#anyway girls should be mean and bossy with me

[craycraybluejay]

how do you make yourself look submissive and rapeable to predatory girls asking for a friend

[yeeterthek33per]

Loved and Landed (Steph Catley x Reader)

A/n Requested

-------

Steph lives a busy life.

There's her football life. Obviously.

There's her schooling life.

There's the life she lives with her friends and family.

And then there's the life with-

"Steeeeeph, come on, I wanna get there early, I'm not dealing with Katie leaving something for me to find, again."

There's incessant tugging at the sleeve of her red Arsenal hoodie.

Of course, her football life keeps her the most busy.

Especially when she has to drive it to and from home all of the time now that Kyra's living in the house as well.

It had been a hectic process, but the young midfielder had settled in quickly, taking in the familiarity of the Aussie herself and her club teammates' closeness around them.

Quickly becoming a child amongst the older girls on the team, much like a sibling to them, within but a few months.

That being said.

Kyra was a little shit.

And she knew it too.

A demanding one at that.

Hence why Katie had taken to knocking the young brunette down a few pegs.

Her cockiness was starting to show under the protection of the older girls, so the Irish captain had been messing with her enough to take the invincible mindset away from her.

Leaving her ultimately latched onto Steph now.

A lot.

"Seriously, Steph, please, I can't deal with her leaving shaving foam in my boots again."

The older woman raises an eyebrow at the pleading look on Kyra's face.

"You did this to yourself, Ky. Katie's only retaliating because you decided you were king shit enough to put hair dye in her shampoo."

The younger girl whines.

"Don't you think she's retaliated enough? I've had my shoes violated, my shin guards replaced with slightly smaller ones. I mean, the other day, my water bottle was filled with pickle juice. Pickle Juice! For gods sake."

Steph sighs, rolling her eyes slightly, grabbing the last of her stuff to shove into her pack, she gestures to the front door, to which the midfielder eagerly hurries out of and towards the car, waiting impatiently for the defender to unlock it.

"You've seriously gotta apologise to Katie or something. The girl has ten siblings, I can't imagine she hasn't spent her whole life dealing with bratty behaviour from little shits like you."

Kyra scoffs as she hurriedly buckles herself in.

"Rude."

"The truth."

Steph smirks at the small pout that forms on the other girls lips.

"Hurry up and drive."

"So bossy."

-------

As expected, they arrive with hardly any other people around, decidedly much earlier than any of the other girls. Katie wasn't the earliest of player's anyway, so Kyra really shouldn't be worried about her beating them there.

Still, the youngin looks exceptionally nervous as she peaks into the changing room and gingerly makes her way over to her cubby, scanning it with a ridiculous level of detail.

Steph can only shake her head, watching the young girl sheepishly wander around the room, checking for what may well be hidden traps.

Maybe she should talk with Katie about getting her to take it down a notch.

The Irish woman was nothing if not relentless when it came to getting back at someone.

The last thing the team needed was a midfielder with serious trust issues stemming from their infamous yellow card magnet of a winger.

"Ky, relax. She's not even here yet."

"Yeah, but you never know."

"Seriously, it's game day, relax, she won't-"

"Oh, hello, you two. Stephy. Kyra."

The ever so loud and joyful Katie enters the changing room with a bang of the door as it slams open and hits the wall.

Her smirk quirks up a little wider at the sight of the midfielder, who's looking rather sheepishly around her rather than at the Irish woman herself.

"You two extra early today, eh?"

"Ha, something like that."

Steph gives her a look as she nods in Kyra's direction.

"Give the poor girl a break, would ya? I think she's been thoroughly humbled."

Katie snorts in amusement, eyeing her up.

"Eh, she’s fine. I wasn't gonna do anything."

Steph raises a brow at that.

"....Yet."

There it is.

"Of course. Don't mess around too much, though. We still have a game to play, McCabe."

She lets out an unconvincing hum in response, right as some of the other girls start to filter in, Caitlin one of the ones to settle into her cubby beside the defender.

"What's up with the kid?"

Steph snorts.

"Ask your girlfriend. She's been torturing the poor girl."

Caitlin rolls her eyes, turning to Katie, who's now got a cheeky glint in her as she eyes up the younger of the three.

"Katie."

"What? I didn't do any-"

She stops at the look she gets from the Australian, grumbling as she relents and turns back to her cubby.

-------

Kyra's finally able to escape the locker room out of sight of the defender the moment the Irish woman is distracted.

Heading down the hall towards the physio room, she ends up coming face to face with and bumping face first into someone.

She groans when she rubs at her face and her backside from where she landed on it as she stands up again with the help of her assailant.

The person is stood in a royal navy uniform, a patch on her shoulder with three horizontal gold stripes and a small circled loop on the top, hair slicked back and tight into a bun behind her head.

'L/n-Catley' the name badge reads.

Confusion crosses her face which you quickly notice.

"You're Steph's teammate right?"

"Uh yeeaah? Who are you?"

"It's a long story and sorry about the bump there. I uh, I don't know if y'all know yet but I might need your help. The staff were nice enough to let me in but I need an escort here."

"Where are you going?"

"I got told to wait for one of the trainers in the staff room?"

"Can I ask what you're doing?"

"Waiting to see Steph, but don't tell her, it's supposed to be a surprise."

Kyra is extremely sceptical, but she leads you down the hall to where the trainers are situated and one of them recognises you immediately, hugging you and dragging you into the room.

She's even more confused when the staff member is nearly in tears.

Wait.

Navy uniform.

Here to see Steph.

L/n-Catley on the name badge.

There's no way.

"Are you... Are you married to Steph?"

You chuckle softly, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Yes I am. If you can't tell it's been a little while since we've seen each other."

"Yeah, I can tell, her house is far too empty for the size of it."

"Ah, so you're the new roommate. Kyra, right?"

"She's been talking about me?"

You nod.

"We would call every two weeks. When she found out you were moving to Arsenal, I couldn't tell if she was happy or mad because you'd already trashed her white towels."

"Hey! That was not my fault, the wine just fell... on it's own."

There's a sheepish look on her face.

You chuckle softly.

"She'll be fine, the pattern was ugly anyway, we needed new towels... Don't tell her I said that."

Kyra smiles at that.

"It's great to meet you, then... How are we planning this out?"

"I'll have my sister here sneak me somewhere I can wait and surprise her at the end of the game."

She nods.

"Alright, I better get going then before the girls come looking for me for pitch inspection."

You nod back and give her a warm smile.

"Oh, I'm Y/n, by the way, Lieutenant Commander Y/n L/n-Catley."

-------

The roar of the almost entirely red and white crowd as the girls enter the pitch is as usual, deafeningly loud.

Home games are always the most adrenaline instilling games, ones where their fans are always the loudest, chanting and screaming every time one of their own touches the ball.

Steph can still hardly believe it.

The growth in the game. Breaking records every single home match so far.

The FA Cup semi-final was no different it seems.

Her eyes subtly scan the crowd as she jogs out behind the others, shifting from clapping fan to clapping fan. There's an air about the crowd.

A massively high inducing air, one that she can feel in every nerve ending in her body as she practically bounces around the pitch in warmups.

She brushes it off as it being a semi final type of high.

Aston Villa would be a difficult opponent and she assumed that was the reasoning.

-------

It seems she's proven wrong in the first ten minutes.

It doesn't take long for Stina to score, the home crowd immediately losing their minds, and they barely have time to recover just two minutes later when the Swede swoops in for the double.

By the fourty-fifth minute, they know they have the game. Four to nil over the Villans thanks to a Stina hattrick and a goal from Frida. Her heartbeat is thumping in her ears as they approach the final minute.

This is the part they're in the dark. How many minutes left of stoppage? How much longer does she have to defend?

The players are taught not to worry about that. To just play until the whistle blows. And she does.

But she can't help the nagging awaiting of the whistle, wondering when it will go.

The moment it does, there's celebration, relief, and a lot of cheering and screams and congratulation from the air around.

A pair of arms and legs wrap around her from behind as Kyra jumps on her back, the young Australian whooping into her ear.

"Onto the finals, Stephy!"

The defender chuckles and celebrates with the team, the announcer shouting out the home teams win to wind up the crowd once more.

As they do the celebration walk around the pitch, the announcer announces player of the match, and then one more announcement catches her ear.

Her head snaps toward the tunnel the moment she hears it, heart stopping at the words of the female announcer.

"And finally, one last round of applause. Let us congratulate and welcome back someone very special to one of our own. Lieutenant Commander Y/N L/n-Catley returning from fifteen months of duty at sea with the Royal Navy."

And truly, there you are, her wife.

Dressed to the nines in your Black, long sleeved uniform, hands clasped behind you, standing with a wide, almost teary smile as you watch Steph bolt across the pitch towards you, catching her with little effort as she jumps into your arms, knocking the cap off your head with the force.

The rest of the Arsenal girls stand shocked, looking between themselves and their left back at the sudden appearance of a totally new member of the Catley family.

Before they can even try to work out who you might be to Steph, the defender has her lips pressed to yours tightly, tears streaming down your face.

The sensation of finally being able to kiss you, her wife. HER wife, has her trembling against you, her stomach twisting and curling as you hold her tight against you, your own hands shaking as they rest on her back.

It had been the longest stint you'd gone without seeing each other, having been on a cramped ship for the majority of that time.

Even having been used to long times apart, the immense relief of being able to hold your person, your love, YOUR wife, after so long. was like nothing else you'd ever experienced.

And you were glad you had all the time in the world to experience it now.

When Steph's finally able to pull back and look you in the eye, hands holding your face, eyes scanning your features, noting a small scar under your right brow, and then returning to make eye contact again with you, albeit very tearily, much like yourself.

Lifting your own hands, your thumbs swipe away the tears on her cheeks, leaning down once more to kiss her, forehead leaning against hers.

You take in the immensity of the screams of the crowd all of a sudden, especially the crowd around the players' tunnel.

With that, she buries herself back into your hold, her nose buried into the crook of your neck.

Your eyes scan the pitch, watching the applauding or shocked expressions of the players.

You'd already known her teammates didn't know she was married, however their shocked expressions still have you chuckling.

All except Kyra's wide smile as she watches the two of you and you give the girl a wink.

"I can't believe it. You're here."

It's half whimpered into your shoulder, and you just barely hear it over the crowd.

"I'm here. I'm home."

"They finally let you on leave?"

She's using a half joking tone beneath the watery chokes and sobs.

"Better than that, Love."

She pulls away shocked.

"You mean.."

You smile down at her teary eyed.

"I'm home for good, not retired but they're giving me an office in London. Full time hours still but I won't be needed for duty anymore."

She frowns softly after a second.

She knew you'd always hated the idea of an office job.

Catching the look on her face, you knew what she'd be thinking about.

"I don't care where it is, or what I'm doing. I'm just glad I'm home, with you. I've had my fill of travelling and front line work for a lifetime."

Leaning your forehead back against hers, you let the moment sink in.

You'd known it was coming for months now, haven spoken to your superiors, and them letting you know there was a position available remotely, you'd taken it in a heartbeat.

If it meant coming home to your girl, you'd have done anything.

A small throat clearing a couple feet from you, the team had moved to stand around the pair of you, eager to ask questions of the brunette in your arms.

You nudge her softly with a small giggle in her ear.

"Babe, I think they have questions."

"They can wait a little longer."

You don't fight her on it just letting her settle into you again, holding you tightly.

The moment she does let go, she's grabbed by the shoulders and interrogated by the team rather swiftly.

Leah stands arms crossed.

"Now Stephy, when did this occur?"

Steph sheepishly smiles around her at her.

"Alright alright, Gunners, meet my beautiful wife, Y/n. She's been in the navy since she turned eighteen, we met five years ago when she was on leave in Australia. We started dating less than a month later and she left on duty about four months later. We got married after three years, bought a house right before she left a year and a bit ago. We haven't seen each other in person since then. Until now, that is."

And just like that, you're immediately dragged into the group rather swiftly, squished into several hugs.

A firm handshake and then a tight hug from their captain, especially. The Scot making firm well you know how quickly she'd bury you should you hurt their defender, despite the fact you'd known Steph longer and you chuckle, nodding in agreement at the stern look turned cracked smile she lets go.

When you're finally free, Steph takes no time tucking herself under your arm and wrapping hers around you, looking up at you slightly with a proud, elated smile, eyes still slightly teary.

Returning the expression, you press a small kiss to her nose.

"Welcome home, Baby."

You shake your head.

"Congrats on the win, Baby, this is your moment right now. Go celebrate for a bit, we've got all the time in the world now."

She pouts but relents with a small peck and nudge.

"KYRA, YOU KNEW?!"

The shouts of the Irish captain make her jump but chuckle a little as a gloating midfielder teases the rest of the girls.

Yeah. She was in for it.

-------

[doyouevenshipbr0]

examples of atla live action’s attempts to be more feminist and how they actually had the opposite effect and/or hurt the integrity of the show

already talked about katara and pakku. does not make sense that she did not have a master. point blank. just because something sounds empowering (ie katara saying “yes. and ur looking at her.” after zuko asked if she found a master) doesn’t mean it automatically is. there still needs to be logic and katara “being her own master” defies logic imo im sorry!

katara in general. she has no ferocity here which to be very honest i dont think is fully the writers’ fault. some of the blame goes on them but the actress for katara just delivered alllllll of her lines w the same exact mild tone. katara is overly motherly. she is bossy. she is passionate. she is nurturing. she is emotional. THERE IS POWER IN THESE THINGS!!!!! why would we take away her spark?!?!?!

i loved live action suki. however, i LOVE the line in the original when her and sokka part ways and sokka says “i treated u like a girl when i should’ve treated u like a warrior.” and suki says “i am a warrior” *kisses sokka on the cheek* “but im a girl too.” THAT LINE WAS SO PERFECT like lemme say it again there is POWER IN FEMININITY! there is no shame in that!!!!! why does this show wanna take that away so badly. at one point live action suki says something like “im not just a warrior, im a kiyoshi warrior” and before she parts ways w sokka she thanks him for showing her some of the world or something like that. which was fine but i just love the simplicity of the original. a girl can be a warrior and have a crush. why do we have to change that?

this is a small one and it doesnt REALLY matter, but i cant help but think they changed this to be more “feminist” which is just dumb. yue isnt betrothed? well she was but she broke it off? and hahn (her ex) isnt a huge dick? i mean it wasn’t the worst thing and i didnt really mind it but i was just kinda like ?????. feel like yue being betrothed tied into her sense of responsibility and foreshadowed the sacrifices she will make for her people. so. feels rly weird that they changed it. i think it was to show more women agency which is always cool. but in the original, yue finally gets her agency by becoming the moon spirit. that should be the end of her character arc. idk. a weird change that seemed unnecessary.

sokka not being sexist. honestly i think the live action did a good job at omitting this while not REALLY making it feel like something was missing. with that being said, something was still missing lol. once again, its apart of sokka’s character. i feel like everyone has already expressed their hate for this so ill just leave it at that.

i am a TAD indifferent on the women of the northern tribe joining the forces during the fight. on one hand i cant lie i smiled bc obviously i love water bending and i love women so there was definitely apart of me that was happy to see that moment. however. it was kind of giving like in endgame when theres that random shot of all the women superheroes in one frame so the movie could have a “slay queen. we are girlbosses:)” moment. like it just felt a little empty and it wasnt the feminist battlecry they thought it was. these women have been healing their whole lives. why would they be any good on the frontlines of a fight? they never learned combat skills! HOWEVER, when we see them, its mainly just them reinforcing the walls so like. that makes enough sense. im cool w that.

i know im dwelling but as we know i hold atla in the highest regards. it does a lot of things perfectly imo. and one of the things i think it does PERFECTLY is its treatment of female characters. literally the only thing i can think of that i dont like is when team azula beats the kiyoshi warriors and ty lee says something like “u are NOT prettier than us” NDBSKSJDJ like ok that was weird. but anyways. it irritates me how the live action kind of seems to have this pov that says “the original was good, but there were some ideas and plots that were outdated so we changed them to keep with the times” like they’re fixing something that was broken if that makes sense. when in actuality, i think atla’s representation of women is perfect and timeless. it was relevant and powerful in 2005, and it is equally as relevant and powerful in 2024. there was nothing about its feminist themes that needed to be “fixed” or “updated”.

