#anyway. charming way to think about it i like it more than the bread and wine one personally

[iscariotapologist]

today in church one of the priests referred to trans people as "those who are growing into the gender they were called to be" and i'm kind of enjoying the idea of like....divinely ordained top surgery

[mimikittysblog]

TXT when Someone Badmouths You

Pairing: OT5! TXT x Fem! Reader

Genre: Slight angst, fluff. Hurt to comfort.

Synopsis: How the boys would react when they hear and see someone badmouthing you, their lovely girlfriend.

Warnings: Some jerks bullying you for different reasons. Implied chubby reader for Yeonjun and Soobin, and somewhat body shaming for theirs too. I think that’s it? Please let me know if I missed anything.

A/N: Guess who made this instead of their thesis??? Meeeeeee! Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this, especially cause I made it on the fly. Also got a bit carried away with beomgyus lol

.✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ✧.

Yeonjun

Yeonjun decided to go out to take you shopping being the fashonistas you two are. While you’ve always loved clothes and fashion, it was always a bit of a struggle to find your size here in Korea, no actually it was a pretty big struggle, but Yeonjun never minded.

He just wanted to spend time with you and spoil you with whatever you wanted. If the store didnt have your size he’d just look for it online or actually have it custom made. Just for you. Whatever you wanted, its yours in less than a week. You were always grateful for that.

However it still bothered you a bit. It was also always quite embarrassing when you have to walk out of the dressing room to tell him the biggest size didnt fit you. It also doesn’t help when the store clerks are not so subtly or quietly poking fun at you.

“I don’t know why she even tries”

“I know right? Why is he even with her?? Like he clearly takes care of himself. Why can’t she do the same?”

“He deserves so much better.”

Yeonjun obviously heard it too, he isn’t deaf, nor blind cause he sees the looks they give you. He especially sees the small frown that you’re trying so desperately to hide.

“Hmm MY pretty baby” he says as he holds your cheek. “This store is not inclusive huh? How about we just leave and find a better store that values you more, hmm?”

“No yeonjun it’s ju-“

“Hush.” He cuts you off. “This store is clearly not a good one. Cause every good store should always carry beautiful people’s sizes which includes you and they must have RESPECTFUL. Staff too. Don’t you think so pretty baby?” He says as he leans into you.

“I-I guess..?” You say shyly, trying to ignore the harsh glares you’re getting.

“Well thats what I think baby. Come on! Lets find a better store and never come back here, okay beautiful?” He asks as he pats your head.

“Okay” you smile at him.

Before you two leave though, he pulls you in even closer and gives you such a passionate kiss, completely reassuring that he finds you so gorgeous and he doesn’t care what people say about you.

And without your knowledge he also opens his eyes to make eye contact and practically glare at the rude staff that was standing behind you. Seeing their reaction also causes him to smirk into the kiss.

He then pulls away and happily takes you away from that store. Constantly holding you close, to reassure you that he loves your body just the way it is, and he could never be ashamed of you, especially with how firmly and proudly he’s holding on to you.

“Thank you baby” you say as you snuggle into him.

“No one messes with my pretty baby. Remember that.” He said with his charming smirk.

Soobin

You literally only told him you think the weather feels perfect today, and he suddenly already had a picnic basket packed. So here you are now, at the park having a nice picnic with your lovely boyfriend. While he did pack some food from home, you two also went to your local bakery to pick up some of the most delicious bread and pastries ever. You kind of went overboard with how much you bought but you two wanted to have fun and enjoy your day with great food, if you still had some left you can easily bring them home. So it didn’t matter to the both of you.

That is until another couple who were also having a picnic nearby decided to stare at you and the large amount of food you two had. They were far enough to where you could barely hear what theyre saying, but unfortunately you could still hear. Even if you couldn’t the judgmental looks they gave you, and only you, said it all.

“Can you believe how much she’s eating?”

“Mhm. It’s just all pure carbs and sugar too.”

“Could she be anymore unhealthy? She’s eating so fast too.”

You were trying so hard to ignore it and were just about to take another bite of the croissant you got until you heard they made another comment and even laughed at you. You really did try so hard to ignore it and tried to take that bite but it just felt so humiliating. So you bit your lip and slowly put the croissant down. Soobin on the other hand quickly took the croissant again and put it back up to your mouth.

“Aaah!” He said smiling

“Oh.. Soobin I’m ful-“

“Don’t make me shove this in your mouth princess” he cut you off with another cheeky smile.

“Soobin..”

God the look in your eyes was so heartbreaking to him.

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen okay? We also came here to have fun and eat well. I want you to eat well beautiful, and I also want you to have the happiest tummy ever. Please don’t let anyone stop you. Besides, good food makes you happy. And I also want you happy. So please.. Aaaah?” He said, staring straight into your eyes with the purest look ever.

How could you ever deny that? So with a smile you took the bite you did so desperately wanted. With that it made his smile even bigger. He then also took a bite. Since then he continues to feed you, showering you with encouragement and also continues to eat with you too to make you not feel alone. You could never feel alone with him, but he wanted to make sure you knew that.

“Thank you my love.”

“Of course darling”

By the end you were so incredibly happy and so was your tummy.

Beomgyu

It’s been a while since you had a date with your boyfriend due to your busy schedules. So when said schedules finally calmed down, you two were very excited to get to finally meet up at your favorite cafe and catch up. Unfortunately you were running a bit late so Beomgyu was already sitting and sipping at his coffee when you arrived. You quickly ordered before sitting down across from him.

“Beomieee! Oh I’m sorry!” You apologized

“It’s okay sweetheart, you’re here now and thats all that matters.” He said with his usual cheeky smile on his face.

The cafe was quite packed, so it was pretty noisy but you two were able to drown everything out with your conversations. You both missed each other very much. Due to the busy cafe it also took a while for your order to get done. By the time it was you and beomgyu decided to continue your date at a nearby park and have a nice walk. He had to use the bathroom first though, and you had to get your drink. So thats what you two did.

Unfortunately for you though, just after you got your drink, you accidentally slipped and caused your coffee to spill a little bit onto the shoes of a nearby customer.

“Oh my goodness I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to-“

“Are you fucking kidding me?!?! You bitch!!! These are brand new and now theyre ruined!”

“I didn’t mean to! I’ll pay to have them cle-“

“God you’re so fucking stupid! Didn’t you hear me they’re ruined! How can someone be so clumsy?! There wasn’t even anything there!! Fucki-“

“Oh sweetheart whats going on- WOOOOOAAHHHHH!!!” Beomgyu suddenly showed up out of nowhere and then (purposely and quite dramatically) fell and also spilled his coffee on this customer, though this time it spilled on the rest of their outfit too.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” They yelled and you could only cover your mouth in shock.

“Dang these floors are so slippery! don’t you think?? Everyone be careful okay!!” He chuckled as he still stayed there on the floor.

“Beomgyu are you okay??” You asked as you helped him up.

“Are you?” He asked concerned as he held onto you softly.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!? You just ruined my outfit!!!” This customer bellowed before you even had the chance to answer him.

“And you yelled at my lovely girlfriend for a simple accident. Listen, you have every right to be upset. it’s understandable. Hell she would’ve been upset if you did the same to her. However you had NO. Right to yell at her and talk to her the way you just did. She said she was sorry yet you still found it necessary to berate her in front of everyone. So yeah. I find it necessary to have the rest of your tacky outfit ruined. Even though what I did was an accident too.” He said with a smirk, clearly showing everyone who was still watching, that it was in fact NOT an accident.

“But yknow what? Here.” He explained before opening his wallet and throwing a good couple of bills at them. “Take this to go get those cleaned, or yknow, get better clothes that not only look better but wouldn’t be ruined by simple coffee. Come on my sweet.” He continued as he lead you to the door of the cafe.

And with that the both of you left.

“You okay darling?”

“Yea.. but you shouldn’t have done that beomie” you pouted at him. “I mean thank you! But ruining their outfit was-“

“Sorry to say sweetheart but I couldn’t care less about their outfit. Whoever is mean to my girl especially over something so trivial deserved that kind of treatment okay? I’ll always stick up for you my sweet. Never forget that. Plus, it waaaaas an accident” he said with his cheeky smile again. While you still felt a little bad, you could only chuckle and roll your eyes at this silly boy you call your lovely boyfriend.

“Thank you once again my prince” You said after giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek.

“For whaaat? It was an accident!”

“Oh stop it!!” You laugh

“You’re welcome my sweet”

Taehyun

You were never the biggest fan of the gym, however you always note that it’s not that bad. It gets you healthier when you need to feel like it, gets you to get out of the house a bit more and best of all, you get to spend time with your gym rat of a boyfriend. Who you love to look at when he’s all sweaty.

You don’t come as often as he does, you only join him like about twice a week sometimes just once. Sometimes it’s even once a month but you still go occasionally. Just to fill in some gaps in your schedule. Furthermore because you’re not the biggest fan of the gym, you do usually only very light workouts, again just to get your heart pumping and muscles moving, and usually people don’t have an issue with that. You’re healthy and thats all that matters.

Yet for some reason some people decided to be very judgy today. Typically you always have your music playing to focus on yourself, but while you were taking a break and making light convo with your boyfriend, your ears couldn’t help but pick up the chatter of nearby gym goers that can’t mind their own business.

“She barely did anything here and she’s talking about leaving already?”

“And she wanted to get fried chicken too like dang that bare minimum of a workout is really gonna go to waste huh?”

“Why is she even here?”

Taehyun who was putting on his hand wraps to have his boxing training session also couldn’t help but hear and lets say he wasn’t pleased. You took notice of that and simply patted his shoulders.

“It’s fine baby” You smiled at him.

“They shouldn’t be saying that.” He grumbled

“Hey its whatever..” You said trying to reassure him, but also yourself. ‘Cause to be honest, you couldn’t help but start to feel maybe you should workout a bit harder.

“No. Here baby put these on.” He said as he suddenly gave you some hand wraps too.

“Tyunnie, it-“

“No come one, lets have some fun” he cut you off with a smirk.

And how could you say no to that?

While you and Taehyun didn’t share your love of workouts or gym equipments, what you did share was your love for martial arts, specifically boxing. While Taehyun mainly did it for its physical benefits, yours was its mental benefits. It was kinda fun throwing punches and showing your strength that way, a good way to get all your anger and frustrations out too.

Plus when you first started doing it you realized you kinda had a knack for it too. So with Taehyun’s encouragement, and some slight anger towards those comments, you put on your gloves and started sparing with him. And let’s just say your punches and kicks were LOUD. People from across the room could hear and kinda feel it.

But mainly you and Taehyun just had fun, he constantly reassured you that you were doing a good job, you still had it, and he’s happy you’re here with him. Once you two were done, even though you were exhausted you two became a giggly mess. You quickly packed up and left to go home and still order some nice delicious fried chicken.

“Thank you baby” You said as you fed him some chicken.

“No worries my strong princess” He chuckled.

Hueningkai

You and your boyfriend, Hueningkai, had many common interests, from movies to food, one of the cuter interests you two shared are plushies. You both just LOVE plushies. How fluffy they can be, how soft and squishy they are, their cuteness. Like whats not to love really? The amount of plushies you share is quite concerning but hey! They make you both happy!

Today you decided to go out to see a new movie that came out, but you still had some time before the movie started so you decided to look around the mall first. You had no destination in mind, just wanted to walk and talk with your boyfriend before, hopefully, enjoying this new movie.

However as you continued your stroll you came across a new store that had just opened and was filled to the brim with the cutest teddy bears you’ve ever seen, and they came in every size you can think of. From teeeeny tiny to massive teddy bears that fills the corner of the room. So without much thought and a huge gasp you dragged hueningkai inside to check it out.

Quite the understatement to say you were having a blast checking out all the adorable teddy bears they had. They even had clothes for these bears. However excited you were, you didn’t actually have the intention to buy any, but Hueningkai being the angel he is offered to get you one.

“Are you sure?”

“Oh come on its like you don’t know me. Come on I’ll get one for myself. Our teddy bears can be dating too!” He said with his angelic smile.

Now thats an offer you couldn’t refuse!

So you two picked out your teddy bears and dressed them in matching outfits. You then left making your way to the movie theater, as the movie would be starting soon, but you couldn’t stop giggling and hugging your bear. It was just so cute and fluffy. You still had your bear in your arms as you waited in line to get your snacks, when suddenly the people behind you started whispering.

“What a fricken weirdo.”

“I know right? What is she? 5??”

“Exactly! Like who the hell would willingly carry that around?”

“Why would you still even want one at her age?”

Then it was followed by snickers. It made you gulp and as much as you hate to admit it, embarrassed. You were never ashamed of your love for plushies but hearing that just isn’t nice. You started to slowly try to put your plushie back into the bag the store gave you, when Hueningkai gave your hand a firm squeeze.

“Oh look honey, it’s our turn. So what do you two want?

“I.. huh? Us two?” You looked at him confused.

“Yeah! You and this cutiepie! And what should I get him too?” Hueningkai explained as he pinched your cheek, the teddys nose and then pulled out his own too.

“O-oh!” You giggled before answering what you wanted, and just some gummies for the plushies.

“What a great idea!” He added before ordering, then carrying the snacks for you, and sweetly asking you to carry his teddy for him.

As you two made your way to your designated theater you did catch the judging eyes of the people behind you.

“You didn’t have to do that you know hyuka” You pouted.

“Do what?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

“You know.. now those people think you’re a weirdo too”

“Why should we care? I don’t feel like a weirdo for liking cute soft things, and neither should you honey. These things make us happy! I don’t think we’re weird for that, and hey if it is, lets be weirdos together hmm?” He said, again with that angelic smile and a cute raised eyebrow. And you know, he’s right.

“You’re right, these cuties do make us happy.”

“Mmmmhm! So lets go! The movie is about to start!”

