#and then the reality of it kinda hits her but :( damn she was fun i loves Fire and Ice and FoS

[harriertail]

Bratty silverstream is sooo fun im so glad leopardstars honour made her kinda that way… she was babied by Crookedstar her whole life of course she thinks she can have illegal relationships without consequence

[littlexscarletxwitch]

hello I would like to request Flo X reader fic. Where reader is touring with Harry styles. She plays guitar and Flo comes to his concert (she is friends with Harry) and meets Y/n and they hook up later that night (soft smut, maybe some praise or light choking?) . And then like a timeskip to their wedding. Harry gives a funny speech about how they met.

Sorry if it's too much. But this is one of my daydreaming scenarios. I trust you with doing it justice ❤️

── ༊*·˚⋆ 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁

paring: florence pugh x fem!reader

tag(s): fluff, nsfw, r is harry's friend, flo's also harry's friend, harry is like r's big bro

warning(s): MDNI, +18 ONLY read at your own risk, explicit smut, wlw sex, oral sex, slight praise kink, slight choking kink, grammatical errors, unedited

word count: 3.1k

note: It's been a long time coming but here I am lol. I FUCKING LOVED YOUR IDEA ANON. I just love Florence and love Harry so this was on fucking top. I hope you like it, sooo sorry it took me soo long to post it. Love you all, M <3

requests are open! + check my rules + masterlist <3

The screaming, the singing, the cheering, the whole whole scene just sent shivers up your spine. 

You knew that it wasn’t for you, not really. It was all for him and you couldn’t be prouder of all the things he had accomplished. Sure, he was kinda like your boss, or so the two of you would joke, but in reality Harry was a really good friend of yours. He was the older brother you had never had. 

A sad smile made its way over to your face as the show came to an end. It was always the worst part of the show, knowing that you would have to say goodbye to the unbelievably loud, fun, joyful atmosphere. But the thought of doing it all over again soon offered you some comfort. 

And so it came to an end, as everyone hit the last chord and note, and as Harry said goodbye to every person in the stadium. A second later, all lights went out, and everyone went offstage. 

“I could never get tired of this,” was the first thing you said as you all made their way into your dressing rooms. 

“Damn right!” Sarah agreed. You took a quick glance at her and smiled as you watched her holding Mitch’s hand. 

“They always are so incredible,” Harry said from next to you. “You guys are also incredible. I cannot thank you enough for being here.”

“Get out of here, you dork,” you playfully nudge your shoulder against him. 

“I mean it,” he said, chuckling. 

“I know you do,” you said, rolling your eyes at him. 

“Harry!” you heard someone screaming behind you, causing the aforementioned to turn around. 

“Flor?” he said as a blond woman came running closer. “Flor!” he said, this time sure, as he opened up his arms to hug the woman

She, pretty much, launched herself into his arms as he tightly hugged her. “You were amazing! she said. “You all were!” she finished as Harry let go of her. 

“Thank you, Flor. I didn’t know you were actually coming,” you noticed that Harry couldn't stop smiling. 

“I know, I didn’t either. But I just thought I couldn't miss this, you know,” she nudged Harry’s side as you had done a few seconds before. 

You cleared your throat getting Harry’s attention. “Oh, right. Everyone, this is Florence, fellow actor,” he joked. “Flor, this is everyone: Mitch and Sarah,” he gestured to the couple. “Elin, Niji, Pauli, Ny,” the four of them nodded and waved at her. “And lastly, but definitely not least, Y/n.”

“Hello,” you smiled at her. “Nice to finally put a face to your name.”

“Likewise,” she smiled back, her eyes not leaving your frame and you swore you felt your stomach flipping. “It’s nice to meet all of you, really,” Florence gently shook her head, snapping out of her own thoughts. “I just wanted to say ‘hi’, I guess I’ll be on my way…”

“No, don’t leave,” Harry protested. “We finally get to hang out. Have dinner with me, please,” he said, grabbing her hands. “Y/n and I are going to this amazing restaurant and I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want to intrude…”

“Not at all,” you quickly cut her off. “It would be lovely to have someone helping me handle this one over here,” you motioned to Harry. 

“Rude,” he scoffed, as if he was actually hurt but there was a grin on his lips. 

She chuckled, “I’m not sure…”

“Please, I insist.”

“She insists,” Harry repeated your statement. 

“I, um…” Harry looked at her with puppy eyes. “Fine, fine,” she gave up with a smile on her face. “But dinner’s on me.”

“Not a chance,” Harry said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

[...]

“So, this Olivia girl is nuts,” you concluded. 

“Well, I wouldn’t use that word,” Harry said as he winced at your choice of word.

“Yeah, she’s mental,” Florence said otherwise, nodding at you. 

“Was the movie good at least?”

“You didn’t watch it?” Harry asked, but your whole attention was on Florence. 

“Yeah, I guess so,” she answered you. “Fans like it, critics thought it was alright. But the whole cast… there was some weird energy going on…” she shrugged it off as she took a bite of her pasta. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t watch my movie,” you heard Harry keep on complaining.

“It must have sucked. Such great actors and good people were involved, all for her to ruin the whole thing…”

“I’m your best friend, why didn’t you watch it?” he said, turning his head to you so you couldn't ignore him anymore. 

“Jesus! I’m sorry, okay,” you said defensively, making Florence chuckled. “It just slipped out of my mind,” you said as a smile creeped on your lips, mirroring Florence’s.

“You are a bad friend.”

“I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are,” he dramatically sighed. “But that’s okay, I still love you,” he said, placing a kiss on your forehead as he stood up. “I’m going to the loo, I’ll be right back.”

“He’s such an ass,” you said, once he was gone, as you took a sip of water. 

Florence giggled at your words. “He is, isn’t he?” She cleared her throat. “So, I… I have to ask… Are you and Harry… you know like…,” she said, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks. 

You quickly realised what she meant and almost choked on your water. 

“No! God, no,” you said, clearing your throat, causing Florence to both laugh and sigh in relief. “He’s like my big brother. From the moment we met I just… I knew he would be a big part of my life, and he is… as my brother,” she nodded as a smile found its way to her lips. “Plus, he’s definitely not my type. Like at all, if you know what I mean,” you said, hiding behind your glass again. 

“I think I do know what you mean,” Florence smiled at you in accompaniment. 

“So, you and him never…”

“No,” she chuckled. “I mean we did kiss but it was just acting so…” she trailed off, licking her lips which caused your eyes to quickly look at them. 

“Good to know,” you said as you gulped down the lump that had formed in your throat.

[...]

“I’m sorry I have to leave early,” Harry mumbled disappointed. 

“It’s okay. We had a lot of fun, right?” you winked at Florence to which she nodded. “Drive safe, H,” you mumbled as you hugged him goodbye. 

“Always,” he said as he let you go and went to hug Florence. “Don’t be a stranger, okay, Flor?”

“I won’t,” she hugged him tightly. “I promise.”

“You guys are sure you don’t want me to drop…”

“We’ll be fine,” you quickly cut him off. 

“M’okay, I’m leaving,” he said, making his way to his car. “Good night!”

“Night night!” you said back, watching his back as he left the two of you alone. 

“So, um…” Florence said once she was sure her friend was gone. “Would you like to get some coffee back at mine?” you smiled as her cheeks turned red once again. “Well, it’s not mine. I don’t live there, but I am staying there. So I guess it does count as mine—” she was rambling. 

“I would love to,” you cut her off. 

[...]

The moment the both of you stepped through the door, the coffee was long forgotten. 

“I’ve been waiting to do this the entire night,” she whispered on your lips.

You didn't know how it happened, but the glances on your way to Florence’s house became featherlight touches and next thing you knew she was pushing you inside her house and her lips soon found yours. You weren’t complaining though. 

“Oh, really?” you teased her as you bit her bottom lip. 

“Yes,” she said in between a soft moan, dragging you to the couch. 

“We are doing this here?” you said, as you kissed her neck. 

“The bedroom is too far away,” she said, already breathless, lying on the couch. 

“It’s literally just ten more—.”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” she said cupping your cheeks, forcing her lips onto yours. 

The kiss only became rougher as your tongue made its way past her lips, fighting against her own. You could still taste the wine she had earlier along with the ice cream she had for dessert. You moved your lips down, finding once again her sensitive skin and decided to leave your mark on her. Something for her to remember you afterwards. 

“That’s gonna leave a mark.”

“Yeah, that’s what I want,” you said as you kissed right where your teeth had been. “I don’t want you to forget me so easily,” you chuckled, before sucking another part of her skin just to leave another bruise. 

“Trust me, I’m gonna remember this night.”

As best as you could, while still being on top of her, you stripped her out of her clothes. It wasn’t that hard since she was wearing a dress, and she wasn’t wearing a bra like she always would. The only thing keeping you from admiring the entirety of her body was the thin piece of cloth covering her centre. 

“God, you are breathtaking,” you said as your lips wrapped around her nipple.

“Fuck,” Florence muttered as her head fell back, arching her back against the couch. 

Slowly, you made your way down her body, your lips ghosting over where she needed you the most. You brushed your nose against her clothed clit, your hot breath on her making her squirm under you. 

“Y/n…” she whined. 

You licked up her slit, tasting her even through the thin fabric, making you moan into her at how wet she already was. 

“Just take it off already, please.”

“So eager, so wet for me… I like that,” you chuckled, before tugging down the piece of cloth with the help of your teeth. 

As your tongue explored her sensitive centre, your right hand found its way up to her neck and slightly squeezed once you pushed your tongue inside her. You could feel her fast heartbeat under your hand, and decided to keep up with that pace as your tongue thrusted in and out of her. 

You moved your tongue up, finding her clit and sucking hard on it while you used your free hand to push two fingers in her, making her moan out loud. You squeezed her neck a bit tighter, not tight enough to stop her from breathing, just to let her know she was being taken care of. 

“Shit, I won’t be able to hold back for longer,” she cried out, brows furrowed as you keep on working on her. 

“Then don’t hold back, baby,” your voice was muffled because of her cunt. “Just come for me, Flor.”

You thrusted even faster and harder, arching the tip of your finger just to hit her sweet spot, working your tongue rougher on her clit and a second later you felt her legs wrapping around your head as her whole body started to tremble and your name fell out of your lips. You helped her ride her orgasm as you squeezed her neck getting the best out of her as you swallowed every drop of her juices. 

“You did so good for me, babygirl,” you said as you went up to kiss her lips so she could have a taste of herself.

“Bloody hell, Y/n. That was amazing…” she struggled to speak the words out, she was completely breathless. 

“We are just getting started, sweetheart.” 

[...]

After that night, Florence and you exchanged numbers and found yourself reaching out for the other constantly. She would tell you about her job, and you would tell her about the tour. Some nights, when she had a free weekend, she would fly out to where you were and stay in the hotel with you. Those were the best nights ever, just the two of you cuddling and kissing and doing more than just kissing. 

She was one of the best things that had ever happened in a long time, you wanted to let the whole world know she was now yours and you were hers. But if the whole world knew, then Harry would too. And neither of you were sure how he would take the news. You were scared to lose your best friend —your brother— even if it sounded really silly, you were fucking his best friends after all.

There were so many times when you almost told him, after all when touring with your best friend he knew there was something going on with you, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He would watch as you giggled and smiled at your phone, or he would wonder why you started to stay at the hotels instead of going out with the whole group at night. He didn’t want to intrude, so he settled for waiting for you to open up with him. But curiosity was eating him inside out, luckily for Harry, he would find some answers really soon. 

First night in London was just around the corner, and Florence came along with it, since he decided to invite her to that show as well. You weren’t aware of the arrangement until you stumbled into Harry’s dressing room and she was just sitting there. 

“Hi,” you said, with a tint of uncertainty. 

“Hi,” she just smiled at you and you felt your tummy shrinking. 

“What are you–? How? When?” you felt your anxiety creeping in. 

“I’m seeing one of my best friends performing, and my girlfriend as a plus. How? Well, I guess Harry made it possible and when? I just got here, like twenty minutes ago,” she chuckled. “Do you not want me here?” she joked. 

“No!” you shook your head. “I mean, of course I want you here,” you said, getting closer to her, wrapping your arms around her waist and resting your forehead on hers. “I just…,” you sighed. “I’m sorry, I just freaked out because of Harry.”

“I know, love,” she said, caressing your arms. “I think we should tell him, maybe after the show.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“It’ll go just fine, I promise,” she added, once she sensed your doubt. She cupped your cheeks searching for your eyes. “I promise, okay?” she reassured you.

“Okay,” you nodded, convincing yourself that Florence was right. 

She couldn’t help it and sealed the promise by softly kissing all your doubts and worries away. You didn’t realise how badly you needed that kiss until your breath was taken away. It wasn’t just a kiss, it was a caress to your uneasy heart and you felt your entire self melting into her, completely forgetting where the two of you were standing. 

“So this was it,” you heard someone say behind you. 

A pair of stern green eyes met yours and you felt your heart drop to your stomach, but the cold green eyes quickly moved past you. 

“I cant believe you are fucking my guitarist,” Harry simply said to Florence.

You didn’t expect him to snap at Florence, but for some reason there he was doing exactly that.

“Harry!” you chimed in.

“What? It's true, isn’t it?” he shrugged it off, not moving his eyes from Florence.

“It’s complicated,” she attacked him back.

“It’s not complicated. Are you or are you two not fucking? Simple as that.”

“It’s not just fucking,” he winced at the use of the ‘f-word’ coming out of your lips. You were his best friend, almost like a sister and there he was finding out his ‘sister’ was fucking his best friend. “There’s more to it.”

“This is what you had been hiding from me, isn’t it? I knew there was something off with you. I just… I can’t believe neither of you would tell me.”

“We didn’t do it on purpose, Harry,” Flo said.

“It just happened,” his eyes softened once he found yours again. “We didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did, Hazz.”

“So it’s not just, you know…” he didn’t want to say ‘fuck’ again, he had had enough with that word when it came to you. 

“No, it’s not—.”

“I love her,” Florence said. 

“What?” you asked in disbelief, that was the first time she would say that. 

“I do. I love you,” she said now to you. “You feel like home, Y/n. And I want nothing more than to come home every night to you.”

You couldn't help the smile forming on your lips. “I love you too,” you said chuckling. 