[sarahowritesostucky]

📖"Merry & Bright"

Part 3 - Family Fun Night

Merry & Bright Masterlist

Rated: Teen

Pairing: Bucky x Steve

Tags: a/b/o, omega Bucky, alpha Steve, kid fic, Karens

Summary: Bucky and Steve go to their daughters' school play.

(If your name is Karen, I'm sorry and sending warm hugs)

Bucky’s been able to ignore the encroaching Holiday season for longer than usual this year. 

Between the warm-ish fall weather and his continuing therapy appointments, the ceaseless calls from his publisher and that guy from Warner Brothers, and the move and the overwhelming demands of a newborn, it’s just hard to believe that it could already be Thanksgiving next week.

Steve’s next text coming through just about drives a bulldozer through that delusion:

Steve: Hey, I’m at the store right now. You want me to pick anything up for this ‘Friendsgiving’-extravaganza? I know Jarvis said he’s got it handled, but I feel like we should have backups for the girls? Just in case Tony’s picked out some sort of weird, avant garde menu? Becs really has her heart set on pumpkin pie. And Sarah, well …

Bucky: You could ask Pepper. I think we’re safe as long as there’s mac ‘n’ cheese and rolls. Anyway we’ve got over a week to sort it out.

Steve: … Babe, today’s Tuesday. We’ve got two days. 

Bucky immediately checks his phone calendar, and sure enough, Thanksgiving is this week, not next. Fuck. 

“Ohshit,” he breathes, eyes bugging out of his head as he realizes that this means tonight is the school play, not next Tuesday. “Fuck. Shit!” In his hands, his phone chimes.

Steve: So, pie?

Bucky texts back a harried ‘yes’, thinking that he’s got to get his butt back to the tower immediately. He very suddenly has only about nine hours before his children need to be fitted with their (as of yet not even near-to-finished) homemade costumes. Becca’s paper mache drumstick still needs spray painted, and Sarah’s supposed to be a scoop of mashed potatoes that Bucky still needs to find something to act as the pat of butter on top.

“Jarvis, help.” Bucky says as he hoofs it back in the direction of the tower. 

 Jarvis’ voice emanates from his phone: “Mr. Rogers. How can I be of assistance?”

Bucky rattles off the craft supplies they’re going to need. “And if you know anyone on Stark’s payroll who’s good with a needle and thread, that wouldn’t hurt either.”

It seems like only yesterday they were dressed up as Buzz and Woody, letting Bo Peep and a very bossy Jessie drag them around from house to house. They’d trick-or-treated in the Cobble Hill neighborhood where they technically don’t live yet but will soon, once the house is finished being refurbished. Bucky had carried Gabe strapped to his front as one of the Little Green Men alien squeaker toy thingies, and Steve had pulled a wagon along for when one or both of the girls inevitably became too tuckered out to—

Anyhow, point is: it feels like they were trick‘or’treating all of two seconds ago.

And now Thanksgiving is in two days? What the everloving fuck?

Bucky spends a very brief amount of time that afternoon being irrationally mad at his husband, as if it’s Steve’s fault that his pregnancy brain has apparently extended into the postpartum period and allowed him to lose track of time. He grumps privately that Steve should’ve somehow magically known that he was mentally operating in the wrong week, and should have thus alerted him that the holiday was imminent! Stupid Steve. What the hell is the alpha good for, anyway?

Later that evening of course, he realizes how ridiculous that is. He comes to terms with the fact that he’s actually upset with himself—partly because of the mad scramble he’s left with to get ready for Coulton-Chestor Preparatory Academy’s family fun night, but even moreso because of the 5k he now has to face up to in less than forty-eight hours. (What real, qualitative difference one more week of jogging in the park was really going to make, Bucky can’t say, but he’d been counting on it to help him work his confidence up about the whole ordeal.)

It’s not like he wouldn’t back out of it if he could, but he absolutely cannot back out. This is the first ever Brooklyn Bridge American Heroes Turkey Trot, co-sponsored by Stark Industries and Barnes Prosthetics (yes, Bucky is the genius who thought it’d be fine and dandy to plan a 5k less than half a year after giving birth). Together, he and Tony have started a foundation for veterans and civilian victims of the regime years, to help provide them access to the high quality, bio-integrative prosthetics that Bucky’s company makes.

Since it’s not exactly cheap to weld a robot arm onto somebody, Bucky and Tony have partnered with Wounded Warrior Project for this charity run; done to raise funds for vets who don’t happen to have a spare ninety grand lying around to fund their surgeries. The limbs themselves are, of course, all provided free of charge by Barnes Prosthetics, and the overall costs are at least somewhat ameliorated by various amenities provided by Stark.

As the visible face of the charity, Bucky’s got no choice: he needs to show up, show off, and show support. He’s expected to be there to make nice with all the other amputees who’ll be running, and to show off how happy and perfect his life is now that he’s got the Asset IV prototype cybernetic implant attached to his body. It is a bitchin’ arm, and Bucky is excited to get to hand one of those gigantic cardboard checks over to the Wounded Warrior guys, but he really, really wishes he’d thought to postpone the Foundation’s first run until next Thanksgiving. 

At least he’ll have Steve there with him, he thinks. His Alpha has promised not to outpace him to any embarrassing degree, Darcy is fine with keeping Gabe until they get back, and Tony has even arranged to have the girls set up for the Macy’s parade with a disgustingly VIP viewing situation on Central Park West. But aside from those few hours on Thanksgiving morning, Bucky’s daughters will remain under his purview for the holidays this year. 

And the hubbub begins with Family Fun Night that evening. 

Bucky alone has to deal with Sarah’s anxiety problems leading up to the curtain call for this stupid fucking school play. “Hold still, Honey,” he begs, speaking past the safety pin he’s got held between his lips as he kneels there and uses both of his hands to try and do a last minute costume fix. “Sarah I said hold still.”

“Fix it daddy, fix it!” 

He’s crouched next to his youngest daughter in the school’s hallway, trying to better secure the pat of “butter” (a folded yellow tea towel) to the top of her not-so-great mashed potato costume. Steve is off somewhere with the drumstick, helping her to not be scared about walking out on stage. “Baby, please. I can’t fix it if you keep moving around,” Bucky growls, but his frustrated tone only makes Sarah get more hysterical about her role in the play being messed up by a floppy tea towel. She starts to cry about how she doesn’t want to do this anymore. 

“Sarah Winnifred, I swear to God, if you don’t hold still, you’re gonna have a new hole poked in your head!”

He and Steve sit proudly in the fourth row back and watch the play that their children’s overpriced prep school is putting on before it lets out for Thanksgiving break.

At the end of the final song, when all of the students are lined up on the stage like a demented paper-mache buffet of human-sized food items, bowing hand in hand, Steve and Bucky rise with all the other parents for a standing ovation, humongous smiles plastered on their faces. Steve tries to do a finger whistle with middling success, then he leans over to Bucky’s ear and cheerfully whispers, “That was so dumb!”

Bucky laughs, still clapping and beaming with absolute pride for his daughters. “Yeah it was friggin’ awful!” 

The curtain falls, and he and Steve exit the auditorium to go backstage and congratulate the girls. A very excited drumstick and mashed potatoes run up and start talking over each other to tell their fathers all about the play that they just performed. “Papa! Daddy! Did you see me?! Did you see my song?!!” 

“What about meee?!”

“Sure did, Becs. You were really good!” 

“The best turkey drumstick ever.”

For being such excellent thespians and to celebrate their acting debut, they present the girls with two foil-wrapped tulips that they bought out in the lobby. Becca especially, seems very proud of her flower, twirling in her drumstick costume and holding it to her nose again and again. Bucky’s smile wavers with emotion as he gets that warm, shot-of-whiskey feeling once again, and he remembers that Life is Good. He catches Steve’s eye from over top of the mashed potatoes, and they share one of those silent “I Love You” moments. Steve shoots him a wink.

It being family fun night, Darcy appears as planned and ushers the girls away to go change back into regular clothes before they head over to the kids’ party in the gymnasium. Meanwhile, Steve and Bucky go to the reception that’s been put together for the parents. Bucky isn’t super keen on attending, but he promised the girls that they could play games with the other kids for at least an hour, so he and Steve make an admirable attempt to mingle amongst the other parents.

Coulton-Chestor Preparatory Academy is an exclusive elementary school on the Upper East Side. Due to its sheer proximity to Stark Tower, and since bussing the girls all the way to Brooklyn for an entire year would’ve been too much of a hassle, Steve and Bucky chose to enroll them there. It’s only temporary, until the renovations on the Cobble Hill house are complete and they’re able to move back to Brooklyn. Bucky is looking forward to being able to walk his children the two picturesque blocks between their house and the neighborhood school each day.

But until then, it’s the more snobbish parents and overzealous PTA moms of Coulton-Chestor that he has to navigate at functions such as tonight’s. Bucky’s been taking some time off work ever since things got very pregnant-and-miserable in about month eight, but he still considers himself a working father, and as such there is an awkward disconnect between him and the more … involved stay-at-home parents who surround him at the reception.

At least there are hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, which give him something to do with his hands. Steve starts chatting with a few of the parents who are running the silent auction, and Bucky avoids getting drawn into bidding on overpriced theater tickets by heading over to the refreshments table. He’s just finished loading up on a bunch of mini quiches and cocktail weenies, when the one person he’d hoped to fully avoid at this function makes her attack. Bucky turns around with his little plate of foot and startles as he’s suddenly faced with a familiar, blonde-haired woman. 

“James!” She’s got a tea-length dress, an overly-whitened smile, and a ponytail that’s been curled to within an inch of its life. It’s Karen.

(No, her name is literally Karen.)

And in Bucky’s limited experience with her, she has an uncanny ability to make every social interaction the exact opposite of what Bucky would like it to be. It’s just a gift some people have.

She swoops in with two other omega parents by her sides, introducing them as “Jill” and “Nate.” Bucky plasters on a smile to match hers while she air kisses his cheeks in that way that rich people who think they’re cultured always do.

“You made it,” she coos, acting pleased to see him. In all fairness, she might be. Bucky’s never point blank told the woman that he finds her insufferable, and she always seems to make a beeline for the more well-to-do parents. Ever since she found out that Bucky and Steve not only rub shoulders with Tony Stark, but are actually living with him, she’s been eager to make Bucky one of her besties. “It’s been too long. How are you, darling?”

“Oh, you know,” Bucky says, gesturing with his plate of cocktail weenies. “Hanging in there.”

“And how is that gorgeous new baby of yours doing?” she asks, nudging Jill to announce, “James is married to Commander Rogers. They have three children.”

Jill and Nate make a polite fuss over that, while Bucky tries to act gracious and think of a way to correct Karen that “Commander” isn’t Steve’s title, and if he ever hears her referring to him as such, he’ll be offended. “How is your family doing?” Bucky asks, more to get the topic off himself rather than due to any real interest. 

Like most of the Coulton-Chestor moms, Karen is married to a well-to-do Alpha, has precisely one child, and spends her time trying to climb as high in Manhattan “Mommy” society as possible. Having a living child at all is automatically a foot up in terms of social standing, Bucky’s learned, and the moms of Park Avenue lord their accomplishments higher than most. Most times Bucky’s met her, Karen’s been wearing diamond solitaires with designer workout clothes and brandishing her own fertility like a damn merit badge. 

Karen brags about her son for a few minutes, and when it seems like everyone in their small group is necessitated to take a turn with regards to their own offspring, Bucky throws some random fact out about how the girls have been doing. Jill and Nate start gushing over Bucky’s grand accomplishment of having three kids, which is practically unheard of. 

“You must be so proud. How lucky to have three healthy children!”

“What were yours in the play?” Jill asks, and she seems friendly enough so Bucky makes an effort to tell her about how he’s responsible for the turkey leg and the mashed potatoes. She giggles and nods and says her son was one of the pumpkins.

“Oh, ha, yeah. They had quite the little dance routine, didn’t they?” 

Bucky’s smile turns annoyed when Karen feels the need to point out, “Yes! And your little Rebecca kept up alright, didn’t she? She seemed able to follow along with the other kids quite well!”

“Yes,” Bucky says peevishly. “She’s very talented.” 

“Isn’t it wonderful here? I just love how inclusive Coulton-Chestor is,” Karen simpers. She turns to the other moms and starts telling them about how Becca is in her son’s “regular” class, and how she’s always so sweet, and so helpful to the other students. She talks about Becca like she’s a little mascot, or a class pet, and it rankles Bucky’s nerve to no end.

Since the fertility crisis began, there’s been more stigma placed on children with any sorts of disabilities, and Bucky’s had to deal with a lot of thinly-veiled prejudice due to his daughter’s special needs ever since he started advocating to get her into the same high-quality school programs as Sarah. The public school system still hasn’t recovered, and with limited slots available in all childcare-related fields these days, people are more ruthlessly competitive for their children than ever before. 

“Yes, we like it here,” Bucky agrees. “Though we’ll be switching to a different school next year, when we move to the new house over in Brooklyn.”

“You’re not leaving The Tower?” Karen gasps, as if that’s the most horrible, ludicrous decision. Given that she makes it sound like Bucky and his family are choosing to move out of friggin’ Buckingham Palace, Nate and Jill predictably get curious and ask:

“The ‘Tower’?”

“Stark Tower,” Karen chirps, excited to tell the other two omegas, “James and his husband live there.”

 Nate’s eyebrows go up. “They live there. In the tower?”

“Oh yes! Didn’t you know? Why, they’re friends with the Starks.”

“Really? Oh, I’ve heard such good things about that Pepper Potts,” Jill gushes. “Seems like a lovely woman. How do you know her?”

Bucky smiles, pained. “Actually I knew Tony first. We work together.”

“You work?” Nate sneers. Bucky ignores him. 

“Yeah, I met Tony back during the, ah … well, during the regime years.”

“Gilead? Oh. Huh.”

(“Wonder what the Starks were doing, back then? Were they married then?”

“You never do hear what celebrities got up to during all that, do you?”

“No, you never do.”)

Bucky hums, not intending to get into a conversation about it, but Karen forces his hand by volunteering, “Wasn’t that all in your book though, James?” 

