastic cup, when Eddie croaks, “So… what are we?”

Steve chokes on his drink. It’s not the first time he’s heard that line, but coming from Eddie Munson, after Steve hauled his ass out of the Upside Down, threatened the hospital staff (verbally, financially, not physically, of course) to treat him, and then sat by his bed for the last 2 plus weeks watching crappy daytime TV reruns and feeling his brain rot (better to let his brain rot from the TV than to let it work itself into a panic focusing too much on the… everything else going on, he supposes)—it makes Steve sputter on his drink. 

What are they? What are they? It's a ridiculous question—preposterous even. Well, they’re—Of course, they’re…  

What are they? Well, it turns out Steve doesn’t really know, either.

At Steve’s silence, Eddie continues, “Not to get all Breakfast Club on you, but. Is the Prep going to be hanging out with the Bad Boy come Monday?” 

“Well, we’ve already surpassed two Mondays," Steve quips. He can't help it. "We’re coming up on a third.”  

Eddie gives him a deadpan look. “Semantics.” 

Steve runs a hand through his hair. “The Prep gives the guy her earring in the end, doesn’t she?” Steve knows that’s… That’s really a non-answer. He’s deflecting. Maybe Eddie will just run with it. 

(No such luck). 

“Yeah, but I mean,” Eddie starts after taking a moment to think, shifting in his bed, grunting when he moves a little bit wrong. “Do you really think the Prep and the Bad Boy went to school on Monday and hung out like everything was normal? Or that they ended up hooking up? Or even that the Jock and the Basket Case kept seeing each other? And she actually changed her looks for him.” Eddie scrunches his face in an over-dramatic grimace that Steve tries not to laugh at. 

Steve shrugs. Because, well, here’s the thing. If you had asked Steve 3 years ago, when he was at his peak, when he was the Emilio Estevez of Hawkins High, when he was King Steve, if he’d be hanging out with anyone in the Party other than Nancy, he would have thought you were insane. He probably would have laughed in your face. But here he is, 2 weeks into a vigil at Eddie the Freak Munson’s bedside after saving his life from interdimensional monsters. Here he is 3 years into fighting said interdimensional monsters with the weirdest cast of misfits he’s proud to call his friends and happy to call his family. But there are no monsters in the Breakfast Club, so they're a special case, aren't they? Eddie just doesn’t see that, yet. Eddie has no reason to believe Steve, or anyone besides Dustin, Mike, and Lucas are going to bother to stick by his side once this is all said and done (if it’s ever said and done. Steve has a harder and harder time believing it ever will be). 

“Look, this…” Steve trails off, trying to gather his thoughts and gesturing vaguely with his hands. “We’re not going to leave you alone to deal with all this, if that’s what you’re wondering. You’re stuck with us.”

The corner of Eddie’s lip quirks up just a smidge. “Good to know,” he murmurs. His eyelids look visibly heavy, and Steve thinks he’s seconds away from dozing off when Eddie perks up a bit to once again ask, “but what are we, Harrington?”

Steve sighs and thinks for a moment. He doesn’t really know how to say he would probably die for Eddie despite them barely knowing each other. It feels too all consuming, and even a little misplaced. It's not a lie, it's just too big of a truth. So he settles on what he does know. “We’re friends, Munson.”

Eddie smiles, a sly grin stretching across his face (and considering Steve’s seen Eddie nearly lifeless and spent several days not even knowing if the guy will wake up, seeing him smile makes something warm settle in Steve’s gut—something like happiness, something like relief, something like something else Steve doesn't know the name of). 

“Friends? Really? The King of Hawkins High friends with little ol’ me?” His voice cracks a bit, maybe a mix of strain from disuse and sleepiness. Eddie seems to have relaxed further into the bed and his eyes look heavy again. 

He could tell Eddie he’s not a king anymore, hasn’t been in years, but it doesn’t feel condescending coming from Eddie. It feels like a joke between old friends. “A good king spends time with his subjects, doesn’t he?”

Eddie snorts out a soft laugh. “Subject? Nah, I demand to be part of your royal court. Your Jester.” 

Steve laughs softly, too. “Cool. Does that mean I get to kill you for not being funny?”

“Oh, ha ha, Harrington. Just you wait. I’ll make you laugh so hard. Besides. Can’t undo all this hard work, bringing me back, and all.” 

Steve rolls his eyes. “Go to sleep, Munson.” 

“Been sleepin’,” Eddie slurs, eyes closed. “You sleep.” 

“I will,” Steve says, and Eddie hums in acknowledgement.  

He probably won’t. Vecna’s body floating in the Creel attic, Max’s broken bones and white eyes, Eddie’s body nearly drained of blood… It’s all too fresh in his mind, still. But Eddie doesn’t need to know that. 

Next thing he knows, Eddie’s out like a light, sleeping heavy and breathing deeply in the bed next to him. No, Steve probably won’t sleep, but he’ll stay at Eddie's bedside, watching shitty reruns until Wayne comes in with a cup of stale, hot coffee and they switch out their vigils. He’ll look out for his—his friend? Even now, it doesn’t feel right. It feels like a lie. Like trying to save the world with someone and bringing them back from the brink of death makes them more… But it works for now. Eddie’s his friend. And he’ll stay by his side come Monday and every Monday thereafter.

[landojpg04]

Revenge on the Ranch II//G.Tillman

Index

Go read part one if you haven't already!

Synopsis: Rumor and Gator reunite.

Warnings: R*y Tillman, slight mention of how R*y treats his wives, language.

I woke up to the sound of pans clinging. I rolled over to see eleven am on the clock. I haven't slept in this late since my freshman year of college. My body feels rested. I feel rested. I walk into the bathroom to at least get ready if I’m making my appearance late.

But as soon as I was done, I walked downstairs. Momma and Dad were making their famous BLT sandwiches.

“Oh, look who decided to join us today,” Pops says as he sees me.

“Told you she needed to get food in her. We practically put her into a coma last night.” Momma said. I just chuckled at her antics. I looked around, seeing that it was eerily calm. 

“Where's the boys?” I said.

“Rhett is already doing his prep for tonight. Jane and Robert went to her doctor's appointment and took Rylee with them,” Momma said. I nodded as Pops handed me a plate of food.

“I bet the city doesn't have good BLTs like these.” He said, I took a bite and was sent to heaven. The city doesn’t have a lot. 

I spent a few hours just sitting with my parents. There was not much talking; they were just taking in one another.

Jane and Robert came back with Rylee. Momma is making Rylee, and I eat a plate of fruit and vegetables. 

It wasn't until two hours later that I noticed Momma getting visibly worried. She’s always like this when Rhett has a competition. She begins to pray, sweat, and at times send herself into an anxiety attack. Robert jokes that the entire process is Rhett’s good luck charm. If Momma isn't visibly upset, he won’t win. 

Rylee wanted to get ready with me, which I could not deny. I helped her pick out an outfit. Braided her hair and added bows.

“Sometimes she is a spitting image of you,” Jane says at the doorway.

“Begging to dress up, always speaking what's on her mind, and not afraid to get her hands dirty.”

“Runs in the blood,” I say, smiling as Rylee tries to get her boots on.

“Rylee, go help grandma and grandpa with the car.” 

Jane closes the door as Rylee runs downstairs.

“Your turn,” Jane says, walking up to me. She sits me down at the vanity and plugs in the curling iron. One thing Jane loves doing is hair, so this is like therapy for both of us. I talked to her about everything. Missing home, especially missing Gator. She tells me he comes by often to check in with my parents, her, and Robert. 

Gator would never verbally say he felt more at home under the Abbott roof. With the past of Linda, Nadine, and now Karen, Reese was the only mother figure who was a constant in his life. He saw how his father treated his wives and vowed to Reese that he would never do that, even if he didn't marry me. 

Jane and I continue to talk; I tell her about work and some of the cases I’ve helped on. I also complain about Vincent from the coffee shop.

She jokes, “Gator would kill him if you asked.” But deep down, I know Gator would do anything if I said I was uncomfortable with someone. 

Jane finished up my hair and helped with my outfit, and we were on our way to the grounds. 

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“You’re never round here anymore, Rumor,” Peter said to me. He was in the competition and grabbed me as I was looking for Gator.

“Yeah, well, I did move the day after graduation.” I was annoyed with Peter’s antics.

“Well, is there anything that could make you move back? Maybe someone?” He said, moving closer to me; I noticed he was trying to move his hat to fit onto my head sneakily. I begin to laugh at his foolish antics.

“You put that hat on her, Collins I swear I will break every single bone in that arm of yours.”

Right on time. 

I turn around to see the carrier of that voice. Still in full uniform, standing well over six feet. He has one hand on his belt while the other holds the top of his vest as he stalks over. Peter audibly gulps, standing in front of me.

“Move. Your pony ride is coming up.” He growls out as he is now standing next to me. Peter nods and frantically turns to walk away.

“What the hell am I gonna do with you? Not even a full twenty-four hours back home, and these assholes are already on the prowl for you,” I just shrug at his comment. I turn my body towards him. I wanted to take him in. 

His hair is slicked back, but I can tell it's longer. He smells like cologne and nicotine. I know he didn't grow, but with his work boots on, I feel as if I’m straining my neck a bit more to meet his eyes. He looks good. He notices me taking him in; he grows red in the cheeks and lets a small smile pass through.

“You look good,” I say.

“I look good because I knew my girl was back in town. Should've seen me yesterday; I was a mess.”

It was his turn to take me in. His eyes travel down and back up.

“Your hair got longer since I last saw you.”

He grabs my arm. I can feel what he is gonna say next.

“Did your Reese yell at you for not eating enough down there?”

“She's been feeding me as much as Rylee the entire day.”

He laughs. “You look good, Rue, “ he begins to move closer; I close my eyes and feel him ghost over my lips “You look good.” 

He finally pressed his lips onto mine. His lips were cold; they’d always been cold. I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him in closer. 

Fuck did I miss this. 

He grabbed the loops of my jeans to pull me closer than I was before. I gasped at the maneuver and Gator took this to slide his tongue into my mouth. I could tell he was hungry through the way he kissed me. I can't blame him, though. 

For once in what felt like a lifetime, the world was quiet. There were no fears circulating in my mind. 

“Jesus, would you two knock it off! She didn't go off to war Gator!” 

And there it was, the one thing I wish would blow away in the breeze. Roy Tillman. Gator and I broke away from each other. I looked towards the voice. God, did he look worse with age.  

“Nice to see you too, Roy,” I said.

Roy never liked me from the moment I was born. Said I was a mistake my mother made. My father and he were good friends, almost like brothers growing up, but now the bond was too big to break. My father never shared the same values as Roy, but he knows that the thoughts and ideas Roy thinks are just a representation of generational trauma. 

Growing up, Roy always tried to tell my parents that my mouth was gonna get me in trouble. He hated that I was outspoken, especially towards men. 

One day, he talked about how he respected the army, navy, and peace officers, especially Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. I then spoke about how I also wanted to work for the FBI. Roy laughed at me for over an hour straight. The next day he woke up with all of his tires slashed. Still today they are looking for that culprit. 