“Great! I can’t stay mad at you two if you keep on being this lovely…” Harry huffed. “You know what, I’m just gonna leave. We can talk about this later, or maybe not,” he said making his way to the door, but before he walked out he said: “Though, I want both of you to know that I’m glad you two found each other… and that it was because of me.”

[...]

Three years later. 

Harry cleared his throat before speaking. “I would like to start my best man speech by saying that these two lovebirds met because of me, so I am to thank that we are all gathered here, therefore you are all very welcome,” the room cheered for him, even though it was supposed to be yours and Florence’s night. “When I first found out about them, I just freaked out,” the whole room bursted into laughter both yours and Florence’s family and friends. “I did, I swear. I just couldn't believe it.”

“Harry!” you scolded him.

“Y/n is like my little sister, “ Harry completely ignored you. “And when I found out that my little sister was doing things… unthinkable, unspeakable, unpleasant things, with my so-called friend…”

“Harry!” this time Florence said with a warning tone, making the whole room chuckled.

“I freaked out,” he smiled to himself remembering the moment. “But now, standing here and celebrating their love on this glorious day, their wedding day, I just know it was meant to be. Y/n,” he said looking into your eyes. “You know you feel like a sister to me,” you felt tears burning your eyes. “And I couldn’t be happier knowing that you found the love of your life. And that it’s not just some random stranger you found online or something, “ the room chuckled again. “But it’s one of the best, kind, gentle souls I know,” you searched for Florence’s hand, squeezing it. “I’m glad you found her, Flor. I’m glad you found each other” his eyes were now locked on hers. “And I’m glad you love her just as much as I do, maybe even more,” he winked at her. “So,” he raised his glass of champagne, everyone following suit. “Cheers to the both of you, for your undecaying love,” he was going to take a sip from his glass but he quickly added: “And cheers to me for bringing you two together.”

Likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated! <3

-M

[spoonsock]

Starbucks love

Gwen Stacy x reader

Synopsis: Ever wondered what would the one and only Spider Gwen order from Starbucks? Me neither but take this anyway.

Warnings: Idk none I think. Not proofread. Writing this at 2am no joke what is wrong with me. Also DUDE. This is kinda similar to Intruder like wtf am I really that not creative. 😭

Also, fun fact, I’ve never been to Starbucks so if I got something wrong pls lemme know.

You didn’t really mind having a part time job at Starbucks. It wasn’t that bad. All you had to do was take orders, make them, write names on cups with your best handwriting. Sometimes kick customers out. Sometimes maybe serve Spider-woman.

Yup that’s right. It all started yesterday.

It was supposed to be a normal day. You clocked in early and mentally prepared yourself for what awaits you ‘cause you never know what might happen. God, what a good decision it was to say a few positive words before the day started.

Around 10 AM, the shop is not even that filled with people yet, three guys barge in, all of them with a gun in their hands. One of them points the gun at you and then at the register, while the other two guys walk around the people sitting at their tables.

“You empty that thing right now or Imma blow your brains out”. The guy says pointing a gun at your face and you freeze. You don’t move an inch, just stare right at him. Your eyes are not wide, you are not hyperventilating or anything. You are panicking, but not showing any signs of it.

The more you stare at the guy, the more impatient he grows. “What are you? Deaf? I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t take the damn money out this fucking moment”.

As soon as he finishes his sentence, the door of the shop slams open and (literally) twirling in comes, the one and only, Spider-woman. The armed men immediately turn to her and point their guns, but she slouches and puts her hands on her hips, looking at them unfazed.

“Seriously, you guys aren’t gonna make this easy for me, are you?”, Gwen asks and receives no answer. “…Alright then”

Before you can even blink, she hits one of the guys in the face, grabbing his gun and throwing it at the other guy. You watch as the the third guy tries to throw a punch at her face but narrowly misses and she succeeds to grab his arm and twist it, before kicking him in the stomach. She easily webs all three of the unconscious men up and the people from the shop clap. She bows jokingly and makes her way over to you.

“Hey, you okay? They didn’t take any money, did they?”, she asks but you are unable to answer. When the masked guy pointed the gun at your face, it triggered something in you. Pushed an “off” button in your brain and turned everything into blurry stop-motion pictures.

For the record, you’ve never been held at gunpoint. Well, until that day, but you hoped it was the first and last time. You didn’t know why it caused you to act like that. To just freeze and zone out. I mean any normal person would start sweating and fearing for their life, visibly shaking or something but you? It turned you off.

Whatever. Whatever it was, you zoned back into reality when you saw a white hand move in front of your face.

“Helloooo? Earth to..”, Gwen stopped and squinted to read from your name tag. “Y/N? Earth to Y/N! You there?”

You quickly took in your surroundings before pulling yourself together and nodding. “Yeah yeah, I’m. I’m fine. Everything is fine. Thank you. For helping. And for asking. I’m fine”, you stumbled across your words and even behind her mask, you could see Spider-woman hesitantly furrowing her brows at you. She didn’t believe you, obviously. You were a terrible liar.

“Riiiighht, well I’m gonna go then”, she stretched out her words before slowly turning around, picking the masked, armed guys off of the floor and exiting the shop.

Honestly, you thought that was going to be your last encounter, but oh boy, you were wrong.

Because she came back in the very next day.

“Oh, hello?”

“Hi”

“I didn’t really see any thieves or villains in our shop today, but uh, how may I help you?”, you ask, unsure of what was she here for, kinda scared that something bad might happen soon and she’s just there to try to prevent it.

“Uhhh actually I came to see you. A-and to get a vanilla latte. And a chocolate chip cookie. But I’m mostly here to see you”, you felt your cheeks heat up at her words. The famous friendly neighbourhood superhero, Spider-woman, came in Starbucks in which you worked just to see you. Strange.

“Um. Okay.”, you didn’t really know what to say to that. What do you even say in a situation like that??

“Soo, hi. Are you okay? You uh didn’t really look the best yesterday? I-I mean you can’t really look the best after being held at gunpoint anyway. Not that you look bad! You don’t! It’s just that, it must have been traumatic, obviously. Not just for you, I guess for everyone in the shop but-“

“I’m okay”, you decided to stop her rambling. “Thanks for checking”, you gave her a shy smile and she smiled back, you guess, but didn’t say anything. You two just stood there, in comfortable silence, until someone coughed behind the masked superhero and tapped their foot on the ground impatiently.

“O-oh um you uh are you going to order orrrrr….?”, you asked, remembering suddenly that you were at work. Where you are supposed to do your work.

“Oh ah yeah I-I’ll have uuuuuuuuhhh a short vanilla latte and a chocolate chip cookie. Please.”

“You’re seriously going to order the most basic white girl drink?”, you chuckled before you’re eyes widened. “NO. Please tell me I didn’t say that out loud”, you thought. But judging by the silence you were met with and the “o_0 expression” (if you could call it that) your friendly neighbor super hero held, you were wrong. “Oh fudge”, you furrowed your eyebrows before giving her the most sympathetic look you could make.

“I did not mean to say that I am SO sorry. I mean I didn’t even mean to think that it just kinda came outta nowhere, I’ve never said anything like that out loud ever. Or not out loud. I’ve never even thought something like that, honest! I seriously don’t have any idea where this came from I mean I would never ever guess your race- it’s none of my business! And it’s not like race has anything to do with the goddarn drink. It’s a drink! Anyone can order it! I have no say in that and I am SOO-“

“IT’S OKAY”, this time, Gwen interrupted your rambling (finally, it seemed like you could go on and on), “you can uhhh make up for it by, I dunno, maybe, givingmeyournumber?”, she was nervous, but you were oblivious unfortunately.

“Oh. OH YEAH I can do that..I’ll just go get your drink. And you cookie”, your ass has never left a place so fast. “SPIDER WOMAN. WANTS. MY NUMBER”, you squealed in your head while preparing her order.

You returned to her in a few minutes, a cup in one hand and a cookie in the other. “For here or do you want me to put it in a bag?”

“Can you put just the cookie in the bag?”, Gwen asked shyly and you nodded packing the cookie in the paper bag. Taking a sharpie that stood on your side of the counter, you wrote on her cup of latte “For Spidey ♡ by Y/N”, scribbling your phone number underneath and handing the bag and the cup to her.

“Thank you for your visit. Enjoy!”, you said what you always say to your customers and she jokingly gave you a two finger salute, turning around and exiting the shop.

The whole day after her visit, you’d check your phone every two seconds waiting for her text. At this point, you were already at home, watching a movie you picked out randomly to distract you from constantly glancing at your phone. Unfortunately, you were a person who constantly keeps their sound off and the movie actually intrigued you to the point you somehow forgot about the happenings of yesterday and today, at least until the movie ended.

And then it hit you.

You opened your phone to see four new notifications from unknown. FROM AN HOUR AGO.

You could barely contain your excitement. Spider woman. Asked you. For your number. She had your number. And she texted you. You have Spider woman’s number. And you’re about to answer to her texts. Holy quack.

Unknown

Today 20:14

hey, this is spider woman

wow that felt weird to write hahah

anyway thank you for the drink

and your number

You smiled at your phone. Who would’ve thought that she would be so awkward while texting.

Unbeknownst to you, an hour ago, Gwen was panicking hard. At first she didn’t know what to say. She spent 10 minutes just writing and then deleting and writing and deleting words. Eventually, she decided to muster up the courage and send whatever first came to mind.

The moment she clicked on the “send” button, she regretted it. Then she sent another message, to try to fix the situation she put herself in. Only to realize she is just digging her grave deeper. Before she knew it, she sent you four messages, then threw her phone as far away as possible without damaging it too much, to stop herself from sending another text in attempt to “fix the previous”. She grabbed her mask and pulled it over her head, hiding her face from no one in particular.

After a few minutes, she heard a ding from across the room and scrambled from her bed quickly, tangling herself in the covers, getting her leg stuck in them and managing to fall face first on the floor.

Groaning, she reached for her phone from the very position she fell into, expecting to see a text back from you.

“Iphone storage full” was the only notification she received. Gwen placed the phone to where it was, continuing to lay on her bedroom floor with her Spider mask on.

“This is going to be a long night”

[quadrantadvisor]

Was desperate enough to use the search function to find posts about The Host by Stephenie Meyer and I just wanted to say, I love your takes and I agree with everything.

The love square never made sense. Jared and Melanie were impossible to root for because the sole basis of their love was that Melanie felt safe with him and Melanie was the last woman on Earth to Jared, and then neither of those things turn out to be true so all they have is intense sexual chemistry. And especially in contrast to Ian and Wanda, how and why am I supposed to care about them? And there is no reason for Wanda to love Jared. I get her falling in love with him through Melanie’s memory of him, but the reality ought to have shattered that illusion for both of them IMO. Especially for Melanie, because he’d rather scream at and hit her body rather than even entertain the hope she might be in there. Sure, he protects it from other humans, but then he abuses it, so that’s not in fact protection; it’s possession.

The gender bioessentialism never made sense. Sure, Wanda’s in a female body and can make the choice to reproduce, which is super cool. But given that her sense of gender hinges on that ability to reproduce and given that that ability is super rare, why would other Souls gender themselves? I think being agender or someone who just didn’t give a damn about pedantic human gender roles would have been super interesting for Wanda’s character and I think it would have added more dimension to her and Ian’s relationship. He barely had to struggle with the fact that the body she was in belonged to an attractive cisgender girl and he was a cishet man, in spite of Meyer’s weak attempts to call that into question. The gender question might have thrown him for more of a loop.

Contrast that to Jared’s very comphet interpretation of his relationship with Melanie, and ooh baby, we’ve got a stew!

Also would have liked more exploration on ethics in general. Why do the Souls care about the well-being of the organisms on the Fire Eater planet but not on Earth? Instead of stopping from eating them, do they steal their bodies too? And the humans killing other humans in an attempt to save them: Is it okay to murder them if they’re the ones doing the murdering, like before?

Sorry for the long ask. I just have a lot of thoughts. Please feel free to block and ignore if this is too weird. Genuinely no intention to bother or offend and I’m sorry if I have.

Oh man I'm always ready to rant about The Host with people!

Yeah I feel like Meyer thought she was saying something really deep about human nature and the way that our instincts drive us? And there is something there, like, your body having a reaction to another person and that affecting your behavior is interesting! In my opinion she just went WAY too far with it, and it makes the characters seem unrealistic and childish. The ways that both Melanie and Wanderer act around Jared are bizarre (this may partially be my ace spectrum talking but like, c'mon.) Jared just kinda sucks, also. The whole idea that there's this inherent magnetism between MEN and WOMEN and that that physical attraction is the most important thing in the world is so heteronormative and amatonormative and uncomfortable

And the book was SO CLOSE to having an interesting take on gender! Examing the genders and/or lack thereof of a body-snatching alien species could be so fun! There's even the mention of the alien species with three genders, and talking about their family structures. You would think that something like that would indicate a more expansive view on gender, but really it's just an extrapolation of more bioessentialism. Because that species has those biological sexes, their families MUST be steucturedin this way, because that's what's natural for them. There's no room for variability or different sorts of feelings. She completely equates gender with biology, even when that biology is being coopted by a hitchhiker.

You're so right about Ian and Wanderer, I would love more examinations of how different she is from humans, including in a gender sense, and them having to deal with that as a part of their relationship. Setting up Jared as someone very entrenched in social norms and Ian as a foil to him in that way sounds really interesting!

Soul society and ethics are SO fascinating. I do sincerely think that Meyer is an compelling fantasy and sci fi world builder, if nothing else.

It's late and I feel like I'm a little incoherent but I love getting to chat about this book, it's so infuriating but so fun, now I want to read it again.

[mindingmybidness12]

Tara Carpenter x Gn! Reader

Suspicious Minds Part 1

Warnings: Cursing and swearing... like a lot

You were rushing to an early grave and there was nothing you could do to stop it. It all started when Your alarm clock failed to wake you up on time. This, of course, made him late to work which brought him to where you are now. Tearing down the bike lane of your neighborhood while getting your ass chewed by your boss. 

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!! YOU’RE LATE!! YOU HEAR ME?? LAAAAATE!!”

“Sir, I am quite literally five minutes away. I was only supposed to clock in only a minute ago–”

“One minute is a minute too much! Now you're telling me you're gonna be FIVE MORE MINUTES LATE?? UNACCEPTABLE!!”