“Um,”

Karen enthusiastically tells the others, “He was one of those resistance fighters, can you believe it? That’s how he lost his arm.” (Everybody’s eyes not-so-surreptitiously fly to where Bucky’s left hand is sticking out of his sweater, holding onto the plate of hors d'oeuvres.) “And he was a vessel. His husband was one of the commanders down in Washington. That’s where they met!”

“Really?”

“Steve wasn’t a real commander …” Bucky hedges.

“Oh he wrote a whole book about it! You really must read it.” Karen rattles off the title and both Nate and Jill make sounds of recognition. 

“Ooh. You know, I’ve heard of that book.”

“Great,” Bucky mutters. He has to smile along politely and answer them as they start asking him fascinated questions, with Karen supplying details every time he tries to demure and change the topic to something less sensational. 

“He’s just being modest!” she simpers, laying her hand on Bucky’s arm in an overly familiar way. “James, tell them about how you were on the View.”

Bucky reluctantly does, and Jill and Nate nod along, enthused to hear about how he’s been on television and met the hosts of the show. “It really wasn’t all that exciting,” Bucky insists. “I wasn’t the main guest. They had, you know, real celebrities that went after me. Reese Witherspoon and stuff.”

“You met Reese Witherspoon?”

“No, no. I didn’t. I was only there for like, two minutes. It wasn’t even important.”

“Oh I don’t know,” Karen prods smugly. “A little birdy told me that Netflix was trying to buy up the film rights to your book.”

Bucky doesn’t even care, he openly shoots her a withering glare this time. “I can assure you that’s not true.” (It’s HBO, and it isn’t Bucky’s fault if she doesn’t have her details right.) 

Karen continues to gab to the other two parents about it anyway, insisting that some omega heartthrob actor whom Bucky has never heard of would be the ideal casting choice to portray him in the film version of his book. “And Chris Hemsworth. Oh! Wouldn’t he just be perfect to play your Steve?”

“Nobody’s making a movie out of it!” Bucky snaps, fed up with her incessant gossiping. “It’s not happening.” He looks around awkwardly at the end of his outburst, aware of Nate and Jill’s surprised expressions. “Um, I just mean: the studios were shopping around,” he mutters. “But I said no.” 

Of course this is very disappointing to Karen, and she tries to tell Bucky what a mistake that is, talking about how interested everybody would be in the subject matter. “I just saw an episode of the Dr. Phil show where they were talking about it,” she says. “They had wives and some of those vessels on. Even a commander.”

Bucky hums dispassionately. “Sounds like trash tv to me.” He’ll be damned if he lets Karen know he was asked onto that program as well. “Just people trying to make a spectacle out of it.”

Karen titters awkwardly and agrees, but Bucky can tell that she’s annoyed at him for shutting her gossip down. “Well, it’s all very controversial, of course,” she excuses. “And a commitment like that would just be so much more on your plate.”

Bucky nods, glad that she’s dropping it. “Yeah. Exactly.”

“After all, you’re already a working mother,” she says, saying ‘working’ all hurriedly and quietly, as if it’s something not to be mentioned. “I’m sure you just want to focus on your family, now. With the new baby and all.” 

“Congratulations,” Jill gushes. “Did you have a boy or a girl?”

“A boy. Gabe. He just turned four months old last week.”

“Oh, how wonderful.”

“Another omega for your family?”

“No, Karen,” Bucky says, annoyance audible in his voice. “We haven’t had him tested. We’re just going to wait and find out the old fashioned way.”

“Oh. I see.”

They all seem taken aback, because it’s very rare for a newborn not to be tested for designation these days. Much to Bucky’s chagrin, gender roles only seem to be becoming more emphasized than ever. Jill chuckles awkwardly and tries to lighten the mood. “Well, that’s so progressive of you. Dan had our little Archie in an alpha playgroup by the time he could crawl, I swear.”

They all titter over that, and Bucky tries to scan the room for any sight of Steve without being too obvious in what he’s doing. He spots him over by the punch bowl. “Um, I’m sorry,” he excuses. “I think I see my husband calling me.” He starts to make his escape, but Karen grabs him just as he’s turning.

“Oh, James, wait! We wanted to ask if you’d help us plan the Winter Gala.”

“Oh, I uh.”

“We’re going to have the children do a nativity scene. And I was thinking a candlelight service. Wouldn’t that just be picturesque?”

Bucky makes a face. “Sorry, Karen. My family isn’t very religious.”

“Oh, no but it’ll be interdenominational!” she insists with a big grin. “You celebrate Christmas, of course!”

“No.”

“... No?” 

“Not really,” Bucky grunts. “I mean, we do a tree and a menorah and all that, but ..."

“Menorah?” she says, and the way she squinches her eyes sets Bucky’s nerves on edge. “You’re not Jewish?”

Bucky pulls his arm back to himself. “Culturally, yes. Steve’s family is Catholic, mine’s Jewish. But we’ve decided that organized religion isn’t what’s right for our family.”

“Oh! But you can still come to the church service!” Karen says brightly. “It’ll be—”

“We’re not religious,” Bucky blurts out, sick of stepping around the issue and having lost his patience. He’s tired of politely fielding other people’s invitations for him and his husband and children to come and check out ‘this congregation’ or that, and figures he’ll just squash any chance there might be of him actually getting roped into planning holiday festivities with the Coulton-Chestor evangelical set. “We’re pretty much raising the girls Atheist,” he tells Karen, watching as her smile flickers like a bulb hanging on by its very last filament. He feels a degree of nasty satisfaction at having perturbed her. 

Disturbingly, the Christian Right has continued to grow in popularity—culturally, if not politically—these past few years, and Bucky has very little tolerance for it (he tried to show tolerance before the regime, and look how that ended up). He knows his family is in the minority, and it’s very apparent how this information makes the friendly light in even Nate and Jill’s eyes dim somewhat.

“I’m sure you’ll plan something great, though,” he excuses brightly, turning around to go and find Steve and see if it isn’t too early to make their escape. “It was nice catching up!”

Masterlist

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@steverogersbingo

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Square D3: Slice of Life

@marvel-smash-bingo

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Square I5: Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

@stuckyversebingo

Card: sarahyellow / sarah-writes-stucky

Square C4: alpha/omega relationship

[syllvane]

i could never give you peace- steve harrington x reader

a/n: takes place during the two day time skip in the last episode. spoilers for stranger things s4 vol. 1 and 2.

It’s 2am when you wake up to a loud banging on your door. It doesn’t take long for you to answer- you hadn’t been sleeping well, not after the earthquake rocked the entirety of Hawkins.

You open the door quickly and are met with none other than your boyfriend, Steve Harrington.

To put it lightly, he looks like shit.

He looks like he had gotten his entire outfit from the army surplus store, had then been shipped off to war, and lost.

“Steve...” You manage, hating how terrified you sound- no, feel.

You half-expected for a tired smile to appear on his lips, for him to quip about ‘how you should see the other guy.’

That moment doesn’t come and instead, he starts crying.

You hug him immediately, careful not to put pressure on any of his visible injuries. He still winces, but pulls you closer anyways.

“I couldn’t protect them.” He says, his voice hoarse, tears wetting your shoulder.

You don’t ask what he means by this, you just hug him tighter, as if you’ll be able to protect him.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” You said softly, taking a step back and leading him into your apartment. 

You close the door after he staggers his way inside before helping him take off his clothes so that you can see the full extent of his injuries. 

His torso was covered with what appeared to be small bite marks that hadn’t fully healed yet. The bruises that covered his body were much fresher.

His ankles and wrists were badly bruised, but no part of his body was as bruised as his neck, which was turning a disconcerting shade of purple.

“You know, most girls take me out to dinner before oogling me.” He said weakly and you looked at his eyes, your lips twitching upwards for a second. 

(God, it is so good to hear him joke, even if every word he said is solely for your benefit.)

“I’m going to get the first aid kit. Lay down on the couch, okay?”

“So bossy...” He mumbled. You shot him a look and he held his hands in the air defensively. “Just joking! I’m laying down.”

He winced as he sat down on the couch before swinging his legs onto the cushions, doing his best to avoid putting pressure onto the obviously injured parts.

In your bathroom, you found the first aid kit and some ibuprofen, bringing both to the couch and setting them on the coffee table in front of it.

“Take two of these, I’m going to get an icepack, okay?”

He looked at you, his expression unreadable.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” You said, your eyes meeting his. “I’ll be right back.”

You walk to your kitchen and open the freezer, rummaging through the frozen vegetables and the frozen meals.

You don’t find an icepack, but the frozen peas you have will be a fine substitute. 

“Put this behind your neck, it should help with the bruising,” You told him as you perched yourself on the coffee table. “I’m going to clean the scars, it might sting a little bit.”

He inhaled sharply as you pressed the disinfectant wipe to the marks on his torso, but didn’t protest.

“Steve... what happened?”

He went silent.

“You’re not going to believe me.”

“Let me decide that for myself.”

His eyes met yours. You don’t know what he’s looking for, but whatever it is, he finds it, and he starts to talk.

You listened wordlessly as he recounted the last three years of his life, telling you about mirror worlds and monsters and superheroes.

About the Demogorgon, about Eleven, about the Upside Down.

About the Mind Flayer, about Will and Billy, about Starcourt Mall.

About Vecna. About Max. About Eddie. 

Without thinking, you throw your arms around him- just the fact that you’re holding him and that he is here feels like a miracle. 

You don’t realize you’re sobbing until Steve starts drawing shapes on your back, bringing you back down to Earth.

Back down to him.

“It’s not your fault, Steve.”

It’s the first thing you say after he finishes speaking, the only thing that you can think of that feels important enough to say.

“I promised them...” He starts, his voice breaking.

“You almost died, Steve. What more could you have done? This isn’t your fault, none of this is your fault.”

He doesn’t say anything to this, just cries.

The position you’re hugging him in is uncomfortable and your shirt is getting wet from his tears and you don’t pull away.

You’ll take whatever moments you have with him.

[variety--girl]

Teach Me

Kiri x Metkayina!reader

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK 18+

Warnings: gxg, fingering, oral sex, scissoring, praise kink, orgasm denial

Synopsis: You and Kiri go for a late night swim, enjoying girl talk. She asks if you’ve ever been with a girl, to which you deny and she offers to be your first.

It was around midnight when Kiri snuck into your home to find you asleep on your cot, snuggled into your blankets. You looked so cozy but that didn’t stop her from shaking you awake roughly, “Hmm.. Huh.. What..” You groaned when you realized you were now awaken from your beauty sleep, when you rubbed your eyes and opened them Kiri’s face was only a couple inches from yours. “You wanna go for a swim?” She asked, no matter what your answer was, you knew she would still force you to go. “You woke me up for a fucking swim!” You growled angrily as you sat up from your cot, making sure the blankets covered your bare body. Yes you slept naked, most Navi people did because it was the chance for your body to feel free from the restrictions of clothing and decency.

“I should strangle you Kiri!” You squealed, Kiri knew better than to wake you up— especially for a bullshit reason like this one. “Hey Y/N, get the fuck over it and c’mon!” She snapped, grabbing your hand and yanking you out of bed, “Fine, just let me get dressed first.” You huffed, accepting your defeat and getting to your feet. The blanket was still wrapped around you when you shuffled to your chest to get an outfit. “Hurry up!” Kiri groaned, watching you slip your clothes on over your body. Ever since she arrived on the island, Kiri had been you best friend and that came with all her bossy comments and smart remarks. It didn’t bother you much though, you knew she didn’t really mean the things she said in a menacing way— the girl just didn’t have much of a filter.

You rolled your eyes and smiled, “Ok bitch I’m ready.” She took your hand and pulled you along toward the beach where you guys normally swam. It was a beautiful night for a swim, the ocean was still and the breeze was perfect. You could barely see Kiri as you began wading into the water, “Look at the moon..” She whispered, it just so happened to be a full moon that night and it was breathtaking. “It’s beautiful..” Water splashing in your face pulled you out of your trance, Kiri giggled as you splashed her back. You squealed as your splash war continued, “Ok! Ok! Truce?” She asked holding out her hand to you. “Truce.” You agreed giving her a firm handshake before dunking your head under the water to fully wet your hair.

You and Kiri stayed close to each other as you swam to a more secluded area of the beach. “Sooo how’s your love life going?” You asked nosily, pushing a piece of hair behind your ear in the process, “Girl what love life? You know I don’t mess with anybody!” She rolled her eyes assuming you had drop the conversation, “Oh really?” you smirked, “What about the boy Tuk told me about? The spider or something like that.” She physically face palmed, “That little..” Kiri sighed, “Honestly Spider and I have always had something but he’s human. We can’t even breathe the same air.” She paused for a second, “And he’s kinda the son of my dad’s sworn enemy sooo that’s a big no no.” You smirked, “So what? Wasn’t your dad supposed to be sworn enemies with your mom or something?” She shrugged, “I mean I guess you’re technically right..”

You smiled at her, “Not technically bitch, I am right!” You both laughed, “But he probably couldn’t handle you anyway, like you said he is human.” Kiri scoffed, “I’ll have you know he’s just as much Navi as you and me, bro is just in a different body. Trust me though, he can handle me…” She smirked, giving you the look and you gasped, “What?! You did it with a human!” You exclaimed loudly, the only word to describe your face was flabbergasted. “Will you shut up before you wake the whole village up?” You nodded hysterically, waiting for her confirmation, “Yes, I fucked a human. Is that what you wanna hear?” You we’re trying you hardest not to squeal to loudly, “Duh! Was it any good?” Of course you couldn’t tell but Kiri was blushing like crazy, “Honestly, it wasn’t bad. I just know that if he was Navi he would’ve been better.” That made sense, you could just imagine the size difference between them. “Have you been with anyone else?”

Now you were genuinely curious, Kiri didn’t seem like the type to be fucking around but people aren’t always what they seem. “Well… Yeah. There was this girl and-” you interrupted her with a sudden outburst, “A girl?!” You exclaimed, you’d never heard of such a thing in the Metkayina clan. “Yes Y/N, a girl. She was one of the most beautiful girls in the Omatikayan clan. I loved her but it just wasn’t meant to be.” Kiri rolled her eyes, “I’m assuming by your reaction you’ve never been with a female, have you ever thought about it though?” She questioned as she slowly drifted closer to you, “I-I.. Never. No I haven’t..” You stumbled over your words as you felt her fingers lightly brush your skin. The look in her eyes was enough to translate her thoughts and it made you blushed, it was clear that her head was filled with lustful thoughts. “Now what are you thinking love?” Kiri whispered, she was finally close enough to touch you if she wanted. You blushed as you felt her fingers start to brush a little closer to your most intimate areas.

“I’m thinking about what it would be like to kiss a girl.” You admitted shamefully, looking down at the dark water that surrounded you both. It was true, you were thinking about how Kiri’s lips would feel against yours, something told you that it would be one of the best feelings you’ve ever had. Kiri smirked, “Let me show you how amazing it is…” She whispered, cupping your face gently and pulling you into a soft kiss. Immediately sparks flew for you, there was so much passion in the kiss as you opened your mouth to allow her tongue to explore its new surroundings. Eventually, to your dismay, Kiri pulled away and took a deep breath. You did the same as you looked at her shadowy figure in the moonlight, “T-That was-” you were cut off by Kiri finishing your sentence. “Amazing.” Without saying another word she took your hand, leading you out of the water and onto the beach where she took a seat in the sand.