“Heard you’re back for a few weeks. Quantico, realize you don’t fit the job description anymore?”

“Dad, come on, leave her–” Gator began to but in, but I never miss a chance to tell Roy to fuck off.

“No, Roy, they sent me up here. Said to start an investigation about a crooked Sherrif in a small town.” I said with a stern face. Roy went white for a minute, like the statement I was saying had truth behind it, but then he realized I was just doing his favorite thing, running my mouth.

He laughed and then grabbed a cigarette from his pocket, lighting up.

“You think you're funny, Rumor. You think you're funny.” He said, sauntering off towards the bleachers. 

Gator let out a laugh the second Roy was far enough to where he couldn't hear.

“I don’t think he’ll show up to our wedding.” 

“I think he’ll put me on America’s most wanted the day he finds out you're not a virgin,” I said, backfiring at his comment.

Gator just wrapped me in his arms, placing his lips on my head.

“How long do I have you for?”

“Rhett or Robbie are gonna drive me back next Thursday.”

“I can drive you back,” Gator said. I just nodded into his chest, not wanting to break our contact. Gator was my security blanket up here.

“I miss you, G,” I said into his chest.

I felt him squeeze me even tighter in his grasp. 

“You have no idea, Rue,” He said. I looked up to meet his eyes again. I could stare at him for hours. He had soft eyes that went dark, but right now, they were gleaming. He leaned in once again, meeting my lips—a short and sweet kiss. 

“Come on, let's go watch Rhett,” I said, unraveling myself from his embrace, but Gator didn't let me stray too far as he placed one of his hands in my pocket, something he had been doing since we got together.

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Author's note: Hope you guys enjoy the reunion, next part will be a bit steamy 😉

Lmk if yu guys enjoy or want to see anything in this series!!

[whumpsmith-participates]

Medwhump May 2024

Day 3 - "Squeeze my hand" / Flatline

TW: background character death, death threats, gore, surgery, assault mention, verbal abuse

@medwhumpmay

Death wasn't uncommon in the illegal organ trade. Victims were either harvested for all they were worth, or they went under the knife voluntarily in unsanitary conditions and died of complications after the fact. Bodies of recently deceased were stolen and never found again, or a John or Jane Doe was claimed by sketchy individuals with false papers.

Or, if your name was Fetch, you would steal a kidney or a piece of liver as a side hustle while waiting for ransom money to be delivered.

Beep...beep...beep...beep...

Fetch was glad to be working with some equipment again. He felt much less pressed for time when he could actually see the victim's vitals, instead of having to move as fast as possible to ensure at least some chance of survival.

His clients were cheap and tried to underpay him, so since he wasn't required to keep the hostage in one piece, he decided to make up for the difference by selling one of his kidneys.

It had pretty much become a routine surgery for him. He knew exactly what to do and what to look out for, and he still worked fast, even if he could technically take it easier.

Erick was enjoying the experience a little less. He'd been in a mood since they arrived at the hideout, but Fetch couldn't bring himself to care too much. He knew the teen had several bad memories of this place, but the surgical suite built underneath the barn was too good to pass up on. So what if Erick got bitten by rats, nearly assaulted by someone, and buried his first body here, only to later dig up a half-decomposed corpse so they could stage his death.

Frankly, Fetch thought the teen was overreacting. The rats were only in the basement in the farmhouse, the man who tried to assault him died the same day, and the corpse had been burned to a crisp a year ago. But despite how he felt about it, Fetch had decided to give Erick some leniency and let him hang out in the secret room underneath the barn, even if he was visibly uncomfortable at the whole surgery part.

"Erick, I need ice."

"Ugh..."

Fetch glared at the teen as he reluctantly came out of his corner that was the furthest away from the surgical table and opened the freezer to scoop out some ice with a bowl. Then he reluctantly came closer, reaching out his arm to give him the ice, but Fetch didn't take it.

"You know that's not how it goes," he said, "you know what to do with that ice."

"I haven't washed my hands," Erick argued.

"I'll tell him to get antibiotics when I let him go, now ice him!" Fetch ordered.

Erick had the nerve to groan, before reluctantly stepping even closer and beginning to carefully place the ice around the kidney, when suddenly the monitor started beeping rapidly in alarm.

"What did you do?" Fetch asked.

"Nothing?" Erick said, "I mean, I'm just putting the ice in like you told me."

"Don't talk back to me!" Fetch snapped, "take the ice out, maybe he's bleeding somewhere."

Erick groaned again, barely having the stomach to even look at the wound, let alone to dig around in it for slippery ice cubes covered in blood and other fluids.

Beeeeeeeeeep...

"Ah fuck," Fetch said, promptly taking his gloves off and stepping away. Erick looked over at the monitor, recognising the flatline. Then he looked back at Fetch, who didn't even react.

"A-aren't you going to revive him?"

"He's asystolic, the fuck am I supposed to do?" Fetch said, "his heart stopped. He's not worth the trouble to even try to revive."

"W-won't your client be angry?" Erick asked.

"It's literally easier to just hide from them than to try and revive him," Fetch said, "can't even use his fuckin' kidney to afford it. Probably had an underlying condition that makes it no good... Get the shovel. This is your fault, so you can clean it up."

"How is it my fault?" Erick asked.

"You distracted me with your whining!" Fetch said, "now do as I say or I'll make you dig your own grave too!"

The real whump is Erick's discomfort about this whole situation, but tbh I don't feel like I described it well enough, but w/e it's something! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Feel free to imagine the ass-whoopin' he got afterwards. I'll try to come up with something more emotional on other prompts to rlly tug on the heartstrings.

Masterlist Main account

[positively-peachy-143]

Them with a reader who has BPD and has really bad mood swings and they say or do things that they don't mean

For example reader gets upset and maybe goes non verbal to try and have space to calm down and whatever member from the gang is tryna figure out what's wrong and reader lashes out on them

It's totally fine if it makes u uncomfortable and u don't wanna do it

GUYS I LOVE THIS OMG

Word count: 756

Characters: Sodapop Curtis, reader, mentions of Darry and Ponyboy.

Ship: Sodapop x GN!reader

TW: BPD splitting, arguing(?), no escalation just yelling, guys we bullied Soda in this one.

-------------------------------

You hadn't been together long, but long enough for Soda to tell when something was bothering you. He was never very good at going about comforting you, as he's a very hands-on, snuggles-fix-everything kind of partner, and you were a very leave-me-alone-or-I'll-bite-you kind of partner when you were upset.

Right now all you wanted was isolation. It was too hot, your shirt felt itchy and too tight, the ambient noise of the gang cackling in the other room was too loud, driving a spike deep into the most agitated nerve in your brain. The split came out of nowhere. You'd been fine for weeks, happy even, and now you're thrown off-kilter by what? The smallest inconvenience.

Hiding in your room was the cowardly thing to do, you knew that, but it felt like the only thing soothing your nerves was the soft plush sheets on your bed and the dark room. You felt a migraine brewing, and just as you were about to relax, try to nap maybe, tension flooded your senses when you heard your bedroom door creak open.

"Baby?" Fuck. It was Soda. You didn't turn to look at him, having been curled up, facing the wall. You could just picture that concerned look on his face, so stupid and punchable. You knew you'd feel bad for thinking about him like that, but right now you didn't have the patience.

"Go away." You grumbled, shoulders hunching to further hide your face. You hear a sigh, and for a moment you think maybe he'll grant you the relief of being alone again, but those thoughts shatter away when you feel the end of the bed sink down to accommodate his weight.

"c'mon, what's going on?" there it is again. He sounds so worried, too worried. You were fine, couldn't he see that?

"I said go away." the words are bitten out, a hiss, a warning. Only he doesn't relent, as blind and oblivious as he is. A hand finds your shoulder, gentle but startling. Consciously, you know it's Soda, but your body reacts as if a stranger had just grabbed you. You flinch away, this time turning over to glare at him.

You falter for a moment, he does too. His eyes are wide in his face, the kind of expression you'd imagined on Darry after he hit Ponyboy. Only Soda hadn't hit you, and you reacted like he had.

On top of it all he still looks so. punishingly. worried. Couldn't he just get angry? You hadn't ever seen that color on him before, but anger, a fight, is what you craved. You felt that foggy haze of aggression take over, wanting nothing more than to see him storm off in a fit of rage.

The conscious part of you would realize later that it wasn't possible for Soda to act like that. Making your next words sting all that much more.

"Are you blind?! Can't you see I don't fucking want you right now!?" you snap, voice raising. In your chest you feel anticipation building, waiting for him to fire back.

He doesn't. He blinks, startled, dejected. That venom in your words clearly hit him to his core.

"Darling, I-" He starts, a quiver teetering his voice. Before you can stop it, you step all over what he was about to say with your own attempt at starting a fight.

"I don't wanna hear it! Can you just get. out. already!?" It's almost a growl how you say it, and you can see his face fall, defeated. He almost visibly deflates as he gets to his feet. Why did you say that?

No, you know why you said it. He was being too pushy. You needed to stand your ground.

Soda mumbles an apology to you, dropping his gaze to the tattered carpet as he skittishly leaves the room, looking similar to Johnny with that kicked puppy expression.

You'd put that expression there. Your words. Your venom. As you watch him leave, there's no satisfaction in your chest at winning the argument, only overwhelming sickness. Tasting bile in your throat, the silence settling on you like a thousand eyes judging you.

What had you done?

Soda meant no wrong, you knew that. Why did you get SO angry with him?

He was overstepping. A small part of you hisses, a part you'd trained to defend you. But you know, in your core, even if you wouldn't admit it, that Soda wasn't the problem here.

How on Earth were you going to fix this?

-----------------------------

aaaaaaaaa guys first rec tell me how I did!! I really loved writing this one guys, would love feedback! (pos and neg!!)

[ivory--raven]

Izzy's Knee

Before season two came out, I saw the trailer. I saw that Izzy had a prosthetic leg. I assumed he had lost his leg due to infection, which has been established as a danger leading to amputation with Lucius's finger and to a lesser extent, with the Swede's illness (scurvy) leading to irreversible bodily harm ('the teeth don't go back in').

And to some extent Izzy's amputation confirms this established pattern. At the time of amputation his leg is rotten, that's the reason given in the text for its necessity, and the reason given by Izzy when he likens Ed to his 'rotten leg.'

But Izzy didn't lose his leg because of an infection due to the toe amputation in season one. Izzy lost his leg because Ed shot him in the knee. After slicing off at least two more of his toes. The shooting wasn't necessary for Izzy to lose his leg. As established with Lucius and Swede, Izzy's toe injury could logically lead to losing his leg. The shooting was a reference to the historical Izzy Hands' story of being shot in the knee by Blackbeard. From the Wikipedia article on Israel Hands,

Captain Charles Johnson wrote that Hands was shot in the knee when Teach fired at another of his crew, missing him but striking Hands. Hands asked Teach for his reasons, whereupon Teach remarked that, "if he did not now and then kill one of them, they would forget who he was."