He then resorted to even more yelling and at this point you were already over it.You couldn’t help but think about where you're headed at the moment. You were rushing into a dead end job just to get yelled at by your douchebag boss and for what? The pay wasn’t even that good. He was just bullshitting you to believe that nobody else would hire you, when in reality, nobody would really want to work for a jackass like him. Except you did.

Key word here being did. You promptly slammed on the brakes of your bike and focused on the phone call.

"Now you listen here you old ass piece of shit," you started causing him to splutter but you didn't give him the time to recover "I have had it up to here with your crap! You treat me like shit. You underpay me. You're smelly, ugly, fat, and old as shit but you still got the nerve to push me away from the register every time a woman comes by like they're actually here to see your fugly ass! You're fifty years old in a beginner's level karate class! Get on a damn treadmill first! Then after you've had your fill, choke on a bag of dicks and fall down the stairs. Then if you find it in your ugly soul to get back up, then just go all the way to hell !!"

You hung up the phone before he could recovered and started laughing as you did. How's that for a two weeks notice? You started dancing in celebration. You couldn't help yourself. You were finally free from a crappy ass job and a crappy ass boss. Now you could finally turn your crappy life back around. Free at last, free at last! As you were dancing, you hit a quick spin around while transitioning to doing the Dougie you made eye contact with Tara Carpenter of all people. Your jaw dropped and you felt heat creeping up your cheeks from the embarrassment. Still you tried to make a pass at being casual.

"Uh.. hey.. H-how's it going?"

You were not casual.

Tara let out a giggle and grinned at you while returning the greeting with a 'hey' of her own. You had to fight the urge to not grin like an idiot. You tried not to make it so obvious that you were into her. You and her shared only one class but you ended up sitting next to each other and working on an assignment. You had no intention of falling in love with anybody but it just kinda... happened. You cracked one half hearted joke and she tried and failed to hold back a snort. From then on you were always seen together in Biology. Laughing, cracking jokes, and teasing. Sometimes you would even get threaten to be split up or thrown out of class but you always managed to keep this calm before that happened.

As much fun as you two had with each other it would always stay within the classroom. It wasn't your fault or hers, it just how it seem to end up. There were days where she'd ask for you to come hang with her but you were stuck working at a shitty job to help pay the bills as an emancipated adult. There were the rare times that you were free after class but she would be linking up with her own friends. You didn't take it to heart but it kinda sucks that you only saw each other few hours out of the week. Before your thought could wonder off too far, Tara grabbed your attention once more.

"So who was the poor person you went full psycho on just now?"

You rolled your eyes but responded anyways.

"Just my dickhead boss... or should I say former boss? Cause I just quit. I've had enough."

"Oh! Well I'm glad you've stuck up for yourself." Tara congratulated you. You just smiled at her while nodding your head in thanks. Tara smiled shyly while turning her head away from you. While the silence stretch on and you were inwardly trying to think of something to say to get the ball rolling. You didn't know if this silence was supposed comfortable or not but you we're kinda afraid to let it go on longer than this.

"So whatchu doing out out here?"

Tara huffed and then went on to explain how she had plans with one of her friends only for them to bail last minute. You just hummed and nodded along as she vented a little bit to you.

"Well sucks to suck doesn't it?"

Tara snorted while giving your arm a shove. You chuckled back before you started thinking again. Tara's plans were cancelled so she was free. You were free from a shitty poopy job with an equally shitty poopy boss. You were already out and together. Hmm.

Chance!

"Hey, Tara wanna go do something?"

"Like what?" she asked looking up towards you.

"Like... I don't know, hang out? Grab a bite to eat? It's like the first time both of us are free and together right?"

"Yeah... yeah!" She nodded getting excited about finally getting to chance to hang out with you outside of class.

"Alright then, let's go."

A/N: The end for now. Thanks for tuning in and let me know what you guys think of my very first post here. I'll see you when I see you.

[dmwrites]

“The thing is, like, really, Ren has no real power. His knights are people like Cub and Cleo, like, they’ll turn on him in an instant.” Impulse said. The soup group was sat around their meeting table, discussing the next moves the revolution should take.

“Yeah, he’s all bark and no bite.” Pearl added, smirking. “He’s a tiny little doggie with a tiny little doggie crown!”

“I think we need another prank to really annoy him. Ohh, what if we painted the crastle pink or something?” Gem jumped up and down in her seat.

They all laughed at the idea, and eagerly began to plan their next prank on the crown. Resistance life was fun, with adventure and mischief abundant.

——

The one-on-one meetings with the king had increased from around once a week to every day. The knights of the square table gathered every day in the hallway, grumbling to each other about this inconvenience, while Ren’s dramatic tones could be heard from behind the door.

“Why on earth are we still agreeing to this?” Cleo whispered not too quietly to the others one afternoon, as Cub was walked in by Bdubs. “This is ridiculous. Once a day? He’s gone mad.”

Joe gave her a twisted grimace. “I mean, someone’s gotta do it, I guess.”

“It’s like reality tv for me.” Iskall said.

Scar just kinda shrugged.

“I mean, this imaginary power has already gotten to his head. You all have got to be seeing what I am.” Cleo looked around at them all.

“You know, you’re sounding an awful lot like those soup group people.” Scar mused, plucking at the string of his bow.

“Oh, come on now, Scar.” Cleo rolled her eyes.

“Cleo! You’re up next!” Bdubs threw open the doors, letting Cub slide past with that dragon head of his, which hit every person as he passed. Cleo stepped forward, still thinking about what she’d said.

“Lady Cleo!” Ren sat at the table, leaning back in his chair with the diamonds in his cloak glittering in the light from the sun.

“Ren.” Cleo sat down rather ungracefully, as her leg was hurting a bit, and arranged her gown around her.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Cleo snorted. “If you’re talking about those damn blue glasses, yes, that was an intentional choice. They don’t go with my outfit.”

“That wasn’t what I was referring to, Lady Cleo, although your failure to adhere to the dress code will be noted.” Ren said, waving to Bdubs, who wrote something down on his laptop. He looked at Cleo again. “I was referring my name.” Cleo said nothing. “You seem to be in an awfully sour mood, more then usual, might I add.” Ren continued.

“I’m always like this, it’s part of my charm.” Cleo deadpanned back. She thought of all the things she could be doing, and sighed. “But daily meetings are an absolute waste of time, you mad dog king.”

“How dare you insult me!” Ren stood up, dramatically pointing a finger at her. “You are a traitor to the crown, you are! I should have your knighthood seized from you!”

“How would we even do that?” Bdubs piped up from his corner, but no one paid him mind.

Cleo chuckled, a low and deeply intimidating laugh that she saved for moments like these, relished a bit, honestly. “Let’s be honest, Ren. You need me. You need all of us, sure, but you’re afraid of me, and you need me.” She stood up, almost stalking Ren across the floor, one leg still a little stiff. “You mad little dog. You do realize you hold no power here, don’t you?

“I hold all the power. You just don’t know it.” Ren hissed back, although he’d let himself be pushed back into a wall, looking about as pathetic as a man could.

“No you don’t. You’re a puppet, and you are nothing without your strings.” She gestured to herself. She was standing inches away from him, and maintaining eye contact, staring down the king.

“Perhaps you’re right, Lady Cleo.” Ren said softly. He glanced back at her, then kind of off to the side.

“Look at me, Ren.”

“Okay.”

And as he said that, he moved forward, a wild grin on his face, and Cleo felt something go straight through her. She took a step back and looked down. There was a sword handle buried in her stomach.

“Ren. You do know I can’t feel pain, right?”

“Oh, I know.”

“Then why did you ruin my dress, you moronic-”

Ren grabbed the handle of the blade, pulled it out, and sliced Cleo’s head clean off her neck.

——

“Guys! Holy fucking shit!” Gem crashed right into Pearl, scrambling to her feet. “Guys, there’s something- it’s horrible!” She was shaking like a leaf and pale, tears in her eyes.

It was morning, and the soup group had gathered on the bridge for their morning coffee/tea/energy drink session, a usually relaxing routine to start the day.

“Gem, what’s going on?” Impulse asked in concern, putting a hand on her shoulder. Gem didn’t reply, but pointed up towards her base. Right on top of the hill was some kind of small shape looking down at them. The sun was just rising behind the limp-looking thing, blocking any identifying features besides outline.

“What is that, like a scarecrow or something?” Pearl asked, shading her eyes. Gem took off towards it without a word and Impulse and Pearl, after shrugging at each other, followed her up.

Green, torn fabric was being tugged by the wind. The greyish skin was beading up with morning dew. And there was something written in red, the same shade as her hair.

“TRAITOR”

“Oh my god, it’s a scarecleo.” Pearl whispered.

Death is not uncommon in Hermitcraft. But this was not death- this was a message. It was ZombieCleo, the actual decaying body, not some armor stand magic. She hung from the stake she was tied to, lifeless, like a gruesome doll of some kind. But she looked off, her skin bulging in odd places and sinking in others.

Impulse took a couple of brave steps forward, and reached for the tear in the stomach of Cleo’s dress. “Oh my god. She’s stuffed with hay like an actual scarecrow. I can see it in her exposed ribs.” Impulse leapt back, shaking out his hands as the full impact of his statement hit him.

“Wha- why?” Pearl walked forward, standing right in front of Cleo’s lifeless form, looking up into her face. “Traitor.” Silence swept through the soup group, a clawing chill that had them looking at one another in unease.

“We need Cleo to tell us what happened.” Gem spoke up finally, tears running down her face. “We can’t leave her like this.”

Pearl knelt down to examine the part of the stake in the ground. “There’s a marking here..” Pearl murmured, tracing the small carving with her finger. “An arrow, pointing down.”

“I can dig.” Impulse said hoarsly, pulling out a shovel. “But I can’t- we need to move her. Please.”

Gem and Pearl cut Cleo down, and carried her best they could into Gem’s castle. They placed her on a table, and Gem looked down at Cleo’s face, moving some bits of hair out of the way.

“Why?” She asked Pearl.

“Warning.” Pearl murmured, watching Gem smooth Cleo’s hair away from her chest, where “traitor” was still clear.

“Guys! I found something! It’s- eugh!” Impulse called from outside. Pearl and Gem dashed out, and found Impulse scrambling back on all fours away from a stained bag. “It’s guts!” Impulse choked out.

“Guts?” Pearl asked.

Gem raced to the bag and peered in. “Oh, these must be Cleo’s guts! We can put her back together!”

“Gem, I don’t think that’s how this works.” Impulse said sadly.

“She’s a zombie. She doesn’t use these anyway. I know we can do this! It’s just like a board game or something!” Gem looked back and forth at the two. “Don’t you want to save Cleo? Know what happened? If she is really a traitor, she is one of us now.”

And so, they set to work. They found that someone had made deep incisions in Cleo already, and so taking out the straw was easy, but horrifying. Gem took to the task of placing the organs back in the right spots, reworking the connections to the brain best she could.

And then there was a gasp, and Cleo’s eyes fluttered closed, then open.

“Cleo!” Gem gasped, still holding the string she was going to use for stitching.

“Holy fuck.” Cleo looked down at herself. “That fucker.” She looked around. “Well, hi soup group. Sorry about the horrors. Gem, give me that string- I’d prefer to do my own stitching.”

Gem handed over the string and needle, eyes wide. Impulse stared at her too. Pearl stood in front of her again, needing answers.

“What happened to you?”

“Ren happened to me.” Cleo muttered bitterly. “Provoked him one too many times, I guess, and he snapped. Killed me and had me brought out here as a message to you guys.” She sighed. “Joe was the one who filled me with straw.”

“Joe?” Impulse asked.

“He was forced to, with Ren holding a knife to his throat. Thank god Joe had the sense to come back here and bury my organs so you guys could find them.” Cleo finished up the stitches and cut it with her teeth.

“We’ve got to stop him.” Pearl said. “We’ve got Cleo now too. Now it’s gone too far.”

“What do we do?” Impulse asked.

“Well, I want Joe.” Cleo said. “We get him, we plan a real fucking revolution, and we take the crown off of that king’s head. He’s gone mad with power and greed. Reminds me of another king dog.” She shared a look with Impulse. “We take that crown and we burn the kingdom to the ground. It’s the only way now. The revolution is now.”

[daisythornes]

initial thoughts on tua s4 (after watching it once, a week ago) PART 1

first of all, i liked a lot of it. not all of it by any means! but i had a better time than i did with s2 and s3. i'm very aware that's a controversial take, so:

why did i (kinda) like it?

i felt like it started off strong! when i watch stuff, i prioritize story, character, tone, and dialogue above pretty much all else.

like, are meaningful things happening at a satisfying pace? how much do i care about what happens next? does it feel like the characters are being written consistently, but also being led toward realistic changes? is every decision in harmony with the established tone? is the dialogue shit, or is it good? and straight up, the beginning of s4 was hitting all these marks for me.

STORY: pacing-wise, it wasn't a slog like s3, and i was super invested in a lot of elements of it. the umbrella effect conspiracy, the brellies getting their powers back after dealing with still feeling Wrong in their more 'perfect' lives, the creepy fake christmas town (!!). even some weird detours that didn't really go anywhere, (eg. the diego and luther at the fbi/cia/whatever scene) were fun to me just because they did interesting things for the...

