#anyways it’s chill i’m chill. i’m very normal about my little stories and their musical inspirations!

[celestial-toys]

been laying here listening to Lucky by Dermot Kennedy on loop for half an hour while thinking about Everything Stays and crying

[theworldwalkerswols]

Alt text: Please note repeated tags and numbered tweets indicating thread progression have been omitted. 

Twitter thread by user G’raha Tia @/graha_tia on Jan 1, 2022

RADZ-AT-HAN SCENE ANALYSIS: G'RAHA TAKES CHARGE (and makes the fans collapse into a collective sobbing heap) 

G'raha's flight, fight, or freeze response is 'Assume Full Command and Take Charge of the Situation' and I think it's the most amazing thing.

The guy is surrounded by people who are literally exploding into horrifying, rampaging monsters & the leader of those people was just devoured alive in front of him, and he kicks into high gear & gains control of everybody in under twenty seconds.

It shows his leadership experience as the Exarch, and how many crises and horrors he must have endured throughout his time during the 8th Umbral Calamity and the Flood of Light on the First. Everything about the scene is so perfectly done, too.

G'raha doesn't just pull out his weapon and start screaming orders - he positions himself in the middle of the space so everyone can have a clear line of sight to him, and he to them. This not only makes it easier for everyone visually, but places him at a vulnerable yet defendable point of reference - everyone (including the Blasphemies) can get to him with relative ease and he, as both a healer and combatant, can get to them quickly if needed. He straightens his posture, pulls back his shoulders, tucks his chin a little, and starts speaking slowly from his chest and diaphragm-which drops his pitch half an octave, adding bass & power, and makes his voice carry without much effort and with absolute clarity over the shrieks of the Blasphemies and the sounds of fighting. 

His commands are simple & concise, which is vastly different from his normal talkative demeanor & shows his familiarity with similar situations - after all, it's hard for people in crisis mode to listen & process anything complicated. He's able to break things down to short, digestable phrases: "defend this point", "run here for safety", "REMAIN CALM," and makes it very easy for people both panicking & fighting for their lives to understand & follow.

He has such a strong presence that everyone around just instinctively listens - not a single person questions his authority or decisions, despite most of them having no clue who he is. He establishes himself immediately as a steady rock in the middle of the (almost literal) storm, and even the people who don't know him can feel his reliability & gravitate towards it. The entire scene is just absolutely perfect to me, from the animation & cinematography, to the superb voice acting, to the music and sound design (the cries of the Blasphemies [were] positively bone chilling)... Phenomenal, and one of my favorites from the expansion, not only because it's G'raha. 

A visceral, horrifying experience that compounded & solidified the dire nature of the situation into players' minds, and started a long chain of even more terrifying scenes of tragedy (because objectively the Palaka's Stand arc was one of the most distressing). 

But despite the fear & dread the story always reminded us that even the darkest moments had light. 

Whether it was G'raha standing tall in Radz-At-Han, the WoL & twins fighting their way to Palaka's Stand, or even dear Matsya & the teachings of his faith--it was a constant, well-executed reminder to keep the hope. 

Anyways thanks for coming to my TED talk! 

I'm so happy to have experienced such a phenomenal, thought-provoking, heartfelt story and honestly have much more to say about everything, but perhaps that'll be for another time. <3

Attached at the end of the thread is a meme image of a man sitting at a table on a campus. The sign on the table reads “ENDWALKER IS THE BEST YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MIND”

alt text end.

--

This thread perfectly encapsulates why this moment was so powerful! It also is so COMPLICATED, character wise, because just before he takes charge, he sighs and it sounds distorted to me, like the voices of those who are beginning to succumb.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 65

Chapter 65: “The Secret Garden”

I'm so used to seeing GP in black & white because of how often I read through the upcoming chapters, so whenever I do see artwork of Emma and her time here at the hunting ground I’m literally blown away by all the bright colors. 

Back during ch61, Yuugo realized that Emma is the one who decides the plan based on Ray’s knowledge and though I did comment about how that dynamic works really well for them, I also brought up how both kids can function just fine on their own. The reason for that is because they pick up the other’s main role during their time apart. Without Ray, we see how Emma has slowed down and started to analyze her situation (at least it seems more clear to me now anyways).

Emma has always been praised as the more physically fit one out of the fullscore trio (and probably all the GF kids), so the fact that Violet is able to shake her off and get Emma lose sight of her for a little bit is kinda impressive.

The way they have him reaching outside of the panel for her is pretty neat. Really stresses how desperate he was trying to save her.

Thank you geezer for saving my boy but you’re lucky you didn’t break his damn back with that slam.

I have an endless list of reasons why I wanted to see these arcs animated but add Ray’s rage to it too. All that anger, desperation and panic in his voice.. I wanna hear it so badly. It would be such a switch up from the usual calm and collected boy we’re used to.

All the times I skim through these chapters, why am I only remembering now that Yuugo & his family didn’t journey to A08-63 right away? I guess they weren’t too bothered with WM’s instructions with trying to change the world, but aahh, now I wish we could’ve seen more of those couple months of them just chilling out in the bunker.

Oh huzzah, now you wanna be nice. Emma’s little speech warmed up your lonely heart a bit huh?

Here we start to see the role reversal thing with Ray now making final decisions. Sure it leans on his vow from ch38 of protecting his family, but him choosing to go after Emma despite all the things Yuugo just told him about the poachers and the hunting ground is something he doesn’t need to think twice about. It’s a reckless move but hey, that’s exactly how Emma usually functions.

How did Violet know she had the pen? Did she randomly dig around Emma’s pockets looking for it? And she must’ve had her own normal pen on hand to right this message considering the WM pens don’t have any ink, yeah? And Emma slept through all this happening? I’m strangely baffled by it all.

What would have the scary GP music sounded like?? Aahh no doubt that Obata would’ve definitely nailed the chilling yet anxiety filled atmosphere of this place. I forget when or where I tossed out this thought of mine, but I still think it would’ve been pretty bittersweet if it was a very rushed/distorted version of Leslie’s song. Sweet because we’d hear that iconic melody again but bitter because ooohh just imagine what the demons could’ve done to that poor lad to get that song.

Favorite panel/moment:

The absolute fury on Ray’s face lives rent free in my head.. like I have flipped through this story on countless occasions and I have a hard time picking out another moment where we see Ray get this insanely hell-bent on anything. He is just so incredibly pissed off at Yuugo’s schemes but also at himself for not being quick enough to grab Emma. This also contributes to him now calling the shots because no matter what Yuugo tells him, Ray’s beyond adamant in saving Emma no matter the danger to himself.

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Monkie kid SEASON 3 EP 8 (reaction) 

I start out completely chill, I write down what episode I’m gonna watch, and then the adrenaline hits WOOOOOOOO *WHEEZING SOUNDS* 

ALRIGHT, EP 8. I’M TOLD THIS IS A TANG ONE, AND ALSO THE MONKEY KING IN A HOODIE EPISODE SO I’M SO *DANCES DANCES* EXCITED GIMME THE MONKEY AND THE NERD WHO’S PROBABLY MORE THAN JUST SOME RANDOM GUY HERE WE GOOOOOOO 

Gotta hype myself up heck BG;LKAMF;OAWEJF HERE WE GO 

FOR WUKONG IN A HOOODIEEEEEEEE 

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT STARTED AAA SHOW MAKES ME SO HPPYGBSDF;LKAMWEF

INTRO GO BRRR AS ALWAYS SEROTONIN 

THE POOR BIRB 

IT LOOKS OS ANNOYED 

AW PIGSY SLEEPING

AW

AW

HELLO?? 

MK DRAWINGBGLSDA;KFMAWE I’M SOBBING 

MK REALLY DRAWING EVERYBODY BUT TANG I’M SOBBING AT ALL OF THESE LITTLE DOODLES RIGHT NOW I WANT TO CUT THEM OUT AND HANG THEM ON MY WALL 

THERE’S ONE OF HIM PUNCHING LBD 

THEM ALL COMPLIMENTING MK ON HIS DRAWINGS

THE CRAYON ON HIS FACE 

SISCORS THORUGH TANGS PICTURE I’M WHGBSLD;KFMA;GHAIOW;EMN;OHO;IAWM;AWEF

SIR??? 

SIR??????? 

NOOOOO

TANGGGG

BUDDYYYYYY 

I’M SORRY TANG YOU REALLY ARE JUST A NORMAL JOE RN 

LOOK EVEN IF YOU WERE THE COOLEST MORTAL ALIVE YOU STAND NEXT TO MONKIE KING AND UH UR NOT VERY COOL BGKDM;GHOAIMFWOE 

HE LOOKS SO SAD THOOOO 

PLS THAT’S THE DUDE HE VIEWS KINDA AS A SON TELLING HIM HE AIN’T COOL 

“But… I’m like the coolest guy you know…” I’M GONNA CRY??? TANG??? THE WAY HE SAID THAT??? SOBBING???? HE LOOKS SO SAD

AND THE MUSIC WHEN HE SAID THAT?? 

OH MY GODS THIS IS A TANG EPISODE I’M GONNA START SOBBING 

KAI SAND ACCUSING ME OF TANG SLANDER ON VC AND HE’S RIGHT 

ANYWAY CLEARLY WE’RE GONNA GET SOME TANG LORE HERE ABOUT THE POWERS WE’VE SUSPECTED HE’S HAD SINCE SES 2, I’LL BET WE’RE RIGHT WITH HOW THIS IS BUI9LDING UP 

OHHH

OHH IT’S SO PRETTYYYY 

HI 

MONKEY KING’S STUPID SMILEIGNSDBF;LAMOEF 

 SQUASHED IN A TRIANGBSAL;DKFM;AOWEF 

HE’S GOT THTE HOODIE

EVREYTHING IN MY LIFE HAS BEEN WORTH IT OR THIS MOMENBT

OH WOWOWOWOWOW THE AMOUNT OF TIME AND EFFORT THE CREW PUT INTO MAKING THIS TOWN PRETTY LOOK AT ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE DESIGNS EVERHTING IS SO PRETYYYYY 

LAST RING RIGHT 

THEY JUST DITCHED TANGBGL;SDKAFMAWE LEAVING WITHOUT HIM NOT EVEN LISTNEING BGLK;SDFMAWE

THE WAY THAT MONKEY KING IS HIDING IN HIS HOOD LIKE HE’S TRYING TO BE UNDERCOVER HERE IS SO FUNNY TO ME BGL;SAKM;OWEF 

TANG FINGERLESS GLVOES REAL 

HE TREW THE RING

HE JUST THREW IT

THAT IS MONKEY KING RIGHT THERE, NO THOUGHT HEAD EMPTY YEET, HE’S DOING INCREDIBLE 

HE’S BEAUTIUFL

PIGSY’S JACKET 

PIGSY’S JACKET

SHAKES COMPUTER

ITS  HIS JACKET Y’AL;L THE JACKET I’VE BEEN DRAWING HIM IN SINCE SEASON ONE I’M SOBBING HE LOOKS SO GOOD IN IT LOVE THIS FOR THE PIG MAN I’M HOLDING HIM SO FREAKING GENTLY AND SOBBINGASB;LMG;AWE 

HAHA RETURN OF THE SHOE STORE GUY 

THE

FR

THE NERVOUS LAUGHTER AS HE SLOWLY BACKS AWAY 

HEY TO BE FAIR THEY DON’T KNOW IT’S A RING OF THE FIRE OF SAMADHI THEY JUST THINK IT’S SOME LIGHT

ALSO THE THING ABUT THEM KNOWING IT WAS MONKEY KING IS KILLING ME THEY REALLY ARE JUST “PRAISE TO MONKEY KING FOR HYPING UP OUR DESOLATE LAND TO A BEAUTIFUL PLACE” 

Monkey king, who was just trying to hide something: AHA, YES, THAT’S UH… EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TRYIGN TO DO— 

oh gosh they’re gonna have to steal this city’s source of lightbGL;KAM;OWEF 

THE RING’S LITERALLY PASTED ON EVERYTHING AS A LOGO I’M CRYING 

THEMS GLASSES 

LAUGHING

LAUGHING AT ALL THE M\ERCH

THEY BOUGHT EVERYTHING IN THE SOTRE GL;DSKMF;AOGHE

TANG AND MK WITH MONKEY KING PLUSHES

PIGSY WITH A BALLOON

I’M YELLING I WANT TO APPRECIATE ALL OF THE MERCH SO BAD THEY’RE ALL SO LOVELY

MK’S COLOURS MATCH EVERYTHING HE IS BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HIM 

EVERYONE WITH PINS N STUFF 

THE WAY THAT MONKEY KING HAS STICKERS AND PINS PLASTERED ALL OVER HIM 

I’M CRYINGGFLKMAWE

THIS IS SO FUNNY TO ME THE WAY TANG KEEPS GETTING CUT OFF I LOV EHIM BUT HE DOES THIS TO PEOPLE ALL THE TIME TO TELL THE STORY BG;SLADFMAOWE IT SUCKS BUT PLS BGLSKDMFAWOE 

HE’S SO ANNOYED BGKSDMFAW;O 

“super well hidden” SUREEEE 

“It’s 2+2 bud” 

“and 2 +2 is THREE” 

I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOUR

MK ON WUKONG’S SHOULDERS

I’M YELLINGBGLKAMF;OGAH;IOAWMEFAWE

PARALLELS 

THE FACT SWK’S JUMPED ONTO MK’S SHOULDERS AND MK ON WUKONG’S NOW 

I LOVE THEM ALL OS MUCH LOOK AT THIS FAMILY I ADORE THEM 

TANG LOOKS SO DISGRUNTLED 

Not over the fact that like, everyone has something, and Tang’s thing has always been information, Mk asking him things about Jttw and him being the only one who could answer and taking joy in telling stories, but now… :| *pat pat* 

PIGSY FACEPALMING 

I LOVE THEM SM CRYING BGLK;SDMFAOWE 

THE FACT THAT WUKONG STILL CALLS SANDY BLUE THING 

WBG;JLKSDMF;OHG;OIAWMFAWE MK mK PLS 

“Cant’ read?” HE LOOKS SO SAD AND UNDERSTANDING WHEN HE SAYS IT LIKE *pat pat* I’M CRYINGBG GSLA;FMAWE

STAGE FRIGHTIGNBG;LAFIMWE

THIS IS SO FUNNY CAUSE LIKE WE KNOW HE CAN READ PLEASE 

y’know what would be interesting actually is if like he just didn’t bother to learn the way the dialogue changed over the last couple hundred years, I don’t know if it’s changed that much but like, spellings and words and language changes over the years so that would be interesting 

Anyway tho Monkey King can at least read the dialect of his time, how else would he scratch out the names of his monkey buds from the book of the dead? he’s smart this dude THINKING TOO HARD ABOUT THIS I JUST THINK HE’S NEAT ANWAY—

I genuinely think he just kinda like, wanted Sandy to feel more included ngl BGKSDMFOWEF YEAH I’M THINKING TOO HARD ABOUT THIS WE’RE MOVING ON GB;LSDKFMA;OWE 

SANDY WITH GLASSES THAT’S EVERYTHING TO ME BGLSDFM;OHWO;IEFM 

A TALENT SHOW FOR THE RING??? BGKAMFOEW 

MK: BUT NONE OF US HAVE ANY TALENTS

HE REALLY JUST DISSED ALL OF THEM 

PIGSY HAS COOKING 

PLS

MK 

MEI CAN RACE

I’M CRYINGBGL;KSADMFAOWEF 

 WAIT WAIT WAIT

PIGYS

IS THIS THE

FROM THE TRAILER 

THE THING WITH PIGSY SINGING THIS IS GB;LSAFGN;AOGHOEJFAHG;OIAWEJG;OIG;OIAF;MOAWE

IT WAS FOR THE TALENT SHOW IT WAS FOR THE TALENT I’M CRYINGGBL;KFGMA;WOIAHNGO;IAEWF 

IT’S THE THING WE’RE GONNA SEE PIGSY SINGING I’M SO FREAKING EXCITEDGBF;LKMA;OGBAWOE F

THE WAY PIGSY JUST RESORTS TO CHOKING SANDY OUT TO PREVENT HIM FROM SHARINGBGLSFMAG;OIAWFEM

PLS I WANNA HEAR HIM SING PLS I’M SO EXCITED I’M GONNA CRYINGNFLKAWEF

I’M GONNA CRYHGLSAFMAOWE

HE CAN SING, SANDY HYPING HIM UP I’M GONNA CRYYYYYY BGLSKDAFMA;G;OIAWMFE 

THE MK STANDING THERE WITH HIS HAND ON PIGSY’S SHOULDER PLEASE I’M GONNA CRY BGLS;DKFM;AOWEF 

I’M NOT OVER THE FACT THAT MK DISHED OUT INTERMENTS WITHOUT BOTHERING TO ASK IF ANY OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY ABLE TO PLAY BGGBSLDKFMAGHAO;IWEFM 

SANDY ASSIGNED BASS MAN BGL;SDAMFAWOEF 

OHM DOES HE REALLY HAVE STANGE FRIGHT??? PLS?? WUKONG??? WUKONG PLEASE I’M GONNA START SOBBING MY GUY PLEASE BG;LSKMF;OAWEF 

FR 

HE’S FR 

“Remember when I said that whole stage fright thing as a joke?” 

“wasn’t  a joke.”

“Not even a little bit” 

THE FACT HE FEELS COOL ENOUGH TO TELL MK THIS 

THIS IS THE MOST COMMUNICATION WE’VE HAD FROM THIS MONKEY THE ENTIRE SHOW I’M SCREAMINGBGLSAFMAWE;OF 

ALSO THE FACT HIS STAGE FRIGHT IS BAD ENOUGH HE DOESN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE READING OUT LOUD IN FRONT OF PEOPLE IS GETTING TO ME I’M GONNA CRY  

HE’S SO BEAUTIFUL 

HE’S SO SINCERE ABOUT IT TOO I’M CRYING HIS FACE PLEASE MONKEY KING I’M LOSING IT BGLKSMA;OWIEFM  PLS SUPPORT THIS MONKEY 

SUN WUKONG GREAT SAGE EQUAL TO HEAVEN, CAN WALK INTO A BATTLEFIELD AND LEAD AN ARMY WITH ALL OF THE CELESTIAL REALM BEARING DOWN ON HIM AND WATCHING AS HE FIGHTS AND WINS

AND YOU HAND HIM A BOOK AND ASK HIM TO READ OUT LOUD AND HE IS P A N I C 

HE’S SO VALID AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 

“I CAN WORK WITH THIS” 

WBGL;KSDMF;AIONBOA;IGAHG;OIMFWAOEF PLEEASSEEEEEEE 

MK THAT DOESN’T CURE THE STAGE FRIGHT HE STILL HAS TO WALK OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING WITH YOU GUYS 

BGLASKFMAWOEFAW PLEASE I’MCRYINGBFKLAWMEF

HIS RESPONCE THOOOO

“wonderful.” I’M WBNG;DLSAFMG;OAGH;OIAWGMO;IWAJFOAWJFMAWE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 

YEAH TANG’S NOT GETTING A THING IS HE

I’M GONNA CRY PLEASEBG;SKFM;OAWEF

THE GBG;LASKDMFWOE THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO MEI 

this whole episode jsut feels like Tang getting stuff that he’s done to other people getting done to him at this point, the interrupting thing, the getting hyped up about something only to have it be… not what you thought or not you at all. I dunno i just find that kinda interesting UR DOING GREAT TANG UR IMPORTANT KEEP IT UP 

BAND MAMANGER CALLED IT

BENCING ME ]

“hm, pretty much” MK PLEASE BGLSDKAFM;AOWEF 

TANG’S BEEN ON THE SIDLINES FOR QUITE A FEW EPISODES ACTUALLY GBS;LFKMAWOEF 

OH IT’S THE STUPID MONKEY 

WITH HIS STUPID LEANIGN AGAINST THE RAFTERS, WITH HIS STUPID FACE AND HIS STUPID CAPE I’M SMACKING HIM WIHT A PILLOW THROWINGHIM OFF A CLIFF, SHOVING HIM INTO A REDMETION ARCH AND DIRECTLY INTO THERAPY GB;LJKDAFM;OAWEGHOAWGE 

OHHHHHKAY 

OHHOHOHOHOHOHO OKAY 

SEE THAT 

HE FOUND OUT WHAT THEY WERE USING

AND NOW HE’S LIKE “AH. SO YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY STAND A CHANCE HUH” 

“We’ll see about that” 

HOOOO BOY 

HOO BOY I’M FINE 

SO, MISTER SELF-INTEREST, WHAT’S THE WINNING SIDE NOW HUH?? 

UNCLEAR IF HE WAS RESPONDING TO THE CREW OR LBD WHEN HE SAID THAT 

ALSO MAC IS SO SCREWED SOMETHIGN’S HAPPENING TO HIM HE’S GONNA TRY AND DO SOMETHIGN STUPID AND GET SNIPED BY LBD I KNOW IT I’M GONNA LOSE MY MIND BG;LSADFM;AWOHG;OAWE 

SHAKES HIM 

OH ME GOODNESSS 

MONKIE KID AND THE MONKIE KIDSSSSS PLS 

“whoah whoah whoah i thought we were gonna discuss band names���“ I’M CRYINGBGL;AMFAOWEFHGOAWEF 

I’M SO EXCITED PLEEASSEEEE 

ONE TWO THREE FOUR

OH WOW

HI

HEY

WHOAH HEY WAIT 

HOLD UP 

SANDY’S OUTFIT IS THE BEST, MAN LOOKS FANTASTIC

MONHKEY KING LOOKING LIKE HE’D RATHER HAVE DIED BY LBD’S HAND THAN BE THERE SADLK;FMA;OG;OAIWFM 

MONKEY KING LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE HE’S GONNA PASS OUT GBSDLKFMA;BAWIOFGMAWO;FWA 

PIGSY LOOKS FLY TOO THO, HE’S ROCKING THAT GREEN BLUE COLOUR AND THE GOLD 

THE CAT BASS FOR SANDY YEAH IT’S SO GOOD 

AS AN MK KINNIE IT BRINGS ME JOY THAT HE’S ON THE DRUMS PLS BGL;SAMF;OAGHWAE 

JIN AND YIN?????

OKAY I WAS NOT EXCPECTING THEM TO SHOW UP STRAIGHT UP THIS WSA A SUPRRISE I’M GBL;AFKMAW;OFE 

THE GREATEST THEATRE TECNICTIONS 

OH NO 

IT’S SHEEEEE

ITS’ THEIR ACCOUNTANT 

WAIT TANG 

“no one benches Mr.Tang” HE SOUNDS SO SAD

TANG, I KNOW THEY’VE STOLEN THINGS EVERY OTHER EPISODE BUT PLS, LETS SUPPORT THEIR MORALLY SOUND ACTIONS FOR ONCE AND IW ANNA HEAR PIGSY SING HECK UUUUU 

Tang really having a crisis 

OH MY GODS THE MUSIC

SONGS

I’M GONNA SCREAM I’M NOT READY FOR THIS 

CHARACTERS SINGING DANCING AND PLAYING INTERUMENTS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS IN THE WORLD AND I’M BEING HANDED IT RIGHT NOW I’M GONNA START SOBBING

IT’S SUCH A BOP I’M GONNA START CRYING 

LOOK AT TANG GO 

 I LOVE THE FACT IT’S ACTION MUSIC SUITING HIS RUNNING ACROSS ROOFTOPS 

BUDDY???? 

TANG????? 

TANG????? BUDDY???? 

MY GUY??? 

MY DUDE????? 

TANG PLEASE 

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON— BGLK;SADMFA;OGHAO;IWE 

EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THIS SHOW HAS ABANDMENT ISSUES I SWEAR 

TANG WANTING TO BE USEFUL AND FOR OTHERS TO SEE HIM AS USEFUL I’M MENTALLY ILL RIGHT NOW I’M GONNA START CRYING ABOUT THIS SIR 

IT’S THE FACT HE JUST CHILLS AROUND THE NOODLE SHOP, ASKS FOR FREE NOODLES BUT THIS MAN JUST WANTS TO BE SEEN AS USEFUL AND AHVE PEOPEL COME TO HIM AND ASK HIM FOR STUFF, SPICIFICALLY EVEN MK COME TO HIM FOR STUFF AND THE WAY HE’S ALWAYS OS HAPPY TO EXPLAIN STUFF ABOUT JTTW (because it’s one of his favourite things) AND CAUSE IT’S HIS THING, A THING HE CAN DO, SOMETHING THE OTHERS LISTEN TO AND VALUE HIM FOR AND WITHOUT IT—

SHUT UP I’M FINE 

TANG UR NOT MAKIGN IT THE NOODLEBG;LSMAWE

GOOD GOSH TANG 

TANG HOW DID YOU NOT DIE 

“I’m alive!!!!” SOMWHO 

THE FACT MACAQUE WAS WATCHIGN THE WHOLE THING BGSD;LKFMAGB;AOIWFMAWEF HE FOLLOWED TANG IS WHAT’S GETTING TO ME 

STILL HYPED UP ON SHADOW ANIMATION AREN’T YA FLYING BARK BG;LSDAMF;OAWEF 

STANDING ON THE WALL 

SIR??? 