In OFMD, Ed shoots Izzy when Izzy sticks up for the crew. He says the atmosphere has become toxic - and he says this because he has just been below decks with the traumatized crew. They are too afraid to say something, so Izzy does. In his own word, he "must." Ed shoots Izzy because Izzy has forgotten that Ed is not to be questioned. Izzy has forgotten that Ed is the Kraken, is Blackbeard, not Edward. And it's one of the historical touches DJ adds. Stede's leaving his wife and kids, sailing with Ed, the destruction of the Republic of Pirates, Izzy being shot in the knee. He follows the broad strokes of history here and there, although not in order and the further along in season two, the more abstract the historical tie ins have to be to make that plot work. But they still must be there. Ostensibly this is a pirate show.

From the moment Izzy lost his toe he was legibly disabled. He was able to hide it, at the beginning of season two - he wasn't using his crutch - but once he had become disabled there was no going back. His amputation made his disability legible again. Metaphorically, Izzy's disability can be read as symbolizing his growing apart from the Blackbeard myth. Izzy's uncomfortable smile when he was first maimed in season one, to his verbally confronting Ed and being shot for it. This is a man who has made a mistake, who comes to see that and learns to separate himself from the Blackbeard myth over the course of season two.

Izzy's disability is also just that: a disability. In readings of disability it's important not to lose sight of the real disability for the metaphor. Piracy is a dangerous career, and though in season one, most of the violence is cartoon violence played for comic effect, Izzy brings in a lot of the real violence, real danger. Perhaps he was doomed from the moment he said death was the only retirement for pirates. Izzy has been called the only human in a muppet show - perhaps it makes sense, storywise, then, that the violence he faces should be real violence.

Izzy had to lose a toe because Ed's downward spiral at the end of season one had to be made tangible. Izzy was a part of the Blackbeard myth - he had to physically be transformed by the myth's transformation. And once Izzy had lost a toe, his disability had to remain visible. His toe was no longer 'enough' disability. And as the situation on the Revenge got worse, Izzy, metaphorically representing that situation, also had to get more legibly impaired - something that could be read as 'worse' though I'm hesitant to give disability a hierarchy and I don't think it's fair to do so.

[virgo-mess]

Silver Thread- Chapter 5

TW: Fluff, Sexual references, mentions of abuse and domestic violence, make out sessions, love bites

Terry’s Pov

By the time their food arrived Veda had let Terry kiss her a surprising number of times. Terry was over the moon that she had initiated most of them. Kissing seemed to be what she was most comfortable with; Terry couldn’t bring himself to complain. Finding that his imperative desire to be with her even in the simplest form outweighed his sexual readiness to make her his. Her willingness to show him affection assured him that she wanted to be his as much as he wanted to be hers. That she was definitely more open to letting him take her completely and that was more than enough for him right now. Terry smiled when she finally pulled away from him after a particularly long kiss. Her cheeks were tinted the cutest shade of pink as she gazed up at him with beautiful innocent brown eyes.

“Are you Okay, I know I can get a little carried away sometimes.” he cooed, tracing soft patterns on her back. Veda nodded with a reassuring smile on her face.

            “I’m fine, that’s just the most kissing I’ve ever done” she admitted sheepishly. Terry felt a little smug at the confession, loving that he claimed one of her firsts so quickly.

            “You’ve never made out with someone before” Terry said feeling incredibly giddy. Veda blushed shaking her head her eyes still adorably shy.

            “Not like I just did with you.” She said coyly. Terry couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he let one of his hands stroke her cheek softly. Loving how she quickly leaned into his touch.

            “Really, you’re pretty good at it for someone who’s never done it before. Have you never had a boyfriend?” he asked genuinely curious. Veda stiffened in his lap breaking eye contact as she became visibly uncomfortable. Terry switched into comfort mode quite quickly letting his arms pull her into an embrace.

            “Are you okay, I’m sorry sweetheart. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable” he cooed softly, resuming the reassuring patterns he liked tracing on her back. Veda relaxed a bit.

            “It’s okay Terry, it’s not you. I’ve had a boyfriend he just…” Veda trailed timidly, still looking away from him. Terry quickly got the sense that this boyfriend was the root of every insecurity she’s ever had. Terry felt a silent rage brewing in him at the thought.

            “What did he do?” Terry said, trying to hide his growing anger as leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. Veda finally met his gaze bringing her hand up to his cheek, drawing reassuring circles on it. Terry leaned into her hand, his heart fluttering at the fact she picked up on what he was feeling again.

 “I don’t really like to talk about it.” Veda smiled at him softly, Terry let his eyes soften.

“You can tell me anything Veda. If you need anything or have a problem, I’m here for you no questions asked and no judgement on my part” Terry said reassuringly. Veda gave him another sweet smile.

“He just didn’t treat me well. I mean he cheated, he lied, he was verbally abusive…”  Veda said softly. Terry gritted his teeth tightening his grip around her waist slightly taking deep breaths.

“Did he ever hit you?” Terry managed to get out, trying not to sound angry so he didn’t scare her. Veda only nodded slowly in response. “When did this happen?”

“It was months ago, don’t worry about it my brother’s mentor put him back in his place already” she said with a reassuring smile. Terry forced a smile on his face as he looked at her, still feeling a great deal of rage. Veda reached up to cup his as she returned his gaze.

“He hasn’t bothered me since then but if he does. I promise you’ll be the first to know Terry” she whispered placing a soft peck on his lips. The action had Terry’s anger melting away instantly.

 Terry felt his heart warm, to Terry a promise was the equivalent to binding oneself to another person for a period of time. A vow, and a vow coming from her meant so much to him. Terry smiled at her feeling that swell of adoration overtake him again.

“Thank you, that means so much coming from you. Let’s not let our food get cold” he said kissing her shoulder, he could feel the gratitude she was radiating at him for changing the subject. A blush sweeping across her cheeks.

“I’ll move so it’s easier for you to eat” she said, ready to take a seat next to him. Terry smiled loving how thoughtful she is, tightening his left arm around her waist.

“You don’t have to move baby girl” he said moving them both closer to the table, Veda giggled.

“I mean because we’re both right-handed, silly. I don’t want to elbow you in the chin. You got a taste of my right hook last week” she said with an amused smile on her face. Terry chuckled.

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to let me feed you then. I need to teach you how to punch someone properly because that definitely was not a right hook, doll” he said smirking as he spooned some of her Cavatelli con Ragu onto a fork. The blush on her cheeks darkened as she looked at him with shy eyes, Terry brought the fork up to her mouth. His heart fluttered when she shyly submitted to him accepting the food, a content smile spreading across her face.

“You like it” Terry said a smile making its way on his face. Veda nodded frantically; cheeks still rosy as she gazed at him. Watching as she shyly grabbed the other fork with her left hand.

“You’re turn” she cooed scooping up some of his Risotto di Funghi, Terry eagerly met her halfway not wanting her to have to turn too far. Veda let out a soft giggle still blushing as Terry let out a pleased rumble.

“You’re so sweet, angel” Terry said softly, peppering her shoulder with kisses. He felt Veda lean down placing a kiss on his temple.

Veda’s Pov

            They spent the rest of breakfast cuddled up and feeding each other like they were in a cringey romance movie. Veda couldn’t bring herself to care as she sat comfortably on Terry’s lap exchanging stories between bites of food and sips of wine. Which Terry insisted on purchasing even though Veda wasn’t 21, her 19th birthday was quickly approaching. Mrs. LaRusso never care too much about drinking anyway, wine being one of the integral elements of Italian culture and all. Veda wondered what her mom would think about her dating a much older man, Terry strangely didn’t look like he was in his 30s if Veda didn’t know his real age, she probably would’ve assumed he wasn’t older than 25.

“Here’s your bill” the waiter said, Terry handed him his credit card without even looking at it.

“What are you doing for your birthday?” Terry asked, still looking at her like she was the best thing to ever grace the planet. Veda blushed with a small smile on her face, she hadn’t mentioned her birthday to him at all when he ordered the bottle. She wondered how many times he read her employment file to have such a detail memorized.

“Probably working” she said teasingly taking another sip of wine. Terry chuckled at her rolling his eyes with an amused smile on his face.

“Don’t you read the newsletters I drop on your desk every week? Dynatox is closed that Friday” Terry replied in the same teasing tone. Veda cocked her eyebrow at him.

“You didn’t close the whole office just for my birthday, did you?” Veda asked catching the slightest trace of a blush grace his cheeks.

“Yes, I very much did” Terry said nonchalantly “So, what are your plans?” he repeated. Veda looked at him in disbelief.

“I’ve got nothing planned on the actual day, but I’m going to dinner with my mom and brother that Sunday” she said with a shy smile.

“Well, that won’t do, beautiful women should always have plans on their birthday. How about I throw you a party?” Terry said pulling her closer to his chest. Veda blushed.

“That’s very sweet of you but I don’t really like parties. I’ll go if you really want to throw one” Veda admitted, now it was Terry’s turn to cock an eyebrow at her.

“Wait, really?” Terry asked, Veda couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on his face.

“Yes really, I don’t know why everyone is so surprised to hear that. I crunch numbers, read books, and go to boring lectures for fun. I’m a nerd, Terry.” She said still laughing “My parents loved it though; I was way more into books then I ever was guys.”  Terry couldn’t help but laugh with her.

“Oh my God, you are a nerd.” Terry said teasingly. “I adore that about you though, we have real intellectual conversations and debates. I like that I can take you to a museum or immerse you in the culture of another country and you would actually enjoy it as much as I do” he said more seriously, Veda felt another blush spread across her face at the compliment. Her heart filled with an overwhelming amount of reverence as she looked at him this time. Veda found herself pulling him into a hug, peppering his cheeks and shoulder with kisses. Terry wrapped his arms around her nuzzling his face in her neck again, Veda had grown to really like him doing that.

“Can we go to the museum for my birthday?” Veda asked shyly, Terry removed his face from her neck to look at her with soft eyes.

“Which one?” Terry asked, Veda leaned back so he could cup her face. Their waiter came back some time ago standing by the table awkwardly for the third time in the last hour and a half.

“As many as we can, we have two days to fill. I don’t really care as long as you go with me” the last part coming out above a whisper. Terry gave her a dazzling smile before placing a soft kiss on her lips which Veda passionately returned without hesitation. Terry pulled back to reply.

“I’d love to go with you Veda. I’ll happily go anywhere you ask me to.” Terry breathed out; Veda smiled at him again. Their waiter cleared his throat, catching their attention.

“I’m really so sorry. You guys are ridiculously adorable, I just need a signature from you, sir. How long have you guys been married?” He asked handing Terry the bill again. Veda let go of Terry quickly, trying so hard not to burst in to a fit of laughter as Terry signed the bill. A real blush graced his face.

“How old do we look?” Veda asked, genuinely curious since no one seemed to bat an eye at them being a couple.

“Him mid-twenties, you early twenties.” He said honestly, Veda smiled and nodded. Finding it funny he didn’t think twice about answering her weird question.

“We’re going on three years married, together for five total.” she said with a mischievous smile on her face, watching Terry’s cheeks flare an amusing shade of red out of the corner of her eye. A look of disbelief on his face as he looked at her with eyes as big as saucers.