She pulled you down to sit beside her, you felt her release your hand before settling her hand on your thigh. Her touch sent a shock directly to your clit which caused you to jolt. You took the initiative to pull her into another deep kiss, she moaned in your mouth as your hands began to caress her sides. The kiss was broken once again as Kiri moved her lips to your neck and began sucking. Soft moans escaped your mouth as you felt her fingers begin to move slowly towards your loincloth. Before you could say anything, she pushed your loincloth to the side and found your sensitive little bud. Kiri continued suck on your neck, occasionally nibbling on your skin for a more pleasurable feeling. Your moans grew louder as she began to rub your clit in circular motions, “Kiri.. It’s so good..” You panted out as she began to slowly speed up, her other hand snaked down between your legs. You threw your head back as the pleasurable knot increased with every rub, suddenly you felt her finger enter you.

“Your so tight, have you ever been touched like this before?” Kiri whispered seductively in your ear as she slowly began thrusting her finger in and out of you. “N-no…” You stuttered as she continued using both hands to pleasure you. The knot continued to grow and soon enough you were getting closer and closer to your orgasm. Your walls clenched around her finger in preparation, but to your disappointment she removed both of her hands. You whined in dismay as the pleasure was instantly gone, she had edged you. “B-but-” you were cut off by her, “I want to taste how sweet your pretty little pussy is. Can I do that?” You nodded and laid back on your elbows, spreading your legs for her. A shutter ran through your body as you felt her slide your loincloth down your legs, the midnight breeze blew on your skin as you watched Kiri begin to remove her own.

You blushed as she lowered herself in between your legs, the feeling of her warm breath against your lower lips caused them to moisten even more. Without a warning, Kiri swiped her tongue vertically between your lips a few times. “Mmmm, you taste so fucking good love..” She smirked as you gasped “F-fuck…” You moaned as you felt her hands grip your thighs, pushing them even further and pinning them in place. That’s when Kiri’s assault truly started, her tongue began to flick your clit mercilessly while sliding two fingers in. You squealed from the feeling of your pussy stretching, the knot started to build once again as she worked you closer and closer with her fingers and tongue. You screamed her name over and over as you were finally reaching your climax, “I’m gonna c..” You were cut off by Kiri once again pulling away, leaving you in distress, “Why did you stopppp?” You whined as you lifted your head off the ground, desperately lifting your hips towards her but she pulled away wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, an innocent smile on her face.

“I’m sorry my dear but I want to cum with you. Let me teach you something..” Kiri positioned herself in between your legs, slowly lowering her pussy to meet yours, she began rubbing her pussy against yours with a humping motion. “Fuckkkk. Kiri it’s so good!” You cry as you feel her clit rub against yours with each movement, eventually she began speeding up— the friction continued to cause more and more pleasure. Her moans harmonized with yours as she continued fucking you, “Yes just like that!” You moan as you slowly begin moving your hips to match her rhythm, causing her moans to increase in volume. “Good girl,” Kiri moaned, “You’re such a good girl..” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she continued scissoring with you. The knot was building once again as you continued moving your hips in unison with hers, “I’m gonna-” she moaned, “Cum with me..” Her words allowed you to finally be sent over the edge, you both released yourself in sync.

Kiri stayed in between you for a second, riding out her orgasm then catching her breath. You gasp when you finally came down from your orgasmic experience, panting as sweat dripped down the side of your face. Removing yourself from between you, Kiri flopped next to you on the sand, also panting and sweaty. “So..” she panted, “How was being with a girl?” You turned your head to look into her eyes, you smiled and took her hand in yours. “It was absolutely amazing..” You intertwined your fingers with hers as you gazed up at the stars, you scoffed closer to Kiri and rested your head on her chest. Your eyes felt heavy from sleepiness, she had woken you up from your sleep for this, but it didn’t really matter because you could sleep now and that’s exactly what you did.

[perceabeth]

“that moment where your character just… looks. just looks at their love interest for more than five seconds and doesn’t understand why or how this earth can exist and the sun and moon exist and the sky can be an eternal source of happiness and yet this person right here can bring so much more warmth and comfort to them with just a single glance” you wld do this SOOOOOO well (as you wld all of them but this one has me w my head in my hands)

cicada my beloved happy happy bday i know this isn't exactly what u said but i tried hope it helps <3333

Annabeth really does not want to be having this conversation right now.

“I’m just saying,” If Silena has registered her disinterest, she doesn’t let it affect her flow. “It wouldn’t hurt. Besides, he owes you a date anyway, so you might as well, right?”

“It wasn’t a date.” Annabeth complains and Clarisse barks out a hearty laugh, leaning back against the stone steps in the amphitheatre and taking a sip of water. Annabeth scowls. “What? It wasn’t! We were supposed to catch a movie but he’s, like, totally into this other girl.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Kind of.” Annabeth thinks about it. “She’s got freckles. I suppose that’s pretty.”

“So you’re jealous.” Silena concludes. “Which means you totally like Percy, and therefore, coming back to my original point– you should ask him to the fireworks.”

Annabeth is not impressed, but it’s harder to wear it on her face when she’s spending all this effort fighting the outrageous heat that’s creeping up to her cheeks. “I don’t like Percy. He’s like– he’s like this thorn in my side.”

“He’s an idiot.” Clarisse agrees. Then she tilts her head to the side and considers it. “But I’d say you were more a pain in his ass than the other way around.”

“No way.” Silena shakes her head, interrupting before Annabeth could voice her outrage. “Annabeth’s right. He’s worse.”

“Annabeth is bossy.” Clarisse challenges.

“Percy is hyper-argumentative.” Silena counters.

“Annabeth is a hothead.”

“So is Percy.”

“Annabeth–”

“Hey!” Annabeth cuts in. “Annabeth can hear you, you know? And she doesn’t like what she’s hearing.”

“Fine. Then scram.” Clarisse kicks her ankle lightly with hers. “This practice session was a spectacular waste of time. We got no sparring done and if a war does come to us, I’m pretty sure Silena’s going to be the first to die.”

“Excuse me.” Silena turns on Clarisse then, holding up her perfectly manicured hands. “I happen to be gifted with these nails. You don’t know the damage I can do, La Rue.”

“Your acrylics  versus the Lord of Time. Interesting.” Clarisse pretends to think about it. “Let’s hope Annabeth kills the Prophecy Kid this summer so none of us have to deal with that coming to fruition.”

“Whatever. Give me two weeks and I’ll kick your ass with a spear.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Even as Annabeth sits between her friends, she feels herself drifting away– as if the scene in front of her is already becoming a memory; as if this is one of those moments she’ll revisit every so often as she moves forward– like she stood on the precipice of the End of something, even if she doesn’t know what yet.

“Annabeth.” A man’s voice draws her out of her thoughts. All three girls turn around to see Quintus standing over them, Percy only a few steps behind him. He peers around their sword fighting teacher to meet Annabeth’s eye, his lips quirking upwards slightly, and her heart somersaults. “I was hoping you and Percy could give me a hand– clean out the armoury for me?”

“It’s my time off.” Annabeth whines. Why is Percy always dragging her into sharing his chores with him?

“Come on, Wise Girl.” Percy matches her tone. “Two pairs of hands are better than one, right?”

“I hate you.” Annabeth grumbles, taking Quintus’ hand and letting him pull her off the ground. Silena wriggles her eyebrows at her and Clarisse smirks, so when their teacher’s back is turned to her, Annabeth flips them off. It does little to subdue them, though, because their cackles echo through the amphitheatre long after she’s left.

“What is this?” Percy pulls out a wicked blade attached to the end of a long, heavy stick. “Oh my gods, is this a javelin? I didn’t even realise we had them here.”

“Yeah,” Annabeth snorts. “As if you could fight with one of those.”

“You calling me weak?”

“I’m just saying that your arms are kind of skinny.”

“You’re one to talk.” Percy cries. There’s something so endearing about the indignation on his face that Annabeth bursts out laughing. Sometimes it’s like Percy does it deliberately– knows exactly how to behave to make uncontrollable giggles bubble in her tummy. If he notices, he doesn’t pay mind to it, instead focusing on clearing the nearest table and resting his elbow on the surface. He looks up at her, unspoken challenge framing his features in a special kind of light. “I’m way stronger than you– so only come here if you’re willing to lose.”

“As if.” Annabeth rolls her eyes, taking his hand and grinding her bony elbow painfully into the wood. Percy’s eyes leave hers, drifting to their hands, his fingers curled tightly around hers, and she doesn’t miss the way his breathing stutters slightly. An unattractive smugness fights its way to her lips. Maybe Silena was right– she could totally ask him to the fireworks– but right now, she has other priorities. She leans forward. “You’re going to get beaten by a girl, Seaweed Brain.” 

“Oh yeah?” Percy, as always, matches her exact energy, narrowing his eyes and lowering his voice. “Joke’s on you, I’m used to it.”

Annabeth grins. “Good.”

“Okay, on three.” Percy says. “One, two–”

The back of his hand crashes into the table. For a moment, he looks confused, blinking at their still entwined hands resting on the wooden surface. Slowly, his grip tightens around her palm, his smooth features twisting into a scowl.

“You cheated.” He says, dangerously quiet. Then he pushes back against her hand until he can pin it down. Annabeth struggles to pull away, but it’s like fighting against iron.

“Let go.” She laughs, but Percy doesn’t budge. The same evil part of her that cheated crows. “Percy, stop.”

“No. You cheated. You have to pay.” Percy’s face breaks into a grin, his shining eyes bright in the dimly lit glorified cupboard they’re stuck in. In a flash, he’s on her side of the table, his fingers digging into her sides, and a squeal escapes her.

“Percy!” Annabeth feels her knees giving way as she drops to the floor, taking her friend down with her. When he finally does stop tickling her, she’s out of breath, her cheeks sore from the laughter. Next to her, Percy leans his head against the leg of the table, his face flushed and his chest heaving, a manic smile on his lips.

“You’re such an asshole, Annabeth.” He doesn’t sound offended by it.

Instead of replying, Annabeth is content to watch him catch his breath, leftover laughter still breaking out from him in throaty splits. Miraculously, his hair is even messier now than it was this morning, but Annabeth thinks it suits him. His lips are parted, and for a second, she wonders what it might be like to be able to lean over and kiss him. She’s never kissed a boy before– but Silena and Clarisse have, and they both seem to enjoy it a ton. For a while in the winter, she’d considered kissing one of the boys at Camp, but they’re all gross. She wonders if she’d like kissing Percy.

It’s like that a lot. Ever since the winter, when he’d admitted that he’d only gone on a quest to save her– Annabeth had found it difficult to even think about him without her stomach exploding into a kaleidoscope of butterflies. Now that he’s back at Camp, back with her– she’s starting to realise just how much more she likes him than anybody else around here. This isn’t how she felt about Luke, not how she felt about any of the boys she’d had a crush on before. With Percy, she’s come to realise, everything is different.

How is it possible, Annabeth finds herself wondering, that she exists in this world at the same time that he does? He’d come into her life, a whirlwind of grief and anger and adventure and something she doesn’t want to dwell on– and he’d healed her, inside and out. Not by trying; not by finding all her broken pieces– but simply by existing. Percy lives, and Annabeth is better for it. He lives, and the sun above them dims, the moon loses her brilliance, the colours in the world dull. Does he know that?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Percy draws her out of her thoughts, touching his cheek consciously. “Have I got something on my face?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth lies hollowly, reaching over and brushing her thumb over his jaw. Is that a stubble? When’d he get so mature? She swallows thickly. “You’re good.”

“Thanks.” Percy mumbles, holding her gaze. It’s a loaded, slow moment, but she draws away first. She always does– in all honesty, Annabeth is a coward. He must sense it, because he brushes his fingers over her wrist and says, “It’s a shame, you know.”

“What?”

A wicked smile grows on his lips. “I never got to beat your ass.”

“You’re deluded, Percy.” Annabeth pokes his shoulder. “You couldn’t beat me if my arm was broken.”

“Wanna bet?” Percy demands. “Rematch. I win, you tell everyone at Camp how strong and impressive I am. You win, and… I’ll shut up about my strong, impressive arms for an entire summer.”

Annabeth can’t fight the smile only he ever seems to bring out in her. He’d chosen his words carefully, just as he always did. A new dawn falls upon them, an idea of this summer being one of many more. A summer in the future after Annabeth’s victory when Percy could go back to bragging about his bicep curl personal bests. What could be better? “You’re so on.”

[ebonysplendor]

Trembling Essence (Extended Demo)🌲

TL;DR: Noah is cute and all, but what isn't cute is the fact that he wants us to stay holed up in this mouldy ass house with him. Like, I get that you live around, or possibly in, a swamp and everything, but damn, bitch, you live like this...?

Game Link: https://zombeebunnie.itch.io/trembling-essence-extended-demo

Notable Features: Self-Insert, Yandere LI, Choice-heavy, HP Bar, Affinity Bar, Gender Neutral MC Spiciness: 0/5 -- Unfortunately, because this man is fine as hell... LI Red Flags: 1.5/5 -- Pretty bossy, pretty moody, and a lil' sassy, but other than, pretty solid dude (so far)

Wanna know more? Well, let's get into it!

So, listen. I have been meaning to finish and get this posted for like three, maybe four, or possibly even five weeks now, and damn it, I'm finally going to, so overlook the excessive grammar errors or whatever; I was lowkey rushing lol. This ain't about that though; it's about this visual novel, and let me tell you, I think it's really good, and it's super promising so far.

I know, I know, I know; I say that about every game but hear me out!

If you've read my reviews before, then you know that there are certain qualities about a visual novel that just scratch my brain in a particular way and absolutely ruin me in the most perfect way possible. One of those things is a choice heavy game. As I've said many a times, I am an absolute slut for a choice heavy game. It is something about every decision that you make mattering in the most detrimental way possible, bonus points if the consequence isn't immediate. Like, yes, make me hesitate and overthink if I should have waffles or cold pizza for breakfast, dev daddy...maker mommy...program parent? Program parent doesn't have as 18+ of a ring to it, admittedly, but we'll make it work.

Anyways, as I mentioned, the game is super good, and as far as I can tell, it's pretty choice heavy. Like, I'll play a route damn near the same way, but respond differently to one thing, and there's a whole new option the next time around like huuuuuuh? Absolutely love the visual novels that do that.

I'll get more into how amazing the actual game itself is in a second, but I'm a little impatient, and I want to jump into the synopsis. Nothing even really popped off as far as showing the LI's yandere side -- well, at least not as crazy as it could be. It was implied, and there were little peaks, but nothing too wild popped off -- but this has some damn good build up for the rest of the game.

Right now, and tragically, it's just the (extended) demo, but it is damned good. But, no, seriously. I'm going to go ahead and jump into the summary. As per usual, ya girl is going to tell you as much about this game as possible without ruining the game itself as a whole. Why? Because, duh, I want you to play it! That's the whole reason for the reviews, big dawg!

So, without further ado, I'm going to get into storytelling mode and summarize the game for ya!

So, boom.

When this whole thing pops off, we're lost in the woods.

Because we're lost with, like, zero bearings of our surroundings, we just kind've wait around in this hollowed out, rotten tree for someone to come along and help us. Admittedly, kind've a tall order, but we're trying to stay hopeful in this hopeless situation, so we wait it out.

We wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more. We're sleeping on and off, and it's honestly making us feel worse. Why? Well, first off, it's hard to sleep in the current situation we're in anyways. Not to sound ungrateful, because at least we're somewhat shielded from the cold and wind and rain -- yeah, we're dealing with that, too --, but sleeping in a literal swamp area is not the most pleasant sleeping condition, let alone sleeping outside in general. The second is, since we aren't actually fully sleeping, we just feel tired whenever we wake up. It's just an all around sucky situation, but it'd be stupid to continuously wander around when we just see trees and more trees.

With not really much of an option other than to wait and get more crappy sleep, we wait and get more crappy sleep. The next time that we wake up though, it's because we hear the crunching of leaves and someone staring us down until we wake up, and when we do --

GYATT DAAAAAAAAAAMN.

Well, well, well!! Are we still asleep? Are we dreaming because I'm about to act ALL THE WAY up. Like, my most pleasant and ladylike woof for you, my good, visually pleasing sir, and I mean

Woof~♡

Even still though, going from seeing no one to seeing someone, especially this damned close, is pretty startling, so we try to go further back into the tree, but there's not really much further back that we can go.

This guy -- his name is Noah, by the way, and is an absolute bae -- sees us do this, and he's just like "Ayo, calm down. It's just me. Also, you look rough. Haha, sorry, that was rude, but like, this is what happens when you run off". ...Huh?

"Run off"...? Oh. Oh right. This is one of those games. Lmao I almost forgot that this man is probably psycho.

Anyways, he's pretty much lowkey talking shit. Like, he's not trying to from the tone, but he's pretty firm about what he's saying. Basically, we've been gone for about 2 and a half days now, and he's like, either we can come back with him and ensure our safety and survival or we can fuck around and find out. The reason why I say this is because apparently there' s another storm coming, and it's implied to be worse, not to mention that it's going to get mad cold.

...Well, we definitely don't want to fuck around and find out, so we go with him.

He's lowkey still talking shit, though, saying that he's glad we're being "very reasonable" this time and all that, but he's being pretty sweet about being gentle with us; he even helped dust our clothes off and offered to be better company this time around.

We make it back to his cabin, and it's still kind've ghetto and mouldy, but it's better than the last time we were here, so he must've been serious about trying to be better company. That being said, Noah starts trying to rizz us up a little...or that's how I took it, because I'm highkey down bad for this man.

In actuality, he just knows that we're in pretty bad shape and is trying to help us out by getting us on the couch, cleaning our face, feeding us, getting us warm, and, honestly, trying to be as gentle as possible. Partially, because he probably doesn't want us running off again, which he makes super clear because, as most people like him do, he explicitly tells us to never pull that crap again and that he just wants to keep us safe and all that.

Anyways, he gets us some clothes and let's us take a shower. Just because I feel that it's necessary to be said, there's mould in here, too, but it's only a little bit, and it's at the corner of the ceiling. Now the thing is, we can smell some kind of cleaning products so whether he used it on the walls or the utilities that were in the bathroom, we're not sure, but it reassures us that he does at least make an attempt to clean. I mean, the mould is still gross, but at least we aren't outside in the storm and freezing cold.

After a bomb ass shower, we head back out into the living room and regroup with Noah. He makes sure that we're all good and heads into his room to call it a night, but not before very sternly -- what's up with the random sass? -- telling us to not wake him up. Like, yeah, because there's so much to do in this dank, mouldy-ass, minimalist cabin that would cause such a ruckus, Noah. Like lmao be for real, homie.

Whatever, though, we just kind've let him go on about his business. Once he's gone, we look outside and oof...

He wasn't bluffing. Not only did it rain like he predicted, but it's coming down mad hard.

...

I mean, it would be totally stupid, yeah, but we could take our chances and escape for realisies this time since we're refreshed, or we could wake up Noah like he specifically told us not to do, maybe look around a bit which he also told us not to do for whatever reason.

Hmmmm...decisions, decisions.

Super sorry if the storytelling didn't flow as well as usual (if it even did beforehand), but I was pretty excited about getting to the review.

Me, personally, this was a demo done so absolutely correct. I'm honestly anticipating this visual novel so hard, and it's more for the story than the actual game because Noah is so...normal so far? Like, right now, he just seems like your typical tsundere hard ass that gets sassy for no apparent reason but has those really soft moments. I'm so ready to see this man come totally undone. Like, I need to see how psycho this man actually gets, because why did we run off the first time? Did we get kidnapped? Did he help us and wouldn't allow us to leave? Are we actually his partner and we tried to call it quits but our memories got wiped and now he's trying to start fresh so that's why he doesn't want us looking around? Was the reason we left because of the mould? Like, I have so many questions, and I'm invested in this story.

Can we also talk about the affinity and health bar? Such a nice touch; I love it. The way that everything in me just drops whenever either of those bars starts dipping down, and then the apprehension I got when they'd get dangerously low. Like, wait, what's going to happen to me? I'm honestly so excited to see what kind of turmoil the dev decides to create with it. I wonder if it's not what it seems though. Like, I wonder if you have to get his affinity in a certain range versus trying to max it out or as close to max as possible. You know, like you can't just always be a "yes" person towards him, but you're not supposed to be super combative either; just enough to get that cozy 72% and unlock a true ending or something.

This game has so many possibilities and so much potential, and I'm just damned excited about the direction that it's going in. The art style is sleek, the LI is a total bae, and the story is storying; it's an experience and a damned exhilarating one. Like, I'm in deep just because I'm so curious about, first off, what's going to happen next and, second, what tricks the dev still has up their sleeve that they hadn't showcased yet.

Okay, I think I've gushed enough. I absolutely recommend playing the game if you haven't already. Like I said, as far as the LI goes, nothing too out of pocket happens, just some sass, but the build up is damned solid. Definitely give it a good playthrough if you're willing, not to mention, there is multiple "endings" just in the demo which is wild. But yeah, if you want to give it the ol' college try, here's a link to the game. If you end up liking it and/or want to give the dev that extra push to keep going with a classic "Ayo, this game is kind've dope, and you are you. Give MOAR", head over to the game page (or the dev's tumblr) and post those encouraging words; if you're able, drop a few coins for them, too -- I'm sure they'd appreciate the extra support.

That's all from me though, so now, I'm going to somewhat awkwardly close this out and use this as a transition sentence since I can't think of anything better.

As always! A huge reminder! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to you around~!

Trembling Essence

Dev's Tumblr Page

[ravenzeppeli]

Claimed

Chapter 2- The Eavesdropping Blues |La Squadra x Reader|

Warning: implied sex, strong language, threats. MA.

Formaggios POV

"You don't fucking dress like that in public girl, what's wrong with you?" Formaggio faintly heard Prosciutto snap as he walked past your door, causing him to immediately freeze, his ear immediately pressing against the door. "You can wear a shirt that isn't low cut. Isn't it fucking winter?"

"Why do you have to judge what I wear?" You replied back, your voice sounding defeated. "You're being too bossy. We're supposed to be moving slowly, but you keep trying to control every little thing I do. I can wear what I want."

Formaggio heard Prosciutto scoff. "Take off the top and give it to me, I'll buy you a better top later. You can dress appealing without showing yourself to random men. Your body is only for our eyes."

"Don't you ever buy me anything, I don't need or want any of you buying me stuff. I can take care of myself completely fine," you snapped, heavy footsteps suddenly dashing across the floor. "Prosciutto, I want to keep the top. I'll cry if you take it."

"Oh really?" He snapped, a groan escaping his lips. "You are a dramatic girl, you know that? Fine, keep it, but if I catch you wearing that shirt in public, I'll spank you." That ending remark caused Formaggio to pause; does Prosciutto actually spank you?

You sighed, "Okay. I won't wear this specific shirt in public." The way you said that seemed suspicious like you already had a plan forming. You definitely were interesting, really weird, and you were hot.. Formaggio could kind of go with dating you, but he still wanted to watch ass shaking and get his dick sucked at the strip club. Out of respect to you, he'll wear a condom when random women suck him off, which he always did anyway.

"And you're going to have to spend my money. You are mine, meaning you spend my money and obey me. Women should obey." He heard a squeak of your bed. "Now, why don't you get over here and get on your knees? Be a good girl for me. Go ahead and take your top and bra off."

"Okay," you replied back, and with that, Formaggio quietly left, not wanting to hear you suck Prosciutto off. That's just too personal. "I'm not spending your money," he heard you say as he walked out the front door.

-----

"I love you so much, more than words could ever describe. You are just so fucking beautiful," Formaggio heard Melone say as he went to pass by the kitchen. That caused him to freeze, yet again listening in. He couldn't help it, he was fucking nosey. "Look at you.. you're so perfect. It goes deeper then your looks, I love your soul."

"Yeah, sure," you replied, your tone soft and caring despite the dry response. "You don't need to tell me lies, I'll keep sleeping with you. You don't have to keep going with all this."

"Women don't like me Y/N. I'm well aware that I'm a creepy and off-putting guy. All I get is rejected. You never rejected me," Melone told you, his voice gentle. "I've always wanted just one person to love.. and I told myself that when I find that person, my love would be strong and unconditional. You are that person, and in that, I will be loyal and loving to you."

Their was silence for a good minute before you finally replied, "You are all mafia men. You're all going to cheat on me and treat me bad, that's what your type does. You don't need to keep feeding me lies. I'm okay with what you are."

That offended Formaggio, what the fuck did you mean by that? Are you seriously going to judge them without knowing them? Melone was a fucking weird guy, he had a strong feeling that Melone was being serious. He never got lucky with women either, even the sex workers avoided Melone. Hell, the strippers refused to give him lap dances, he don't even go to the strip club anymore, only ever going three times and creeping the girls out to an extreme. Formaggio wondered, why doesn't Melone creep you out? Clearly you aren't right in the head, which was what Risotto had to find because no normal girl would fit in with them. But you seemed to.. kind of.

"I've already told you I'm going to be loyal, please don't label me. I really do love you and think you are beautiful, and I am glad you're my girlfriend," he quickly replied, this time having a sharpness in his tone. "You are mine, and I will protect you with my life. I've been so lonely, you know? I've been waiting for you, I truly feel like I have. I believe in soulmates."

"Well, I do like you. I can admit that, the others I don't really like yet," you told them, causing Formaggio to frown. "Well.. Formaggio is okay, but I know he's a dirt bag. But he is really funny." He raised his eyebrows - should he be offended or not? He wasn't a fucking dirt bag!

"You just need to get to know the others, I've seen you spend time with Prosciutto. Don't you like him?" Melone asked.

You let out a dry laugh, "no I don't like Prosciutto. He's so fucking bossy and annoying. I'm not an idiot, he's literally trying to train me like I'm some dog. I'm only physically attracted to him." You then sighed, seeming to be annoyed. "Listsn, I'm not the type of girl that won't listen to a man, I get that I sometimes gotta listen, but Prosciutto has weird rules."

"To be fair, baby, I also don't want you to go places by yourself. I don't mind how you dress. Men will always look at you, but I just want you safe, and I always want to know where you are. You're a part of this team now, and you may be an easy target," Melone told you. "I don't mean it like that.. you are strong, but men are viscous, especially men in this field. You can call me anytime you need to go somewhere or need anything. I would never get mad. You are my first priority now."

Melone was really laying it on hard for you. God, Melone was so weird, how did he already fucking dedicate himself to you? It's only been two weeks, Formaggio hardly even speaks to you, mainly just letting Melone and Prosciutto keep you. Well maybe his words would keep you here with them, Risotto keep saying he feels like you're going to try and run away from them.

Nobody would admit this, not even you - but the moment Risotto saw you, he was set on keeping you like he was always meant to find you and take you, claiming you as theirs. It was so easy too.. you were a petty criminal, had a stand, and it was obvious you had some understanding of the mafia. Risotto made it seem like he was asking you, but he was telling you that you now belonged to them. He did sweeten the deal, saying you would never be killed and that you would be safe and protected. He promised that you would have a stable job, knowing how hard it was for a criminal to find a stable job. You seemed to just say yes to him.. and then he kind of arranged you to be their girl.

Sharing a girl.. it's weird as fuck, but Formaggio can't find a girl to settle with. Prosciutto filed for his third divorce four years ago, and Ghiaccio doesn't even acknowledge the existence of women or any life outside of the team. Also.. they were assassins who killed people and committed terrible crimes. Some women knew of their reputation and avoided them. This seemed to be kind of work. With their busy schedules and hectic lives, a shared girlfriend seemed to make a little sense.

"Alright, Melone.. thanks," you told him dryly. "I do appreciate you very much. Thank you. You are easy to like," you told him, your tone softening up.

"I love you. You don't need to say it back. You don't need to love me for me to love you. I'm going out to do some research, want to come with me or stay here?" He questioned, a sigh escaping his lips. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, but I'll be texting you all day, and I'll call you tonight. Please try and answer, but I understand if you're busy."

"Be safe, alright?" You told him as he walked away, Formaggio quietly moving into hiding as Melone left out the front door. Formaggio waited a few minutes, wanting to approach you but stopping when Illuso swiftly entered the kitchen.

"Well, hello, Y/N, don't you look like a cute little girl today?" Illuso questioned, his tone even giving Formaggio the creeps, Illuso was a sick fuck, probably worse then Melone but he hides his urges. "Look at you.. come here, let me get a good look at you girl."

Formaggio let himself peak around the wall, seeing Illuso snake his hands around you, rubbing all over your back, side, his hungry eyes on you. "I am not a little girl, okay? I am an adult."

"Well, you're 12 years younger than me, and look at how short you are. I honestly love your full cock sucking lips the most, you suck dick great," Illuso commented, his hands landing on your ass, you just seemed to stare up at him. "I've had my dick sucked a lot, you definitely are number one. Good girl."

You crossed your arms over your chest as Illusos hand roughly smacked against your ass, a loud pop sound filling the air as you crashed into Illusos chest, his arms tightly locking around you. "I literally don't care. Why are you telling me this? Go away." He smacked your ass again, this time tightly grasping your ass cheek. "What do you want?"

"I came in here to grab a beer, wanted to feel you up first. What's so bad about that? You don't mind, right? I mean, I'm your boyfriend after all, are you uncomfortable?" Illuso questioned, his tone taunting. "Or are you scared of me? Scared I'll do whatever I please with you?"

"Risotto said you can't kill me," you snapped at Illuso, a chuckle escaping his lips. "I'm not scared of you at all, Illuso. You don't scare me one bit."

"Aw, I don't wanna ever kill you, that would be a waste of a good throat," he told you, causing you to frown, attempting to back away from him, causing his grasp to tighten. "But I will punish you if you aren't a good girl. Got that? And I'll punish you real hard." He let you go, only to grab your wrist, grasping it tightly. "Don't be stupid.. don't step out of line."

He let you go, walking past you as he opened the fridge. "Oh, and I'm about ready to fuck that pussy so get ready for that. I'm getting bored of just head, and I'm dying to see how that ass looks." He grabbed a beer, closing the fridge as he walked away, leaving before you could reply.

-----

"You don't have a say in any fucking thing, you're lucky I even let you have a say in yourself," Prosciutto snapped at you, causing you to glare at him. "Don't you glare at me. You did something bad! You do not leave this base without telling someone!"