“Okay! Oh! And thank you hyuka”

“Anything for my cutie”

.✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ✧.

© mimikittysblog 2024

[holybibly]

Hi, it's the matz camboy anon again 😈

Another thing that I've been thinking about a lot, is hybrid Seonghwa (either a bunny or a cat) who found himself in a fantasy that he's your househusband.

You're the bread-winner and he just looooves taking care of the house, cleaning and cooking, waiting for you to come home in pretty clothes with a warm dinner ready and such, he just loves providing for you like that - but more and more he's just loving the idea of providing for you in every way - as your mate, he should also keep you all filled up with his cum all the time, shouldn't he?

If he could, he would just keep you in the house, never let you leave, and just care for you like for a little doll.

You've given up on wearing bottoms around the house, because they end up torn away anyway the moment Seonghwa decides you need another filling, and you just walk around the house half naked with dried streaks of cum all over your thighs and it has Seonghwa absolutely preening with pride (and fresh arousal).

Or you just end up sitting on the couch, boneless and dazed from all the pounding, while Seonghwa prances around in pretty clothes, cleaning and hand-feeding you lunch, satisfied with just how well he's keeping you as a mate, chirping happily while you can't do much more than accept anything he wants to give you.

When i tell you I'm not well when matz is involved.... 🫠🥴

Hey babe, looks like you and I are on the same side of the dark bunny moon, because I just love this idea. In fact, it reminds me of my own thoughts in unholy hours about the bunny hybrid Hwa, and well, I think I'm going to write something impossibly big and lascivious for the adorable hybrid Seonghwa at some point.

The way that Seonghwa was desperately lusting after you seemed to be very endearing to you, even if it did make you a little uncomfortable at times. Recently, you had been very busy at work, coming home late and incredibly tired, which could not upset your wonderful husband, who was always waiting for you at home - handsome and in love, full of passionate desire to take care of you.

And when Seonghwa said "take care,"  he didn't just mean a warm dinner, an incredibly clean house, and a hot bath before bed; no, in Seonghwa's mind, taking care looked like a shitload of cum leaking from your pretty pussy.

As a bunny hybrid, he had one priority: breeding. Like your husband, his main concern was your complete provision and constant attention from him as an ideal partner, always ready to take care of his beloved wife. If he could, you would stay at home all the time, beautiful and fucked thoroughly, while he looked after you like a real doll.

When you put all of this together, you get the most lovely and charming Park Seonghwa.

He was absolutely happy to do whatever it took to make you feel happy and loved in every way, but it became a bit of a problem for you when Seonghwa demanded that you be filled to the brim with his cum at all times. Denying him what he so desperately wants makes him whine, beg, whimper, and cling to every part of your body until you finally give in and let him use you as he pleases. .

You won't even be able to wear underwear at home anymore because Seonghwa will just rip it off of you so that he can have free access to your sweet pussy.

Also, one of his favourite things to do was to keep his cock warm, enjoying your pink, tight cunt around him while he fed you or listened to how your day went at that terrible, hateful job that was taking you away from him. There was nothing more pleasurable for him to do than to keep you filled up with him all the time. When he fucks you, which is often—almost all the time, actually—Seonghwa gets so hot and excited when he cum inside you, chirping and preening proudly that he takes such good care of you. 

It also gave him indescribable pleasure to watch as the thick, creamy mass of his cum slowly oozed out of your used hole, causing him to give a weak squeal and his beautiful cheeks to turn a bright pink blush.

All you can do is accept what he gives you and get completely lost in everything that Seonghwa is doing to you. Most of the time, it will take you a while to recover from the intense sessions of quality fucking that your handsome husband is giving you.

All of this has led the two of you to your current situation.

Seonghwa's hips roll quickly and smoothly, chasing the wet warmth of your cunt as you cry and moan. So close to coming for the fourth time? Maybe five? Maybe even the sixth. You weren't sure; your brain was so foggy from the sensation of being filled again and again that you had no recollection.

You weren't even sure how long you'd been in this state for. Every thought had turned to mush at the moment that Seonghwa had entered you for the first time tonight, and from that moment on, you had been completely lost to the world.

His sweet voice whispers praises to you as you moan and writhe beneath him. With every thrust of his hips, his cute, long ears twitch weakly. God, he's so handsome. Your gorgeous husband, especially with the lace choker around his long neck, is all adorned with your hickeys. Every time you left the mark of your ownership on him, Seonghwa shone like the brightest star.

"Good girl, take everything of my." This is your way of disappearing even more into the place where you are on the ground. For the moment, you feel completely brainless and malleable.

Every one of his thrusts is accompanied by a loud, wet slurping sound and the squelching of the sperm as it splashes out of you and drips onto the sheets. The graceful palm of Seonghwa's hand rests on your lower abdomen, just below your navel.

"You're already so full of my cum, my love. But you can still take some more, can you?" His thick cock slides back into you, and you clench around him.

He continues at a pace that makes your eyes roll back in your head, ignoring the extra cum that splashes and foams around his cock. He's right, you are so full, and his beautiful, thick cock and his thick cum are filling you up to the brim.

But somehow none of you are satisfied with it. Seonghwa grabs your hips, thrusting harder and deeper into you as he leans down towards your face.

"I'm going to fuck you until I give you every last drop, and maybe even after that."

Giving you every last drop of cum is exactly what he is so desperate to do. This will be the satisfaction of his insatiable desire for you, even if only for a while. It's all so messy, your juices mixing with his cum and dripping onto the sheets, leaving wet spots on them, and Seonghwa makes a mental note to be sure to change them afterwards so that the bed of his beautiful princess will be clean and fragrant.

After each load, he pulls out of you just to see how much he leaks out of you. Seonghwa does his best to push his cum back in with his cock and tries to fuck you, as if if he fucks you hard enough, it will all stay in your beautiful cunt.

It hurts from being overstimulated, and you squirm against it, tears streaming down your flushed cheeks, but you do your best to be good for him as he uses you as his own sweet cum dump.

"I want..." Seonghwa starts to chirp, his breath coming in ragged gasps from the hard thrusts he's giving you, but his voice is still as deliciously sweet as ever. "You are going to be so full that my cum is going to leak out of you for days and days."

You are tense, balancing on the edge of consciousness, and his words are dirty and hot. His words make your pussy clench incredibly tight around him, and it makes him come once more, his whole body shaking and he squeaking in a soft way. Even in this state, Seonghwa was still an incredibly cute little bunny.

Even though he's emptied himself into you so many times before, he still cums profusely, his thick cock sliding along your silky walls in amazing ways as he squirts another load of cum into you. Slowly, he begins to circle his hips and pushes you over the edge in one last orgasm that leaves you moaning loudly, arching your back, and rolling your eyes back into your head. You have the feeling that you are losing consciousness; your whole body is light and weightless under his sensual, loving care.

Your legs are trembling, and you are constantly whimpering as you are trying to come down from the repetition of the high. You grab hold of Seonghwa and pull him closer to you as he smiles warmly at you and falls on top of you, kissing your lips immediately.

"You've done such a good job, sweetheart." He praises you softly. "Let's go clean up the whole mess and get a little rest before I fill you up again."

[lab1rynth]

YAN!SOLDIER

Yan!Soldier whom you met in the field hospital, he had been shot in the arm, you had been put in charge of taking out the bullet and bandaging him up, then sending him back out onto the field. The man was quite charming, he told you about his position on the field, asked you about yourself, and shamelessly flirted a little bit.

Yan!Soldier who left after a few days, going back onto the field to fight. It was only around a month later until he came back to get medical attention, another bullet wound. You hadn't remembered him until you heard his voice, you joked around with him as you removed the bullet, 'you're getting hurt just to come see me, huh, big guy?' He chuckled, then hissed as you pulled out the bullet, 'hah, you'd like that, wouldn't you, Sweetcheeks?'

Yan!Soldier who continues to tell you about his life at home, how he left home after finishing high school and how he's been in the military for the past five years. The next few days he just lays back and accepts the food and company, 'the only thing we have to eat on the fronts is hard bread and water' he tells you as he stuffs his face full of the mashed potatoes and ham you've supplied him.

Yan!Soldier who thanks you immensely for giving him a clean undershirt, cleaned of blood and mud. He gets up to get dressed, putting it under his camouflage jacket, putting on his muddy boots as he gets ready to leave the facility, he gives you a friendly kiss on your cheek and a hug before waving you goodbye.

Yan!Soldier who cant get his mind off the feeling of your skin against of his hand, the way you cared for him. He hasn't felt that cared for ever since he joined the military, it got to his head. He needed your touch again, he needed your voice. He played with his pocket knife, flicking it around as he laid in his uncomfortable bed, thinking of what to do with these feelings.

Yan!Soldier who purposely gets shot the next day just to see you again, giving you a soft smile when he meets you again. You laugh and shake your head, how has this man gone 5 years without dying. You help him anyways, that's what your here for! You notice he's a lot more touchy than normal. When you whack his hand and tell him to stop moving as you dig for the bullet with your tools, he whined but it quickly turned into a sound of pain when you wiggled the bullet out from under his skin.

Yan!Soldier who continues coming in every few days with a new injury, staying for a day or two and talking to you, before leaving. You swear he should be discharged if he's getting hurt so much, but you digress.

Yan!Soldier who keeps asking stuff about you, personal things that no doctor should tell their patients, yet you told him anyways. You both had grown quite close, beyond that doctor/patient relationship. Of course the soldier thought of you as more than you thought of him, yet he still enjoyed being different then most of your patients.

Yan!Soldier who had resorted to shooting and cutting himself just to see you, he was desperate but he wouldn't admit to it. He didn't care about the pain anymore, at this point his skin was filled with scars of wounds he'd inflicted just to see you again.

Yan!Soldier who tells his fellow soldiers about you anytime there is downtime, he just sits and stares into the distance as he talks about you, a smile on his face. The person next to him nudged his shoulder and laughed, teasing him about his little 'crush', resulting in him pinning them to the wall and holding his pocketknife to their neck, spewing threats. He had to be torn off of them, still yelling as he was dragged away from them.

Yan!Soldier who is back the next day, but not with any injuries, you give him a once over and raise your eyebrow in confusion, 'what are you doing here?' you ask him, he doesn't respond. Instead he takes a step forward and grabs you by your shirt, you almost start to try and call for help but your muffled by him kissing you. It ended as quickly as it started, 'I almost killed a guy yesterday for you,' he stated, 'wha-,' He had cut you off with another kiss before he pulled back once more, putting his hands in his pockets and turning around, walking away, 'You're mine' He told you as he walked.

[thegreenthepeacetheorange]

Everlark (Mockingjay, Ch. 25-27)

peeta also being in the burn unit bc he was in the city circle

what i personally believe is that he's the one who tried to put out the fire that overwhelmed katniss, hence his own burnt hands and forehead

her using peeta's coping mechanism of pain to stay grounded in reality

when katniss talks about all the people she trusts being said, she highlights that there is peeta but he wouldn't know any more than her about 13's plans.

"we are both fire mutts now" - still a (broken) team

"those same blues" mentioned again

haymitch understanding katniss. the dad that stepped up. i love that he says "i'm with the mockingjay" instead of "yes"

katniss being our fave feral girl by literally biting into peeta's hand as he stops her from taking her nightlock

the fact that when she says "let me go", our baker boy with the beautiful words and the charm can only say "i can't"

just another instance where these can't let each other go. has anyone made a counter for these instances?

peeta is well and truly back. to do that. to know he can't let her go. that even when she bites him so hard he bleeds, he just looks into her eyes and lets her know he can't let her die

the fact that after the way katniss was used in the games and then in the rebellion, afterwards when she's damaged and broken and bruised and they have no more use for her, she's just sent off to 12

"there's no obstacle now to taking my life. but i seem to be waiting for something" - the same way peeta kept his hand open with the nightlock pill waiting for katniss to curl over his hand for him, katniss waits for peeta's permission to die

i love that she doesn't even mention peeta by name when she sees he's returned. we just know instinctively that he's the "him" that's back.

peeta says dr aurelius wouldn't let him leave the capitol til the day before which makes me think peeta had really been trying to be discharged to get back to katniss.

"his eyes have lost that clouded, tortured look"

katniss who understandably has fallen into physical disrepair over the last two chapters now feels "defensive" as peeta looks at her, frowning, and tries to push her hair out of her eyes somewhat. her relationship is SO different to the one she has with everyone else. and that's because it's really the only one where she's concerned with romance and her looks etc

peeta digging up and bringing her primrose. the boy with the bread is still here bringing gifts that can't have a price put on them. he is the sweetest most beautiful fictional boy

katniss is relieved that gale is in 2, far away. that era of her life is over, that friendship is over.

although she's still confusing right to end. why are you thinking about gale's lips kissing other lips. i think it's just like her finding closure but still.

katniss falling asleep on the sofa but waking up in her bed. we can guess who got her there

it's only after peeta comes back that katniss starts to hunt, find closure, grieve with others.

peeta bringing her a warm loaf of bread again.

them taking the family plant book and creating a new book to honour and remember the dead. her, peeta and haymitch creating their own makeshift family book. so tragic so beautiful

"peeta and i grow back together" - like it was inevitable.

But his arms are there to comfort me. And eventually his lips. On the night I feel that thing again, the hunger that overtook me on the beach, I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that. So after, when he whispers, “You love me. Real or not real?” I tell him, “Real.”

i love how simple and matter of fact this whole passage is. she doesn't need to go into flowery descriptions or explanations. she's already done that for three books.

i just love this whole passage so much. so much hope. so much love. after all that's happened, katniss learns to live again, to hope again, to love again, to see goodness again. and peeta is a key to her achieving that. and it's so beautiful

as an adult, i now know that this scene is alluding to their first time having sex. the mentions of his arms that build to his lips that build to her hunger from the beach that night. "so after" is after that night, that moment in their relationship where things become elevated in a new way.

him whispering that is not him asking her to declare it or say it. he's asking her to confirm what he feels, has felt. that she loves him. and she knows now her answer forever. real.