CHARACTERS!: at first, i was super on board with so much of what they were doing with everyone.

luther got to experience extreme body confidence and being perceived as sexy for... really the first time in the series, only to have it taken away from him all over again. he was functional and happy, but he was living in the gutted bones of the academy, and that hurt little child in him was still asking diego if he's a bad leader. beautiful stuff. he needed to make peace with his body and confront reginald (but not played for laughs this time) and learn to love every part of himself, even the failures and imperfections. it really seemed like he was being set up to do this over the course of the season, but... alas.

diego... well. i actually wish they'd done way more with diego, but i do think his and lila's relationship was never as compelling or right for these characters as i wanted it to be. them realizing it's just not working, and coming out the other side as friends who still love each other would've slayed. it could've been some kind of parallel to diego and patch, but this time diego's mature enough to handle it really well. i think him being a dad (and one of his kids being named grace) is incredible. there was a LOT there to explore, but. i guess i didn't notice how uninterested the show seemed to be in actually doing that until after watching it. still, i guess i appreciate the basic ideas they had here. AND his much-needed bonding with luther.

allison trying and failing miserably to succeed and match up to her old rumored-perfect life?? literally so sexy and agonizing and fitting for her. like, can't you imagine her wondering if she really did need her rumor to be happy? if allison on her own was in fact, never good enough? and then, yknow... overcoming this, after confronting all of her worst fears head-on? i loved watching her be a damn mess, and i think the choices to have Ray walk out on her, and Claire not always get along with her, and Klaus call her out for her toxicity were GOLD. just... wish they would've given her some kind of... yknow, resolution to all this.

klaus' storyline had me worried from the previews ngl – i was so scared they'd sort of cartoonify and make fun of health anxiety/ocd through it – you know what i mean. but idk... it felt a lot more natural for his character + grounded in reality than i expected it to. he just traded out one addiction for another. he knows the afterlife is miserable, and he'd do anything to avoid it. makes all the sense in the world. i loved how deeply caring he was, but i also love that he got to be angry and complicated and unpalatable this season! he was the furthest thing from flanderized, and he felt fully like himself in a way that he hasn't since season 1 imo.

i always did kinda want them to do the klaus + his powers being exploited storyline from the comics, buuuut.. idk. as much as i'm glad they went there without pulling any punches, it felt super late in the series to have him deal with it now. and i was waiting desperately for him to save himself, as claire said he could, by yknow... his powers evolving to the point where he could raise an army of the dead and have them do his bidding. everyone else got their powers to s2 intro level but him. it felt SO much like that was where they were going for klaus too, and i'm MAD about it.

i do think this storyline as a whole ended up feeling like a retread of his s1 arc in a lot of ways, but... again, at least klaus felt like klaus all the way through. and i'd rather have a dark arc that knows it's dark than whatever klaus' s2 was.

five... hmm. i do think five would find something to be weirdly intense about after living his life the way he has, but yeah, i don't know that he'd do it by working for any government. he's too antagonistic toward authority, right? i can, however. see him getting into double-crossing and/or conspiracy shit, which they do play with a little in s4! and that was probably my favorite five solo plot stuff of the season ngl. i wish we could've seen more of it. also i fully believe five's condescending ass would make sure he gets treated like the world-weary old man that he is while he looks like a babyfaced intern, 100%.

i did find it super fun to see him as an adult, simply because we've never really known what a 'normal' five would be like until now. and the answer is pretty solid in several ways, i think. 'normal' five is still wildly ambitious, constantly looking for ways to stoke a little chaos in his life because he really doesn't know how to function without it, and like?? also kinda just a nice brother and uncle? him solemnly nodding and saying "good effort" to diego's kid when she fails to hit a piñata was a stroke of genius.

elephant in the room time: i loved the idea of a five/lila romance. idk if i loved how it happened, but yeah! i think lila needs someone that will constantly challenge her meanness, and five's nothing if not a challenge to lila. five having a romantic storyline as one of his last character beats makes sense, guys. we don't have to be weird about it. let the man grow up, just like s1 implied he would eventually do. five's literally been an old-fashioned romantic from the beginning (re: delores). diego and lila were all chemistry, no warmth. five and lila had both. so... kudos to tua for taking the risk and exploring something fun here!

ben's storyline... i didn't care for. this was a maaajor weak link, and maybe the worst possible character plot to pin the overarching story to. i really dislike the instalove trope, and ben and jennifer went from being kinda cute with a bit of chemistry to being ride or die devoted to each other in like what... two days? bullshit. i think literally everything about the durango existing and having a nuclear reaction to the marigold, and ben being killed by reginald because of it was a whole load of stupid. i always just kinda. thought ben must've died because his powers eventually ripped him apart, or because someone fucked up on a mission and he got killed by a villain or something. no need for... any of the desperate nonsense they actually came up with.

ngl, i also straight up never agreed with them killing off umbrella ben in s2 like. it was WAY too early for that. i didn't want to see sparrow ben resolve his issues and go through an arc or whatever, i wanted to see umbrella ben through to the end. all that said, i actually thought it was smart and quite sweet to have viktor be the last person to give up on a world-ending ben, because yeah, it should always have been the case that any hargreeves is capable of doing that. the apocalypse is a metaphor for them unleashing the pain of their childhood on the world around them, etc. viktor actually succeeding in saving ben and saving the world would've been gorgeously full-circle. so... there was probably a good idea buried in here somewhere. sucks that it remained buried!

viktor! oogh, viktor. so, i was a little charmed by the initial introduction that sees viktor as kind of a shitty guy that's 'gone through every woman in town.' like, again, we're playing with opposites. the brellies getting their dream lives, but still not finding fulfillment in them, because they have yet to actually complete all the difficult work of healing. viktor is now a confident player that owns a cool bar with his name on it. i get what they were going for (and i liked it!), but i wish they would've actually gone somewhere with it.

i did really like viktor's dynamic with reginald in this season, purely for the fact that it actually acknowledged all the pain he caused viktor for the first time since season 1. it felt kinda weird and last minute for sure, but i chalk that up to how long of a time this has been coming, and yknow, better late than never. it felt soo good to see the depths of viktor's fury again, and this time fully directed at the man who incited it. fuck. yeah.

i loved reg growing a conscience and showing a completely unnecessary moment of kindness to viktor. shocking, i know. but the way the show didn't use this to try and redeem reg, or to guilt viktor into offering him forgiveness really landed right with me. like how tragic is that? at the very end, reginald learned something of humanity. but the damage had already been done. much like in the construction of tua as a tv series. :')

uhm. apparently posts have a text limit, so tbc in part 2! ;)

[azaarchiive]

holiday girlfriend; semi eita

chapter five

pie

note: sos not proofread and tumblr isn’t letting me put my barriers to you get large spaces instead

“y/n, wake up quick, it’s an emergency!” you heard semi say which woke you up immediately.

frantically, you search for his figure which, luckily, was standing right next to your sleeping figure. a crazed expression worn on his soft face.

“what’s going on?!” you quickly questioned, rubbing your eyes to unblur your vision.

“we have a day full of activities and you are just sleeping!” semi suddenly smiled as he sat down on the bed.

you looked at him in disbelief before you sighed, trying to compose yourself.

“you woke me up making me think there was an emergency when all you wanted to do was go out?” you spoke slowly, looking at semi straight in the eyes in shock.

“um, yes?” semi tentatively spoke.

“stress isn’t good for the baby you stupid- ugh!” you hit his figure after every word, making sure to land a hard one after your last word.

“ow! ok-fuck sorry! damn girl, you heavy handed.” semi pouted as he rubbed the areas in which you were particularly rough with.

“anyways, i thought i should be a nice husband-“

“don’t push your luck.”

“and treat you as you will only be here for about, 5 days before leaving.” semi stated.

“5 days?! you just couldn’t wait to book the tickets, couldn’t you?” you chuckled.

you wanted to say you were sad about leaving (country) and, to some extent, you were. you had an emotional connection to the place you were raised and born in. but, you really had nothing to stay for. no friends, no family and not really a job, so in reality you were quite excited for this move. just not that excited that it was with him.

“of course! so for five days i’ve book endless activities to do here as your way to say goodbye.” semi smiled.

“oh fuck no, i’m tired as shit and all the things here are so boring!” you groaned, pulling the covers closer to your body.

“to you! all the things here are so fun, like traditional dancing, pottery, jewellery making and so much more!” semi explained, the excitement oozing from his tone. you found it very cute.

damn semi and his angelic voice.

“ugh, well, since i know you aren’t going to drop this anytime soon, fine. but just letting you know that you are going to be so embarrassed when we are the only people there.” you rolled your eyes are you started getting up.

“trust me, we won’t” semi chuckled and he helped up from bed.

“oh yeah, i forgot the aunties will be raving the place, ready to judge me for being pregnant before marriage.” you sighed as you sluggishly dragged your feet to your bathroom.

“i wouldn’t be so sure about that”

“welcome to couple baking!” a middle-aged woman announced in english. normally foreigners book this activity so they speak in english as natives are expected to graduate being fluent in english anyways.

“you booked us for couples baking?” you whisper-yelled, now understanding why semi insisted on you two both wearing matching rings.

“well the requirements were that we were married so…” semi whispered back, smiling sheepishly as you glared at him.

“and you didn’t think that maybe you should just find one that allowed friends to do one together?” you raised your eyebrow.

“her credentials are very good! did you know she privately worked for the government?” semi argued back.

“god you’re pretentious.” you sighed before facing the lady leading the session.

“i think everyone’s ready, let’s get started!” the lady announced before rolling her sleeves and getting infront of her station.

“to start with, quickly name each other 1 and 2.” the lady instructed.

“i’ll be number 1, per usual.” semi smirked.

“ok mr man.” you chuckled.

“now, partner 1, go into the top left drawer under your station.”

semi pulled out the drawer and only saw a sleeping mask.

“oh, didn’t know it was this kind of baking. kinda defeats the purpose when you already put something in the oven!” semi shouted out, eliciting laughter out of everyone there while you looked down in embarrassment.

“what is actually wrong with you?” you took a deep breath.

“oh come on, it was funny!” semi laughed.

“i want a divorce.” you groaned.

“now, partner 1, put the blindfold on while partner 2 puts out all the ingredients.” the lady further explained.

“oo! it’s gonna be those blindfold challenges coupled do!” semi excitedly said while putting his blindfold on

“shut up.” you commented.

“not needed but anything for my beautiful wife!” semi grinned, now completely blindfolded.

“die.” you commented once again.

“you always had such a way with words!” semi gushed.

“eggs eita, i said eggs!” you yelled at him.

“well i can’t fucking see the eggs so excuse me if i can’t put them in on the first try, y/n!”

“then try harder!” you huffed, looking at the next step in the sheet given.

“ok it says to add 3 cups of flour.” you read out.

“the fucks a cup of flour?” semi asked.

“i forgot japan has a completely different measuring, i think it’s called 3 shou?” you reluctantly replied.

“aw you’re learning!” semi smiled as he added 7 1/2 literal drinking cups into the batch.

“woah what the fuck? one, why are you using literal drinking cups? two, why are you adding 7 1/2 fucking cups of flour?” you frantically questioned as you paused semi’s movements.

“honey, 1 shou is 2 1/2 drinking cups…? wherever you’ve been learning japanese, needs to refund you your money” semi chuckled as you started scooping out the ridiculous amount of flour he used.

“oh stuff it, i’m trying! plus why didn’t you realise that i said 7 1/2 glasses when before i literally said 3 cups?” you sighed before giggling.

“english isn’t my first language you racist, don’t expect me to know everything im just a singer.” semi pouted.

“there is no way you’re accusing me of racism when you live in japan.” you said dumbfoundedly.

“what’s that supposed to mean?!” semi scoffed.

“no offence, japan is amazing, but you don’t think that its treatment towards anyone that isn’t a japanese fair-skinned man isn’t offensive?”

“of course i do. it’s not perfect for sure but it’s home. and i love my home, despite its weird tendencies.” semi spoke fondly.

“i guess, but how will it be like when i come there? will i ever be able to call it home? or even survive there as the semi eita’s baby mama?” you softly spoke.

“yes, because i swear to do everything in my power to make sure you will never be effected by things like that. i get it, it’s hard trust me. and in not expecting you to adjust immediately, all i want is you attempting to, which i know you will. you always do, youre resilient as fuck, it’s one of the reasons why you run through my mind all day.” semi lifted his blindfold up to look into your eyes.

you smiled, finally feeling like maybe, just maybe, you could handle being with semi.

“as well as the fact that you are amazing at riding me.” semi chuckled whilst putting his blindfold back on.

your smile dropped immediately.

“i will shove raw eggs down your throat.” you threatened.

“food play? it was on my list but never expected you to be into it.” semi smirked.

never mind, you forget semi eita is the biggest pain in the ass you’ve ever met.

“partner 1, lift up your blindfold and look at your creations!”

semi lifted up his blindfold, only to see a half cooked, dented and moist apple pie. to say he was disappointed was an understatement.

“oh wow.” he muttered as he observed the nature of the pie, his it wobbled as every shake and how you could practically smell the salmonella.

“i know, it’s beautiful.” you joked, pulling your phone out to take a picture of the monstrosity you both made.

“wait lemme get in it!” semi called out before bending down to get in the frame as he beamed out a bright smile, attempting to hide his laughter.

you took the picture, in fact you took many and god was he fucking photogenic. his messy and disheveled demeanour only added to the appeal. you couldn’t tell if it was the hormones talking or not but you could definitely take him on the table and fuck jim right there.

“let’s get one together.” he suggested, taking the phone out of your hands as he pulled you next to him. he swung his arm across your shoulders as you both smiled, acting as though this pie was the best creation you both have made.

“wow, i’m so handsome.” semi sighed softly as he looked through the pictures he took.

“alright mr egotistical, let’s throw this and take our leave.” you laughed, snatching your phone away as he picked the pie and threw it.

“yes mama” he replied as he dusted his hands off and took his belongings.

[angelofverdum]

The Marvels (2023)

I have so much fun watching this movie. The people saying is bad just hate fun.

It obviously has its flaws, but I haven't enjoyed an MCU movie this much since Black Widow.

Nia Dacosta's direction was great. I loved all the fighting scenes, something that Captain Marvel's directors messed up in the first movie.

I love how light and fun it was. It didn't try to get you into the next movie or TV show; they were doing their own thing.

I love Carol Danvers. She is my favorite comic character, only next to my boo Jessica Drew. So, I'm always happy to see her, and this is the best she has ever been in the MCU. Nia Dacosta brought the silliness that I think it was lost in the first movie.

Teyonah Parris is a superstar. I love Monica so much. In Wandavision we didn't get to see her too much, but here she shines so brightly, literally.

The MCU hit the jackpot with Iman Vellani as Ms Marvel. One of the things I love about Ms Marvel is how much she loves Carol in the comics, so I was nervous about how they were going to portray it here, but they nailed it. And then she realized she was doing too much and apologized to Carol, just brilliant.

Also, people worried about having to watch a million movies and TV shows to understand the movie are so dumb. I follow the MCU, or I used to because the TV shows are just awful, so I didn't care because I knew Kamala and Monica from their own shows, but it didn't really matter if you watched the shows or not.

Of course, If you know them from before this movie it is an enhancing experience but it's not necessary to watch it. I'd go as far as to say that you don't even need to watch the first Captain Marvel to understand and enjoy this movie.

My favorite things of the movie:

The chemistry between the trio was perfect.

So many scenes that made me laugh out loud.

I love that they didn't give a damn about Secret Invasion as they should. This movie probably happened before the show, but I was so happy to have the real Fury back and not the pathetic version they did on that show.