Now, usually, you just got quiet and let Prosciutto run all over you for these past going on three weeks, but you seemed to be feeling extra feisty today because your reply was actually insane. The fact that you had the balls to say this to Prosciuttos' face without running away impressed Formaggio.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, my husband? My owner? I don't see a ring on my finger, I don't see a fucking stamp on me that says I need to listen to you!" You snapped at Prosciutto, causing Risotto to immediately look up at you. "Like, what the fuck is your problem with me?"

Prosciutto immediately stood up, swiftly approaching you. As he raised his hand, Melone stood up, stepping in front of you. "Don't hit her! She's new to this Prosciutto, just ease up on her a little. It's hard for her to adjust to being with all of us.. don't be mean to her."

Formaggio smirked a little. He couldn't help it, knowing that you may be smarter than everyone thinks. You've been observing them, he noticed that, and in that he noticed you and Melone becoming inseparable. He protected you, defended you - Melone was your pass to permanent survival here, and it was clear that you took notice to him.

Melone was.. he was a nerd, a creepy nerd. He's done sick things to mainly women, and even before he joined the team, he had a problem with killing women who rejected him and laughed at him. You never once laughed at him or called him a creep, instead sitting and talking with him, even accepting him. That's all you had to do.. with being the first chick to accept Melones weird ass you now have a permanent bodyguard. Formaggio sure as fuck wouldn't protect you, it ain't his job, he's just here for the pussy. But it was obvious that Melone and Prosciutto wanted more then pussy. Melone wanted love. What the fuck did Prosciutto want from you?

"Goddamnit, Melone, she isn't just your girlfriend!" Prosciutto snapped, glaring at Melone, his hands balling into fists. "She has a smart ass mouth and deserves to be smacked! Move Melone, let me discipline her as I please!"

You started to slowly back away, the two bickering men not noticing as you slowly began to backward walk towards the front door, seeming as if you were about to leave. Risotto suddenly stood up, causing you to freeze as he walked over to you. He grabbed your wrist, dragging you over to the couch and sitting you down next to Ghiaccio and right next to Risotto.

"Where did you go?" Risotto asked you, suddenly pausing as he leaned closer towards you, getting in your face. "Why do you smell like a skunk? What's that strong smell?"

You leaned back, and your back firmly pressed up against the back of the black leather couch. "It's weed, I went to go pick up some weed."

"From a man?" Risotto questioned, his tone hard. You didn't answer, instead looking down. "Strike one, don't let me get to strike three. If you want weed, one of us will get it for you. You aren't to associate with other men in the mafia outside of us unless necessary. Let this be your only warning."

"Risotto, that isn't fair," you muttered, your eyes staying on the ground. "I should be able to get my own weed. You're taking away all of my freedom. This isn't what I agreed to."

Risotto sat back. "It doesn't matter what you agreed to. You are our girlfriend now, meaning you need to show respect when respect is requested. You need to respect Prosciutto as much as you respect me."

"But I don't like Prosciutto!" You snapped at Risotto, immediately causing Prosciutto to turn towards you. "Nothing personal."

"Oh, you don't like me!? Really!? You don't fucking like me!?" Prosciutto snapped, glaring down at you. "You're lucky that Melone is here.. you are so fucking lucky. Because I assure you nobody else will protect you. You're nothing but a toy to us."

"A toy that most of you can't operate," you calmly replied back, causing Formaggios mouth to hang open slightly. Goddamn you were brave as fuck to say that.

"Who!?" Illuso snapped, that remark getting his attention. "Girl, you better watch what you fucking say to us. You could get knocked out."

"I'll hit you back," you replied back even calmer, causing Illusos face to suddenly harden. "You can't do anything to me that hasn't already been done you fucking idiot. Even if you were to kill me, I wouldn't give a fuck." You looked at Illuso, an actual smile appearing on your lips- damn, you hardly smiled. "Because I would be dead. So how about you and Prosciutto leave me the fuck alone? I don't give a fuck about what either one of you have to say."

"Y/N you gotta shut the fuck up babe," Formaggio finally added in, trying to help you. He knew he said that he would never help you but you were saying some wild shit. "You keep saying things that'll get you smacked, so maybe just shut up." He didn't wanna smack you, he knew you weren't talking about him, but Prosciutto and Illuso wanted to hurt you.

You looked over at Formaggio, blinking as you stared at him. "Fine, whatever," you replied, seeming to calm yourself down a little. "It's just not fair."

Pesci got up suddenly, immediately walking out the front door. Prosciutto gave you a deadly glare before following behind Pesci.

"Y/N, please baby, you need to just.. why did you say most of us can't operate you? What does that even mean?" Melone questioned as he sat next to Illuso. "Did you just insult our sexual abilities?" He frowned, seeming upset.

"I wasn't insulting you," you told him, instantly causing him to calm down. "I was insulting Prosciutto and the guy next to you." Just as you said that, Illuso leaned forward, his large arm stretching out as be roughly smacked your thigh, you hardly mustering up a flinch, instead rolling your eyes. "Okay, sorry."

Melone seemed annoyed by Illuso smacking your thigh, but he said nothing due to your reaction, instead giving you a smile. "Excellent. Now, let's put this behind us and move on. Okay?"

"What do you gotta say about all this Ghiaccio?" Illuso asked, his eyes landing on Ghiaccio who hasn't said a word since you've stepped in the door.

Ghiaccio didn't look up from his computer, shrugging. "Fuck if I care," he replied, his eyes finally glancing over at you, being unreadable. "Can we just get on with this? I'd like to be home before the fucking sun sets." He looked away from you as your head turned to look at him, his dark eyes swiftly cutting back to his computer, ignoring your gaze.

[reginageorgesgirlfriend3020]

Jill Roberts adores you! (Part 11)

She’s gentle with you

Will find any and every reason to hug you and kiss you

And when it came to this girl you really liked Jill could see that this girl is troubled

And Jill said she doesn’t think that this girl (Tay) is right for you.

And to Jill’s credit she was right

Jill saw you putting books in your locker. “You were right about Tay. That girl only wanted my time and attention and nothing more. Then pushed me aside so she can get back together with her sort of boyfriend”.

Jill could see the sadness in your eyes.

“I’m sorry babe”. Jill said to you. She hugged you. “That girl only wanted her boyfriend back anyway and what she did to you was foul. You shouldn’t have to change yourself for anyone. You’re perfect the the way you are. You’re truly one in a million”. Jill said.

”Thank you”. You said to Jill. “I really thought she liked me for me. I was playfully mean to her as I am with everyone and I changed that about myself for her too just so she would like me”. You said.

“It’s her loss. And when it doesn’t work out between her and her sort of boyfriend she’s gonna regret treating you this way”. Said Jill.

You hugged Jill. “You’re the best girlie”. You said.

Jill smiled. “If I was your girlfriend I would never ever treat you the way Taylor did. I’d never be able to keep off of your body”. She said.

You gasped. “Yeah well maybe you should be my girlfriend!” You said.

”Maybe I wanna be! Will you be my girlfriend?” Jill asked you.

”Yes!!” You said.

And you and Jill kissed.

Shes a sweet girl really

She loves teasing you

Calling you names (playfully) and has pet names for you (lovingly)

She’s not too bossy towards you

Or authoritative towards you

But when she wants to score brownie points towards you and earn some points in the bedroom Jill will be extra nice to you

She’s quite a cuddle buddy

[bugeyedfreaks]

Blossom - 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 16, 20, 23

A bounty of Blossom questions, yay! 🥰

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I think at this point my blog could probably be described as both a general PPG fanblog AND a platform dedicated to defending Blossom… so I think I’ve exhausted myself on describing why I like her so much, and I feel like if I wrote it all again I'd just be repeating myself. But I mean, she's great! She's the kind of character who could (and sadly sometimes does) get easily written off as the "boring girly one," but she's so much more than that. She has a lot of very strong positive qualities and just as many interesting character flaws and quirks that I feel get overlooked by a lot of people.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Nothing. She’s been in way too many fandom crossovers as it is and it drives me bonkers. 🤣

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

I've been told by maaany people that I seem to have a lot in common with her, but I guess at least two things we share are the innate desire to want to do good and to be perfectionists in whatever we do (and, of course, we get really irritated when we don't reach our desired level of perfection).

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Gosh, well... I guess one thing is that she usually looks beeeeautiful in fanart. 😌 My opinions on older versions of Blossom (and those versions of the girls in general) are very nuanced, and I can be weird and picky about it, but I do really like some of the fits I've seen fanart of Blossom in (like yours for instance, her outfit is cool!). Many people make her look very fashionable, and I appreciate seeing my fave treated well like that.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I've written a lot about the mischaracterization of her character and how the fandom sometimes treats her so... weird (i.e. with shipping and stuff.. you know what I mean... 🥴). I also don’t like it when she’s written off as just some stuck-up, bossy jerk because… okay, yeah, she can be one, but that’s not all that she is! Not that Buttercup and Bubbles don't have their share of nuance, but I'd argue that Blossom has a whole lot more nuance to her. A lot of people don't seem to pick up on that, and the result is that she's either written off as preachy and boring or completely devoid of personality (which is... more often the case, unfortunately).

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I kind of like the idea of her growing up to be a detective (or at least doubling down on her superheroism), mostly because of this plotline in one of the chapter books where her idea of becoming "grown up" is ditching her sisters and starting her own crime-solving business.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

PPG/RRB and any of the ones that exist outside of the world of the show. Dexter’s Lab and Samurai Jack, for example, don’t canonically exist in the world, even though there’ve been little Easter eggs in all of the shows/some CN crossover stuff, and I’m a dopey little stickler for canon (…well, most of the time, anyway!).

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Me. I'm never onscreen but I play the role of "audience member" and so we should be besties. 😆

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Every picture of her is my favorite picture, but this one popped into my head when I started thinking about it. She looks so delightfully goofy, the queen of backyard cereal meals.

[justsomewritingblog]

Avatar:TLA (Part 2)

Request:  None

Requested By:  Nobody

Pairing:  Zuko x reader

Summary:  Jet

Warnings:  Mentions of violence, arguing

A/N:  Buckle up boys and girls.  This series is gonna be a long one.

Word Count:  3K+  (WHOOPS!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had all set up camp in the woods.  The leaves on the trees were red, and they were very lovely.

“Where’s Momo?”  Aang asked suddenly.  Momo made a noise, and you all headed in that direction.  You arrived in a small clearing and above you were three small cages.  One held Momo.

“Hang on, Momo!”  Aang instructed, using airbending to quickly get up the trees.  He let the cage down as Katara and Sokka opened it, letting the lemur out.  Momo ran away a few paces and ate some of the food you assumed was the bait for the traps.  Sokka groaned.

Aang looked up upon hearing more noises and saw two more cages with animals of some kind inside.

“Alright.  You, too.”  Aang said, floating his way up again.

“This is gonna take forever.”  Sokka determined, pulling out his boomerang and throwing it.  It sliced the ropes holding the cages up, and they fell just as Aang was reaching them.

“That works.”  He said, letting go of the tree he was scrambling across and landing with the group.  Sokka placed a hand on the cages.

“These are firenation traps.”  He determined.  “You can tell from the metal work.  We better pack up camp and get moving.”

You nodded and started packing.  Katara was handing something to Aang who sat atop Appa when Sokka spoke.

“Nuh uh.  No flying this time.”

“What?  Why wouldn’t we fly?”  Aang questioned.  Sokka took the object from him and sat it on the ground.

“Think about it.  Somehow Prince Zuko and the firenation keep finding us.  It’s because they spot Appa.  He’s just too noticeable.”

“What?!  Appa’s not too noticeable.”  Katara defended.  You pat Appa on the head, telling him how cute he was.

“He’s a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head; it’s kind of hard to miss him.”  Sokka retorted.  Appa let out a groan noise.

“Sokka’s just jealous cause he doesn’t have an arrow.”  Aang told the bison.

“I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk.”  Sokka said, ignoring Aang’s comment.

“Who made you the boss?”  Katara asked her brother.

“I’m not the boss; I’m the leader.”  Sokka declared, jerking a thumb at his own chest.  Katara let out a short laugh.

“You’re the leader?  But your voice still cracks!”  She said.  You fought the smile that was itching to take over your blank expression.

“I’m the oldest, and I’m a warrior, so I’m the leader.”  Sokka told her.  His voice did crack at the beginning of his sentence, but he forced his voice lower by the end of it.

“Actually, you’re my age.”  You muttered, earning a glance from Sokka.  You held up your hands in mock surrender.  “Just saying.  I’m not fit to lead, anyway.”

“If anyone’s the leader, it’s Aang.  I mean, he is the Avatar.”  Katara voiced.

“Are you kidding?  He’s just a goofy kid.”  Sokka defended.

“He’s right.”  Aang said, dangling upside-down from Appa’s horns.

“No offence Katara, but Aang's not fit to lead.  He’s a good kid, but he is just a kid.”  You crossed your arms over your chest.  “From what I hear, he wanted to make several stops places just to do goofy things.”

“Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?”  Kat asked.

“I’m not a boy and I think a leader is a good idea.  They help keep order.”  You stated.

“I bet you wouldn’t be so bossy if you kissed a girl.”  Katara told her brother, ignoring your statement.

“I’ve kissed a girl.”  Sokka announced.  “You just haven’t met her.”

You quirked an eyebrow and shared a look with Aang, who was staying out of this conversation.

“Who?  Gran-gran?  I’ve met Gran-gran.”  Katara said.  You bit back a laugh.

“No, besides Gran-gran.  Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance slipping through on foot; and a leader has to trust his instincts.”

“Okay.  We’ll try it your way, oh wise leader.”

“Katara, stop sassing your brother.  He has the group’s best interest at heart.  I know he’s your brother, and that’s what siblings do, but try to not be a jerk?”  You said, picking up some of the things.

“Besides, who knows?  Walking might be fun.”  Aang declared.  He was also holding a few things strapped to his back, Momo sitting atop them.  You looked to Sokka and gestured for him to go on ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Walking stinks.”  Aang declared.  “How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?”

“Well, I don’t know Aang.  Why don’t you ask Sokka’s instincts?  They seem to know everything.”  Katara said, a heavily sarcastic edge to her voice.  You rolled your eyes.

“Ha ha, very funny.”  Sokka replied.

“I’m tired of carrying this pack.”  Aang complained.

“You know who you should ask to carry it for a while?  Sokka’s instincts!”  Katara told the boy.

“That’s a great idea!  Hey, Sokka’s instincts, would you mind-”

You spun around.  “Shut up!”  You whisper-yelled.  “You’re both so childish!  Aang, I’ll take your pack, but you both need to leave Sokka alone.  He’s trying to be helpful, unlike you two.”  You scolded, ripping Aang’s load off his shoulders and adding it to your own.  It was silent for several moments before Sokka spoke up.

“I get it!  I’m tired, too.  The important thing is, we’re safe from the…firenation.”

They had entered a clearing, where a group of firenation soldiers were camped out.  You face-palmed.

“Naturally.”  You muttered.

“Run!”  Sokka instructed, dropping his pack, Katara following in pursuit.

“We’re just going to leave the supplies!?”  You asked.

“We can replace them later, go!”  Sokka instructed.  You quickly ripped your own pack off and followed your friends.  A firebender shot at a bush just ahead of you, fire consuming it.