[farity]

Obsession, part 3

I spend the day wondering if I should take up Aegon Targaryen on his offer. Mainly because I think it would piss Aemond off. On the other hand, it would piss Aemond off and at this point I just want to be done with him.

Or so I keep telling myself.

To be honest, I can't stop thinking about the way the muscles on his thighs looked in those dress pants, the way his long fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, and the way his neck looks, ready for my teeth to sink into the pale skin while I ride him.

What the actual fuck is wrong with me?

The man is clearly bad news. I've already scheduled a locksmith to replace the lock on my front door and add a security something or other that you can track on an app.

The dig I took at him about his sister's dating clearly hurt. I can't imagine. They can keep the money and the power if the trade off is that you can't see whoever you want. Who wants to be part of something like that? Always looking over your shoulder, always having to run a potential date by your family? Fuck that.

And the nerve to tell me I could do better than my job? Who the fuck does he think he is? Like he could ever have a job not involving his family. I bet that shit wouldn't be "allowed".

I'm going to stop thinking about all the Targaryens and be glad that I am a nobody having a boring life.

* * * * *

"I know something you don't know."

Aemond rolled his eye at his brother. "Is it that I'm going to punch you in the face if you don't shut the fuck up?"

"Jeez, Aemond, you really ought to get laid more often, have that anger fucked out of you." Aegon didn't have to turn and look to know Aemond was flipping him off. "Where are you going?"

Helaena walked past her brothers, turning around with a huff. "I'm going to the immersive bug exhibit at the natural museum. I'm on their VIP list so I get to go an hour before it opens to the public. Anything else you want to know? Or is that not allowed, Aemond?"

Both brothers stared at their usually docile sister. Aegon gave her a thumbs up, and Aemond nodded. "Make sure you take-"

"Yes, Aemond, both of the guys are going with me." She rolled her eyes and walked toward the door, where the two bodyguards assigned to her were already waiting.

"Is she getting more loopy?" Aegon asked after his sister had left, "because an immersive bug exhibit sounds like a fucking nightmare."

While Aemond continued looking for something on his phone, Aegon smiled to himself. "Anyway, I am going to have a very interesting lunch."

"What's her name?" Aemond asked automatically.

Aegon laughed, and kept laughing, and laughed some more as he walked out, leaving a very annoyed Aemond behind.

* * * * *

You walked into the outrageously expensive bistro, full of slimy tech bros and cougars looking for their next meal, and saw Aegon waving you over. He was shorter than Aemond, with a prettier face, and much more mischief in his eyes.

"You made it!" he called out, drawing the attention of several tables, and then, the motherfucker had the gall to take your hand and kiss it, in the middle of the fucking dining room.

He looked up, barely containing a smile, and you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Just water, please," you said to the server.

"Well, that's no fun," Aegon smiled.

You smiled back. "I am going back to work."

He looked at you like he had no idea what you were talking about before taking a sip of his wine.

"So, why did you want to have lunch?"

"Can't a guy want to have lunch with the Lady and Savior of his younger sister? You wound me, you truly do."

The server brought a basket of bread and some piped rosettes of butter and you immediately began to help yourself.

Aegon sighed. "You must be the last woman on this realm who eats bread. Marry me. Marry me before that imbecile brother of mine knows what's good for him."

"Charming proposal, but no. Why are we having lunch?"

Gods, the bread was amazing.

"What's that saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" He accepted a piece of buttered bread you offered and popped it in his mouth.

"If you're referring to Aemond as your enemy, I don't think I want any part of this," you replied, grabbing a second piece of bread.

Aegon swallowed, considered your words, drank some more wine. "We're not enemies, but he's a twat, we can all agree on that," he scoffed. "But in this family, sometimes you have to be. And the whole thing with Helaena has shaken him."

You looked at him and nodded. "I thought that was a daily occurrence for- for some people." You had caught the two guys on the table behind Aegon keeping an eye. And the guy sitting outside. And the guy sitting in the waiting area.

"Not for us," he said quietly. "I mean, there is always danger, but that was pretty fucking brazen."

The server brought the menus and you chose a burger with all the works and fries on the side. Aegon chose a huge slab of meat and more wine.

"Look," he said thoughtfully, "Helaena has spent her life being isolated, first by mom, and now by Aemond, and I don't blame her being bitter about it." He watched you for a few seconds, and you nearly started to feel around your face in case you had something stuck somewhere. "My gut tells me you're okay, so I would like for you to accept Helaena's lunch invitation."

"And if I don't?"

Aegon put his hands up defensively. "If you don't, you don't. All I'm saying is, she's cool, in her own bizarre way, and instinct tells me that you're a nice person who happened to save my sister's life."

"I bet he loves that."

Aegon raised an eyebrow.

You smiled. "I bet Aemond loves that you go by your gut and your instinct."

"Well, he would do the same," he replied, "except he has that huge pole up his ass."

He had a very, very nice ass.

The server returned with your food, and you wondered if they were this fast with everyone's orders or just the Targaryens.

"Will there be anything else, sir?"

Aegon shook his head and began cutting into this meat. "As much grief as I give him, Aemond has a big responsibility on his shoulders."

Broad and lean at the same time.

"He was pretty young when he took over security, and frankly, he's brilliant at it. He's yanked me out of some dicey spots when I hadn't even noticed anything was going on. His hands are full with us."

Oh yes, those long fingers.

"Aare you even listening to me?"

"Of course I am."

"Uh-huh."

I'm not fantasizing about your horrible, yet extremely hot brother at all.

"I will think about it," you said, non-committally.

"Excellent," he said, and made a circling motion in the air which had the server rushing over with a container to throw the huge slab of meat in. "I have to go, doll, it was delightful meeting you."

"Wait, what?"

"Go ahead and stay, everything is taken care of."

He walked out followed by seven men from various tables around you. If people noticed, they pretended not to, and you looked down at your burger wondering what the hell you had just kind-of agreed to.

* * * * *

"She's so cute, Aemond!" Aegon elbowed his brother as he walked by, and found himself on the end of several curious stares.

"Who is?" Helaena chirped up. "Are you dating someone?"

Aegon barked out a laugh. "Oh gods, no, him, dating? No, I mean the girl that's turned you upside down. Your coffeeshop savior, Hel."

Aemond closed his eye and let out a long, annoyed breath. "Please tell me you didn't."

"If you ask me-"

"I didn't."

"If you ask me," Aegon insisted, "she's kind of sweet on you, too."

Only Helaena's excited gasp and little clap broke the silence. "You two would be so cute together!"

Aemond turned sharply, almost snarling at his sister's choice of words. "No."

"Call her up, Hel, I'm sure she'd love to hang out. You can bring her here so that this one doesn't have to worry about you going out."

Helaena rushed out of the living room, no doubt headed to her room to call the girl.

"Aegon, what the fuck are you doing?"

Aegon smiled, then pointed at himself with an incredulous gesture. "Moi?"

"That girl has nothing to do with us, and that's a good thing."

"You know, as smart as you are, you can be a real idiot sometimes. " He leaned back, put his earbuds in, and closed his eyes while Aemond shook his head.

* * * * *

What does one wear to go have lunch with a Mafia princess?

Not heels, that's for sure. Just in case.

I fucking know better but she sounds like such a sweetheart and honestly, she was just going to insist, so we'll have lunch, and then I'll be busy forever, and that will be the end of this fucking bullshit.

There is a knock on my door. Helaena said someone would pick me up and she said her favorite movie was the code in case I wanted to confirm, but that I wouldn't really need to.

Whatever that meant.

Of course, I realize what she meant when I opened the door and Aemond Targaryen himself is standing there. He gives me a look and I'm immediately pissed off.

"What, you couldn't pick the lock this time?"

He smirks. "I didn't want you to have to get yet another one. This kind isn't bad."

"Good."

"It isn't very good, either. You ready?"

Just for kicks, I ask him. "What's her favorite movie?"

Aemond rolls his eye at me, which pleases me greatly. "A Bug's Life."

"Very good," I say condescendingly, and close the door behind me.

He opens the door for me and I get in. The car has a dashboard that I thought only existed in airplanes. Or space shuttles. I'm looking at over a hundred buttons, none of them labeled, and Aemond says nothing.

"Huh," I say casually, "is this the new Batmobile?"

He says nothing and I smile to myself.

He drives for a while and I try my best to examine him without looking at him directly, which is a lot more difficult than I thought. He's wearing all black, a simple long sleeve t-shirt and trousers, nothing fancy about either but you know they're made from the finest wool or cotton or whatever. Maybe they even have their own farm where virgins water the animals with their tears and fabric is made by nuns from some convent where no one ever speaks. His clothes look expensive, his fucking hair, that weird-ass shade of pale, pale grey that is almost white, looks like it was cut strand by strand. He probably uses Kerastase or some expensive shit like that.

The roads get quieter, the houses more sparse, and finally he speaks.

"I really appreciate you having lunch with Helaena. She's looking forward to it."

I want to snap at him. I want to say something vile like, isn't your poor sister allowed to have friends without running it past you? but I don't. She's none of my business. He's none of my business. And the sooner I can be done with the goddamn Targaryens, the better.

"Don't worry, we're not going to be besties or anything," I say because I can't help myself. "I'll have lunch with her and then we can be done."

Even though he has barely spoken during the drive, he goes so quiet that I have to glance at him to make sure he's still breathing. "Done?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she's nice but I want nothing to do with any of you so from-"

He swerves to the right on the empty road and I shriek, putting my hands out to steady myself and he stops the car on the side of the road. "Say that again."

"What the fuck?"

"Say that again." He whirls on me and the fury in his eye is making me regret my choice of words. Because I'm alone in a car with him.

"Look, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with all of you, but I like my life the way it is, and I don't want whatever crazy shit goes on in your world to-"

"Say you want nothing to do with me."

I realize then that it's not fury in his eye, and for a moment, I almost feel bad for him.

And then that goes away.

"I want nothing to do with you," I say, looking at the space between us.

Slowly, his hand moves over to grab my face, turning it to face him. "Say it like you fucking mean it." His eye is on my mouth and although his touch is gentle, I shiver.

I open my mouth and he licks his lips, watching. "Aemond."

"Say it," he whispers.

I can't. I am not sure who reaches forward first but then we're kissing like the world is ending and his tongue is in my mouth, and he tastes like mint and spices and I want more.

He pulls me onto his lap and I straddle him, and his hands, those hands I have dreamed about are on my ass, cupping and kneading and it feels so damn good that I start rocking my hips against him.

Aemond grabs my hips and stops my movements and I pull away from the kiss.

"We're not fucking in this car," he says. "not the first time, anyway." He is struggling to slow down his breathing, and I can't help but smile.

"You presume too much," I say.

One of his hands moves to just inside the waistband of my leggings. "If I were to reach down in here, would I find you wet for me?"

By the motherfucking Seven.

When I say nothing, he brushes his lips over mine one last time. "I do not presume." He moves me back to my seat and I still say nothing, shocked that I wanted him so badly. Shocked that I want him even more now.

He starts the car again and drives the rest of the way to the Targaryen estate.

My mouth still tingles from our kiss and I don't know how the hell I'm going to do as I've sworn and be done with the Targaryens when I want this man sitting next to me more than I've wanted anyone in the last- gods, in fucking ever?

We pull up and the gate opens, then we drive for another five minutes through impeccably manicured fields until we reach the main driveway. He stops before we make the final turn and I steel myself, but he simply caresses the back of my hair. "If I thought for a moment that you didn't want me back, I wouldn't bother. I would let you go." He keeps running his hand down the back of my head and it's almost hypnotic, the way I want to just lean back and close my eyes. "But I can't. Not unless you tell me you don't want me."

"I want to have chocolate all day long. But I don't. Because it's not good for me. Just because I want it doesn't mean I will indulge."

Aemond smiles softly. "Do you really think, for one moment, that you would be good for me? I'm already-" he stops himself and turns back to the wheel, and keeps driving. When we get to the front doors, beautifully carved out of dark wood, he stops and one of the doors opens and Helaena stands there grinning and I can't help but smile back at her.

"Thank you for driving me. I will be taking an Uber back home," I say before I get out.

* * * * *

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[telomeke]

POLL TAG – FIVE FAVORITE CHARACTERS

I was tagged by @lurkingshan (at this post linked here) and @pickletrip (at this post linked here). Thanks dearies! 🥰

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Challenge: make a poll with five of your all time favorite characters, and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favorite.

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I'm sticking to BLs as well, because the field would be far too wide otherwise (can you imagine a poll with Dolly Levi, Buffy Summers, Joe Rossi from Lou Grant, Lady Deathstrike from X-Men 2, any one of the Golden Girls, Erik Killmonger from Black Panther the movie, the Beastmaster and cartoon Aladdin? 🤣).

Anyway, I don't watch all that much BL (not compared to the majority of people here on BL Tumblr, who have watchlists longer than Babe's wig when he was Wansarat in The Sign). So that narrows the field considerably for me – and my list has some likely suspects, including an unbreakable pairing, and also one highly unusual choice. But I'll explain my choices after the poll itself:

Why these characters? Here's my spiel:

PatPran (Bad Buddy)  I've combined these two as a single choice, because obviously they go together (and so well too). But really, I would have loved to have listed them separately, because I have different reasons for loving them. Pat is just an all-round good guy, hopelessly optimistic, generous and so giving; he thinks of others before himself (and if both partners in a couple do that, well, you then have a mutually-reinforcing relationship). Pran I love because I can see so much of myself in him, from his tics and foibles, his interests, to his struggles finding his courage and growing into his own identity.

Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)  In a lot of ways, what Li Ming was going through in MLC paralleled some of my own experiences when I was a teen his age. If only they'd had MLC or something similar for teenage me to have watched growing up! Li Ming was somehow able to navigate the pressures of becoming someone true to himself (something that Pran, and I too in my teens, struggled with) while dealing with real world issues at the same time (economic hardship in Li Ming's case, while in mine it was general teen angst and family stress). He didn't let life get to him, and he stayed the course, knowing his own self-worth even when others were telling him to scale back his expectations (Uncle Jim and Heart's parents). Lessons in there for all LGBTQ+ teens, and Khun Noppharnach's socially-conscious BLs should be given more credit for the positive role models they portray and how they help the younger set. Plus Fourth did an excellent job bringing Li Ming to life (thanks in part I think to Director Aof's guidance; Fourth's Atom in My Love Mix-Up Thailand is a lot less grounded and authentic, at least from what I've seen in the first couple of episodes).

Porsche (KinnPorsche)  This entry is just for fun. KinnPorsche was a wild ride, whacking us with whiplash at every turn, and Porsche was emblematic of that experience. Cool, sexy martial arts fighter in one episode, total buffoon at the mercy of sprinklers, piss-allergic carp and mermaid costumes in others. Apo gamely played along, and he can do both slick action and slapstick comedy well, so watching Porsche always brought a smile to my face. Whether it was seducing Kinn with pappy supermarket bread, or warding off ghosts with a penis amulet, you never knew what craziness was in store next with this character. Pure entertainment.

Adachi (Cherry Magic)  Adachi charmed the briefs off me the moment the lift doors went CLANG!!! on him while he was distracted with whatever it was that was speedrunning through his head again. Such a lovable doofus, always surprised by whatever situation he managed to stumble into. Eiji Akaso is really good-looking, but he didn't care about image and happily took all the pratfalls in his stride. He somehow managed to imbue Adachi's clumsy clownery with a strange sense of dignity (helped along, I suppose, by the fact that we could also hear Adachi's inner monologue, allowing us to see the innocent good-heartedness within).

Dissaya (Bad Buddy)  This is the odd one out. Pran's mom was hated by so many fans during Bad Buddy's run, who blamed her for ruining Pran's life in many ways. And it's true her own hang-ups wrought havoc on Pran's relationship with the world outside. But for someone with so few scenes, I think she's actually one of the more complex characters in Bad Buddy, with a turbulent backstory that explains how her own relationship with the world got so warped. My read is that everything she did, including sending Pran away in high school, was done out of love for her beloved only son and motivated by a desire to protect him at all costs. She was a smothering, over-protective mother to be sure, but I think the lady just didn't know any better, and the last two episodes of Bad Buddy really do invite us to rethink our earlier appraisals of her. It wasn't easy doing Dissaya's character study based on the fairly scant details we got (write-ups linked here and here), but they were enough for me to glean an understanding of who I think she is. And I think in the end she is someone worthy of respect, so I do tip my hat out of respect for her. It's also obvious Pran loves her dearly, as much as she loves him back. And I think I trust Pran's judgement of character on this one. 😍

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Onward tagging:

@neuroticbookworm, @colourme-feral, @airenyah, @wen-kexing-apologist, @solitaryandwandering

I really want to tag more, but this game limits us to five so these are just five people tagged at random. If I haven't tagged you but you'd like to play, please do so (knowing that I want to tag everyone and then some)! And please tag me if you play, so that I can read and vote on your poll too. 😍

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[flowerpotmage]

You Think I'm-? (Part Two)

Summary: The day after the reader helps a drunken Osferth to bed, the party leaves Wintancaester.

Notes: From number two on this prompt list. Contains old timey town spellings, Finan being bestie, reader being good with horses, and freaking out. Fluff! Gender neutral and entirely undescribed reader. Unbeta'd and lightly edited. There will be a third part!

Read this chapter on Ao3 here. If you like my work, please consider leaving kudos there as well! You do not need an account to do so.

Your sleep had been fitful. The adrenaline and shock of what had occurred with Osferth kept you wide awake and jittery, and as a result you had gotten little rest in the few hours between then and now, where you lie on your rented cot staring at the ceiling, the morning light filtering through wood and straw to paint the room in a dim warm glow.

Osferth had kissed you.

Osferth had kissed you.

Osferth had kissed you!

And you had kissed him back!

And you had kissed him back!

“Oh, Lord preserve me,” you whisper, pressing your hand over your eyes. He had been drunk when he kissed you. “Fuck.”

You roll yourself out of bed, re-donning the rest of your layers, boots, and sword, and make your way to get a table to share. You have your pick, as early as it is, and you take one off to the side to wait for the rest of the men as a cup of hot cider is brought to you.

“Any food?”

“Yes, but I’d like to wait for the rest of my company first.”

The first to join is Sihtric.

“Morning,” you greet as he slides onto the bench opposite you. His eyes scan you so quickly you do not see it as you fidget with the handle on your cup of hot cider.

“Good morning,” he replies simply, smiling in thanks at the serving girl that brings him a cup of his own.

“Was Finan much trouble last night?”

He smiles, laughing. “Not more than usual. Osferth?”

You shake your head, losing the fight against your growing smile. “No. Just clumsy.”

He starts to raise his eyebrows, opening his mouth to say something, when Finan appears and slides into the bench beside you, clapping you on the back.

“Well if it isn’t baby monk’s nurse-maid,” he teases, trying to block your elbow with his two hands and a laugh when you go to jab him in the side. Not that it’d do much damage anyway, his torso protected by leather much the same as Osferth’s. “By God, did you get any sleep?”

“You’re shockingly upright and bubbly for a man who had to be helped home yourself,” you shoot back, ignoring his comment about your sleeping habits, or lack thereof.

Sihtric ignores the two of you, smiling into his cup. It's a common enough occurrence, and the other men that travel with and fight under Uhtred have grown used to this antagonistic expression of friendship. Much like Osferth, Finan had trained you to use a blade in your early days with the group, and you had developed an almost familial system of shit-talk and mutual protection.

The serving girl returns with bread, cheese, and meat slathered in herbs and sauce. Finan thanks her with his usual bright and charming smile, and the three of you begin to eat.

“Where’s Uhtred?” you ask.

“No doubt being lectured by Alfred once again, or given some accursed errand to drag us on,” Finan says, mouth full of a just-taken bite of bread.

You sigh. “I should have expected as much.”

Uhtred, ever the timely man, appears behind you and Finan.

“Where is Osferth?” He asks the table.

Finan turns to look at the man, pauses, and slowly turns to you with the beginning of a grin. “Yes, where is our dear baby monk?”

You shrug. “Probably sleeping off all the ale you lot drowned him in.” You turn to look at Uhtred, immediately recognizing the look on his face. You sigh. “I’ll go ready the horses if Sihtric goes and fetches Osferth.”

Uhtred nods. “Thank you.”

“Why not send me to wake the monk?”

“Because your face first thing in the morning will just scare him into thinking he’s in Hell,” you say, and you and Finan exchange playful hits as you get up from the table and head off to the horses.

You make sure the beasts have been fed, even taking some time to brush dirt from one or two of them with fistfuls of straw, before checking hooves and saddling them. You work efficiently, bringing the mounts out to wait outside the inn for your companions. You are picking an errant piece of straw from your mare’s mane whilst detangling it when Finan and Sihtric exit, coming to load bags onto the horses.

The two of them are laughing about something when Uhtred follows.

“Osferth is finishing up,” he says to the group as he goes to his own horse and checks over the bags that Sihtric tied on.

You happen to look up when Osferth is stepping out the door. Your eyes meet, his steps falter, and he starts to smile before his eyes flick behind you and with pink ears he puts his head down and hurries to join the group.

Frowning, you look behind you to see Finan and Sihtric quickly turning their attention to their horses, having only moments ago been looking between you and the young warrior monk.

You groan quietly, rolling your eyes to the cloudy sky, and mount your horse as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

“Where are we off to?”

Uhtred follows your example and mounts his own horse, the other three following soon after. “I’ll tell you on the road.”

And off you go, horses walking through and out of Wintanceaster.

The size of your party makes it difficult for you to keep to yourself, and ironically, prevents you from taking any privacy to sort out your thoughts. Still, you cannot help but continue to turn over the previous night in your mind, flashes of sensation and the echoing sound of Osferth’s sighs in your mind warm your stomach.

You are riding at the side of the middle of your tiny group, and Osferth’s robes in your periphery shine like a beacon in spite of their soft and drab color.

You focus on the sight of the back of your horse’s head.

Your group stops at midday to stretch, eat, drink, and take your turns relieving yourselves. The horses graze as you lean against a tree in the shade, and you swallow a deep gulp of air as you lower the waterskin from your lips.

Finan has gone off to piss, Sihtric as well, and Uhtred is adjusting the bags on his horse when Osferth returns from where he’d left to relieve himself as well.

You can feel his eyes on you, see his hesitating figure from the corner of your vision, and can practically hear him debating with himself.

You have to consciously school yourself into an air of nonchalance when he walks up to you, joining you in your patch of shade under the broad branches of oak. He says your name in greeting.

“Osferth,” you greet in return, and You risk a look at him. Your breath catches when your eyes meet his, the blue ever bright under the miniature furrow of his unsure brow.

You offer him your waterskin, and he glances back up to you to make sure it's alright that he takes it—as if you weren't offering—and then accepts it from your outstretched hand. You watch as he tilts it back, eyes caught on the movement of his throat as he swallows, and then quickly look away as he starts to lower it once more.

You accept it back silently, recorking the opening.

He says your name, again, hesitantly. “Last night–”

And then Finan and Sihtric return.

You give him a quick look, one you mean to say Don’t worry, Osferth, we’ll talk later, as you push off from your lean on the tree trunk. You only catch a flash of his dejected face before you're walking back to the main part of the group, doling out jerky and small rips of bread to carry you all through dinner.

It is a few hours of riding later when Finan trots his horse up next to yours, saying your name in greeting.

“Finan,” you return.

“So, I have to ask, what have you said to our baby monk?”

You turn and look at him, confusion plain on your face. “What?”

His eyes hold yours, and he sucks his teeth before speaking again. “He’s been all morose and pretending otherwise since midday, and last I saw it was you two who were talking before he got all gloomy. So it must have been whatever you said to the lad.”

Finan does not break eye contact as he speaks, swaying along with the rhythm of his horse. You huff through your nose, and cannot help but turn in your saddle and look back at Osferth.

He is, typically, quiet on his horse as it walks beside Sihtric’s, but you cannot deny the air about him. The aforementioned Dane sees you twisted around to look at them and raises an eyebrow. You return to sitting normally.

“He looks fine to me.”

Finan simply raises an eyebrow in an uncanny mirror of Sihtric, and you sigh in frustration.

“I’ll talk to him,” you say, pulling your horse around to loop to the back of the group. Osferth looks at you in confusion when you come up from behind him, having moments ago been ahead, and starts to protest when you lean over to grab his horse’s reins—thankfully the animal doesn’t startle, familiar with you as it is. You pull him back and off to the side, away from the others.

“What are you-?”

“Finan says you’ve been acting glum,” you say, letting go of his horse now that you’re separated from the group a bit more.

His mouth opens slightly in surprise, words stalling in his brain. “No I haven’t.”

“Look, I’m sorry if–” Your words fail you at the confused furrow of his brow. “What?”

“Sorry for what?” He says, bewildered.

“You were drunk,” you say simply. "I wasn’t. I shouldn’t have-”

He laughs. The little shit laughs.

He says your name again, smiling, before glancing to make sure your companions are out of earshot. He knows how you value privacy. “I was the one who kissed you. I had come to apologize to you at our rest, earlier.”

You blink. “Are you serious?”

He inclines his head, indicating that yes, he was.

You lean over to slap his arm, his horse dancing away when your light smack hits his shoulder, and the two of you laugh.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, you fool,” you shake your head.

“And neither had you,” he says, smiling his sweet little smile.

You glance back to the rest of the group. They’re looking back at you two now, slowing their horses to a stop so that you are not left too far behind.

“Come,” you say. “We’ll finish this after supper, now that we’ve cleared that up.”

Osferth agrees, and the two of you nudge your horses forward to rejoin the group.

