#and the owners are like “we just don't get why people don't want to eat here :(((”

[sykostyles]

melodies | 1.2

summary: he's the most powerful & ruthless mafia boss in the city, and she's just a music store owner. but once he hears her singing voice, he wants nothing more than to hear it for the rest of his life..and she's not so sure about that.. he'll do anything to change that. wc: 3.1k

warnings: swearing, harry being insufferable, suggestive content

a/n: hello loves! I am still on vacation but I was able to spend a little time editing this chapter of melodies to get it posted for you! I hope you all enjoy! here comes the DRAMA!!

The box. The infamous box. Its contents?

“Styles, wha–,” you’re speechless. How did he do it? Where did he? “--Is that what i think it is?”

“That depends,” he starts, a shit eating grin on his face, “do you think it’s a custom, handmade replica of the diamond and ruby necklace Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman?” He looks at you deviously, “Because that’s what it is.” You just stare at him in shock. “Oh, and it’s all yours.”

“Harry,” you breathe; your voice full of disbelief and amazement.

“You–,” he smiles, “You just called me Harry.” He’s beaming. His whiter than white smile is on full display; pearly whites shining bright enough to blind. He’s happy. Ecstatic.

“You deserved it,” you place a quick kiss on his cheek, leaving a blush on his skin in your wake. “Would you help me put it on, please?” 

“I would be honored,” he takes the necklace from the box. He hooks it together before placing a featherlight kiss where your neck and shoulder meet. The contact makes you shiver with anticipation. “Fits in like it was made just for you,” he smiles against your skin, his hands finding your hips, pulling you back into him as he speaks.

Turning in his hold, you place a kiss on his lips. “Thank you, Sty–Harry. It’s beautiful,”

“You make it beautiful,” he comments, giving you another kiss before he opens your car door. Harry helps you in, holding your hand as you sit down, minding the train on your dress.

“So, where are we going all dressed up?” you ask, as he takes his seat in the car.

“Ah, that would spoil the other surprise,” he grins from the driver's seat, one hand on the steering wheel and the other is planted on your thigh. 

You huff in response.

“Alright, brat,” he laughs, “It’s a business dinner, and some.. Live entertainment to follow.”

“Styles..”

“What happened to Harry?”

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“Depends,” he chuckles.

“Am I getting my Pretty Woman moment?” The hopeful glint in your voice makes him feel a sense of pride.

“For the record, you don’t need the dress and the whole shebang to have a Pretty Woman moment,” he looks over to you, your excited eyes look back in awe of the man next to you. He really is determined to give you everything you want in order to make you his. The amount of thought he’s put into everything really shows you how much he listens to everything you say, and it makes you feel things you can’t explain. 

“You're in love with him, stupid,” Ellie's voice rings in your head. Shut. Up.

“You don't need all these sweet words and grand gestures to get what you want out of me either,” you say, placing your hand atop his on your thigh.

“I know, but I thoroughly enjoy seeing that smile of yours.”

Arriving at the dinner, Harry opens your door as you’re met with flashing cameras. He’d warned you that there would be paparazzi here but you weren’t anticipating this level of insanity. But you probably should have, knowing Harry’s status.

He stops for a few photos, requesting you stand with him for all of them. Harry didn’t want you out of his sight. The paps shout questions of your identity, where you met, how long you’d been together, if you were pregnant, that one made you laugh, you had to admit. But the attention being on you was never what you wanted. It's why you never pursued the stage. It didn’t comfort you like it did your mother. The stage terrified you.

Making your way inside, there’s a sea of people dressed to the nines as they make pointless conversation amongst themselves. They all seem super interested in each other but you know better. Harry had warned you ahead of time that these people don’t actually care about anything going on, it’s all for show. Who can donate the most money while keeping up appearances. Tonight was about the benefit of the city, meaning whoever donated the most money basically had the mayor at their mercy. Harry had been the highest donor for the last decade. Not to say others hadn’t attempted to take the spot from him. But he could always handle it. Tonight was about celebrating Harry. Most people were unhappy with a Yakuza having the upper hand in the city, but knowing if they said anything the funding would immediately stop.

“Harry,” you mutter, eyes roaming the room before you.

“Hm?” his eyes follow yours, immediately understanding your apprehensive state.

“This is.. A lot of people.” your fingers clutch the sleeve of his jacket, holding his arm as close as possible.

“I’m here with you, Birdie,” he whispers in your ear, placing a soft kiss on the shell. “Just focus on me, yeah?”

You nod once, not letting up on your grip on his jacket as he led you further into the room, heading for your reserved table. Harry pulls your chair out, then takes his seat next to you. 

A little into the evening, a tall man with blonde hair approaches your table, a curt smile on his face as he speaks. 

“Evening, Harry. Who is this lovely specimen?” He asks.

“Jones,” He grumbles in response. “This is Y/N.”

Harry offers the man no other explanation in return. You can feel the shift in the air. So this was Jones. He’d left before you’d arrived the last time his name was mentioned. He’d intrigued you for sure, not many people could sour Harry’s mood that easily just by being present.

“Hello, sir, lovely to meet you,” you extend a gloved hand to the man standing near the table, “I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N what a lovely name, I’m Scott Jones,” he takes your hand in his, offering you a kiss on the back of your hand. “Tell me, just what is a beauty like you doing with a man like Harry?”

“She likes being with...the strongest,” Harry answers for you, standing from his seat. “Now if you’ll excuse us,” he holds his hand out for you to grab, “Dance with me?” he asks, diverting his full attention to you.

“Of course,” in your typical fashion, you still address Jones as you’re pulled away. “It was nice meeting you,” you say, offering him a sweet smile; a silent apology. Harry leads you to the dancefloor, placing the palm of one hand into the small of your back while holding the other one up for you to grab. lacing your fingers together, he begins to sway. 

Harry spreads his fingers out across the surface of your lower back; each touch leaving a trail of heat.

 “So that was Jones?”

“Mhm,” he hums. “He has some nerve..” 

“Hey,” you reach up, tilting his gaze down to you, “Just focus on me, yeah?” you mirror his earlier words back to him. His smile grows, but his worry does as well. Now Nanami knows Harry has a weakness, and that weaknesses name. But he knows he can protect you. As much as you’ll let him anyway.

“How could I focus on anything else?” his gaze bores into yours, a sense of total adoration washes over you as you look into those crystalline emerald eyes. You could see the whole future in them. Tables adorned with navy, black and gold. Roses fill your hands as you’re led down a petal covered aisle, looking ahead to Harry at the end. I do’s and kisses are swapped. Hands exploring dips and curves. Slow, languid movements filling you to the brim. Sweet nothings whispered against sweat slicked skin. Small patters of tiny feet across tile floors. Those tiny feet carrying a matching tuft of chestnut hair, green eyes and a bundle of giggles as bigger feet follow behind..

“Birdie? Did I lose you?” Harry chuckles, his voice snapping you back to reality.

“Hm? Oh! Sorry. I got stuck,” you mutter, letting go of his cheek. The thoughts are still burning in the back of your mind. Every thought seemed so real. Like it was a memory instead of a daydream. 

“What were you thinking about?” he asks, anticipating some sort of panicked response.

“Just..doing this,” leaves you in a whisper. You place your lips over his in a soft kiss; your hands find their way back up to cup his jaw, making him smile against your mouth. He hums in approval, his hands attempting to pull you as close to him as possible.

“I think you’re trying to seduce me in front of all of these people,” Harry teases you as he pulls away. Your cheeks turn a soft pink at his words. “If you wanna go somewhere more private just let me know.”

“Stop it,” you whisper, taking back in the amount of people surrounding you. It feels as if every pair of eyes were following your every move. One pair of eyes was following your every move, and it wasn’t Harry’s.

Jones stood in the corner with his men as he watched, and waited.

Harry led you back to the table as the dining portion of the evening was about to commence. A full meal entailing all of Harry’s favorites, which had somehow turned into your favorites too. The night had been wonderful so far; the conversation flowed so freely it was as if you and Harry had been together forever. 

“Harry,” place your hand on his thigh, leaning closer to him.

“I’ll never tire of hearing you say that,” Harry says, turning to give you his attention. 

“Think I’m ready,” you whisper, taking your bottom lip between your teeth as you look up at him.

“Ready..?”

“Mhm. For this,” you motion between the two of you, “Us.”

You watch as his eyes get even brighter than they were. He looks to you for real confirmation. The smile plastered on your face was the answer he needed, and so he kisses you. “You’ve just made my entire life,” he groans before he kisses you again.

“Remember we’re not alone here,” you giggle as you pull away.

“Ask me if i care,” he tries chasing your lips with his, “You didn’t seem to care when we were at the beach yesterday.”

“We were in a somewhat secluded cabana, not an open table at the front of a great hall with hundreds of people watching, Harry.”

“Ugh, I already know I’m gonna love when you say my name when you're mad.”

“You’re already so insufferable,” you huff, turning away from him. 

“Oh, don’t be like that.” He reaches to turn your chair back towards him, caging you in with his arms. “Tell me you’re mine,” he whispers, eyes locked on to yours.

“I–I’m yours,” you whisper back, staring back into his eyes as he searches yours for any sign of apprehension.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you lean forward, sealing the deal with a kiss once again.

A voice booms throughout the space, startling you enough to pull away from the man before you. Harry readjusts, as he pays attention to the announcer behind him.

“Good evening folks, thank you all for attending as we celebrate the continued support from our guest of honor, Mr. Harry Styles.”

Applause follows. Your eyes scan the room, finding Jones staring right back at you from his spot on the edge of the room. You offer him another sweet smile before overting your attention back to the man at the front of the room.

“Harry, come on up here,” the man speaks into the microphone.

“I’ll be right back,” Harry assures you, offering you a quick kiss before taking his stand at the front of the room.

“Evening everybody. I’m thrilled to be back here for another year. Even more so this year,” he looks over to you. “Someone very special to me came with me this time, and I intend to make her my wife one day.”