The planet with the singing had me rolling. Kamala and Monica having a blast with all the dancing, and Carol was just ready to go.

I know the dudebros are going to hate that planet. They almost had an aneurysm when Megan The Stallion was twerking with She-Hulk

Kamala's interaction with everyone. She was so happy to be included.

The fighting scenes

They include a lot of Kamala's family.

Having them in casual clothes while practicing how to use their powers was amazing.

My sweet lovely Valkyrie, come back to me soon.

What I didn't like

Marvel still has a problem with the villain. It was weak, and Zawe Ashton didn't get enough material to work with. The way they tried to explain her actions was kinda confusing too.

The solution to Dar-Benn's problem was so easy and I don't understand why Monica didn't tell Carol before. It took her like 2 minutes to bring back the sun.

Post credit scenes

I couldn't care less about the young Avengers, but if this is the way to get more Kamala, fine. And I hope they also bring Xochilt's America Chavez.

For the second post-credit scene I got confused for a minute because I was sure we were in the Doctor Stranger-altered universe, but when Best entered the room he said that Charles wanted to speak to them and Maria's hero name was Binary.

But Wanda killed Charles in Doctor Strange, and Maria was Captain Marvel (I know Binary is Captain Marvel in her most powerful form, but still). So, I guess we are in another universe or reality.

I don't care about the X-men, but I admire Marvel's dedication to keeping Lashana Lynch employee; I get it.

Anyway, I love this movie, and I don't care what critics have to say 5 stars in my heart.

[xxshift4teamcapxx]

Drunk HC for Snowjanus that nobody asked for…

So, let’s just say Sej and Coryo decided to go to one of those parties most likely thrown by Festus or Arachne. Kinda Ooc cuz these mfs are some goody two shoes. But we’re throwing that outta the window.

I dub Sej as the Emotional/Affectionate Drunk.

• Is all fine and dandy at first until those shots kick in. Then, it’s all downhill from there.

• Poor thing has so much bottled up emotion, that once he gets dunk the dam breaks and he can’t stop it.

• He’s cuddly and spitting praise in every direction and doesn’t care who it’s directed at. Even if he doesn’t get along with them while he’s sober, he’s crying and hugging them like their the love of his damn life.

• *while sobbing and sniffing up snot bubbles* “OMG! I LOVE YOUUUUU SO MUUUUCH!!!”

• You’ll most likely find him sitting down and clinging onto someone. Cuz the man can’t go five seconds with bumping into someone and apologizing about it twenty-million times.

• Gets along well with the shroomheads cuz their basically on the same level of intense empathy bombing. Just don’t give him any…plz lord. He can’t handle an ego death in a crowd of people. Mans will start to question the very fabric of reality.

Then there’s Coryo. *sighs* Give me strength. He’s the Sloppy/Blackout Drunk.

• All those preppy manners and traditional beliefs he has goes flying straight out the window once he’s had enough to drink.

• He’s stumbling and cussin like a sailor. Grandma’am would keel over and die if she saw her poor grandson like this.

• “I’m NoT fUcKiN dRuNk!!!” *randomly flipping everybody off*

�� You literally have to physically cut him off because once he starts he doesn’t know how to stop. Will drink until he’s passed out on the floor, in the grass, and yes, outside on the steps of the Snow penthouse.

• Has and will be in a bar fight. Yes, it was because of all that shit talking he usually does in his head. Yes, he started it. No, he will not win because he looses all function of his motor skills cuz he doesn’t really drink that often.

• So god damn loud SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

and a bonus…ME! The Happy/Chaotic Drunk.

• I’m laughing at everyone and everything. Most likely because I’m cross faded and that euphoria be hitting HARD.

• It’s embarrassing but random stripping cuz I get so sweaty and hot.

• You can catch me throwing ass on the dance floor one minute then laying around in the bathroom cuz the tub or the floor tile is cold and feels good against my skin. (Ngl it be feeling so good in the bathroom 10/10 would recommend.)

• “OMG I LOVE THIS SONG!!!” “WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” “HERE! RECORD THIS!!!”

• Don’t dare me to do a damn thing because I will do it no matter what. ZERO self control.

• Is loud, if not louder then Coryo. Imma say it again SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

• The gay in me dials up to like…a thousand. Sorry afab’s just wanna have fun loves.

[goatboard]

hi hi hi hi hi uhmm . uhmmm . twirls my hair . 1 4 5 6 14 and 24 :3

1 : who is your favorite character in the game?

Unironically I'm a Sara liker, i think she's both the biggest failure and the biggest bossgirl. In reality I think the way she's so geniuenly compassionate and kind of a dork. She's so self-conscious in a way I find actually so cute but also so reletable and it's been so fun to see how the death game affects character but more importantly how the other characters influence her. I also like that she sometimes can say the dumbest things.

4 : whats your favorite moment ingame?

OHH I GOT A FEW. This is gonna get spoiler-y but!

Not exactly one specific moment but Gin wanting for Sara to hang out with him in exchange for the tokens. He really is so well written it's insane but honestly this is also such a good way for making the player (us) get closer to Gin for the final attraction. Also it's just so sweet when he decides to trust Safalin with Mew-chan because Sara said so.

Moment number two is when Alice decides to erase his memories of Reko. Like! This is a moment that shows the major differences between Reko and Alice as well as Alice's true nature, which is obviously being a coward. It's also the moment when I both want to yell at him so sooo much for doing it but partially I understand.

THIRD IS THAT ONE VERY VERY SHORT SNIPPET OF NAO IN THE AFTERLIFE. Especially in the Reko dies route. I think that one is mostly self explanatory. It makes me so insane to think that those two care about each other so deeply that death can't do them apart.

I think I'll stop for now um-

5 : which character did you change your opinions on the most?

Joe and Q-taro.

For Joe I'll have to be honest, I didn't care much for him at the beginning. His death mostly hit me by the way Sara reacted to it. I think Joe is a character who grew on me the more he was gone?? His dynamic with Sara is just so good and he's just such a sweet guy. I more or less went from indifference to liking him a lot.

And so sorry Bas but I really disliked Q-taro at the beginning. He didn't seem to be doing much at the beginning of the game and was hella distrustful. Which, fair, but it was also so damn annoying. The final attraction didn't do much in my eyes for him either. Like, irc he let Gin be stung twice. Like. Dude. His later relationship with Gin and Mai did change that a lot to me. I think he also kinda needed that experience of the final attraction to tone him down a little and be one of the main driving forces behind trying to resist AsuNaro.

6 : which character do you think has the most death flags?

EZ. Keiji. I was convinced this man was gonna die in 3b instead of Q-taro. At this point if he does live through the death game I'm going to be disappointed.

14 : whats your favorite joke from the game/fandom?

Homophobic Midori & everybody hates Shin. Sorry not sorry.

24 : in YTTS, which fondness events are your favorite?

Oh I don't think I've gotten all of the fondness events so far. I still haven't even finished Kai's route ahaha--

But! Even if there are all of the events that are so emotional and dive deep into the characters I will have to choose Kanna's fondness events with Mishima. This girl just cracks me up. She insists her bucket is a damn hat and then outs her sister. Iconic. Legendary.

It's also so fun to see Kanna happy and not haunted by Kugie's death. Her character really shines in YTTS. Pun intended.

[ofbluesandyellows]

Three: Jitterbug Love- Eddie Munson/Reader

Warnings: mentions of puking and swearing

Word count: 2,999

Previous chapter

The truth was that you thought you were fucked the night before but on Monday you realized you were not as fucked up as you were when you woke up that morning. It was all thanks to the dream you just had, it had been weird but caused a fluttery feeling to explode in your stomach when Eddie kissed you under the moonlight, and he tasted like cherries and his lips were cold because he had bought you a slushy; you just came out of a concert in New York. It felt so normal to be there, when reality hit you like a bucket of cold water you woke up to the sound of fucking Van Morrison coming from downstairs.

You could feel your heart pounding so hard against your ribs that you were actually afraid you were going into cardiac arrest. You fell onto the pillow again, whenever you closed your eyes there was Eddie’s fucking smirk and those shiny brown eyes, fuck him! Fuck him and his charm!

The pillow did little to muffle your frustrated screams but Van Morrison was way louder than you so it was fine, but it wasn’t fine, you had a crush on fucking Eddie Munson, the one guy you never considered having a crush on. You even had one for Steve Harrington a couple of years back, and then he dated Nancy and who could beat Nancy Wheeler? Exactly, no one. So you forgot about him and then you disappeared, and it was all fine.

Robin, you needed to talk to her, she’d know what to do, or you hoped she knew because this could not continue to grow, this was a dead end, because you were going back to New York and he was going to stay and you… you couldn’t afford having your heart at stake for just a guy who had only treat you right and was fun to be around.

HE LIKED SOMEBODY ELSE! That was the main thing.

Shit!

Right after you finished your chores you were practically running to Robin’s, and the moment she sat you down at the foot of her bed you spilled the beans about the dream and how he had kissed you, both in the dream and in real life. You explained how the drunken kiss didn’t feel important in the moment, you have kissed people before and it meant nothing and you guessed this would be the same but, but—

“But you can’t stop thinking about it, right?” Robin had her hand on your knee, trying to give you a little comfort, it wasn’t working much but it was enough to at least have her there to vent to.

“Yes! and it’s… it’s so sudden and I—I didn’t plan it, it just blossomed out of nowhere and it’s been what? Two days, can you believe that shit Robin, who the fuck develops a crush on a guy in two days? I’m insane absolutely insane and stupid, I’m so very stupid because of the circumstances of the whole thing.”

Rambling was the thing you and Robin did a lot when you were overly excited, overly stressed and overly nervous. You were all of them combined.

“Y/n, that happens. It's the magic of love or attraction or whatever a crush is, but the feelings won’t go away just because you want them to, this is just so unfortunate because I know for a fact that you don’t go around developing feelings for guys every time.”

“I know… that’s why I’m freaking out here Robin!” you hid your face in the palms of your hands, “this sucks ass,”

“It sucks ass big time, he likes Chrissy though. Shit y/n, are you sure you like Eddie Munson? Damn this is so random.” You grunted, “yeah sorry, I’m trying to wrap my head around this situation.”

“I should just go back to New York, it’s for the best.” You decided, already making up your mind, it was just a logical answer.

“Hey! And what about me? You came so we could spend time together and instead you go hang out with Eddie.”

“Against my will! And look where it got me.”

“Not so against your will” if looks could kill Robin would be very dead by now, “what I’m trying to say is that maybe Eddie kinda likes you back. I’m not saying that he wants to marry you nor anything like it but why would he go to your place to just see ‘how you were doing’ adding to the fact that it was late at night and he had everything already planned. That’s sketchy as fuck if you ask me.”

Robin had been pacing around her room as she talked, coming up with theories, until you interrupted her.

“Maybe he wanted to ask Chrissy and he chickened out, he told me he wanted to ask her out but he was afraid so… there we have it! I’m his wing man or his back up plan to not be alone, I don’t even know.”

“Maybe we are overthinking now, reading too much into this.”

“You think?” you snapped, “we are choking in a glass of water, but I did this to myself.”

“Y/n, you are going to hate me for it but we need to call a professional.”

Robin stopped moving and looked at you dead in the eye, she was serious.

“This is so humiliating.” You whined but she was right. Desperate times require desperate measures.

★★★

Steve Harrington appeared in Robin’s room in the span of fourteen minutes and forty-two seconds, he was panting he had to take a second to collect himself.

“Where’s the emergency?” He asked, hands on his knees.

“Right here!”

“I’m the emergency!” You said gleefully, it was sarcasm mostly.

“Dude… we said we would only use an S.O.S call when there was an actual emergency! I have two spray cans, a bunch of lighters and my bat in the car. Jesus, Robin.”

You furrowed your eyebrows why would they need that in case of an emergency? You wanted to ask but Robin quickly diverted the topic, she started to ramble into what the real emergency was, aka, your heart.

“Still, I don’t see what’s the problem.” Steve crossed his arms leaning on the door frame.

“I am the problem, because I have a crush on Eddie Munson!!!” you snapped, clearly having a meltdown.

“Well, it does sound quite… kooky because it’s Munson but,” he shrugged.

“Steve you're not helping” Robin pointed her finger at him.

“I don’t know how to help you if you don’t tell me why you need help!”

You wanted to pull out the hair off of your scalp. “I have a crush on him and he likes someone else and I’m going back to New York in a few more weeks, what am I supposed to do?”

Steve could’ve made fun of you, or say anything mean to you but you were on the verge of tears, so he sighed and listened as you kept saying how you were not a popular kid and how flawlessly pretty Chrissy was and you had basically nothing to offer because you didn’t even lived in Hawkins and you were just an obstacle in Eddie's life.

After venting out and having Robin as your literal shoulder to cry on, Steve sighed, if you were clueless about how to deal with all that it was impossible for him to know what to do, and you knew because he went through the same shit with Nancy.

At the moment just having them there to cry and mumble things that diminished yourself felt better than being on your own. Yes, Robin often stopped you from talking like that and Steve added a few things to make Eddie look bad, like he didn’t wash his hair or that he wasn’t that good at guitar just to try and cheer you up, which was way more than what you had expected from his bitter ass.

It was late, now it was a good time for a bath and another crying session where no one would judge you for it. You were out of Robin’s house, your pockets full with used tissues.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you home?” Steve asked, jumping off the stairs of Robin’s porch. He was making the car keys go around his index finger.

“Nope, it’s just a couple of blocks I can walk.” You sighed, tired of speaking about the absurdity of your crush.

“Fine,” Steve shrugged.

Robin was watching you both with crossed arms over her chest.

“Steve…” she said as a warning.

“Robin,” you replied in the same tone. She didn’t have to force you or Steve to interact when it wasn’t strictly necessary.

“What?!” Robin’s arms flew to the sky “is it so hard to ask my two best friends to talk and solve whatever shit it is you two have against each other? You acted pretty civil up there, that was actually nice, can’t things always be like that?”

“I didn’t say anything. I’m willing to talk.” Steve adopted that posture where his hands found a place on his hips and that stern face was on him.

“Are you really?” you retorted, ready to fight because god knew you were ready for it.

“I am still here aren’t I?”

You wanted to whine like a kid but Robin was looking at you with pleading eyes and Steve had that firmness you hated about him.