[malinaa]

as a hunger games and shadow and bones enjoyer, thoughts on a malina thg au, where they’re both tributes for 12?? mal is so peeta “boy next door, boy with the bread” energy

please just the thought of malina in the games makes me sob 😭 alina wouldn’t volunteer because honestly the only person she would volunteer for would be mal (and vice versa). i think at that point alina is just praying to anyone who would listen that let it not be mal let it not be mal not him please not him. but then d12’s escort calls out, “malyen oretsev” and her world crumbles before her eyes.

one of the big differences from everlark is def that malina’s romance dynamic is switched, on the surface at least. alina’s love for mal is so so so evident in the beginning of s&b but you don’t really get mal reciprocating that love until the latter half of the book (mal has been in love w her since he was literally a child.. peetacoded fr but he didn’t like act on it until he realized that he lost her … katnisscoded 🤭).

anyway everyone in d12 knows that they’re in love with each other but the other doesn’t know so the star-crossed lovers angle could still be played. mal is DEFINITELY charming and handsome enough to get the capitol eating off his hand (that one quote in s&s that’s like if you put him in a fjerdan camp he’ll come back on their shoulders etc etc). i think what spark’s the capitol’s interest in them is their closeness. that spark gets fanned into a flame when the tiny slip of a girl from district 12 got a high training score and idk if there’d be any grisha power in this au so use ur imagination. when the interviews roll around, i think alina would talk about mal in a way that makes the interviewer’s eyes gleam but they run out of time before they get to the Big Question. then mal’s interview rolls around and he charms everyone in the audience and when the interviewer asks, “and alina? you two are childhood friends, you grew up together. what was it like being reaped together?” and mal gives everyone a sad smile and says instead, “let me tell you a little story. i was never a brave kid.” and he laughs, self-deprecating. everybody’s attention is on him, their dissent rumbling through the air because there’s no way a d12 kid with a relatively high training score (i’m shooting for a 9 maybe. peeta’s 8 would be good too) wouldn’t be brave. “alina would argue with me just like you all are doing, but i swear it’s true. i was weak. afraid of the dark. the orphanage ran out of candles once during a storm and i couldn’t sleep and even though she was in a completely different part of the building, she knew that i had a fear of the dark, so she ran out in the middle of the night and traded some of her old clothes for a single candle. she slipped into my room, all wet from the rain but i didn’t care. alina lit the candle and all i could think was, ‘she’s so much braver than me.’ she gave me light.” mal locks his gaze with the interviewer. “she is my light.” anddddd time’s up!

the capitol’s abuzz with mal’s declaration. they feel like he’s def in love with her (he is) and she doesn’t know it (she doesn’t—probably thinks he’s playing it up for the camera for sponsors) etc etc. the games start idk they’d try to stick with each other and the gamemakers have sick fun trying to pull them apart just so that a reunion would boost ratings. mal keeps finding extreme ways to help alina and keep her safe and she’s doing the same, but mal is a good soldier. he probably downplayed his skills in training to everyone, even her because he’s a damn good shot and a damn good hunter. the 2 winners from the same district announcement gets made and they run with more vigor to find each other but when they do, they obviouslyyyyy need to have The Cave Scene so mal is injured by a mutt or something idk. the story that mal tells in the cave that gets them a Feast would probably be the similar one that peeta gave (“your hair was in two braids instead of one” blah blah) but mal’s version of probably an amalgamation of something similar to alina cutting up her hand and when baby mal said “i’m going to marry alina” and he definitelyyyyyy tucks alina’s hair back and whispers, “i wanted more for you. a white veil in your hair. vows we could keep.” and they Kiss blah blah u get it. they risk their lives for each other again, at the end mal grabs alina’s hand and positions the knife to his chest but alina throws the knife away and blah blah nightlock or whatever it could be something else. regardless they LIVE and boom. end of book 1 🙏

or you could have a thg malina au with grisha powers (but they’re hidden/not in the capitol maybe or idk) and mal does shove the knife into his heart and alina like Bursts into light and they get miraculously saved by her light and d13 rescues them idk

[not-a-seagull]

PRISON CELL – 06: “White Figure”

Background: Crow Prison Cell

Music: None.

Eiden: Whew… I’m exhausted…

Eiden: (Didn’t take that guard long to get on my back again after Quincy saved my ass…)

Eiden: (Ordering me to scrub the toilets the entire day, I haven’t eaten a scrap since breakfast… I could eat a horse right now…)

Eiden: (And even if i found a way to get close to the big guy, he’d probably just fob me off…)

Eiden: (What’s more, his little stunt at breakfast this morning seems to have raised his prestige around this place… Now he’s constantly surrounded by other inmates…)

Eiden: (I don’t know what I’m gonna do…)

Eiden: Whoa, I think I might be a little too hungry… I could swear I saw a white blur moving around outside—

Eiden: …!

Background: None.

Eiden: No, there really is something there…

Eiden rises from his bed and fixes his gaze on the far end of the walkway outside his cell where he can make out a small white figure moving at high speed.

Eiden: Wait… I remember the inmate from the other day mentioned something about a white phantom—

Eiden: Gyah! A ghost—

Eiden: No wait, that’s…

Background: Crow prison Cell

Eiden: Topper?!

Music: BGM 020

Topper: *squeak*!! *squeak* *squeak*!

The agile white figure leaps in front of Eiden and with a flick of his tail hands him a small object.

Eiden: What’s this…? Bread?

Topper: *squeak* *squeak*! *squeak*... *squeak*!

Eiden: Wait, did Quincy ask you to bring this to me?

Topper: *squeak*!

Eiden: I’m not sure if that’s a yes or not, but I feel better either way…! Thanks, Topper!

Topper: *squeak* *squeak*!

Eiden: I’m so glad you’re your normal self… not like Quincy…

Topper: *squeak*... *squeak*?

As Topper moves closer, Eiden can’t help but lift him up and rub his cheeks against the small creature’s soft white belly, savoring his refreshingly sweet scent.

Eiden: Topper~ You go tell Quincy that he can ignore me as long as he wants— I’m not leaving until he tells me why he’s really here!

Eiden: (It’s not like I can just walk out of this place anyway…)

Topper: *squeak*!

Topper taps his tiny paws on the top of Eiden’s head, kicks off, and leaps into the air, sending the fabled white phantom of Crow Prison disappearing into the darkness.

Background: None.

Music: None.

The small figure speeds across the walkway, quickly returning to his oldest friend’s side.

Background: Quincy’s Cell in Crow Prison

Music: None.

Quincy: … Did you find him?

Topper: *squeak*!

Topper: *squeak*... *squeak* *squeak*...!

Quincy: ……

Hearing what topper has to say, the fair-haired forest guardian gives a sigh.

Quincy: … Little devil, always looking for trouble.

***

Two days later—

Background: Crow Prison Cell

Music: BGM 015.

Yakumo: Mr Eiden… Look at you, you’re so thin and frail…

Eiden: What are you talking about? I’ve only been here a few days…

Yakumo: You may have a mission to complete, but it seems prison life is eating away at you mentally and tormenting you physically…

Eiden: H-Hold up! Aster, you told Yakumo about my plan?

Aster: Hey, now, Master, you know I’m not one to go around keeping secrets! All i did was share a tale of unjust imprisonment~

Eiden: Yakumo, really, I’m fine, there’s no need to worry…

Eiden: Getting back to business, did you bring what i asked for?

Yakumo: O-Of course!

Yakumo removes a paper-wrapped package from his pocket, and Eiden smells an enchanting aroma float through the air.

Eiden: Wow, it smells great! thanks a bunch, Yakumo!

Eiden: … And what about you, Aster?

Aster: Hehe~ But of course, Master! They don’t call me the sweetest familiar in all the land for nothing~

Smiling, the vampire hands Eiden a canvas pouch filled with thumb-tip-sized orbs that clack against each other as they move.

Eiden: Wow, these look even better than I imagined. Do they work okay?

Aster: The dumbass incubus and I tested them ourselves. Trust me, they work like a charm!

Aster: But you better be careful, Master. A dessert is one thing, but if they caught you with these, who knows what they’ll do to you?

Aster: Don’t get me wrong, with my level of influence, smuggling in something like this is child’s play… Still, you’d better keep a low profile, okay, Master?

Eiden: Don’t worry, I promise I’ll be extra careful.

End of Chapter.

Sources:

Background Images: NU Carnival wiki.

Collectable Items Images ("Frosted Cookie" and "Mini Magic Bombs"): NU Carnival wiki.

Topper Image: Screenshot taken from this video.

Transcript: did it myself, with the help of this video.

Last chapter: Prison Cell 05 | Next chapter: Prison Cell 07

[lambjock]

thoughts on zibwick?

well, to be entirely short about it, i’m not fond of the ship! this goes without saying, but if these two together is your bread and butter, then i’m happy to hear it. i’m all about ship and let ship, after all! so my opinion about zibwick should hardly matter if it’s genuinely a ship that brings you joy. i can see many reasons why most fans would pair them together : they’re handsome, they have an opposites attract thing going on, they’re ‘romantic rivals’ for mitzi, or they could just be your two faves, so why not make them cuddle about it? like, i’m not surprised by their popularity in fandom spaces when i think about it … but i have my fusses with their dynamic anyway.

for starters, based on the main comic alone, i would argue that zib has more chemistry with rocky and drago than he does with wick -- a cat whom he never talks to, but rather talks about exclusively to mitzi. there is no ‘moment’ between the two, and while it’s sweet that zib finds it wrong to steal from the man and to use his money, there’s nothing personal about this sentiment. he doesn’t think wick is particularly undeserving of such treatment, there’s no speech about his loyalty or kindness, or really any sympathy given to how this might affect his business and livelihood, it’s just something that’s wrong to do. to any of their would-be friends, really. if mitzi’s ally happened to be church instead of wick, i can’t imagine zib’s sentiments would change … this is, after all, more so about his moral compass rather than any personal biases. this scene is also highlighting how far away zib and mitzi are to each other, how they can’t understand one another the way they used to, even if they sorely miss one another’s company. it has little to do with sedgewick sable as his own character, you know? meanwhile zib shows concern for rocky and rocky specifically, tries guiding him down a better path ( albeit lazily ), and has rather charming banter with drago upon their first meeting. he’s also, canonically, slept around with one of his band members, sy, who he’s known for years. all of this is to say that i suppose i find it difficult seeing zib with someone he never talks to ( nor has any implied relationship with ) when there’s ample options elsewhere, especially if you’re looking to pair him with a man. even their brief mini comics together aren’t overtly dripping with any sort of romantic or sexual tension in my eyes … it’s mostly them being present, as respective characters, and very briefly engaging since they happen to be together somewhere.

any and all of zib’s potentially forward and flirty remarks is merely him poking fun too, like, there’s no illusion that wick is ‘special’ or that he’s eager for their relationship to delve into something more intimate. something tracy mentioned when asked about the pilot zibwick scene in particular, where she said, “well, it’s not so much that he’s really specifically attracted to wick. but he almost certainly would have followed through on the offer if wick was amendable.” this does not surprise me! mostly because it doesn’t contradict anything you can already figure from zib’s character. he was mostly ruffling wick up here, playing around, challenging him, though he cared little for the outcome of said move. there’s just no real desire or passion present, no urgency, so when wick predictably squirms away and laughs it off, lackadaisy’s saxophonist relents with ease. it was zib getting his licks in, whether because he was bored or because there was an opportunity or because he wished to irritate mitzi to some degree, but this scene is still lighthearted regardless of his reason why.

wick, in turn, doesn’t care for zib’s presence much either. and not even in a necessarily jealous or aggressive way! he just … tolerates it. will respond and chatter with him, sure, but you can tell wick is merely being polite, as anyone would be if someone they tangibly knew begun speaking to them. now, to be fair, mr. sable doesn’t have much of a bond with many people outside of mitzi! so you do have to make something out of nothing with wick and others most of the time, unlike zib! but … he still has other relationships, people in his life whom he talks to and has something with ; be it mitzi, church, lacy, rocky, or even freckle and ivy. for example, i’m more enticed by church and wick as a ‘ship’ because not only are they forced into each other’s presence due to their business dynamic of company and investor, but there is also a genuineness to church’s worry for wick and him alone, even if he’s rather sour about giving his unwanted advice and has something to gain from warning wick. but i still don’t think it’d work long term, much less be ‘true love’, though it’s interesting to consider something occuring between them that isn’t platonic. everyone else i’ve listed has more with wick than one flirty line ( which is only in the pilot ), and even in the case of freckle and ivy there was a promise for more ( aka wick wanting to show freckle his gun collection sometime ) or building blocks set up for a real dynamic later ( ivy using wick for his money via his thing for miss m, and wick being helpless to put his foot down against miss pepper’s resilience ).

all of that is to say, um, i think there’s more interesting people you could shove them into. even the ‘they’re romantic rivals for a woman but what if they kissed!’ does very little for me because zib isn’t wick’s romantic rival! it’s rocky! rocky is the one who fights wick for mitzi’s affections and for an important position in her life, all while zib passes out at the bar and allows the girl he wants to mingle with whomever she pleases. he isn’t fighting for mitzi may anymore, even if he longs for her -- his hat hasn’t been in the ring since atlas, someone who actually had zib’s ire and jealousy and warranted some sort of reaction from him, as we see implied in the comic. him trying to swoop in when mitzi’s feeling low is opportunistic at best, really, not an active effort lol. so! while they yearn for the same girl, there’s no tension from a potential antagonistic relationship between them, nor any interactions that come from this shared longing for something they’re struggling to have or keep. zib is, and i mean this lovingly, far too obsessed with his own misery and lazy to actually step into this love affair mess … he’s more comfortable laying on the sidelines and allowing mitzi to come to him rather than tailing after her heels noticeably.

also i won’t talk too much about this either, but i don’t even think zib and wick could manage together long term. it feels impossible … because zib loathes staying in one place and wishes to return to his nomadic roots, while wick seems content to stay in st. louis with what he’s made of himself and his business. if wick wanted zib to stay, to settle down properly and to stop sleeping around with whomever he pleases, i feel like this would cause some resentment rather quick. we see how bittersweet zib and mitzi got when zib decided to chain himself to missouri for her, how mad at her he is for it, how he’s mad at himself, how all he can think about is leaving but he can’t and so he’s this antsy, cynical creature -- like, i don’t see how wick would be spared from a similar fate. he would want something serious and exclusive, he’d want zib to live in his mansion with him and to stay, and even if he could accept zib coming and going like a stray i don’t think he’d be happy with that arrangement either. they can’t give each other what they fundamentally need, which uh, isn’t a good sign for something serious. especially when neither of these lives are bad to want! neither of them should have to give up the future they desire just for the sake of keeping one another, in my opinion, not when it’s so important to them. sometimes someone you care for isn’t the one that’s forever, and i could see zibwick being that in many ways. having this somber feel … a constant timer on their relationship that ticks another second off during every intimate scene shared … they both know they can’t hold on to one another forever, so they just think about the present and make do with what they have until their clocks mutually run out. if that makes sense?