The room fills with ooh’s and aww’s as Harry pauses. “So, we all owe everything to her tonight, for making me the happiest man in the world. So if you would all join me in raising your glasses,” he starts, leaning down to grab his glass from your hold. 

“What are you doing?” you whisper-yell at him. He just offers you his devious smile in return. 

“To my lovely Birdie, thank you for attending with me, and for making me incredibly ecstatic tonight by agreeing to finally be mine,” he raises his glass a little higher. “To Birdie,”

“To Birdie,” the crowd rumbles behind you. An anxious smile spreads across your lips as you turn to see everyone staring at you. You stand, albeit reluctantly, and politely bow with a smile. The other tables erupt in applause, as Harry pulls you to join him on the stage, his arm snaking around your waist.  “We hope you enjoy the live entertainment in the concert hall for the evening, once you’re finished dining. The proceeds from tonight will be donated to the children's hospital. Have a great night, everybody.”

More applause fills the space as you exit the stage with Harry, his hand firmly holding yours.

“What was that?” you ask through gritted teeth as you smile.

“Staking my claim, and also showing my appreciation for my lovely lady,” he smirks at you as you take your seats again at the table.

“I would appreciate not being the center of attention,” you huff, slapping his hand away from your thigh under the table.

“Now now, Birdie. You have been the center of attention all evening,” he slides his hand back up your thigh as he leans down near your ear. “I’ve just been too distracting for you to notice.”

“You are quite distracting.”

“So, should we go somewhere more private?”

“Mm, no. I want to see this live entertainment,” you remove his hand from your thigh again, taking a stand from your chair. Harry stands with you, offering you his arm to grab as he leads you to the concert hall.

The live performer just so happened to be Rod Stewart. How that happened, Harry swears he doesn’t know. But the devious glint in his eyes says otherwise. 

He’s performing all of your favorites. The ones you’d sing with grandfather in the car on the way to the next city. And the ones Harry likes you hear you sing along with.

“Thank you,” you whisper against his lips after kissing him.

“Anything for my lady.”

Harry sits next to you, an arm around your waist as he studies you watching the performance below. He knows you wish you were able to do that like your mother did, but he also knows the thought of it terrifies you. He’ll make it his mission to help you face your fears if that's what you wanted from him. But if you’re okay with being on the sidelines as well, he’ll help you with that too. Anything you want, he’ll make it happen. He thinks tonight is the prime example of that.

After the performance, Harry leads you to the car. Opting for Niall to drive this time, he takes his seat next to you in the back. 

“Did you enjoy the evening? Was it, quote unquote, fun enough for you?”

“Oh, god Harry, that was amazing. I’ve never enjoyed myself more.”

“I don't think I’ll ever tire of hearing you call me that,”

“Yeah?” you ask, sliding closer to him.

“Yeah.” he breathes out, cupping your cheek and kissing you softly. He smiles into the kiss so you push your tongue into his mouth, taking him by surprise. Harry lets you have your fun for a moment before he reminds you who's in charge. He reaches to his left, pressing a button on the door to close the window between the front and back seat. Gripping your waist, you’re brought onto his lap, knees on either side of his legs. The kiss deepens, your arms finding their way around his neck as his hands explore the expanse of your back.

“Harry,” you whisper in his ear. You move your hands to tangle into his hair, earring a soft moan from his throat.

“Please, keep going,” he mutters, readjusting himself beneath you. His hands planted firmly on your hips.

“Harry,” you bite down onto his earlobe. “Harry,” you kiss just beneath his ear. Tilting his head to your will, every which way leaving your featherlight kisses along his throat, up and down the surface, whispering his name before every kiss. His breathing feels labored under your touch; his skin ablaze. 

“Birdie,” he groans.

“Hm?” You hum, going back to kissing along his throat.

“As much as I would love for this to continue, we’re at your apartment.”

That damn saying again.

“Come upstairs with me,” you kiss his lips.

“I have a meeting first thing in the morning, otherwise I would,” he kisses you back. “How about you come to mine? Spend the night?”

“What are we gonna do?” you ask with the most innocent looking eyes you can manage.

“What do you think?” he teases, chasing your lips with his.

“Can I meet you there? So can I go to Encore in the morning?”

“Of course. I’ll leave Mitch here with you,” Harry reaches for his phone.

“No need. I’ll be right behind you once I change. Promise,” you kiss the tip of his nose, climbing off of his lap.

Harry exits the car, rounding to your side and opens your door for you. Helping you from the car, the man before you kisses you passionately, pulling your front against his, leaning into your touch. 

“Harry,” you whisper, pulling away from him.

“Fuck, Biridie. Don’t you see what you do to me?”

“Mm, I could feel it too, big guy.” you tease him, smoothing down the front of your dress. “I’ll meet you at your place.”

“Okay,” he smiles down at you, offering you one more goodbye kiss.

“Keep my seat warm,” you wink at him before disappearing up the stairs of your apartment building. 

Harry’s trip home felt longer without you. He was counting down the minutes until he got to touch you again. Waiting for the moment you walked through the door to devour you. 

“Sir, we have some..news.” Mitch’s voice makes Harry turn towards the entrance of the living room.

“What is it, Mitch? Has Y/N arrived?” he asks, standing from his seat.

“No, sir, it’s about Encore,” the double bunned man says flatly.

“What about Encore? Was there a break in?”

“No, Sir. it’s on fire.”

“What do you–where is Y/N?” Harry asks, panicked.

“We–We can’t locate her, sir.”

taglist: @freedomfireflies @harrysonlylover @daydreamingofmatilda @triski73 @evie-119

@vamprry @howling-wolf97 @angeldavis777

[genericpuff]

lmao rachel that would all be well and good... if that was actually hades and persephone 💀😭

that's really the smoking gun here that rachel is 1.) always drawing H x P smut by default and can just put things in black and grey to make it look like any other character 2.) all of her characters suffer from so much same face syndrome that even she can't tell them apart and 3.) rachel doesn't even read her own comic anymore

[eskymoos]

Levi Ackerman- The Richest Man in the World

You wanted to make a normal date with Levi more fun and unconventional, but you forgot that he can read you like an open book. Word count- 1409 Female reader x Levi Ackerman SFW

Dating Levi Ackerman can be very exciting. From under the sheets to simple, humble dinner dates. He always has a way of making it memorable for both of you. There is one occasion in particular, however, that will never slip your mind.

It was a hot summer day in Trost when the two of you headed for the heart of the city. There was no end goal other than to put your responsibilities aside and save up some time for each other. You were having an amazing time when a great idea came to your mind. 

There was a tall building on your left– a multifloored store for dresses of all sorts. Green, red, blue. Short, long, exotic. All of it in one place. You weren't surprised considering that many wealthy people lived here and most of them could easily afford to fill their wardrobes with clothes. Your eyes turned to stars and your jaw dropped.

''Hey, why don't we go inside?''

You suggested that and Levi, who was holding your arm to his chest like a gentleman, glanced over at the entrance. ''Hmmm? You like something?''

''Not yet. Come on.'' You urged and he didn't set you back. The Captain followed right after you, curious as to what you had in mind.

The place really was huge and the store owners gladly welcomed you inside, inviting Levi to sit over at a sofa and observe for now. You began looking at every dress, mesmerized at how amazing all of their designs were. 

But there is another thing that you couldn't ignore. You wondered if the reason you never wore dresses is because your body type just didn't allow it or because your budget was too small. Nonetheless it all made you hesitate a bit. You went quiet for a moment.

''Are you okay?'' Levi inquired, already sipping on a cup of tea he was brought while you were zoned out. 

''Yeah.'' You clicked your tongue and resumed the search.

It was best you kept your worries to yourself. You knew Levi was always one to watch over you and be sensible. You didn't want to feel like you've wasted his time so you chose to pretend that none of the dresses were up your alley.

The first one you tried on was truthfully ugly. You didn't have to fake the reaction. The color made your nose scrunch in disgust.

''I feel like a disco ball. There are too many beads,'' you murmured and your gaze ran to your quiet boyfriend. Levi was silent but his eyes were burning right through you. He took another long sip and said nothing. No sign of any emotion. 

Then you tried another one on. It was very beautiful but too long and tripped you over a couple of times. 

''It's my style but too long. I would need them to shorten it.'' You looked down and realized that not even your legs were visible through the material.

Levi was still watching and still saying nothing. You're beginning to wonder if this is boring for him.

Then your interest was piqued by three others. Unlike the first ones, you actually had luck this time. The dresses were the perfect size, shape and color. In fact, they resembled the ones you used to read about in your books. It was a fantasy brought to your reality. 

But you couldn't have Levi know that or else you'd have to tell him how this entire time you didn't have the money for any of this. You know he wouldn't mock you but the guilt would eat at your heart.

''It's…something. These are getting progressively worse, don't you think?'' You asked for his input, finding his sitting reflection in the mirror. Once more his mouth didn't open to speak but his focus went up and down on you. Was he eye fucking you or judging your horrible taste? 

After a few minutes of doubtful thoughts and inner regret, you shrugged your shoulders.

''Well it's fine. I'm glad that we came here at least. Maybe next time I will buy myself something.'' You explained, sighing deeply. What nobody knew was that if you could, you'd collect every single piece of clothing in this building. That dream owned your soul. 

You put on your casual clothes and walked out the fitting room to Levi who stepped closer to you and brushed the hair out of your face. For a moment you got the idea that he was telling you something telepathically but you didn't know what.

''You are beautiful.'' He leaned in to tell you, his voice raspy yet smooth. 

The two of you left, saying goodbye to the workers inside. Your gut shrunk a bit. You didn't know what to feel about what just happened.

And so, the arrows of the clock kept looping and two days passed by. You heard a knock on your door.

You opened it to see Petra and Oluo– two very loyal members of Levi's squad. He had told you many times about them but you rarely saw them.