“That’s really great, you guys look so happy together, I know your kids will just be breathtaking. Thank you, sir, that’s very generous of you. I hope both have a wonderful day.”  The waiter said giving Terry a grateful handshake. Terry just nodded with a polite smile. Veda waited until he was out of sight and earshot before she burst into a fit of giggles.

“Veda, do you know how old you were five years ago” Terry said exasperated, still red faced as he looked at her in shock. This only made her laugh harder, her eyes a watery mess.

“I can’t believe you said that. This is only our first date” Terry said pulling her into his chest as he shook his head. Veda bit down on her lip to try to keep some laughter in.

“You said you were all mine, that you’d go anywhere I asked you to, and that you’d never let anyone hurt me all on our first date Terry Silver.” Veda replied teasingly. Terry looked down at her with a shy smile.

“I meant every word too” he said sincerely, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Veda felt that twinge in her chest again leaning up to kiss him for a moment.

“I know it’s only our first date but I kind of feel like we’ve been together forever. Is that weird?” Veda whispered; Terry’s eyes softened before pulling her into another kiss.

“Not at all.” Terry said placing a kiss on her forehead “I feel the same way.”

            Veda blushed feeling self-conscious, when they finally pulled up to the office a full forty minutes late. Having spent a lot of time sitting in the booth just talking and sharing a great number of kisses. Veda loved seeing how happy Terry was when she opted to sit pressed up against him for the short ride to the office. It seems sitting on his lap for two hours impeded whatever qualms Veda had about letting Terry pamper her. Allowing herself to be touchy-feely with him was a big step for her and she was grateful Terry wasn’t pushing her for more.

            “Do you want to walk in together?” Terry asked, Veda blushed finding it strange they could sense how the other was feeling so easily now. Was being lovey-dovey in a romantic restaurant all they needed to end up on the same wavelength?

            “What do you mean?” Veda asked with furrowed brows, Terry drew some reassuring circles on her shoulder.

            “I mean do you want to walk into the office at the same time or different times. The only person in there that knows anything about where we’ve been is Margaret.” He said with a soft smile. Vada nodded.

            “Oh, Zoe and Rob are the only ones that are going to be hounding me. They’ll do that regardless of whether we walk in together or not. So, I think it’s safe we can walk in together, maybe just get the kissing out of the way in the elevator” Veda said in a teasing tone, Terry chuckled.

            “Get it all out of my system, huh. Oh, babydoll you might regret that” he said winking at her, Veda rolled her eyes just as Larry came around to open the door.

            “Thanks Larry, you’re the best driver I’ve ever had” Veda said, Larry let out a chuckle.

            “Aren’t I the only driver you’ve had little one? How much wine did you give her Mr. Silver” he joked; Veda let out a giggle in return.

            “Technically, my mom was my driver before you. At least when her car was working” she joked waving a goodbye before following Terry into the building. The pair stood waiting for the elevator in a comfortable silence, which Terry broke when the doors flung open.

            “Come here baby girl” Terry bit his lip, beckoning Veda with a finger as he backed into the elevator. Veda a blushed feeling that warm bubbling feeling in her stomach, wondering how he was able to do it without even touching her. Veda looked up at him with shy eyes walking up to him, Terry looked down at her with dark lustful eyes.

            “You told me to get it out of my system and we have 14 floors to go. Are you ready?” he said huskily leaning down to place soft kisses on her neck. Veda felt her breathing change as a familiar wave of arousal washed over her.

            “Yes” she whispered, Terry didn’t waste any time lifting her up and pressing her firmly against one of the walls. Veda whimpered as Terry captured her in a fiery kiss, letting out a moan against her mouth. His large hands gripping her waist possessively, Veda found herself digging her nails into the back of his neck. Terry let out a groan letting his teeth nibble on her lower lip. Veda didn’t hesitate to open her mouth for him this time letting out a moan of her own as he eagerly entered her mouth. Kissing each other in a heated amorous frenzy for what feels like forever before they finally part for air. Terry placing opened mouth kisses down her neck and shoulder, a content sigh escaping her lips. Veda loosens the death grip she had on his neck settling to play with his ponytail. Terry lets out a pleased sound against her neck.

            “13th floor” Veda says breathlessly, Terry pulls back with a big grin on his face. Letting her feet fall back to the ground gently, bringing his thumbs up to stroke her cheeks.

            “Thank you for letting me do that baby girl.” Terry says leaning down to place one last kiss on her forehead. Veda smiles shyly at him still flushed when the elevator doors open. They both take a moment to collect themselves, Terry quickly fixing her dress straps and replacing a few of her stray face framing hairs. Veda smiles at the tender act of affection, gazing up at him as she moved to return the favor. She straightens his tie and smooths out his lapels, never breaking eye contact. Terry gives her one of his dazzling smiles in return.

            “Thank you, my sweet girl” he says in a hushed tone letting one of his fingers slide down her cheek affectionately. Veda beams at his use of a possessive pronoun in front of one of his growing lists of pet names for her. Finding she wants to give him a few pet names of her own.

            “You’re welcome, Romeo.” Veda said in the same hushed tone, her eyes searching Terry’s face for a reaction. Terry’s eyes light up looking a bit bashful as he places a hand over his heart.

“You like it” Veda says a triumphant tone in her voice, Terry nods at her looking positively giddy “Good” Veda says finding the courage to wink at him. Terry looks like he’s resisting every urge to pull her back in for another make out session. Veda represses a giggle as she quickly makes her way into the office, relieved to see no one seems particularly interested in why her and Terry were holed up in the elevator for so long. Veda catches sight of Zoe and Rob looking rather smitten with each other by her desk. Veda glances up at Terry shyly noticing that he's walking as close to her as possible without actually touching her.

“Veda, where the heck have you been?” Zoe asks quite loudly; Veda stiffens now feeling many of her coworkers staring at her and Terry as they walk closer to their section of the office. Veda doesn’t say anything when she finally makes it to her desk hastily setting her stuff down. Terry and her share lingering glances and coy smiles before he finally retreats back into his office pointedly leaving the door open.

“Hey Rob, how’s the first day back treating you?” Veda asks cooly, immediately getting to work on the files sitting on her desk.

“Hold on, are we not going to talk about what just happened here?” Zoe said arching an eyebrow at Veda calculating. Veda met her gaze for a moment maintaining a nonchalant expression on her face.

“What do you mean Zoe?” Veda asked, Rob looked between the two rather amused. Zoe scoffed slightly.

“The way you and Mr. Silver just shared lingering smiles and glances., after walking in here together forty minutes late for work” Zoe said crossing her arms over her chest. Veda shrugged playing up her clueless demeanor.

“I don’t understand, we just looked at each other according to you we do that a lot.” Veda said simply, Zoe’s eyes narrowed at her slightly as she approached her desk to look at her fully with calculating eyes.

“Are you wearing Oscar De La Renta right now?” Zoe said, Veda stiffened slightly surprised Zoe knew anything about designers. Veda shrugged again.

“It’s not new” Veda said, technically it wasn’t Terry bought it for her months ago. Zoe scoffed again.

“So, you just have 4,000-dollar Oscar De La Renta dresses and matching handbags sitting in your closet now. I’m assuming the 3,000-dollar 1 carat earrings and matching necklace were there too” Zoe said sarcastically. Veda found herself rather impressed Zoe knew exact prices.

“I didn’t know you were into fashion like that” Veda said truthfully giving her a smile hoping maybe she’d drop the subject. Zoe glanced into Terry’s office for a moment seeing him looking at them with an amused expression on his face. Veda followed her line-of-sight blushing when her and Terry locked eyes for a second.

“Veda! You guys are doing it again” Zoe said in disbelief, Veda jumped slightly at her volume. Rolling her eyes before leering at her.

“Do you have to be so loud” Veda said in a hushed tone through gritted teeth. Zoe let her eyes travel to her neck, a sudden look of realization crossing her face. Veda narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. “What…” Veda trailed, not liking the smirk that crossed Zoe’s face.

“Oh my God, did he buy that for you” Zoe asked, clearly already knowing the answer. Veda shifted in her seat.

“No” she quipped dryly; Zoe shook her head. Veda saw Margaret enter Terry’s office out of the corner of her eye.

“Veda are you guys finally dating” Zoe exclaimed excitedly. Veda rolled her eyes again changing the subject.

“Rob you never answered my question” Veda said looking to find him still sitting on Zoe’s desk the same amused look on his face.

“It’s going quite well” he replied still amused. Zoe smirked again thinking she finally caught her in something.

“You didn’t look surprised to see Rob almost like you knew that he’d be here” Zoe said cooly, Veda let out a sigh remembering that she never told Zoe anything that happened yesterday.

“That’s what he called me into talk about yesterday” Veda shrugged returning to her paperwork. Zoe still looked down at her smirking when Margaret finally emerged from his office looking rather cheery.

“Veda, darling, how did breakfast go” Margaret asked a knowing smile on her face. Veda felt her whole face flush a deep shade of red.

“Margaret” she whined; Zoe beamed vibrating with excitement.

“You were late because you went to breakfast together.” Zoe said glancing back at Rob who was laughing under his breath. Margaret looked between all of them amused. Veda scowled at all of them before rolling her eyes.

“You guys are the worst” she grumbled, trying to focus back on her paperwork.

“I’m assuming it went well by the looks of your neck” Margaret quipped before walking away quickly. Veda furrowed her eyebrows confused.

“Wait, what?” Veda said looking up at Zoe who was stifling her laughter behind her hand. Rob came over to take a look with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, Veda” he said, Veda quickly brought her hands up to her neck glaring into to Terry’s office. He was hidden somewhere out of her eyesight.

“Honey, there’s a big ol’ hickey on your neck” Zoe finally said between fits of laughter. Veda’s eyes grew wide a gasp escaping her lips.

“Shut up there is not” she hissed digging through her purse for a mirror frantically, ignoring Rob and Zoe’s laughing fit. She grumbled to herself when she finally found it holding it up to get a clear look. Sure enough, there was a red purple welt the size of a quarter on the right side of her neck. Veda let out a small squeal rummaging through her purse for some cover up. Glancing up to glare into Terry’s office again, this time he was leaning against the doorframe. A small smirk graced his lips as he looked down at her with bright eyes.

“Sorry baby girl” he said, Veda narrowed her eyes at him dabbing concealer on her neck.

“Oh, you just wait until they see your neck tomorrow, Romeo” she hissed, Terry bit his lip at her.

“Is that a threat” he said with a teasing grin on his face. Rob and Zoe looked between the two, equal parts amused and grossed out.

“Absolutely” Veda replied in the same tone, looking up at him with a slight smirk on her face as she raised a challenging eyebrow at him. “I’m going to hold you to that one LaRusso. I’m not quite sure I got everything out of my system in elevator” Terry said flirtatiously backing back into his office. Veda blushed rolling her eyes.

“You know, I think I like them arguing better” Rob said shaking his head as he headed back to his desk.