now, while this does go against my beginning statement, i’ll admit that i could see zibwick working in some instances. it’s not like i loathe the entire ship! i just don’t enjoy how it’s portrayed from what i’ve seen … feels very shallow to me, as if it’s more so a gay ship for the sake of being a gay ship, which is fine! but, personally, i like my chosen dynamics to have some flavor, and i lean more towards canon accuracy than not when fleshing out whatever romantic or sexual ships suit my fancy. it all comes down to your perception of said characters, how you read them, etc, and from my understanding of zib and wick, i just can’t see them functioning like a typical relationship would. at best, i enjoy them in the specific scenario of : wick feels particularly experimental and seeks zib out to see if he likes men in any intimate way, choosing zib based on his forwardness and shamelessness, probably knowing from lackadaisy gossip that zib’s slept with men before and likes it … and so they fuck, and it’s the most mediocre experience on both their parts, which leads to them both simply brushing it under the rug and moving forward, pretending it never happened. it’s simple, and not super interesting, but that’s how i picture them working, as this one night stand scenario that’s based entirely on curiosity and willingness for whatever, or maybe they could roll around for some mitzi related reason. which. yeah. mitzi sure is another factor to their relationship that is always sort of there, and i find myself most enchanted when zibwick is haunted by her in some way. to me, it feels like a natural side effect to being with someone who’s liked someone you’ve liked, even loved perhaps … i think i’d really come around to this ship if the more somber and sad aspects of them were tackled, actually. let them realize they’re not forever and that there’s truer loves out there, and let them forever be troubled by mitzi, who neither of them have ever been any good at shaking, despite their own agency. i mean, zib’s spent all these years in a situation he hates just because he’s struggling to leave mitzi behind, even if everyone else he cares for will go with him in a heartbeat. and then there’s wick, who was pining for her despite her previous status as a married woman, and can’t help but humor her no matter his own feelings on whatever given subject matter. they wait for her. and they do care for her. and this isn’t something easily erased, even if these said feelings soured or became more of a nostalgic love than a current yearning as time went on.

but i digress lol. i’m sure i have more thoughts about these two ( from a variety of different angles ) but for now, this is all i can muster on my own with a question so vague. most of my issues with the pair can boil down to simple statements … like, it’s not something i can love given how i perceive the characters. i don’t enjoy how quick people are to dismiss mitzi as an entire character just so these two can have their happy gay ending with no struggle, since i’m someone who enjoys acknowledging the flaws in their own ships and loves them all the more for it. i think people sort of use wick as ‘shipping fodder’ rather than caring for him as a legitimate character, and i also have some problems with people’s perception of zib as some sort of quirky good guy who’s just a little melodramatic, but he’s still flawless and would make wick so happy because he’s super flawless guys, and have we mentioned he’s hot? etc, etc. again, this is not me shading anyone out there who enjoys this pairing, and your reasons for liking a ship can be as shallow as you wish them to be! shipping is all about fun at the end of the day, so go wild! but since my thoughts were asked, these are my honest opinions. hopefully this was interesting to read, anon!

[sabraeal]

Brewed With Intent, Part 2

[Read on AO3]

Obiyukiweek 2023, Day 1: Attraction

“Well, I personally don’t see what the problem is.” There’s more shirt than Suzu when he shrugs; two layers at least that Shirayuki can count, and both of them wrinkle when he folds his arms across his chest. Defensive, like he expects her to grab him by one. Nervous, like she might be able to drag him over the counter that way. Or at least, like someone has tried. “You knew your order was ready, didn’t you?”

“It’s not that it wasn’t effective.” Hard to argue that when she’s already here, standing in Shidan’s shop, eager to avoid whatever he might cook up as a follow-up. “It’s just that the execution is lacking a little, um…”

The rotating display squeaks under Obi’s singular attention. “Soul?”

“Soul?” Suzu scoffs. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t just send a…a cat! They’re way too high a consciousness to take to anything but the most advanced charms. Though” —one long-fingered hand raises, wrapping oh-too thoughtfully around his chin— “if I tweaked a few sigils, maybe a rat…?”

With a piercing squeal, the display’s tortured keens abruptly cease. It may be next to impossible to look at Obi, but by the tilt of his head, she knows his eyebrows must be scraping his hairline. “Bro. Vermin isn’t going to be an improvement on bird.”

“I thought pigeons were already considered—?”

“She’s not complaining about the genus, Suzu,” Yuzuri deadpans, one ear flicking at the precise rhythm Garrack's left eye used to, before— er, well, recent events. “It’s the method.”

“Really?” Suzu frowns, and to her dismay, turns it right on her. “Yuzuri did mention that she found its movements a little uncanny—”

“Gross,” she corrects with relish. “I called them gross.”

“—But I thought that if I tweaked a clause or two, I might be able to make it more bird-like.” He blinks down at her, more curious than concerned. “Do you think that might help?”

“Erm…” Her gaze doesn’t quite skitter over to Obi, but near enough that she can catch the encouraging arch of his eyebrows, the goading wave of his hands. “Maybe?”

Obi clucks his tongue. At her, she knows. It’s just— Suzu might be comfortable doling out cutting critique like her grandma did butter on bread, but ‘it’s an abomination’ is hardly constructive enough to be considered an objective review.  “I don’t think Miss cares about how it moves. It’s that it’s moving at all.”

Suzu scratches absently at where his goggles dig a divot in his curls. “But how else would it get to you?”

Yuzuri sighs, long suffering. “How many times do I have to explain this? It’s dead, Suzu. No one wants it to ‘get to them.’ They want it to go away!”

“What are you talking about? My messengers are a stunning example of highly skilled charm work! Besides,” he adds, confidence leaking from him like helium from a balloon. “It’s the only way to get people to pick up their orders.”

Obi cocks his head, curious, like a cat. “Doordash has an app.”

“Weren’t you just complaining about a lack of soul—?”

“What about the coin?” Shirayuki blurts out, before she can think better of it. “That’s what the shop used to use, right? A coin that was spelled to glow?”

“Well, yeah, at one point. But metal is really more Shidan’s element, you know.” Suzu has all the height he needs to look down his nose at them naturally, but his chin takes a prideful tilt anyway, giving him an extra inch or two. “If I’m taking over order management, I've got to rely on my own talents. That’s what Shidan told me. Work with my own medium.”

Yuzuri cocks her head, ears splayed in annoyance. “And that medium just so happens to be dead stuff?”

“We can’t pick our natural proclivities,” he sniffs. “Besides, everyone always complained about the coin thing anyhow.”

Like most of the words Garrack said this morning, the answer to this is seared in her mind. “Easily lost?”

“See?” Suzu jabs out a hand. “Shirayuki gets it. No one’s going to lose a bird.”

Yuzuri throws up her hands. “A dead bird!”

“Listen, I’ll give you: no one’s gonna lose it.” Obi braces a hip against the counter. “But they are gonna run away.”

“What, why?” Suzu huffs. “It’s a bird, everyone loves birds!”

A strong stance to take in a city where Shirayuki has routinely watched commuters throw their purses at the pigeons perched at the bus stop. “Well, maybe that’s true, but ah…these ones talk.”

“Oh yeah.” Shirayuki doesn’t so much see Obi shiver as the air around him trembles, tracing goosebumps up her own arms. “Talk about nightmare fuel.”

“What’s wrong with the way it talks?” Suzu leans over the counter, all business now, face furrowed with stern curiosity. “Is there some sort of pitch change? Or maybe a slow down effect, or static—?”

“Oh, buddy.” A breath whistles through Obi’s teeth, pitying. “You wish it was something that simple.”

Suzu’s eyebrows disappear beneath the curtain of his curls. “What do you—?”

There’s a rustle and a clatter before the back door swings open, guided by Shidan’s hip before the rest of him bustles through, letting it swing back on its hinges. “All right then. Took a little bit of doing, and a couple of, er, spectacular failures—”

“He set his beard on fire,” Yuzuri mutters, “twice.”

“—But I think I managed to get something that’ll work.” He glances over at Obi, only for his eyes to skitter back over to the much safer harbors. “For your…special circumstances, I mean.”

Obi’s lips tug at a corner. “No explosions?”

“No.” Shidan attempts to meet his eyes, but only makes it to his shoulder before he shudders, retreating straight back to the counter. “None of that.”

Shirayuki can’t tell if Obi’s raising his eyebrows or furrowing them, but his whole body curves into a question over the counter, so— he’s curious. Maybe even impatient. “Well, hope it goes with my fit.”

A wooden box settles on the counter, a different grain than the polished oak it sits on. Shidan’s the one to slide the lid open, revealing a plush green cushion beneath, and on it—

“Oh,” she hums, surprised. “A necklace?”

It’s not anything fancy; no precious gems or rare metals. Just a thin slate of clear quartz a little smaller than her thumb hanging from a cord. Not Obi’s usual style— he’s more into leather wristbands and collars that look like they could come straight from the pet section of Fred Meyer, but  there’s a quiver in his shoulders when he looks down, an expectant stillness in his casual lean. He likes it.

“I don’t often work with jewelry.” Shidan shuffles, almost nervous as she lifts it off its cushion, letting the crystal dangle from her fist. “Clockwork is really my wheelhouse, really. But after Suzu explained the lengths you all went through so Obi could use a smartphone…”

Shidan’s hardly closed his teeth around that last syllable before Obi’s whipped it out, a smooth screen wrapped in a thick rubber case. Lines bite deep into the silicone, straight rays and curving spirals, a sigil so complex it’d taken Suzu nearly five days to complete it. According to Yuzuri, he’d slept for nearly two straight days after, only rousing to shuffle to the bathroom before throwing himself back into mattress.

“I can drop this baby down the stairs and there’s not a scratch on it,” he informs Shidan proudly. “Just last week a genius loci tried to swallow it and I didn’t even lose service.”

By the way Shidan’s gaze cuts to her, he doesn’t miss the implication that Obi was inside it at the time. “It was in a sewer,” she adds, although she doubts context will take the concern out of his eyes. “Obi wasn’t to its, er, taste.”

“Ah, well,” he murmurs, faint. “Good thing I thought cogs and gears might not be very compatible with his…biological peculiarities. I see that might not have been a good fit lifestyle-wise either.”

“No,” she agrees, thinking of the last kelp forest he’d had to extract her from. That couldn’t have been more than a month ago, maybe two. And certainly not the first. Nor the last. “Our work doesn’t tend to be, ah…”

“Dry?” he offers, a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Definitely not.” Shirayuki tilts her hand, crystal tumbling against her knuckles, and ah— the light splits over it, a thousand tiny etchings shining gold. Air hisses through her teeth. “This is amazing, Shidan. We can’t have possibly paid you enough for this amount of—”

Care. Attention. A hundred thousands words that evaporate the moment he rubs at his neck, and she remembers Garrack doing the same. Garrack who had mouth marks all the way down past her collar and—

Ah, she’s just not going to think about what Shidan might be keeping beneath his. “Um, never mind.” Her cheeks heat as she drops it back in the box. “Just…thank you.”

“No need to stand around thanking me.” He lifts his chin, encouraging, “Try it out.”

Shirayuki blinks. “Oh! Are you, um…sure?”

Both his eyebrows lift. “No point being so grateful if you get all the way home and find out it doesn’t even work.”

“Or worse.” Yuzuri’s ears give a playful flick. “It turns him into a frog of something.”

Shidan glares at his apprentice. “It’s not going to turn him into a frog.”

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m sure the Emerald Lady didn’t think that nice scarf of hers would turn into a fireball either.” The chair she’s in isn’t built for lounging, but Yuzuri lifts her legs up over the arm of it anyway, somehow casual even though she can’t possibly fit. “Who knows what Obi’s body chemistry is gonna do to this thing.”

“No one is going to get turned into a frog. Or a fireball,” Shidan assures her. “It’s just…best to try it out in the shop, where I can work out the kinks, if there are any.”

“And where we have a fire extinguisher.” At Shidan’s glare, Suzu offers, “Just in case.”

“Thanks,” Obi says dryly. “Real vote of confidence, there.”

Suzu shrugs, nearly lost under the labyrinth of shirts. “Forewarned is forearmed. And also keeps our insurance premiums down.”

There’s a pause where Shirayuki waits for him to pick it up, to make some crack about fashion or disaster or both as he hooks it over his own head, but—

But instead Obi just stands there, shoulders half-hunched and…awkward. It might be hard for her to look directly at him, to overcome the overwhelming instinct to not see, but the problem has never been mutual— oh, no, he insists on keeping at least one eye on her at all times; just in case you get any ideas about windows, he’d say, too-sharp teeth flashing at the corner of her vision. But now he’s got his head turned, looking anywhere but at her, and she— she doesn’t like it. Not one bit. “Obi—?”

“Shirayuki,” Yuzuri hisses, ears pulling back. “Don’t be rude. You know that Obi can’t take what he’s not given.”

That’s not…strictly true. There’s been more than a few times she’s had to traipse back to the service counter at the store to return the contents of his pockets. Can’t help it, he’d sigh, still looking too proud of himself, I’m trickster-blooded. Can’t help causing a little chaos. Ryuu had once tried to tease out the logic of it, to try to understand how a little petty thievery wasn’t against even infernal rules, only to find himself in a quagmire of loopholes within loopholes, buried in fine print. Certainly a looser definition of ownership than she’d thought the Lower Courts would take.

But still, he wouldn’t steal anything from her. And not just because of who holds his contract.

“It’s yours,” she reminds him, staring at where the edge of his pockets cut across his wrists. “I had it made for you.”

Still, he doesn’t move. Nothing more than one of his too-many-eyelid blinks.

“Ah, that…” Shidan clears his throat. “I believe that by the ruling of the Lower Courts, a gift is the property of the giver until it is physically given. There might even be, er, formalities involved.”

It’s habit to glance at him, to meet his eyes and find the answer there, but—

They skitter away, like they always do, dread churning in her stomach and bile licking at the back of her throat. But not before she sees the tension in his hunched shoulders, in the contorted way he’s twisted his neck, baring it like a dog expecting a kick. “O-oh.”

Her fingers are numb, clumsy when she fumbles the cord from the box. Still, she manages to hook it around the first set of her knuckles, thrusting it out in the space between them. A smaller gap than she’d perceived, she realizes, when her hands have to haul up short to keep from crashing into his chest.