''Is everything okay?'' You rush to ask, already overthinking what could be happening.

''Oh yeah.'' Petra grinned warmly and lifted a strange, enormous bag in her hands. ''The Captain told us to bring this to you. Enjoy.''

The two nodded respectfully, deserting you there with your own thoughts and a lot of confusion. Why exactly would Levi send you something? The two of you lived together so wouldn't it make sense that he directly handed it to you?

You brushed off all questions and checked the contents of the delivery. Your eyes turned big and round when you saw the three exact dresses you fell in love with the other day. But how? You gave it your best to hide what you felt and even acted repulsed but somehow Levi saw through your disguise. Now it makes sense why he was looking so attentively at you. He was studying your face bit by bit as if it were some kind of science. He knew just what you had on your mind.

All of them were crazy expensive which made you freak out a bit. The Captain went out of his way to purchase them without even looking at the price tag? The idea that he went back for that made your heart melt. It also angered you a bit that this entire time he kept quiet and acted natural while you put up an act.

What a foxy man.

A small note fell off the bag onto the ground and you picked it up to see what was written on it.

Come to my office when you can. Bring the dresses.

Levi

Excited to hear from him, you did just that. You flew out of the house wildly and mounted your horse, heading for the location.

When you arrived, you opened the door to find Hange and Erwin inside, having a conversation with Levi.

Levi looked at you instantly and a spark began dancing in the coldness of his blue eyes. 

''Hange, Erwin, see yourself out,'' he commanded in a reserved tone. Erwin gave him a nod and greeted you idly before exiting. Hange did too, but not before leaning in to whisper in your ear.

''Don't know what you've done to him but he's not himself today.''

You gave them a baffled look. 

''Is that good?''

Hange just grinned, not elaborating any further. They stepped out and shut the door which left just you and Levi in the room. The air turned thick and hard to breathe for a moment.

''Levi, you spent all these money on–''

''Try them on.'' He cut you off, standing up from his seat and approaching you. ''Put them on again. This time be genuine with what you think.''

You sucked in your lower lip and try to formulate a sentence. ''It's too much. It's just too much. I can't possibly pay you back.''

He reached out and pulled you in his arms, his intonation full of sheer affection and pure devotion. ''That's not for you to worry. I want you to try them on and tell me if they need any adjustments.''

You put both hands on his shoulders, ''Are you sure?''

His face moved closer, his mouth caressing your ear. ''Why would I say it if I don't mean it?'' He chuckled. And before you could do what he requested you to, he took your hand and stole your attention momentarily to speak what was on his mind this entire time: ''You make me the richest man in the world, you know that?''

🌹

[weltato]

Writers of Tumblr, listen up! This has probably been said before but I'mma say it again:

Do you feel like you're procrastinating on your current fic by writing down another one because an idea struck you at 2am? No you're not.

Do you feel like you're procrastinating on your current fic because you've been doing school/uni/job work? No you're not, that stuff is more important than how many socks Deku wears on any given day.

Do you feel like you've been procrastinating on your current fic because you just haven't had the energy and all you want to do is binge YouTube videos and eat ice cream? No, you're not, take care of yourself!

Are you down because you've got three WIPs open and can't think of how to fit some scenes together? Don't bother, just keep writing the fun and interesting scenes.

If writing is a fun hobby for you, don't make your fun hobby into a chore.

If writing is your job, don't turn your job into a chore.

We as humans work better when we're enjoying what we're doing - just think back to when you were in school: what lessons do you remember the most of and which ones did you enjoy?

As Star Trek keeps telling us: time isn't linear, it's relative. So why do we have to write things in linear order? No one ever really told us to do that, school systems just assumed it. They said "write a beginning, middle and end, in that order" because it was the easiest and most streamlined approach.

But this is your fic or your book or your assignment, you don't have to write it that way. Write it in the way that the ideas come.

If the opening is hard, write the big fight at the climax. If the connection is eluding you, write the scenes it's supposed to connect between and see what happens. You'll get there, I believe in you <3

At the end of the day, please enjoy writing! Enjoy reading too! If you have kids or know kids, encourage them to read! Little kids especially have a tendency to copy what older people do, so show them books you love.

Don't feel bad because you haven't updated a fic in months. You've been letting the ideas cook and they just have a really long cooking time. Re-read some stuff and maybe some ideas will come up. Listen to music, watch your shows and films, read other books and fics. Go for a walk, even - you can get inspiration from anything.

WIP owners: I believe in you. You can do this! They might sit there and taunt you, or beg to be finished, but if you can't do it right now then you can't do it right now and you should take a break. Save it, close it, do something else. Come back to it when you're ready.

💜💜💜

[cosmicghoul99]

The Whole Watcher Debacle

Just giving my two cents on the whole Watcher situation. I've been following this since it started, and initially, I wasn't going to say anything, but honestly, why not? (lol)

I want to start off by saying that this was not a good business decision to make. By pulling this, they are essentially alienating their international and low-income fans. The world is going through a global economic crisis, and the fact is that creating a streaming subscription service when companies like Disney and Netflix themselves are struggling is not a sound financial decision. Saying $6/month is "affordable for everyone and anyone" is a tone-deaf statement. In this economy, that is the difference between getting to eat for a day or not. It's not just "two cups of coffee". It's quite literally life or death for some people.

Now, before I get hounded by people saying that "artists deserve to get paid for their works" and "it's all about paying artists until you have to pay them yourselves." I do support small artists and small business owners. I support smaller creatives whenever I can and whenever I have the means to. The problem is that Watcher is not a small artist. They are not even a small business. They are, and apparently always have been a company. In addition to that, they are getting paid. They profit from ad reads, views, Adsense, patreon, merch, and live shows.

Their patreon alone nets them at a minimum of $30k per month. This is on the lower side, mind you. I've heard some other content creators talk about this, and it's estimated that they make around $50k-$100k from AdSense and views. On top of that, they get paid $15k-$30k per sponsored video, and a vast majority of their videos are sponsored. They would make around 60k-120k from sponsorships alone. Add all this together, and they make at least $140k monthly. This is, again, the least, and this does not count in profit from their merch or live shows. Their merch sells for anywhere between $60-90 depending on the item, and they continuously sell out. I don't know how much their live shows are, but I imagine it's something along those lines. If even 100 people bought merch, although this is likely in the thousands, they would make 6,000 minimum from just merch. The current national minimum wage in the United States is around 7 dollars. Per month, if you worked for 40 hours per week, you would make around $1,120. They are making nearly 5 times that just from their merch. They make, on the low end, $150k per month. This is more money in one month than most people can make in 2 and a half years. Even the lower end of money on Patreon makes them more money than most people make in a year. Annually, they are making, and this is greatly underestimating the amount they make, at least $1 million. On the higher end, if we calculate that they are making around $100k per month via Patreon, and we estimate with their sponsorships, the range only increases, to around $320k, adding the higher end of sponsorship money and AdSense. Yearly, that's almost $4 million. Their range is $1million-$4million. I'm sorry, but if you are netting in this profit and still need more for your business, then you are doing something wrong.

Watcher are not struggling artists living paycheck to paycheck and barely making ends meet. They are a multi-million dollar company whose owners live very comfortable lives. This is fine, but they should not act like they are struggling when this business venture was because they were operating outside their means and want to go even further beyond that. YouTube is terrible regarding many things; I get it. There is nothing wrong with creatives wishing to expand, but if you financially cannot support that decision, you should not do so. I am not okay with people being hateful and bringing up unnecessary things. Still, the fact remains that all of their CEOs show their very lavish lives and spending online and constantly talk about it on their podcasts. They could not afford those things if they were truly struggling like they tried to make people believe. Some people are being rude online, yes, and that's not a good thing, but the vast majority are being rightfully upset and are giving valid criticism on why this is a bad idea.

Watcher is not worth a $6/month subscription. They do not have enough content to justify this decision, nor do they have enough followers. Youtubers with followings much larger than theirs have tried to do this and failed. Paywalling their content is not the right move. It essentially stagnates their growth. How are people going to find them, and how are they going to get attention for this? Posting one video on YouTube every time you make a new series -which we don't know how frequently they will update- will not push that content to people. Also, most people who see that initial trailer or episode will not pay $6 monthly to see the rest. The fact is that, like it or not, at $6, they are competing with some of the biggest companies in the industry. Companies like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime, and more all have standards ad supscriptions ranging from $ 5-8 dollars, and they have a catalog of thousands of shows, movies, and more. Yes, it sucks that there is a capitalistic monopoly on these services, but switching to it is not going to help them. Going from YouTube to Vimeo OTT will not net them the profit they think it will. They will struggle on this platform because it's arguably worse than YouTube, and eventually, it will raise the price to keep content up, so they will raise their streaming price.

That's another thing. They advertised this as their own service, unattached to anything else when it's not. It's still run by another company, and now they must pay that company. It feels disingenuous to say this when it is not true. It is not an app or something you can play on TV; it is a website, a fairly sketchy one at that.

There is, again, a cost of living crisis going on. Most people cannot afford to put food on the table, much less spend this money on a streaming service. And even if people wanted to pay, they've barred their international audience from doing so. If you are not in the US, you will have to pay for a VPN to use since the website is not available outside the US, and you will also have to pay a conversion fee since they did not include regional scaling of prices. $6/month is already a lot for people in the US but for people living in other countries with a weaker currency? That's anywhere from a week of groceries to a third of their rent. They did not consider how this would affect international fans, and that's not a good business practice.

And since I will get the inevitable, "You aren't entitled to free content," I'll say this. Yes, people are not entitled to content, but creators are not entitled to people's money. The truth is that if your audience does not like something or want something, then you will not get their support. As a content creator, you must cater to your audience; you can't expect them to pay for or be interested in other content or passion projects. Also, their content is clearly not free. They do get paid. In no world do they not get paid. I will reiterate that they are not small, struggling artists who can't afford to live. Watcher isn't a small indie company that barely gets by. It is a million-dollar company with around 25 employees who live lavishly in one of the most expensive cities in the world. They do not need more money. They want more money.