[cellard0ors]

It's one in the morning when she arrives on his doorstep.

Travis opens the door and gestures her to come inside.

It's as dark and quiet in his home as it is outside. He clicks on a tiny lamp to provide some glow, gestures to a beat up sofa for her to sit on.

Laura takes a seat and Travis sits on the arm of the nearby armchair, his arms crossed and his voice low, "So, what do you want to do?"

Her eyes widen before she visibly blinks and he sighs, looking away, "It's your body, Laura. Not to mention I took away your option of choice for two months. And I'm never doing that again, so...up to you."

Travis turns back to see her lower her head, to see her play with her fingers while she thinks. She's wearing a trench coat two sizes too big for her. It makes her seem...hollowed out.

Her face more so, voice cool and placid as she says, "I'd like to keep it."

"Okay. Have you told your family?"

"No one to tell."

Travis hopes he manages to convey (even without her looking at him, even without a word) how ridiculous that sounds, how impossible only for her to explain, "Mom died young. Dad didn't want to raise me. I've lived with my grandparents my entire life and we were never close. Not everyone thinks of family as the most important thing in the world."

Travis tries not to flinch at that. He's sure he fails.

"Alright. What about Max's family?"

This does make her raise her head and there. There, there, there! There's the fire. The spark inside her eyes that enchanted him from the outset, even though he knew it shouldn't have.

But, he was a monster, a beast to her beauty, locking her up against her will. What did it matter if he was drawn to her? He'd already fallen - no reason not to wallow at the bottom.

But seeing it now, remembering it so well, Travis recognizes that it still enchants him even as snaps, "I told you! It's-!"

He holds up one hand to stop her, "I know, Laura. I know. But...if you want to play it that way. If you'd rather say the baby's his..."

"I'm not doing that!" The heat in her words matches the fire in his eyes and it'd be so easy to fall into an antagonistic verbal sparring match but that man, the one who would have been up for that, is dead and gone, so he just holds up his other hand and does the calming down motion with quiet 'okay's.'

Laura, for her part, also appears to no longer be the girl who was more than ready for a fight. Especially with him. The fire dims some and while he doesn't like to see it, he doesn't really feel up for a fight right now either.

Especially about this.

"It's a big responsibility."

Laura shoots him a look, "I'm aware."

What she's really saying is, I'm not stupid. Travis never thought she was. Even when he'd said it. Still, "What about friends?"

Once more she seems confused. Travis crosses his arms again, shrugs, "A support system... it's important..."

"What about you?"

The sound of his swallowing echoes in his ears, "What about me."

"Do you..." She's back to fiddling with her fingers, gaze directed downwards, "Do you support me?"

"Yes." It comes out immediately. Not even a second after she asks. It's instant. No thought needed.

"What-? Ah-?" Laura sniffs, shifts uncomfortably where she sits, "What role do you want to play?"

Travis doesn't know how to answer that. But his heart - a long dead muscle - thumps. Hard.

"What do you want me to-?"

"Jesus, Travis! Just-!" Laura hisses and surges to her feet, one hand rubbing at her temple, "Stop being so goddamn accommodating and tell me what you fucking want to do!"

Travis sits up straighter. His heart thumps again. A crude creature coming to life beneath his ribs.

"What do you want, Travis?" Laura looks at him, face set. Serious. Determined.

All the air in Travis leaves him in a rush, "I want to keep it too."

They look at one another and, in that moment, an understanding is reached. An unspoken, precarious one, but an understanding nonetheless.

They both want the baby.

The baby is theirs.

What they'll do past that is a mystery. But, for now, they're in agreement.

They're having a baby.

[ecargmura]

Ayaka: A Story Of Bounds and Wounds Episode 8 Review - Festival Time

After all the warm fuzziness I felt seeing Yukito hanging out with his friends at a festival, that feeling went away towards the ending. Man, that ending was quite shocking. I didn’t expect the endgame to come this soon!

This entire episode was Yukito hanging out with his friends and it was super cute! The way Yukito chats with his friends and then spending quality time with them in their yukatas was so cute. They’re so cute! I’m so happy Yukito’s getting friends. Although he never had friends, he is very considerate of them. They’re all so considerate towards each other too! Like when Ibara got a blister, they were asking if she’s okay and they offered to get a medical kit for her. I think the way Yukito said that he also feels uncomfortable in clothes he’s not used to wearing caused Ibara to smile and it’s cute!

I think the best thing about Yukito in this episode is that he managed to put Jingi in his place. He was rather baffled when Jingi was wanting to sponge off of him and when he went to the shrine to pick up Yako and Chataro, he snitched about Jingi to Haruaki, causing the former to be forced to work by the latter. For once, Yukito bites back and it’s nice to see. Though, he does have appreciation for his mentor as he thanks him towards the end of the episode after he calms himself down after his powers got a bit out of control. He’s such a good boy.

Ibara gets a lot of ship tease with Yukito in this episode. She blushed when he complimented her yukata. She then takes pictures of her friends, but only Yukito is visible in the picture while the other two are in the background and cut off. Poor them. I think her bluntness towards Yako and Chataro throughout the episode was hilarious. She’s like “I was glaring at Haruaki because he’s Aka’s enemy” and then Yako was like “You’re not glaring at us, despite us being Haruaki’s disciples”. Her response? “Well, it’s cause you two are weak.” Talk about a blow to their ego. I also found Aka calling Yukito and asking if Ibara is having fun super cute. Maki teased him having fatherly affections for Ibara, which does seem to be the case; it’s also nice to see Aka have some care for his subordinates in a way.

I’ve always theorized that Yukito was the water dragon and I think that theory is all but verbally confirmed in this episode. In the beginning, Yukito gets the usual dream of him being submerged in water, but it gets an extension where he meets the fire dragon in his dream, causing him to almost drown and wake up from his dream. It feels like a sign that the fire dragon is calling out to him. When Yukito’s powers start going out of control, he isolates himself from his friends to a secluded area. In dim light, Yukito sees his shadow take the form of a dragon. The spirit of his father visits him, praising him and then mentioning “the truth about his true self”; note that Yukito is unable to recognize him because his face was covered. Then, at the end of the episode, the Fourth Island’s volcano gets erupted, signaling the fire dragon’s reawakening. I hope it’ll be fully confirmed next episode, but given that we have four or five episodes left, I feel like it’ll drag on; it better not.

I’m worried about what’s to come. What’s going to happen with the island? What will Yukito do to help out? Will our main characters team up to stop it or will it be a solo mission for Aka? I just hope that this sudden endgame route will be handled well.

[bloodonhissocks]

TSLOCG: Eric Miller

This is going to be a long post following my feelings toward Eric Miller throughout season 1:

1x1: When Bela first ran up to Eric, I got a sense of her character as a super eager freshman trying extra hard to make a drastic first impression so that she would be remembered. As a college senior who's been in a position of leadership, I sort of sympathized with his reaction at first, especially since there were hundreds of people at the Catullan meeting. If some random freshman came up to me wanting to read me their submission or something, I'd be happy to see their enthusiasm but god damn I got shit to do lmao.

Then Eric said that shit about "female spots" and I was like goodbye. And he followed it up with "I would give anything for Elizabeth Warren to be president" which made it all sound even worse. AND he ended it by mentioning the Pot Stickers, the all-Asian improv troupe. Like noooo, way to make it about race too.

1x2: The next time we see him he's saying stuff like "If I want Bark Thins and a mocha, you will get me Bark Thins and a mocha. And don't be cute and try to write a funny name on my cup. You will be cut." So now he's sexist, racist, AND on a power trip.

1x4: When Bela stands up for herself after being uncomfortably stereotyped as part of a joke (and I was really proud of her!!!), Eric is more concerned about Danny rescinding his donation check instead of addressing her experience. I was really sad because I thought her act of standing up for herself was going to be associated with the destruction of the Catullan, therefore implying that she should've just stayed quiet, but half the funds were recovered by someone else, so there was that at least. But it really says a lot about institutions...

In the same episode, Eric tells Bela, "I think you overreacted. Danny can't be sexist. He only hires female assistants." Honey, no, that's...just not true. Props to Evangeline for continuing to be fucking awesome by rolling her eyes and also speaking up for Bela.

1x7: After final submissions, Eric says, "If we choose any new members, tonight is gonna be tap night. We'll come find you in your rooms and whisk you away for hours of traditions that you cannot share with anyone, ever. Including future spouses." At this point, I got really scared that Eric might be like Ryan because the specific word choices and phrasing were really sus, like tap being slang for fuck, hours of tradition, can't share with anyone including future spouses...??? But there was no way because Evangeline was also a part of it.

And then...Ryan sexually assaults Bela after sexually harassing her and she finally speaks up about it to Evangeline and Eric. God bless Evangeline for being perfect, but Eric immediately says, "Can we make this quick" and lowers Bela's confidence and self-esteem even more. Eric starts to freak out visibly and verbally, saying things like "going to Title IX already?" and "I don't want to get involved in this and quite frankly I'm not sure there's a this to be involved in," literally dismissing Bela's feelings and the importance of the situation. His defensiveness made me so uncomfortable to hear as a viewer, like holy crap, he shut her down in such a horrible way.

Later, he asks Bela to talk alone. Before starting, he asks for a glass of water or something to which Bela says no and good because earlier he was such an ass. Then, he says, "I wrote this down so I wouldn't get it wrong...My initial reaction earlier today sucked. As an editor and a sometimes very awkward and thoughtless person, I'm sorry. I handled myself poorly. I believe you, and I will do something about it."

This scene is where things changed for me. At first, I thought that Eric was taking the easy way out by using a script, but in the season finale, he actively takes part in removing Ryan from the Catullan. When Ryan tries to make Bela less believable with ''a girl who gave eight handjobs," Eric counters,

"And who cares how many fucking hand jobs she gave? It doesn't make her any less credible, you shit."

This line is so so so important because yes, it doesn't matter what Bela did in the past. It doesn't erase her experience of sexual harassment and assault. For Eric to say this so outright and to the point means so much for Bela and for people who have had the same/similar experiences. It also really shows that he's capable of change and growth as a person. He went from completely denying Bela's experiences to directly addressing them to taking action. And the words that he wrote down when apologizing acknowledged Bela's experiences and the inappropriateness of his reaction. There were no excuses like "I've known Ryan for years" or "this is a sensitive situation and there's a lot of room for screwing a lot of things up." No, Eric's apology was about him as a person and owning up to his behavior.

And that is why Eric easily got bumped up on my favorite characters list. He started off really terribly but had very meaningful development and that's the kind of shit I love.

[electrasev5nwrites]

Ninja Daily: Vapors 21

When the waitress came around, Jiraiya put in his order without a hint of flirtation. When his companion said nothing and the girl skittered a little uncomfortably, fluffy pen held to her heart-shaped pad of pink paper, Jiraiya rolled his eyes and looked up at the man across the table for the first time. "Are you going to order anything?"

Black eyes slid over to the girl, but his expression didn't change as if he really saw her or the way she was blushing. "No."