EXCUSE ME?? 

TOUCHY MUCH?? 

THE GLASSES THING?? 

UM HANDS OFF THE MAN MAC MAC N CHEESE 

WHY DOES HE KEEP TOUCHING PEOPLEGBS;LKAM;AWEOF

HE’S SO FREAKING TOUCHSTARVED 

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE I DON’T FEEL AS LIKE, ALARM BELLS WHEN HE MAKES PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH TANG THAN I DO WHEN HE MAKES CONTACT WITH MK 

PROBBALY BECAUSE THE GASLIGHTING IS LESS :T 

 TANG?? 

WHOAH BUD HE TOOK NONE OF THAT 

THAT WOULD’VE LIKE, SHAKEN MK RIGHT OFF THE BAT 

TANG LIKE, SHOVES HIS ARM OFF AND RUNS 

CAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT MACAQUE IS AND WHAT’ HE’S BEEN DOING 

HOLY CRAP TANG 

I’M 

I’M PROCESSING THIS HE’S 

TANG??? 

BUDDY??? 

DID YOU JUST KICK THE MAN???

R U D E 

TANG’S TRYING REALLY HARD Y’ALL HE IS ALMOST DESPERATE TO DO THIS I’M 

MACAQUE?? 

HOW??? 

WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN 

HOW THE HECK WOULD HTAT HELP YOU?? 

Macaque is one of those people on tumblr with zero reading compression, man really saw the first shiny thing the crew was going after and went “WELL IF THEY THINK IT’S IMPORTANT IT’LL PROBABLY HELP ME” 

WOW THO SOME OPENESS THERE TOO THIS EPS WHACK 

HE’S SO STUPID 

HE’S SO STUPID HE ’S SO SUPTID HE’S SO STUPID 

“I’m an expert—“ SHUT UP YOU HAVE ZERO BRAINCELLS YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU HAVE PROVED TIME AND TIME AGAIN YOU AHVE ZERO SELF AWARENESS YOU’RE DUMB BEYOND BELIEF AND WORDS I’M BG;LSDAFMOAWE IT’S NOT EVEN ABOUT WUKONG, IT’S NOT EVEN ABOUT THE MONKEY, MK’S THE ONE WHO TOLD TANG TO SIT DOWN AND MACAQUE IS STILL “blah blah blah blah WUKONG WUKONG WUKONG” WOW THERE MAC WOW 

BOHT TANG AND MK TRYING TO GET MACAQUE TO HELP AND JOIN THE GROUP THO EVEN IF HE’S CHASING AND HURTING THEM HHHHHHHHHH (guess i know where Mk gets that part) 

holding Tang gently 

ALSO MACAQUE BEING LIKE “DON’T GET CLOSE TO PEOPLE, SPICIFICALLY DON’T GET CLOSE TO MONKEY KING” IS SO FUNNY TO ME HE’S TRUAMATIZED AND STUPID YOUR HONOUR 

“look out for number one, because if you don’t, no one will” WOW I SURE DO WRITE HIM CORRECTLY I GUESS, I’M WHEEZING I HATE HIM AND LOVE HIM HIM GO GET THERAPY YOU IDIOT 

MAN 

TANG

HOLDING HIM SO GENTLY 

AW HE SAVED THE PICTURE

HE SAVED THE PICTURE I’M GONNA CRY 

TANG

BUDDY

I’M GONNA CRY 

UM 

THE WAY THE PICTURE GOES OVER TO MACAQUE

I’M GONNA CRY?? 

HE LOOKS RIGHT AT IT 

CATCHES IT 

TANG 

I LOVE TANG SO MUCH RN PLS 

SHAKING HIM 

THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WANTING FOR HIS CHARACTER YES YES YE SYES YES YES YES YESYYEYSYEYSYEESYYESYESYSEYSEYESESYSEYSEYES

CAN ALWAYS DEPEND ON FRIENDS I’M CRYING

OH HECK PIGSY SINGING

NOT READY NOT REDAD\GHAEG;AGH;OIWQFMHAW;OEIGM;OAWO;IFM 

COME ONNNNNN

PIGSYYYYY 

ARE YOU KIDDING YES I’M SCREAMING THE SOUND 

PIGSY SINGIGNG FOR REAL

I’M GONNA SCREAM THIS IS EVERYTHIGN TO ME 

OH 

OH HI 

HEY 

MACAQUE GETTING HIT 

WITH THE SOUND

THAT LOOKS LIKE HE WAS GETTING HIT WITH THE SOUND 

HELLO????????????? 

HELLO>???? 

I’M GONNA?? HEY?? 

HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HYE 

REFERENCE TO MAC’S SUPER HEARING SIX EARS I’M YELLING SHAKING HIM THROWING HIM OUT THE WINDOW /POS 

the 

THE FACT

THAT 

Macaque: i’m gonna steal this ring 

Macaque, four seconds later: never mind i’d rather punch the sad man again 

THE FACT THAT HE REALLY JUST DID THAT, HEARD TANG TALKING ABOUT HIS FAM LIKE THAT AND JUST GOT MAD, AND ALSO POSSIBLY GOT HURT BY THE SOUND SO ATTACK MODE ON WHO THE HECK KNOWS HE’S STUPID UR HONOUR DEAR GOSH 

BUBBLE 

“no regrets” 

I’M CRYING?? 

DARN RIGHT PIGSY’S SINGING DESERVES THIS I’M GONNA START SOBBING

THE MUSIC OF THIS EPSOIDEO IS SO FREAKING GOOD I’M SCREAMING 

HELLO TANG BPOWERS

WE DONE BEEN KNEW

THT’S RIGHT SUCER 

WE KNEW

OHHHH

HEY MAC 

RIP 

THE MIC DROP 

THE BGSL;DKFMAOWE PIGSY’S SO FREAKING COOL YOU GUYS HE COOKES HE SINGS, HE’S DAD, HE’S LOVELY 

HE DID IT!!!!!!!!!! MONKEY DID IT, SUN WUKONG FOR THE WIN, BIGGEST WIN OF THIS EPISODE FR /HJ 

THE AFFECTIONATE BENCHWARMER

Y’SEE PIGSY NEVER DOUBTS HIM HE KNOWS HE’S CAPABLE 

I’M CRYING 

TANGS HYSTERICAL LAUGH I’M NOT OVER THIS I’M GONNA SCREAM BGS;ALKFMAWOEF 

YUP AND THEY’RE GONE 

AND INTENSE VIBE NOW 

OH 

OH 

OH BOY HERE’S WHY HE’S NOT AFTER THEM YET

LIGHT N SHADOWS DON’T MIX AMMIRITE?? HAHAHAHAH AH 

ohhhh

oHHHH BOY

UR IN TROUBLE 

HE’S IN TROUBLE 

AH YUP 

CALLED IT 

H’ES IN TROUBLE 

A

A

UH

UH

UH

H

H

HO

HOOO

UH

UH

UH

UH

UH

UH

UH

OKAY

I’VE UH

BEEN SITTING HERE FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES 

UM 

WHAT

THE

WHAT

EXCUSE ME 

EXCUSE ME 

UM

RIGHT

YEAH

SO THAT

WHOLE SCENE

HI

SHE CAN REACH HIM FROM THERE 

WOW

THAT’S UH 

THAT’S A LOT TO UNPACK 

UM 

WOW

HE’S FREAKING DESPERATE 

THE WAY HE’S DESPERATELY TELLING HER THE INFORMATION 

AND THE WAY SHE FORCEFULLY SHOVES HER POWERS ON HIM AND THE WAY IT HURTS HIM 

WOW

WOW

HOOO

OH BOY 

THAT’S UH 

YEAH 

WOW

H

HOLY CRAP 

I CAN

T RECOVER FROM THIS

I CAN’T DO IT 

I’M 

SO I KNEW

SOMETHING WAS GONNA HAPPEN TO HIM 

BUT UH 

THATS 

WOW 

SOMETHIGN MORE PROBABLY GONNA HAPPEN TO HIM WHEN HE INEVITABLY FAILS AGAIN TO CATCH THEM FR 

BUT UH 

WOW 

You know that thing Monkey King always says about Mk’s mortal body not being able to handle all of monkey kings powers all at once without working up it? 

UH 

*looks at Macaque* 

Homeboy looking like he’s kinda getting an overload of power 

THE WAY HE CURLS UP 

WOW

WOW HE WAS TERRIFIED

WOW

WOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOW 

WOW

HECK

CRAP

HECK

WOW

HECK

HECK

HECKEHCKEHCKCECHKLM;BGOIMFAWE

SO REMEMBER THAT POST I MADE

MACAQUE WOW 

MANS REALLY TERRIFIED FOR HIS ACTUAL LIFE 

UH 

ABSUIVE SITUATION FOR HIM HE IS NOT FINE AH 

I MEAN WE DONE BEEN KNEW THIS BUT WOW 

UM RIGHT

WELL THEN

I CANT’ WATCH EPS 9 AND 10 UNTIL TOMORROW SO UH 

WOOOOO 

THIS IS ALL THE STUFF I ALREADY KNEW I’VE LITERLALY MADE WHOLE ANALYSIS POSTS WALKING THROUGH MACAQUES TRAUMA FROM THE ABUSE HE EXPEREICNES FROM LBD BUT HOLY CRAP 

HE GOT HER POWER BOOST WHETHER HE WANTED IT OR NOT I’M 

THE BLUE FLASH EYE THING TAHT KEEPS HAPPENING TOO 

SEMI-POSSESSION BUT NOT QUITE 

JUST HER IN HIS HEAD 

STILL NOT OVER JIN AND YIN ACTUALLY HAVING A JOB WITH THEIR ACCOUNTANT BGLSAKDFAOWEF 

BUT UH 

HOLY CRAP 

I UH 

I’M GONNA BE HAVING A CRISIS ABOUT THIS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY THANKS 

LIFE

REST OF MY LIFE 

THE WAY IT ZOOMS OUT AND IT’S HIM GETTING SURROUNDED BY THIS AS IT EXPLODES FROM HIM I’M 

HOLY CRAP 

MACAQUE GETTING PUMMLED 

BOY CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HOW THIS ENDS AHAHAHAHHAHAHA HE’S GONNA DIE (not fr probably but sOMETHING SURE AS HECK GONNA HAPPEN TO HIM AH) 

MONKIE KID YOU CAN’T KILLL THE HOT TOPIC MONKEY BEFORE HE HITS HIS REDEMTION ARC OR AT LEAST ANTI-HERO ARC I’M BGS;DLKAFMBO;AWIMAWOFH

WOW WOW

Okay I gotta, end this or i’m gonna be rambling about this for the rest of the day I’m 

WOW

I GUESS I’LL SEE YOU GUYS TOMORROW FOR EPS 9 AND 10 HAHAHAHA I’M IN PAIN

WOW THIS EPISODE WAS A LOT, LIKE A LOT MROE THAN THE RED SON ONE WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING THIS IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK, TANG’S WANTING TO BE USEFUL AND HIS FAITH IN HIS FAMILY AND HIS POWERS, MACAQUE’S WHOLE SPEIL ABOUT NOT TRUSTING PEOPLE AND PIGSY’S SINGING, MONKEY KING’S STAGEFIGHT, PIGSY’S BOMBER JACKET, THE MERCH, SANDY’S OUTFIT, MONKEY KING IN A HOODIE, THAT WHOLE ENDING SCENE THE HECK—

 i’m never gonna recover from this episode alone, but i’m watching 9 and 10 tomorrow and the season finale special is coming out IN A FEW DAYS I’M GOING TO DIE 

coughs

Alright, good day, i’m gonna go grab some ice and stick my head in it o7 

(the way macaque stops trying to grab the ring to actually have a conversation with tang i’m not over that, he’s a talker but oh my gosh what the crap) 

[selfshippinglover]

OMG YOU SELFSHIP WITH EMILY FROM CORPSE BRIDE???? TELL ME EVERYTHING I LOVE HER!!

-aggressively-selfship

Awww hey Echo!! Thank you very much for asking!! :DD @arcadeselfships (cause I think you’ll like this :)

So you know Emily's story, right? A bride that ran from home and was poison to death by some greedy dickhead that only wanted her money?

Well, I just ended up in a wrong place wrong time scenario. A hit and run, really. POV killed by a hearse 😔😔😔😔

And I wake up in the world of the dead, am ushered into Bonejangles bar, and am sat down as the tell the tale of the Corpse Bride through song. Between her ghoulish yet gorgeous appearance, and soft yet sad voice I'm pretty much immediately drawn to her jggdjgdj I take whatever concoction I've been handed by the bar tender in one hand and try not go fidget with the other.

I start with complimenting her haunting voice and beautiful dress and soon enough we're just chatting idly. She ends giving me the rundown of the afterlife and asking if I'd like to be her roomate :) Really we just hit it off well from the get go.

Things remain that way for awhile. Just two gals being pals. One smitten and hopeful, the other focused and poised to achieve her goals. There's little things here and there like asking her about her attraction or accidental touches but nothing really concrete. It's nice even if it's not everything we could have. I decide to not push the idea considering Emily's past. I'm fine without telling her....well, until Victor shows up.

For us his arrival happens on a night just like any other. We're on our weekly trip to the bar. I'm chatting with Bonejangles and the band on and off and she's singing along to every song they play <3 When suddenly, she feels the tug of the those words that have kept her held down for so long ringing in her bones. She doesn't explain to anyone, just rushes to the human realm to meet him in person. I manage to catch her leaving but I still don't know why she's done it so I chill at the bar until she shows again.

It takes allll day but she finally does come back! With some guy? WAIT MARRIED WHAT?? She's so excited, all smiles and heart eyes and I'm just trying to keep my cool but SO many questions are going through my head as I greet him and them watch the band start up their shebang.

I kinda pout in the corner for most of the song but still end up watching her with little hearts dancing in my eyes anyways <3 When she’s done the situation FINALLY gets explained to me......and I’m less than thrilled. Victor is over saying how she’s dead but I’m just saying that he doesn’t seem interested and doesn’t even know her?? Like is she really sure that’s what she wants? She uhhh, is mad at my judgy attitude(it’s a mix of jealousy and concern but fair kjgdsj) but yeeeeahhhh

The movie continues on mostly as normal but with the added mix of our dynamic, the implication of jealousy, and lots of musical numbers! X3 Somewhere part way through, Victor admits that he doesn’t like here and wants help getting out. I tell him to tel her about it and not involve me. After all, HE’S the one she likes....(Despite his distress that’s when he actually picks up on her feelings) He also goes for that angle and despite her flushed face she reiterates her point and walks off. *Crush lament song here*

Things don’t change all that much until we hit the wedding/climax of the movie. Up to that point I’d been holding it, maybe hinting at it, Victor was even trying to point me out just to hopefully break things off better, but now it’s come to that one phrase that every unrequited lover fears:

“Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.....”

Just as I’m about to get up and SAY SOMETHING(like, I’ve just stood up) THAT MOTHERFUCKER BARKIS SPEAKS HIS PIECE >:(((( 

As much as I want to fight that guy, I let Emily handle it cause it’s her arch and she’s sOOO badass in that part <3 Like god she DESERVES IT!! And while the town is fucking EVISCERATING Barkis, Victor and Emily finally decide to set things right about the wedding and THEN I CONFESSS (Victor actually wingmans by urging me to speak despite it’s his wedding ksgsdbg <3 )

And so her soul is freed from her realization but she stays with me in the Afterlife. We have a town wide wedding in the next few days. (As excited as we both were, we all needed a break) Victor and Victoria are at the wedding too! Bonejangles and the band plays the music, the after party is at the bar, and the aesthetic is BANGING!!

Happily Ever After in the Underworld <3333

[lilalouuxx]

Unspoken feelings

In which you and your best friend are getting high and drunk in his lounge. As the night progresses unspoken feelings get spoken.

Fez x reader

Fez x y/n

As season 2 is days away! I wanted to write another short fic on my fave character.

Warning: swearing, smut!

16+

P.s I do not condone cheating!

—————————————————————

You and Fez are currently lounging around his front room, you’ve put on a movie not that you’re really watching it mind. You’re smoking and drinking together which is one of your favourite things to do together, fez is an extremely chill guy so when he’s spaced out he’s more chiller than ever.

You’d both been to a party, fez was there to do bussiness as always. It was your best friend maddys birthday so that’s the reason you were there, long story short the cops turned up. Fez immediately got out of there making sure you came along with him which you didn’t mind In the slightest. You both walked back to fez’s and decided to carry on your own little party with just the two of you. You had a movie on in the background as well as some music. You loved one on one time with fez, he was the most chillest person you knew. You could talk to him about anything and you knew he wouldn’t judge you, plus half of the time he’d forget what you spoke about the next day which you were sometimes grateful for.

You and fez were best friends but you wouldn’t call your friendship normal like any other best friend relationship. It’s the subtle touches, like when he places his hands on your waist If he needs to get past you or if he’s coming up behind you. Or when he’d tuck your hair behind your ear if you were deep in conversation with him. He lets you wear his clothes, in all honesty you probably wear fez’s clothes more than your own. He’s very protective of you, if a deal is going down and you’re at his or at the store he will always make sure you’re out of the way. He knows what kind of dicks come to buy drugs and he doesn’t want you getting involved in that. Throughout the couple of years that you’ve known fez you’re feelings have grew. You’ve just pushed them down though as you’re not fully sure he sees you in the same way, yes the subtle touches are something but he’s never made a pass or said anything to make you think otherwise, plus him getting a girlfriend pretty much spelled out that he wasn’t interested. so naturally you’ve decided to stay quiet until your stupid ass thought it would be a good idea to lay everything out tonight.

“Thank you for dragging me along with you fez, in all honesty I couldn’t wait to leave” you laugh as fez passes the smoke to you, you take a hit.

“It’s all good, I could tell you weren’t enjoying yoself anyways” he replies, looking at the tv but you can tell he wasn’t really paying attention.

“ I was but I’m just bored of maddys problems with Nate you know, it’s all she talks about. She needs to just fucking leave him. “

“I get it but, they in love right?” Fez asks

“ well yeah but they’re not any good for eachother”

“ well if they be in love then it’s not gon be easy to just walk away, especially if she’ll see him everyday at school” he says, you pass the blunt back to him and he takes a drag.

“ I mean I suppose you’re right there, you get so wise when you’re high” you laugh

He holds his hands up “ I told yo this before, if yo ever need advice come see fez” he says smiling. Hm you say to yourself, you’re feeling confident tonight, I mean that’s obviously the drink talking but you feel like you could take on the world. You forget about everything and focus on fez

“Ok, I need some advice” you say

“ yeah? What’s that” he replies

“ well uh” just do it,you say to yourself “ there’s kinda this guy I really like and I don’t know If I can hold my feelings much longer” you say then look at fez. The look on his face doesn’t give the impression that he knows who you’re on about. He’s giving a look of being, surprised?

“Oh, really?” He replies, he takes another hit of his blunt still staring at the tv. You were kinda hoping he’d have more to say.

“Yeah, I don’t really know what to do about it. “

“ do I know him?”

“Yes”

“Look imma be honest wit you, I’ll give you advice about anything just not your love life” he shakes his head

You frown “Why?”

“ cos, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t wanna know who you fucking”

“I’m not fucking anyone”

“That’s not my fucking point bro”

This wasn’t what you planned in your head.

“ you gon have to ask your girls about this, not me.” He says

“But I wanna ask you, what’s your problem? You so jealous you don’t wanna hear about it” you say half joking

“ well shit yeah maybe I am, now can we talk about something else y/n”

Wait, what?

You blush a little at the truth from Fez “No we can’t talk about something else, fez what’s your fucking problem”

He sighs and scratches the back of his head, something he did when he was nervous.

“ I don’t wanna think about another guy touching you, so you asking me how to get a guy isn’t gonna fucking help”

“ wait, I’m confused. You’ve got a girlfriend, why does it bother you who touches me or not”

“ I don’t fucking know, it just does”

“Fez, you’ve got this all wrong… I’m not tryna ask you about another dude”

“ what do yo mean then? Cos it sounds like yo asking my advice on how to get a guy to-“

“ fez just, shut up please” you sigh running your hand through your hair, yes this is what you’ve wanted but now it’s happening you’re not so sure it’s the right timing. “ I’m not on about a random stupid guy”

“ listen let’s just talk about something else and drink some more, I’m not drunk enough yet to go to bed”

He turns his head to look at you

“ nah, tell me. Who’s it about”

“ no, it doesn’t it matter”

“ yes it does”

“ fine! It’s you fez, it’s fucking you ok”

“ shit ma “ he says looking away from you closing his eyes and running his hand over his head.

“ why you gotta do this to me”

“What? You’re a dick. I wanted to change the conversation but you pushed for it”

He turns his head to look at you again quickly “ no I don’t mean like that, why couldn’t you tell me this sooner. You know maybe like 3 weeks ago or som” referring to before he got with his girlfriend.

“ well to be honest fez I didn’t think you felt the same way”

“ yo for real right now y/n? I’ve been tryna make it clear for the past couple years. You ain’t never given me nothin so I assumed you didn’t feel the same. That’s why I got into a relationship, to try and get over you but now you drop this shit on me”

“Oh” you say “ well you didn’t make it clear enough then”

“ yeah well you know I ain’t down with all the soppy shit unless yo my girl, I was tryna show you without being too full on because I know you don’t like that”

“Oh” is all you can say

“Fuck y/n why you gotta fuck with me right now” fez sits up straighter now on the couch, he leans forward and places his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees.He then turns his head to you and looks at you, he suddenly looks you up and down taking in your outfit again which he did at the beginning of the night but now, now it feels different. You’re wearing a simple black strappy body con dress that does justice for your breasts. Pushing them up not too much but enough for people to be able to tell you have boobs. But him looking at you the way he is right now is sending all sorts of dirty thoughts through your mind.

“ fez stop looking at me like that”

“ do you blame me? Have yo seen yourself tonight”

You blush a little, you then lean forward placing your beer on the table. You’re now level with fez on the couch. Your Legs are touching each others as well as your Arms, you look at him.

“ fez, I know we shouldn’t do anything but… I really wanna kiss you right now” you say biting your bottom lip, he looks down at your lips. All you hear is a silent “ fuck” from fez before you feel the warmthness of fez’s lips on your own. He cups your face with both hands, the kiss is hungry and needy, you now both know how much you’ve wanted eachother.

Your tongues fight against eachother, fez moves his hands down to your waist, he picks you up and puts you on his lap. You now straddling him you place your hands on his shoulders to steady yourself. You feel the hardness from his crotch pressing against you. You moan lightly into the kiss, you begin to slowly grind against him feeling him rub against you.

“ fez” you moan into the kiss, his hands grab your thighs. Squeezing them, he then slides his hands up the outside of your thighs hiking your dress up so your panties are on show. He pulls away from the kiss and looks down

“ fuck baby, you wearing red. My favourite colour”

“ I know it is” you smirk. He then runs his finger over the waistband of your panties

“ look I ain’t gon fuck you t’night but I wanna make you feel good, will you let me?” Fez asks softly. Looking into your eyes again, you nod quickly. He then looks down again

“Stand up” he says, he said it as if it was an order.

You stand up, he then reaches forward and hooks his fingers under your panties pulling them down. You would normally feel a little self conscious being this open but with fez you don’t.

“ shit ma, you’re beautiful” he says then tugs you forward with his hands on the back of your thighs. Once in front of him his hands slide up to your ass and squeezes it,Not hard but gentle. You moan lightly again, your pussy throbbing. Needing some type of release, you’re not sure wether you spoke out loud but fez heard you one way or another. Because you then feel his finger run down the slit of your lips. You gasp and look down at him, your hands holding onto his shoulders for support. He’s looking up at you smirking

“ you’re so wet baby” he then adds another finger, he begins to rub my most sensitive part. He’s not fast or hard, he’s gentle and slow. Normally you don’t like anything slow when it comes to sexual intercourse but with fez it feels so different.

“ fuck, fez” you moan already feeling like you’re close. He speeds up ever so slightly, his head leans forward and kisses your stomach. You decide that your dress is getting in the way so you quickly take it off and throw It across the room, fez chuckles at the action. His laugh vibrates through you, going straight to your core. Your nails dig into his shoulders, you feel yourself tightening as you’re so close.

“ fez I’m close” you moan, hearing this his fingers work faster on your most sensitive part. He can feel that you’re close “ ah fez” you moan again almost at your peak but suddenly he pulls away, you gasp and look down at him “ fez? What the fuck” he just laughs at you. He takes his hand away and leans back into the couch, he stares up at you standing in front of him. All you have on now is a red lace bra. His eyes take you in, looking over every inch of you, he licks his lips.