Plus, people are entitled to their content when that content is mostly based on fan-submission. A lot of Watchers shows rely heavily upon fan submissions and support. Are You Scared?, Too Many Spirits, Food Files, and Ghost Files happen because fans submit stories, places to go, evidence, and more. In fact, Are You Scared and Too Many Spirits are just stories and personal anecdotes that fans share and submit, or that Watcher finds online and read aloud in a backyard. (NOT what I would call TV quality, but okay...)

They posted a while ago that they were taking submissions for a new season of Are You Scared?, Too Many Spirits, and Ghost Files. They did this fully well-aware that they would soon release a paywall. Do they expect fans to pay 6 dollars to see their own submissions? Additionally, they could pass it off as free before this- even though they were getting paid- but now they are locking this service behind a paywall, meaning they make money directly from these stories and this content. People who submitted stories should be compensated since Watcher makes money from fan content.

This still does not acknowledge that they have not responded yet. It has been nearly three days since this blew up, and they have been almost silent. And it is deafening. The only things people have gotten are posts and statements from friends and spouses of the owners that are as out-of-touch and ridiculous as this decision. This shows people that they are doubling down. They had time in the initial 24 hours to respond, and the longer they took to respond, the worse it was getting. It's very telling and a slap in the face to people who have supported them for years, from Buzzfeed to this, through many different times, including the pandemic. Watcher relies so heavily on their audience, yet they do not have the respect for their audience to at least put out a small statement. That is why people are upset. They were helped and built up so much by their audience, then made a video saying, "Thanks for supporting us for years, but if you can't afford us anymore, get out," and maintained radio silence. At the same time, their close friends and family basically called people entitled for not wanting to pay for a service they did not ask for, during a global economic crisis. No one asked for "higher production value" or "TV quality." People were happy with normal, low-production content, like the kind that got them famous/popular in the first place. Yes, they can want to make more expensive content, but they cannot guilt-trip their fanbase into paying for it. I am a small creative. If I make a ridiculously expensive art piece or something with expensive materials, then hand it to someone and say, now you have to pay me for this, even though you didn't ask for this, they will not pay me. It's as simple as that.

Yes, artists should get paid. But Watcher already get paid generously. Not only have they done wrong to their fans, but they have also screwed over their patreon members by essentially saying that they have to pay double for their content. They suddenly switched the tiers on Patreon, removed most of the content, and left only the podcast, and their members do not even get the subscription for free. Most of their Patreon members pay between the $ 10 and $20 tiers, but many also pay around $100. They don't get the service for free even after paying Watcher that much and for so many years. That's spitting on the people who have financially supported you for years.

All in all, this is a very poor financial and business decision, and they are making it worse by remaining silent. They have alienated most of their audience, upset most paying supporters, and been trending for three days for all the wrong reasons. Massive YouTubers have made videos on this, and it has broken from fandom drama into the general internet. This is the beginning of the end, unfortunately. I don't wish any ill will, this is not hate at all. No one at Watcher is a bad person at all, they just made a bad business decision. Unless they apologize, I can't see this working out.

Sorry for the massively long post, I’m not an avid watcher (hehe) or fan of their content but I've had many thoughts bouncing around my head about this business decision since this started, and I wanted to share.

TLDR: Watcher made a seriously bad business decision that upset most of their audience, including paying supporters; claimed to be struggling even though they very clearly aren't and have not responded to their incensed fanbase yet, despite the urgent need to do so.

[hereisrachel]

Vladimir Makarov dating headcanons

Tw : Might be ooc, I try to be as close to canon as possible, Mentions of sexual abuse and physical/verbal abuse, some 🔞, mentions of pregnancy and abortion

- I'll start with saying that yes he could fall in love with you, I don't like labelling villains as COMPLETELY heartless monsters, at the end of the day we're all people and we all feel love

- It won't be as hard as you think it can be honestly

- I think he could fall for you just by you being a woman and following his orders/being loyal to him

- he values loyalty over anything

- If you aren't working for him, he will have no interest in seeing you. He is deeply focused on his job and he will only fall for you if you two are practically forced to talk.

- Makarov will be impressed and glad if you're hard-working. He likes people who value their jobs as much as he does.

- And all of the above? He will absolutely not show it. You work like you should, there is no reason to be happy for that right?

- But when he is stressed and irritated by all of this shit, it's nice to see someone who is devoted to him.

- He needs to be sure that you fell for him as well first, he won't make much moves until that.

- He is smart and calculating, he knows when to strike so he can catch you

- Yeah this is his way of thinking. He treats people like objects, you are not different. He thinks of you as something he can own, as his weapon.

- Is that even love? Maybe it is.

- but he is euphoric when he notices that you seem much softer for him than anyone else.

- It's not good euphoria, it's the kind of euphoria when a wolf finally catches a rabbit after sneaking up on it for months.

- You were partially his from the beggining, as his devoted worker. Now he has you eating from his hand.

- You're loyal as a dog, happy to finally have your owner (well he practically owns you now 😭) and he is happy that he got to have a new toy

- You're an idiot if you think he will treat you good.

- He will treat you like a ragdoll, taking out his anger at you in sexual and non-sexual way

- i don't think he often gets drunk when he has a bad day, but it happens sometimes.

- If you somehow forgive him or be too scared to leave, he'll be pretty normal about it. He never thought of you leaving him.

- but if you try to, he won't let you (obviously) he can get more abusive, possesive, torturing you and locking you in a room.

- If you have a mission thought, he will just leave some bruises on your body and threat you to be sure you'll always come back. After all you are his weapon, he won't let you go to dangerous mission with stab wound right? He takes poor "care" of his toys but he still does.

- He won't give you flowers or take you out on dates (if that wasn't clear yet lmao)

- On good days, he will treat you with some human decency, he has to do it from time to time so you will believe that there is good in him

- He uses this form of manipulation to keep you close to him

- Why thought if he won't let you go anyways? He can't ALWAYS be with you and keep an eye for you. If you want to leave, you eventually will. But he doesn't want to deal with stress of you running away and shit.

- and he can't get his loyal worker to turn way from him

- He doesn't have sex with you often. Believe it or not but sex is his best way of showing his "love" for you. It makes him vulnerable as well and he doesn't exactly want you to see him like that.

- He will relax a bit if you'll like that side of him.

- He is also very often stressed with his work, if he will be a little stressed it'll be the most likely for you two to have sex then. If he is completely stressed out he won't have sex with you, he just wants to rest and it's hard for stressed body to get turned on anyways.

- He will be only rough when he is frustrated, if he's mad, he won't have sex with you as well.

- if you get pregnant, he will force you to abort the fetus no matter how much you scream and kick. He will drag you by your hair and tie you to your bed if he will have to.

- He'll be calm if you also don't want a child.

- so that's basically it, if you are clinically insane, relationship with him won't be so bad. If you are not, well, welcome to a nightmare

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

I've been imagining a lot of scenarios while writing it, and I am definitely going to write second part where the relationship is a bit different 👀

‼️I am not glorifying anything in this post, abuse is not something that can get romanticized‼️

[gabessquishytum]

Hob likes food okay, he thinks cooking is a act of love, so when he's tapped by HFGTV for his own food show, he knows he's going to do it his own way. His show is sort of Guy Fieri-ish -- Hob will happily eat your burger made of 5 cheeses; that corn dip that was a hit at your town's most recent potluck,,, if it's made with love and care... Hob will happily chow down. He gets to travel and speak (and cook) with normal people who love it as much as he does.

Dream is a Michelin Starred chef; with famous, but popular, restaurants with aggressive wait lists. Food is art and craft; and while he still loves cooking (not that he has time to eat any of it) he finds himself bored of his function.

Dream and Hob bump into each other at an industry event:

M (dripping with distainful disbelief): You're that chef that happily eats oreos dipped in marshmallow fluff, covered in chocolate and deep fried?!

H: 😍 I love your food! You watch my show?!?!!! Wanna go a a date with me, snobby Mc'beautiful man?!

Dream hates himself, a little, that he finds the heathen charming.

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I'm MELTING.

So maybe Dream is only in Hob’s part of town for the weekend, just for this event. So Hob persuades him - he'll take Dream for a tour around his favourite food spots. They'll have fun, eat, and maybe Dream will find his love for food again. Maybe they'll also do a little smoochin'. Dream rolls his eyes so hard they nearly fall out BUT he agrees.

It's late morning when they start out so Hob drags Dream for brunch at his favourite little hole in the wall cafe. They do a fusion breakfast menu with traditional British stuff plus breakfast foods from all different regions of India, and you can pick and choose whatever you want to eat. Hob knows all the staff and ends up dragging Dream into the kitchen to chat/try little mouthfuls of food. By the time they sit down to eat Dream has a tiny smile on his face (although he seriously objects to how much ketchup Hob is putting on his plate).

After brunch they walk around a bit and go get boba at Hob’s favourite place because he's scandalised that Dream has never tried it?! Hob also can't help but talk about how much he loves Dream’s food and how he'd eat at his restaurant every single day if he could. Dream can't believe that someone would care so much about his food, but he's very charmed. He even says he'll cook for Hob some time.

Next stop is to get freshly baked gingerbread from a tiny food truck. Hob spends the whole time trying to wheedle the secret recipe out of the owner while Dream is like "don't tell him, he obviously can't keep a secret to save his life." They're basically already an old married couple and they get the gingerbread for free.

At this point Dream needs to lie down because he hasn't eaten so much food in forever, so Hob offers to take him back to his flat and they can drink tea and just talk about food. Dream ends up falling asleep on Hob’s shoulder and when he wakes up, Hob has ordered pizza. Its cheesy and greasy and a little bit terrible, but there's something about it that reminds Dream why he became a chef in the first place.