“We’re cut off!”  Sokka yelled.  You looked at him, eyes widening.

“Sokka!”  You yelled.

“Your shirt!”  Aang added.  Sokka looked down and saw the sleeve of his shirt was on fire.  He yelled.  Katara opened her canteen and bended water at him, putting the fire out.

“That’s smart.”  You complimented.  You turned around, only to notice all of them had formed a semi-circle around the group.  Sokka held his arms out protectively.  Your heart melted at the action.

“If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you.”  He lied.  You rolled your eyes.

“Like that’s going to work.”

“Hey, I’m trying.”  He said, looking back at you.

“You, promise not to hurt, us?”  The lead firebender asked tauntingly.  He then made a noise and collapsed.

“Great job, Sokka!  How’d you do that?”  Aang praised.

“Uh.  Instinct?”  Sokka replied.

“It wasn’t him, you idiot.”  You told Aang.

“Look!”  Katara said.  You all looked, and sure enough, up in the trees stood a figure.  He jumped down, using his weapons to swing around on branches before landing on two guys, then hooking his weapon around two others and throwing them.

“Down ya go.”  He said.

“They’re in the trees!”  One of the firebenders shouted, just as a small figure jumped down and landed on his shoulders.  Other firebenders had their swords shot out of their hands by an excellent archer.

“Should we get out of here while we have the chance?”  You whispered to Sokka.  He turned to you.

“Hmm?  Oh!  Yeah, probably.”  He turned, ready to tell the others, but they were fighting as well.  You rolled your eyes.

“Great.”

A man charged Sokka, and he drew his boomerang, yelling.  He was just about to strike the firebender when the man from before swung in and kicked him, knocking him unconscious.

“Hey, he was mine.”  Sokka complained.

“Gotta be quicker next time.”  He said, jumping away again.  You rolled your eyes, for the third, or was that fourth, time.

“Rude.”

“I know!”  Sokka agreed before running off.  You ran off as well and were confronted by three firebenders.  They shot at you and you smiled, dodging in what felt like slow-motion.  You leapt into the air and grabbed a low-hanging vine, tearing it from the tree.  They continued to fire at you, but you kept dodging, getting closer and closer.  You took a final leap towards them and in a blur, tied the end of the vine to the clothes of the man on the left.  You grabbed his head, and the head of the man on the right, and brought their heads to the man’s in the middle, knocking the three of them out.  You took the other end of the vine and wrapped it around the three, tying them up.  You turned around and were met with a face, inches from yours.  It was Sokka.

“Nice work.”  He complimented.  You turned a pale shade of red.

“Thanks.”  You muttered.  You turned and saw that the firebenders had all been vanquished.

“You just took out a whole army, single handed.”  Aang was saying as you and Sokka made your way over.

“Army!?  Pftt.  There were only like, twenty guys.”  Sokka retorted.

“And he had help.”  You defended, crossing your arms.

“My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters.”  The man said, turning around.  He began to introduce them.  “Sneers, Longshot, SmellerBee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak.”

“How nice.”  You commented with much sarcasm.  Jet turned and began giving his people orders.  He was leaning against a tree while the others worked.  Despicable, you thought.  You saw Sokka standing a few feet off.  He was also watching Jet as Katara walked over and started talking to him.  You listened.

“We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning.  We just needed the right distraction.  Then you stumbled in.”

“We were relying on instincts.”  Katara told him.  You weren’t a firebender, but you were certain if you could see yourself you would have steam coming out of your ears, and fire in your eyes.  Why did she have to be such a jerk?  Sokka walked away, a look of…..actually, you couldn’t place it.

You turned feeling something tugging on your arm.  It was Aang.  You raised an eyebrow, silently asking what he wanted.

“They have a hideout they’re going to show us!”

You shrugged.  “So?”

Aang’s mouth dropped.  “What do you mean, ‘so’?  I bet it’ll be super cool!  Come on!”

You allowed the small boy to drag you away.  You felt a strong sense of attachment to the kid.  You supposed he was the little brother you never had.  You were in the middle of the forest, you’d guessed, when Jet announced that they had arrived.  You halted your movements and crossed your arms.

“Where?  There’s nothing here.”  Sokka voiced.

“Hold this.”  Jet instructed as he handed Sokka a rope.  Sokka took it.

“Why?  What does this do?”

All of the sudden, Sokka was pulled into the air.  He shouted as he went up.  Jet offered a rope to Aang.

“I’ll get up on my own.”  Aang declared, airbending himself up the tall tree.  You watched him leap from branch to branch, some of the wind he was bending rippling through your hair.  Jet took ahold of a rope.

“Grab hold of me, Katara.”  He said.  He took her hand and spun her into him.  Her face was only a few inches from his, and she blushed like mad.  They went up slowly as she looked at him in awe.  You cringed and shuddered, sticking out your tongue, making gagging sounds.

“So gross.”  You muttered, grabbing a rope and being drug up.  You were also drug up slowly, and you took this time to observe the colors around you.  You saw reds, browns, oranges, and yellows.  At the North Pole you only saw white and blue as natural colors, so anything besides that amazed you.  You arrived to the top and set your feet on the wood.  You looked around at the many tents that were placed on platforms.  You heard a noise and saw Aang fly past you on a zip line.  Your eyes widened.

“What is that?”  You asked yourself.  You looked to Sokka and Katara walking away with Jet and Pipsqueak, then back at Aang.  You smiled and climbed up a tree, grabbing hold of the zip line as well.  Now that you were here, the panic started to set in.  You swallowed hard as you cautiously inched your way closer to the edge.  You looked down and took a deep breath.  You stepped a foot off the platform and you let momentum carry the rest of you.

You opened your eyes, you had squeezed them shut, and a smile formed its way onto your face.  You zipped through the air, and saw branches before you.  Your eyes widened in terror, but the zip line went under them.  You let out a happy shriek.  Aang zipped past you.

“Isn’t it great!?”

You laughed, looking over at him.  “Watch this!”

You looked down and let go of the zip line, Aang making a worried noise.  You fell and grabbed onto the line that was previously below you.  You began sliding on that one, letting out another laugh.  Aang laughed as well, now seeing you were alright.  He also kept switching lines, going both up and down.  You, of course, couldn’t go up because you couldn’t airbend.

You had no idea how long you and Aang were swinging around, having fun, but it was now dark, and you joined Sokka, Katara, and the Freedom Fighters for supper.  You were all seated, a few small lights flickering.  You sat next to Sokka, who sat next to Katara, who sat next to Aang.

“Today, we struck another blow against the firenation swine.”  Jet announced, raising his cup.  Cheering was heard.  You, however, frowned.  “I got a special joy from the look on one soldier’s face, when The Duke dropped down on his helmet, and rode him like a wild hog-monkey.”

The Duke climbed on the table and walked around on it, earning more cheers.  Jet continued.  “Now, the firenation doesn’t think they have to worry about a bunch of kids hiding in the trees.  Maybe they’re right.”

This earned him several boos.

“Or maybe, they’re dead wrong!”

More cheering.

“Huh.”  You muttered, leaning over to Sokka.  “Easy crowd.”  You whispered.  He didn’t seem to notice, however, as he was glaring holes into the side of Jet’s head, or trying to, anyway.

“Hey, Jet.  Nice speech.”  Katara said, as the man himself sat between Katara and her brother.  Your nostrils flared at the nerve.

“Thanks.  By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang.  That was some great bending I saw out there today.”

“Well, he’s great.  He’s the Avatar.”

You abruptly stood and walked away.  No one seemed to be aware of your exit.  You walked to where the entrance of the hideout was, and you sat down, swinging your legs back and forth over the side.  You sat there for several minutes, wanting to get away from Katara’s ignorance, Aang’s innocence, Sokka’s bitterness, and Jet’s………..suspiciousness.  You sighed as you felt the cold night air brush against your skin.  The wind pushed and pulled your hair, causing it to tickle your face and neck.  You sat there for what felt like an eternity before Aang came to find you.

“Y/n?”

You turned around and saw the child.  “Hey, Aang.”

“What are you doing out here?  When did you leave?  Why did you leave?”  He asked as he sat next to you, resting his forearms on his bent knees, and his head on his forearms.  You debated in your head.

“I was thinking, and taking a break.  And I left shortly after Katara said you were the Avatar because I don’t think that telling everyone we meet is such a good idea.”  You confessed.  This gave the boy pause.

“Why not?”

“Why not?  Aang, you’re the Avatar, correct?”

“Um.  Yeah?”

“The firenation is looking for the Avatar, correct?”

“Yeah?”

“Then why are you telling everybody so freely?  Why is it getting around so fast?”

“I, uh.”  Aang paused for a long time.  Several minutes, in fact.  You rolled your eyes and stood, seeing as he wasn’t going to answer anytime soon.

“Forget it.  I’m going to bed.  We have to leave in the morning.”

“Actually, Sokka has a mission with Jet.”

You stopped.  That blasted ego of his.  You shook your head and kept walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning rolled around.  You winced at the sunlight and stood, exiting the tent.  You walked around for a bit and saw Sokka sitting with his back to a tree.  Aang swung in off the zip line and landed next to him.

“Sokka, look what The Duke gave me!”  He exclaimed, clearly excited.  Momo landed next to his owner.  Aang pulled out a ball and threw it on the ground by Momo.  The ball made a tiny explosion.  Momo let out a shriek.  He climbed atop Aang and threw some at Aang’s feet.

“Ow!  Quit it!”

You whistled and Momo abandoned Aang, landing on your shoulder.  You smiled and handed the lemur a handful of nuts.  Aang’s jaw dropped in betrayal.

“Don’t be rude to him.”  You advised.  Katara suddenly appeared, having climbed a tree.

“Hey, Sokka.  Is Jet back?”

“Yeah, he’s back, but we’re leaving.”  He declared.

“Finally.”  You remarked, crossing your arms.

“What?”  Aang asked Sokka.

“But I made him this hat.”  Katara said, pulling out a knitted red hat, with a yellow flower on the top.  You rolled your eyes.

“Your boyfriend, Jet’s, a thug.”  Sokka announced.

“What!  No he’s not.”  Katara replied.

“Not your boyfriend, or not a thug?”  You responded.

“He’s messed up, Katara.”  Sokka told her, ignoring your words.

“He’s not messed up.  He’s just got a different way of life.”  Aang added.  You stepped forward.

“Do you really think Sokka would say this if he didn’t have a reason?”  You asked.  Katara opened her mouth but you held up your hand, signaling her to remain silent.  “Do you really think he would call Jet a thug and messed up for simply having a different way of life?”  You asked, now looking at Aang.  You crossed your arms.  “Have some decency and respect.”

“Decency and respect?  He’s just fifteen!”  Katara voiced.

“He’s trying to protect us!  You’re the one going around spouting to everyone that Aang’s the Avatar!  Yeah, I wonder how the firenation keeps knowing where we are.”  You retorted.

“What proof do you have, Sokka?”  Aang asked, seeing as Katara was currently holding a glaring contest with you.  Which you were winning.

“He beat and robbed a harmless old man.”  Sokka announced.  Katara looked to her brother.

“I want to hear Jet’s side of the story.”

“So you don’t trust your brother?  You little-” You started, but Katara had walked away before you got to finish your sentence.  You let out a holler and punched the tree, breaking some of the bark away.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Sokka, you told them what happened but you didn’t tell them he was firenation?”  Jet asked.

“No, he conveniently left that part out.”  Katara replied, pointing a glare in Sokka’s direction.

“Fine, but even if he was firenation, he was a harmless civilian.”  Sokka defended.

“Yeah.  Honestly, you people don’t think there can be any decent human beings that just happen to live in the firenation?”  You added.

“He was an assassin.”  Jet said, pulling out a dagger and digging it into a stump.  “See?  There’s a compartment for poison in the knife.  He was sent to eliminate me.  You helped save my life, Sokka.”

“What a shame, he should have left ya.  Besides, how do we know that isn’t your knife?”  You asked, crossing your arms.

“This is a firenation knife.  You can tell by the design.”  Jet responded.

“What was it you said again?  Oh, yes.  You’ve been taking their resources?  Was it?  Or does my memory fail me?”  You asked, only a few inches between you.

“Y/n, are you really suggesting Jet is making this up?”  Katara inquired, a snappy tone in her voice.  You didn’t take your eyes away from Jet’s.

“Well, if the boot fits.”

“But what he’s saying makes sense.”  Aang replied.

“Gosh, are you all so stereotypical?  You truly believe everyone that lives in the firenation is a monster, don’t you?”  You finally peeled your eyes away from Jet’s to look at your friends.

“Of course not.”  Aang stated.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me that.”  You challenged, peering into his grey eyes.  Aang looked down at his shoes.  You stood up straight.

“You can’t.”  You determined.  “Very well.  Enjoy your journey, guys.  I can only hope it goes well for you.”  You say, turning to exit the tent.

“Why are you always taking Sokka’s side?”  Katara asked.  You spun around.

“Because he’s the only one making sense!!”  You shouted.  The room was silent.  The only sound that could be heard was your ragged breathing.  The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.  You took a deep breath.

“Maybe I’ll see you again.  Maybe by that time you would have grown up.”  You muttered, turning to leave.  You glanced at Aang, who looked like he was about to burst into tears.  You felt bad, but he really needs to get his act together.  You made eye contact with Sokka as you walked out.  Momo hopped off Aang’s shoulders and flew over to you.  You gave the lemur a hug.  Aang was currently buried in Katara’s arms, crying.  You began to reach out, to try and comfort him, to take it all back, but you forced your arm back down and giving one last nod to Sokka, started the journey home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n:  Repost!  Sorry if you thought Y/n was a jerk in this chapter.  I had a lot of feelings toward Katara I had to get out.  XD

[phoenixpascal]

What else deuxmoi said about Pedro? Was it like the neither dispute podcast they did about him?

Not really. But damn I wish Pedro had a little bit of that old fire Pedro in him right now just blowing up on asshole people when he should. He too damn nice which is fine, but it's like damn let me see you get mad man!! Anyway no I mean the girl she has the podcast with was talking about what do you know about Pedro and stuff like that and she said not much when it comes to his private life he's private she hasn't heard anything about anything about it, and then she went on to the drama that is Fabio and his shady ass and she was just saying what happens in the fashion world that you get a new stylist to fit a certain mold and then we you fit that mold you go back to your old stylist. Then she was talking about some other stuff that she heard about him on set, and I know she talking about how he's difficult on set which is the most what the fuck thing ever, because the most we've heard about is that he's a little bit bossy and stubborn. I think that came from when he was on the prospect set when he came to work that first day with his hair dyed blonde and that was not what they wanted, but they had no choice but to deal with it. The only thing we actually have confirmation about his behavior on set everything goes is gassed up lies.