“ you really are a work of art, I always imagined what you’d look like naked but this… this so much more beautiful that I imagined” he says softly, his eyes are glued to your pussy.

Your heart flutters at his words“ thank you fez but… why’d you stop. I really need you right now” you say pouting a little

He laughs again then looks back into your eyes, he grabs one of your hands and pulls you back onto his lap so your straddling him again.

“ don’t worry I ain’t done wit you yet” He says then leans forward again and kisses you. One hand slides round the the back of your neck whilst the other slides up your thigh, you then feel his fingers again teasing you lightly, You’re about to have a go at him again but before you can you feel his hand go in between you both,one of his fingers slowly enter you. You gasp and grab a fistful of his shirt “ oh my god” you moan against his lips. You begin to roll your hips ever so slightly getting some rhythm to it. He then adds another finger, stretching you. You feel him deep in you, he starts of slow teasing you but speeds up hitting right where you need it. His thumb then starts to rub your clit. You pull away from the kiss needing to breath, your forehead pushes against his. And you both lock eyes as he finger fucks you. The eye contant alone sends another jolt through you.

“I’m so close fez” you moan, this is actually the quickest you’ve come to an orgasm before with a guy. Every guy you’ve been with can never fully pleasure you, they don’t hit the right spots but fez, fez is hitting all the right spots right now. You ride his fingers, he grabs a fistful of your hair.

“God you’re dripping y/n, all down my fingers” his dirty talk sends you over the edge. Your Moans fill the room, echoing off the walls as you reach your high “That’s it, cum on my fingers” fez says as you ride your orgasm out, one of your hands grabs the side of fez’s neck digging your nails in. You lean in and kiss him again, riding out the last of your orgasm. He keeps his fingers in you for a few more seconds feeling the wetness around his fingers. He then pulls them out pulling away from the kiss, he then looks into your eyes and puts his two fingers into his mouth sucking of your juices. You bite your lip at the action and then smile, he smiles with you.

“ fuck you taste amazing” he says before taking his fingers out and pulling your head back to his face to kiss you again. You’re still so horny, especially after what fez just did.

“ what was you saying about not fucking me?” You say to fez in between kisses, your hand going to grab his crotch

His hand stops you“Nah ma we can’t, I’ll break up with her then we can do whatever we want”

“ oh because you’re such a gentleman, you wouldn’t of allowed what we did to happen if you were” you smirk at him.

“ you were too Damn tempting, come on” he says then smacks your ass “ let’s get you in the shower. He says, you both then stand up, noticing how fez checks out your naked body again. You begin to walk towards the bathroom

“ damn, I can’t wait to worship that body” he says as he walks behind you. You both walk towards the bathroom and he turns the shower on for you.

“ I’ll go grab you some clothes” he says then leans down and kisses you again, it’s a long sensual kiss, one that tells you that everything you’ve done together tonight doesn’t end here.

[ibis-gt]

*slides you 37 pennies* how would luther handle trying to go on a public date with cam (movie, restaurant, etc.) with the whole… affection turns height to no.

had two requests for this one so here u go! luther does his best to keep it together for date night. 2750 words, warning for brief mention of violence in a movie and some hanky panky between consenting adults. not explicit, just a little spicy.

~~~

Four months into their relationship, and Luther has more of a handle on things now.

He’s got the size thing totally under control. He hardly ever shrinks just because Cam looked at him anymore. He can take a compliment like a champion. Those soft, sweet, gentle smiles that spread across Cam’s face like molasses? Barely make him lose an inch. Physical contact? He’s… still working on that one.

But at the very least they can have date nights in public now, as long as Cam behaves himself, and Cam is quite willing to behave himself. Most of the time.

It’s a snowy Saturday night in December, and they’ve got a date planned. Cam will pick Luther up at eight, they’ll go have dinner at a local sushi place, watch a late night special feature from the 80s, and then come back home for some wine and light snuggling before bed. An absolutely perfect night, if Luther can make it through enough of it full-size.

He’s still debating his outfit when a gentle knock at his front door heralds his beloved’s arrival. Five minutes early as usual.

“It’s open!” Luther calls. “C’mon in and help me choose, will you?” He’s standing in his bedroom in a pair of black slacks with the horrid green jumpsuit undone and tied around his waist, staring critically at his two choices of top. A lovely turquoise turtleneck, or a stylish electric blue button-up. The floor creaks behind him as Cam ambles in. “Which one do you think is better? I guess it depends on what you’re wear - eep!”

Luther squeaks and jumps as Cam presses his lips to Luther’s neck, big warm hands sliding up his arms to rest on his bare shoulders, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine.

“Both look nice,” Cam murmurs in his ear. “But I think I like the blue one better.”

“C-cam,” Luther whines, his face going pink. “If you keep this up we’re not even going to get out the door.” The hands remove themselves, and Cam pulls back, chuckling.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. All that exposed real estate, you know.” He lets out a perfect wolf whistle. God damn him. Luther glares over his shoulder and folds his arms, letting annoyance take over.

“We’ve been planning this for weeks, and you’re going to ruin it,” he pouts. “Go on, out. Wait in the living room if you’re going to be like this.” Cam puts his hands up in a placating gesture and retreats, but that damn smile doesn’t leave his face. Luther tosses his hair and huffs, secretly proud of himself. He didn’t even lose a half inch. He turns back to consider his options.

Well, if Cam is so focused on his neck tonight, that sweater might be the better option to afford him some protection. But he said he liked the button-up better… It’s lighter than the sweater so it won’t keep him as warm, but that means he can steal Cam’s big coat later on. The turtleneck would completely cover the green jumpsuit, but the blue of the button-up actually compliments it nicely. Luther nods decisively. The button-up will be perfect.

He dresses quickly, gives himself a final once-over in the mirror, unbuttons his top button, and heads out to see Cam. His boyfriend - his boyfriend! The thought still sends a thrill through him - has picked up the cat, Scrunge, and is stroking her head, making little baby noises at her. She purrs in her usual way, fast and loud, like a revving motorcycle. Cam sets her down when he sees Luther and sighs happily.

“You look fantastic,” he says.

“You clean up pretty nice yourself.” Luther crosses the room and fondly brushes a loose strand of hair behind Cam’s ear. Cam’s in a dark grey v-neck shirt and black suit jacket, slightly tarnished silver cufflinks adorning the sleeves. He’s got his big heavy winter coat draped over one arm so he doesn’t overheat in the relative warmth of the apartment. Luther sneaks a covetous little glance at it before grabbing his own shabby coat off a hook near the door.

He bends down to give Scrunge a goodbye scritch behind the ears. “Behave yourself while I’m out,” he tells her. “No tearing around the place and knocking things over.” She meows plaintively. Luther retrieves her bag of treats and gives her two as a bribe, which she accepts happily.

“Okay,” Luther says, straightening and shrugging on his coat. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Cam says, and takes his hand.

They walk to the restaurant. No point in searching for parking, it’d take longer than just hoofing it anyway. It’s been snowing on and off throughout the week and piles of dirty slush cover the sidewalk. It’s cold, but Luther’s coat is keeping him warm enough for now. He and Cam hold hands as they walk to the restaurant, and Luther doesn’t even shrink a little bit. His chest swells with so much pride he thinks his feet might leave the ground.

The place is only a little busy, so they have a short wait before they’re shown to their table. They get their usual orders. Luther prefers simple rolls and nigiri so the taste of the fish is front and center, while Cam likes to get the complicated, loaded rolls for the variety of texture and flavor. While they wait for their food to arrive, Luther fills Cam in on Scrunge’s latest reign of terror in his apartment, and how much it’ll cost to fix the cracked frame of the painting she’d somehow managed to knock off the wall in her frenzy to catch the fabled red laser dot.

The food arrives. Cam offers Luther a taste of his rolls - he’s gotten something deep fried with cream cheese, cucumber, and crab, and another loaded high with four kinds of fish, topped with roe. Luther tries the one with all the fish, but passes on the deep fried one. He trades Cam a piece of mackerel nigiri. Then he continues on talking, telling Cam about his week, how work’s been, the new guy they hired, and the annoying new habit his coworker’s formed of singing along with the music on the jukebox, regardless of whether she knows the lyrics or not.

Luther suddenly catches the look in Cam’s eyes. There’s something… hungry in them. It’s the only way he can describe it. It’s not regular hungry, because he’s practically ignoring his food in favor of listening intently to Luther’s rambling story. He’s leaning forward, arms folded on the table in front of him, drinking in every word Luther has to say. He’s hungry for him. The realization hits Luther like a truck and he stops mid-sentence, jaw dropping, a blush starting to spread across his face.

“What’s wrong?” Cam asks, innocent as ever. How could he even know the effect he has on Luther? How could Luther ever explain?

“N-nothing, um, I… I’ve been talking a lot, why don’t you take over for a bit? What’s keeping you busy at work?” It was delightful to listen to Cam ramble on about his job. Luther barely understood a word of it, but his enthusiasm was adorable and, importantly, not about Luther. He could keep it together and breathe a bit, work on calming down the scramble of emotion in his gut.

Sure enough, he wins himself a good fifteen minutes of calm while Cam talks on about carburetors and mufflers and manifolds. He could be making it up for all Luther knows. It’s not until Cam realizes his deep fried roll has gone cold that he breaks off to eat. They finish their food, decide to pass on dessert, pay, and head for the theater.

It’s only a few blocks away, a fifteen minute walk at most. The night has gotten a little colder and darker, and now stray snowflakes drift and spin through the air, catching the streetlights and twinkling like stars. Cam has a lot of fun pretending he’s a dragon, his warm breath turning to steaming clouds in the freezing air. Luther’s shivering now, his old secondhand coat doing little to protect him from the chill. Cam notices, of course, and whips his own coat off in an instant.

“Oh, please,” Luther demurs, “You’re so chivalrous, but really, I’m fine.”

“You’re shaking like a weathervane in a hurricane, sweetheart. I’ll be fine, I’m my own space heater.” Cam arranges the coat over Luther’s shoulders neatly and slips his arm around Luther’s waist, pulling him in close. It’s so warm and so nice, and so very, very close. Luther’s shivers slacken and cease, and then one more shakes him, different from the rest.

“Oh no,” Luther whispers, “I was doing so well, please…��

Luckily, he only loses about three inches. His clothes are a little looser, and he’s engulfed a little more by Cam’s huge coat, but he’s still a perfectly normal height. He sighs in relief.

“So what’s this movie we’re seeing?” Luther asks, trying to take his mind off of things.

“Oh, so it’s this old sci fi cult classic based on a book no one’s ever read. I saw it the first time when I was like… eight? And it scarred me for life, really, and now I’m obsessed with this shit. The special effects are super gnarly, and they hold up okay, even though you can totally see the tube for the fake blood in the decapitation scene. Don’t worry too much about following the plot, it’s not really the point of the movie, but what you should know ahead of time is…”

Cam rambles on like that, filling the night with fog. Luther snuggles in closer and listens happily, totally at ease. He made it through the most important part of the night, and once they get in the theater, he can relax. It doesn’t matter if he shrinks in the theater - from what Cam’s said, the only people watching this late-night special feature will be die-hard fans who’ll be glued to the screen, and in the darkness they won’t have to worry about anyone catching sight of them.

That also means, of course, that Cam might get a little handsy once the lights dim. If he’s being honest, Luther would be disappointed if he didn’t.

They get a seat in the back row. As the previews start up, Cam reaches over and takes Luther’s chin in his hand, turning it gently so they face each other. For a moment, he just holds them there, staring into Luther’s eyes with an adoring softness that makes Luther’s heart sing. Then he leans in and kisses him, just once, softly on the mouth. Luther shivers and loses another few inches. Cam lets him go, but Luther’s not satisfied. He grabs Cam’s collar and pulls him down for another kiss, this one deeper and hungrier. Cam chuckles against his mouth and nips at his bottom lip, catching it between his teeth for just a moment. Luther sits back heavily in his seat, breath coming in shallow gasps. He grips his armrests tight, trying to pay attention to the trailer for the newest slasher flick as it blares out through the theater. No dice. He’s losing height fast now, shrinking down to four feet tall, his normal clothes hanging off his frame.

They stay apart for all of a minute before Cam’s hand sneaks across the seat and slides into place on Luther’s thigh. He strokes his thumb back and forth in a slow rhythm, humming happily. Luther gasps and shrinks more, staring wide-eyed as Cam’s hand covers more and more of him, soon easily encompassing his entire thigh.

He’s maybe two feet tall now and he can’t see the screen over the seat in front of him. Cam glances down, catching the pouting, grumpy look on Luther’s face, and presses a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Here, sweetheart,” Cam murmurs, and picks Luther up with one hand. With the other, he frees him from his clothing so that he’s only clad in the jumpsuit. Cam settles Luther gently on his lap. This has fixed the problem of not being able to see the screen, but only momentarily. Luther goes bright red and dwindles down even further. By the time the previews have finished, he’s only eight inches tall.

As the opening theme blares with discordant trumpets, Cam pinches the back of Luther’s jumpsuit between thumb and forefinger and lifts him up. He dangles Luther in front of his face for a moment, expression torn between adoring and apologetic, then brings him in close for a gentle kiss. He sets Luther on his shoulder and hands him a piece of popcorn.

Luther hides his burning face behind the buttery morsel. He’d been expecting a little hanky panky, but nothing so direct. Stolen kisses, maybe a fake yawn that disguised Cam putting his arm around Luther, a little playing with his hair. Going for the thigh like that… that was entirely unexpected. He’s beginning to suspect Cam was trying to get him tiny.

The movie is just as gory and weird as promised. Luther isn’t super squeamish, but more than once he turns and ducks his face into Cam’s neck, squealing in disgust, his voice quiet enough at this size that he doesn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone else. Every time, he feels Cam shake under him with silent laughter, enjoying Luther’s reactions.

The movie ends before too long, and the other theatergoers file out, chatting animatedly with one another about the flick. Cam holds his hand up to his chest, and Luther pushes himself off Cam’s shoulder, landing gracefully in his palm. Cam sets him down on the armrest while he folds up Luther’s discarded clothing and tucks it in an inner pocket of his big coat. He looks down at Luther and tilts his head to one side, lips pursed in a calculating expression.

“You’re just a little too big to hide comfortably… here, let’s fix that.” Cam puts his elbows on either side of Luther on the armrest and looms over him, completely blocking the dim theater lights overhead. Luther takes a few involuntary steps back and bumps up against Cam’s hands, linked together behind him to form a ring penning him in. “You’re all mine now,” Cam breathes, quiet as a whisper. “So tiny and cute. I’m going to put you in my pocket and carry you home, and then… well, then we’ll see what I’ll do with you, hm?” A crooked, meaningful grin spreads across Cam’s face, and that hungry look comes back into his eyes.

It works like a charm. Luther’s legs shake, his heart pounds, and he shivers. He dwindles down to half his height, a mere four inches.

“There we go,” Cam croons, and scoops him up in one hand. Cam stows him safely in his coat pocket, held in a loose fist to keep him safe from jostling and the cold. He exits the theater and moves through the crowds easily. People tend to make way when they see a man his size coming towards them.

Luther curls up against Cam’s fingers and sighs happily. Cam’s hand is warm, calloused in places but soft in others, and the pocket sways gently with his gait. It’s so safe and cozy, combined with the late hour and the exhaustion of the day, it’s the perfect recipe to knock him out. He fights the heaviness of his eyelids as long as he can, but only makes it a few blocks before he’s fast asleep.

~~~

“Whew, cold one out tonight,” Cam says as he unlocks the door to Luther’s apartment. He can already hear Scrunge wailing on the other side. “I hope you weren’t too frozen in there.” He pushes the door open and addresses the cat. “Yes, we’re home, hello darling, we missed you too.” She winds around his legs and purr-meows at top volume. “Okay, okay, other people are trying to sleep,” Cam hisses. “You’re gonna wake up the whole floor, shitty kitty.” She mrrps in disapproval.

He pulls Luther out of his pocket. “So, babe, do you wanna - oh.” The little dear is asleep, snoring softly. Cam smiles and presses a kiss to his chest. He takes a seat on the couch, sighing as he plops himself down. Scrunge leaps up into his lap immediately and puts her front legs up on his chest, sniffing at Luther in his hand.

“Poor dear’s all tuckered out,” Cam murmurs, giving her a scritch. “Let’s let him rest.”

[sorryjustafangirl]

it’s a love story

a/n:  this is my submission for the @doubleminor​’s #hockeychallengemusic ! im so so super late but i finally had the time to write this. the toronto six of the nwhl have this as their winning song and i loved watching them celebrate this season. and apparently all i can write is matty tkachuk but i felt he really fit this idea

Pairing: Matthew Tkachuk x reader

Work count: 2.2k+

warnings: mentions of the pandemic and one swear but other than that just fluff :)

disclaimer: this is a work of fiction and real person fiction if you don’t like that, please don’t read! also the gif isn’t mine! all credit to the fantastic gif-maker!

prompt: choose an official team/player goal song and make something using that goal song // found here 

He had wanted the proposal to be perfect. The moment he knew you were the one he wanted to marry, he asked your best friend for everything you had ever mentioned about a proposal. You were only going to get proposed to once, and he wanted to make sure it was perfect. 

Secluded, yet meaningful, place? Check. 

Get it on camera? Check. 

Cute outfit with nails done? Check. 

But a global pandemic was not in his plan. Not even close. 

When the season had got put on pause, his parents suggested he come back to St. Louis to spend time with them, since Brady was coming back too. He was hesitant to go considering you were still going into the office for an essential project, but you assured him that he should go spend time with his family. He didn't get to see them a lot, and you knew he missed them. When he packed, he made sure to take the little velvet box and shove it between his socks. He didn't want to risk you finding it while he was away. 

A couple weeks later, after many FaceTimes and virtual date nights, you finished your project and work gave you the all clear to work from home. A two week quarantine and one plane ride later, you had joined him in St. Louis. You were still working, but working from the Tkachuk's home and with your boyfriend was much better than working alone in your shared apartment. 

Since you had joined the family, Taryn had noticed her oldest brother was a little jumpier than usual. Before, he was more carefree, aside from the occasional moping, and he definitely wasn't making sure his bedroom door was closed whenever he went in there alone. But now? It seemed odd. He wasn't moping, but he had those moments when he seemed too sad for it just to be about the season.  

So after Matthew's third sigh and retreat to his room while you were working, she decided it was time for an intervention. She quietly followed him to his room, where he methodically closed it and made sure it clicked. 

***

It was the second time today Matthew had looked at the box today. He knew he was torturing himself, opening the box to look at the ring he had picked out. It wasn't too flashy, something just your style. He remembered the way his heart jumped when he saw it in the store. It instantly reminded him of you and he just knew it was the one. It was like he couldn't help himself, looking at the box another time.

You could’ve already been engaged by now. The two of you could’ve been looking at venues and dates and even if he said he never really cared about that stuff… he couldn’t help but long for those things, because it would mean it was real. The two of you would be getting married, and he’d get to be your husband. 

But instead of being engaged, he’d just have to stare at the ring and wish he could make this all go away so he could give you the proposal you’ve always wanted. He relived the time he knew you were the one, anything to remind him that you wouldn’t mind waiting until this pandemic was over to get engaged. 

It was a home game against the Senators. Nothing speculator, just a regular game that they unfortunately lost in OT. Because it was against the Sens, and because he scored the only goal of the game, Matt knew he’d be chosen for press. He was tired, and there was nothing he wanted more than to see his family who had made the trek out to Calgary to see the boys play. He left the dressing room with his tie a little crumpled from the rush to meet them. 

He turned the corner to see Taryn sitting on a bench, with Brady standing with his parents, probably cracking a joke based on the way his mom was playfully glaring at Brady while his dad laughed loudly. His mood picked up a little after the interview and the loss.

As he got closer, he realized that Taryn wasn’t sitting alone. You were sitting there, your head resting against her shoulder, your eyes slightly closed. He stopped in his tracks when he saw your work bag sitting in your lap and your suitcase beside you. Your flight was supposed to get in around 8 and he had insisted that you just meet him at home after the game. This work trip had been horrible, your co-worker throwing you under the bus in a meeting with executives on a project he didn’t work on. You deserved to be relaxing with a glass of wine in the sanctity of your shared apartment. But you were here, at his game, straight from the airport, laughing with his family despite your drooping eyes. He had never felt more loved than he did right there. 

A knock startled him from his thoughts. 

“Uhh... just a second!” He snapped the ring box shut and quickly stood up from the bed to shove it in his drawer. Taryn popped her head in to see him very suspiciously standing in front of his dresser.

“It’s just me, dork. What are you doing?” She entered his room, making herself comfy on his bed. He scoffed, and closed the door behind his sister. 

“I’m not doing anything. What are you doing?” He went back to standing by the dresser and Taryn rolled her eyes.

“That’s exactly it, you’re doing nothing. Normally, when we’re all home you’re like bouncing off the walls. Like I know this time it’s different but Y/n came too so I thought… I don’t know, you just seem off but Brady didn’t think so and I didn’t want to worry Mom… so like, what’s going on? Is everything okay? Are you and Y/n fighting?” 

His eyes bugged out and Taryn would have laughed if she wasn’t so serious. “What no! We’re fine! We’re fine, why-why would you say that?” 

“You’ve been quiet Matt. You’re never quiet, especially when Brady’s home with us.” He rolled his eyes and she huffed at her older brother. “You know it’s true! So... what’s going on?” He sighed and turned to find the box from the drawer. He looked down at the velvet in his hands as he sat on the edge of the bed. Taryn moved to be sitting beside him and gasped quietly. 

“Is that...?” 

“Yeah. I was going to...you know, before the world went to shit. I had it all planned out too. The weather was getting warmer and there’s this hiking trail we like in Banff, it’s only like an hour drive. There’s this perfect spot where I could prop my phone up so I could get it on camera, just like they wanted. But now... I don’t know what I’m going to do.” 

“Do you still want to, you know, propose?” 

“’Course I do. Honestly, I want nothing more. But, they deserve it to be perfect, you know? And like, I don’t know how I could surprise them here, because we’ve been chilling in the same sweatpants for the past week! Asking them to get dressed up would seem suspicious and I want it to be a surprise,”

“Could… could I help you? I might have an idea…” She grinned towards her brother, his eyes brightening at the idea of marrying you. 

***

“Y/N, do you want to do a TikTok with me?” She called to you from across the Tkachuk’s backyard. Taryn must’ve been feeling the quarantine because yesterday the two of you did your nails together, which prompted you to, for once, put on a pair of pants that weren’t Matty’s sweatpants and do your hair, so you had no problem setting down your book and hopping up from your seat to join her. She squealed and you laughed as you joined her. 

“It’s so easy! I promise! So, it’s to a remix of Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ and the only set in stone parts are that you actually kneel when she says ‘knelt to the ground’ and then the camera will start to pull away and then you just freestyle! We can do a couple practice ones before we film it for real, if you want?” 

“Yes, please, you have severely overestimated my dancing skills,” you laughed. Right at that moment, Matthew came out of the house with a Bud Light in his hand. He placed it on the edge of the firepit before walking over to you.

“What’s got you all cracked up?” He pressed a kiss to your cheek.

“Taryn thinks I’m a good enough dancer to film this TikTok on my first try,” He grinned at you. 

“A TikTok you say? Can I do it too? If you can do it surely it’s easy enough for me,” You gave him a playful eye roll and laughed. 

“How bored are you to want to film a TikTok?” 

“I want to spend time with my girlfriend, is that a crime?” He smirked and you cracked a smile.  

Taryn spoke up. “Hey no, this would be perfect! I need to move the camera away from you when you’re dancing anyways, and this way you won’t be alone. And you’ll get Matt’s dancing on camera for future blackmail!” You laughed at her comment and slugged him lightly in the arm. 

“Game on, we’ll see who's the better dancer after this,” He just laughed and then told you to tell what the heck he was doing for this dance. After a while, the two of you were ready to film. 

Taryn got behind her phone and started the music. You got into position and bumped Matthew’s hip before facing the camera. 

Is this in my head, I don’t know what to think. He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said

You knelt down and pretended to open a ring box, while Matthew pulled out the box he’d been hiding for six months. 

Marry me Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone

You started to dance as Taryn pulled the camera away from the both of you. Lost in the music, you didn’t seem to notice that Matthew was still on one knee, an adoring smile on his face. 

“Y/n,” 

I love you and that’s all I really know

You stopped dancing and glanced to your side. “Oh my god,” Your hands flew to cover your mouth as you saw Matt still on one knee, but with a black box in his hands. “Are you joking?”

“Not joking, baby, I promise.” He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring you had ever seen. It was classy, with just enough bling to catch your eye and go with the rest of your jewelry. Your eyes filled with tears as he started to speak. 