They end up making out on the sofa for a few hours until Hob pulls away with this face like he just had the best idea. "We need to do a show together. Where we do what we did today and I seduce you with good, honest food."

And although Dream wrinkles up his nose like he hates the thought... he's the one calling up the studio in the morning and demanding to be allowed to pitch the show 😉

[rzyraffek]

hey I hope this doesn’t sound like a weird request but could u like slashers (preferably Michael Myers, Jason, maybe Billy loomis or Stu?, and the Sinclair brothers) kidnapping “adopting” reader? Like them kind yknow unaliving (Child) readers family then like having to like care for reader???? Idk if it makes sense but it came to me in a dream about me being a kid and Michael myers becoming my dad 😭

ALSO ITS COMPLETELY PLATONIC OBVS ‼️‼️‼️

IM SORRY FOR 2WEEK BREAK I HAD TO!!

This request is such a cute idea!!! I made so much content about perent!slasher and kid!y/n cuz its way more entertaining for me to write!! Authors note at the end!

They/them, sfw, Request open

Slashers trying to be decent dad figures

Jason Voorhees

First of all, why on earth would your perent take you all the way here??? Your a smal baby and this is dangerous! Not only cuz jason is here, but wolfs? Boars? Huge forest AND lake???

So basically he didnt expect a child here

When he was in one of cabins he heard crying from bathroom, after few seconds of planing a murder he realised that is a child crying

His heart skipped a beat and he kinda begun to panic. HUH??? A CHILD? EEE eee oh god the whole backyard is covered in blood... oh no did I scare them?? Oh no

Dude gets more spooked than a child

After they got along he kinda makes them live in his cabin, he spends good portion of time just hanging around

Y/n gets used to their new mute friend and learns their own ways to understand him

Dude is that type of dad who will let y/n paint his nails and he will dress up in cute outfits just to make his kid happy

100% checks under their bed for monsters (and closet too!)

Wants to teach them all about nature! Which plants are good, how to find animals to eat, how to avoid humans

He dodges the topic of slaughtering y/n perents... where are they?? Ermmm idk didnt see them

Micheal Myers

Dude is pretty passive when it comes to kids

He exists, they exists, but as far as kids don't bother him, he won't bother them

But oh lourd..... your his little girl/boi/kid and he is going to do everything to keep it that way

He sees it differently than others, he helped you, took you away from those horrible people (no matter if y/n past perents were bad or good people) why would you want to leave? Or miss them?

But no matter how he feels, he is still Micheal, he won't be very cuddly or clingy. Then y/n needs comforting he will sit next to them, let them talk, tbh he is okay with them giving him some physical attention but he won't hug them back

Steals dolls, figurines, crayons for y/n

He never gets rid of his stalker nature, he is always there, watching, making sure there's noone in their way. Noone bothering or looking at y/n. He sometimes watches them sleep, just looking, he is the only monster in their closet

Huge fan of stickers btw

After good few months he takes off his mask when with y/n! He knows they accept him and love him! I mean his face is as emotionless as its owner but it still matters(at least now you know where he is staring at)

Billy and Stu

Dudes probably were like "eeeerr billy? That *instert y/n perents name* eee you didn't tell me they had a kid?" "the WHAT"

*stu giving y/n chocolates while billy panics in room next to it wondering wtf to do with y/n*

"We can't just keep it! Who is going to take care of it?"

They kept you btw, Billy will say that they did that only so you don't go and call police but they got really attached

Stu is the fun dad while Billy is the serious dad

"Hi baby we bought you happy meal" "child did you do your homework"

Billy rages over monopoli and stu cheats in uno

Sinclair brothers

"Lester who tf is in your truck?" "Eeee I found it?"

Vince lets y/n sleep in his bed when they have nightmares. He also really wants y/n to do arts like him😊

Lester just vibes, you like cars kid? Let's go on car trip! You like wildlife? I know where deers at!

Bo teaches y/n how to shoot while they are way too young to even hold a gun

Y/n will be extremely spoiled btw

None of them know how to cook full meal

Lester will call y/n buddy, pal, kiddo

Bo will call them child, goblin, spawn on satan, little princes(or a prince)

Vincent will see them as little creature and a baby

Vincent let's y/n play and decorate his hair, they also make wax figurines together and play with dog. He is more like older shy brother than a father figure but if you want you can work with this

Bo lets y/n sleep on him and draw on his arms, he also hopes y/n never grows up cuz they are tiny and cute. He also sometimes gives them his hat

Lester loves showing of his skull collection and driving around forest, just talking. He also enjoys lisening to y/n monologues while he is working

All of them get little heart attack when they hear y/n swear. All bets on Bo accidentally saying bad word next to y/n and them just repeating it

Bo and lester love to just put you on their shoulder! And vince just pickes y/n up like sack of potatos (but gently)

Tickle fights with Vince

Arm wrestling with Lester who pretends that y/n is too strong and lets them win

All x reader tags are here only to reach bigger audience! Im sorry if there's any misstypes or anything weird! I kinda wrote it in rush cuz I feel bad for making yall wait for requests so long! I should make this hc list longer but I am very tired. Goodnight

[andraxicated]

Pairings: blade x reader (prerequisite au) | jing yuan x reader Synopsis: You never knew coming to this world would tie you down there forever Tags: fake dating | fluff | stellaron hunter! reader | kith kith fall in love mwah a/n: I did this mini fic to cure my writer's block but it made it worse. blade's version of this will be completed soon!

~first meeting

You easily slipped into the Xianzhou within its state of unrest and its security that was too lax for Silver Wolf's standard. You walked through the streets, admiring the bustling nightlife and feeling a sense of melancholy washing over you. You're waltzing onto an unfamiliar land by having blind faith in Elio alone, basing your journey on his word.

There's an indefinite objective here. You're just wandering aimlessly amidst the sea of people. That was until someone grabbed your wrist, effectively pulling you back to be met with gold eyes and a smile.

"Found you"

"Jing Yuan?!" You whispered shocked, ready to fight or flight. It has already been made clear that you are not an enemy, they even let Blade and Kafka escape. So why is this man holding onto you?

"Before you do something, let me tell you that you are cleared of your charges and we acknowledge that the Stellaron Hunters pose no threat to us." Jing Yuan starts to speak, pulling you to the side to avoid inconvenience to the passerby. "I just want to talk."

It's ridiculous really. Sitting in front of the general and watching him chow on the noodles. Your own dish is waiting to be eaten but you can't help but be fascinated by the man in front of you. Taking your sweet time to glance over every detail of his—hair, eyes, lips, and body. You even took note of his gait on the way to this noodle shop that he recommended.

Sometimes the rumors are true.

"Are you gonna eat?"

You grimace, finding it uncomfortable that your forces were hostile to each other before but now he's acting like you've been friends for a long time.

"No. I don't know what this is." You glance at the food and lean towards him with narrowed eyes. "And maybe you're cohorts with the owner of this place and put some kind of substance to make me spill the truth about what I know."

"What do you know?" Jing Yuan doesn't seem to care and continues to feast on his meal. He momentarily looks at you before going back to his business.

"I don't know anything. I don't even know why I'm here." You lean back with an exasperated sigh. Truthfully, you're hungry and this dish seems utterly appetizing. You take the chopsticks and cautiously take a piece, chewing and waiting for some side effect to kick in but alas, nothing came. Only a burst of flavors that made your tummy protest for more.

"Is it good?"

You glare at the man in front of you, choosing not to speak and instead focusing on the steaming bowl. A smile stretches over his lips as he watches you eat, seemingly letting your guard down until you stop and raise an eyebrow at him. Jing Yuan only chuckles and shakes his head as both of you continue to bask in the silent dinner.

It lasted until he opened his mouth and let out the most ridiculous, out-of-this-planet proposal you've ever heard.

"Can you be my fiancée?"

Needless to say, you stared at him like he'd grown a head or two while his smile is kept on his lips, patiently waiting for your response to his question.

"No. Are you kidding yourself?" The only thing running through your mind was getting out of here after you're done and making him pay for it. He has to be fucked up in the head to suggest that to you of all people.

Jing Yuan puts down his utensils and stares at you ravaging the dish. In a few seconds or so, he successfully predicts you'd choke and watches you cough up your lungs, pushing the glass of water towards you which you hurriedly gulp.

"Now that you've calmed down. Let me speak." He sighed and leaned back. "This will be just pretend dating. I ask for your assistance in this matter and in return, you will benefit from this arrangement-"

"Wait. Stop right there" You point a finger at him accusingly. "How will I-"

Jing Yuan inwardly groans 'stubborn as ever'.

"Let me finish speaking, yes? The reason for this arrangement is that my parents have recently reached out to me about marriage. They have already selected some of the finest ladies in the Xianzhou but ultimately, they'd leave the choice up to me." He left out the asking for grandchildren part as he pours himself two cups of tea, one that slid over to you. You didn't need to know that conversation anyway.

You briefly look at your small reflection before tuning back to his words.

"I have a long life ahead of me and I don't think it's the time to be occupied with marriage. I have to think about that when my job as a general is done and everything is smoothly handed to Fu Xuan. Simply speaking, I don't want it right now."

"Look here general. I don't care about your sob story or whatever reason this is happening. Tell me what's my benefit in this or I'm leaving." You shrug.

Jing Yuan stayed silent for a few moments, studying your features with wandering eyes that lingered far too long for your liking.

He suddenly said something that rocked your world at its very foundation. The purpose of your visit falls right from his very lips.

"I know about you, I'll tell you about your past."

Your lips started quivering, eyebrows coming together, and mind scattering on how to know if this man in front of you is lying. Jing Yuan just dropped a bomb on you and this one could very well be a joke. But you don't think the poker face he's donning right now is a sign that he takes this lightly.

"Proof?" You whispered, silently hoping that he was telling the truth or you'd blow this place up in an instant.