"Suit yourself," Jiraiya sighed, waving the girl off and slouching. Somehow he still managed to emit an aura of formidability. It wasn't necessary. No one was close enough to overhear and Itachi would sense any usage of chakra.

"The Lady Tsunade has returned to Konoha," he uttered tonelessly, staring off into space. It was an inauspicious start to an information exchange. Then again, Uchiha had never been known for polished conversational abilities. Odds as to whether he was socially impaired or actually just reticent were about fifty-fifty.

Regardless of the motivation, Jiraiya knew the teenager well enough to realize he was both asking for confirmation and dancing around something else. "Yes," he said shortly, glaring a little bit at the reminder. "To fix your mess, and to become Hokage. I'm surprised you haven't heard about that part yet at least."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, unused to that kind of vehemence from the man. "You are angry," he stated. It was a habit of his that drove others to near-fits of irritation, but was often effective at gathering information without giving the other conversationalist the psychological upper hand of being asked a question.

Jiraiya felt a muscle twitch in his jaw, despite being familiar with mental and verbal games of all sorts. 'I hate conversations with this brat,' he grumped internally. 'He doesn't give me many cues to work off. If we are here to exchange information we should just be straight forward.'

Despite his near blindness, he knew that the younger man somehow sensed his irritation. The sage heaved an irritated sigh, casting a longing glance in the direction of the kitchen. "You put my goddaughter in the hospital," he said shortly in a way that implied that part of the conversation was over. He knew that the boy had to maintain his cover and that included attacking leaf nin, but there were dozens of ways he could have stopped the girl from interfering without causing that kind of damage. Then his gaze sharpened when he noted something unusual. Confused, Jiraiya registered that some brief emotion had crossed the boy's face, which was unusual to say the least. He had no idea what it was, but he had almost certainly surprised the teen. "But you didn't know that," he said slowly, trying to pry out what it was that had elicited a visible reaction. 'That didn't do it.' He consciously did not frown, but he was dissatisfied with the lack of results.

The teen had somehow gone even stiller, obviously recognizing that he had given away some sort of clue. 'He had to have known that she would have been hospitalized after a genjutsu like that,' Jiraiya reasoned. 'Is he surprised at the implication that she survived? No. If he'd wanted her dead she would be. It is the fact that I know her that surprised him? But why would he even care about a Leaf Chuunin? It would have been more like him to ignore her and continue to his objective. He's never liked extra casualties.' Something uneasy roiled in his gut. He trusted the boy on some levels, but the implication that there was some reason for S-class nin to care about his goddaughter was unsettling. Monsters like that shouldn't even know she existed yet. With parents like that it would be surprising if she didn't reach that level one day, but that day was not today.

"Enough of this," the nukenin demurred, pulling out a short scroll. Jiraiya took it numbly, knowing that the report on Akatsuki was doubtlessly important even if it didn't seem that way right now. 'I must be imagining things,' he tried to convince himself. Jiraiya was normally an excellent liar, but it didn't seem to be working as the teen across the table nodded his head farewell and strode off, still henged into less conspicuous clothing and facial features.

A disturbing thought occurred. 'Was it really an accident that Aiko was the first person Itachi and Hoshigaki ran into in Konoha?' The large man shifted in his seat, barely noticing the sounds of laughter from a distant table. He had initially assumed so. Then again, a ninja didn't live to be his age without examining strange occurrences closely.

And an S-class nin who had been out of the village for seven years just happening to display even the slightest hint of interest in his former student's child positively stank of something suspicious. 'Aiko, what have you been up to?'

When it came, the food tasted like ashes. That might have been his perception or the fact that he was at a total dive. So he dropped a gold coin on the table and headed back to the hotel where he had left his charge sleeping a few hours sooner than planned. The boy would no doubt scream about perverts if he knew that the sannin had poked his head in the room where the child slept, but the reassurance made him feel marginally better. Jiraiya cradled his head in his hands, white hair a riotous mess around his face, and sighed. 'I knew that the boy was in serious trouble,' he thought wearily. 'But I never considered that his sister might be in direct danger. Sure, she could be used against him, but that's a mess to consider when they finally get serious about hunting Naruto and realize that he's too powerful to take easily. Maybe I should find out why exactly an S-class criminal (even if he isn't one, strictly speaking) has interest in a 13 year old. Perhaps I could accept it as keeping an eye on a potential future problem if someone had figured out that she was Minato's child, but if Itachi had known that he would have already suspected I had a connection to the child.'

Itachi was equally discomfited by the brief exchange, reflecting on it even when he met back up with his partner to travel to their next mission. He had considered bringing up his strange encounter to Jiraiya to prod for information. It had never occurred to him that the toad sage would bring up the girl. The revelation that she was his goddaughter was a little shocking, and he had instantly known that the sage would not give him any useful information on the girl. Prying further would have only put the man on guard and revealed that he had a strong reason to be curious about someone he had encountered completely on accident. If he truly could find no other way to investigate whatever was going on, he would try again later.

'Unsettling.' Hoshigaki Kisame edged slightly further from his partner, sensing the boy was irritated even without any visible cues. After working together for years, he was well attuned to his partner's tells.

Itachi couldn't bring himself to care about what the nukenin thought, face pressed into an incredibly mild frown. 'I do not like hints that I have missed a possible factor.'

It wasn't the only news that had taken him by surprise, a feeling he definitely did not like. At least discovering that his otouto had been taken under the wing of the Hokage herself had been reassuring, though unexpected considering the long-standing enmity between their clans.

If he had been anyone else, Itachi might have snorted with morbid amusement when he caught himself thinking that. 'With one Senju and one Uchiha in Konoha, would it not be more unlikely if the feud continued?'

Regardless of old grudges, the Senju woman would likely be able to guide Sasuke and help him gain the strength to stay safe from monsters like Madara. He might need more motivation if he seemed to be growing complacent. The 19 year old did his best to turn away from that unpleasant thought, but once it had occurred he couldn't stop wondering if his brother's drive to get stronger had faded in the years since he had seen Sasuke. If it had…

Glossy, perfect nails caught the sunlight from the windows and refracted sparkles from blue glitter polish onto the wall when Aiko pulled open the door to wait on the deck for her two partners. She had been guarding their belongings while the older two did reconnaissance.

Cool wind tugged at her hair, carrying with it the scent of dying flowers. She frowned slightly and tried to gather up the tangles with her fingers, irritated with how long her hair had gotten again when she wasn't paying attention. "Time for a haircut," she sighed, a little surprised that she could actually see strands of blonde hair in her peripheral. The summer sun had bleached out almost all of the red that had seemed so prominent, leaving her much closer to looking like Naruto's relative than Karin's. Just a short year ago, she had been dead in between color-wise.

She blew air out, letting her lips purse with irritation and leaned back into the cool stone wall. For more than one reason (like the lack of sound and the wall immediately behind her), she was startled to feel warm breath on her ear. Aiko shrieked and wheeled around, backing up to see Anko's grinning face hanging out of the open window and her Kakashi slouching by the door, looking hangdog as usual.

She scowled and stuck her tongue out at Anko, curling into her sensei's side and wrapping her arms around him. "She's mean to me," she pouted.

"Don't be like that," Anko drawled, hopping out the open window and joining the other two on the porch. "Well, do you want to tell her the good news or should I?"

She felt her teacher take a deep breath and set his hands on her shoulders, gently prying the teenager off his front. Aiko blinked up at him, awkwardly splitting her attention between his one uncovered eye and the leaf sigil covering the other one. "Well, we're pretty much done with this cover," he announced, pushing his hands into his pockets and slouching slightly.

Surprised, Aiko furrowed her brows. "I thought the guy we caught said the information broker was going to be coming by soon," she objected mildly.

"He is," Kakashi agreed easily. "In fact, he is in town now, in this very hotel."

"Makes sense," she breathed, already cataloguing the few weapons on her person and checking that her chakra reserves were full.

Her teacher held up a hand lazily. "Maa, not so fast," he drawled. "Our client owns this hotel, remember? It would be foolish to engage him here and risk property damage. We will be following our guy out of town. That means we're done resting. We can't afford to sleep until the target makes a move. I don't anticipate that he will be leaving until dark, however. Get packed."

"Yes, sir," she reflexively breathed, pushing past Anko and into her adjoining room, making quick work of the little she had to gather. Most of it had already been folded into a storage seal (a ridiculously frivolous use of a ninja skill, but she could at least justify it as practice). With deft movements, she slipped into more practical footwear, trying not to think too hard about how the knee-high boots must look with the short orange and pink yukata she had been wearing and ripping a line down the side of the material to give easier access to the thigh holster she snapped into place, finishing off by buckling her black hip pouch over the dress and sliding it to rest on the back of her right hip.

By the time she had joined the other two, their rooms looked as though they could have been vacant for weeks. She slipped through and stood at Anko's side. "Ready?" Anko asked, looking down. When she nodded in reply, the older girl gave a sharp grin and nodded. "Right then." She raised her right hand up in a two-fingered seal. "Release!" With a tiny puff, the purple-haired woman disappeared altogether.

Mildly surprised, Aiko raised an eyebrow at her sensei but knew better than to ask for an explanation. The bunshin had probably been meant to signal Anko that backup was on the way. Now that she thought about it, it would have been stupid for them to leave the target alone after they finally found him. Kakashi sighed, flipping his hip pouch shut and straightening. Then he took off, just barely slow enough for her to follow. The speed hardly surprised her anymore, not after four years of being his student. Every time it seemed that she had gotten close to matching his insane speed, he somehow managed to surprise her and make it look easy.

She wasn't surprised to discover that her sensei had been right about when the broker would choose to make a move while Anko tailed him and the other two hung back, ready to provide support but minimizing chances that the broker would sense them. They waited at the far range of Anko's sensing range- close enough that a panicked signal would have them at her side within seconds, but far enough away to speak quietly. Aiko sighed lightly, leaning into her teacher's side. The familiarity was soothing. He glanced down and then his gaze was directed upwards again, at the rooftops and tree line.

"I'm glad Tsunade-sama gave us this mission, sensei. I didn't like it when you went away after the… after Sakura," she breathed quietly. He moved a little uncomfortably. "I… I think that was hard on the boys too." He awkwardly patted her on the head, giving one of the stupidly fake eye smiles. "Don't do that," she snapped, instantly irritated. "You're not really happy, so don't pretend. It's fine to be mad and sad."

"Aa, Aiko-chan," he mumbled, gently knocking the side of her head with his hand and gazing upwards wistfully. "If you insist. I'm not particularly good with those conversations."

The girl huffed, stepping backwards playfully to evade his hand mussing her loose hair. "Whatever you say, old man."

She was a little surprised when instead of a reply, her teacher's eye flashed toward her an instant before a presence materialized right behind her and pulled a forearm across her neck, dragging her backwards into a female chest. "Don't move," a voice hissed directly in her ear. Ignoring that altogether, Aiko went limp and slipped downward just enough for Kakashi to flash-step directly in front of her with a thunderous expression and his large hand wrapped entirely around the woman's neck with what must have been painful force.