“It’s up to you now,” your friend said.

“Ugh, ok.” You gave up with slumped shoulders.

“Ok you can talk in the garden if you want, I’ll bring something to eat.” Robin said cheerfully, but Steve and you traded looks.

“No, no Robin, we need to talk about this by ourselves, you did enough. Thanks.” Steve quickly intervened.

“But—guys come on!”

“Yeah Robin, you did your part, let us… do the rest.” You said.

“It’s none of your business Robin. See you tomorrow.” Steve waved at her and you mouthed a sorry to her.

She stomped her feet on the floor and stormed inside her home.

Steve juggled with his keys “let’s get you home and on the drive we can… talk or whatever.”

Without much option you entered Steve’s car. The cleanest car you’ve ever seen. No comparison to what Eddie drove.

A subtle smell of coconut lingered in your nostrils, “Do you use air freshener?” it wasn’t a shameful thing but Steve flatly denied it.

“What? No… mmm maybe, yeah it’s a lemon-coconut mist.”

“It’s nice.”

“Yup.” He started the car.

The stereo got turned on, Here Comes The Moon played, causing your heart to summersault.

“I love this song.” You muttered.

“I know,” Steve replied, going in reverse, putting his arm on the headrest. He noticed how you were looking at him. “Well you played it at my birthday party for like a whole hour remember? It was years ago, also you left the mixtape there.”

Nonchalant as ever, Steve Harrington had mastered that tone. You remembered that day, the first time you got drunk and he had to put you aside, ‘in charge of the music’ he said. You played DJ that night, until you had to run to the bathroom to empty your stomach.

“I’m surprised you even remember that, you were so obsessed with Nancy.”

“And you helped me get her to go to the party… but of course I remember that, I cared about you because your dad let you go only if I supervised you.” A grin stretched on his lips, he was now driving on the main street.

“That day I really thought you were going to throw me out of your house for the mess I made.” You chuckled lightly, remembering the horror on Steve’s face, “Are you still mad at me?” you meant it not only for the party but for whatever other reason he hadn’t said yet.

Steve sighed at your side “I’ve never been pissed or mad at you, not even that one time.”

You threw him a sharp look.

“Okay maybe I’ve been a little annoyed but it’s mostly me projecting my issues.”

“Are you okay?” It was a sincere question.

“Yeah… no, you know what? No! I’m not okay, my dad’s being a big piece of shit to me for not putting the Harrington name up to his toxic standards.” Hands gripped the steering wheel until knuckles turned white “and then you came back and acted as if I was a complete stranger.” Steve half yelled half whined.

There we go, lets unleash the beast.

“Hey! I’m gonna be real with you for a second here, we were friendly to each other but not friends, Steve.”

“Y/n, to me you were a friend, I talked to you about Nancy in that Chemistry lab class and you gave me advice on it and it worked, hence the party, hence the conversation we just had. Also I vented about my dad and my mom to you. I invited you to all the other parties and basketball games. How’s that not a clear sign of being a friend?”

You gulped, trying not to cry. Maybe he was right, he tried and you just ignored him, you shut down completely. Fuck, now it all came to you, you threw up in his bathroom and continued with life, no shame, nothing. And Steve, he had this idea of you being his friend since forever.

“But you were awful when you were with Carol and Tommy, they said such horrible things to me and to everyone, even to Nancy and you never said a thing! I never thought you considered me a friend!”

You looked at Steve, he was so serious, you’ve seen that expression in his eyes before, it was the same when Nancy first told him she didn’t want to go out with him. You swore you could see tears in the rim of his eyes.

“Nancy said the same thing you know? And just when I thought I was free from those two assholes, when I had Nancy in my life, as my girlfriend… you left and never tried to contact me and then I found out you talked to Robin, that you two were best friends and I saw… she’s never as happy as she is when you call her. And I got jealous and—dammit! I have abandonment issues okay!?”

His voice broke at the end, you were looking at the road agape.

“I’m sorry Steve, I really do. It wasn’t my intention, I truly didn’t notice.” You swallowed the lump in your throat, “I was going through a lot too. My parents’ divorce and the whole moving thing, I never thought about relying on other people. Not even Robin knew about me going away until a couple of weeks before it happened.”

“I’m sorry too. It was kinda my fault.” He sniffed, “Just so you know, I would’ve listened—I would’ve been there for you because you were there for me when I didn’t understand those incomprehensible shitty useless equations.” He chuckled, sniffing again. His hazel eyes looked at you, “I’m here now, okay?” Steve reached for your hand.

“And I’m here for you as well, now and as long as our friendship or whatever this is takes us” you squeezed his hand, “sorry about your dad you said he was awful but I never thought he could be so… shitty.”

Although you knew, Robin had told you plenty of stories about his dad’s hostility.

He sighed, “It will pass, at least now I have you and Robin to distract me with silly love drama” he half shrugged making you smile, “no offense.”

“You’ve had your fair share with love drama don't you?”

He rolled his eyes, freeing your hand. “Two-seconds of friendship and you’re looking for a fight y/n? Really?” He shook his head with faux offense.

“But that’s what friends do!” You stated, “ help each other, and love each other no matter what.”

“Fair enough, so as your friend I need to ask… why Munson?”

“Wish I knew, it’s as if I asked you, why Nancy?”

“I can answer that, easily. She’s smart, cute, strong, her lips are so soft—“

“Yeah, I don’t care.”

“You asked,” he made a turn, your aunt’s house visible from down the road. “So… what’s the plan?”

“There's no plan. I’m gonna ignore this.”

“It won’t work.” Steve parked outside the house, “trust me I’ve tried.”

“Sorry.” You patted his arm in sympathy.

“We’ve said sorry way too much in the past few minutes.” His eyes found yours, it felt weird to talk about boys without Steve. “There’s this party on Saturday, I bet Munson is coming because all the cheerleaders are going and you know who was or is one? Yeah, Chrissy.”

You grunted.

Steve grinned, “I say we go and I can ask him a few things, see how he reacts, when it’s safe we leave and go to my place—my parents went to a conference in Florida so it’ll be fine—and we can discuss this issue or just hang out, I don’t know. What’s cool these days between the kids huh?”

“I have no idea, but it sounds like a plan.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight, then we go pick up Robin.”

“Cool,”

“Cool!”

You got out of his car “thanks, I guess Robin was right, this did us good!”

“I agree, see you around.”

“See you later B.F.F.” you laughed seeing Steve’s face.

“Ugh, don’t say it like that, it’s weird!” Even though he was whining, a grin tugged at the end of his lips.

“Ok then, see you on Thursday bestie.”

“Still not the right name. Don’t worry I’ll find the perfect nickname for our threesome—wait, that sounded wrong.”

You let out a big laugh. “Just go Steve.”

“Right, ok, bye.”

Next chapter

[sayakxmi]

[Magi reread] Night 51: After the Battle

Shoutout to all these title pages that show things that had never happened

Honestly it is insane that there were no casualties

Somebody's gotta do the work

And that person is her

Honestly, I really like it. A bit of a reality check, I'd say. She's a Fanalis, she's powerful, but she's also a little girl who can and does get overwhelmed at times. It's not like we don't know Morgiana's a human, but every once in a while it's nice to get a reminder.

Last chapters are really about reminding us all that they're all just people, huh? Alibaba always feels the most humane out of the bunch, but even though Aladdin and Morgiana are more specialTM, they're also not perfect or invincible. They're all just kids.

Is it a bruise or is he like bleeding. Probably a bruise, but could've fooled me, ngl.

Really like the characterization as of late. All that guilt, all that "I should've done more". Really awesome stuff

No, you're not, you literally got the first hit. You've got all that it takes, you just need more experience

Oof

For the love of god, wait till ENTER or sth

Alibaba? Catching a break? In this economy?

Like, no wonder he can handle about anything at some point. The sheer amount of humiliation he's going through on a daily basis is kinda unreal.

Also. Fun fact about me. At my most desperate for content, I went through all of Alibaba's tag on pixiv. Yes. All of it. And also several ships. I've literally hadn't done sth like that for anybody else.

So, you might be wondering: did anybody ever draw what Morgiana saw here? The answer is yes. Yes they did. There's also the desert hyacinth's tentaces stuff. And also Garda.

I have seen some stuff.

Don't tell her what to do. But I do get where you're coming from. You both just want to help the others.

Fuck

Like, I knew, but god damn.

Love how they're immediately by his side

Thanks, Sinbad

Ok, so. I'll be honest. Getting Aladdin out of here right now? Fantastic decision. No more deus-ex-magi. Plus Aladdin does a lot of calming everybody down & being pretty damn supportive. But now he's gone, and everybody else has to pick up the slack. There's no Ugo, there's no Aladdin. You gotta do it yourself.

Idk, I just love how devastated they look.

Ah, yes. Magoi lore.

Honestly, it's like, you know this stuff, but it hits different when you also see it, yknow?

: ' )

Yunan and Ugo could never.

Why must you hurt me this way

Where Morgiana

Bro's going through 50 crisises at the time, all the time

You can't even see his eyes, and you can tell how much he's judging

Taking charge here

Ugh, that hurts, ngl

He's helping, and also ofc comparing himself to everybody around. : )

Honestly, kinda nice that they still refer to him as the chief. Even after Sinbad took over, he's still the chief;;

Photo limit. Of course. But Sahbmad is here.

[unmeiokaemasu]

I FINALLY beat Sacred Stones! :D

The "finally" is bcs the first time I played I literally set it down in the final chapter and just. never didn't pick it back up for like a year, at which point I was better fire emblem player so the idea of picking up a year-old savefile was abhorrent.

THEN, in the past year I've had two different software difficulties with it that led to losing save files. So yeah, the difficulty of finishing was not game difficulty, but software, including my own brainpower.

I'd been bashing my head against several maddening mode runs of Three Houses - since there are so many save slots I've got a run going for each of the four paths, and I'm not far on any of them - and finally got fed up and decided to see what I could salvage of my SS savedata.

The answer was not nothing, and...I honestly can't tell if this is an easier game than Blazing Blade or not; it might just seem that way because this time I was extremely cavalier (lol) about sending my units into danger...and I found out they could handle it. I think I used to just assume a magic unit had a more-than-50% chance of getting hit by a physical attacker and that a physical attack would shave off at least a third of their health, and the reality is very much not that. If you've trained your units, they're pretty tanky.

The first time I played through, I lots Vanessa in an early map and wasn't willing to restart it for her, and then didn't recruit Amelia when she threw herself into battle against one of my units and died before I could recruit her...so this time I was determined to not let any unit die, that's just my playstyle that's what I like, that and getting the supports I want adds a layer of challenge to some otherwise easier games.

And BOY HOWDY was Vanessa my MVP this time around. I think I did the same thing with Florina in my most recent Blazing Blade playthrough, insisted I'd make a good pegasus knight and damn, they do get good...although Vanessa promoted to a wyvern knight so not sure if that's a point in favor of pegasi? Anyway. Talk about a tank, I feel I really redeemed myself for letting her die the first time.

I went in the first time interested in the relationship between Ephraim and Lyon, knowing little about Eirika and kind of resenting that I had to start with her...and then by the time it got to picking a twin to follow I picked her instantly, even knowing Ephraim apparently accomplishes more story-wise in his route. I find Ephraim kinda boring, which I think is a consequence of splitting the protagonists like that, and Lyon...Lyon is honestly the second purple-haired softboi I thought was going to be my favorite and then was just kinda...idk. too soft. underbaked. Radiant Dawn fans @me if you know where I'm going with this.

(My real purple-haired softboi love is Knoll, idk why and I don't care, he's extremely disillusioned and sad and tired and resigned and I love him)

Anyway Eirika is in my top 3 favorite FE protagonists list, she's just probably my favorite version of a standard FE protagonist alongside Eliwood. I might like Eirika even a little more personality-wise but Eliwood's in my favorite game and I love him a lot so eh, I don't have to pick a winner.

So yeah, Sacred Stones is going to slot in very solidly at #4 for my favorite FE game ever. Blazing Blade just hit the exact right balance of gameplay and story for me, and Path of Radiance and Three Houses I think managed to both tell good and complex stories with excellent writing while also being fun to play (I'm so sorry Genealogy fans I'm a weak baby scrublord and I can't finish that game I know it has good writing but also it is more cynical I k n o w it's good I'm not arguing that I just cAN'T--)

Ahem. Anyway...oh yeah also the reason I was trying so hard at 3H maddening is...I finally have a hardmode-classic cleared savefile on 3H! :D

I think I may have beating Verdant Wind on that mode, but I don't have that savedata anymore so I can't check. Anyway I cleared hard/classic Azure Moon with these rules: no new game+ (so no bonus statue restoration, I think that was mechanic that let you buy things like support and weapons and professor levels so none of that either), no items from sources other than base-level gameplay (with possible exceptions, we'll get to that) so no under-the-bed items, nothing from amiibo gazebo, and no spirits of the fallen (I just played with online turned off), and no abyss resources other than the students (so no exchanging renown for items that the statue...honestly I don't even know what else is down there, I never used any of it even on easy mode, but yeah I defo didn't use it this time).

So the things I did allow myself were recruiting the Ashen Wolves (Yuri is basically always my dancer now and I always train up Constance so they can pass that paralogue and get Yuri's relic), and then stuff like Constance's quest to get the roster that allows you to to redo an answer once per teaparty, Aelfric's flower quest, the two Ashen Wolves paralogues, etc, all those things were allowed. Pouring exp into other students, esp the Ashen Wolves since they're available so early on, means sacrificing exp for your house's students, which means a harder Hunting by Daybreak, so I figured it was a fair tradeoff.

So yeah that was really fun. Glad to have both a hard/classic 3H and Sacred Stones savefile finally under my belt. What's next?

I honestly tried to start New Mystery and uh. ran into trouble getting it to. work. Will work on that more. Hilariously I saw there was a mod to minimize Kris's involvement, but I shan't be using that, bcs literally my main mission statement is to find out how annoying Kris actually is. I haven't beaten Shadow Dragon yet (the version of Marth's story that I've actually played), but I've gotten quite a ways in, and that really is the danger zone for me. I really do enjoy the early parts of Fire Emblem games more, when all the level-ups and unit potential and support-conversations-if-that's-a-thing haven't been decided yet. But I also like actually finishing!