"I have pictures"

"And?"

"You're there with me."

If Elio told you about staying, then you must have had a link to this planet and the long-life natives must have also known you before. Such as this one sitting in front of you.

Jing Yuan continues. "You also have scars all over your body. You wanna know why? Because it was almost destroyed from suffering a huge injury in a fight, but apparently, you got away." Your lips parted, unable to speak and you started to unconsciously touch your arm and move your thigh if it's still intact. "You were also once mara-struck, that's probably why you don't remember anything."

"Where did you get this information? From the jade abacus? Or from yourself?" You asked Jing Yuan even though you already know what his answer is gonna be.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to tell you that later at the end of our arrangement...So, what is your answer?"

This won't come easy as he's practically dangling a carrot in front of you. You suddenly stand up but the punchable smile stayed on the man's face. Turning to leave, you take one glance at him while you weigh your options.

This was encounter something Elio failed to mention but you never fully trusted that lunatic anyway. You finally gained a lead on your self-searching journey and you're gonna do whatever it takes even if it means forming a 'relationship' with a man you barely know.

"Tell me everything you know and I'll cooperate."

~falling in love

Jing Yuan doesn't exactly know when it all started. His heart just started beating faster when you were near and he felt empty when he couldn't see you for days. The grey-haired man longed for you to the point he'd have no motivation to function when you're not visiting him.

Did his feelings start years ago when you were still mentees?—he doesn't think it matters. But one thing is for sure, each moment spent with you in the past was deeply embedded in his heart no matter how hard he tried to bury it.

And this fake relationship thing fueled his feelings even further, he feels sick to be honest. If he said no to his parents then that'd be the end of it. Why did he even drag you in it? Maybe because it was a spur of the moment decision to find you and barge into your life.

"There's someone taking photos." Jing Yuan breaks the silence and immediately reaches for your stiff hand, not letting you go when you attempt to pull back.

"What? Who are they? Shouldn't we knock them out?' At your response, he looks at you like you said murder is okay. He sighs, suddenly interlacing your fingers together and swaying them as you look at it in horror. You think you were truly horrified that your heart started to pump a little faster and your dinner felt like rising.

"Let's act like this for the meantime until they go away. Most likely they're gonna sell the pictures for the newsletters. I'll put a notice for it to stop in the morning."

But the person doesn't stop following both of you, they think they're sneaky but your senses are on high alert the whole time. If not for Jing Yuan's hand, you would've pounced on the photographer already.

"What do you think will make them go away?" He asked and at this point, he was running out of options. Jing Yuan was a very patient man but he doesn't like someone tagging along on what's supposed to be time with you.

"Beating up works but I'll ruin your reputation so cross that off." You jokingly respond and he laughs. Your lips stretched into a small smile upon hearing him.

"I know now." He whispered near your ear and stopped you from walking, your back was facing the building where someone was lurking. And for a second, his golden eyes met the photographer's who deflated on the dangerous glint he showed.

Jing Yuan's hand snakes up to your waist, pulling you closer and stiffening your body.

"Hey!"

Your hands flew to his chest in an attempt to push back. You could very well push him, separate your bodies in this shared heat but you didn't. Frankly, you enjoyed the way he was touching you and this thought made your cheeks burn.

"Let's give them a show" Jing Yuan pulled you even closer and your hands on his chest were soon going to be squished. Where else could you put your hands other than around his shoulders? He smirked at your face, finding this ordeal amusing.

"What show?"

You thought the show he was talking about was dancing. You were in the perfect position for dancing.

"This"

But Jing Yuan had other plans and was thinking very differently from you. He leaned in so close that your eyes went wide and your breathing quickened. Puffs of air from his mouth lightly ghosted over your lips, leaving your body tingly as your mouths were inches away.

"Can I kiss you?"

His question passed by you in a daze but you nod your head anyways because it just felt right. The way his soft lips enclosed against yours, gliding and feeling the smooth expanse left him wanting more. More so that you feel yourself dipping back because of his harsh lip-locking.

Yet Jing Yuan feels kind of ticked, he pulled away and saw you open your eyes confused.

"Don't just stand there. Open your mouth." He ordered as he leaned in once again. You followed what he said, opening your mouth in a raunchy expression of affection that you soon find yourself losing to. He's very much glad that you began playing with his tongue too, feeling him smile against your kiss.

You never knew it was possible to feel a burst of emotions like that—like happiness.

[st-el-la-luna]

Thinking about König

Mainly, thinking about his anxiety being like my anxiety. It's social anxiety but more than the "oh no, people, scary!" That people tend to generalize it as.

That's not to say that it isn't like that. Yes, people are intimidating, especially large groups of them. Or if you're being put in a command position. Or if you're in a position to be judged... Which is most situations. (Public speaking, especially for school projects is especially bad).

But it's not just shyness. It's also the aversion.

Walking through the halls, with a dead sort of stare. Not intentionally intimidating, but it's very much a resting bitch face, look at me and I'll kill you sort of expression.

Saying as little as possible to people he's not comfortable with.

"yes."

"no."

"I don't like that."

"I don't want to."

"we are not friends."

Staring so intently at people that it unsettles them.

"-and that's why I think... Why... It's... Is everything okay, Colonel?"

"Ja, why?"

"You're, uh... You're looking very intently."

"This is just how I look. Eye contact is important."

"uhh... Right, it's just... I haven't seen you blink?"

"I blink when you blink."

Like, yes, of course there are situations where he gets mousy voiced or sweaty palms. But not at work, no. At work he's able to conjure up, maybe not confidence, but something.

At a restaurant though? Speaking softly, making himself small, saying please and thank you after every sentence. It doesn't matter what the server does, he's always soft spoken and polite, nervous. If he asks for no pickles and they bring him his dish with pickles, he'll eat it. If he orders a chicken sandwich and they bring him a burger, he'll eat it. If he tells them that he has a deadly peanut allergy and they bring him a tub of peanut butter... He'll send that back, but he'll be polite about it.

"Oh, ja, I'm sorry, I... This isn't what I ordered. Oh, no, no, it's okay, don't apologize. I'm sorry. You're busy. It's fine, I understand."

Sometimes during mission briefs he will randomly growl and smack his fist on the table. People think he's mad at them and straighten up, stop sipping so loud, on their best behaviour. He actually just got mad at himself, remembered something embarrassing from his past.

He almost acts like a narcissist. Passes by a mirror, winks at his reflection: "How's it going, good looking?"

Makes jokes about being the pretty one. People think he's full of himself.

He actually hates himself but has replaced negative self talk with show boating. He doesn't hate himself any less, but he tells himself to kill himself way less often!

Always has some sort of plan. An escape route, a plan of attack. Watching the people around him nervously.

Sits in the back of the room so he can watch everybody. Sits with his chair pushed far back so he can stand quicker.

Glares at people who walk by. Gives their dogs heart eyes. Prays that the owners realize and ask him if he wants to say hello. He's too awkward to ask permission. And he's too angry looking for people to offer.

Represses lots of anger from incidents he feels he can't lash out in, goes batshit in training or on missions. (I used to do kick boxing, the gym people had to keep coming up to me and moving my punching bag back because I was hitting it too hard).

The kind of person to, when going to someone's house, immediately look for signs of a pet. If he finds it. The animal is now his best friend. Goes to a party hangs with the dog type of beat.

Thinks smoking pot would help him. But the idea makes him nervous. Which he thinks, smoking pot would help... But the idea of smoking pot makes him nervous. But he–

Will just lie to get out of shit.

"Hey, we're going to get drinks tonight, do you want to come?"

"ah, I can't... I promised to get dinner with a friend."

Goes home and enjoys a night alone.

Avoidant. Will just not do things that cause him stress. Hasn't been to the dentist in years because talking to the lady at reception makes him nervous. What if the phone signal is bad? What if it just keeps breaking up? What if she can't understand his accent? What if when he gets to the dentist they hate him for the state of his teeth? What if he goes to the dentist and they steal his teeth?! It's happened before! He's seen articles!

Gets adopted by extroverts by being unhinged.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Horangi asks.

"I heard that human meat tastes like pork... The best pork, actually." König says absently.

"Huh... And you know this why?"

"I was curious."

"okay... Let's go to dinner."

"Ja, let's."

A sort of dry air about him that comes off as a lack of empathy. But he's just got so much going on in his brain that he can't focus on emoting anything but augghskft.

Will stare off into space with a blend of the hundred yard stare and the most murderous expression known to man. He's not mad. He's just thinking.

Undiagnosed autism

Forgets people's names, gets to nervous to ask again. So he just calls everyone "you".

Acts cold and indifferent. He just really hates small talk, doesn't understand it. Why say something if it's not important? He doesn't care about your grandchildren. Or your wife. Or your morning.

Is the world's best host mainly out of fear. Asking if you need food or a drink or a blanket or if–

König who after confrontations, has to take a step back, hands shaking slightly. But who's also still super pissed and ready to throw punches at the drop of a hat

König who worries so much about physical affection that it just becomes too much. Hugs are suffocating, hands are held too tight, cuddling is like being smothers. But it takes him a long time to initiate anything. God forbid you initiate anything. Hug the man and he bluescreens

Please reblog to support my writing!

Masterlist

[theamityelf]

Undead AU where a virus spreads through Hope's Peak turning all the Ultimates into undead, meaning they eat flesh, can turn people by biting them, lose their self-control, etc.

Only the lucky students are immune. For the sake of the city, the Hope's Peak faculty lock everyone on campus. The reserve course students are left to fend for themselves against the hungry Ultimates, and the lucksters try to take care of their respective classes. They get bitten copiously in the same way cat owners get bitten a lot, but they're immune, so it's fine.

(The first time he's bitten, Nagito is like, "Aw, it looks like it won't spread to me. That's a shame.")