He leaned in painfully close, his chin nearly brushing the top of Aiko's head. "I would advise that you let go. Now." The dark eye narrowed dangerously seemed to pierce a hole directly into the surprised woman behind her, who Aiko could see out her peripheral mostly as a porcelain pale chin and a riotous mass of cotton candy blue curls, decorated with black ribbons and glittering clear beads.

A low chuckle filled the air. "Listen to papa bear, Naomi," another woman crooned. Aiko was immediately released and swiveled out of the way.

"Apologies, Mayumi." The strange kunoichi stepped backwards as soon as Kakashi let go, rubbing at her neck idly and focusing all her attention on the tanned, dark-haired woman who had materialized. She was accompanied by a bear of a man with silky brown hair that fell to his shoulders. All three of them were wearing Rock forehead sigils. The two standing together were wearing what appeared to be some variation of a Jounin uniform in dark grays with green detailing. The blue-haired woman was younger—perhaps a teen, and clad in plain black pants and long-sleeved shirt covered in a virtual armory of arm and leg holsters and criss-crossing belts.

The woman who had grabbed Aiko gave a sigh—Naomi?— and leaned back, blinking indolently at the two Konoha nin in between the Rock shinobi.

"Please, forgive my kohai," the second woman purred and slipped one scarred hand into a pouch at her hips. "She got a little jumpy. I think that we have ended up on the trail of the same person, a high level missing nin from our village. We have documentation to prove it." She held it out to Kakashi with a faintly challenging expression.

Briskly, Kakashi examined the sheaf of folded papers she held out, pulsing chakra through it to activate the little watermark that proved the carriers were conducting official business. "Your papers are legitimate, but that doesn't allow you to be in Fire Country unsupervised," he pointed out mildly. The tall man sneered silently, but didn't say anything when the woman at his side stepped forward with a cold and false conciliatory smile.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but he meant to shake us by crossing the border. It was hard for my team and I to imagine returning home when he would likely duck back over the border within a day. Perhaps your team could accompany us? You can take command, of course."

Aiko scowled a little, but said nothing as her teacher agreed, tossing her a look that she knew was meant as a warning to be careful. They couldn't leave the group alone, and if they were really right about the target being an A class missing ninja, there was no point in denying the group and inevitably end up fighting them to get to the target. As long as he was killed or apprehended, their job was done anyway. Strange that such a high class ninja would find himself buying and selling information, but that was a dangerous job after all.

That was when all five shinobi straightened, looking up an instant before Anko materialized out of a cloud of dark particles. She raised an eyebrow at the group. "Kakashi?"

"Report," Kakashi said briskly, not looking at the three foreign nin.

She shrugged. "Target is moving west, fast."

He gave a heavy sigh, glancing between the other five shinobi. "Aiko, take the rear. I want a four hundred foot following distance. Anko, take point with Mayumi-san here. I will take the center line with Naomi-san and grumpy-san here."

Naomi snorted. "You mean Jun?"

He shrugged artlessly. Jun glared at the other man, taking the furthest right position and ignoring the laughs from the front of the formation. Then they took off, following Anko's directions. Aiko tried not to pout, a bit irritated about being babied. She knew damn well why she had the rear—it was likely to be the safest position and Kakashi didn't trust the Rock team at all. That didn't mean she was particularly happy about the implication that he didn't trust her in a fight around an elite opponent.

It became clear that their target knew he was being pursued when they picked up the pace, rushing brutally. Aiko couldn't help but grin at the chase, wishing it was just her and her sensei and the dog pack. She had missed those sorts of missions. Training was all well and good, but escort missions and dealing with administrative work lacked the thrill of the hunt.

Hopefully, now that the genin had found new sensei, things could go back to the way they had been before.

The group burst into a clearing and immediately knew that their target had chosen to make his stand there. It was the first time Aiko had seen him. He wasn't particularly impressive looking, but then again neither was her sensei when he didn't want to be. The man was slim, clad in gray pants and a high collared red top, with a short black ponytail and bangs that hid his eyes from view.

He was also a sword specialist from what she saw as he pulled a thin, flat blade out from a hidden sheathe on his back under his top, making a swipe at Anko that the first rock kunoichi parried with her bare hands and a feral grin that made Mayumi's innocuous features somehow sinister. The man huffed. "I should be flattered, getting two full teams to hunt me down!" Anko had slipped around Mayumi, spitting a spray of poisoned senbon that ricocheted off his hardened skin with a tinkle like glass (goddamn rock-nin, Aiko thought absently, I hate that rock skin jutsu), though tiny punctures poked through his collar. As Mayumi swiped her right foot into the man's instep to destabilize him, Jun roared forward like a battering ram—and nearly ran full tilt into a tree when the target dropped down through the earth like a gopher.

Naomi whipped through hands seals—Aiko couldn't see them, but the muscles in her back were moving slightly, as were her elbows—and gave a violent stomp that opened up a crevice, out of which the target came flying, sword readied to open up her gut.

It might have been a killing blow, if Kakashi hadn't almost lazily intercepted the man, knocking the blade sideways with one hand and slipping the other under to hit the man with a spray of electricity. It was nothing on his Chidori, of course, but he convulsively bent over and missed his chance to prevent Naomi from ripping the sword out of his grasp and flinging it to the side.

That was about when Aiko was distracted by the fact that there were two unknown chakra signatures coming in hot from behind them. Her mouth was open and the words "friends of yours, Naomi-san" were on her lips when she felt the kunai whizzing towards her head and reflexively used the replacement jutsu with the closest bit of flotsam. That turned out to have been a broken branch behind her that positioned her in between the two new opponents. She barely swiveled in time to duck under the swinging blow from someone of indeterminate gender and age behind a mask and in one of those godawful pajama-like ninja outfits that old people like the Third Hokage preferred. In the seconds that followed, her rote taijutsu and the fact that these two new opponents were probably only B-class at best saved her life while the other rushed to accommodate the increase in opponents and break off into matches.

'Might not be a bad time to try those chakra chains,' she reasoned when she was joined by Mayumi, which left Kakashi and Naomi with their original target and Anko and Jun swinging back to intercept the third. She had never actually tried it in combat before, and this was about as low-pressure an environment as she was likely to get to experiment in—on the '2' side of a '2 to 1' fight. Karin had hypothesized that the adrenaline rush of a real fight might make it easier to use the ability for the first time and she could work backwards from there to replicate the adrenaline-fueled feat. The worst that would happen was she failed completely and let Mayumi cover her for a second.

That decided, Aiko grimaced with effort and leapt back, heels skidding in the dirt and furrowed her brow in concentration. The next second seemed to be in slow motion—the opponent seemed to glance between the two kunoichi, decide Mayumi was the immediate threat and swivel towards her at the same time that Aiko breathed deeply and visualized the excess energy escaping her back as a mass of chains.

Consciously, she didn't expect it to work. So she was just about as surprised as everyone else by the unearthly glow of the icy blue chakra that rocketed out of her body—and it was exhilarating! She felt so powerful, and it suddenly made so much fucking sense that Kushina could have done this on her death bed—and honed in on her opponent with pinpoint precision even as the shinobi attempted a dodge, wrapping around a struggling body in the blink of an eye with clanks and monster truck force and ripped the poor fucker to lumpy pieces that exploded outside of the chains.

Everything stopped for a full second, which was an ungodly long time in a shinobi battle. Aiko was relatively sure someone was gaping at her but she didn't turn to see, too fascinated by the disintegration of the chains she had materialized. She moved them experimentally, flinging a little bit of brain matter and making Mayumi flinch backwards.

"Uh, oops. May have underestimated my strength," she blurted, voice turning thoughtful halfway through. That had been interesting. It had been an enormous amount of chakra, however, and she didn't feel the least bit drained. Actually, it was a bit invigorating. How odd.

Lost in her analysis of her new power, she barely turned in time to catch her sensei ram a fist wreathed in solid lightning through the original target and the third opponent fail to move out of a glob of fire that Anko spat. The pause in motion lost him his head—Jun crossed twin daggers the length of her forearm in an X shape that popped it cleanly off like the eraser off a mechanical pencil. He didn't even try to dodge the resultant blood spray, turning his face up to catch it like Ino liked to do with a spring shower.

"Eww," Aiko breathed, a little grossed out.

Someone scoffed. "Like you're one to talk! What the hell was that, short stuff?" Naomi stuck her tongue out, scrunching up her face in disgust. "That was so weird!"

Aiko gave a giddy little giggle, still high on adrenaline and trying not to look directly at the mess she had just made. "Uzumaki chakra chains, apparently," she supplied a little absentmindedly. "Never worked quite like that before…"

'Never worked at all before,' a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Karin snarked. She ignored that in favor of the strange expression that cross Mayumi's face. "Uzu.. Uzumaki?" she asked quietly, as if to herself, looking Aiko up and down. Then she shook her head. "Well, good thing we met up. That would have taken longer three on three." She wiped her hands off on her thighs, walking over to the original target and using her toe to push him over. "You don't mind, do you?" She sounded perfectly nonchalant, but she was visibly uncomfortable around the Konoha nin who had apparently proven to be more intimidating than she had expected. Solid chakra constructs were the hardest kind, and two of them had whipped a technique like that out. Aiko tried not to smirk.

"Of course not," Kakashi said gracefully, stepping away and slouching harmlessly again. "Come along, ladies." Anko scowled at being called a lady but obligingly joined them. The three Konoha shinobi crouched in unison, and flash-stepped away towards Konoha, leaving the Rock-nin to deal with the body. It wouldn't do to stick around and get accused of trying to glean information from the corpse after all.

In a blood-soaked clearing, Jun scowled at the direction the Konoha shinobi had left in. "An Uzumaki?" he asked, tone caught between disbelief and disgust. "I thought those fuckers were long gone. Are we really going to let them go?"

Naoki frowned, looking between her older comrades. "I don't understand. Do you know her family?"

Mayumi gave a barking laugh void of amusement and shook her head. "Sometimes I forget you're just a baby, Naoki-chan." She ignored the resultant scowl. "Seal masters from the long-defunct Whirlpool village, but they've always been closely tied to those Konoha dogs." She spat on the ground and sneered in the direction of said village. "They had one about fifteen years back with that same ability when I was a brand-new genin shoved out onto the frontlines as fodder. She was a fucking monster. Never knew what happened to her. Red chained death, I think she was."

"Well, those weren't red," Jun said a bit dryly, bending to tug off the forehead protector as proof of the kill and giving the corpse a vicious kick. He hated tracking, and this stupid fuck had dragged them halfway across the country. "But I think I know what happened to her." He snickered. "She spawned and retired."

"Uzu.." Naomi's face crumpled up. With the foreigners gone, she had abandoned her attempts at stoicism. "Wasn't that the village that developed the bijuu sealing shit? With the special clan that were optimal containers?"

Mayumi's mouth moved for a moment, but she didn't say a thing. Then she gave a slow, horrible smile. "You know, that gives me an idea. What kind of profit do you think we could make off of a perfect vessel like that? Or even if no one wants to use her, I'm sure that Cloud, at least, would be very interested in making sure that career ends early. Mummy dearest didn't make a lot of friends."