So yeah I wanna start New Mystery, and finish Shadow Dragon. Then I've got a Binding Blade run that's like 2 years old at this point that I'll probably return to since that games...less fun to slog through...Shadows of Valentia I never finish, idk if I'd restart that or pick up my now like...three or four year old run of that...might fuck around and start Thracia...and might take another stab and Genealogy chapter 4 and see how I do. I won't ever get back to Radiant Dawn unless I can successfully transfer savedata from Path of Radiance, and at this point for me that means actually getting through Path of Radiance from the start again...which as I'm saying it actually sounds like a lot of fun. I might...I might actually do that. We'll see.

SO YEAH that's my Fire Emblem diary for today. I truly adore this franchise. I think there might be a lot of other jrpgs I might like for their story, but this mix of story and turn-based strategy is just absolutely perfect for me. I've noticed I've done well in irl board games in the past couple years, and it's definintely bcs of these games. I thought I'd be bad at strategy to the point of never enjoying these games unless they were on easiest-possible mode, but now I love the challenge! And yeah the fact that even tho in broad strokes the endings will always be the same, I adore the little things you can affect along the way (mostly who your best units are and which pairs make it to A-support). I may not have loved Engage, but there're still a bunch of great FE games in the back-catalogue for me to experience for the first time or have a new fun run of. Excited!

[eviesaurusrex]

ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛꜱ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇꜱ, ᴘᴛ. 1 | ꜱ. ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ

GIF not mine!

Stephen Strange x Avenger!Reader

ask: Could you write a Stephen Strange x reader one shot (or longer if you feel it haha) where the reader is an avenger and she’s secretly dating Stephen? Like they’re sneaking around and staying at each other’s places (sanctum and tower/compound) and use portals in the mornings to get back where they’re supposed to be. Maybe a close call where Stephen literally kicks her off the bed and into a portal back to her own bed to avoid getting caught. Then later they’re found out somehow by tony/the team?

word count: 5.2k (and that's only part one, ooooooops)

warnings: fluff and more fluff, cursing, sneaking around the team, lying, one suggestive and kinda steamy (but short) scene

author’s note: I’m so excited about this ask! This will get a part 2 because I couldn’t contain myself, and I had to write this out with all the background stuff. I really hope you like how it went so far @clockblobber!

»pt. 2 is here«

Tiredness was settled deep within her bones, and every single muscle inside her body ached at the sheer thought of moving again. But YN felt the soft rumbling of the Quinjet’s engines increasing while the autopilot initiated the landing sequence to softly touch the ground again. The almost fifteen-hour flight in uncomfortable seats would be stuck to her for another few hours, if not days; she was sure of it. The mission may have been a success – taking down a cartel of experimental drug smugglers, with a side income through even more experimental weapons which were supposed to be destroyed alongside Hydra, had been easier than thought – but her body still was sore and covered in bruises, scratches, and beautifully blooming hematomas.

Guess a rib or two got a hit as well, the Widow thought while softly rubbing her right side.

Gladly, she wasn’t the only one beaten up, but unlike Steve and Bucky, she didn’t own the ability to self-heal within hours. Sometimes, she really envied them down to her very core. But now, she was too tired to even start feeling the jealousy about the super soldier serum running through their veins. Truth be told, she wasn’t entirely without an asset she had gained through otherworldly substances – not drugs – but those were hard to control sometimes, which was why the Widow often fully relied on her brutal training and skills in hand-to-hand combat.

One look in the direction of Nat, and she knew that her sister wasn’t very fond of her approach to the last situation. But hey, a woman gotta do what a woman gotta do. Easy as that.

As soon as the jet finally touched the ground, YN unbuckled the seatbelt and pushed herself up with a groan. The pain shot right through her body again and reminded her of the inevitable reality of upcoming days full of soreness. Assessing the level of pain and discomfort, she estimated two weeks tops. With a hot bath here and there, maybe less.

The thought of one of these alone made her almost moan in pure bliss. But, of course, the compound didn’t own such luxury known as a bathtub. God damn you, Tony.

With clenched teeth and jaw, the woman hobbled out of the Quinjet as soon as the ramp was lowered and granted a breeze of fresh air to invade the warm insides and cool her cheeks. Maybe a cold shower would suffice for now. But the woman didn’t come far before Steve’s voice dragged over the small tarmac in front of the newly built compound in Upstate New York.

“We need to debrief, and I need your report plus a medical evaluation of your status, YN,” the blonde soldier spoke up, always the authoritative fun brake (he wasn’t, but she was grumpy and needed a shower and some comfort in the form of her soft blankets and pillows). Without answering for now because she had her phone in hand to type a quick text, she raised the other hand and showed Steve the finger. Her body became used to the throbbing pain in every single limp again, and the Widow could walk a bit faster to get away from the now overbearing man she called one of her best friends.

“YN, I mean it. You’re not dismissed until you went to the medical wing and got checked out.” She could hear his heavy steps, and even though she still showed him the finger, she spoke. “Whatever, Steve. I need a shower and my soft bed, and I’m good to go, thank you very fucking much. See you tomorrow morning with that damn report in hand, bye.” Usually, she wasn’t this rude to him, and that pushed him to stop in his tracks.

Before scurrying inside the compound, she could hear the other’s talk.

“Did I do something wrong?” Steve.

“Nah, she is just grumpy because I stole her that one guy she loved to punch in the face.” Bucky.

“The one that laughed because she is a woman? Well, you fucked up good, Barnes. She really loves to take those down herself.” Nat.

An apology was necessary, she knew that, but… later. Her mind was too tired to do it now, so she just walked to her room, always close to one of the walls – just in case. With a heavy sigh leaving her lips, she pushed open the door to her cozy room and let the duffel bag fall straight to the floor before pushing herself to walk the last few steps, so she could fall face down first onto the soft mattress.

Which wasn’t the best idea she had had all day, and a strained groan escaped her lips at the same moment as the soft sounds of an opening portal filled her room. She barely realized it. She didn’t even move as steps started to come closer. She didn’t move a single muscle until the mattress dipped at the weight of another body settling upon it. Slowly, YN moved her head from the face-down position to the side to eye the man with the pepper and salt hair. He already looked down at her, forehead wrinkled and the all too familiar deep creases between his dark brows visible.

“Hey,” the woman spoke, barely above a whisper, and she closed her eyes soon again as one of his warm, big hands came close to her face to brush over her cheek and push a lock behind her ear. “Rough day?” She nodded but stopped suddenly at the ugly feeling of raw skin rubbing against the fabric of her comforter. Eyebrows furrowed, and a hiss escaped her. But Stephen was prepared – just as he always was. “Come on, love,” he mumbled in the softest of tones. “We’ll get you a nice hot bath ready, a cup of tea, and some snacks, while I stitch you up.”

With that, the previous portal opened again, illuminated the room in its soft golden light, and Stephen helped the tired woman up from her bed. He held both her hands and pulled her up onto her feet, steadying her with his arm around her slender waist. He could imagine what happened during that mission in Seoul, her state not an uncommon sight for his eyes but hard on him nevertheless. It was easy for him to get scratches and be beaten up – he didn’t mind that – but seeing her in that constitution was something entirely different. And this side was a side no one knew about – and no one would ever get an insight about.

Looking up to Stephen, she allowed him to scoop her into his arms and circled both her arms around his neck while pressing a soft kiss onto his cheek. “You are a godsend,” YN whispered against his skin, the tip of her nose caressing his skin in a feathery touch. The doctor smiled the one smile that was entirely reserved for her eyes and only hers. “Not an idiotic and presumptuous asshole anymore?” He had to tease her with the statement that the Widow had smacked him with the second time they had met. A forceless hit with the flat hand against his shoulder was the first reaction he got. “Thought we already had put that in our past. It was a miscalculation. An assumption made upon false input and intel.”

Stephen chuckled while stepping over the threshold of his portal, right into his bedroom in the Sanctum Sanctorum, the busy New Yorker streets underneath the big windows. He didn’t spare a glance at the golden streets out there, glowing in the light of the setting sun. Instead, he carried the woman in his arms straight into the adjacent bathroom with the bathtub she craved the most. “I just love teasing you, darling,” the sorcerer grinned while gently putting YN down on the bathtub’s edge, and with a flick of his hand, the two faucets opened and unleashed the water.

Soon the bathroom was not only filled with the soothing sound of splashing water but with the wafting steam and the smell of her most favorite bath bomb as well. In the meantime, Stephen had organized the promised tea and snacks – consisting of cheese, crackers, and strawberries – while preparing the first aid kit for the small surgery he would perform on the most severe cuts that needed some stitching. As she attempted to step into the waiting hot water to let her bones and muscles soak in the well-deserved break, the phone in the back pocket of her combat gear pants, that pooled in the center of the bathroom, started to ring. The sorcerer was quick to peel it out and hand it to his girlfriend, not daring to accept the call or send it straight to the voicemail like he would’ve preferred.

With a sigh, YN accepted the call; a fluffy towel wrapped around her naked body, and she could see the hits that had attacked her visibly on her skin through the full-length mirror opposite her. “What?” That was all she asked the unwanted caller – who needs a greeting, right?

Shuffling was heard on the other side of the call, and YN cocked an eyebrow as whispered voices pushed to her ear. She took a look at the caller ID and didn’t get it. “Whoever thought it would be the greatest freaking idea to call me can go and fuck themself. I just want some peace and quiet, for fucks sake. Is that too much to ask?” YN was pissed to an extent she hadn’t felt in a long time. Another round of shuffling until Thor’s voice spoke up. “Lady YN, this is Thor, God of Thunder.” Facepalming herself, the woman sent Stephen a helpless look. “You don’t need to introduce yourself, Thor. I know who you are. This is a call, not a formal application for a new job.” What, in the name of the universe, had she done in her past life to be graced with this group of insufferable people? She loved them dearly, but sometimes they were just too exhausting for her poor soul. “Yes, of course, Lady YN. Mr. Stark had specifically asked me to start this conversation in order to learn about the nature of your whereabouts.”

Groaning, she hit the edge of the full tub with her fist. “Stop being such a child and talk for yourself, Tony,” she demanded. “Can’t. Have to find your location.” Eye rolling, YN knew that he knew that she had never touched one of his phones and had made sure that her location wouldn’t be found by any of them. Not even the genius that was Tony Stark. “Yeah, whatever. Good luck with that. You lot could’ve just, I don’t know, asked if I’m alright wherever I am and put it aside because I’m a fucking grown woman. Gosh.” Stephen chuckled softly at her outburst while preparing the needle for the stitches. “Plus, it was never my idea to call. Ask our ancient ice sculpture who had the idea to check up on you and found your room empty and throwing a tantrum about it,” Tony added, and YN softly smiled as the sorcerer knelt in front of her on the plush bathroom matt to take a closer look on the gush near her left wrist. “For fucks sake, Steve. Remember when I told you that your overbearing nature isn’t cool? It wasn’t a joke; I meant it!” Her face twisted at the sudden burn under her skin, and saw the drenched cotton pad, Stephen softly dapped over the wound to clean the dried blood off. “I’m sorry, YNN. Really, I am. But you took some pretty hard hits, and I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. You are okay, are you?”

Sighing again, YN leaned her head against Stephen’s shoulder. “I am. And now I have to go.” – “Wait, YN, where are yo-…” – “Byyyyye!”

And with that, she hung up and threw the phone back on the dirty pile of combat gear. “They’re getting suspicious?” She shrugged at his question and let him take the fluffy towel away from her, so she could finally sink into the hot water. “I don’t know what’s going on in their brains. And I don’t want to think about it.” With closed eyes, YN leaned back in the tub, softly moaning as she felt how every single muscle relaxed. “I’m almost tempted to believe that you only agreed to date me because of my bathtub,” the man chuckled while sitting on the edge and starting to stitch her arm.

In moments like these, he used that bit of magic he needed to steady his hands, but it was the only exception he made. “You don’t have to do it, y’know? I can easily head to the med bay,” YN mumbled after Stephen had finished his task of taking care of her, and he bent down to press a lingering kiss on her forehead. “Don’t make a fool out of yourself, darling. It’s my pleasure.”

He wanted to leave to pack the first aid kit back at its usual spot, but her fingers intertwining with his made him pause. One look at her pleading eyes, and the man was lost, his mental to-do list burned to ashes at her feet. “Can you get in? I’d love some cuddles.” It was a shyly asked question, as usual, but just as usual, he started to undress even before he nodded. “Whatever you need, darling,” he whispered after settling behind the woman in the still hot water – her body between his long legs, her back pressed against his chest, arms entangled underwater, and her face nestled in the crook of his neck.

Her deep breaths and soft skin against his were all he ever needed after days of her presence gone due to missions or his own duties, and Stephen craved those few stolen moments in a world where nobody knew about them.

;

Morning came too soon, and YN dragged herself out of the comfort of the warm bed to gather her belongings in order to make a move as soon as Stephen was awake enough to conjure the portal into her bedroom. She just left the bathroom, the pile of combat gear now over her arms, as Stephen yawned and felt around on the other side of the bed where she had laid only minutes ago. The sorcerer wasn’t a deep sleeper, but she was a Widow, trained in the arts of stealth, so it was an easy task to sneak out without waking him up. But even after more than a year of dating, he seemed not to be used to it because at the feeling of nothingness next to him, Stephen sat up abruptly and frantically started looking through the room. His mouth opened to call her name, heart racing in his chest, until his gaze settled upon the woman, only clad in one of his shirts that reached her mid-thighs.

She smiled, combat gear already dropped to the floor, to walk over to him. YN stood next to his bedside, both hands cupping his jawline while her thumb soothingly caressed his cheek, while she pressed a kiss against the corner of his mouth, the feeling of his goatee present on her lips. She could practically feel how he relaxed at her touch and leaned into it, reminding her again that Stephen was as touch starved as she was. It wasn’t a real turn-on for folks if she talked about the abusive past she had to endure in order to become her strongest self. But hey, those foolish boys were nothing in comparison to the man in front of her.

“Bad dream?” She softly asked before pecking the tip of his nose with a soft, feathery kiss. The sorcerer shrugged nonchalantly, but he couldn’t fool her – and he knew that. Sighing, Stephen pulled her back into the bed, holding her close, and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. “I just don’t want to let you go again. Didn’t see you in four days.” It was a mumble, but YN could hear every single word and felt his lips moving against her collarbone. Slowly, she started to play with his hair – just the way he liked it – and scratched his scalp. “Caution, my love, or I could be tempted to think you’re touch starved and crave my presence.”