Nagito pretty quickly resigns himself to trapping reserve course students for his class to eat. He doesn't just let them run loose eating people; he keeps control over their portions, so they don't just kill with reckless abandon.

"Akane, you can't eat both of them by yourself," he chides mildly. "There has to be enough for everyone." (The words "enough for everyone" seem to click even in her undead brain, because she immediately switches gears, making sure everyone gets to eat some.) "Hiyoko...Yeah, it's okay to bite me. Just leave all my limbs intact, if you can. AH! That...really hurt, Ibuki."

Meanwhile, Makoto is unwilling to let his class eat reserve course students at all. He brings them raw meat from the kitchen and works himself up to trapping animals. Maybe he lures a crane to Sayaka to eat, because parallels.

He and Nagito compare notes on their strategies of caring for their classmates; they run into each other in the hallway a lot, and sometimes Makoto catches one of Nagito's classmates sneaking out of their classroom or vice versa.

"Looking for this?" Nagito says, interrupting Makoto's sprint through the hallway. He's walking hand-in-hand with Hina, who is contentedly munching on someone's detached arm.

"Whose arm is that?!" Makoto exclaims. (Chihiro is on his back. She didn't sneak out or anything; she just clings to his back sometimes. She's gnawing at his ear, but he ignores it.) "Did she kill someone?"

"Nope. It was like that when we found it," Nagito lies. "Probably one of the upperclassmen's handiwork." Really, he used the arm of one of the reserve course students he trapped earlier to lure Hina back. And he's letting her keep it, as a treat.

Makoto sighs dejectedly. "They said this is just until they find a cure, right? That's what the headmaster said. The best scientists in the world are looking for a cure. Then everyone will be back to normal."

"Of course. I'm sure it won't be long now."

"...But it's terrible we haven't been able to keep the reserve course safe from them."

"Hey, chin up. It's a small price to pay to keep our classmates healthy."

"I don't think it's a small price at all. They-"

"Ah, I think another one of your charges is loose."

Makoto glances back. "Taka. Thanks for trying to help, but I've really got it covered out here. Why don't you take Chihiro back inside?"

Taka, one of the few undead who still consistently stands upright (though his posture isn't as straight as it once was) takes Chihiro off Makoto's back, and she immediately crawls onto his, resting her head on top of Taka's as he walks back toward their classroom.

"Hina, you want to go share that with Sakura? Yeah, go ahead. Don't let Byakuya see it, okay?"

Hina goes back to the classroom, too.

"I should head back," Nagito says. "If I'm away much longer, half of them will be gone by the time I return. And it's hard enough to wrangle Fuyuhiko; Akane and Gundham will take all day."

"You're bleeding," Makoto observes, with an alarmed frown. "Do you want me to look at that? I have bandages, back at-"

"No thanks. I'm alright."

"Maybe we should switch classes every now and then. Most of my classmates don't really bite all that hard...except Junko. But with her, you just have to be quick."

"Switch classes? That could be interesting..."

One day they do try to switch, but Nagito still gets bitten a lot (He suspects the 78th class think he's hiding Makoto from them; it would explain why a lot of them are hostile.), and Makoto is still mostly unscatched (Though Ibuki does tackle him and drag him to a, for lack of a better word, "nest" that the Ultimate Impostor has built, and he has to kind of just lie there and let them both lightly gnaw at his flesh for a while.). Nagito lets Makoto bandage him up, trying not to blush at the attention.

[nightingaellen]

King of my Heart | Vladimir Makarov x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: Flashback of traumas, gunshots, blackmailing, kidnapping, swearing, military inaccuracies, medicine/doctors field inaccuracies and more that audiences may find uncomfortable (approach me if I missed something on warnings.)

NOTES: The plot of the game and mine are different, I chose to have a plot that Makarov is under the guidance of Imran Zakhaev since he was young. On the other hand, I still include some of the happenings of the game to this fiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Expect grammatical and typographical errors, english and russian isn't my first language. Bare with me.

Summary: Vladimir Makarov is known as being cold-hearted, madman, callous. But, what if one day he fell in love with a lass who captivated his heart badly, is he really a man that's a stone-hearted?

Chapter 1 | Next Chapter

You finished your medical mission in England and you've been assigned to do another in Russia. You dropped off in Zakhaev International Airport, your co-workers already dropped off because you're in another plane for some reason. You sat near the exit to fix your things and yourself, while doing it you suddenly heard a gunshots that you don't want to hear ever again for the rest of your life. Fears starts to hunt you, knees trembling, eyes shut. You've become anxious and that memory came into your mind, again.

"Honey, come on, let's eat. Your doll can wait. You might not want to miss this dish, don't make me wait." A lady said while preparing the utensils and plates.

"Okay, Mom! Just one sec, I'll fix this first." A little girl said, starts fixing her toys.

But all of the sudden, the little girl heard a gunshots. Her knees starts to tremble, overthinking of what have just she heard. She immediately lock the door and walked to the window. She was shocked and awe for what she have just seen, she saw her mother laying down. Her mother's face is covered with blood.

"M-mom... W-what..." She said, still watching through the window. All of the sudden, she met a boy who looks like having a same age with her. The boy look at her with his heterochromia eyes.

You quickly recovered from the sudden flashback of that memory. A hand hold your arm, you face the owner of that arm and you met that heterochromia eyes again but this time it's sinister and darker than before. His eyes are full of loathing, his eyes are fixated on you, looking deeply onto your soul. Fears are coming back to you again, he held your arm tightly enough to bruised it.

"W-wait.. stop.. i-it hurts.." You said quietly and with a gentle tone but you are screaming inside, you envisage to run and hoping not to get caught by him but you knew that you couldn't.

"Кирил, посади ее в эту машину. Сделай так, чтобы она не смогла сбежать, я кое-чего от тебя жду." He said to his comrade using a walkie-talkie, you can't understand what he just said. All you knew that he's speaking russian. ("Kiril, put her in that car. Make sure that she can't escape, I'm expecting something from you.")

Another man came to your gaze and motioned you to follow him, you followed him and looking back inside the airport you saw the heterochromia eyes man and his comrades are firing to the civilians, police, or just say everyone.

"Hey, can you speak english?" You asked the man while you both walked to where the three van parked, he nods.

"Who are you and what's happening?" You said with one eyebrow raised.

He stopped his tracks and face you with arms crossed, "You know, lady, I'm not that very personal with some people. But I guess you can be trusted, Kiril's the name, and we have some things to take care of." You gave him a nod, you can't understand what he meant but you knew that you shouldn't ask anymore.

Kiril look at you and said, "I know you're confuse, I am too. Just obey boss' orders and be careful of your actions and words, he'll not hurt you — and so I am, but we're good. We can be friends."

Something's really off, you know that there's a reason why they will keep you and you feel that there's something with that heterochromia eyes man.

– taglist: @usermncaellen, @livelyinborderland

– credits for the gifs that I used: @cssndra-cain, @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

2022 & 2023 © nightingaellen | Do not repost, copy, steal, translate.

[thebisexualdogdad]

Kate Bishop x male deadpool!reader (featuring Jeff the land shark)

● "you can't bring a shark in here!"

● "why not?! he's not dangerous he's a good boy! He's basically a dog!" you yell back at the woman scolding you

● you brought Jeff to the dog park looking to make some friends but the other park goers were not thrilled to have a land shark around their pets

● when Kate and Lucky show up Jeff is alone in the corner of the park looking sad cause none of the dogs want to play with him

● but as soon as Lucky is off his leash he runs straight to Jeff and they start playing

● "look they are best friends!" You say approaching his owner

● "um… is that a shark?" She asks

● "yep, his name is Jeff and im Y/N"

● "okay, well I'm Kate and that's Lucky the pizza dog"

● "ooh Jeff and I love pizza you want to get a slice together?"

● "well he's not the weirdest thing I've seen this week so sure"

● after letting Jeff and Lucky play together for a while you guys go get pizza

● "you look really familiar have we met before?" You ask Kate when it hits, "wait a minute… you're the new hawkeye!"

● "I know I don't exactly keep my real identity a secret but I also try not to shout it to pizzerias full of people"

● "Oh its okay, I'm Deadpool maybe you've heard of me"

● "aren't you the guy that jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge fighting taskmaster"

● "that's me! that was technically the fourth time I died and I also found out taskmaster is a really good swimmer but don't tell anyone he ended up getting away, I have a reputation to maintain"

● "you're weird… I like it"

● you and Kate become really good friends

● Jeff and Lucky have play dates all the time

● Jeff has a friend and you have an excuse to see Kate because you are not so secretly crushing on her

● teaming up on missions and being a force to be reckoned with

● between Kate's arrows and your swords the bad guys never know what to expect

● although when Yelena is in town you and her are a chaotic mess that Kate is always cleaning up after

● "guys was it really necessary to break in through the giant glass window… the door was unlocked"

● "yeah but going through the window was way more badass"

● "he's right Kate Bishop, window is way cooler than unlocked door"

● "Y/N you literally have a giant piece of glass in your neck"

● you feel the big glass shard in your neck and casually pull it out, blood spurting out "it's fine, that'll heal"

● going for long walks together with Jeff and Lucky

● everyone stares at Jeff but he just keeps walking confidently besides Lucky

● you and Kate have plenty of matching outfits for them

● you finally ask Kate out with a plater of tacos shaped in a heart

● "Kate Bishop will you do me the honor of going on a date with me?"

● before Kate can say anything Jeff jumps up and grabs the platter, tacos falling everywhere with Jeff and Lucky eating as many as they can

● "Jeff! Dude! Those were for Kate!"

● "Y/N, it's okay," she says laughing, "and yes I will go out on a date with you"

[inmymagnetoera]

SO.

I decided to write a little fic for @xaviersjames because like, they comment and reblog on almost all my posts and oh my god?? AND THEY DO SUPPORT MY FICS?? OH MY GOD?? Anyway, I hope you like it! It's not very long and it's not one of my best works but it's something with Flirty!Erik and Frustrated!Charles so it MUST be good.