“Y/n, you are the best person I have ever met. I never thought someone would be willing to put up with me, not with my job and the media and how I play my game, but then I met you, and it’s like the whole world shifted. I have fallen more in love with you every day, even the past few days when we do the same thing every day. I love you so much, babe, and all I want is to keep being your person. I know my job means I’ll have to leave sometimes, but with me, with this, I promise you’ll never be alone. I want to be your husband and I want us to have little mini-us’s running around, well really mini-you’s but with my hair, because let’s face it, they aren’t escaping the curls,” You let out a teary laugh, and you could see his shoulder visibly relax a little. “When I look to my future, all I see is you. You are my future. And I know this isn’t perfect or even ideal but..”

“No, no, Matty, it’s perfect.” You whispered, your eyes full of tears. “It’s perfect because it’s with you.”

His grin widened if that was possible, and he looked down at the box in his hands before up to you. “If that’s the case, then Y/n, will you make me the happiest man on Earth and marry me?” 

“Yes! Yes, yes, of course,” You bent down to kiss him, leaving your tears on his cheek when you pulled away. He slipped the ring onto your finger and swept you into a bear hug. “Oh my gosh, we’re going to get married!”

“It’s you and me, baby, for the rest of our lives.” He tried to smirk, but it didn’t last long, a smile covering it as the euphoria overcame him. 

“Okay, okay, show me the ring!! Matthew didn’t tell me he was proposing!” Chantel came out in the backyard with a bright grin on her face. You couldn’t contain the smile on your face and the two of you admired the ring together. 

“I didn’t tell Dad either, don’t get offended,” Matthew said, coming over to meet the both of you. 

“Oh, you liar! You totally called me and asked me for advice.” Keith chimed in with a laugh. “Granted, you never told me you were going to do it today… but I’m happy for you kids.”

“I didn’t think he’d ever get the guts to propose, sorry for the wait Y/n,” Brady chirped, earning a whack from his mother. 

“I don’t mind, he’s worth the wait.” You looked to your fiancé, only to find him already looking at you, his blue eyes gleaming full of warmth. “So worth the wait.”

let me know what you think! thanks for reading!

[asweetprologue]

feel the turn of rotation (and stop)

@sugar-and-spice-witcher-bingo​

Prompt: Date Night Relationships: Geralt/Jaskier Rating: Gen Content Warnings: None Summary: Geralt ask Jaskier to go to the Yule festival with him. Jaskier misunderstands his intentions.  ao3

“There’s a festival happening tonight.”

Jaskier looked up from where he was working on his latest composition. Geralt was leaning against the doorway to his bedchambers, which Jaskier tended to use as a study as well so that he could reserve the main space for entertaining. He took a moment to set down his quill and wipe his sweaty palm on his trousers. It was almost overly warm in the room, the fire blazing at full height to fight back against the chill of his outward facing chambers. The single, tiny window above his desk ran with moisture, the frost melted away by the heat of the room. 

“Yes,” he answered, turning in his plush chair to face Geralt fully, one ankle coming up to cross over his knee. “There’ll be a procession at sunset starting at the main gate, to light the lanterns. And then dancing and such in the main square. Typical Yuletide celebrations.” As he spoke, Jaskier allowed himself to observe Geralt in full, briefly sweeping a glance over his companion. It was exceptionally rare for them to spend winters together; Geralt almost always chose to spend the colder months in Kaer Morhen with his brothers, while Jaskier returned to civilization. This year they had been deep in southern Sodden when the first snows unexpectedly hit, and by the time they’d made it back to Redania they’d received word from Vesemir that the pass to Kaer Morhen was closed. Jaskier had been offered a position teaching for the winter semester, along with a fairly lucrative retainer with a local lordling, so he’d offered Geralt a place to crash while they waited for the witchering season to start up again.

The downtime suited Jaskier’s companion nicely. Geralt’s hair was pulled back into a customary knot behind his head, but it was clean and soft looking, free of dirt and monster guts. His skin shone in the firelight, and the dark circles that always seemed smudged beneath his eyes were faded after weeks of consistent rest and food. He’d taken to walking around without his armor on, content after a few days with the knowledge that Oxenfurt was populated by nothing more threatening than overenthusiastic academics. At the moment he was wearing a pair of old black trousers and a dark blue shirt that stood out against his white skin like a splash of wine on a silk tablecloth. It had cost Jaskier a small fortune, but it was worthwhile to see it clinging to Geralt’s shoulders.

He looked good. Jaskier felt his cheeks heat up as he realised he’d been staring. Snapping back to the conversation at hand, he realized that Geralt had been speaking. 

“- if you wanted to.”

“Sorry, what?” Jaskier asked, blinking. Geralt rolled his eyes, used to Jaskier’s lapses in attention. The motion carried annoyance, but when his eyes fell on Jaskier again there was fondness in them. 

“I asked if you’d planned on attending. Seems like the kind of thing you’d be working.” Strong arms crossed over a broad chest, stretching the dark fabric across thick biceps. Jaskier swallowed. 

“Ah, well, typically I would indeed be regaling the crowds with my sonorous melodies. But considering I had company, I thought it might be better to leave myself, uh.” He cut himself off, feeling suddenly exposed in the admission. While he had taken the time off initially hoping he might be doing something with Geralt, he hadn’t truly expected the witcher to want to do more than maybe get drunk on overpriced Redanian wine. “Well. You’re here, after all,” he finished lamely. 

Geralt blinked at that, something odd crossing his face before he looked away. Staring at the fire across from Jaskier, he said, “You could still go.”

Something was off about his tone - overly flat, which he only did when he was trying to muffle some kind of emotion. What it could be, Jaskier had no earthly idea. Confused, he said, “Well, I wouldn’t want to leave you all by yourself on Yule, Geralt. That wouldn’t make me a very gracious host! I’m entirely content to spend the evening with you here, if that’s what you would prefer.” And he was, truly. While he typically spent Yuletide amongst the people, dancing and singing and visiting with friends, he imagined it would be just as rewarding to spend the evening with Geralt, in the cramped comfort of his quarters. The two of them tipsy on ale and spirits, sitting before the fire, trading stories back and forth like they usually did on the road. Cuddled beneath a blanket, pressed up against each other despite the warmth of the hearth, drink making Geralt’s face flush as it almost never did…

Yes, Jaskier imagined he would be perfectly content to spend the evening right here. 

Geralt let out a frustrated huff. “I mean, we could go. If you want. I - We should go. Together.”

It was choppy work, even for Geralt. He still refused to meet Jaskier’s gaze, staring with absolute focus at the fire. His shoulders were braced, tense as if waiting for a blow. It was baffling. 

“Well, of course, if you’d like to go I’m amenable to that,” Jaskier agreed. “More than, actually. It’s great fun, you’ll see.” 

Geralt finally turned to look Jaskier in the eye. A shiver traveled down his spine at the intensity there, but then again, that was how he often felt under that golden gaze. “Together,” Geralt said again.

“I wouldn’t want to go with anyone else,” Jaskier said with a dismissive wave, laughing a little. It was typical to attend the festivities with a spouse or sweetheart, but he’d not taken a paramour of any kind in several months, and nothing serious in years, if he was honest. His attention was unfortunately captured elsewhere. He spared a single moment to mourn the private evening he’d envisioned with Geralt, but he was already warming to the idea of attending the festivities. He’d already shown the witcher around Oxenfurt, but it was exciting to think of showing the city off again in a new light. Geralt had probably not attended many Yule festivals, he realized, having always spent the winters in the mountains. Something released in his chest even as his stomach dropped in disappointment as he realized Geralt probably didn’t even recognize the romantic implications of his offer. 

Geralt, at least, looked relieved. The tension dropped from his shoulders, and he gave Jaskier a soft smile. Jaskier’s traitorous heart skipped in his chest, and Geralt’s grin suggested that it may have been audible. Jaskier wasn’t sure what to do with himself, hands fluttering across his desk to meaninglessly straighten papers and notes. “Good,” Geralt said, the grin softening back into that disorienting smile. “I’m assuming you’ll want to change.”

“Ah, yes, can’t very well go out in this,” Jaskier agreed, still feeling slightly unmoored.

“Of course,” Geralt said seriously, but his eyes danced with mirth. “I’ve got some things to do in the market before the stalls close. Meet you at the gate at sunset?”

“Perfection,” Jaskier said, and Geralt nodded before peeling himself off of the doorframe and disappearing into the other room. A moment later Jaskier heard the telltale sound of the exterior door opening and closing, the rusty hinges creaking. He sat for a moment in the empty room, going over the encounter in his mind and trying to determine what had made it feel so off.

“Strange,” he said to himself, and began packing up his things. He had a festival to prepare for. 

***

Dressed appropriately in his finest woolen tunic and the thick fur lined cloak Geralt had gifted him the previous year, Jaskier set out from his abode to meet Geralt. An hour or so had passed since their conversation, and the sun was lying low and languorous on the edge of the horizon. Its dying light rippled across the Pontar where it split around the island, the light layer of snow that covered the landscape transformed into gold dust. Already he could see the crowd gathering on the far side of the bridge, led by the priestess of Melitele, returning from the temple outside of the city. Jaskier stood inside the city gates, scanning the faces around him for familiar features. 

After a few moments he saw him - highlighted against the backdrop of the setting sun, his hair turned to fiery gold in the dying light. Geralt smiled when they made eye contact, and immediately began to push his way through the crowd towards Jaskier. He too had dressed for the weather, his own wool cloak muffling his form. As he stepped into Jaskier’s space, he said, “You ready?”

Jaskier had the feeling that he didn’t know exactly what he should be ready for, but he nodded anyway. “They’re just beginning,” he said, waving towards the group approaching on the bridge. It was slow going, the procession stopping every few meters to wait while the priestess lit the lanterns lined up along the walls. They would be at it for the next hour at least, making their way around the circumference of the city to light the protective lanterns and then returning to the bridge, where the large crowd would release their own floating lanterns to carry their prayers for the new year to Melitele. 

“There’s music in the square,” Geralt said, and Jaskier could just barely hear it as well. Normally he would be amongst the performers, but tonight he was there as the audience. 

“The flutist is off key, I can tell already,” he said with a grin, though he could hear no such thing from this distance. Geralt huffed out a laugh and took Jaskier’s arm, just above the end of his glove. Geralt’s fingers were bare, his witcher metabolism keeping him warm enough without them, and they were a cold shock against the skin of Jaskier’s wrist. He let himself be led into the square, which was packed with people. Tables had been set up with food and drink around the edges, while the far side was dominated by a low stage. In the center, couples and groups danced, circling each other in common folk movements. The tune was jaunty and fun, a lively song to help fight back against the dark that threatened the edges of the gathering. Defiant in the best of ways. 

“I don’t suppose you know any of the local dances?” Jaskier asked, already knowing the answer. Geralt confirmed it with a shake of his head. “Well then be a dear and get us some ales, hmm? We can still watch.”

Geralt, for once, did as he was bid without comment, probably just as interested in the alcohol as Jaskier was. He found them a spot to stand near the mouth of an alley, where he hoped the noise of the crowd would be a bit reduced. Geralt was sometimes bothered by the bustle and murmur of a large group of people. 

Geralt rejoined him shortly, offering him a mug of mulled wine. Jaskier took a grateful sip, feeling the hot liquid settle in his gut and warm him from the inside out. It was very good - spicy and strong, just how he liked it. Geralt hummed appreciatively when he took his own drink. 

They stood watching for a while, Jaskier making the occasional snide comment about a bad dancer or an overplayed tune if he thought it would make Geralt laugh. And it did, more often than not; Geralt was open and affectionate this evening, leaning down to whisper conspiratorially in Jaskier’s ear as they watched a couple sneak away from the dancefloor. Jaskier laughed into his glove, quickly beginning to feel light and soupy from the drink. 

“I know this one,” Geralt said suddenly, drawing his attention back to the band. It was a slightly slower song, a couple’s dance. Bright gold eyes turned in Jaskier’s direction. “Want to dance?”

Jaskier gaped. “With you?”

Geralt’s eyebrow quirked upwards, betraying only exasperation. “Don’t see anyone else here making an offer.”

“Well, you - I - Alright,” he said, finally, swallowing his confusion. Geralt offered a hand, and Jaskier accepted. 

They moved out towards the dancers, Jaskier feeling his heart rise in his throat. When they reached the edge of the pack, Geralt turned and gave Jaskier a short bow, overly formal for the setting. With an incredulous laugh, Jaskier returned the motion, and when he raised his head again Geralt was in his space, hands coming up to rest lightly on his waist. 

It shouldn’t have been able to take his breath away so easily, but it did. 

The motions of the dance were simple, basic circular pathways as they stepped out and back in together. Their hands never parted, but every time the steps pulled them apart Jaskier found himself missing Geralt’s warmth beside him. Slowly, the tempo picked up speed, until they were twisting and whirling around without pause. When the song ended, Jaskier was panting for breath. Geralt looked winded himself, though his chest rose and fell at the same rate it always did. 

They made their way off the dance floor once again, ceding their spot to another couple. Geralt’s arm curled around Jaskier’s waist and he leaned into the touch, feeling more drunk than he should be. “You’re good at that, witcher,” he said, accusatorily. “I could have been taking you dancing all this time! How many balls have we been to?”

Geralt flushed faintly, the color staining his ears a fetching red. “The Wolf witchers use techniques that are similar to some dances,” he said. “The pacing, some of the moves, are familiar.” 

“I’m never going to let this go,” Jaskier warned as they shuffled back towards the mouth of their alleyway. “You’re going to have to dance with me at every festival, ball, and banquet we ever attend from now on.”

Geralt smirked at him. “I don’t know that I mind.”

And what was that supposed to mean? Jaskier felt a flush spread down his cheeks, his throat, even his chest felt warm. Geralt didn’t mind dancing? Or didn’t mind dancing with Jaskier? Panicked, he said, “I’m going to get us more drinks!” 

By the time he returned with more warm wine, he had managed to wrestle his emotions back into place. He passed Geralt one of the mugs, giving him a wide grin that he hoped would cover for his accelerated heartbeat. 

As they drank, Jaskier found himself at a loss for words. He was happy to be here, truly. It was always enjoyable to spend time with the object of his affections, but at the same time, he felt something cold settling in his stomach that the wine could not touch. He glanced at Geralt out of the corner of his eye, watching the other man observe the dancers. His hair was in slight disarray from the dancing, his cheeks still slightly flushed, and Jaskier wanted him so badly it felt like a wound. He wished he could lace their fingers together as other couples around the square were. Wished he could sit in Geralt’s lap and feed him sweetmeats and honey cakes as the festivities melted away around them. It was difficult to be so close, and yet so far from what he actually desired. 

Geralt glanced over at him, and something in Jaskier’s face must have betrayed his sudden turn into maudlin, because he didn’t look away. “Should we go?” Geralt asked, concern drawing his brow together. 

Jaskier cursed himself, plastering on another smile. “No, no, dear heart, I’m enjoying myself plenty. The lanterns will probably be lit soon, don’t you think? Maybe we should go find ourselves a spot before the crowd arrives.”

Geralt nodded, still looking a bit worried. It was flattering, that he was clearly concerned about whether Jaskier was having a good time, but it only made him feel more wistful. Not looking to see if his friend was following, Jaskier began to pick his way out of the square, doing his best not to jostle any of the other partygoers. Geralt dogged him like a shadow, and they both emerged some minutes later in the silvery moonlight of the river walk. 

Already Jaskier could see the bridge, some ways away to their left, dotted with lantern lights. The procession had made its way back. He stepped up to the edge of the river, leaning against the low wall that held the city back from its edge. Geralt stayed a step or two behind him, arms crossed against the chill. “This will be a good spot,” Jaskier said, leaning over the railing to point. “They’ll release them there, so we should be able to see them as they go up.”

“They do this every year?” Geralt asked, voice a low rumble. Now away from the noise of the crowd, it shook Jaskier’s bones. 

He nodded. “For the last, hmm, thirty years, I think? The lanterns carry wishes, you see, requests for Melitele. They go up into the heavens, and when they come down they carry her blessing. So they say.”

“Hmm,” Geralt replied. They stood together in silence as the little pinpricks on the bridge became a sea of candlelight, and slowly, one by one, began lifting up into the air. Soon the sky was awash with golden sparks, hovering above them. 

Jaskier leaned against the wall, watching the lanterns make their way skyward. “Wish I’d thought to make one ahead of time,” he said wistfully, watching their lights twinkle in the darkness. “I didn’t know we’d be -” He turned to look at Geralt, who was rummaging around in his bag. “What are you doing?”

With a triumphant huff, Geralt found what he was looking for. He presented it to Jaskier with a sheepish looking grin, an unusually bashful look for the witcher. In his palm was a small square of paper and wood, maybe half the size of the other lanterns being set loose from the bridge. “I found someone selling them earlier,” he said, setting the little thing on the ledge of the wall in front of them. “Thought you might want to join in.”

Jaskier clapped his gloved hands together, delighted. “Oh, it’s just adorable,” he said, feeling his grin pull at his cold cheeks. He picked the thing up, cradling it delicately in his cupped hands. The paper sides were decorated with a floral pattern - tulips, or maybe buttercups. Jaskier reached forward towards Geralt. “Would you light it for me?”

Geralt reached out and snapped, the clean sound cutting through the still air. Immediately the paper in Jaskier’s hands began to warm, the little lantern glowing merrily. Carefully, Jaskier made his way to the edge of the river wall and leaned over the side, letting the lantern rest on his flat hands as it grew lighter. After a moment, it lifted gently off of his palms and started to drift skywards.

Geralt stepped up to join him, their shoulders pressing together as they leaned against the railing, watching their little lantern float up to join the sea of others. A wave of golden light blanketed the city, giving the river an otherworldly glow as it reflected the sky. Jaskier sighed happily, allowing Geralt’s constant warmth to wash over him. He turned to comment on the spectacle, but his words died on his lips as he found Geralt already looking at him. The warmth of the lanterns reflected in his eyes as well, making them glow with their own light in the darkness. Jaskier’s breath caught in his throat, his cheeks warming. 

“This was nice,” Geralt said, his voice pitched low. The rumble of it sent a shiver up Jaskier’s spine. They were so close together, and Jaskier found himself turning into Geralt’s heat like a flower to the sun. 

“Y-yes,” he stuttered, a beat too late. “It’s always a pleasure to spend an evening with you, my friend.”

Geralt hummed, a distracted noise, and lifted his bare hand up to Jaskier’s jaw. “Oh,” Jaskier said, surprise and confusion and clamouring hope blossoming in his chest, and then Geralt was kissing him. 

It was a chaste little thing, but Jaskier felt himself light up at the touch. His own hands came up to grasp Geralt’s hips, the gloves or the shock making him clumsy. Geralt hummed again, a wickedly satisfied sound that made Jaskier shudder embarrassingly. He tasted like mulled wine and cinnamon, the taste lingering on Jaskier’s lips as they pulled away. 

He stared at Geralt for a moment before clearing his throat. “What, erm. What was that for?”

Geralt gazed at him fondly, a thumb skating over Jaskier’s cheekbone. He knew it must be warm to the touch. “I wanted to,” he said, shrugging. “And it’s the customary way to end a romantic outing, I’m told.”

Jaskier blinked at him. “Romantic outing?”

Geralt’s head tilted to the side, giving Jaskier a confused look. “What did you think this was?”

“Oh,” Jaskier said again. “Oh!” He pulled a hand away from Geralt’s side to slap over his own forehead, feeling both extraordinarily foolish and giddy. “God’s above, this was a date?”

Geralt’s expression shuttered slightly, and his fingers slipped from Jaskier’s cheek to his shoulder. “You didn’t realize.”

Jaskier leaned forward, desperate to wipe the nervous look from Geralt’s face. He wrapped his own hands around Geralt’s neck, squeezing the base of his skull slightly. “I’m sorry, dearest, I didn’t, but I am delighted. Ecstatic, overjoyed, elated, euphoric, exultant -”

Geralt laughed, cutting him off. “Alright, I get it. You’re happy.”

“More assuredly so,” Jaskier agreed, grinning. He felt lighter than he had in years, floating on a bubble of joy. “Though I will say, we will probably need to go on another ‘romantic outing’ to be sure we do it right. I won’t have our first real date be one I wasn’t even aware of.”

Geralt leaned back in, his lips ghosting over Jaskier’s. The bard shivered, anticipation making his breath come faster. “I don’t know that I would mind that either,” he said, and then his lips found Jaskier’s once again. Jaskier laughed into the kiss, and knew that there would be many more chances for the perfect date to come. 

[0poole]

I LOVE No Straight Roads

Honestly it’s hard to keep me away from a game with great visuals and even greater character design. I knew from the INSTANT I saw these characters that I was going to love it. I just finished it because it’s (unfortunately) pretty short, and even though I cheesed the final boss through it’s very lenient death mechanics (Instant respawn at the cost of a good rank) I actually appreciated that it wasn’t a pure cake walk. I’ve yet to rematch all of the bosses, but since I had genuine trouble with the later ones I’ll hold off on that.

But who cares about gameplay, am I right? I sure as hell don’t. I would’ve bought the game no matter what the hell it was. I wanted the characters (and the music, although I realized that second) and that was it. 

First of all, I love any world that is super fantastical but cheesy in its concept, ala a city powered by music, and battles between artists using music. Ideas like this only spawn from a mind that wants to create a fun atmosphere, if nothing else, and it was sure as hell fun. I genuinely love when someone goes so far into a crazy idea and doesn’t waste your time explaining it with real world logic. Wanna know how a city can be powered by music? Shut up and look at the cute virtual mermaid. Lord knows I did. Every once in a while, it does you good to just let the player/reader/viewer just revel in the idea without having to go out of your way to make things seem realistic. It’s not about “turning your brain off” or whatever, it’s picking your battles.

Also, I can seriously love a world with great background characters to it. Any game with the right situation to insert the random nobodies you find onto the streets into the art in the credits really played into the greatness of the world’s less important characters, and that’s always a good thing. It’s technically world building. But, since I always love to pick favorites, I’d have to say my favorite background character is easily Mia, the NSR infodesk assistant. It’s funny, because you can literally search “nsr characters” into Google and she’s the third image result. I love how jumpy she is when you first interact with her, since NSR probably spread the word about B2J suggesting they’re rock thugs who’d beat up anyone, so for all she knows she could die right then and there with a guitar lodged in her skull. She’s probably just some intern trying to pay for college. She don’t want trouble.

Also, I just realized that 90% of the characters in this game have the same body structure that I always love, that being having arms/legs that sort of fan out in width into relatively large hands/feet. It’s a kind of limb structure I fall into so much because it just really hits me right for some reason. I really can’t explain why.

Anyways, I gotta talk about the big boys individually:

Mayday and Zuke are an amazing duo. I’m always a sucker for a cute and crazy girl, but honestly Zuke hit so many of the right notes too. I will say it’s weird to pair the martian Zuke with the humanly-skinned Mayday, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because he looks so cool on his own. I love his weird blocky blue dreadlocks, and his weirdly shaped shirt which bares his chest in the weirdest way... And, oh my god, Mayday’s weird Spongebob background flower eyes? It’s little tidbits like that that really make me jealous. How could I have ever thought of that? It looks so perfect, and I don’t know why. And her little booty jig she does in her idle animation? Adorable. I played as her as much as was reasonable not only because I’m a filthy button masher with little strategy but also because she’s so damn cute. I can also appreciate how she has a tough-as-nails persona while still keeping a semi-girly attitude, like with her falling for 1010 and Sayu. Characters are so much better when they’re a perfect blend of characteristics, instead of being all one-note, like how Zuke is the quiet one but gets heated against DK West, and all. 

Honestly the voice acting for every character is great, but I love when Mayday’s VA’s accent shows through. It’s a perfect twang to accent (consider this the only acknowledgement of a pun in this post) her snarkiness. 

DJ Subatomic Supernova was going to be an easy favorite since he’s all space-themed. Also, I don’t know why I always end up liking the egotistic characters. Not in the sense that I like their egotistic-ness, but in the sense that I like everything else about them and they just so happen to also be egotistic. The same applied with Empoleon (maybe like my 2nd favorite Pokemon) and Rarity from MLP, probably among others. Either way, I’ll never not love space themes. Not to mention he’s got a funky disco theme, and I’m slowly starting to realize that I am in extreme love with techno-funk styles of music. The instant I heard his music he cemented his place into my playlists. 