“Obi,” she breathes, watching the pendant tremble with the same rhythm as her fingertips. That’s how some divination works, she remembers. Sympathetic nerve twitches. “You…I mean, I think…you’ll have to bend down…?”

She can’t look at him, not directly, but even she can see the way his eyes blink wide. “Haah…right.”

He stoops, head jutting out awkwardly from his shoulders, baring the long, tanned column of his neck. Without his eyes on her, the soft animal that is her fear only quivers in her belly, letting her lean close enough to count vertebrae. It’s strange to see this much of his skin, for him to let himself be so…vulnerable. A strange heat gathers beneath her belly, scintillating like magic before a charm, and she swallows to keep her hands steady, to keep them from brushing through the bristle of his hair just to see what it feels like.

“I…” There’s no reason for her mouth to be so dry, or her cheeks to be this warm. “I…ah…bequeath this to you.”

The cord settles against the knob on his spine, shifting as he straightens, all six-foot-even of him. The crystal spins helplessly on its cord, settling against his chest. His skin, she realizes, his collar open just enough to let it lay flat against that smooth sliver of copper. His eyes settle on her again, and she feels that flutter of the soft animal in her, the one that feels his attention and longs to flee—

And then, suddenly, it doesn’t. Her fear curls right in on itself, and like a mouse in winter, settles in for a long nap.

Which leaves Obi right there in front of her. Visible, for once.

She hesitates. Why, she can’t say. It’s only—

“Miss?” Obi’s never sounded any less confident than cocky, and yet now his voice trembles, and she…she looks.

Even without being able to see him, there were things about Obi she knew. He was tall for one— taller than her, at least, even if he never thought that much of an achievement. Lean, but in the way gymnasts were, or the kids who played at doing parkour in the park. Skin that wouldn’t fit in even the broadest definition of white. Dark haired enough that she couldn’t tell if it was him using her brush or Ryuu. But now—

“Is the Asian thing because like, BTS is hot right now?” Suzu asks, never one to be constrained by social niceties. “Or is that…?”

“My dad.” His hand snakes up to his shoulder, squeezing. “At least, I think. The Lower Courts keep records, but…”

He shrugs. One shoulder, matching the slant of his mouth, casual and wry. Devil-may-care, some would say. It fits him the way his leather jacket does, clinging in all the right places, molding to his shape. Well-worn. Familiar.

Yuzuri gives him one good glance, boots to bristle, and hooks her hands around her hips. “Oh my god,” she groans, utterly dismayed. “You’re hot.”

There’s a shift when she says that, Obi’s stiff spine melting away so that he can slink up to the counter. Each vertebrae articulates like a cat prowling in the grass, pulling his proportions impossibly long, incredibly lean. “What’s the problem? I thought you liked eye candy.”

“Yeah, but I know you. Hot guys are like Monets” — Yuzuri holds up her hand, keeping him at a distance— “they only look good if you don’t know about all the mess.”

“I always thought that was sort of neat,” Suzu says. “The technique is part of the appreciation, you know.”

“Suzu, we already know you’re a good person or whatever,” she informs him, bored. “You don’t have to tell us.”

“What about you, Miss?” Obi arches back against the counter, languid as his grin. “What do you think?”

Her mouth works, trying to explain that she— that he—

His eyes crease, right at the corner, watching her with a fondness she’s always felt but never saw, and—

“I…” They’re gold. His eyes. So striking it’s an effort to look away. “I think we might need to get you a pair of sunglasses.”

[licncourt]

Already obsessed with your evil power couple au, separately they are unhinged, but working together they could be 1000 times worst and I love that for them. Marius as PM thinking he's the puppet master but they're manipulating him. Everyone going on about how weak and human Louis is despite his resurrection by Lestat at the end of Merrick surely making him insanely powerful, but keeping the front up so no one knows of realises till its too late for them. Do you have any details your willing to share?

Sure!! This was actually something I was thinking about like a year ago to play with Prince Lestat era, but then I caught 80s Canon Disease and wrote 140k of that. Anyway, I originally imagined it as a political drama, but I actually don't think I'm capable of that plot-wise. At least not of the rather grand plans I had for weaving webs of intrigue.

I've pivoted away from the plotty version to something more intimate and character driven (shocking I know), but everything else is the same. The inspiration for this whole idea was the conversations around the PL trilogy, how ridiculous establishing a monarchy is in the 21st century, how insanely unethical some of the practices are (fledgling labor, the food dungeon, killing "evildoers"), weird vampire oligarchs, etc.

Generally speaking, this is obviously AR being out of her mind and lacking any self or social awareness, but it made me start thinking about, conceptually, what could be done with this whole mess to make it interesting. If we have a Lestat who has decided he's down with being in this position of power, why not lean into the l'etat c'est moi of it all? Let's make him worse but in a fun way!

Lestat may have shitty self esteem, but he loves attention and adoration and material excess. What he doesn't love is logistics, intense political discourse, meetings, and putting in the hours to actually run a government. Fortunately for him, he's married to someone who does bookkeeping for enrichment and wants to be better than everyone else.

Whimpering, unwilling consort Louis is. An unfortunate yet prevalent phenomenon in fic, but I strongly disagree with that characterization. Louis is nothing if pretentious, detail-oriented, and well-versed in taking full advantage of his positions of superiority. He's a bitch and he likes to micromanage. Unethical business practices are his bread and butter.

What Louis does not like however, are lavish parties, large-scale socializing, and all the people-personing that's required to be a prince. This is the perfect situation though. Lestat was MADE to be a charismatic figurehead. He's extroverted, charming, attractive, well-spoken, and he thrives on engaging those qualities. He and Louis both can fill a role they're great at and genuinely enjoy like two halves of a whole.

I fully believe that there's a distinct possibility of them taking to be In Charge like fish to water and immediately becoming power-hungry monsters that feed off each other's awfulness because they're so in love. Maybe alone they would never think to look for a position like this, the siren call of their potential as a team is strong? After all, they deserve this. Who else could be more qualified? Obviously.

I love how so sweet and devoted and married they are in RoA, but imagine that + they are enthusiastic autocrats. Louis is subtle, he operates under the radar and is perfectly content to spend most of his time in the background taking care of the not-so-glamorous things that need to be done.

Over time he manages to completely consolidate power expand his duties to encompass all sorts of neat things like controlling managing the royal treasury and presiding over supervising legal proceedings to Help Out. Isn't that nice of him? Beautiful AND hard working! Look at him filling in for the prince at meetings, that's so sweet! Oh wow, he's rather competent, isn't he?

Lestat, of course, is the charisma (and the brawn). Half of ruling is image and public goodwill after all. When Louis needs support from the court for something or council approval for court finances to be used, Lestat parades around and kisses hands and charms brains out of the necessary parties until he's secured the bag for his man.

Of course, over time more and more people take notice of...something. Maybe Lestat isn't a matured man of the people justly guided by a council of elders after all? And wait, how come if you really follow the paper trail of all the branches of the court, Louis has final say in everything? Shouldn't that be voted on?

Don't worry though, if someone doesn't find all this business agreeable, well. Maybe it would help to remind them just how strong Lestat is. Maybe the strongest vampire in the world. Isn’t it soooo lucky that he's here? Protecting everyone from danger....?

It's a relief you're on his good side, isn't it?

[atomicpaintercandy]

SMG4 Cyber World

Chapter 2:  The tuna 

—————————————

3rd person pov:

15/04/XX 10:23

 Smg4 surprisedly woke up earlier than usual, he gets up, dressed and get breakfast (bread with butter) and directly went to the “tuna”, on his way he saw a poster about the Supreme Leader that had been tagged by (probably) some teenagers.

He didn’t pay more attention than that and directly went to the area where the “tuna” was.

The old sushi restaurant who was here before was totally destroyed, actually, the whole quarter was destroyed, some people said it’s the gouvernement who burned all the street because someone was disobedient to them, but the band know it was wrong, it’s Bob who burned it when he burned the sushi restaurant.

15/04/XX 11:08

 Smg4 get in the restaurant and went to the cave, when he push the door he found some of his friends talking together.

🩵-Hi Smg4! You came pretty early today.

💙-Hi Tari! Yeah.. I don’t know why I woke up SO early

🩷-11am it’s not what I call “early” 

 The fact that Saiko was talking to 4 with a sarcastic tone means she totally forgot about the discussion of yesterday.

💜-Oh come on Saiko, you know 4 usually wakes up at like, what, 1pm?

💙-Haha keep laughing guys, anyways, where is Boopkins and Bob? They’re usually the first to be here.

🩷-Bwaa, they’re probably fleeing from the police or something likes that.

🩵-Boopkins explained to me the mafia was kinda tense those times, he thinks a conflict between the gouvernement and the mafia that takes care of zone “B” will explode soon.

💜-Am I the only one who doesn’t understand what they mean by “zone”?

🩷-They never revealed it to any of us, and I understand them! I mean.. just imagine what the mafia will do to them if they learn that two of their employees have a friend who work for the police, so I don’t want to imagine what they will do if one day they revealed to us about those “zones”.

💙-Uhf.. I wish I could work with the mafia too.. I’d finally have some adventure in my monotone life.

🩵-I don’t think it’s a good idea to join the mafia NOW, Boopkins also told me that the gouvernement were arresting more people then before they suspect to be in the mafia, even if they don’t have any good proofs.

💜-It seems like they are scared of a rebellion..

🩷-Noooo do you think there’s some people who want to change power? I mean.. good for us! But..

💜-I’m only making supposions, but it’s kinda possible.

 The silent grow, Smg4 decided to broke it.

💙-Hey, what are YOU guys doing here early too? 

🩷-We decided to meet earlier so we can talk about preparing a party for Meggy! You didn’t check your messages… don’t you?

💙-Really? Why you guys doing that? It’s not like she’s going in another country.

🩷-She’s gonna work for the police 4, that’s even worse..

 The guys were silent again and if Boopkins and Bob didn’t arrive at this moment they would probably didn’t talk until the supreme leader resign.

🤎-Hi guys! Sorry for being late.

💙-Bob! Where you guys were?

🐠-We were running away, of the police.

🩷-May I ask you for what reason this time?

🤎-Because Boopkins thought it would be a good idea to use the money for buy sugar for cakes..

🩷-Aaaannnnddd?

🤎-..and that idiot bought cocaine instead of sugar..

🐠-For my defend the two look like the same.

🩷-Aaaannnnddd?

🤎-..and the drug dealer was a policeman in disguise.

🩷-Classic

💜-What did you guys did of the policeman?

🐠-We putted him in the “hole of silence”.

🩵-W..What is the.. “hole of silence”?

💙-That’s an old building which is known because the network doesn’t pass and as no one passes there we don’t hear you screaming.

🩵-Oh.. charming..

🩷-Guys we need to focus about the party for Meggy!

🩵-Yeah you’re right!

🩷-We gonna go by teams of two, Tari and Melony you will make the cake (or buy it), Bob and Boopkins you guys find the dishes, I will call Mario and Luigi to tell them to take the diner and Smg3 and 4 you two will take the decorations, okay?

💙-Do you really cares if we’re okay or not?

🩷-Absolutely not. Now, everyone go buy your things everything have to be ready until tonight!

🤎-Wait, and what are YOU doing?

🩷-I make sure Meggy doesn’t come here until everything’s prepared.

🩵-I sent a message to Melony and she’s okay with it.

🩷-Okay then... GO, GO, GO!!

 Everyone got out of the “tuna” and went in different directions.

———————————————

15/04/XX 11:47

Smg4 and Smg3 went to “Decorpseration” 

(decoration + corpse).

It was the only store who still selling decorations in the whole Sima Ring, so everything was kinda expensive.

💙-70.^ ?!! (.^ = bucks) They think we’re rich or smt??

💜-Yeah that’s the same price then in the Loda Area.

💙-Shall we do a hold-up?

💜-For party decorations?

💙-Yeah.

💜-Fuck yeah.

💙-My apartment is not very far from here, we can go get guns and hoods and come back.

💜-Yeah sounds good.

 They got out of the store and went to 4’s apartment, on they way to it they talk about all and nothing.

💜- …Hey 4?

💙- Hm?

💜- Are you… alright? Like how do you feel about Meggy and all?

💙- I- Y- yeah… I guess…

💜-…You still feel guilty.. right?

💙-How could I’m not? I’m the reason why the world is like this. And now I’m going to be the reason why my friend’s going to die.

 Smg4 lose his cold blood and start to yelled and cried.

💜-4...

💙-All of this is because I became crazy about a stupid video.. all is my fault..

💜-4 I totally understand what you feel but try not to scream in the middle of the street, you don’t want to attract the attention of police officers..

 Smg4 did I quick look around him and saw people looking at him in a strange way.

💜-Looks it’s only 12:02, we can go to your apartment and I can cook us diner.

💙-But.. the party..

💜-It’s for tonight 4, we still have the time don’t worry.

 Smg4 quickly nods and they went to his apartment.

💜-Go sit on your couch I made the diner

 Smg3 opened a drawer and was surprised to see that Smg4’s alimentation was only made of bread when he said he only had bread.

💜-WHAT THE.. YOU ONLY HAVE SPOILED BREAD?!!

💙-Yeah…

💜-You’re such an idiot.. I’m gonna command something.

💙-OH NO YOU DONT. YOU KNOW LIKE ME HOW COMMANDING FOOD BECAME EXPENSIVE.

💜-I don’t care and didn’t ask. So, what you want? I’m kinda into some hot dogs, what about you?

💙-Take the same order as you.

💜-K if you want.

 Smg3 called the restaurant and the manager seems kinda surprised someone command food but whatever. 

10 minutes after they receive their food and ate it. 