To all the people, I remind you that I accept requests to write fics!♡

Hope you like this!♡

__________________________

It's a date!

“Just so you know… this is not a date.” Charles said crossing his arms in front of his chest as he watched Erik order a bottle of red wine.

“And why should it be, my friend?” Erik asked giving the blonde waitress a brief smile, Charles snorted as the girl's ears turned red from his friend's action.

“We're here to recruit mutants, Erik. We could park our car outside and wait for the owner to come out. We didn't need to do… this.” He said looking around. it seemed like they had chosen the worst day to do this farce. The place was full of couples holding hands and looking at each other with sweet eyes full of affection.

“Our target has a mutation that allows him to turn everything he touches into wood, if we met him outside and he thought we could hurt him we would be in danger and I don't want to carry your wooden ass around if he did something." He said jokingly placing the napkin on his lap. For a man who had spent much of his life on the run, Erik sure knew how to act like a gentleman.

“Misters, do you want to order?” asked the blonde waitress who was standing a little too close to Erik for Charles' liking.

“Of course, I'll have the steak with vegetables.” Erik said handing the menu to the girl.

“And for your friend?” She asked, looking at Charles with a smile a little less broad than the one she had reserved for the metallokinetic.

“Oh, for me…”

“My boyfriend will get the chicken, thank you so much honey.” He said handing the other menu to the girl as well. The blonde had wide eyes and her mouth slightly open but nodded, hesitantly walking away from the table.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” Charles asked him in what was more like a hiss than a human voice.

“Oh c'mon, that was fun.” Erik said smiling with all his teeth. Charles sighed.

“Here is your food.” The blonde waitress hadn't brought their plates, in her place was a little boy with dark, curly hair. Charles felt strangely pleased that the girl had not returned.

“What do you think of the chicken, my love?” Erik asked while the boy was still next to them. Charles choked on his mouthful and drank some wine to recover.

"It's good."

“Stop it now!” He sent him telepathically

“Oh, I was sure of it, on the other hand I know how much you like chicken.” He winked at him and reached out to take Charles' hand in his.

Charles didn't know what to say anymore and continued eating, thinking of a plan to get revenge on Erik.

After dinner and after having tried in vain to convince the owner of the restaurant to join them, the two returned to their car.

“At least the food was good.” Erik said as he got into the driver's seat. Charles nodded and the two headed back towards the villa. The telepath smiled at the thought of what was about to happen.

“Erik, how could you hide this from me?!: Mystique ran down the stairs, practically throwing herself at Erik.

“Tell you… what?” Erik asked more confused than ever.

“You proposed to my brother without telling me, you bastard! You should have asked for my blessing!” Raven slapped his arm and continued to yell at him. Erik looked at Charles with frightened eyes.

“Oh yes, didn't I tell you, love? I may have told my little sister that you proposed to me, and she probably told it to all the other kids, so have fun explaining this to them.” He said walking past the two and heading towards his room.

“Charles, wait!” Erik said as Sean and Alex ran towards him for more information.

“Have fun with our students, dear. On the other hand, you will decide who will bring us the wedding rings on the big day.”

The scream that went up from all the kids, Erik included, and the “I'll do it!” Which mixed together, accompanied Charles' happy thoughts for a long time.

[aurea-corde]

I've never seen a single episode of anything related to watcher but I am eating up all this drama. Also sorry to y'all going through this

i appreciate that anon 😭 i've seen several good nuanced takes on the situation thankfully. the company definitely did mess up how it introduced the streaming service to people: they said in the video they were going to paywall all existing and new content and then in the comments and in the variety article pretended like that was never their intent. the variety article reveals that they were in fact initially told watcher was going to delete all existing content. the CEO in particular but in general all the founders said that the amount they are charging is affordable - specifically that anyone could afford it - which no they can't obviously. As they are now finding out the hard way. The CEO Steven also made an instagram post insinuating people who wouldn't subscribe just no longer want to watch them, rather than the reality which is that a massive majority of the audience can't afford to. Because he is the CEO, people are blaming the entire thing on him, but it's also important to remember there are actually three founder-owners with decision-making abilities in the company. Shane and Ryan are adults, and the way people are acting like Steven is some kind of dictator, Ryan just went along with it but Shane is the people's anticapitalist hero who was simply outvoted is not a great look. Especially the posts that refuse to acknowledge even the possibility of racial biases here. Mistakes were made, poc are not immune to criticism, but let's consider why so many feel like Shane was forced into this by the evil Steven (and people in the comments have literally called him evil for this) and either lump Ryan in with him or give Ryan no agency in the situation whatsoever. Steven is the most likely to have made the proposal as the closest thing Watcher has to a business-minded founder, but the other two clearly agreed with him. They could have just decided not to be in the video. I also don't see a world where they contractually obligated themselves to every whim of Steven's like some people are suggesting.

Do I think they're a bit sheltered in their LA life? Yeah, probably. I'm pretty sheltered myself - I live a comfortable middle class life in Australia, have a good job and am studying law. I could definitely afford the subscription. But I don't want to atm, or at least until they respond to the situation. Are they the worst most evil capitalists because they want to charge money for the content they create? No, not inherently. People supported them on Patreon because of course creatives should be paid for their labour, and ideally paid well enough to live comfortably. But the combo of bad business decisions (e.g. hiring too many staff too quickly while also wanting to pay them above a living wage, not advertising the patreon, not utilising revenue streams that aren't a streaming service like youtube memberships, spending what Ryan has said is hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single season of a series they have called Ghost Files) and the fact the CEO is pretty open about his comfortable lifestyle (drives a tesla which btw folks isn't a luxury car it's just a more expensive one, has a $300 matcha machine, has a series based on fine dining vs more affordable restaurants), means people are understandably mad because they are struggling financially and the founders (from what we know) are not - but they're trying to tell people that 6 USD is affordable for everyone.

It's a lot less to do with the fact of them charging for content as much as the way they went about it and in particular how it's been phrased to people has come across really insensitive. There's other logistics with the streaming service itself that were not thought out at all for international viewers, but I won't get into that here. And the pretending they were always going to leave their content up and telling viewers not to spread misinformation is scummy to me - at least acknowledge that was a mistake you made and backtracked on. It's just a mess but I really loved their videos and hope they make Youtube's Greatest Apology Video Ever (unironically) and try to undo some of the damage.

edit: someone in the replies made a great point that teslas could actually be considered a luxury car in some countries outside of the US, and I fully agree that 6 USD is 1) too much for what they offer, esp in this economic climate and 2) wayyyyy too much when converted to other currencies. I've seen other Australians say the conversion is too much for them but I know viewers in other countries say it comes out to literally thousands for them - if they can even access the site at all from their country.

[eustasskiddsprosthetic]

I have this Lawlu fic idea called "The City of Light" in my drafts. I'm most excited about writing Law here. He's a pirate who disappeared a century ago and no one knows where he is. That is...

In the present day, Luffy stumbles upon an island that's seemingly abandoned. Usopp refuses to go, claiming he has 'fear of new islands diseases'. At their campsite, Usopp suddenly disappears. Whatever, Usopp probably got cowardly—nothing new. He and Zoro push on!

They end up on a city made of white gold. It's shiny, it's brilliant and sparkling. They're greeted by a handsome man who's older than them both but speaks kindly and warmly. He shows them around, feeds them whatever they want and gives them nice clothes. He promises to keep a look out for Usopp, but there's a weird look in his eye Zoro could not ignore. It gets worse when Luffy looks positively smitten.

One night, Zoro turns to Luffy and says, "Hey, this is nice but I think we should go back. I don't like the way he looks at you." Luffy just blinks, "Why?" Zoro explains, "Usopp's gone and I think he did it." Luffy never saw Zoro this nervous before but he agrees to be careful. The next day, Zoro's gone too. Whatever, maybe Zoro got lost. Zoro will come back. He always does!

(TW: Cannibalism.)

The next morning, Luffy sees his host under a waterfall while exploring the forest. That's when Luffy really sees him as a man, a gorgeous, sexy, irresistible one. He turns to Luffy and smiles. He invites Luffy to come bathe with him, which is an excuse for him to feel up Luffy approvingly while stripping him. He touches Luffy everywhere. His chest, his abs, his hips. He is just about to come closer until...

A plant nearly bites off the man's head. Then some sleeping gas.

Amidst the confusion, Usopp grabs Luffy and runs away into the forest, runs as far as he can back to their ship. Usopp tells Luffy that this guy's really fucking dangerous. He 'disappeared' because he got chased by this huge white bear demon (Bepo's sulong form) with shining blue eyes while collecting firewood. With enough effort, Usopp finally defeated the bear. That's not all. Usopp saw him try to lure Zoro into a cave by conjuring phantoms of Kuina demanding a rematch. The guy eats people in said cave. For a brief moment, Usopp swore he looked ancient, all wrinkly like a raisin as he devours them and only when he's had enough does he revert back to his youthful appearance. Just before Luffy can process this information, the man catches up to them and he is FURIOUS. He drew his sword to kill Usopp but Luffy pushes him off and punches him back. Luffy tells Usopp to run away and take care of Zoro and the others.

Luffy's unsure of what to make of this, but he decides to stick around just in case. By this point, Luffy's half in love. He did not want to think his first love could do anything bad...

The next day, Luffy stumbles upon a cave. When he looks inside, that's when he finally understood Usopp's urgency. The man was eating someone and was half-way through eating his arm that he looked up and saw Luffy. Luffy just walks up to him, finds the locket that accidentally dropped on the floor. He opens it and recognises the people inside. Luffy said he would leave the island to return the locket to the proper owner no matter what. The man's livid now.

They get into a heated argument about the world being dangerous or whatever but that doesn't matter. Right after Luffy says that he has his crew to protect him, the man knocked him out unconscious...