As for design, I still have no idea what the fuck he is. Clearly AI is at human levels in this world, but if he’s a robot why does he still have hairy legs? But, if he’s a human, is that weird orb his head? Is it just some sort of puppet which he controls from inside his giant jacket? I know I dissed explaining things realistically but I actually want to know with this guy. Even the wiki doesn’t say. Either way, he’s clearly the logical extreme of “being at the center of your own universe.” Even his jacket depicts a solar system, with his hood being the sun. Didn’t see that until I tried to draw him. I really wish this guy wasn’t so tied to his DJ stand so I could reasonably draw him without it. I don’t want to draw his hairy ass legs. It is a great touch for his design though (although I prefer his beta look with pants and long boots, another design trait I tend to gravitate to) since DJs could reasonably not wear pants, since they’re always behind a table.

Sayu is my favorite. It’s so plainly obvious. It’s weird to say that sometimes, because some characters like Sayu are so clearly engineered to be as adorable as possible, to the point where they’re basically a parody of whatever they’re supposed to be emulating, but then they do that so well that they are still likable for what they’re trying to parody. Also, even though I’ve never looked into any vocaloid superstars myself, the fact that they exist and are loved in real life is absolutely perfect to be used as a character design in a world like this. It’s so weird conceptually, but we all know it’s normal and realistic. But yeah, she’s a giga-cutie whom I’ve already drawn and I’ve listened to her theme on loop on many different occasions. Favorite character, favorite track, favorite weapon of choice (What did I say about Empoleon?), which, and I wouldn’t have noticed this myself, looks like the USB symbol you see above USB ports on computers. How crazy perfect is that?

Even apart from my unbridled love for cute monster robot(?) girls, her boss fight is probably the 2nd greatest of them all, at least conceptually. She’s just a hologram, so you can’t touch her, but you CAN disconnect the artists which control her in order to defeat her. It’s the kind of concept for a boss fight that could only work for this type of character. I’m a sucker for the cute girl that provides her voice, but I love how the animator (video editor? the yellow one) actually attacks you with a mouse and lowers the brightness of the setting once he appears. Also, the mocap guy being the deeply-voiced type but still providing the adorable movements of her body. It’s such a great combo of characters, and their little extra art in the credits makes me like them even more. I just wish we could interact with them individually.

DK West was probably one of the most interesting characters visually, especially since I knew of every other NSR member long before the game came out, but I only just heard of him closer to the release. I wasn’t sure where he was placed, but I definitely assumed his gig was the weird shadow demon we saw in the trailers. When I finally saw him in game, I was shocked to hear him speak an entirely different language most of the time, which was really cool. Also, finding out he was tied to Zuke and wasn’t strictly an NSR artist really made him more interesting. You know, if his fucking shadow clone magic didn’t make him crazy cool enough. Even though I suck at his game and am not especially fond of his raps, the visual of him rapping with this giant monster behind him and dozens of weird shadow wingmen by his side hyping him up was probably one of the coolest in the entire game. The dark way they were hyping him up too gave such a bizarre atmosphere, especially since it parallels his seemingly chill and smiley demeanor. 

I definitely hope they’ll introduce new bosses as DLC in the future, and make them sort of in the same vein as DK West, where they aren’t the biggest artists ever, but they want to pick a fight with B2J. I’d kill for any extra content this game can provide.

Yinu is obviously special since she was the subject of the demo they put out for the game. Even though I knew all her bells and whistles, she and her mom still beat me a few times in the full game. Considering she’s semi-tied to story-ish spoilers I kinda want to go more into her in a separate section. It is worth considering playing the game first since it’s not hard (with the easy going deaths) and it’s short length.

1010 seriously grew on me as I learned more about them and interacted with them. I got their shtick when I first looked at them, but after seeing that animation of them touring the city on Youtube I was kinda falling for them. Then, I learned that they’re apparently repurposed navy war robots? I mean, maybe not them specifically, but it seems to heavily point in that direction, with the warship cars and “attention!”s and all. It took me a bit to get into their music too, but once I actually fought them and put their actions to the music I fell in love with it. I swear, Neon J’s weird dancing can has some of the smoothest moves in all of gaming. I don’t know whether they mocapped out those movements or got one of the greatest animators ever, but it looks so impossibly clean his part of the song gets me like 30x more hype than it would normally. 

Also, their little art piece of them looking at fan mail in the credits is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Even if they’re just Neon J’s puppets, that piece of art really makes it seem like they love every one of their fans. I’m not gonna lie, I might swoon a bit too if they picked me out and gave me some special attention.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Mayday was super sad in her showstopper against them was adorable and hilarious at the same time. The little tweaks they made to the showstopper for each fight were great.

Eve just has to be Lady Gaga, right? Like, an even crazier Lady Gaga. DJSS is Daft Punk (or any artist with a helmet persona, you know what I’m talking about), Sayu is Hatsune Miku, DK West is Kanye West, Yinu is a generic child protege, 1010 is a KPop boyband (just pick one) and Eve is Lady Gaga. That’s just how things are. But, again, this is the kind of boss fight that only this type of character could provide. It’s not just surreal imagery, it’s ARTISTIC surreal imagery. The fight is so mesmerizing in every way, especially by how it starts off so slow and calm and progresses to insanity, as well as the increased emotional investment in the fight making you feel so much more into it than just “That’s the boy band. Let’s fight.” Not only does it get you more invested, but it makes her artistic persona go deeper than just “she looks weird.” She is genuinely conflicted about her relationship with Zuke, and naturally that leads her to literally split him and Mayday apart. That mechanic specifically was the coolest, although I do wish they made it more obvious when you needed to switch over to a different side. I was getting pulverized by her fight too, since there were so many things to pay attention to. Her fight was definitely the best one. 

Tatiana and Spoilers:

Let’s be real with ourselves, the twist was so obvious. I do also think, though, that obvious twists aren’t bad if they’re just good reveals. At some point, a person just has experienced so many stories that “only pretty good” twists are easy to spot. It doesn’t mean that the twists are bad, it just means you yourself experienced.

I feel like her transition from rock to EDM was pretty understandable, even as a non-musician. She was so caught up in what she assumed was popular that it basically consumed her. It’s easy as an artist to want to forgo what you truly want to make in favor of what makes you popular, and clearly since her transition to EDM made her the CEO of the biggest company in the city (world?) that probably made her think she truly needed to change her outlook. Then, when she saw B2J try to bring it back, she sort of coined them as being as misguided as she was and knocked them down a peg. Plus, they were kinda being jerks about it.

It’s kinda like the Trolls sequel, where everyone pegs rock music fanatics as being too stuck up in their own heads to appreciate other types of music, which honestly seems more like the case than the alternative. When I first heard of the story of the game, I was seriously hoping they did put an asterisk on B2J’s ambitions because they were a bit sketchy from the start. 

That’s kinda where I want to talk about Yinu, because she was the true turning point in what they were doing. She’s literally 9 and yet she’s getting dragged into all this BS. When she said “I hate you all” at the end of her fight, and played a somber tune on her broken piano after the fight destroyed it, you kinda got a kick in the face to realize you’re kinda being an asshole to some of them. Sure, they fight back, but they wouldn’t fight in the first place if they didn’t have to. They are just people who play music under a joint name that B2J just so happened to get in hot water with. 

Then, of course, there’s Kliff, who also reeked of surprise villain, and who’s basically the embodiment of the bad side of B2J, where he just wanted to destroy for his own sake and not for the actual greater good. Once B2J realized their mistake, they backed off, but Kliff was so hard pressed to do what he planned on in the first place he wouldn’t stop. I kinda wish he got a bigger fight to his own since he’s clearly a big enough tech genius to divert a whole satellite into one specific building. Maybe the Elliecopter chase bit was his thing, but I do kind of wish he was there to fight against them too.

Even though Tatiana did kind of reform a bit quick, It’s still not too crazy to assume she could see that B2J was just misguided and the fact that they worked to revert their wrongdoings for her sake would make a pretty strong impressions. They clearly can hold their own, so it’s not like she wouldn’t want them to join NSR too. 

Oh yeah, and her boss fight was clock/time themed. If there’s a theme under space that I love, it’s clocks/time. 

And If I am to be respected by the internet, I must provide a negative opinion to balance out my positive one. I will say that the character model physics (like Mayday’s braids, DK West’s vest thing, Neon J’s fluffy neck thing, etc) got kinda funky at times. Especially DK West’s vest, which was completely messed up for every scene he was in... Also, even though the voices are mostly great, some lines felt a bit off. Just a bit. That good enough? Good.

But yeah anyway that’s another favorite game to add to the pile. Eventually I’m gonna have to compile a true list of my all-time favorite games/movies because I do kind of want to have a solid idea of what my all-time favorites are.

[ur-jinji]

141+levi

ps. have a lovely night (: and dont put preasure on yourself. u are great!

thank you very much anon!!! have a lovely night yourself <3 ur greater :)

someone to spend time with

levi ackerman x gn!reader college au

summary: in which two lonely people share an unlikely friendship and some confused feelings for one another

word count: 2.2k

song: someone to spend time with // los retros

“i got you boba,” you announced as you approached a small, square table in the library where your classmate, levi, resided.

“what the fuck is that.” he asked.

“tea.”

“say less.”

you handed him the drink and sat down across from him, watching him slurp away. his attention quickly moved back to the book in front of him.

“how’d you find me?” levi questioned, his steel eyes glancing up at you for a quick second.

“you’re always here,” you replied, shrugging. “plus, i need help with our reading assignment.”

“you always need help.” he sighed and closed his book.

you and levi shared a shakespearean literature course and somewhat became friends by default because your assigned seats were directly next to each other. he was very reserved in class, but your boredom got the best of you, so you’d talk his ear off. he wasn’t very amused initially, as he took his schoolwork and class time very seriously, but he eventually warmed up to you. after forcing levi to help you once, you just kept coming back. you enjoyed his quiet company, and he appeared to be just as alone as you were. except his was by choice, you assumed.

“i just can’t keep up with all of macbeth’s drama,” you joked. “i figured i’d pay you with tea and my presence to help me for the millionth time.”

“yeah, your presence was starting to not be enough,” levi said monotonously, yet a small smile forming on his lips.

“you must like my company a little if my presence was enough of a payment before now,” you replied as you leant your elbow on the tea, resting your chin in your palm.

“i guess you’re okay,” he said simply. “what do you need help with.”

“listen, i tried to read act 2, but i was at a loss,” you stated. “oh, and i forgot my book.”

“you’re an idiot,” levi mumbled, shaking his head. “c’mere.” your eyes widened, but you complied, getting up from your seat across from him. as you made your way around the table, he grabbed the back of the chair next to his and pulled it out for you. you thanked him and took a seat, in which he replied with a simple “mm-hm.”

“take some notes. i don’t want you calling me tonight saying you’re confused,” he told you. you nodded and grabbed your pencil and notebook from across the table. levi started summarizing the text for you, and explaining the shakespearean language that constantly left you feeling perplexed. you silently listened, jotting down notes for a while before getting bored and doodling on the sides of the paper. he quickly took notice in your drawings. he glanced down, seeing an outline of an angry face, along with an arrow pointing to levi. his eyebrows furrowed when he saw the word “stinky” accompanying the face and arrow. he swiftly picked up his own pen and drew an x through your doodles, then scribbling “brat” down on the paper. you giggled and nudged his knee with yours.

“tch. you should be paying attention. we’re being quizzed on this,” levi commented, causing you to groan. you folded your arms and let your face fall forward into them.

“i didn’t even hear the professor say anything about a quiz,” you grumbled, your voice muffling against your skin.

“you didn’t hear because you’re always talking my ear off. she said there’ll be an essay, too,” he added, only making you groan once again. you relaxed slightly when you felt his hand pat the back of your head. his head pats were his quiet way of trying to comfort you. they always felt nice.

you suddenly perked up, his hand falling off your hair, in which he moved to rest it on the back of chair.

“okay, okay. let’s get serious,” you said, nodding towards his textbook.

“i’ve been serious,” levi replied blankly. he continued his little lecture, and you wondered if he realized his fingers had started toying with the ends of your hair. his touch sent chills down your spine. you started to take note in your mind of how he sometimes did those little things. those little gestures and touches. you liked them a little more than you should have. maybe you were just touch starved, or maybe they just felt good coming from him. levi wasn’t an easy guy to read, so you normally brushed those kinds of moments off. but as he droned on about some witchs’ prophecies, all you could think about was how the tips of his fingers were getting closer to the skin on your nape.

“you’re not taking notes,” levi stated the obvious, sighing and turning his head to you. “like i said, i don’t want you calling m-“

“what if i called you anyway?” you asked gingerly. his eyebrows furrowed, and the hand behind you disappeared. “like, what if I called you, but not to talk about macbeth?”

“what else is there to talk about.”

ouch. okay. now this is fucking awkward. should’ve just kept my mouth shut and let the kid keep playing with my stupid hair.

“hah, nevermind. i was just kidding. keep going,” you managed to get out, despite the feeling of an invisible hand around your neck to keep you from continuing to make an ass of yourself. you shifted your attention forward, your gaze falling down to your notebook.

“um, yeah. you can call me,” levi spoke, his normally uninterested tone sounding off. there was the tiniest hint of....desperation? tenseness? it went unnoticed by you.

“no, it’s okay. i don’t wanna bother you more than I have,” you replied. i need to get out of here. “i actually gotta go. i told my, um, roommate i’d help them with something.” you swiftly stood up, reaching out to gather your things, when levi’s hand was suddenly grasping your wrist.

“i...want you to call me,” he said, his volume low and his gaze shifting around, appearing to be quite nervous. you froze, and his grip on your wrist began to loosen before letting it drop. you nod slowly, pushing your head downwards to hide the embarassing blush creeping on your cheeks.

later that night, you were left alone, as your roommate was out with their friends or participating in a study group almost every night. you were sat at your desk, drumming a pencil and fidgeting around nervously, wondering if you should call levi. the phone works two ways, and you always seemed to be the one making the effort to hang out or talk to him.

what if he thinks i’m desperate?

you sighed and swallowed your pride. you pulled out the headphones from your ears that were playing loud music and found yourself staring at his contact in your phone.

knock knock. knock.

your head snapped in the direction of the noise coming from outside your door.

“hey, brat. let me in.”

you froze, your mouth dropping. you sat there for a few moments, debating whether or not you should pretend you went to bed.

knock. knock.

you took a deep breath and stood, making your way to the door and cracking it open. you saw levi with his usual stoic expression. before you could even say a word, he raised his hand, pushing the door open and walking past you. he stopped in the middle of the room, his gray eyes scanning the area.

“i’m assuming this is your side,” levi said simply, pointing to your side of the room. you felt embarrassed when you realized your bed was unmade and a plushy was propped up against your pillow.

“hah. uh, yeah,” you replied. the nerves in your voice and laugh were evident. you crept to your desk, wanting to hide anymore embarrassing evidence. you quickly found a cringey picture frame of you and a friend from your hometown, your hand grasping it and gently placing it facedown.

“what brings you to my dorm?” you wondered, taking a seat in the desk chair to hide your shaking legs. unfortunately for you, your shifty actions only grabbed his attention, and your question went ignored. levi strolled to your desk and pressed his hand on the wooden top, leaning nonchalantly. he reached out for the picture frame you were desperate to hide, and picked it up. you looked up at him as he observed it with a small smirk.

“tch. cute,” he commented before propping the frame back on the desk. you hurriedly slammed it facedown again, mumbling a sheepish ‘thanks.’ you continued to stare up at him as his eyes looked over your desk. his attention turned to you, his eyes falling onto your pink-tinted features.

“want some tea?” you offered.

some time later, you and levi found yourselves lounging on opposite sides of your bed, both sitting with legs criss crossed. he held a large tea cup, sipping quietly at his second drink as you let him in on some gossip about your roommate’s friend’s cousin. you don’t even know how you got to this point, but after offering him a drink and busying yourself, your nerves simmered. it felt a lot more comfortable after that.

“and then they said that she said that he got caught sexting not one, not two... but twelve other girls. then his girlfriend tried to burn his house down. and now she’s in prison for attempted arson,” you finished. levi lowered his cup after taking a long sip, and continued to stare with a blank expression. but despite his bored appearance, he was rather invested in this story.

“that’s rough,” he commented.

“i know right?” you replied as you picked up your phone. you clicked to see the time. “jeez, it’s already midnight.”

“tch, is that your way of kicking me out?” levi asked, smiling ever so lightly.

“unfortunately, yeah. i have an 8am class tomorrow,” you said, putting a little pout on your lip. “we should do this again, though. feels nice to just hang out with someone.”

“isn’t that what we’ve been doing in the library?” he questioned.

“i don’t count me making you help me with shakespeare as hanging out,” you explained.

“that’s fair.” he shrugged.

“also, this is the first time you initiated being around me,” you boasted, feeling pretty satisfied with yourself. “that means you think i’m fun.”

“i never said that.”

“well, you being here says otherwise. sooo...”

“whatever, brat.”

levi stood from his spot on the end of your bed, handing you his empty cup. you stood as well, following him to the door.

“i guess you’re okay,” he offered. “this was okay.”

“that translates to, omg y/n is the best, they’re sooo much fun,” you teased, nudging your elbow against his. “anyways, i guess i’ll see you in class on wednesday.”

“i guess you will,” he replied plainly, raising his hand to touch a strand of your hair, putting you in a state of shock. your mouth gaped slightly as you studied him curiously. after a few moments of silence, levi abruptly started leaning forward, your eyes widening. before you could react, his lips were against yours.

is this actually happening? you wondered. oh, my god it’s actually happening. this is real.

it took you no time to respond to the kiss, your eyes quickly fluttering shut. you hadnt been kissed a long time, and you remembered first kisses always being a little awkward as you both had to adjust to the way the other’s lips moved. but there was no awkwardness. there was no needing to adjust; it was perfect.

his movements were surprisingly fast and needy, his hands moving to hold your jaw as both of your quiet, desperate noises were swallowed. your hands came up to grip his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. you could feel little tingles everywhere he touched you, and a knot starting to form low in your stomach. you felt his tongue slip into your mouth as he moved his hands down to hold your waist, arching your back slightly. levi started to redirect you, pushing your back against the door, causing a loud thud against the wood.

“y/n? what was that?” a voice from the other side of the door called. your eyes flew open, seeing his steel eyes already looking back at you.

“shit!” you hissed. “my roommate.” you pulled your face away and took a deep breath, your hands still holding levi’s neck, and his still gripping your waist. you gazed at him for a moment, admiring his features. you hurriedly leaned in again, giving him one final, quick kiss.

“sorry! hold on!” you finally responded to your roommate as they started turning the doorknob. the two of you let one another go, quietly stepping away from the door that started to open.

“you won’t believe the night i-“ your roommate started, but freezing once they saw levi. their mouth dropped open and they glanced at you, shocked.

“sorry, he was just leaving,” you said, rushing to push levi through the open door. you followed him out, closing the door behind you. you sighed loudly.

“i’m sorry about that,” you told him quietly. he shrugged and slid his hands into his pockets. “i knew you liked me.”

“you’re okay,” levi replied, his eyes holding a warmth you had never seen from him before. “i’ll see you on wednesday.”

“yeah, yeah, see you wednesday,” you said, grinning as he turned around, making his way down the hallway.

[sttngfashion]

5.26 and 6.1 - Time’s Arrow

Oh my god. Y’all. It’s a new Fashion It So post. In the year of our Picard 2020. Yes.

For literal years, Charlie and I have been like UGH WE NEED TO DO TIME’S ARROW PARTS 1 AND 2 BUT IT’S JUST SUCH A MONSTER.

Well, I’m doing a complete rewatch of the series with my partner and we just got to these two, so IT IS TIME. 

We open in a cave in San Francisco, where Data and Picard are checking something out:

Rent for the cave is $6,000 per month

Showing them around is this guy in a Science Outfit:

He’s ready to go night biking

We’ve seen this look before in both Silicon Avatar and Devil’s Due, and it’s functional, yet cute. Basically a windbreaker in jumpsuit form. 

They find a couple of items in the cave, including a pocket watch from 1889 and also:

I left my head in San Francisco

IT’S DATA’S HEAD!!! And it’s been there for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS. What could have caused this? And why is Data’s head so absolutely terrifying?

Is that fondant

This head is, in a word, haunting. The 2020 of heads. 

Data and Geordi chat in Ten-Forward about what the presence of Data’s head in the cave means. Data says it means he’s mortal; that someday he will die, and that’s comforting. Spoiler alert: that’s not what it means. But it’s a nice conversation.

Also, Guinan is here!!!

Merlot My God!! 

Or maybe: Burgundy-lightful!! Or perhaps: De-Crimson-alize Sex Work!! Okay that last one was a stretch but I really think I missed my calling as a nail polish shade namer. 

Anyway, she’s here in her classic look of a pizza-sized hat and a flowing gown/coat/top/robe. The collar here is a little too close to a mock turtleneck for my liking and honestly - this is a little staid for our friend Guinan. I want a TEXTURE or a SWEEP or some WIDE RIBBING or some PLEATS. Don’t worry, though...she will get plenty more later.

Then there’s some plot which frankly we DO NOT HAVE TIME to get into but let’s just say: the away team goes to a planet, there’s a temporal disturbance, and Data ends up here:

Huge mood

Where are we? Or should I say WHEN are we??

Well that old-timey font is a good clue...also the horse

Are we in the Old West land of an off-brand Disneyworld? Are we going to ride something called Large Lightning Mesa Train Tracks? What colorful characters will we meet here?

Winner of 1893’s Mustache Medal

This type of ‘stache is called a Fu Manchu, after the character Dr. Fu Manchu. It’s not...a great look? But it is memorable, which is sometimes enough. He’s also wearing a simple black cap, probably made of silk. He’s keeping it cazh.

So where are we?

SAN FRANCISCO, OPEN YOUR GOLDEN GATE / YOU’LL LET NOBODY WAIT / OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR

Yes, it’s San Francisco. And it’s *eyes popping out of head like a cartoon wolf seeing a busty babe* 1893!!!! That temporal disturbance was...disturbing.

So who else do we have hanging out?

Please check out our Vaudeville act, Knit Cap ‘n’ Bowly

These dudes understand those famous Bay Area MICROCLIMATES, amirite? We’ve got a Henley. We’ve got a buttondown. We’ve got a vest. We’ve got a coat. No matter which way the thermometer decides to go, THEY ARE READY. Also loving the pop of forest green on Knit Cap’s knit cap. 

We also have a 49er:

No, it’s not Steve Young. I googled “famous 49ers” to complete this joke so if there is a more famous 49er please let me know

It’s a literal 49er. Since it’s 1893, this guy’s been hanging around in town for a while, and he’s also familiar with the layering techniques one must master if one is to conquer the Bay Area’s climate. He also has a kicky Colonel Sanders-type tie. He asks Data for money and gives him a few panhandling tips. He’s chill. We like him. But don’t get too attached if you know what I mean!!!!

Data decides he needs somewhere to stay, so he finds a hotel:

Brian.

Why is this so funny to me. Brian. Why would you name your hotel Brian. Brian!!!! I know it’s a last name but like...Brian. HOTEL BRIAN. 

This bellhop’s name is not Brian:

Where’s your hat, bro

He’s giving us a classic bellhop look, complete with too many buttons. He gives Data the very important information that there’s a poker game happening in the back of the hotel, which means: Data is about to be RICH rich. 

The poker game includes a few good looks:

Louie Anderson IS Wolverine IN a Lands’ End barn coat

Two plaids? Sir...I salute you

Colonel Sanders Goes to Carnaval

Data, of course, wipes the floor with them so hard that he wins their clothes:

Didn’t get that barn coat tho

Yes, that’s the actual vest and the actual hat of those guys from the previous scene. Oh, I love it. I love Data in a vest over his uniform and I love Data with a feather in his cap. Let’s call it macaroni.

Meanwhile, out on the street, the plot is happening:

Beige: inescapable

This is our first taste of the decadent 1890’s sleeves that appear in this episode, and these aren’t even the best sleeves!! These are an amuse-bouche of sleeves. An armuse-bouche, if you will. 

Anyway, these two are aliens disguised as humans who are here to steal the 49er’s life energy. 

Pew pew pew

I told you not to get attached!!!

Back on the Enterprise, Guinan is doing mixology:

She would never call it something as stupid as mixology though

She tells Picard that he needs to go check out the temporal disturbance, too, even though captains don’t normally go on away missions, and then she gives him this look:

It’s that serious

When Guinan looks at you like this, you do what she says. 

Now this outfit is much better than the earlier one. We have some pleated sleeves, which I didn’t even think was a thing you could DO. We have some sort of functional(?) strap(??) across the front. We even have matching fingerless gloves which always make a look A LOOK. And if Picard wasn’t sure whether he needed to go on this away mission, she then gives him THIS look:

Okay now it’s REALLY serious

Back in 1893, Data is making something:

It’s actually just a really complicated and large music box that plays “I Left My Head in San Francisco”

He’s gotten his hands on some more period-appropriate clothing, including a bow tie and a vest. Since he’s not wearing arm garters and his sleeves appear to be the correct length for his arms, we can conclude that the shirt was custom-made, not ready-made, because Data is now a baller due to his poker earnings. 