[livvyofthelake]

i feel like i’ve said this before but it’s. unreal. that arthur is like. ok please bear with me. he’s like female coded in a way that’s like. how do i say this. he’s like how an incel views a lesbian. let me attempt to explain. first things first we all know the j’s are um. how do i put this. losers? maindenless? i have a strong sense that none of them were popular in high school is what i mean. and i don’t think they ever quite got over it. you know in that way men do. anyway so you can tell when you watch bbc merlin that their entire (BAD) characterization of arthur stems from having this insane hostile relationship with like, idealized masculinity. and pretty much their whole schtick is that the things that make arthur traditionally masculine are the things they perceive as faults, or not necessarily faults but. traits that lead to faults. he’s athletic and muscular, so that makes him dumb. he’s handsome, so that makes him egotistical. he’s kind of mean, so that makes him arrogant and violent. he’s a prince so that makes him entitled. and they present him this way so they can show merlin (THEIR representation of masculinity) as the “better” man, who’s value lies in his intelligence, humility, humor, kindness, and most importantly, his position as a man who is Not Traditionally Masculine. it’s incel narrative reframing, they do it all the time in like stranger things and cobra kai. they’re presenting the “weak” character as more of a man than the “strong” character through this narrative structure that values intelligence over brute strength, it should be transparent as glass really. the only reason many people don’t pick up on it is because both actors are so charming it’s easy to forget they’re playing out something so stupid. it comes across more in atlantis (merlin creator’s successor show), which makes that show virtually unwatchable to be honest. anyway back to my original point. so a lot of the time when they want to present arthur in that incredibly annoying negative light, they feminize him, which is like deeply strange but very much proves that these men have something very wrong with them. like, when he’s being an arrogant royal he gets called a princess, he’s always touchy about merlin saying he’s “fat”, and he’s bossy like a sitcom wife (which is a whole other thing i could talk about). and to really hammer it all in he’s always calling merlin a “girl” for being either cowardly or physically weak. and every time he does that, it’s presented in a way where we the audience know merlin is NOT being cowardly or weak, because he’s a Real Man he’s just misunderstood, and arthur is then this caricature of a Dumb Muscular Man With No Brains. which again they do because they have a hostile relationship with traditional masculinity, and they want to present that character as less of a man than their Non-traditionally Masculine Protagonist. and to go about making him less of a man they often just feminize him in a really misogynistic and derogatory way, because they’re operating on a really fucked up binary idea of gender. anyway this has been a post. also this is a very good representation of my brain when i think about this show, i am literally always analyzing this show’s relationship with and portrayal of gender. it’s fascinating, feel free to ask me about it anytime i will have so much to say <3

[mothwingwritings]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTH

So the underappreciated hubby i want to tell you is takenori akagi😻 ( the gorilla) from slam dunk. My friend call him floppy-kagi😫

( credit to the artist)

Although slam dunk has been out for a long time , there aren' t enough fanfic like what hello

I gues people just dont know how to appreciate these basketball men tho the manga and anime has ended a long time a go i do understand that not many people read it anymore nowaday

Now on to the story

In slamdunk character like him are usually overshadowed by the main character ( our beloved sakuragi hanamichi) or other more popular side character like the cold and handsome rukawa kaede or our short king of the series miyagi ryota and more

I loved him bc well he's tall and big☺ -jk

I loved him bc he's a big bro to the main cast , he's bossy and real scary when mad but at the same time he is patient , caring toward the main cast. He is passionnate with basketball and wanted to go to the nationals which lead us to him being the reason for alot of the main cast development and himself too. And seeing his dynamic with everyone is so fun and interesting

The recent moive ( the first slam dunk, u should watched it, it is SO GOOD it even make none anime watcher or sport fan like my mom hyped) show more of those dynamic and give him more screen time and it also show how much he cared for this founded family when one of the character was seriously injured.

Also he had a little sister😏, so you know what that mean , he is definitely know how to treat a women right also me and his sister would litterally be bff.

As for the heacannons, he is deffinately retsu, like most of the female fan are attracted to

other character and even the girls in the anime , so often not alot of them approach him with romance interest so you can see him being super awkward if confronted with one. He's the type of boyfriend who is very busy and focus on practicing basketball but also know how to make time for his s/o. The man will love you even harder if you show up to his practice and watch him, oh and the main definately tease him aswell

So there it is the reason why i loved him

My man need more fanfic man there's like none on ao3 and like one really good on tumblr.

Also listened to the movie soundtrack like loved rocket is really good

Anyway have a nice B-day

AHHH! I absolutely adore him!!! What a babe, you picked EXTREMELY well darling Potato! <3

I have been meaning to watch Slam Dunk. I absolutely love Kuroko no Basuke (Midorima is like, one of my top tier husbands and I have even cosplayed him before looo) and I've noticed when people talk about Basketball anime Kuroko and Slam Dunk are like, the big two. Reading your synopsis now makes me want to read/watch it even more waaah!!!

And you KNOW I am a sucker for big brother sweetheart characters so oh nooo he seems perfect. TAT I love him, thank you so much for sharing him!!! I am glad he got his little corner to shine because he def sounds like he deserves it! :3

Also, thank you for the kind bday message! I did have a very nice day! <3

[atopearth]

Amnesia: Memories Part 7 - REPLAY Thoughts

Since Later X Crowd is out, I am playing Amnesia: Memories again for a refresh! Amnesia was my first proper otome game that I played so it holds a special place in my heart even though I really only liked Kent, Ikki and maybe Ukyo, but one thing I'll never forget is how much I love how pretty everyone is! Anyway, I won't do full on comments about each route since I've played the game before, but I guess I will mention things that I might feel differently about now? I have also decided to start with Toma because he was my least favourite haha!

Toma (Diamond World)

I still remember back in the day when I thought Toma would fulfill my big brother cravings for an LI, it had a bit of it until my heart was crushed haha! I forgot about how scary Ukyo can be lol. And I forgot that Toma puts drugs in her food so she'll sleep and not run outside and get killed LOL. Like yeah, I do remember those bad endings where if the heroine goes out, she ends up dead but seriously c'mon Toma haha. I guess one thing we can be happy about is how unapologetically crazy Toma is, loved how he was like he would confine both Shin and her here if she followed them to hear what they're talking about. Why can't Orion just eavesdrop though lol. Anyway, Toma is wild! I really forgot alot of details haha! I mean I'll never forget getting locked up in a large dog cage, but I definitely forgot the handcuffs! I think what I couldn't help but like about Toma despite how drastic his actions are is that he knows what he's doing is wrong. His analogy of the heroine being a captive princess, him being the demon king and Shin being the hero made it evident that he recognises his actions of locking her in a dog cage is wrong, but in his own twisted way, he assessed that this is the only way he could think of that would make sure she would be safe no matter what, and I guess to me, it's his own twisted way of taking care of her and that's enough. His immense guilt for doing this to her always gets to me even though I know he's crazy. Lmao, I love their childhood memory of the heroine telling Toma she likes him and wants to get married to him, and when Toma asks her then what about Shin, she's like Shin can be their child hahaha, she's so funny. Anyway, I actually forgot how crazy Ikki's fan club was and I definitely think the police should definitely be called because these girls are nuts. Otherwise, I enjoyed Toma's story much more than I thought would haha! I think his sincere desire to protect the heroine always made me like him even if he was insane lol. Looking back on my previous post, it seems like I was pretty scared of Toma when I first played his route haha! Now that I've played many more games, I think I can appreciate him for who he is now despite how crazy he is lol.

Shin (Heart World)

Are they dating already?! I don't remember that. All I remember is Shin not letting her eat cake because she'll get fat lolol. I feel like all he did was confess to her from memory🤔 BAHAHA, yes I now remember why I was so annoyed with Shin back in the day. He asks what she wants for their one year anniversary, you ask for a cake, and he's like no, you'll get fat AND has the audacity to add that you're already pretty round, yes I would like to kill him thanks. Contrary to what I expected though, I think I quite enjoyed Shin's character this time around, maybe I've built more tolerance to his types because I didn't think he was too harsh, or even when he felt quite harsh, he always doubled down and did something else to make it less bad e.g. when he called the heroine slow at unpacking but starts unpacking for her lol. He's got no delicacy, isn't good with words, kinda bossy but he's nice and kind, and always puts the heroine as the main priority no matter what and I guess I like that about him. I think what really made me like him was when he was scared holding the baseball bat at the lodging saying he was scared to hurt someone but he knew that if it was to protect her, he would do whatever he needed to do no matter what, and I think that touched me. The fact that even Shin has things he's very scared of but is willing to go against for her. And I quite liked how the heroine was a very resilient person towards criticism and proved to Shin how great of a singer she could be. I think their relationship would be great. I also really liked the mystery in this route because even though I vaguely remembered that it should be Toma, similar to when I first played this route, I never wanted to think it was Toma. I was always more ready to put the blame on Shin hahahah. Honestly, the confession hurt because you know how much it hurt all of them but how much it was needed for them all to move on. And you could see how everyone always prioritised the other, like the heroine immediately wanting to forget what Toma did to her the moment she realised who the culprit was and what he did to her, and Toma didn't want to reveal it because he knew it would hurt them knowing why and what happened, and Shin didn't want to reveal it but still felt like he had to for all their sakes. It was sad but I think I definitely appreciate Shin's route this time around haha! He's not just the boy that calls you fat haha!

Ikki (Spade World)

I remember liking Ikki and Kent so I'm quite excited to do this again! HAHAHA the Waka in this world was the most memorable for me, how could I ever forget the guy who says the customer is the enemy as a motto for morning assembly before starting work😂😂😂 Another memorable thing is the parfait CG, I love it so much! Something I've always enjoyed about this game is Kent and Ikki's relationship, they're so fun together I love them hahaha. Honestly, I can see why people complain about Ikki's route because it really does basically revolve around the fan club and accommodating them, but when I see moments with Ikki trying his best to win the heroine's heart and sincerely show his feelings and his true thoughts, I can't help but feel for him and acknowledge how difficult it is to be a sensitive and emotional person who has to deal with rejecting people constantly and how much of a toll that must be on him mentally. And honestly, considering how crazy the fan club is, it's very understandable why Ikki does what he does hoping to protect the heroine from them because he knows that if it gets too out of hand, it'll hurt her and there's a chance he might not be able to protect her from them especially with how many of them there are. I think I'm starting to remember why I really liked Ikki. I liked his vulnerability that he shows the heroine, and I like how serious he is towards her and how he honestly tells her that. And I guess it's refreshing to see the dilemmas of having so many people "love you". I still think the whole fanclub thing was solved way too easily for how crazy they were though lol.

Kent (Clover World)

Lmao, playing Kent's route again really makes laugh and love him. His messages that just say good morning and goodnight lolll. I think one thing that particularly stood out for me with Kent's route is that the heroine had a strong personality in this world that vastly affected their relationship because they both kept butting heads due to their personalities and it was fun and interesting to understand why they always fought with each other and yet still stayed together. Anyway, Ikki's World's Waka was scary in his own way but this one? Terrifying lol! I guess what I enjoy about Kent is how love is basically something illogical to the point that he can't understand the need for doing something like holding hands, but he still admits that he wants to hold the heroine's hand despite how he doesn't understand the logic for it and I think that's cute. Honestly, it felt like I had amnesia too playing this game because I forgot so many things but I'm slowly recovering my memories of them as I play. Other than remembering that I enjoyed this route because it's funny how Kent can be so silly, sweet but also ridiculous with his math problems lol, when the heroine admitted her memory loss, it finally clicked to me to remember why I loved Kent and his route so much. It was because the heroine losing her memories was a good thing for their relationship, and that seeing how scared Kent was of the heroine remembering how much she hated him was difficult for him to bear, especially now that they've gotten closer. It's an interesting contrast from how if the heroine didn't lose her memories in Toma's route, then she would have confessed to him and things would be fine lol.

I completely forgot about Kent's parents and their CG. I mean, their reason for not cooking isn't wrong but yeah you can see why Kent is the way he is lol. Seeing Kent all flustered really makes my heart warm because thinking about him at the beginning of this route compared to now is just so endearing, and it also shows how much he cherishes the heroine now and how afraid he is of what he did in the past and how much he doesn't want to lose her. I still remember her dog because of how cruel Kent was to her at that moment haha, it was understandable for her to say she hated him, just as it was understandable for Kent to be so scared of her remembering this memory and then hating him again. Just like when I first played the game, I still prefer the normal ending and how much more realistic it is for me haha.

Overall, I think what I really enjoyed about Kent's route is how much Kent changes. He doesn't understand much about how to love a person in the beginning, which is fine and hilarious to watch, but seeing him improve so much because the heroine lost her memories and was more patient with him made it very sweet. They both liked each other but couldn't stop arguing every time they met, yet continued to meet with each other because they liked each other, and I liked that, the fact that despite their differences, they both wanted their relationship to work out, and it did with the help of Orion haha! Watching Kent understand the fear of how it feels to possibly lose the one you love was nice because you could really see how much better he was at expressing how much he loved and cherished the heroine.

Ukyo (Joker World)

I completely forgot that everyone works at the cafe in this route, how fun! Everyone except Waka is fun hahaha, lmao legit died when he said he would kill Sawa with a straight face if she makes another mistake, next best Waka after 'the customer is the enemy!' one?🤣 The more I play, the more I remember how much I liked Ukyo, like yeah he's dangerous and could kill the heroine at any time, but his genuine love for her and desire to protect her always hits me hard and I just can't hate him. One other thing I really like about this route is Rika being a good friend, so much better than when she's maliciously crazy for Ikki lol. Anyway, I remember why I loved Ukyo's route so much haha. I think I really loved Ukyo and the heroine's relationship. Honestly, it's probably the "best" relationship out of the routes because they had a beautiful fateful meeting, met again coincidentally and started dating, but then everything just had to end tragically and even if it ended tragically that way, if supernatural powers or Nhil weren't involved, maybe he could have gotten over her one day, but because there was the possibility of saving her from death, Ukyo tried again and again to see her, save her but couldn't stop himself from falling into insanity after dying again and again, and I'm sure once his other personality came about, knowing that he killed her again and again must have broken him too. I really enjoyed how sincerely they both loved each other and how their relationship should have been so normal and sweet, but they were dragged into this fate of death that they both couldn't get out of when all they wanted was just to be together, it's such a tragic love, and I loved watching over them as they both got closer again even though Ukyo tried his best to distance himself, they were so cute. The reveal was very interesting and I really enjoyed the explanation about the weather haha, but yeah I do think I enjoyed this route quite a bit, just like I did back in the day when I first played this. I couldn't help but fall for Ukyo's genuine love for the heroine again, he was so adorable. I would always forgive him.

Overall, I still love Amnesia: Memories as much as I did back in the day, or even more actually! I'd rate it an 8/10 despite the heroine never really talking until the end of the routes, I'd say the exceptions are probably Ukyo and Kent's routes where she actually talks quite a bit or her personality shines through alot through the interactions and choices. Anyway, I got used to it and didn't mind that she didn't "talk" because I never really felt like she was a blank slate. But yeah, I probably did enjoy this more than I did back then because I actually enjoyed every single route this time around! Everyone was so fun in their own way. I loved uncovering the mystery of Shin's route, loved the uncertainty and uncomfortable atmosphere of Toma's cage, loved the angst and fear of Kent being hated, loved how it felt like we couldn't trust Ikki's love when he's actually the one who loved the heroine so much and didn't want to be lonely anymore, and I super loved the tragic love between Ukyo and the heroine. They were all so good, and the bad endings are really easy to get in the sense that you can very easily die, which is fun in its own way haha. I'm glad I played this game again before diving into Later x Crowd because it was definitely a great refresher of everything and it helped me to once again appreciate how much I enjoyed each guys' personalities and how much they all love the heroine in their own way.