Jun scoffed. "She's too old to forget her loyalty to Konoha and be controlled."

"Never too old to forget," Mayumi countered. "What, you think Konoha and those blonde bastards have the monopoly on interfering with minds? There's always a way. Any even if it doesn't work out and she ends up dead, there'll be no Red Chained Death 2.0".

[baitdragon]

Case Against Delhi Uber Driver For "Lasciviously Staring" At Journalist

The police have registered an FIR under IPC section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and initiated a probe into the incident.

New Delhi: Delhi Police have registered a case in connection to the incident in which a driver allegedly misbehaved with a woman journalist in an Uber auto-rickshaw in the national capital.

"Efforts to trace and nab the accused are on," said police officials on Friday.

"On 02.03.23 at about 11.00 pm, one Ms X resident of Bharat Nagar approached police station NFC and filed a complaint against one driver. She levelled allegations of indecent behaviour as well as lascivious staring by him, while she was travelling from NFC to Malviya Nagar on 01.03.23 at about 4.40 pm," read the official statement from Delhi Police.

The police have registered an FIR under IPC section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and initiated a probe into the incident.

"Accordingly a case vide FIR No. 92/23 u/s 509 IPC dated 02.03.23 was registered at PS NFC and an investigation was taken up. Further ownership of the above was procured which has been found in the name of one Mohd Yunus Khan resident of A-439 Nehru Camp Govindpuri Delhi, who is being interrogated so as to nab the offender driver," read the official statement.

Earlier, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal said that a notice has been issued to Uber India and Delhi Police over the incident of molestation of a woman journalist in an Uber auto in Delhi.

On Thursday, Swati Maliwal in a tweet said, "Notice has been issued to Uber India and Delhi Police over the unfortunate incident of molestation of a female journalist in an Uber Auto in Delhi. Information has also been sought about the steps taken by Uber for the safety of women."

While talking to ANI, the victim woman said, "I was going to my friend's place in Malviya Nagar and I got into an auto from NFC. I booked the auto via Uber. I was alone in the auto. Since I was listening to music, initially I did not understand what was happening. After some time I realised that the auto driver was staring at me in the left side mirror. My breasts were visible in the mirror and he was looking at me. I became uncomfortable and shifted towards my right. However, he changed his position and started looking at me in the right-side mirror."

"After this, I moved to the extreme left corner so that I am not visible to him but he turned back and started looking at me. I threatened him and said that I would complain and surprisingly he did not object. So I opened the Uber App and clicked on a number on the app. However, due to fluctuating network, I could not contact so I called on the number once again. This time as well I was unable to contact the company due to various glitches on the app," the woman added.

The woman further stated that the Delhi Woman's Commission swung into action after she tweeted about the incident.

She said, "I tweeted about the incident at night. The Delhi Woman's Commission followed up after my tweet went viral. I registered a verbal as well as a written complaint with the Commission. I came to register a police complaint after all this."

"The Delhi Police has said that they will file an FIR and I need to be present before the magistrate tomorrow," she added.

Demanding woman's security in the national capital, she said, "The incident happened with me in broad daylight. I had the option to confront as it was daytime. What if the incident happened during the night? The Uber App did not work. There should be a proper system and they should have called me back. When I raised my voice against the incident, the company contacted me."

[mayhemcj]

Eddie Munson x Tall, Intimidating Male Reader

Anonymous asked:

eddie munson x tall & intimidating male reader? who is kinda a top (not in the sexual way ofc, but just so it’s kind obvious-?) ignore if you don’t like the idea or smth! <3

First Eddie request >:) Hoping I can stay on track for more writing, so glad so many of you enjoyed Steve’s version of this request!! Hope y’all enjoy this as well.

C/TW: Mentions of bullying, drugs (weed)

—-------------------------------------------------

You two met when Eddie approached you at lunch

You sat alone most of the time; Whether that was due to your demeanor or just the fact you had a hard time making friends, you weren't sure

Eddie had a habit of finding the freaks, weirdos, outcasts, whatever you wanted to call yourself, and recruiting them for Hellfire befriending them.

He was quite persistent

At first, it was for 'body guard' purposes, as he put it, given your stature and demeanor

Despite this, he really did want to be your friend; He was an outcast because he was openly.. weird. You were simply too intimidating to be approached by the regular crowd, especially with how quiet you were

Nonetheless, Eddie pretty much saw right through you, and visited your empty lunch table most days, sometimes dragging his own group over to keep you company

You wouldn't tell him right away, but you did appreciate the effort

He was ECSTATIC when he got you to talk and keep conversation with him

Eventually he started his 'subtle' flirting, and it ended up not-so-subtle when you seemed receptive

That being said, he did end up recruiting you for his club. Even if you didn't play, they all enjoyed your company

After a while of him going back and forth, Dustin pushed him to ask you out (he was tired of the flirting during sessions)

Eddie didn't really notice the bullies backing off more, he was just happy you were there, but Hellfire definitely noticed the unusual lack of people bothering them for being outside of the norm

However, Hellfire did end up more susceptible to groaning when Eddie was giving visible heart eyes, or a particularly gross pick-up line

Eddie would probably just lean on his hands most of the time staring at you

Hellfire usually kept their remarks to themselves, just because they were still a little scared of you

The first time Jason backed off of verbally abusing the group when he saw you sitting with them, you got some high fives and a bunch of "THAT WAS AWESOME!" comments

Eddie was speechless and had to hold himself back from kissing you then and there in the cafeteria

Honestly, he probably takes you to that picnic table for kissing purposes, or sometimes sharing joints (if you're into smoking, of course)

He offers weed whenever he's smoking, but if you explicitly say no he leaves it alone and probably doesn't bring it up again

If you DO smoke, he always always packs extra, rolls joints for you, shotguns, the lot of it

I can't get over the fact that Eddie just.. Always has heart eyes for you. Truly, it's all of the time.

Eddie absolutely speaks enough for the both of you, and you listen to every word, even if he doesn't make any sense sometimes. Or gets excited. Or gets loud in the cafeteria

You listen always and he appreciates it so so much, even if you don't know what he's going on about or have trouble keeping up

He won't tell you, but he loves when you just.. carry him around

It started when you carried him to bed when he was too high and 'his legs didn't work'

But now he playfully asks you to carry him, the drama queen he is

Instead of standing on his tip toes, he usually pulls you down by your collar, jacket, anything he can get his hands on so he can kiss you

No one else could boss you around like that and Eddie is smug as shit about it

He's usually always touching you or hanging off of you, even at school (He's careful about it, though, especially if it makes you uncomfortable)

You're lucky he doesn't just sit on your lap during Hellfire, sessions though (Lucky for everyone else too let's be honest)

He likes laying on top of you when you're hanging out at his place, smoking or not

Since his battle vest doesn't exactly fit you, he eventually saves up and makes you your own, a mix of band patches that you both listen to. He was SO excited to give it to you

You barely take it off now

[hael987]

Outed

What happened to Porsche in Ep 11 is basically a forced self-outing. He was forced to disclose and/or confirm things publicly (about himself and his relationship) that he doesn’t seem ready to disclose.

[Now please note that at no point am I blaming Kinn for anything. All he said was that he loved Porsche, how everything else played out from there is all on Korn and how he set the scenario up.]

Porsche is forced to reveal these deeply personal things in front of the father of the man he loves, said father’s right-hand man (with a gun?!), the brother of the man he loves (a known emotional wildcard), and a corridor full of bodyguards (current colleagues and some friends). And none of this is on his own terms. How scary that must be. The intrusion and violation and vulnerability he must be feeling. Zero control.

There are many ways to interpret his hesitance to answer but I’ve decided upon reluctance rooted in fear. It's his first relationship. It's the first person he's ever (romantically) loved. It's also (appears to be) his first sexual and romantic entanglement with a man. It's threefold. He does not want to expose these special feelings, these important firsts, to others. To give them up, put them out there and have others pass judgement. The set-up does not imply safety at all, these precious things could be taken away from him, and he could even be met with violence (there's a gun right there). All these answers are being drawn out of him reluctantly.

I've been publicly outed before and received a positive reaction too so I know it's bittersweet. Yes, there's relief (that the reaction was good and you were accepted) but there's also that feeling of exposure and vulnerability with everything ripped from your control. It wasn't on your terms.

We see this exactly in Porsche's reaction. His reaction is not one of immediate relief and I’m not surprised. You can see he’s unsure of what to feel, of what just happened and why it happened, how he's supposed to react. He was not ready or prepared for it to be revealed in such a manner. There's a tiny smile at the end, the acknowledgement that yes indeed they were accepted but it's definitely not pure relief or jubilation. He's happy at the acceptance but he’s also probably feeling that exposure and vulnerability despite gaining consent from Korn and support from Khun and the other bodyguards.

This is why I find what Kinn does afterwards so perfect and beautiful.

Kinn sees and hears Porsche’s vulnerability; P: "I'm so not used to this room [...] when I don't have to hide it from anyone". So Kinn, in turn, exposes an emotional vulnerability of his own by revealing parts of his childhood; K: "When I was little, my mom used to blow dry my hair like this". He recognises Porsche is feeling exposed (after being outed) and so he exposes parts of himself too, he gives Porsche a part of his past. A sharing of vulnerabilities and reassurance.

After that public outing their relationship is no longer the special, safe place it once was as the world with just the two of them - 'outsiders' are involved now. And then it happens again:

A seemingly safe space for them to exist just the two of them (in bed) has been invaded and their relationship is exposed to yet more 'outsiders' (Time and Tay). He's clearly uncomfortable and tries to leave. However, he only verbally (and then again physically) tries to leave after they start discussing personal details of his relationship.

Kinn acknowledges Porsche's feelings of exposure and vulnerability (in the manner of "shyness", I guess) and reassures him.

Just like in Ep 8 when Porsche feels exposed/vulnerable and tries to withdraw, Kinn pulls him back. He lets Porsche know he's present and together in this with him; that Porsche doesn’t have to deal with this alone. Encourages him that it's alright and normal and good for them to exist together visibly and publicly now. But he doesn't just stop there, he goes so much further.

When they go to celebrate, Kinn takes them to Hum Bar (Yok’s bar). I think this is a very specific, intentional choice on Kinn's part. He brings Porsche back to his own home ground — somewhere he feels secure and familiar with, somewhere he can regain confidence and comfort while navigating this new relationship exposure.

Kinn has been to Hum Bar before and knows there is a chance Porsche's friends (Jom, Tem, and his old bartending buddies) might be there, and Yok is definitely going to be there. So with this choice of venue, he delivers Porsche to his support network (in this case Yok), so he can surround himself with support.

We can see Porsche is reassured around Yok, reaching out with his typical physical affection.

Finally, Kinn proudly and loudly states his love looking directly at Porsche despite being shy himself. The ultimate reassurance.

Porsche might not have been ready to be outed and might still be feeling vulnerable about it but Kinn is sure as hell not going to let him feel bad about this situation. He’s going to turn this into a positive for Porsche. To remind him that even if the manner of being outed might have been bad, being out and visible isn't bad.