Stephen scoffed and pushed himself up with one arm to look into her eyes. “You know how it is, darling.” It was only a mumble because even though they opened up to one another like they never did before, Stephen was still wary if it wouldn’t bite his ass. But so far, the amazing woman underneath him never let him feel any doubts. She smiled softly up at him and pulled him in for a soft kiss. “I’m not sure if they’re ready. You know how they are. You know what Tony will say, something about not fraternizing with colleagues and all that bullshit, and you know that Steve will give you a hard time – shit, he would even give me a hard time about it.” The prospect of trouble in paradise alone made her nauseous. They constantly bickered, true, but it was all fun and smiles. With something like that, on the other hand… Stephen knew how it went.

“At least stay for a few more minutes?” He almost begged, something he would never admit, not even under torture, but YN kissed him gently and shook her head. “Need to write that damn report and get a going to the med bay if I don’t wanna get benched.” With that, the sorcerer released the Widow out of his grasp and opened the portal into her own bedroom. He stood on his side while YN scurried over onto her side but turned around to kiss him goodbye properly. “See you for dinner?” Stephen smiled down at her, nodded, and kissed her forehead. “Chow House?” Moaning, YN pulled him in for another kiss. “I know why I love you,” she grinned, and then she waved with a smile as the portal closed again, and she was back in her cozy room, the duffel bag now lying on top of the cushioned bench in front of her bed – its usual spot. Shaking her head, she made a mental note to thank Steve for it later that day.

;

Sitting at the huge glass table in one of the conference rooms inside the compound, YN listened intently to what Fury said over the video call, scribbling away notes inside that little notebook she always carried around for such occasions. She could feel a lingering stare settled upon her, and barely noticeable, she raised her gaze to catch Stephen staring at her over the cup of coffee he held between his softly shaking hands. A smile tried to tuck at her lips, but instead, she rolled her eyes as if he was as irritating as the uncomfortable seat she had sat on ever since the briefing started.

“Do I bore you, Miss LN?” Fury’s tone sounded bored himself, and YN showed him a pair of raised eyebrows. “No, sir. I’m just writing down what you’re saying. For later purposes.” Sam coughed and mumbled “Boaster” between his acts, and YN threw her eraser against his head. “Hey!” She smiled the sweetest of smiles and flipped him off. “I’m not deaf, Wilson.” Bucky chuckled behind his mug while Steve and Nat rolled their eyes, and Fury sighed exaggeratedly. “Behave, children,” he grumbled before continuing with the briefing about a new mission in Switzerland.

A half an hour later, the briefed team scattered over the compound after they had left the conference room, and YN found her way into the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled ever since she woke up to an empty bed because Stephen had to leave to get ready for said briefing.

On some days, it was exhausting to sneak around everyone, but it had its purpose. So far, they never had a close call, for which YN was more than grateful.

Softly humming, she rummaged in the fridge before moving to the cupboards after she decided that tea was more to her taste than one of the smoothies Pepper hoarded in one of the many fridges.

Suddenly, big familiar hands grabbed her jeans-clad hips and turned her around in one swift motion. Looking up, her eyes met the bluest ones of them all, and a smile etched itself on her face before she took a measured look to the entrance. After she gave herself an all-clear, YN pulled Stephen down to her level while pushing herself on her tiptoes and kissed him – hard and hungrily because the couple couldn’t stop showing their deep lingering affection for one another as often as possible, which was not often enough.

Labored breaths and lips crashing against one another were the only sounds in the kitchen – or the entire compound wing – and Stephen wrapped the woman tighter in his arms, pulling her closer and closer until their bodies were pressed against each other. His hands moved more south to grab the Widow under her thighs, long fingers stretching up to her butt cheeks, and he lifted her with astonishing ease up on the countertop. Settling there, YN wrapped her legs around his waist, crossed her ankles at his deliciously shaped behind, and burrowed her fingers inside his dark hair. The kiss grew more heated with every passing second, and a soft gasp escaped her mouth as Stephen pressed her lower region harder against him.

“I really hope you’re not thinking about canceling our dinner plans for tonight,” YN whisper-moaned at the friction between her legs and bit his lower lip gently. Stephen groaned at the sensation pulsing through his body – he still wondered how this woman was able to pull every trigger there was with nothing more than just a whisper of a touch – and kissed her again. “Why should I? I can’t wait for dessert. Maybe we should do dessert first, like responsible citizens,” he rasped, the raspiness in his voice always a trigger for her own pleasure. Gladly, Stephen didn’t know just yet how hot it made her hear him like that. If this man would ever gain the knowledge about that – it would be her downfall. Grinning, YN pulled away from his searching lips, teasing him. “Sounds like a plan, Doctor Strange.”

But before they could dive right back into the next heated kiss and continue this make-out session, approaching steps alarmed the Widow. With ease, she slid off the counter within seconds and positioned herself at the counter closer to the door before raising her voice.

“Oh, please. Stop prancing around and try to prove that you’re the smartest one. I can’t keep up with the bullshit coming out of that entitled mouth of yours. I have better things to do.”

Tony and Steve entered the kitchen, followed by a tired Clint, who clung to a mug of steaming coffee. The Stark was fast to assess the situation, and an icy expression settled on his face. “Is he annoying you again, YNN? I can do something about that, you just need to use the words.” Steve had his blonde brows furrowed and stared Stephen into the ground, but the sorcerer only shrugged and stole the tea she had finished preparing. “A simple conversation, that’s all. Keep your panties on, Stark, and thanks for the tea, LN.”

With that, the tall man walked past the group, mug in hand, and YN stared after him, mouth agape. “Hey, that was my tea, you tea stealing, obnoxious imbecile!”

Which meant in their secret language, I love you, idiot.

Steve turned towards her and shrugged. “Tell us, and we end him,” he offered, but all she did was roll her eyes and start to prepare another cup of tea while suppressing her heart from beating out of line.

That was a close call.

;

The soft tunes of the Best of Beethoven vinyl she had found in Stephen’s office echoed through the foyer of the Sanctum Sanctorum on a summer evening. The windows on the upper floor were open widely to let in the soft breeze from outside without getting the chills, and YN worked mindlessly in the perfectly stocked kitchen.

It wasn’t like that shortly after she had sat foot in the room supposed to feed hungry human beings. Instead, barely filled shelves and a half-empty fridge had greeted her, which was why many New Yorkers had seen a true Avenger walking their streets in a pretty summer dress – a sight none of them would have expected on this beautiful day or any days at all. But she didn’t mind the round eyes of kids and teenagers. The ogling stares of the male part of the grownup fraction were what put her on edge. But even them she could handle with closed eyes.

After a shopping spree in the grocery store down the block, YN had started to prepare dinner. It wasn’t often that she found the time and muse to cook, but when she did, she went all out because she wasn’t bad at it. Actually, she was quite good at the stove, even though she preferred baking over everything else.

The tune changed to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 – one of her favorites, even though the Red Room had forced her to start playing the violin – at the same time as the golden glow of a portal crept around the corner of the kitchen’s entrance. She just chopped the vegetables into the thinnest of slices as the soft but heavy feeling of fabric settled over her shoulders, and a red collar nudged her left cheek to get her attention.

“Well, hello to you too, Cloaky,” she greeted the magical relic, which resembled more a dog or cat than an ancient thing, with a smile. Soon after the first greeting, a set of arms wrapped around her, and a chin was planted on her shoulder. “Do I want to know how you got in?” Stephen asked, the grin audible in his voice. YN shrugged while chopping the rest. “Wong didn’t see me if that’s what you tried to find out.” Sometimes, her burglar skills were pretty useful, plus the building liked her – or Stephen had altered the spells that protected the Sanctum, but she liked the idea of a feeling and thinking building more.

“So, you thought instead of enjoying your first time off missions in the last couple of weeks, you break into the Sanctum to cook me dinner?” At her exciting nod, Stephen laughed softly and pressed a kiss to her temple. Cloaky settled onto her shoulders definitively – Stephen knew that it would stay there for quite some time now, but he couldn’t object because it was what he would do too – and instead, tried to help her, but YN hit his fingers. “Nope. You’re gonna take a hot, long shower to destress from whatever threat it was today you had to deal with, and after that, you’ll settle on that bar stool over there, drink a glass of whiskey and just look pretty and handsome while I wrap up dinner.” He would never admit it, but he loved it when she tried to boss him around. It was so different from the life she had lived before joining the Avengers and escaping the grasp of the Red Room, so it was his pleasure to let her boss around to her heart's desire. “Yes, ma’am. Anything else, ma’am?” She grinned up at him. “A kiss would be absolutely lovely.”

Stephen complied and bent down to taste her sweet, perfect lips, but Cloaky suddenly had other plans and pulled her onto the wooden floor. “What the…?” Both started, but Wong’s voice let her suck in the last word and hold her breath. The red cloak pulled her further to the kitchen island to hide her body against the wood and wrapped itself around the woman it was so fond of.

“Something smells divine.” Wong stopped at the frame between the kitchen and one of the many living rooms to eye Stephen. “You are cooking? Since when is this a possibility?” Stephen looked from the stove to Wong, back to the chopped vegetables and the casserole where YN had started to place the thin slices in an intricate pattern. “Yeah…” The sorcerer began and shrugged. “I saw something on my way home and thought it looked quite delicious.” Wong squinted his eyes suspiciously at the other sorcerer. “Aha.” YN on the floor really wanted to facepalm herself. “Well, let me know when the food is ready. I want to try it. I’m in the library upstairs.” And Wong disappeared as suddenly as he arrived.

Sitting up, YN patted the proudly moving cloak and shook her head. “Next time, you won’t drag me down to the floor, understood? That hurt.” Stephen helped her up and took Cloaky from her shoulders, and sent him up into his bedroom. “Another close call,” the man objected, and YN sighed. “I know, but I don’t know why we’re running out of luck all of a sudden. We were so good.” It didn’t sit right with her, and the realization that maybe, sooner rather than later, they need to come clean with everyone.

Stephen softly kissed her head and pushed a lock out of her face, tracing her jawline from her ear back down to her chin. He took it between his fingers, pointer finger underneath it to softly nudge it up, so she would look at him. “Whatever will happen, nothing is worse than being stuck in a fake octopus, smelling like plastic and trash, darling.” Eye rolling, the woman shoved against his chest. “Never remind me of that ever again. I had to soak for hours on end in that bathtub to get the smell off my skin.” Stephen smiled but cocked an eyebrow to see her nodding. And she did. “Okay, yeah. It won’t be the end of days if they knew, but… I don’t know how to tell them. Could we take some more time? Just a little while longer?”

Stephen could never deny her a single request, so he approved with another nod and kissed her softly on the lips. “Of course, love. But now you have to move your sexy bottom because Wong demanded food. I’m gonna take a quick shower and be right back.” With that, Stephen kissed her one last time and stepped through the portal – lazy sock – and YN continued with the veggy pattern inside her prepared casserole until an all too familiar voice startled her.

“I knew it!”

With wide eyes, the former assassin turned around to look straight into the very pleased face of non-other than Wong, and a curse fell off her lips.

One for them, minus one for us, she thought while explaining to the sorcerer how she came up with her altered receipt for Ratatouille.

Thank you so much for reading! As usual, comments, reblogs, and likes are much appreciated! <3

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[sweatandwoe]

My unpopular opinion is Mel is horrible. Her manipulative decisions are not “girlboss” or whatever and her simple classism just reminds me of people I used to know and am now I’m therapy for. Sure she has motivation but she is honestly horrible in my eyes end of. (Also the fact that people excuse it because she’s hot 😭???????)

strongly disagree

I ain't with you on this one anon, I'm sorry you got hurt by people similarly but I went on Mel defense here so if you don't feel comfortable reading it, please don't, stay comfy on the internet\

also enjoy some essay word vomit that is not structured at all

I think Mel's character is super fun, and also there's big reasons why the writers never had her ever interact with any citizen of the undercity (like even Viktor we never see them talk once in the entire show and considering their proximity to Jayce, it's kinda weird) and that is because Mel is shown to hate violence and suffering repeatedly throughout the show

Mel never interacts with anyone with the Undercity. Not even in the riot scene do we see her there, only the aftermath with the dead enforcers. I think the writer's knew it wouldn't have made any sense for her character to do it, when she's shown to detest violence so much it had her sent away from her family/country.

Mel has to be blind to how bad it is, in order for her to continue on. Because it wouldn't make no sense for her to have so much dislike of violence

Like even in the show's evidence with hextech weapons, with her mother in these scenes

"We need that weapon, Mel. Let the war unfold. And then you come home. Take your place at my side. It's where you belong."

Mel could've very easily taken the route that would've brought her back to her mother, her family. Something she is shown to clearly yearn for with her paintings.

But what does she do?

She gives it all up. Because she wants peace with Zaun. Because she doesn't want those weapons to be made and she knows this is a way to do it. (Unfortunately, one has already been made because this decision comes too late)

I'm tired of people writing Mel as this ruthless person, when in reality she's just ignorant and blind. Mel is compassionate when she realizes the wrongness of actions.

Like I love the idea of her interacting with Silco too for that one scene instead of Jayce. And Silco having no idea how to handle a piltie who is like 'wait all that's been happening?' because she just never witnessed or saw the details. Children dying would probably be like 'wait hold up' for Mel.

The writers constantly keep Mel from witnessing the horrors of the Undercity and there is very strong reasons for that. Because if she saw it, she probably would've pressed for change a lot sooner

I also feel like a lot of Mel hate is unfair, the fact that she in the end, does see the light and realizes 'shit's fucked' and uses her sway on the council to vote for peace with Zaun.

which in comparison to Heimerdinger who I feel gets way not enough hate. Heimerdinger literally sees and witness how bad the Undercity is and stays for like a day in it and is like 'oh they don't want my help' ??? YOU ARE THE REASON THEY NEED HELP SIR

Heimerdinger should get way more hate, where's that picture of boxer!silco hitting him. Need it back on my dash now

anyway

TLDR

Mel is compassionate, but blind to what happens to those outside of her small circle. If she were to see what happened, I 100% believe Zaun would've been freed a lot faster. Let Mel and Viktor talk one time damn it. Let Mel and Silco have that one scene instead of Silco and Jayce. Let her see Zaun and fight for freedom and be compassionate and we need more of those characters

Send me unpopular opinions