Then, Data sees this in the paper:

I know her!! From work!!!!

Yes, it’s Guinan. In 1893. In a hat!!!!

We cut to the literary reception, which is honestly not as well-attended as I thought it would be, considering it got a GIANT photo of Guinan on page THREE of the paper, but okay. And who should we spy there but:

You’ll love my secret blend of 11 herbs and spices

No, it’s not Colonel Sanders. (Sorry, I really have Colonel Sanders on the brain because of that Lifetime movie.) It’s Samuel Clements, AKA Mark Twain. I had an English teacher in high school who explained the origin of his pseudonym (it indicates a mark of two fathoms, aka twelve feet, on a steamboat) and for some reason she shouted MAAAARK TWAAAAAIN when she told us that story so now her delivery of that line is in my head until I die I guess.

Anyway, it’s Mark Twain.

He’s wearing his iconic white linen suit with a black bow tie, and he’s also wearing a lot of prosthetics, because the actor playing him (Jerry Hardin, AKA Deep Throat from The X-Files AKA Melora Hardin AKA Jan Levinson-Gould’s dad) (was that too many AKAs) (you get it, right?) didn’t look enough like Mark Twain, I guess? In conclusion: what if eyebrow wigs were a thing?

Twain is having a chit chat with “Madame Guinan,” who is wearing what can only be called a sumptuous gown:

It’s 11:30 and the gown is sumptin’ sumptin’

There are so many ELEMENTS to this look! First of all: the color. Royal purple. Fit for a queen. Appropriate. 

Then: those sleeves! These sleeves are known as “leg of mutton sleeves” because they KIND OF look like a leg of mutton. Have you ever seen a leg of mutton? I haven’t. I’ve only seen these sleeves. Plus they have a stripe?? No, I don’t know why, but I LOVE IT.

The cuffs and the cravat bring this from “dress” to “lewk.” Top it all off with this hat and you have a true 1893 mood.

What bird is that feather even from

We get a few good extra looks in this scene as well:

Pink Lady is NOT wearing a corset

Look, sometimes you don’t have enough period-appropriate undergarments for all the background people and that’s fine. But I WILL notice.

Is that Loretta Lynn

I am loving all of this! That purple dress is fantastic, those stripes? I die. Military man has some fun flair on his shoulder, and there is a dude in a beautiful turban back there. Plus, another Black lady in addition to Guinan and That One Ensign Who Is On The Bridge Sometimes.

Data rolls in to the literary event in a different suit with a CRAVAT:

Craving a cravat

Data is like “we serve together on the same starship in the 24th century” and Guinan is like “huh” but then she’s like “okay” which...I’m not sure if I would believe that? But let’s just say it’s fine. 

Over in the 24th century, the literal entire bridge crew is checking out the temporal disturbance and I DON’T LIKE THIS AT ALL:

Blue Man Group...on ACID

These beings are like ghosts but also like Dr. Manhattan but also like pure energy. 

Then everyone goes through the temporal disturbance AND THE SEASON ENDS. 

Fortunately for you, this post will continue...right now.

Okay, so we’re back in San Francisco in 1893. You can tell by the horses:

Also the fruit carts

Samuel Clemens is strolling around with a reporter, telling him that he has a great story for him that involves time travelers and, like, protecting the nation.

Here’s the thing about this episode’s version of Mark Twain: he’s kind of a dick. Was the real Mark Twain kind of a dick? I just feel like Mark Twain should be JAZZED about meeting time travelers and not acting like a fuckin’ time cop* and trying to put the Enterprise crew on blast. 

Anyway I love his double-breasted vest.

See my vest

The reporter’s hat is technically period-accurate, but that style is SO associated with the 1930s-1950s that I would have gone with something else. He looks cute though.

Meanwhile, Data is wearing a three-piece suit:

My positronic olfactory synapses are interpreting something as...a fart

I hate brown, but this is fine.

Additionally, the beige baddies from before are back and this time, they’ve got a SNAKE CANE:

Love the snake cane, hate how they suck the life out of people

But we are not here for them, we are here to see our faves in period clothing. Our first look is at Riker, who is dressed as an actual cop, not a time cop like Mark Twain:

The past just had...so many buttons

I guess if you’re a time-traveling white man there are worse disguises than a cop. But WHERE DID HE GET THIS UNIFORM? I choose to believe that he found a cop with a similar large handsome body to his own and beat the shit out of him and stole his clothes. Now we can all enjoy imagining a cop being beat up.

The badge that Riker is wearing is a great historical detail; the SFPD started wearing them in 1886 and are reportedly the first law enforcement agency to have worn the seven-pointed star, which is now a common shape among sheriff’s departments across the United States.

But let’s move on to a better look: Dr. Beverly Crusher:

Curlz MT

Okay, now I have more questions. Beverly obviously wouldn’t beat someone up for their clothes, so where did SHE get HER outfit? And who did her hair? Did she do her OWN hair? Where did she get a curling iron? Does she know how to use a curling iron? Was it one of those ones that’s actually made of iron that you have to heat up in a fireplace? 

We will get answers to zero (0) of these questions.

We actually get a much better look at her dress later, so let’s focus on that cloak!!! I love it and I also love her hat. Okay, I guess I had less to say about those than I thought.

Bev and Will, along with the rest of the officers, have somehow procured a room/apartment in some lady’s lodging house. It’s cute!

They gave it 5 stars on AirBnB

This also raises questions. How did they get this room? How many bedrooms does it have? Are they sharing one large bed? If so, who has to sleep crossways at the foot of the bed and why is it Geordi? We will get zero answers to these questions as well, so let’s move on to arguably the hottest costume in this two-parter:

I’ll be in Holodeck 4

Whewwwwwww. He’s giving us a rolled sleeve. He’s giving us a casual tweed vest. The pants? They’re perfect. And he KNOWS how that slouch is working. It’s working VERY well. But the Irish landlady? She’s having NONE OF IT.

Absolutely NO nonsense

She needs the rent, but Picard charms her and she leaves. So I guess that’s how they got the room. Her look is knitwear-forward:

Eileen Fisher does sound like an Irish name

She’s got a shawl AND a cardigan! The cozy factor is OFF THE CHARTS. She also has a brooch, because a touch of fancy is always welcome. I will say that her hair is a little more fashion-forward than I’d expect for a woman of her age and station. This is straight up 1890s hair, and she would probably still be rocking an 1860s look, which isn’t as sweepy and would likely involve more braids. Still, she looks lovely. 

Geordi is also here looking dapper:

Make the collar as high as you can. I want to be sliced open by my own collar

You CAN go wrong with a three-piece suit, but it’s difficult to. He can’t wear his visor, so he has some kicky shades which we’ll get a better look at in a sec.

Back at the Hotel Brian (lol), the bellboy (who we learn in this scene is Jack London, inspired to be a writer by Mark Twain [citation needed]) lets Mark Twain into Data’s room and allows him to look around unsupervised. This is very bad hotel management. 

Great Scott

Then Data and Guinan show back up, and Mark Twain hides in an armoire.

One short day in the emerald brocade

I think one reason I love Guinan’s looks so much, both in the 24th and the 19th century, is that our color palette is very similar. We’re both winters. Bold jewel tones are the vibe. This one is in a beautiful deep green fabric with what looks like a velvet flocking pattern on it. The collar is also velvet, and I love that sleeve with a flounce on top like there wasn’t already enough fucking fabric on the sleeve so they just added a random piece to be like “yes, bitch. I’m a sleeve.”

Naturally, the hat is also jaunty af:

San Francisco’s hottest milliner is: Madame Guinan

This hat has everything: feathers, netting, a brim, an angle that makes you think it’s going to fall off but it doesn’t. We stan.

Meanwhile, Picard is setting up a sensor in a hospital while wearing a hat:

I’m bowled over

We haven’t even asked where Picard got these clothes, but I would like to point out that he’s dressed as a lower-class guy, while Riker is a cop, and Geordi looks like a gentleman. Was there even a discussion they all had about how they would disguise themselves? Was Picard like “I just really want to wear a beat-up bowler hat” and since he’s the captain, they extrapolated from there? This episode is NOT CONCERNED about any of this. They all have clothes, end of story. 

Bev even has TWO outfits!!

Hello nurse!!!!

I love this look. She still has her unlikely hairstyle happening, which means her nurse’s cap is sitting atop her voluminous hairstyle. (Not very practical, but realistic!) She’s sporting a simple striped dress and a button-on apron. (Look closely and you can see the two buttons holding the apron to the dress.) The fabric underneath might be cotton seersucker, but it’s likely a lightweight cotton or linen twill. You can see how closely her look matches these nurses from a similar time period:

Hello nurses!!!!

Deanna is also in this scene and this episode, but you wouldn’t know it from what she’s given to do. HUGE SHOCKER: TROI NOT GIVEN ENOUGH TO DO IN AN EPISODE. 🙃

She still looks beautiful:

Why aren’t capelets more popular

We never get a really GREAT look at her whole outfit, but I can tell you that it has a capelet, it’s in the red family, and the hat has a lot of business going on. For those reasons: approved. It has a flounce in the back too:

More fabric = more wealth

Sometimes I think about just how much fabric it took to make these old-timey dresses and I’m like...how did anyone get anything done?? It takes me like 4 weeks to finish a pair of leggings and those have like 5 seams and I own a serger. These historical bitches were sewing whole ass dresses in no time at all. 

Okay, so Bev is in this hospital and here come some more energy-stealing aliens, disguised as healthcare professionals this time:

I cannot take a medical professional wearing a LIGHT BROWN TOP HAT seriously, sorry

Bev AND this energy-stealing alien have BOTH managed to get their hands on the SAME nurse’s uniform?? I guess in the case of the alien, she is a shape-shifter, so she got her clothes from...that. And her hair. 

I hate this light brown top hat. If you’re going to wear a top hat, don’t DISRESPECT IT by making it BROWN, but if you’re going to make it brown, make it a good brown, like chocolate. Stupid energy-stealing aliens.

There’s a skirmish, the energy-stealing aliens disappear, and the real cops show up:

MOUSTACHE

Of course, the cops showing up is bad, because when has a cop showing up ever made a bad situation better? Never. Defund the police, but don’t defund handlebar mustaches. Those can stay.

Fortunately, Data has gotten a ping on that machine he was building before and shows up on a motherfucking HORSE:

Brent just wanted to show off

He’s back in his brown striped suit and red tie. Okay.

Everyone returns to the boarding house to suss out the situation, and we get a look at what Riker is rocking underneath his cop jacket:

Suspend me daddy

You can see very clearly here how the collar is not actually attached to the shirt. This was a thing people in the olden days did so they could wear their shirt for multiple days in a row and just switch out the collar and cuffs so they looked clean. As someone who is wearing the same sweatshirt for the third day in a row, I support this method. (If you’re interested on more info about collars, here is a very enjoyable article about them.)

We are also blessed with a better look at Deanna’s sleeves and bodice:

Black lace cuffs? Decadent!!!

You can also see Geordi’s shades, which suit him really nicely. One thing I’ve been enjoying on this rewatch is just how well LeVar Burton can act without having his eyes visible. He’s great. Let’s just all think about how great LeVar Burton is for a second

And also Bev’s dress:

I legitimately want this dress

I don’t think those buttons are functional. Can you imagine how annoying THAT would be? But I am absolutely in love with this dress. Two paisleys, Beverly???? A goddess. I’m also dying for that brooch with the chain. A+ look all around, great work.

Finally, FINALLY, Guinan meets the rest of the crew:

When you meet someone you won’t actually know for 500 years

She is wearing a hat that looks like a toilet paper cozy. Did your grandma have one of these? They’re so stupid and I love them so much. 

Picard and Guinan meet for what is the first time for her, but not the first time for him, and honestly it is...sensual?????

If I got a m’lady from P. Stew I wouldn’t even mind

Patrick and Whoopi truly do some nice work in this ep. But we are here to yell about clothes, so: LOOK AT THIS DRESS ON AN EXTRA:

Gimme dat dress

I just want that dress to wear around my house. I legitimately bought an 18th century costume dress to do just that, so don’t think I won’t literally do this.

OKAY, WE ARE ALMOST TO THE END. 

The crew, plus Guinan, go back to the cave where this all started:

Cave Club, the only club that meets in a cave

We get a nice look at the bodice of Guinan’s dress here and guess what: MORE BUTTONS. Buttons on the lapels, and also buttons on the front panel with the pointy top. I wonder if she has multiple front panels for that dress in different colors, like a Swatch watch. 

Unbeknownst to them, Mark Twain followed them!! Then there’s a scuffle with the energy-stealing aliens during which a few things happen:

Data’s head flies off

Mark Twain gets sucked into the temporal disturbance

Guinan gets hurt

Picard stays behind to make sure Guinan is okay

So we end up with Mark Twain on the Enterprise, where he sees Worf, and he’s like:

Buh-WHAT

Worf is also confused:

This is...extremely perplexing

We have a few more looks back on the Enterprise, including Regular Guinan:

ShoulderSpreads™: The Bed Spread for Your Shoulders

I love love LOVE this outfit. The color is perfect, the shoulderspreads are perfect, the front draping is perfect. It looks like a velvet housedress from the 1960s except FANCY which is kind of my ideal aesthetic. And it’s red (my fave). 

We get a quick glimpse at the barber uniform:

Bitch let me pass, idc if you wrote Huck Finn

This barber does. not. give. a. fuck!!!! 

Geordi reattaches Data’s head, the one they already had, which means this whole thing was a ding dang closed loop. The reattachment also kind of diminishes the whole conversation they had earlier about how Data’s head in the cave meant that Data could die someday, because...he didn’t. He still might, but his head is back and he’s fine now.

Meanwhile, Picard is still back in 1893 and they have to go get him, but only one person can come back through the temporal disturbance, so Mark Twain is like “duh I’ll go get him.” 

And finally Guinan and Picard can talk about how their friendship spans 500 years!!!!

Hey girl

Hey

YOU’RE WELCOME

*abolish the police

[staticscreenwriting]

LOVE LIKE THE MOVIES // BUCKY BARNES // 4

Four - Casablanca

Masterlist

Summary: This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Bucky Barnes, finds himself thrown into a world that seems so different from everything he’s ever known. The girl, (Y/N) knows entirely too much about rom-coms and is quite particular about the way she eats her popcorn. Bucky meets (Y/N) a few months after returning to NYC. He knows almost immediately that becoming her friend is inevitable. This is a story of boy meets girl. This is a story about love. (Bucky Barnes x female!Reader // a few spoilers for TFATWS)

“ You dressed up! “

God damnit. He should’ve known. He really should’ve. Sam stands by his side, shit-eating grin splitting his face in two. He should’ve just worn a plain sweater and no one would’ve commented on it.

But then would she look at him with that joyful sparkle in her eyes and that gorgeous smile? Maybe the little dressing up that he did do, and all the teasing comments from Sam, are worth it if means she’ll look at him like that.

“I didn’t dress up.” Doesn’t mean he has to admit it. No now, not ever.

“ Uh, your jeans are cuffed. You’ve never done that!” (Y/N) points out to which Sam chimes in with a loud “that’s what I said!” words dripping with amusement.

“ It’s just my jeans, it’s not a big deal.”

“ And you quiffed your hair!”

Bucky glances towards Sam who stands beside him with the biggest smile any person has ever displayed in all the times humans have walked this earth. His joy at Bucky’s obvious discomfort knowing no boundaries and, if it weren’t at his own expense, Bucky would even find Sam’s amusement quite contagious.

“ You totally did! He totally did! I didn’t even notice. Hi,” he says and shakes (Y/N)’s hand “ I’m Sam.”

“ So nice to meet you, Sam. And you dressed up too! As a sexy Ghostbuster!”

Bucky can basically feel Sam’s ego inflate at those words and he knows, for a fact, he’ll never hear the end of it.

“ That’s right! I am a sexy Ghostbuster. Not a regular one. That’s exactly what I was going for, thank you. Man, I love her already.” Sam says, directed at both, (Y/N) but mostly at Bucky.

“ You look lovely too, by the way,” Sam points out and for the first time since they arrived, Bucky gives himself a moment to take her in entirely. Not just the little things, the twinkle in her eyes, the warm radiance of her smile. Her. All of her.

The blue and white checkered pinafore dress she’s wearing reaches down to her knees, her legs are covered by white knee-high socks and at her feet, a pair of ruby red heels sparkle as the light reflects against them.

She looks beautiful but what really makes Bucky’s heart skip just a tiny fraction of a beat is the fact that he knows who she’s supposed to be and, whether she did it purposefully or not doesn’t matter, he feels included for the first time in so long.

“ You’re Dorothy.” his lips produce words that his brain didn’t sign off on. They just slip out. They hold so much weight that even if he’d acted fast enough, he doesn’t think he would’ve been able to hold them back. They’re so seemingly insignificant but they hold a meaning that Bucky isn’t sure anyone will ever fully comprehend. Steve would’ve but Steve is — not here.

He hopes (Y/N) understands even a small fraction of what it means to him. And when she smiles, he thinks she might.

“ I am. Do you like it?”

“ You look beautiful. “ And she does. She really does.

Sam is grinning away like he’s just heard the best news and Bucky isn’t sure if he prefers this to his outright laughter at his discomfort or not. This smirk seems like some inside joke Bucky doesn’t get. Like Sam knows something he doesn’t.

“ Can I get you guys something to drink? Beers? “

“ That would be great “ Sam replies.

“ Grumpy? “

“ Sure.”

He can’t get drunk, that’s one of the little things the Serum changed about him. It’s not like he’s here to get drunk anyway but to feel the enthusiastic buzz that alcohol can wash through your system, would be nice. He hardly remembers what that felt like.

He’s gonna drink some beer either way though. It gives him the feeling of fitting in, of belonging with the crowd. Even if he knows that’s one big lie. Sometimes you have to lie to yourself to keep your heart from breaking.

Kim isn’t a friend. Not really. She’s a friend of a friend who somehow always tags along whenever (Y/N)’s friend group gets together. She’s never actually invited but she’s always there anyway. Tonight is no exception.

She’s dressed in some kind of last-minute DIY deer costume, one of those that have been popular a few years back on Youtube, and the way she smirks at (Y/N) as she enters the kitchen already makes the metaphorical alarm bells go off in (Y/N)’s head.

“ So, I didn’t know you know celebrities. “

“ What are you talking about, Kim? “

“ Oh, you know! “ Kim announces and slides up next to (Y/N), casually leaning against the kitchen counter. “ Do you think he can do some cool tricks with his metal arm? “

“ Who are you talking about? “

Obviously (Y/N) is well aware of who Kim is talking about. There’s only so many people with metal arms and only one of them finds himself at this very party. Still, she doesn’t give Kim the satisfaction of reacting to her ridiculous comment. Maybe, (Y/N) naively hopes, repeating her question will make Kim realize just how rude and offensive her words really are.

“The winter soldier! Who else. That’s him, isn’t it? “

“ No.”

“ You sure? I’m pretty certain that’s him.”

“ His name is Bucky!” (Y/N) clarifies, fixing Kim with a stare that conveys just how serious this is to her. “ And he is not some kind of circus freak or entertainer or something. He is my friend. “

Kim shrugs her shoulders so casually that it sends shivers of red hot rage through (Y/N)’s body. The audacity of this woman. “ Okay sure but he is the Winter Soldier, right? I don’t know why you’re acting so sensitive right now. Chill, girl.”

“ Fuck you, Kim. You are so disrespectful towards my friend. He’s so sweet and genuine and wonderful and he deserves to be seen for all that he is. He is not here for you to stare at like a caged animal and he sure as hell ain’t here to be reminded of his painful past. If you can’t treat him like a normal person, please leave. “

There’s a look on Kim’s face that (Y/N) hasn’t seen on her before. One of utter disbelief. One that lets her know that this was the last thing Kim was expecting. And for a little moment, a huge wave of triumphant enthusiasm crashes over her.

“ Whatever.” is all Kim replies once the shock has settled. With a pout on her lips, she shuffles out of the kitchen and back into the crowd. (Y/N) can’t tell for sure if she’s leaving but there’s no doubt in her mind that at least she won’t be harassing Bucky anytime soon.

A bitter taste settles on (Y/N) tongue, as she thinks about Kim’s words again. About the sick and twisted thoughts that reduce Bucky to little more than a human animatronic. It’s disgusting and so so sad and she just hopes Bucky hasn’t heard her say those things.

As she steps out of the kitchen and rounds the corner though, her hopes are squashed. There’s the usual pain on his face, the one that’s perpetually etched into his features as Bucky leans against the wall. But mixed in between, there’s something else. A confusing mess of emotions she can’t quite place. She knows though. He’s heard every last word.

“ Robin came over, started talking to Sam about some band I don’t know. Thought I’d come see if you need some help. “

“ Bucky, I — “

“ It’s fine.” He interrupts her. (Y/N) doesn’t think it’s really fine. Sometimes people just get so used to saying they feel fine, they actually start believing it. Only fine is not something you want to feel forever, is it? Fine shouldn’t be a permanent state. Fine should be temporary. A path to good. To great. To happy.

“ You sure? “

“ Yeah. I uh — I appreciate what you said.”

“ Oh sure. And I meant it. You’re my friend and you deserve all the good things life has to offer.”

He doesn’t know if he agrees with that sentiment. No, in fact, he’s sure that he doesn’t agree. While he is free of the pain that bound him to Hydra, he will never be entirely free of the guilt his past has put on him. One, he thinks, makes him undeserving of so many things. Like friends. Like happiness. Like love.

And yet it’s nice to know that other people see in him what he may never see in himself.

“ Now let’s go rescue Sam before Robin ropes him into some kind of wedding preparations.”

She says, hands Bucky a bottle, and then grabs his free hand to pull him towards the other side of the room where Robin, dressed as Jessica Rabbit, gestures around wildly as she talks to Sam.

At first, (Y/N) doesn’t even realize it but then she notices that the hand holding hers feels different. It’s not as soft to the touch as a hand usually is. The glove is warm and smooth under her skin but she wishes she could touch the metal. It’s not some kind of weird, misplaced fetishization or some sensationalism. It’s the fact that the arm is a part of Bucky as much as his eyes or his smile or his perpetual grumpiness. And she wants to know every part of him for they make him who he is, and who he is is wonderful.

3 hours.

It’s been 3 hours since they arrived at the party. 3 hours of music he doesn’t get from artists he doesn’t know. 3 hours of staying painfully sober while everyone around him gets exponentially more drunk. 3 hours of pretending not to notice the looks he’s getting.

3 hours and then it got too much. He’s well aware that this isn’t his time. By all means, he shouldn’t be here. Not like this. Stuck in a body that doesn’t match his actual age. Forever reminded of the fact that he’s not meant to be here. Usually, he tries to ignore that. Tries to learn about new things, tries to understand.

This party puts a mirror right in front of his face though. Makes it painfully obvious that this is not where he belongs.

What a party pooper he is. He’d hate himself. If his old self could see him now, standing alone on a balcony because he didn’t like the music inside. His old self would think of him as a coward. His old self is probably right.

“ Grumpy, what are you doing out here, all by yourself?”

For a second the music from the inside spills through the doors and into the serene night, only to be cut off a second later when (Y/N) steps onto the balcony and closes the door behind her.

“ Are you not having fun? “

“ It’s not that. It’s just —”

Just what? Bucky has no idea how to put it into words. It’s moments like this one where having Steve around would be so helpful. He’d understand and he’d know what to say. Steve always knew what to say. Steve just didn’t know when to shut up.

“ You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Ever.” (Y/N) says and bumps him with her shoulder as she leans against him looking out at the New York skyline.

“ I appreciate it.”

“ I was hoping you’d like my costume,” (Y/N) confesses after a moment. “ I feel like I tell you so much about all these movies you missed out on and I don’t know, maybe it’s silly, but I wanted you to feel in the know for once. Does that make sense? “

Bucky bites his lip for everything he wants to say is not something you tell someone you’ve only just befriended a few weeks ago. Never has he felt the need to spill his heart, with all his sorrows and fears and dreams, to anyone. Not until tonight. But it’s too much to burden her with. He can hardly carry the weight himself. To put it on her would be an awfully selfish thing to do.

So he just nods his head and smiles and he says “thank you” like it doesn’t mean anything when really it means the world.

“ Okay well, since I can’t bring you to the party — “ (Y/N) says and fumbles her phone from her dress pocket “ — I’ll just have to bring the party to you.”

For a moment she just types away on the screen before a familiar tune sounds from the speakers of her phone. A familiar tune, to Bucky. One he remembers dancing to when he was a whole other man.

Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Cocktail fills the air and Bucky’s lips unwillingly lift into a smile.

“ If I remember correctly,” (Y/N) says and reaches out her hand to him “ you owe me a dance.”