            ——————

 During the I.G.B.P arc when Smg4 throw the USB, it fusions with the goo and made a creature half-human, half-technology and it took over the world in only 3 years, 7 years later it’s still in control and is called the “Supreme Leader”

———————————————————————————————

The end of the chap2

Code color:

💙 = Smg4

💜 = Smg3

🩷 = Saiko

🩵 = Tari

🤎 = Bob

🐠 = Boopkins

(Sorry if you’re color blind)

[messa-messilla]

The boy at casa loma

Walucas/Wallace Wells x Lucas Lee fanfiction - Part 3

(art made by me)

Summary : Wallace is invited as a VIP spectator at the recording of Lucas' next movie, but something doesn't go as planned...

Author note : Sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter, but guess what ? I FINALLY FINISHED THIS FIC !! WOOOOOOOH !!! The lore kinda changed recently with the new anime, so sorry for any out of canon thing :(. Anyway, i think i might write more fanfictions in the future, this one was really fun to make !!!

Final chapter : Impress

As the people on the streets were walking, just living their day, they could see something coming, grinding wall to wall, jumping from flip to backflip in an amazingly acrobatic way…

And this skateboarding king entity wasn’t other than mister Lucas Lee, the LEGENDARY oscar winning actor.

People were cheering, rooting, screaming, CRYING, as they saw Mr Lee rolling away, without even addressing them any once of a stare.

No, he couldn’t think about them…

He couldn’t think about anything else other than THE man.

The man with the dark, crow feather - like hair.

The man with the black, yet, deeply captivating eyes.

The man with that little smug look that seemed to really get stuck in the actor’s brain.

Wallace……

He would roll on his skateboard faster and even faster, just by thinking about him…

He carried with him a gray backpack, holding a delicious lunchbox, cooked with love and attention… 

And some (kind of bland) garlic bread, that Lucas took with him, when he realized at the last moment he took so much time to cook Wallace’s meal that he actually forgot to get food for HIM.

The closer Lucas got to Casa Loma, the faster his heart beated.

What if he gave a terrible performance ??

A performance so bad that the boy that looked so lovely would see him as untalented, useless, even ?

Well, Lucas is now at the place, and the charming man is coming to him, so no time for thinking too much, go Lucas go !!!

“ - Well, glad to have you here, Mr Lee !”

Addressed the man, winking confidently, waving gently his hand to the star.

“ - The same goes for me..”

Lucas crossed his arms kind of awkwardly, looking around him, his eyes going from looking at the cameras, to the people around the set, staying here to watch the recording process.

As Lucas and Wallace got closer to the set, we could see and hear the street passengers all around, rooting, shouting even, to the moviestar, which made him grin, gaining even more confidence.

“ - Everybody, are y'all ready ??

Light…

Camera…

ACTION !!

- Listen to me right now, you douchebag…”

Lucas was giving the best of himself, and it really showed. The man clearly knew how to do his job, even when the script, story and scenario… Wasn’t really great.

“ - You really thought i was going to let you go away like nothing happened ?? After all you did ???”

The crowd, catered all around, was way too captivated, mesmerized even, by such a professional performance… 

“ - Come here, i’ll make you feel the pain you subjected others to.”

“ - Okay guys, lunch break time !”

From the moment the break was announced, Lucas immediately started to look anywhere where Wallace could be.

Even at his own surprise, at the moment, he felt like the crowd's opinion on his performance mattered less… And also like Wallace’s view on the performance he gave mattered WAY much.

“- Hey man, i’m here !”

Lucas turned back with surprise, to see Wells’ smug face fix him.

“ - You said you would bring our lunch !

- Yeah, i did..”

They both walked through the setting, and sat at chairs, close to a simple little table. 

“ - So, what did you bring for us, big man ?

- Well…”

Lucas took his backpack, and got out of it a blue lunch box. 

“ - Thank you, Lucas !”

Wallace proceeded to open it, and was instantly amazed ! Two really lovely looking sandwiches, made with soft bread, and a really sweet smelling chocolate and strawberry cake !

“ - WOAW, you made that yourself ??

- Hmm ?”

Wallace looked up at Lucas… Who already started to nom on a poor looking piece of Garlic bread.

“ - Yeah, i made it, why are you asking ?” He said, looking on the side, a bit embarrassed.

“ - This… This looks delicious, thank you so much buddy !!!”

“ - Eheh, no problem, anytime boy !” replied Lucas, feeling an invisible force lift his cheekbones, showing at the same occasion his perfect white teeth.

“ - But… I’m wondering… Is this all you’re going to eat ??” Wallace disdained the cheap little piece of bread “ Why didn’t you cook anything that is that good for yourself ??”

Lucas felt sweat flowing down his forehead, looking quickly in all directions. He didn’t really want to admit he took way too much time making this lunch box for him, and forgot about himself…

“ - Don’t worry bro, eheh… I’m a strong man ! I don’t need to eat a lot on a regular basis !! Anyway, i don’t want to get too many calories.”

After saying this, Lucas INSTANTLY realized how stupid and non logic of an excuse this was. Wallace really made him lose his words…

“ - Oh, Lucas…” giggled Wallace “ You don’t really need to care about this at all ! Plus, you know, bread isn’t really calorie free.”

“ - What ?? What do you mean ??” Lucas exclaimed, actually worried.

“ - Bread has butter, bread makes you fat.

- BREAD MAKES YOU FAT ???!!!”

“ - Everyone, get back to your spot. Time to resume.”

Lucas gasped, he was having such a nice moment with Wallace, guess it was time to go back to work…

“ - Hey !”

Lucas turned around, it was Wallace, standing there again.

“ - Thank you for this great moment, you’re an impressive cook !”

Lucas felt his cheeks reddening a bit, he always ends up blushing whenever he gets anything nice from this dark haired boy..

“ - You’re welcome.” he said, as he tried to look as indifferent as he could.

“ - Oh.. Wait a second…”

Wallace raised his head. As he stared at the sky, we could see surprise in his expression. What could have happened ?

“ - Is there any problem ?” 

“ - Lucas… I think it’s starting to rain !”

The teardrops, falling from the sky, were at a speed increasing every new single second.

“ - Okay, everyone, store back your equipment, we’re stopping for today.

- Oh.”

Lucas stared at the gray sky, which was getting progressively more and more dark.

“ - So…” addressed Lucas, looking at Wallace, “ What do we do now ?

- Mmh…”

Wallace began to think, what could they do…

An idea suddenly crossed his mind like a light flash.

“ - Well, i got an idea…”

“ - Hey Lucas, so about the next time we’re going to record…”

Lucas' manager got on the spot where he saw him some minutes ago, with that one dark haired guy he brang as a guest… And he wasn’t there ??

The manager looked around him, where is he hiding ??

When he suddenly saw him… He was running away with this guy ??

At the last instant they were in his field of vision, they were holding hands, and laughing loud enough to be heard from a surprisingly large distance.

“ - Get in quickly, or you’re going to get a cold !!”

They both got into Wallace’s house, absolutely soaked and wet, but in euphoric laughter after this hell of a race.

They both sat on the cheap mattress on the floor, trying to regain their breath and calm down.

“ - Woaw, your place is… Really… Chill..

- Thank you !!”

After they finally settled down, Wallace and Lucas both looked at each other, not gazing at any moment anywhere other than each other’s faces.

“ - So…

- Yeah ?”

Lucas fixed his hair, he never met a man that made him act this awkward, and also this emotional. Though, he had a really good new…

“ - Wallace, you see about the discussion we had recently… I finally found a psychologist that could help me.

- THAT’S WONDERFUL, MAN !!”

We could see excitement on Lucas’ and Wallace’s faces, both full of positive energy, as they exchanged a cheerful high five !

“- Woah man, what a day…

- Mmh… Lucas ?

- Yuh ?”

Wallace rubbed his eyes as he yawned, still cooling down from running under the rain.

“ - My man, you’re clearly a professional actor, you really got all the lights on you !! Everyone noticed you, you were the center of attention !!”

Lucas, hearing this, got frankly confused, everyone

noticed him ?? Everyone, even…

“ - So, i was impressing everyone there ??

- Yeah, everyone.”

Lucas felt his brain doing backflips, rolling and smashing itself everywhere in his head, and his heart was burning more than ever.. What if…

“ - Impressing everyone…

Even you ?”

A heavy silence settled in all the house by this sentence only.

Wallace's eyes were WIDE open, and Lucas was at a level of embarrassment so strong sweat flowed on his face like a waterfall, he felt HOPELESS…

But, after this silent moment that felt like decades… Wallace bursted out of laughter, at Lucas’ BIGGEST panic.

“ - THAT’S NOT FUNNY, if i was you i wouldn’t even dare to make fun of me like that…” 

Lucas was so confused, so anxious, what could he even do ???..

Wallace calmed down… He fixed Lucas’ eyes, so deeply it felt like he was staring at his soul, looking as delighted as ever.

Lucas' panic was cut short, leaving him speechless, his eyes shining brighter than stars.

“ - I am impressed, Lucas.”

Lucas was breath taken.

“ - You…”

Lucas couldn’t even finish his sentence.

Wallace got close enough to his face, giving two seconds for Lucas to realize how pretty this man was.

The second Wallace’s soft lips laid on his, Lucas felt all of his stress evaporate, like steam coming from the ocean, his stress being the water, and Wallace being the shining sun.

Lucas couldn’t believe what was happening, he was overjoyed by the moment. He wrapped his massive arms around Wallace, who felt maybe squeezed a little too tight, even choking a tiny tiny tinnyyyyy little bit.. But he didn’t complain at all. Either way, Wallace, even with the large love experience he got… Never felt that way when kissing someone.

As they were making out, they both felt little lights around them, making this moment even more special… Sparks.

When they finally left each other's faces… They couldn’t let their eyes quit each other, it was THAT SPECIAL of a moment. 

A special moment that NOTHING and NO ONE could st-

“ - AAAAEEEEUUUUGGHH ??!! LUCAS LEE ???!!!”

Scott just entered the place, and Lucas Lee, THE famous guy who tried to get rid of him, was just sitting here, in his shared bed ?? With his roommate ???! The last time Scott got jumpscared this hard was when Neil made him play the Scary maze prank... 

“ - WHAT IS HE DOING HE-”

“ - DUDE, dude, calm down, everything is okay.

No hard feelings between us anymore, ‘kay ?”

Both Wallace and Lucas giggled, amused by Scott’s reaction, still holding each other really tight.

“ - UUUUHH ?? WHAT ???!”

“ - Okay boys,” cackled Wallace, “what about we take a drink and talk about, you know, all of this ?”

Lucas, who couldn’t agree less, nodded with great pleasure.

Yeah, both Wallace and Lucas were truly euphoric together, and nobody could ruin that.

Author note : YAYYY IT'S FINALLY FINISHED LET'S GOOO !! THANK YOU FOR READING !!!! This is my very first totally complete fanfiction and i'm really proud about it :>>> THANKS SO MUCH to the people who stayed here till the end <3<3

[brasideios]

WIP Game: A Story Set in Sparta and Eukleidas, please!

Happy to oblige 😊

Eukleidas, also subtitled The Wrestler, is little more than the first stirrings of a new story, a couple pages long atm.

It begins:

The thunder rolled across the sky, reverberating and amplified in the colonnade overlooking the palaestra. Eukleidas paused on his path towards the wooden archway which led out onto the Hyakinthian Way, almost bewitched by the sudden intensity of the downpour; his ears crowded with the muted hammering of rain against roof tiles, the air filled with the heady scent of rain hitting dry ground, parched after the long dry of summer. He was carrying a faded red chiton and he began to absently wipe away the copious sweat from his shoulders and face, reddened by the just-won bout of wrestling, and saw blood come away from his ear. He dabbed at it again, but as usual, it bled for only a moment. His ears had been damaged so many times, it was almost as though they’d given up trying to contain blood.

A Story Set in Sparta is an accumulation of scenes that I've felt compelled to write over the last few years about Brasidas' life before the beginning of the war, and is focused on him, his foster brother Adimantos, and his first wife, Nikaia. I don't know if it will ever be finished; I tinker with it now and then, and think about it a lot.

Anyway - this is how they meet:

Nikaia was so lost in thought that she wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around her; and the next thing she knew, she was sprawled in the dust with an older boy, a shooting pain in her head where it'd hit the ground, and both knees stinging, no doubt skinned on the stony road surface. She pushed him off, close to tears, but determined not to cry. As she scrambled back to her feet, she snapped, Look where you’re going!  He’d picked himself up, and turned to face her. You look where you’re going!  From the same direction, another boy appeared, taller and more angular in his features. He was holding a fabric bag, filled with what may have been bread, or perhaps vegetables of some kind. He saw her looking and tucked it behind his back. He hissed with great urgency, Brasidas! We have to go! Brasidas. She would remember that. Erata had hurried up. Are you alright, Nikaia?  Brasidas looked from the other boy, to her. He said with a suddenly disarming and entirely charming smile, I apologise for knocking you down, Nikaia.  Then he was gone, his bare feet flying as he and his friend ducked away; a moment later an older boy, perhaps a new hebonte, came around the corner while Erata was still examining the lump on her head. Did two boys run this way? He asked brusquely.  No, Nikaia said promptly. I think I saw them run down that alleyway. She pointed back the way he'd come, to a place where the road led into one of the side streets of Pitana. Thank you, he said, nodding, and turning back.  When he was gone, Erata stood and looked at her strangely. Why did you lie? Nikaia shrugged guiltily. He didn’t mean to knock me down… she paused a moment before adding, and I feel sorry for the boys. They always look so hungry. They turned back towards home, Nikaia walking carefully, wincing at each step. Erata didn't say so, but she thought that this was the first time she had seen her young charge act selflessly, truly kindly. She knew no Spartan should think that way - the boys were meant to suffer, it was what made them warriors; but to her, it had always looked like cruelty - cruelty that had destroyed her life.