Bucky laughs and shakes his head, but grabs a hold of her hand anyway “That’s not how it works. You can’t just say someone owes you something simply because you want it.”

She’s so close now. He can see the lights reflecting in her eyes, can feel her chest lift with every breath she takes.

Here’s the thing about loneliness. After a while, you get used to it. It becomes a part of your life, of yourself, like breathing and sleep. You don’t even realize that you’re missing something. Until one day you’re chest to chest with a beautiful girl who thinks you’re wonderful and worthy of her friendship. And it’s then that you realize how lonely you were and how much it hurts and how much you’ve been missing the touch of another.

“ I’ve always wanted to dance through the night. Ever since I’ve first seen Moulin Rouge in the cinema.” (Y/N) says and they start to slowly but surely sway to the music. It’s tentative steps at first, shy and unsure. Barely there moves but there after all.

Sometimes it’s enough for things to be small. The big moments, the important ones don’t need to be big at all. Some of the most important ones don’t demand a lot of space and yet they take up all the space in your heart.

“ Do you remember your first time seeing a movie at the cinema? “ she asks, looking up at him with her starlight eyes.

It’s not a memory he can recall. It’s one of those that have been lost in the shuffle. Like a sweater you love that’s been lost in the laundry or a picture frame gone missing during a move.

“ I don’t. I do remember my last trip to the cinema though.”

“Yeah? What was it?”

This memory is so vivid, it could’ve happened yesterday. He remembers the old dusty velvet seats. He remembers the propaganda spot shown before the movie, the one that put a feeling in his gut as if he’d just swallowed a sack of bricks, now knowing what was to happen but expecting it. He remembers Ruth Dillinger and her gorgeous blond hair and the way it smelled like soap and flowers. And he remembers the movie.

“ Casablanca. Saw it on a date with a girl.”

“ Aw, you took her on a movie date? Lucky girl. “

“ I don’t know if I’d go that far. I wasn’t half as respectable of a guy back then. Was more interested in sneaking a kiss in the dark than taking her to see a good movie. “

“ Did you do the whole, yawning-arm-around-the-shoulder thing?”

“ Obviously.”

“ Oh, you were just a regular casanova, Mr. Barnes? “

“ For sure. “

New York feels alive with the power of possibility. Of a night being more than a night. Of small moments being big and big moments being so tiny and intimate and small. New York feels alive with emotions. Ones Bucky doesn't understand and couldn’t understand. But either way, he feels happier in that tiny insignificant moment than he had in a long time.

“ I’ve never seen Casablanca.”

At that confession, Bucky pushes away from her a little so he can properly look at her, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“ What? It’s a classic. I have good reasons for not having seen most of your movie recommendations, what’s your excuse? “

She smiles bashfully and shrugs her shoulders “ I really don’t know. I just never got around to it. I feel like it’s such an important movie, it asks for a special occasion. Like seeing it at some fancy cinema or in concert or something. You know? “

Bucky only chuckles before pulling her close for another soft sway around the balcony.

Only the serenity doesn’t last very long as the aggressive drumming of some EDM song penetrates the quiet and Sam steps out onto the balcony.

“ Hi guys, uh — am I interrupting something ?”

“ No, no. That’s alright” (Y/N) exclaims, sounding a little flustered as she pulls away from Bucky and presses pause on her phone, plunging them all in silence.

“ I’m gonna get going in a moment. Need to catch an early flight tomorrow morning. “

“ Aw, so soon? Well okay but it was so nice to meet you Sam. You’re welcome at any future party or just drop in at the diner whenever you’re around.” (Y/N) says and pulls him into a hug.

“ I will don’t worry. Told you, I like you already.”

They share another quick hug before (Y/N) excuses herself to get Sam’s jacket from another room, leaving Sam and Bucky alone on the balcony.

“ Do not say a word!” Bucky orders as he notices yet another grin forming on Sam’s face.

“ I didn’t say anything.”

“ But you want to. I can see it.”

“ What would I possibly say, Buck? That you’ve got it bad? You know that yourself. “

“ It’s not like that.”

“ Okay, if you say so. “ Sam complies and lets another silence fall over them.

That’s until he speaks up yet again “ You dance. Man, I can’t believe it. Hey, can you waltz?”

“ Shut up! “

The party is slowly but surely winding down. A lot of people have left by now.

Some are asleep on the couch. On the floor. Against the wall.

A few are still lingering around, talking in low voices. Slurred words, tired eyes, light hearts.

Bucky tries not to step on anyone as he maneuvers his way around the apartment, trying to find the room where (Y/N) put all the jackets. It’s time for him to go, no matter how much he wants to hold onto the moment. He’s tired and the party is as good as over. And anyway, he hasn’t seen (Y/N) in a while.

“ Psst, Grumpy“

(Y/N) peeks out from behind a door, beckoning him closer. As he steps into the room he’s embraced by a warm amber glow coming from a string of fairy lights that frame one wall.

On her bed, (Y/N) sits and leans against the headboard, balancing a laptop on her legs. The wall behind her is covered in photographs. Some of her, some of people he doesn’t know. There are pictures taken at concerts, theme parks, the beach. She’s smiling in most of them. Happy. Memories of a lifetime forever caught on film.

This, Bucky realizes then, is something he wants. Not right now but eventually. To make memories. Ones that last. Ones that don’t get taken away from him. And someone to make those memories with him.

“ Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you,” Bucky asks as she pats the blanket and he sits down on the bed next to her.

“ I’ve been looking for this movie and I finally found a decent copy we can watch.”

“ Now? “

“ Yes now. It’s supposed to be a really good one. I think you’ll like it. “

Bucky’s tired. He honestly just wants to go home and try to find at least a few hours of sleep. But she does it again, that thing where she smiles and his heart does the weird fluttery thing. And he can’t say no to that. Why would he ever want to say no to that?

So he scoots backward to rest against the headboard as well and his eyes take in the swirly white font on the screen spelling out Casablanca over the black and white image of a map of Africa.

His smile won’t be suppressed anymore. It takes over his face like it belongs right there.

"Thought you were waiting for a special occasion?"

“ I was and I found it. Now, what’s the romantic lesson I can learn from this one? “ (Y/N) asks as her head comes to rest on his right shoulder.

Bucky considers it for a moment, tries to recall exactly what happens. Some details are fuzzy, some lost altogether. But he remembers the core of it all. The love shared between two people.

“ It is about sacrificing the thing you want most in life to make sure the people you love are safe and happy. It’s about putting the one you love above yourself and breaking your own heart in order to keep theirs from breaking. Love is selfless, never selfish. And love is worth it. I think that’s what it’s about. “

“ That’s a lovely sentiment. But so sad too.”

Bucky only nods in agreement and as the title credits roll he wonders if he’ll ever get the chance to really figure out love. To fall for someone and love them so much he’d give up everything to see them happy. Even himself.

Though they call it the city that never sleeps, New York seems to grow tired. It grows calm and quiet and maybe for a second it falls into a slumber in the same way that both Bucky and (Y/N) fall asleep, cuddled up on her bed, while Ingrid Bergman flies away on a plane and Humphry Bogard walks into the black of night.

Bucky hasn’t slept in a bed in months in fear of nightmares and terrors lurking in the dark corner of his mind.

That night he doesn’t have nightmares. In fact that night he dreams. Of slow dancing on a balcony with only the stars bearing witness to the moment. He dreams of red slippers and fairy lights and black and white movies.

That night he doesn’t have nightmares. Only sweet dreams.

Taglist // if you want to be added or taken off just message me :) //:

@zaynzierulez // @je-like-you // @dracoxxyoflam // @jackiehollanderr // @majo240820 // @kay-gilles // @booksb4looksstuff // @jckie94 // @charmed-asylum // @shawnie--jo // @yllwtaxi // @tailsoflightning //@giuliarogers

[suchalonelysunflower]

Merry Crisis (a.i)

Pairing: Ashton Irwin (ft.5SOS) X Fem!reader (Dad!Ash)

Summary: Shopping is always stressful, but when you have a baby on the way... it can become a chaos, especially when you have 3 crazy best friends with you.

Warnings: Language. Fluff and some crackhead moments. Reader uses she/her pronouns. Mentions of Birth. Some grammar mistakes (English is not my first language, sorry)

Word count: 4.5 k

Author’s note: Hello! This is my first Holiday fic with 5SOS and it’s Ashton’s turn to shine (even tho each boy gets their moment) This was so fun to write, I did it on my sociology class (so maybe it’s not that perfect) and I love it very much and I hope you do too! Reblogs, feedback and comments are always welcome and encouraged! Support your writers! ❤️ Hope you like it and Happy Reading 🦋❤️

My materialist // wanna be on my tag list?

Twas the evening before Christmas, the streets were filled with Christmas lights and the chill air of Los Angeles made everything cozier as families gathered around the fireplace and enjoyed the most peaceful of times…

This statement does not apply to our favorite band, tho.

Our four Australians were not enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with their families as they were supposed to, oh no. They were doing the most dreadful thing a person could think of doing the night before dear Santa came to visit: They were Christmas shopping.

In their defense - or at least Calum’s, Michael’s and Luke’s defense, this was all Ashton’s fault for he was the one that dragged them to the crowded mall in the middle of one of the busiest days of the year. And, in Ashton’s defense, it was not his fault that the store had called him in the middle of a recording session to tell him that they finally had the only thing he wanted for Christmas: A music box.

He just had to get it before everyone else.

“Why did we come all over here for a little music box?” Asked Michael as they stood at the end of the line for the register. How could they only have one register open? It’s Christmas for fucks sake! but then again, it’s Christmas for fucks sake, so they know that people should be with their families instead of working a poorly paid job.

“It was the last one!” Ashton claimed, admiring the little circular box in his hand “It’s a limited edition and I just had to get it for Y/N and for the baby”

His eyes lit up when your name escaped his lips. Not even a year ago did he officially make you his wife, but now you were carrying his child! People might think it was rushed, but for Ashton it was the complete opposite. He had his life made when he met you, knowing that he will marry you as soon as he could… he had to wait a few more years to do that, but he was extremely happy, more so now that your little family was expanding. He loved you and your child with all his heart, and the boys all knew that so they can't even be mad about it, even if he kidnapped them to the mall with the promise of some cinnabuns later.

“She had one of these when she was little” Ashton continued as he admired the little hand painted details of the box “It always played a little lullaby to help her sleep. But it broke a few years ago and she always complained about not having one like this for her kids one day… But now she will!” The black haired man smiled.

“Shit, that’s actually pretty sweet” Michael commented “Okay, you’re forgiven”

“I don’t know if I want to hug you for being the perfect husband, or to kick you in the balls for being the perfect husband and making the rest of us feel bad” Luke chuckled.

The four boys laughed at the comment and started talking about their plans for the Holidays as they waited for the line to move. The problem was, it has been fifteen minutes and the line has only moved once.

“How long is this line anyway?” Calum said, peeking over the side, furrowing his eyebrows as he noticed at least thirty more people waiting in front of them “Shit, this is going to take a while. That man has at least twenty plushies and eleven race cars”

“I don’t know how people could leave this kind of stuff for the last minute” Ashton huffed, earning a death glare from each of his friends “This one is different, tho! It was the last one!”

“I’ll give you a hundred bucks for that!” Someone said behind Luke, making him jump at the sudden surprise.

“What the-” Luke said, placing a hand over his heart.

It was a short man in a trench coat who pointed to the music box in Ashton’s hand.

Ashton furrowed his eyebrows and said to the man “Uh, not a chance mate”

“Two hundred?”

“Nope”

“Five hundred?” The man would just not cave and Ashton was getting fed up with it, luckily Calum noticed and hurried to say something before his friend started a scene.

“Hey, mr. Devito wannabe. He said no, so just go bother someone else. Okay?”

The man scoffed and turned his face to the side, stating that he was offended. The four Australians rolled their eyes and turned their backs to him once again.

Another fifteen minutes passed and the line barely moved. The guys were not talking anymore, running out of things to say past the twenty minute mark. Each of them were bored out of their minds, well all but Ashton at least, he was still gleaming with pride as he looked at the music box and created scenarios in his head and thought about the joy that would be mirrored in your eyes once you open it tomorrow morning.

After a few more minutes of silence, Luke was the first one to break it “I think I’m just gonna get a coffee and wait in the car. These boots are killing me today” He looked at Ashton as if to ask permission, but the dark haired man just shrugged and nodded, asking him to buy one for him as well and to leave it in the car.

Michael then added “Yeah, I think I’m gonna go and check the electronics this store has. I think I saw a new camera that would be perfect for my streams”

And that only left Calum and Ashton waiting in line. But about five seconds later, Calum opened his mouth.

“Yes, you can go explore, too” Ashton said with a sigh before Calum even got a chance to ask.

“Cool” The curly man said, patting Ashton on the back before muttering a ‘I’ll be right back’ Leaving him alone with the music box.

Ashton didn’t mind. In fact, he kind of enjoyed this time alone. It gave him plenty of opportunities to imagine a new future for the both of you next to your little baby boy or girl. He catched a glimpse of families walking around the mall, buying gifts or eating a snack as they smiled at each other. He couldn’t wait for that to be his new normal.

He remembered the time when you told him you were pregnant. You gifted him a special baby bodysuit that said “My daddy is the best drummer in the world and there is nothing you can do about it” next to your positive pregnancy test. Ashton always wanted to start a family, especially if it was with you, but he never expected it to be so soon. Yet, once he held the test in his trembling hands, he knew that this was the best thing it could’ve happened to him. He remembers how tearful he got the second his brain processes the information, quickly running up to you and pressing an earth shattering kiss to your lips, promising you and your baby that he would be the best father in the world.

And, as he held the little object in his hand, he already thought he was doing a pretty good job. He smiled to himself and thought about calling you. Not only did he want to hear your voice at this moment, but also because he wanted to check up on you. You were having tea with your best friend at the moment, but the pregnancy hormones were hitting pretty hard lately and he wanted to make sure you were doing alright.

But as soon as he got his phone out of his pocket, your name started glowing on the screen.

“Baby! I was just about to call you” Ashton said with a smile, loving this little coincidence.

“Ashton, is coming!” You said in an alarming tone. Ashton, however, did not understand what you meant.

“Yeah? I’m coming home soon, why are-?”

“No!” You cut him off “The baby, Ash! The baby is coming!”

Ashton laughed “Ha, ha very funny Y/N. But the baby isn’t due until three weeks from now”

“ASHTON FLETCHER IRWIN” You yelled through the phone, making Ashton pull away from the phone for a second “MY WATER BROKE AND THE BABY IS COMING NOW. SO GET YOUR ASS TO THE HOSPITAL BEFORE I-” A sharp pain ran through you as you were experiencing the contractions. Ashton could hear your distant groan and immediately went pale.

The baby was coming and he wasn’t ready.

“Ash, hello?” Your friend’s calm voice came from the other end “I’m gonna take Y/N to the hospital right now. I need you to meet us there, okay?”

“Fuck, okay. I’m on my way” He rushed to say before he ended the call.

“Hey, dude. What’s going-?” Michael said as he approached the black haired man who looked like he might throw up.

“The baby’s coming!” He said, trying to concentrate on his breathing before he hyperventilates.

“What?!”

“Hey, Mike, is everything-?” Calum came next, worried about his friends’ weird behavior.

“THE BABY IS COMING”

Michael.

The guitarist started wandering the electronics and new technologies hall. He was secretly glad he got away from waiting in line for what it looked like another hour, but at the same time he was glad he decided to accompany Ashton in his little quest.

The moment he knew you were pregnant he set himself to be the best uncle that little kid will have. He already knew that you and Ashton were going to be great parents, with the way in which you love each other it was hard to think otherwise. Michael was always up for anything you guys wanted to do for each other, from secret dates or help you sneak out after a concert, or even to plan gifts! He always took pride to know that he was part of your epic love story, even if it was with just a little favor.

Michael stepped into the videogame aisle like he usually does, but this time he went directly to the kid’s section, knowing that eventually your baby will want to play videogames with uncle Mikey and he will have to be ready with the most family friendly games he could find.

He started grabbing a few of them and reading the little summaries they had on the back, eventually deciding that he did not understand anything about children’s games and that he might have to ask around in order to find the best ones.

He went back to the electronics aisle and something caught his attention.

“Is that a real megaphone?” He asked one of the workers there “I haven’t seen one since 2014” He said, remembering the last time the boys ever let him play with one of those in the Good Girls video.

“Yeah! It’s the new model” Said the teenage boy that was in charge of that seccion that day “Wanna try it out?”

“Before that, can I go and show it to my mates? I won’t be gone for long, they are just down the checkout line”

“Sure!” The young man smiled and gave him the megaphone.

Michael had a big smile on his face as he started walking towards Ashton to show him what he found. But his smile dropped the minute he saw Ashton’s face grew a thousand times paler.

He carefully walked up to him and asked “Hey, dude. What 's going-?”

“The baby’s coming!” Ashton said, trying to catch his breath.

“What?!”

Calum.

He hated the mall. He really did. There were always too many people, too much noise and the prices were always exaggerated. But he knew that he was here today for a good cause. Calum was not going to let his best mate down.

Ever since you came into Ashton’s life - and the boys’ life for that matter - he could tell that you were special. Not only because of the way Ashton talked about you all the damn time, but because of your energy, your passion, your kindness and obviously your undenying love for the drummer.

Calum was always the protective friend, always keeping his guard up for any new companion they boys might have. But with you it was different. The first time you two met was the day you instantly became best friends. He knew he could trust you to keep Ashton’s heart safe, and he knew that if Ashton ever broke your heart that he was going to have to kick his ass for being that stupid. Luckily, he wasn’t.

He was the first person (after Ashton, of course) to know about your pregnancy. He swore to himself that he would not let anything happen to his future godson/goddaughter. That baby was going to be the perfect mixture of his best friends, there was nothing in the world that could stop him from loving them just as much as he loves all of you. He even got them toys so they could play with Duke when they’re older! Needless to say that he was very, very excited.

As he wandered through the halls of the store he noticed a commotion next to the toys section.

A line of kids accompanied by their parents awaited in front of a huge chair decorated with fake snow and candy canes. Santa Claus was going to be there.

“Oh my god” A female voice said behind him “You are Calum Hood!”

Calum turned around and was faced with a young girl dressed as an elf looking at him like he hung the moon or something.

“That I am” He said with a smile “Hello, nice to meet you!”

“M-my name’s Lizza” The girl blushed “I’m a huge fan! Is it okay if- I mean, could I get a picture? Please?”

Calum smiled “Sure!”

Lizza squealed “Omg, okay. But, can we do it over there? The kids aren’t supposed to see me yet” She said, pointing to a corner with a curtain and some costumes, presumably Santa’s and his elves'.

Calum nodded and followed the girl, catching a glimpse of the Santa Claus outfit “Do you think I can wear that for the picture?” He asked. Honestly, he just wanted to know how it would feel like to dress up as Santa, knowing he would one day have to do it for your child.

“Of course!” The girl said, taking her phone from her purse and giving it to another elf so he could take the picture.

Once the picture was done, he started to strip off the big red coat, the white beard and the hat when suddenly he had an idea “Is it okay if I borrow this for a while? Maybe five minutes? I wanna prank some friends that are at the check out”

“Uhh”

“I’ll give it back, I promise,” He said with a smile.

Lizza sighed “Sure! We have another one for emergencies”

“Cool, thanks Lizza”

Calum walked away with the fake beard, the warm coat and the hat, feeling cheeky as he approached the line.

“What?!” He heard Michael yell. And although Michael always yells, this one seemed important as his voice sounded concerned.

“Hey, Mike, is everything-?” Calum said, approaching his friends with a very confused face. But before he could even finish the question, Ashton looked at him with fear in his eyes.

“THE BABY IS COMING”

Ashton.

This was not good. Not good at all. His wife is at the hospital about to give birth and he is still in the line of the fucking mall.

“Oh shit!” Calum said, looking frantically over the line that was still too long “OH SHIT”

“Okay calm dow- Is that a Santa costume?” Michael asked.

“Calm down?!” Calum said, panicking “My best friend is having a baby and you tell me to CALM DOWN?!”

“I’m having a baby…” Ashton said in a whisper, not really paying attention to what was going on around him “I’m having a baby”

“Not you!” Said Calum “Well... also you but I meant Y/N! She’s the one pushing it mate” But Ashton did not listen.

His whole world paused in that moment. Too many thoughts were running through his head as he tried to formulate a plan, any plan that would get him the quickest to you.

He thought he was doing a good job, he thought that he was going to be the best dad ever and now he was going to miss the birth of his first child because the line wasn’t fucking moving.

“Ash?” Michael called, but he wasn’t listening.

How could he screw this up so early in the game? Your baby wasn’t even born yet but he swore he could already feel their disappointment.

“Ash..”

And you! How could you ever forgive him?! You will surely file for divorce once the baby is born.

“Ashton!”

“What?!” He yelled, looking at Michael who was shaking him by the shoulders.

“Fucking breathe man! You almost turn purple there”

Michael started breathing at an even pace, motioning Ashton to breathe with him and so he did “It’s going to be okay, don’t worry about it”

“How can you say that?!” Ashton almost cried “I’m not even a dad yet and I’m already screwing up! Who doesn’t show up to the birth of his child?”

Michael rolled his eyes, knowing his friend was just talking out of fear than out of reason, and shook him by the shoulders again “Listen to me, you are already a great dad! You were a dad even before Y/N got pregnant and you are not going to miss the birth of my nephew or niece. I won’t allow it. But first I need you to calm the fuck down!”

Ashton looked at Michael and swallowed the lump in his throat “What if I’m not ready? What if we’re not ready?”

Michael chuckled “You asked me the same question when you were about to walk down the aisle a year ago. You were ready even before you knew you were and this is not different”

But before Ashton could say something, Calum walked up to them again.

“There are fourteen people ahead of us” Said Calum, who had just run up to the start of the line “If we asked them to move, we might get there in time”

“Or maybe you could leave the music box to me…” The man with the weird vibe intervened.

“Fuck off DeVito!” The three Australians yelled.

Suddenly, a lightbulb got turned on on Michael’s head “I got an idea!”

A panicked Calum dressed as Santa and a very panicked Ashton watched as Michael ran out of the store for a second, only to come back pushing a Target cart “Get in!” He said jumping in the cart and motioning to Ashton to follow him.

Ashton jumped inside without asking any questions, not even when Calum started pushing the car or when Michael turned on his… was that a megaphone?!

“Attention ladies and gentlemen” Michael said through the megaphone, making every single person turn their heads towards them, as if two large Australians standing inside of a shopping cart being pushed by a very tattooed Santa Claus wasn’t stiking enough “We have a man that’s going to become a father at any moment now while his wife is in the hospital! Please let us through!”

Ashton does not know if it was the weird scene they caused, his desperate face or Christmas magic that made everyone on the line take a step back as Calum pushed them through the checkout.

Once they got there, the cashier took his money, too shocked to say anything else as Ashton yelled “Keep the change!” As they rushed through the doors and towards the parking lot with Calum pushing the cart at a great speed with all of his energy as all the other customers looked at them and wondered what the hell was going on.

“Mommy?” A confused random kid asked “Why was Santa pushing those men on the cart?”

Luke.

His favorite Christmas playlist was playing in the car. He loved the holidays, but he hated Christmas shopping with his life. So he was very thankful that Ashton could understand this and let him wait in the car.

As he hummed through the song “His Favorite Christmas Story” he thought about the gift he got to your little unborn baby. As soon as he found out you were pregnant, he knew he had to spoil that kid rotten. Well, not that he knew he had to, but he wanted to. You and Ashton were the best people he has ever met, and he knew your little baby was not going to be different, so what’s wrong with giving that child the world they deserve?

A few months ago he talked to a friend of his that made customized presents made of crochet, so he asked if they could make a baby mobile to put over the crib. He also made sure to ask that the animals that were to adorn the mobile were your’s and Ashton’s favorites, and also throwing a little kangaroo in honor of their father’s homeland and a little penguin in honor of their future favorite uncle.

He smiled to himself as he thought he couldn’t wait to meet the little pal and how he couldn’t wait to start a family of his own. But his daydreaming got cut short when he heard a commotion coming from the mall’s doors.

Sirens were ringing and a lot of people stood and watched at whatever was causing the disturbance. He even had to take a double look because he thought he just saw Calum dressed as Santa Claus pushing a shopping cart with Ashton and Michael inside, the latter speaking with a megaphone in his hand. And indeed that is what he saw.

“LUKE START THE CAR” Michael yelled from his megaphone. And Luke, being the smart man that he is, did not ask questions as he did just that.

Soon enough, Calum Santa Claus was jumping inside of the car, followed by Michael and Ashton, who just sat in the front seat.

“What is-?” Luke tried to ask, but his three friends were quicker as they all said at the same time:

“The baby is coming!” “We needed to get the music box” “The line was too fucking long”

“Hurry up, dude!” Calum said, giving Luke a pat on his shoulder as he stared at them, very confused.

“Why didn’t you just leave the music box with one of them?” He said, motioning to his friends in the back “I could’ve come back for them after I dropped you off…”

The three Australians all looked at eachother like they were the most stupid people on the planet. Until Micahel turned on the megaphone again and said with a defeated voice: “Just drive”

The ride to the hospital was silent as Luke drove through the streets of LA at full speed. Michael even turned on the siren of the megaphone to make way across the traffic jam. How the hell they didn’t end up in jail? A Christmas miracle if you ask me.

Once they got there, Ashton was the first one to jump off the car, followed by his best friends as they ran through the hospital’s floors.

“Irwin!” He said, once they got to the maternity wing “Y/N Irwin! My Wife-”

Luke followed, almost knocking down Ashton as his boots slipped on the floor “His wife!” He said, almost out of breath.

“His baby!” Calum added, almost falling to the floor as he tripped over his foot.

And last but not least came a small “Help?” From Michael who was completely out of breath as he sat on one of the chairs in the waiting room.

The nurse, apparently not taken aback at the sudden outburst of three grown man and a Santa Claus in her waiting room, just smiled at Ashton and said: “Over here, Mr. Irwin. You are just in time, she just started dilating…”

But Ashton didn’t hear much as he walked behind her, anxious to see you and see your baby. Breathing heavily as he tried to calm his nerves before he got to your room. He gave one last look to his friends and smiled at them.

“You can do it man!” Michael said, giving him the thumbs up.

“You go Poppa!” Luke cheered.

“We will be here!” Calum said, feeling tears of pride gather up in his eyes as he watched Ashton turn into another hallway, ready to become the dad he always knew he could be.

“Did you actually steal a Santa costume?” Michael said as the other two sat down next to him.

“And you stole a cart and a megaphone so shut up”

A new family.

You watched with tired eyes as your husband held your baby girl in his arms.

“She is so tiny…” He said with fresh happy tears falling rolling down his cheeks. Ashton started crying as soon as he saw her little face and heard his heart shattering cry.

You almost thought that he wasn’t going to make it in time, afraid that you were going to have to get through the birth of your child all alone. But he came through the doors just in time and he did not let go of your hand for a second, even when you knew you were crushing it as you pushed.

“I love you so much” He said, just as he’s been saying for the past hours since he got here “I love you so much and I love her so much I- Thank you”

“Why are you thanking me, love?”

“For giving me the best gift of all” Ashton said as he laid next to you with your daughter curled up on his chest “You gave me the family I always dreamed of. I could never thank you enough for it”

He slowly lowered his head and pressed his lips to yours, showing you all the love that he could in only one simple kiss.

“Well, it’s not like you didn’t help on making this, you know?” You teased, making him chuckle “I should be thanking you, Ash.You and her are the best thing that has ever happened to me, I love you”

“I love you” He said, capturing your lips in another kiss as you let the music box play in the background, filling the room with the notes of your favorite lullaby.

“Should I let the boys in?” He asked as he passed your daughter back to you. You just nodded, not wanting to let your friends wait a second longer to meet your baby. “Oh, and just a heads up, Calum is dressed as Santa Claus and we might never be allowed on the mall again”

You laughed “I can’t wait to hear that story”

Ashton smiled as he got out of the room and walked towards where the boys were sitting. Once they saw him walk up to them, they immediately got up, all of them smiling proudly at the new - official, father of the band.

“Boys, come and meet our baby girl: Jane Elizabeth Irwin”

Tags: @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @talksoprettyjjx @mystic-232

[craigslistdiavolo]

I see you have your requests open? 👀 do you mind doing one with the Demon brothers (along with Diavolo, Simeon, Solomon, and Barbatos (my phone auto corrected to Barbie xD) if you want, you dont have to) with a GN! MC that is a Maladaptive Daydreamer? There us a Hatsune Miku song called The Mind of a Maladaptive Daydreamer, it helps explain what it is without you having to do research, it's also fairly hard to explain what it is, so I'm sorry. Anyways, have a good day hun! Get good sleep and drink a good amount of water everyday. Bye!!!💕

I'm actually someone who maladaptive daydreams, so it makes me happy that people know what it is!!!

For those who don't know, a very brief explanation of maladaptive daydreaming would be a daydream with an elaborate plot and characters that's very different from normal daydreaming. To get into the vibe of the daydream some people will perform repetitive actions, such as pacing around the room, and some people listen to music to help get into the vibe. Also people can sperate the daydream from their current reality, so they are aware of everything that is going on around them.

Genre - Fluff

Warnings - Language

Gender neutral reader

-

Lucifer

He probably accidentally walks in and you don't even notice him come in

You're just casually pacing back and forth, listening to music, and occasionally whispering something to yourself but then you look up and see him

Very awkward eye contact

"Ummm.... can you leave?"

He just kinda nods and closes the door, and then you get back to it

Later on he'll ask you about it, and you can try to give your best explanation

He might get upset with you if it begins to interfere with your academics, but he'll do his best to be understanding

Very intrigued by the plot and characters

May ask for updates on the plot from time to time

He understands that maladaptive daydreaming is your own little escape, so he tries to give you space and time for you to do it without interruptions

Mammon

Mammon's loud, so you just immediately notice him coming in and stop everything you're doing

"MC why are you standing in the middle of the room listening to music?"

"Ummmm just vibing?"

"Cool, can I join?"

No, please leave 💖"

You'll probably have to do your best to explain maladaptive daydreaming to him later on, but he still has a hard time understanding why you spend so much time creating plot and characters

He respects it though and he's not gonna make fun of you for being a maladaptive daydreamer

He's gonna want all the updates on everything that's happening with the plot and characters

He's very invested in it at this point

He still has a hard time giving you space because you spend so much time daydreaming, but he understands that you need the time and space to do it, so he does his best to stay away for a while

Leviathan

Personally, I think that Levi is probably someone that also maladaptive daydreams, so he totally gets it

He's really glad to find out that you do it because he was afraid that he was the only one

You guys can tell each other about your plots and characters, and exchange playlists that fit the vibe

He'll sit and listen to you talk about what's going on in your current plot for hours

And then after you're done explaining your plot, he can explain his :)

Since you're both maladaptive daydreamers, it's pretty easy to give each other space and time to daydream, and then the next time you both see each other you can explain what's happening now in the plot

Satan

He already knows what it is because he probably heard the term somewhere and decided to do research on it

He's gonna ask you some in-depth questions about it, but at some point you might need to tell him to take a step back

"MC, do you think that you're experiencing this because of past trauma, and how long have you been doing this for?"

"Idk lol :)"

He'll want to hear about all the plots and characters because it's like a book to him

If you have trouble sleeping at night than he'll try to help you fall asleep, but obviously that might not work

He'll do your homework for you if you start to fall behind because of getting distracted by your daydreams

At some point he might pull up studies on maladaptive daydreaming and ask you to compare yourself to the results lmao

He'll send you playlists that he thinks will work with your current plot, characters, and time period that the daydream is taking place in

He'll give you space and time to go off and daydream because he knows how important it is to you

Asmodeus

Maladaptive what?

He has no idea what it is

You're gonna have to sit him down and try to give him an explanation, but he still might not fully get it

Asmo can be a little clingy sometimes, but he fully understands that you do need the time and space so that you can daydream, so he'll give you as much time and space as you needs

If he accidentally walks in on you, he'll leave right away so that he doesn't interrupt you

He's so invested in the plot and lives of the characters, especially if there's a lot of drama going on

He tries to help you fall asleep, mainly because of how important the right amount of sleep is for skincare and he cares about you so he wants you to get a good amount of sleep, but he just doesn't really understand why you have such a hard time falling asleep

Overall, he's really supportive, but still very clueless

Beelzebub

He probably accidentally walks in on you and just kinda stands there and stares at you until you notice him

You just kinda awkwardly look at him and ask him to leave

He feels bad for walking in and you because it made you feel kinda uncomfortable, so he's gonna apologize a lot

Sit him down and explain everything to him, and he'll do his best to understand

It takes him a little while to fully understand that maladaptive daydreaming is different from regular daydreaming

He gives you the time and space to do what you need to do because he understands that daydreaming is a really important part of your day

He asks for updates on the plot and characters everyday

He also always asked if he's in the daydream or if there's a character based off of him

If there is, he gets really excited, but he's chill if he's not included in the plot

He probably knows a decent amount of tips for falling asleep, so if you do have a hard time falling asleep because of maladaptive daydreaming, he'll try to help you out

Belphegor

He knows what it is, but personally doesn't do it himself

He's pretty chill and understanding

Since he spends a decent amount of time sleeping, you'll have enough time and space to daydream and won't have to worry about him interrupting you

If you have trouble falling asleep, he knows a lot of tips for helping people fall asleep but if none of them work, he'll just chill and lay with you until you're able to fall asleep

He'll ask you about the plot and characters of the current daydream from time to time

He'll send you playlists and make you playlists that he thinks would fit the plot and help you get into the vibe of the daydream

He's super supportive and won't judge you for maladaptive daydreaming, and he tells you a lot that you don't have to be embarrassed by it, but he understands why you don't really want people to know about it

Diavolo

He's so confused

One time he accidentally walks in on you and you just kinda stand in place until he leaves

As soon as he's gone, you're gonna get right back to what you're doing

He'll ask you to explain maladaptive daydreaming to him and he's really intrigued by it

He has a room in the palace that's designated for you to go to and daydream in because he knows that you need the time and space away from everyone to go do it

He gives you a bunch of playlists that he thinks fits the vibe of your daydream's plot

He might get a little :/ if you fall behind on academics because of it, but he's pretty understanding so he won't be that upset about it

When you guys are hanging out, he likes to hear about the plot and all the characters, and he ends up getting super invested into it

If he ever walks in on you on accident, he'll just quietly leave because he doesn't want to disturb you

Barbatos

He definitely knows what it is

I just personally think that Barbatos knows literally everything

He's super respectful and would like to hear about the plot and characters of the daydreams when he's not busy

He'll be especially interested in the plot of the daydream if it takes place in an older time period

If you start to fall behind on academics, he'll help you catch up

Since he has to work a lot, you won't really ever have to worry about him interrupting you, and you'll have a lot of time and space to go and maladaptive daydream

The only time he'll ever actually interrupt you if he needs something from you/needs to tell you something, but after that he'll leave quickly and quietly so that you can get back to daydreaming as soon as possible

Simeon

He's super respectful

He wakes up everyday and drinks his "respect everyone for who they are and what they experience juice"

He'll ask you a lot of questions about it, but if he starts to make you uncomfortable with all the questions, he'll stop

He won't disturb you and he'll give you as much time and space as you need to daydream

Since he's a writer, he is really interested in the plot and characters

If he has your permission he might use the plot and characters to write a story, but only if he has your permission

He might talk to you about keeping up with your academics if you start to fall behind because of the daydreaming, and he'll do his best to help you stay focused

If you have trouble falling asleep because your mind keeps wandering, he'll just lay with you and you guys can talk about random things until you both fall asleep

Solomon

Solomon tends to tease people a little bit, but he'll actually be really respectful when he finds out that you experience maladaptive daydreaming because he knows that it's very important to you

He'll ask you some questions about maladaptive daydreaming, and he understands what it is pretty quickly

He won't bother you too much, and he'll give you all the time and space you need

At some point he asks if he can try out a few spells on you while you daydream for an experiment

He asks about the plot and characters a lot, and if he notices any similarities in the characters to the people you guys know in real life, he'll probably point them out

If you have a hard time falling asleep, he'll probably suggest using magic on you, but obviously if that makes you uncomfortable you guys can just cuddle and talk until you both fall asleep

He occasionally sends you playlists based around the plot and characters, but they all have really weird names

If you pay him or do him a favor, he'll do your homework so you don't fall behind

A/N - I really hope that you enjoyed reading this, and I really liked writing this because I was able to relate it to my own personal experiences with maladaptive daydreaming :)

[girlgirlgirlnormal]

Niragi x OC x Last Boss (Part 4)

Hey, I wrote another part! And this story still has no name. Also, I`m working on a small Kuina fic, because I love her very much. 

TW: Abuse, sexual content, harrassment

Word count: 2.8k

part 1 part 2 part 3

She had been spending every day with Samura and Niragi for a week now. They went regularly to games, but they never took Hina with them. They did not tell her, but she deduced from their behavior that they had thought bringing her to a game would help them protect her. The floor is lava game was not a game in which anyone could protect another person. They had been a little gentler with her. Niragi was still fucking her mercilessly every night, and Last Boss was enjoying watching it and have his way with her afterwards, but they were good to her. She got fresh fruit, and nobody came near her. She got cigarettes and birth control and everything she asked the men for.  

It was a warm night, Samura and Niragi were out with Aguni and some other militants to participate in a game. Hina had been bored in her room, so she went down to the bar by the pool and got herself a cocktail. While sipping on it she spotted Kuina, sitting on one of the loungers and talking to someone she hadn’t seen around before. She decided to join them. Kuina was nice and pretty.

She walked over and plopped down beside the girl with the short hair with whom Kuina was talking.

“Hey, I’m Hina.”, she introduced herself, extending her hand to shake the young man’s hand before stopping abruptly, “Do I know you?”, she asked, furrowing her brows.

The young man looked away shyly. That was all Hina needed to recognize him.

“I gave you a lapdance!”, she exclaimed, “You came to the club”, she thought about it, “once?”

“It was a birthday present from my friends”, the men answered, looking at his feet.

“Awww”, she cooed, “I remember you because you were so shy! You didn’t even look at me throughout the whole dance!”

The girl beside her laughed.

“These are Arisu and Usagi”, Kuina introduced them, “but I guess you already know Arisu?”

“He had my tits in his face”, Hina laughed, “I guess he hated it, but his friends were having a grant time.”

Kuina laughed, “But don’t get caught hanging out around her, her boyfriends don’t like it.”

Hinas hand automatically wandered to her hickey covered throat.

“Stop that crap music”, someone shouted, and the music was abruptly cut off.

“Those are the militant core at the beach. If you want to live in peace here, then don’t mess with them”, Kuina said, looking down, and explained them the beaches dynamics.

Hina couldn’t help but shove Usagi a little bit behind herself. She knew the militants. The only reason none of them even talked to her was that they were afraid of Niragi and Samura. Usagi was a pretty girl. They would like her. She didn’t think that she would like them back.

Aguni stopped infront of them, making Hina arch her back and lean a bit forward, trying to cover as much of Usagi as possible.

“Where is your friend?”, Aguni asked Arisu, making him look away shamefully, “Oh yeah? He’s dead? Too bad. Yet someone like you still lives.”

Samura and Niragi were standing behind Aguni, watching with interest.

“You know each other?”, Kuina asked, but no one bothered answering her.

Agunis gaze fixated on Usagi. Hina wanted to say something or do something to distract him, but she didn’t know what.

“Hey”, Aguni said, slightly turning to Niragi, “bring the woman.”

It was too late to do something. Hina wanted to give her the advice she herself had been taught at a very young age. If you can’t escape, try to enjoy it. It didn’t seem appropriate.

She watched Niragi, with his sniper over his shoulder walking over, just as he was about to grab Usagis arm Arisu sprang up.

“My boss says to bring you to him”, Niragi explained to Usagi, “get up.”

Hina could see Last Boss mouth twitching the same way it did when he watched her being taken by Niragi. They wouldn’t help this newcomer.

“Leave her!”, Arisu said, standing up and holding Niragis hand.

“Are you a tough guy?”, Niragi asked, clearly having too much fun with the situation, he turned to Aguni, “What should I do to him?”

Hina closed her eyes. This would not end good. She didn’t dare to speak up though. She was already sleeping with them to survive; she wouldn’t get herself killed over protecting a woman she had just met. She still wished she could protect her.

If you can’t escape, try to enjoy it, her grandmothers voice rang in her head.

She smiled, as she met Samuras gaze. She couldn’t enjoy the scene infront of her. She was just going to watch the man who always made sure she had something to eat and some water after he fucked her.

“Break both his legs so he dies in the next game.”, Aguni ordered.

“Good one”, Niragi looked back to the other militants, “take the woman and you come with me.”

Her eyes were still locked on Samuras, as he started walking again, following Aguni. The whole procession stopped, as Arisu ran to stand between one of the militants and Usagi. Hina could feel her hand grasping Usagis. Her friend was going to die, and she was going to be raped. There didn’t seem any other way this situation could end.

“If you can’t escape try to enjoy it”, she mumbled, low enough for only Usagi to hear.

The newcomer gave her a panicked look.

“Ooooh”, cooed Niragi, threateningly walking up to Arisu.

Hina was waiting for it to end, as a voice asked, “Is there are problem?”

She had never been so happy to see the hatter. This woman didn’t have through all the things she had gone through in the real world.

“Back off hatter, this is none of your business.”

“But this is my business. I´m the beaches leader. What I say is the law here and I´m saying that you keep your hands off the newcomers, Aguni.”

Nobody moved.

“Niragi.”, said Hatter.

Niragi looked away, “The only boss I have is the general”, he announced.

“Then I will ask the general. Who do you think is your boss, then, Aguni?”

Aguni stared in the other man’s eyes and for a moment Hina thought that he would kill him then and there.

“Shower once in a while”, hatter said dismissively and told the executive members to meet in the conference room.

Scoffing, Niragi and Samura followed Aguni, away from Hinas sight.

They wouldn’t be happy then they got back.

Arisu was invited to the meeting and left. Sawing that Chishiya was approaching, Hina said her goodbyes and went up to her room. Niragi hated that guy and didn’t want her to be near him. Normally she wouldn’t care, if she was chilling with Kuina and Chishiya joined, she just ignored him, but today was different. Niragi and Samura would be already mad then they got to her and she didn’t want to fuel their anger.

Back in Samuras room – she hadn’t gone back to her own room since her first night with them – Hina went to the small ghettoblaster and started to play her song. Daisy by Ashnikko. Since it had came out a couple of months before she found herself in the borderlands it had been the song to her signature dance. It was a nice song and it had been easy to form a persona around it. She had danced with a bright blue wig and tall “glass” platform heels. The act was so popular that they even printed a life sized poster of her dancing on the pole during that act and placed it on the most prominent wall of the club.

She used one of the bed posts as her pole and danced with closed eyes, pretending to be back in her club, with her only friend Red Diamond cheering her on. She stopped as soon as she heard the door open.

Samura and Niragi entered. Samura went to the ghettoblaster, turning it off, as Niragi stepped in her personal space, one hand tightly gripping his rifle, the other her throat.

“What were you doing with the newcomers?”, he asked, squeezing her throat.

She didn’t even try to answer. He was squeezing too hard for her to be able to speak anyway. She just looked up at him, trying to hold her breath. Fighting him or trying to somehow breath through her squeezed airpipe would make her look pathetic. If he wanted an answer, he had to stop choking her. She was already feeling a bit lightheaded, as Niragi let go, shoving her onto the bed.

“I had just joined them. The man, Arisu, I know him from before. He came to the club once.”, she explained.

“Once?”, Niragi said, face dangerously near hers, “Why would you remember someone who came to your club once?”

She had told them about being a stripper. No more or no less. They didn’t want to hear about it. They didn’t even make her dance for themselves. They didn’t talk about their lives before the borderlands and they were not interested in hearing Hinas story.

“Because he was so shy”, Hina explained, she caught herself smiling at the memory, it had been a busy day and he had been dragged there by his friends who were insisting on paying for a lapdance for him, “I gave him a lapdance and he didn’t even look at me. A true gentleman.”

Niragi slapped her cheek. Hard.

“A true gentleman”, he mimicked her in a high-pitched voice and slapped her again.

This time Hina could not stop herself from reaching to her burning cheek. She did not stop looking into his eyes, even though she could feel tears pooling in her eyes. They had been so much gentler with her and now everything was ruined, just because she talked to some people?

“If you can´t escape, try to enjoy it”, Samura quoted her words from earlier.

How did he hear that?

“Is that how you feel about us?”, he asked.

She saw up to him. He was still wearing his hood and his katana was strapped to his back. Niragi was still holding his rifle. Normally they took off their weapons as soon as they entered the room and started kissing her. She couldn’t believe that talking to someone had changed that.

Hand still on her cheek she shook her head, “Its just something I was taught in the old world.”

“Who taught you that?”

“My grandmother”, the tears were no longer just pooling in her eyes, they were flowing freely down her cheeks.

“Why?”

“Because things like that happen all the time”, Hinas voice had no emotion in it.  It was just a fact. It had happened to her and so many people she knew.

“Did someone hurt you?”, Samuras voice was much softer than compared to his other questions.

Just 15 minutes ago he had enjoyed watching Niragi pull away Usagi to be met with that faith and now he had the nerve to sound concerned?

“You mean someone who is not the two of you?”, she asked, voice still not betraying any emotion, “Yes. Many times. And you are hurting me too.”

Niragis hand was on her jaw before she could say anything else, he was holding her tight and watched her face for a moment before licking a long streak on her face, collecting some of the tears, “But princess”, he whispered, “You agreed to this and we’ve been awfully nice to you.”

She couldn’t help but scoff, “You can be gentle but contrary to popular believe, I do not enjoy being hit.”

Niragis eyes were closed as he licked the other side of her face. Samura was watching them.

“Has someone on the beach hurt you?”

“They tried.”, she answered, “I got away.”

“Do you want to go back to your room?”, Samura asked, hood still up.

Niragis hold was too tight and she would have bruises all over her face the next day. She shook her head.

“I don’t want to be alone”, she whispered.

Samura finally took off his hood and unstrapped his katana, gently putting it on the sideboard. He sat down next to her on the bed and kissed her shoulder.

“You look exhausted”, he said, shooting Niragi a look, “Maybe we shouldn’t play tonight.”

Niragi frowned but let go of her jaw.

“I would have enjoyed that”, he murmured.

“Remember what we said, Niragi”, Last Boss said, “She is ours. We will treat her good and she will stay ours. She doesn’t look like she can handle it today. We don’t want to break our doll.”

Hina felt so thankful. They had been fucking her every night since their first night. She couldn’t understand how they were always so horny. Sure, she enjoyed it. Sometimes at least. Then she was not being hit, choked or pounded so mercilessly that she could feel her insides tearing, but that was always Niragi and he always stopped then she started screaming in pain.

How messed up did she have to be to see that as a good sign?

“Lets just go to bed”, Samura declared, placing a small kiss on the top of her head, “and tomorrow we will continue talking about this.”

They let her change into one of Samuras shirts as they undressed. They slept only with underwear, most of the time even naked. After a good session none of them wanted to move much.

She laid down in the middle of the king-sized bed and let Samura hug her to his his chest. The mattress caved behind her, as Niragi joined them, cuddling up to her back.

“Maybe we should establish some safe words tomorrow”, Niragi mumbled into her shoulder, “Would you feel safer that way?”

Hina nodded, “I don’t mind you being rough in bed. I just don’t want you to slap and beat me outside of it”, she whispered letting herself being cradled between them, “My boyfriend used to do that.”, she thought for a moment, choosing Samuras words to describe it, “He hurt me. A lot. Every day. I don’t want to fear you like I feared him. I don’t want to be paraded around like a prized dog.”

“Good”, Samura answered, nuzzling his face in her hair, and taking a deep breath, “You won’t have to.”

Normally, Hina was the last one to fall asleep. She would stay awake and lick her wounds and sleep much later than the men. This day, she fell asleep first. She wouldn’t say that she felt safe with them. She just didn’t feel like she was in immediate danger between them.

As she woke up the next morning, she was alone in bed. Neither the men she had gone to bed with nor their weapons there anywhere in sight. Sighing she sat up. She should get dressed and go down to the pool to get some breakfast. Pulling Samuras shirt off she got dressed in her red bikini and put on her flip-flops. She quickly brushed her hair and made her way down. As she stopped by the bar to get herself a fruit bowl, she spotted Last Boss and Niragi sitting in the VIP section with some other militants. She took the small bowl from the bartender, whose job included serving food at mealtimes, and made her way to them.

“Good morning”, she greeted them, sitting down between them.

They wished her a good morning and went back to eating their own breakfast. They didn’t touch her. That was weird. Normally they were not able to keep their hands off her. They would always touch her legs, her face or her back. Now it was nothing. She started eating but continued watching the man.

“What’s wrong?”, Niragi asked frowning.

She stared at him. Then she stared at Samura, who was also staring at her.

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with you two?”, Hina was wondering if she shouldn’t have told them what she did the night before. Did that make them not want her anymore? Would they drop her or leave her to die as soon as the next game came?

“You wanted us to behave like gentleman”, Samura explained, “Not to behave like your boyfriend. We are doing our best.”

She looked at him. He looked like he was being genuine. They had listened to her and they were ready to change their behavior.

“We`ll talk about it later, in the room. We still have to find a safe word.”, Niragi reminded her, “Eat.”